Police and MI5 waged campaign of illegal interference against ex-BBC journalist, tribunal told

The Guardian - World NewsEN 3 min read 100% complete by Cormac Kehoe and Harry DaviesFebruary 25, 2026 at 07:44 PM

AI Summary

medium article 3 min

A tribunal heard that police and MI5 engaged in unlawful surveillance of Vincent Kearney, a former BBC Northern Ireland home affairs correspondent, over an eight-year period. The surveillance, which involved obtaining Kearney's mobile phone communications data, aimed to identify his sources. MI5 admitted to unlawfully obtaining Kearney's phone data on two occasions between 2006 and 2009, and the PSNI and Metropolitan Police also admitted to unlawfully obtaining his communications data between 2009 and 2014. The PSNI also created a detailed intelligence profile of Kearney, including details about his journalism and private life. The BBC and Kearney brought the case before the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), arguing that the actions violated his human rights and constituted a significant interference with journalistic material.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

European Convention on Human Rights 30% RTÉ 30% United Kingdom 40% Jude Bunting KC 40% Metropolitan Police 60% Northern Ireland ×360% Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) ×360% BBC ×370% Police Service Northern Ireland (PSNI) ×480% MI5 ×480% Vincent Kearney ×690%

Keywords

illegal interference 90% communications data 80% police surveillance 70% mi5 70% vincent kearney 60% bbc journalist 60% journalistic sources 50% investigatory powers tribunal 50% data protection 40%

Sentiment Analysis

Very Negative

Score: -0.60

Source Transparency

Source

The Guardian - World News

Classification Confidence

90%

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis.

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illegal interference communications data police surveillance mi5 vincent kearney bbc journalist journalistic sources investigatory powers tribunal data protection

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