The Society of Editors has said that it is ‘deeply alarmed’ by an admission by MI5 that it ‘illegally obtained’ communications data from the mobile phone of former BBC Northern Ireland home affairs correspondent Vincent Kearney.
The admission was made in documents that the security service submitted to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal which conceded that it has obtained data from Mr Kearney’s phone in 2006 and 2009. The data related to his work on both a 2011 Spotlight documentary about the independence of the Police Ombudsman’s office and an investigation into the murder of PSNI officer Stephen Carroll who was gunned down by the Continuity IRA in Craigavon in 2009.
Responding to the documents, Dawn Alford, Chief Executive of the Society of Editors said: “The admission by MI5 that it unlawfully obtained communications data from a former BBC journalist is deeply alarming and of immense concern to anyone that values press freedom and the rights of journalists to protect their sources.
“Journalism is not a crime and those that seek to abuse their powers and ride roughshod over journalistic protections must be held accountable.”
This week’s admission comes after it emerged last year that lawyers acting for the BBC had written to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) about alleged police surveillance of Mr Kearney. Mr Kearney’s case had emerged as part of proceedings involving two other Belfast journalists, Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney. A ruling by the IPT in December last year found that the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and Metropolitan Police acted illegally by spying on McCaffrey and Birney in a bid to identify their sources
In a statement, Mr Kearney described MI5’s admission as “unprecedented” and said it was “deeply concerning” for himself and other journalists.
A BBC spokesperson said: “MI5’s admission that it illegally obtained communications data of a BBC journalist is a matter of grave concern.
“It raises serious and important questions that we will continue to pursue.”
Photo: Belfast News Letter
