Salford academic's book sheds new light on infamous terrorist informers

In recent years, many of the UK’s intelligence services have been opting for technical intervention instead of human intervention, after a surge of investigations and inquiries.  

In her new book, Dr Samantha Newbery, a Reader in International Security at The University of Salford, examines the ethical conundrums of these informers through a series of case studies, court reports and testimonies. 

This book, titled Terrorist Informers in Northern Ireland, released on Thursday 21 November, examines the role of informers amongst British Intelligence, honing in on their role in 1970s Northern Ireland to the present day. It discusses the conundrum that, as informers gain vital information, this sometimes results in criminal offences being committed whilst they are undercover. 

Although UK law may hold a legal or ethical responsibility to convict informers, this will ultimately affect British Intelligence’s access to important information. 

Dr Newbery said: “Provided that the procedures [as detailed in the Informers Criminal Conduct Act] are followed, then informers are immune from prosecution for any offences, including murder, so the law no longer applies equally to everyone.

“The topic is so important today, because there are still so many court cases, and public inquiries and other investigations that are still going on that shows how important it is, and how many bereaved families and survivors are still pushing, either for justice or for truth-finding investigations.”

The book will also tackle the frustration that many of the bereaved families are faced with, as many of these murders remain unsolved due to the immunity and anonymity assigned to these terrorist informers. 

Like the family of Patrick Finucane, who was murdered in front of his wife and children at their North Belfast home in 1989. In her book. Dr Newbery examines how it was uncovered that an informer was involved in Finucane’s death, and why this arguably led to a lack of public investigation from the former British government. 

Dr Newbery added: “Finucane’s family have been at the High Court, the Supreme Court, The European Court of Human Rights for more than 20 years pushing for a full investigation, so that just shows how strong feelings are and how they still persist, and how they will persist until all the investigations are completed.” 

Part of the book will also look at notorious informers Freddie Scappaticci and Brian Nelson. Known by his moniker Agent Stakeknife, Scappaticci worked as a double agent in the British Army and the IRA and has been linked to at least 18 murders. Nelson, an Ulster loyalist paramilitary member, was charged and sentenced with ten counts of murder. 

Newbery analyses each part of an informer’s life, from recruitment to cooperation to conviction, particularly focusing on bringing relevant meaning to the word ‘informer’ to those reading it in 2024. 

Dr Newbery said: “Informers remain something that is used very widely throughout the UK, by the police in particular for all sorts of reason but, they’re used for all sorts of organisations. For example, the Food Standards Agency, can use informers to help figure out what's going on with organised crime who are illegally shipping in food that isn’t what it should be, so there’s still a wide use of informers in Britain today."