UK Tribunal Orders MI5 to Pay Journalist Damages
A special tribunal has ordered MI5 to pay a journalist damages. Vincent Kearney worked as a BBC reporter on Northern Ireland affairs.
He will get £20,000 total. The Police Service of Northern Ireland will pay half.
MI5 will pay the other half. The Metropolitan Police also made admissions in the case.
The tribunal found the agencies illegally took data from Kearney's phone. They were trying to find out who gave him information.
The surveillance broke legal rules. It was called excessive and unlawful.
This is the first time MI5 has been ordered to pay a journalist. The case covered seven separate spying operations.
These illegally accessed Kearney's data between 2006 and 2017. The case followed an earlier tribunal case.
That case involved journalists Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey. They each got £4,000 from the Police Service of Northern Ireland in 2024. Kearney's case is a major ruling on protecting journalists from spying.
Key Terms 4
- MI5 UK domestic intelligence agency that protects national security.
- Police Service of Northern Ireland The police force responsible for Northern Ireland.
- tribunal A special court that reviews specific legal complaints.
- surveillance Secretly watching or monitoring someone's activities or communications.