Key facts
- MI5 and the Police Service of Northern Ireland unlawfully accessed data from journalist Vincent Kearney's phone.
- Kearney was awarded £20,000 in damages by the investigatory powers tribunal.
- The tribunal found the surveillance disproportionate and not in accordance with the law.
- Seven separate police or MI5 operations unlawfully obtained Kearney's confidential communications data between 2006 and 2018.
- The PSNI created a profile of Kearney including car registrations and names of family members.
- The monitoring allowed agencies to see numbers in contact with Kearney and call/text times, but not content.
A former BBC journalist, Vincent Kearney, has been awarded £20,000 in damages after MI5 and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) unlawfully accessed data from his mobile phone. The investigatory powers tribunal (IPT) ruled on Thursday that the surveillance was disproportionate and illegal, ordering each agency to pay Kearney £10,000.
Lawyers for Kearney and the BBC stated that seven separate police or MI5 operations unlawfully obtained Kearney’s confidential communications data between 2006 and 2018. The PSNI conducted four of these operations, creating a profile of Kearney that included vehicle registrations and the names of his wife and mother-in-law. This monitoring allowed security agencies to view numbers in contact with Kearney and the times of calls and texts, though not the content. Other data revealed subscriber names and addresses of caller numbers, with one operation involving data on 1,580 calls or texts.
Kearney, now northern editor for RTÉ, described the ruling as a victory for journalism and an affirmation of journalists' rights to protect sources. He emphasized that the damages awarded reflect the seriousness of the case and the impact on trust. A BBC spokesperson echoed these concerns, stating that journalistic freedoms are vital for democracies and that the incident was wrong and should not be repeated.
The legal action followed revelations in the case of journalists Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney, where the IPT found the PSNI and Metropolitan police had unlawfully surveilled them. Details from that case suggested public bodies, including police forces, had spied on Kearney. PSNI chief constable Jon Boutcher accepted the ruling and apologized, noting that significant changes to practice and policy have been implemented.