Chief Constable announces delay in public announcement of probe into activities of 'Stakeknife'

The public announcement of the investigation into the alleged activities of the British agent known as ‘Stakeknife’ has been put back to this Friday, PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton has announced.

Among the murders linked to the British Army agent are those of Derry men Patrick Flood (pictured) and Frank Hegarty.

Confirming the delay, Mr hHamilton said: “The Northern Ireland Policing Board is our formal accountability structure and it normally meets on the first Thursday of the month.

“In line with our commitment to openness and transparency, we had made long-standing arrangements to brief members of the Northern Ireland Policing Board at the June Policing Board meeting and to subsequently publicly share, details surrounding the investigation team that will be conducting an investigation into the alleged the activities of the person known as ‘Stakeknife’.

“When these arrangements were made we were unaware that the date of the Northern Ireland Policing Board meeting had also been selected by the Office of the Police Ombudsman to release the Loughinisland report.

“There are multiple victims and families of victims affected by each of these investigations and it is important that they are afforded the same opportunities to articulate views and to have their voices heard.

“As a mark of respect for all those affected by these investigations we are deferring the public announcement of the investigation into the alleged activities of the person known as ‘Stakeknife’ until Friday 10 June. Mr Hamilton concluded: “We recognise the impact of these investigations and we hope that the outworkings and findings of investigations support victims as Northern Ireland works through its troubled past.”