JOURNALIST AWARDED DAMAGES FOR UNLAWFUL WIRETAPPING

LONDON, JULY 23 /SRNA-Reuters/ - A court has ordered the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the British domestic intelligence agency MI5 to pay £10,000 each in damages to former BBC journalist Vincent Kearney for unlawfully obtaining his phone records.

Kearney, who now works for the Irish radio RTÉ, initiated legal proceedings against the Police Service of Northern Ireland and MI5 based on information from a separate case brought by two Belfast journalists who had been placed under surveillance.

A court in London awarded Kearney a total of £20,000 in damages due to "disproportionate interference" with his privacy rights and journalistic sources.

Kearney and the BBC, which also filed a lawsuit, welcomed the ruling.

The Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Jon Boutcher, stated in a press release that he accepts the ruling and apologized to Kearney. He added that the police have introduced "significant changes" to their practices regarding this case.