BELFAST (Reuters) -Police in Northern Ireland used journalists’ phone numbers to check for information leaks by officers or staff, but did not carry out “widespread or systemic” improper surveillance, an independent review found on Wednesday.
London-based barrister Angus McCullough was asked by chief constable John Boutcher to look at Police Service of Northern Ireland practices between 2011 and 2024 after a court case brought by two Belfast journalists revealed that warrants issued for searches and other surveillance were unlawfully obtained.
He concluded there was no evidence of systemic or widespread use of covert measures by the PSNI against journalists, lawyers or others of “special status”.
The review raised “significant concerns” about the PSNI conducting trawls of its own communications systems records in “an untargeted wholesale attempt to identify unauthorised contact between PSNI personnel and journalists”.
He said he was relieved the practice had been discontinued, having not been used since March 2023, and formally ended in May 2024.
McCullough found 21 instances of unlawful covert attempts to identify journalists’ sources. A journalist and a lawyer had been subjected to surveillance without proper authorisation, the lawyer on two occasions, including inside a court building.
The review makes 16 recommendations, including commissioning another report and the PSNI bringing together all the units responsible for the authorisation process for all forms of covert surveillance.
In a statement, Chief Constable Boutcher said the review was thorough and comprehensive, and highlighted a need for improvements.
“I can absolutely stipulate that we will make those improvements,” he said.
(Reporting by Graham FahyEditing by Peter Graff)
