MI5, PSNI Ordered to Pay Journalist £20,000 Over 1,580 Illegally Obtained Calls and Texts
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 23
MI5, PSNI Ordered to Pay Journalist £20,000 Over 1,580 Illegally Obtained Calls and Texts
3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 23
Summary
The Investigatory Powers Tribunal awarded Vincent Kearney £20,000 after ruling MI5 and Northern Ireland's police unlawfully obtained his phone data while he was a BBC journalist.
Four PSNI operations and MI5-backed requests targeted Kearney between 2006 and 2014, with one trawl covering 1,580 calls or texts and exposing contact numbers, subscriber details and call locations.
The tribunal said the authorisations were disproportionate and breached privacy and protections for confidential journalistic sources; MI5 and PSNI will each pay £10,000.
Kearney said the ruling showed security agencies are not above the law, while the BBC called it significant for protecting reporters' ability to investigate and safeguard sources.
The case is believed to be the first in which MI5 has been ordered to compensate a journalist, after wider unlawful surveillance of Northern Ireland reporters began surfacing in 2024.