The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the Metropolitan Police unlawfully conducted surveillance on two investigative journalists, Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey, a tribunal has ruled. The Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) ordered the PSNI to pay £4,000 each in damages to the journalists, whose unlawful arrest in 2018 followed their production of No Stone Unturned, an award-winning documentary about the 1994 Loughinisland massacre during the Troubles.
The tribunal also quashed the PSNI’s direct surveillance authorisation (DSA) targeting the journalists and their suspected source—a landmark decision believed to be the first of its kind. Additionally, the IPT found that the Metropolitan Police unlawfully placed McCaffrey under surveillance in 2012.
The Loughinisland Documentary and Arrests
No Stone Unturned exposed apparent collusion between police and the perpetrators of the 1994 Loughinisland massacre, where six Catholic men were killed by loyalist paramilitaries during the Troubles. In 2018, Birney and McCaffrey, both Belfast-based reporters, were controversially arrested after a confidential document from the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland appeared in the documentary.
The PSNI cited a conflict of interest and asked Durham Police to lead the investigation into the leaked document. However, Northern Ireland’s top judge later ruled the journalists’ arrests were unlawful, prompting the PSNI to issue an unreserved apology. The police service also agreed to pay £875,000 in damages to the journalists and Fine Point Films, the production company behind the film.
Surveillance Authorisation Declared Unlawful
In 2019, Birney and McCaffrey lodged a complaint with the IPT to determine whether they had been unlawfully placed under surveillance. Earlier this year, the tribunal heard that PSNI detectives requested a DSA from Sir George Hamilton, the former PSNI chief constable, to monitor the journalists and a suspected source in the days following their release from custody. Hamilton approved the covert surveillance of the individual suspected of leaking the ombudsman document.
The tribunal ruled the surveillance was unlawful and in breach of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects freedom of expression. In its judgment, the IPT stated: “We will quash the DSA. We have determined that a declaration of its unlawfulness would not be sufficient to afford the claimants just satisfaction in respect of its incompatibility with the rights protected by Article 10.”
Call for a Public Inquiry
Reacting to the ruling, Birney and McCaffrey called for a public inquiry into police surveillance practices against journalists. Speaking in London, McCaffrey said: “For this court to have found that a chief constable has acted unlawfully, we think is a major embarrassment, and it’s something that needs there to be a public inquiry. No other alternative—we need a public inquiry.”
The landmark ruling underscores growing concerns over the misuse of surveillance powers and the implications for press freedom in the UK.
