This is an update on the files relating to Stakeknife that MI5 discovered last year and which they had not previously disclosed. Kenova was first notified in April 2024 of the undisclosed files and further work by MI5 located more files in the months that followed.
Due to the great concerns about the failure to disclose all information held by MI5, an external review was commissioned by the Director General MI5 to investigate how the failure had arisen. This review was carried out between October 2024 and January 2025 by former Assistant Commissioner Helen Ball QPM and she has now reported her findings. I am very grateful for the work she has undertaken and as part of our commitment to openness and transparency, I have decided to publish the unclassified report.
It is of course deeply regrettable that material was discovered and disclosed after the investigative phase of Kenova had concluded and after the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland had made decisions concerning prosecutions of the Kenova cases. The circumstances and relevance of the non-disclosed material will form part of the Kenova final report which is due to be published later this year.
Sir Iain Livingstone QPM
Head of Kenova