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 issued 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 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.

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

The PSNI did not inform IPCO of the surveillance operation until after the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) disclosed it publicly in its judgment in favour of the two journalists in 2024, awarding them costs.

Independent inquiry

Journalists McCaffrey and Birney told Computer Weekly that the PSNI had consistently failed to take oversight seriously during their 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 the only way of getting to the truth was to hold an independent public inquiry. 

“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 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 against journalists. He reported that he identified no issues with non-compliance with the management of confidential information.

As Lord Chief Justice, Morgan ruled in 2019 that 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 for 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.

Boutcher said 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 the material sought was limited to “public tweets” and did not seek private communications.

Barry McCaffrey (left) and Trevor Birney (right)

Up to 16 BBC journalists targeted

Following the IPT’s ruling in favour of Birney and McCaffrey, other journalists have made complaints that they were unlawfully spied on.

Former BBC journalist Vincent Kearney has filed a complaint against the PSNI, and up to 16 more 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 nine in 2022 to 16 in 2023 and 33 in 2025.

The PSNI received “notifications to disclose” information in three cases in 2022, rising to six 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’s covert surveillance operations targeting journalists, including one later ruled unlawful, were withheld from the UK’s surveillance watchdog is “deeply concerning”.

There must be an overhaul of the mechanisms designed to provide oversight of police surveillance activities across the UK

“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, director of 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 the investigatory powers commissioner, Leveson, will personally raise the issues with the PSNI chief constable, 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 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 the board has expressed 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 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.