MI5 concedes it unlawfully' obtained data from former BBC journalist

"The admission came in a letter to the BBC and Kearney, in relation to a tribunal examining claims that several reporters in Northern Ireland were subjected to unlawful scrutiny by the police. It related to work carried out by Kearney for a documentary into the independence of the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (PONI). Kearney is now the northern editor at Irish broadcaster RTE."

"In documents submitted to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), MI5 conceded it obtained phone data from Kearney on two occasions in 2006 and 2009. Jude Bunting KC, representing Kearney and the BBC, told a hearing on Monday: The MI5 now confirms publicly that in 2006 and 2009 MI5 obtained communications data in relation to Vincent Kearney. He said the security service accepted it had breached Kearney's rights under article 8 and article 10 of the European convention on human rights."

"They relate to the right to private correspondence and the right to impart information without interference from public authorities. This appears to be the first time in any tribunal proceedings in which MI5 publicly accept interference with a journalist's communications data, and also publicly accept that they acted unlawfully in doing so, Bunting said. He claimed the concessions that it accessed the journalist's data represented serious and sustained illegality on the part of MI5."

MI5 conceded it unlawfully obtained the communications data of Vincent Kearney, a former BBC Northern Ireland correspondent. The security service extracted phone data in 2006 and 2009 linked to Kearney's reporting on the Police Ombudsman's independence. The concession appeared in documents to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal and in letters to the BBC and Kearney. MI5 accepted that its actions breached Kearney's rights under articles 8 and 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The BBC described the admission as a matter of grave concern, and legal representatives characterized the access as serious and sustained illegality by MI5.

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