Operation Taurus was the name of a planned prosecution by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) against

Martin McGuinness James Martin Pacelli McGuinness ( ga, Séamus Máirtín Pacelli Mag Aonghusa; 23 May 1950 – 21 March 2017) was an Irish republican politician and statesman from Sinn Féin and a leader within the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) during ...

. Taurus was to be based on allegations arising from the 1993 broadcast of an edition of the "Cook Report" presented by Roger Cook and involving

Freddie Scappaticci Freddie Scappaticci (born c. 1946 Belfast) is a purported former high-level double agent in the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), known by the codename " Stakeknife". Early life Scappaticci was born around 1946 and grew up in the Markets ...

Stakeknife "Stakeknife" is the code name of a high-level spy who successfully infiltrated the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) while working for the top-secret Force Research Unit (FRU) of the British Army. Reports claim that Stakeknife worked for Br ...

") and the testimony of three witnesses prepared to testify for the Crown. The operation was abandoned in August 1997 and no charges were made, as it was determined to be not in the public interest. This was taken to be because McGuinness was in negotiations for the

Northern Ireland peace process The Northern Ireland peace process includes the events leading up to the 1994 Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) ceasefire, the end of most of the violence of the Troubles, the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, and subsequent political developm ...

. However, some allege that it was because McGuinness was a British spy.

References

Prosecution The Troubles (Northern Ireland) Royal Ulster Constabulary {{UK-hist-stub