Loughinisland: PSNI to pay damages after journalist searches

Trevor Birney (left) and Barry McCaffrey (right) worked on documentary film No Stone Unturned

A legal case involving two investigative journalists arrested by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has been settled.

The PSNI has agreed to pay damages to Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey and said it was "pleased" the matter was concluded.

They had been working on a film about the Loughinisland killings in 1994.

After the High Court hearing on Friday, the PA news agency reported that the PSNI had agreed to pay out £875,000.

It said that the total includes £600,000 to Fine Point Films, £150,000 to Mr Birney and £125,000 to Mr McCaffrey.

The two journalists were arrested over the suspected theft of files from the Police Ombudsman's Office.

It is understood the PSNI has agreed to delete material it seized when they raided the men's homes and offices in August 2018.

This is now not just a police blunder, but a very expensive one.

Consider not just the hefty damages to the journalists, but also the equally considerable court costs and the price tag of a flawed investigation.

All told, it's a few million pounds.

There are calls for the Policing Board to further examine what has been a fiasco.

For Simon Byrne, the PSNI chief constable, there is one consolation - this episode happened on someone else's watch.

In July, Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) chief constable Simon Byrne said he accepted the search warrants had been "unlawful".

PSNI Chief constable Simon Byrne apologised following a ruling by Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan.

In his letter to the journalists, who had been involved in the documentary film No Stone Unturned, the chief constable said he offered an "unreserved apology for the distress and upset caused to them and their families".

In 2018, Durham Police were the lead investigators brought in by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) to examine the case against the journalists.

Simon Byrne, who succeeded Sir George Hamilton as PSNI chief constable in July 2019, said the searches were planned and directed "at the direction of officers from Durham Constabulary", but he accepted those officers "were acting on behalf of the Police Service of Northern Ireland in an external capacity".

Mr Byrne said he was "keen to resolve all the outstanding matters through a process of mediation".

The attack in Loughinisland took place in June 1994 at the Heights Bar

The film focused on how the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) handled the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) murders of six Catholic men at a pub in Loughinisland in 1994.

Sir Declan Morgan welcomed the fact that a settlement had been reached between the parties.

"We congratulate the parties on finding an answer to this interesting and difficult, but also important case," he told lawyers at Belfast High Court.