MI5 and the Police Service of Northern Ireland have been ordered to pay damages to Belfast journalist Vincent Kearney after a court found they illegally accessed his phone data, in a ruling that raises serious questions about press freedom in the North.
Kearney, a well-known journalist who has worked extensively for the BBC in Northern Ireland, took legal action after discovering that his communications data had been unlawfully obtained by the British Security Service and the PSNI. The ruling marks a significant moment for journalists operating in Northern Ireland, where the relationship between the press and security forces has long been a sensitive issue.
The Investigatory Powers Tribunal, which handles complaints about surveillance and intelligence gathering in the UK, sided with Kearney and found that accessing his phone data was unlawful. Both MI5 and the PSNI will now have to pay him damages as a result.
For Kearney, the case was never just about himself. Journalists rely on the ability to communicate confidentially with sources, and when security agencies can dip into a reporter’s phone data without proper legal basis, it puts those sources at serious risk. In Northern Ireland, where some sources may be speaking about sensitive paramilitary or political matters, that risk can be very real.
The case shines a light on how surveillance powers can be misused against members of the press. While intelligence agencies and police forces have broad legal tools available to them when investigating serious crime or security threats, those powers are supposed to come with strict safeguards, especially when journalists are involved. The tribunal’s findings suggest those safeguards were not properly applied here.
Press freedom groups have long warned that journalists in the UK and Ireland face growing threats to source protection, with legal and illegal surveillance among the key concerns. This ruling gives those warnings some concrete backing.
The PSNI has faced scrutiny on multiple fronts in recent years, from legacy issues connected to the Troubles to more recent controversies around data handling. The force accidentally published the personal details of all its serving officers and staff in 2023, a massive data breach that caused serious concern among officers about their safety. Coming on top of that, this latest ruling adds to questions about how the PSNI manages sensitive information and respects legal boundaries.
MI5’s involvement is also notable. The Security Service operates extensively in Northern Ireland given the continuing threat from dissident republican and loyalist groups, but its activities are supposed to be governed by strict legal oversight. Being found to have unlawfully accessed a journalist’s data is an embarrassing outcome for the agency.
Kearney’s case is likely to be welcomed by journalist unions and press freedom advocates across Ireland and Britain as an important precedent. It demonstrates that even powerful state bodies like MI5 are not above the law when it comes to how they gather information, and that journalists do have legal avenues to challenge unlawful surveillance.
The damages amount has not been publicly specified, but the principle established by the ruling carries weight beyond any financial settlement. It sends a clear message that the phone of a journalist is not fair game without proper legal authority, and that courts will hold security agencies accountable when they overstep.