Police Service of Northern Ireland Chief Constable Jon Boutcher has offered a sincere apology to journalist Vincent Kearney after a tribunal ruled the force had unlawfully obtained his communications data.

The Investigatory Powers Tribunal awarded Mr Kearney £20,000 in damages on Thursday, ordering MI5 and the PSNI to each pay £10,000. The judges found no reason to distinguish between the conduct of the two organisations.

Mr Kearney, a former BBC Northern Ireland home affairs correspondent who now serves as RTÉ’s northern editor, said the ruling was a tremendous victory for journalism. He noted it was the first time MI5 had been ordered to pay damages to a journalist and that the aim was to expose the extent of the law breaking over many years.

The tribunal stated that MI5’s applications for Mr Kearney’s data in 2006 did not identify him as a journalist or explain how the public interest required the intrusion. The interferences were described as numerous and sustained over several years.

Mr Boutcher detailed changes since the events: the Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office now independently authorises communications data requests, and judicial commissioners provide enhanced scrutiny for requests involving those who may hold confidential information. He cited the McCullough Report, published in September 2025, which found more than 20 attempts by the PSNI to identify journalists’ sources but concluded it was not systemic. He committed the force to transparency and learning from mistakes.

The legal action emerged after documents in the case of documentary makers Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney suggested public bodies had spied on Mr Kearney. The tribunal heard that seven separate operations between 2006 and 2018 unlawfully obtained his confidential data, and that the PSNI compiled a profile including personal details and an analysis of his published work.

A BBC spokesperson said the issues were of grave concern and that journalistic freedoms are fundamental to democracy. What happened must never be repeated, the spokesperson added. The Metropolitan Police also made concessions during the proceedings.