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Northern Ireland police kept inspectors in dark over surveillance of journalists
The PSNI failed to inform the Investigatory Powers Commissioner about surveillance operations against journalists during annual inspections
Northern Ireland police failed to disclose two covert surveillance operations against journalists to the UK’s independent surveillance watchdog in breach of their statutory obligations.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland kept inspectors from the Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office (IPCO) in the dark about two covert operations against journalists in 2018 and 2023, it has been disclosed.
Brian Leveson, the investigatory powers commissioner, confirmed in a letter to Northern Ireland’s policing board that the PSNI only informed IPCO about the covert operations in 2025, after they had become public.
The disclosure, in letters published in the Northern Ireland Policing Board’s annual human rights report, first reported by The Detail, comes as the PSNI is preparing to publish a review by barrister Angus McCullogh KC into police surveillance of journalists and lawyers in Northern Ireland.
Covert surveillance in 2018
In August 2018, the PSNI authorised an unlawful surveillance operation in a failed attempt to identify a confidential journalistic source suspected of supplying information to journalists Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney.
The then chief constable of the PSNI authorised a Directed Surveillance Authorisation (DSA) to allow the PSNI to monitor an individual suspected of leaking information to the two journalists.
But according to Leveson, the PSNI failed to disclose the existence of the surveillance operation against the journalists to IPCO inspectors during the watchdog’s annual inspection in spring 2019, in breach of its statutory obligations.
“There is no indication in the 2019 inspection report for PSNI that my inspectors were notified of any covert activity conducted against journalists, or with the intention of identifying a journalistic source,” he wrote in a letter to the Policing Board.
Leveson said that he had received no explanation for the PSNI’s omission. “The question remains why the DSA was not specifically brought to my inspectors’ attention in 2019, given its stated objective of identifying a journalistic source,” he said.
The PSNI did not inform IPCO of the surveillance operation until after the Investigatory Powers Tribunal disclosed it publicly in its judgment in favour of the two journalists in 2024, awarding them costs.
Independent inquiry
Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney told Computer Weekly that the PSNI had consistently failed to take oversight seriously during the journalist’s legal battle with the PSNI.
“It’s quite clear that the PSNI is incapable of acting honestly with any of these oversight bodies. They don't take it seriously at all, or they show them complete disrespect by failing to properly and honestly interact with them,” said McCaffrey.
He said that the only way of getting to the truth was to hold an independent public enquiry.
“We now see with Brian Leveson that they have withheld evidence even when IPCO was asking for it and we fear that there are going to be more incidents of this when the McCullough review comes out,” he added.
2023 operation spied on Twitter
The PSNI also failed to disclose a surveillance operation against another unnamed journalist in 2023 to IPCO inspectors.
The operation targeted the covert monitoring of social media posts on X by investigative journalist Dónal MacIntyre.
In a letter to the policing board, Leveson said that the PSNI had failed to alert inspectors to the operation despite being asked to do so.
“This authorisation was not brought to my inspectors’ attention, despite their specific enquiry regarding any operations involving confidential journalistic or legally privileged material” he added.
The inspection was led by judicial commissioner Declan Morgan, the retired former Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, who sought specific assurances from IPCO on surveillance authorisations issued agaist journalists. He reported that he identified no issues on non-compliance with the management of confidential information.
As Lord Chief Justice, Morgan ruled in 2019 that the Durham Police, which was assisting the PSNI, had unlawfully used search warrants in an attempt to identify Birney and McCaffrey’s sources.
Boutcher: journalistic risk not identified
PSNI Chief constable, Jon Boutcher told the policing board that he had no explanation why the PSNI had not disclosed the 2018 surveillance operation to IPCO inspectors.
“No reason or record can be located to explain why this was not highlighted to IPCO as intended,” he said.
He said that the PSNI had not reported the later 2023 surveillance operation to IPCO as it had not identified that it related to journalistic material.
“As this application had not been highlighted correctly in conjunction with journalistic material, it was not identified when preparing for the 2024 inspection and not highlighted to the IPCO inspectors,” he added.
He said that the material sought was limited to “public tweets” and did not seek private communications.
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Up to 16 BBC journalists targeted
Following the IPTs’ ruling in favour of Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey, other journalists have made complaints that they were unlawfully spied on.
Former BBC journalists, Vincent Kearney has filed a complaint against the PSNI, and up to another 16 BBC journalists have also raised concerns about unlawful surveillance by the PSNI or MI5, according to the policing board.
Computer Weekly reported in July that the PSNI engaged in sustained surveillance of BBC journalists in Northern Ireland from at least 2006 to 2022.
Surveillance against BBC journalists allegedly took place during multiple PSNI operations, codenamed Operation Oxbow in 2009, Operation Settat in 2011, Operation Basanti in 2014 and Operation Grimmicaeie in 2022.
Data published by the policing board, shows that the number of complaints to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal relating to the PSNI’s use of surveillance powers, rose from 9 in 2022, to 16 in 2023 and 33 in 2025.
The PSNI received “notifications to disclose” information in 3 cases in 2022, raising to 6 cases in 2023, and 19 in 2024, which according to the policing board “might indicate that these are not hopeless cases.”
Oversight mechanism ‘not working’
Amnesty International said the admission that the PSNI covert surveillance operations targeting journalists, including one later ruled unlawful, were withheld from the UK’s surveillance watchdog is “deeply concerning”.
“The PSNI not only authorised covert surveillance designed to identify journalists’ confidential sources, in flagrant violation of press freedom, but then withheld details of those operations from the very watchdog charged with holding them to account,” said Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty International’s Northern Ireland Director.
“There must now be an overhaul of the mechanisms designed to provide oversight of police surveillance activities across the UK,” he said.
Daniel Holder of the Belfast-based human rights group the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) called for the government to implement the 1999 Patten Commission’s recommendation for a dedicated Commissioner for Covert Law Enforcement in Northern Ireland.
“We cannot continue with an oversight system that is dependent on the PSNI and other bodies here exercising such covert powers voluntarily telling the oversight body what they are doing, or hope that such matters are turned up in limited dip-sampling,” he said.
IPCO ‘not dependent on voluntary disclosures’
A spokesperson for IPCO said that the investigatory powers commissioner Brian Leveson will personally raise the issues with the PSNI chief constable, Jon Boutcher.
In response to the failures, the PSNI had enhanced its central record of surveillance authorisations and would implement training on the “acquisition and management of information relating to journalists,” the spokesperson added.
IPCO said that its oversight regime is not dependent on voluntary disclosures.
“Inspectors use proactive techniques, including 'dip sampling' of authorisations, to identify compliance issues and verify responses to requests for information,” the spokesperson said.
“The requirement for PSNI to highlight journalist-related authorisations provides an additional layer of assurance in the oversight process,” the spokesperson added.
Policing board “open to all courses of action’
The chair of the Northern Ireland policing board, Mukesh Sharma, said that the Board has expressed its serious concerns regarding the use of covert surveillance.
“The Board awaits the findings of the McCullough Review and remains open to all courses of action to ensure proper accountability,” he said.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland’s deputy chief constable, Bobby Singleton said that the PSNI welcomed the policing board’s human rights report.
“We will continue to work closely with the Policing Board’s Independent Human Rights adviser as we consider and respond to the content and recommendations of this wide-ranging report,” he said.
Read more about police surveillance of journalists in Northern Ireland
- McCullough Review into PSNI spying on journalists and lawyers delayed - Angus McCullough KC is to present findings of an independent review of police spying on phone data of lawyers, journalists and NGOs in Northern Ireland in October
- Investigatory Powers Tribunal judges have called for the home secretary to step in after finding they have no powers to award costs against government bodies that fail to disclose evidence.
- Investigative reporter Dónal MacIntyre has asked the Investigatory Powers Tribunal to look into allegations that he was placed under directed surveillance and had his social media posts monitored by Northern Ireland police.
- Journalists seek legal costs after PSNI’s ‘ridiculous’ withholding of evidence in spying operation delayed court hearings.
- The Metropolitan Police monitored the phones of 16 BBC journalists on behalf of police in Northern Ireland, a cross-party group of MPs heard.
- Over 40 journalists and lawyers submit evidence to PSNI surveillance inquiry.
- Conservative MP adds to calls for public inquiry over PSNI police spying.
- Tribunal criticises PSNI and Met Police for spying operation to identify journalists’ sources.
- Detective wrongly claimed journalist’s solicitor attempted to buy gun, surveillance tribunal hears.
- Ex-PSNI officer ‘deeply angered’ by comments made by a former detective at a tribunal investigating allegations of unlawful surveillance against journalists.
- Detective reported journalist’s lawyers to regulator in ‘unlawful’ PSNI surveillance case.
- Lawyers and journalists seeking ‘payback’ over police phone surveillance, claims former detective.
- We need a judge-led inquiry into police spying on journalists and lawyers.
- Former assistant chief constable Alan McQuillan claims the PSNI used a dedicated laptop to access the phone communications data of hundreds of lawyers and journalists.
- Northern Irish police used covert powers to monitor over 300 journalists.
- Police chief commissions ‘independent review’ of surveillance against journalists and lawyers.
- Police accessed phone records of ‘trouble-making journalists’.
- BBC instructs lawyers over allegations of police surveillance of journalist.
- The Policing Board of Northern Ireland has asked the Police Service of Northern Ireland to produce a public report on its use of covert surveillance powers against journalists and lawyers after it gave ‘utterly vague’ answers.
- PSNI chief constable Jon Boutcher has agreed to provide a report on police surveillance of journalists and lawyers to Northern Ireland’s policing watchdog but denies industrial use of surveillance powers.
- Report reveals Northern Ireland police put up to 18 journalists and lawyers under surveillance.
- Three police forces took part in surveillance operations between 2011 and 2018 to identify sources that leaked information to journalists Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal hears.
- Amnesty International and the Committee on the Administration of Justice have asked Northern Ireland’s policing watchdog to open an inquiry into the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s use of surveillance powers against journalists.
- Britain’s most secret court is to hear claims that UK authorities unlawfully targeted two journalists in a ‘covert surveillance’ operation after they exposed the failure of police in Northern Ireland to investigate paramilitary killings.
- The Police Service of Northern Ireland is unable to delete terabytes of unlawfully seized data taken from journalists who exposed police failings in the investigation of the Loughinisland sectarian murders.
- The Investigatory Powers Tribunal has agreed to investigate complaints by Northern Ireland investigative journalists Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey that they were unlawfully placed under surveillance.
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