A UK tribunal has ordered MI5 and the PSNI to pay £20,000 in damages to journalist Vincent Kearney after finding they illegally obtained his phone records. The Investigatory Powers Tribunal ruled the surveillance was not in accordance with the law and was disproportionate. It is believed to be the first time the security service has been ordered to pay damages to a journalist.

Kearney, formerly the BBC Northern Ireland Home Affairs editor and now RTÉ Northern Editor, was alerted to the surveillance two years ago when a solicitor involved in a separate case shared documents revealing his phone had been accessed. The material showed seven named operations between 2006 and 2018, with thousands of pages of data collected.

At one point the PSNI intercepted and monitored more than 1,500 of his calls in a four-week period. The data included geolocation information that could identify Kearney's sources. He expressed concern that the surveillance created a chill factor, making sources reluctant to speak to journalists.

The first authorisation by MI5 dates to 2006, following the murder of former Sinn Féin official and British agent Denis Donaldson in County Donegal. Kearney suspects his phone was monitored to see who he was speaking with about the killing. The full extent of MI5's data gathering between 2006 and 2009 remains unknown, but Kearney said the agency described him as a threat to national security.

The tribunal also ordered the destruction of all material gathered. Intelligence files were compiled not only on Kearney but also on his wife, four children and late mother-in-law. He recounted previous security incidents, including masked men approaching his home while his wife was eight months pregnant, and another occasion when police moved the family into a hotel.

After MI5 admitted unlawfully accessing his communications data, a source told Kearney that the security service might as well have been his handlers. The remark, which he included in his witness statement to the tribunal, underscored the damage to trust among contacts.

Kearney said the ruling sends a message that security services are not above the law. He hopes it will deter similar actions in the future and protect public interest journalism.