BBC Journalist Vincent Kearney: PSNI Allegedly Spied on Him during Investigation, BBC Seeks Tribunal Intervention

A former BBC journalist, Vincent Kearney, has accused the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) of attempting to identify sources for a programme he worked on about the Police Ombudsman's Office in 2011.

Lawyers for the BBC have written to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal about the alleged surveillance.

The tribunal is an independent body that considers complaints about public bodies using covert investigative techniques.

Kearney's case emerged as part of ongoing proceedings involving two other Belfast journalists, Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney.

The BBC stated that "serious issues of public interest are involved." The BBC is accusing the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) of unlawfully surveilling their telephone data related to journalist Vincent Kearney's investigation for the BBC's Spotlight programme.

The programme, titled "The Whistleblower and the Watchdog," examined allegations of compromised police investigations and collusion.

Kearney now works for RTE, and the BBC has instructed lawyers to bring the matter before the Investigatory Powers tribunal due to potential public interest issues regarding journalistic investigations and freedoms.

The broadcast of a programme led to calls for the resignation of the ombudsman, Al Hutchinson.

He announced his departure shortly after, expressing concern that the police may have tried to identify sources used in the programme.

Kearney, who made the statement, emphasized the importance of journalists being able to work without fear of police identification of their sources.