MI5 ordered to pay damages over surveillance of journalist’s phone

The ruling was handed down by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) in London on Thursday, following a case brought by former BBC journalist Vincent Kearney.

Why the MI5 surveillance journalist ruling matters

Kearney was the subject of secret operations aimed at uncovering his confidential sources while he worked for the BBC in Belfast.

The tribunal heard there were multiple operations targeting him between 2006 and 2014, four of them run by the PSNI, who also compiled a “profile” containing car registrations and the names of his wife and mother-in-law.

MI5, the PSNI and the Metropolitan Police, acting on the PSNI’s behalf, covertly obtained his mobile records, revealing which numbers had been in contact with him, when, and the locations calls were made from, though not their content.

The IPT found the authorisations were “disproportionate” and broke the law on privacy and the protection of confidential journalistic sources.

In a statement, Kearney said: "I am delighted that the court has penalised those responsible for breaking the law. The fact it decided to award damages reflects the seriousness of the case. It is important that agencies charged with upholding the law know that they are not above the law and will be held to account."

The BBC, which brought the case alongside Kearney, said the findings were “welcome, necessary and significant” and hoped they would protect journalists’ freedom to report in future.

Kearney worked for BBC Northern Ireland for 18 years until 2019 and is now northern editor at RTÉ.