Court to hear journalist surveillance case against MI5 and police

A court in London is due to hear a case being brought against the police and MI5 by the BBC and one of its former journalists, who was the subject of telephone surveillance.

The security service has admitted obtaining data illegally from Vincent Kearney's mobile phone.

The case is before the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) on Wednesday - the judicial body hears complaints about covert intelligence gathering.

Kearney worked at BBC Northern Ireland for 18 years until 2019.

The case is listed for several days, with part of the hearing likely to be closed to the public and media.

Last September, MI5 conceded it had breached Kearney's source protection and privacy rights by accessing his communications data in 2006 and 2009.

He believes he has also been targeted by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the Metropolitan Police.

Both are among the respondents in the case.

Amongst the issues the tribunal is being asked to decide upon are damages, and whether the BBC was also a victim of unlawful interferences of journalistic material.

Speaking ahead of the hearing, Kearney said he had been "treated as a suspect rather than a journalist".

"This case has established that I was the target of a systematic and years-long pattern of law enforcement agencies illegally accessing my journalistic sources and mapping my professional activity," he said.

"This has had a chilling effect on my ability to conduct public interest journalism with source relationships damaged and, in some cases, destroyed."

He called for those responsible to he held to account so "this kind of activity cannot be repeated".

A BBC spokesperson said: "The extent and effect of unlawful interference in Vincent Kearney's work as a BBC journalist is a matter of serious concern.

"It strikes at the heart of the protections that are in place for public interest journalism.

"What happened in this instance was wrong and must never be repeated.

"The independence of what we do is hard won and it's something that we will fight to protect - reflecting the vital role that public interest journalism plays in a free society."

During his time at the BBC, Kearney was home affairs correspondent, specialising in police and security issues.

He is currently northern editor of RTE News.

Speaking ahead of the hearing, Amnesty International's Northern Ireland director Patrick Corrigan said he expected it would reveal "more about the true scale" of surveillance journalists faced.

"What is ultimately required is full transparency, genuine legal accountability, and a decisive end to unlawful spying on the media," he added.

The first indications of action against Kearney emerged during an IPT case brought by two other journalists, Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney.

They were spied upon illegally in an attempt to uncover their sources.

The PSNI was ordered to pay each £4,000 in damages in 2024 for unlawful intrusion.

Following their legal action, the PSNI asked a lawyer, Angus McCullough KC, to conduct an independent review of its surveillance of journalists and lawyers.

He reported it was not "widespread or systemic".