Senior judges held that authorisation for the searches which led to the arrest of Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey had been inappropriate.
A further hearing later this week will determine whether documents seized in the operation should be returned. The outcome represents a victory for Mr Birney and Mr McCaffrey in their challenge to the legality of warrants granted as part of an investigation into the alleged theft of confidential documents from the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman's Office.
Following a two-day hearing, Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan confirmed: "We are minded to quash the warrants on the basis that they were inappropriate, whatever the other arguments.The case is connected to the murders of six Catholic men at Loughinisland, Co Down in June 1994.The award-winning investigative journalists were involved in the documentary film 'No Stone Unturned', which examined the RUC's handling of the Loughinisland atrocity.
In August of last year they were detained, questioned and released during an operation undertaken by detectives from Durham Constabulary, supported by PSNI officers.All of the seized material remains under seal, with police having given an undertaking not to examine any of the documents and computer equipment pending the outcome of the legal action.
theskibeagle Disgraceful reporting by a national station that refuses to acknowledge the COLLUSION between the British Army and the RUC to allow the murders take place and the guilty go free. Is it because the garda commissionner was involved in murdering/cover up of innocent Catholics?.
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Source: IrishTimes - 🏆 3. / 98 Read more »
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