Public trust ‘damaged’ after review into covert police surveillance

Public trust in policing in Northern Ireland has been damaged by disclosures about covert police surveillance of journalists, Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly has said.

The McCullough Review, published on Wednesday, investigated the PSNI use of surveillance between January 2011 and November 2024.

The review raised “significant concerns” about the police conducting trawls of its own communications systems records in “an untargeted wholesale attempt to identify unauthorised contact between PSNI personnel and journalists”.

Mr Kelly said: “Given the gravity of these issues, we are actively considering pursuing a Section 60 inquiry to fully examine how and why these practices were authorised and conducted, and to ensure co-operation from all relevant agencies.

“The public deserves the full truth, not a partial picture.

“Public trust, especially among those targeted, has been badly damaged. That trust will only be rebuilt by firm, transparent and time-bound accountability.”

Mr Kelly added: “This added layer of independent scrutiny would be a practical safeguard against any return to unlawful practices.”

Angus McCullough KC was commissioned by the PSNI to examine the issue after a tribunal last year ruled an undercover police operation to try to unmask the journalistic sources of two award-winning documentary makers was unlawful.

Despite the review identifying more than 20 attempts by the PSNI to identify journalists’ sources, it determined that the surveillance was not “widespread or systemic”.

Mr Kelly said: “The McCullough Review sets out a stark assessment of PSNI practices around surveillance of journalists, lawyers and others.

“Sinn Fein welcomes the depth of his work in uncovering the scale of activity and recognises the limitations of what he could access.

“It is now clear that elements of PSNI’s ‘defensive operations’ were unnecessary, disproportionate and therefore unlawful.”