RTÉ journalist whose data unlawfully gained should get damages, tribunal told

By Jess Glass, Press Association Law Editor

A former BBC journalist whose communications data was unlawfully obtained should be awarded “substantial” damages, a specialist tribunal has been told.

MI5 previously admitted that it had unlawfully obtained Vincent Kearney’s data amid proceedings at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT).

In a September 2025 letter to the BBC and Mr Kearney – now the northern editor at RTÉ – MI5 said that though it acted in good faith and under any code of practice at the time, it breached the journalist’s rights when obtaining communications data in 2006 and 2009.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the Metropolitan Police have also made concessions.

At a hearing on Wednesday, Jude Bunting KC, for Kearney and the BBC, said there were seven separate police or MI5 operations where the intelligence services or forces unlawfully obtained the journalist’s or broadcaster’s confidential communications data between 2006 and 2018.

In written submissions, Bunting said they had been subjected “to a long and consistent campaign of unlawful interference with their confidential journalistic material”, with Kearney potentially targeted “more than any other journalist in Northern Ireland”.

The barrister said the concessions from MI5 and the forces “reveal repeated and consistent illegality on the part of multiple public authorities over a period of many years”.

He also said that the phone data obtained would have enabled the police “to see who Mr Kearney was interacting with, where and when”.

Bunting told the tribunal that this affected “everyone in his life”, adding: “All of these people will have had their information looked at by the police for reasons that were unlawful.”

The tribunal was also told the PSNI had made a “detailed profile” of the journalist, including his date of birth, addresses, car details, phone numbers and the names of his wife and mother-in-law, as well as an “extensive review” of his published work.

Bunting later said that Kearney should be awarded £10,000 from the PSNI in damages, with an “additional award against MI5″.

Cathryn McGahey KC, for the PSNI, said the force had made “a number of clear and extensive concessions”.

The barrister said in written submissions that “the interferences in question were directed at the acquisition of communications data associated with an individual journalist, rather than at the BBC’s editorial autonomy, premises, systems, or journalistic archives”.

Ms McGahey continued that while the force did not object to the tribunal ruling that the PSNI breached Mr Kearney and the BBC’s rights, it opposed the journalist being awarded damages as it would be unnecessary “to award just satisfaction”.

She later said that Mr Kearney’s case was different from phone hacking cases brought at the High Court, adding: “There was no exploitation, publication, or dissemination of journalistic material, nor any attempt to profit from the information obtained.

“The unlawfulness conceded by the PSNI arises from the subsequent determination that the legal regime then in place did not afford sufficient safeguards for journalistic material, not from any deliberate or bad-faith intrusion.”

Richard O’Brien KC, representing bodies including MI5, said in written submissions that saying Mr Kearney and the BBC faced a “long and consistent campaign” was disputed and “hyperbolic”.

The barrister also said MI5 accepted that the tribunal should make a declaration but opposed damages being awarded.

He said: “There has been public vindication of the wrong suffered by the claimants in the form of the concession, which has already been reproduced in a public judgment, and to which the tribunal will no doubt again refer in its substantive judgment following this hearing.”

Ahead of the hearing, Kearney said that he had been “treated as a suspect rather than a journalist” and called for mechanisms to be put in place.

He continued: “The concessions made reveal repeated and consistent illegality on the part of multiple public authorities over a period of many years. This was taking place on an almost annual basis between 2006 and 2014 while I worked as a correspondent for BBC Northern Ireland.

“This has had a chilling effect on my ability to conduct public interest journalism with source relationships damaged and, in some cases, destroyed.

“The unlawful activities of those charged with upholding the law have irrevocably damaged my ability to perform my lawful duties as a journalist.”

A BBC spokesperson said: “The extent and effect of unlawful interference in Vincent Kearney’s work as a BBC journalist is a matter of serious concern.

“It strikes at the heart of the protections that are in place for public interest journalism. What happened in this instance was wrong and must never be repeated.

“The independence of what we do is hard won and it’s something that we will fight to protect – reflecting the vital role that public interest journalism plays in a free society.”

Deirdre McCarthy, managing director, RTÉ News and Current Affairs, said: “As an all island public service media organisation, RTÉ places ongoing importance on defending press freedom of journalists across Ireland.

“The protection of journalist sources is the cornerstone of ensuring a free and independent media.

“The scale of the covert surveillance and accessing of journalist Vincent Kearney’s communications data by British security and policing agencies is deeply concerning.”

McCarthy said that the evidence heard at the IPT “is of deep concern for us as journalists and media working in the public interest”.

The hearing before Lady Carmichael, Mr Justice Chamberlain and Stephen Shaw KC is due to conclude on Thursday.