MI5 agent murder report led to secret police phone checks
Summary
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) conducted secret checks on the phone of journalist Brian Rowan after he reported on the murder of Denis Donaldson, who was an MI5 and police agent. This spying was part of an operation called "Operation Mally" and involved monitoring Rowan’s communications to find his sources. The PSNI chief has offered to meet Rowan to discuss the matter, and the family of Denis Donaldson are concerned that they may also have been watched.Key Facts
- Denis Donaldson was a police and MI5 agent inside Sinn Féin.
- Journalist Brian Rowan’s phone was secretly monitored by PSNI after he wrote about Donaldson’s murder.
- The spying searched for contacts between Rowan’s phone and police phones to identify sources.
- This operation, called "Operation Mally," happened around 2006 and was not previously disclosed.
- The Chief Constable of PSNI, Jon Boutcher, has offered to meet Rowan to address concerns.
- The family of Denis Donaldson suspect they might have also been monitored in some way.
- An independent review found PSNI’s spying on journalists was not widespread or systemic but identified several unlawful cases.
- Since a law change in 2015, no further unlawful access to journalists’ phone data by PSNI has been reported.
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