31/08/2018

Journalists Arrested Over Suspected Theft Of Loughinisland Documents

Police have reportedly arrested two investigative journalists in Belfast over the alleged theft of "sensitive documents" connected to the Loughinisland massacre.

Alex Gibney, producer of the documentary 'No Stone Unturned', posted to Twitter that Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey have been detained by police. Both men where involved in the documentary on the 1994 Co Down massacre.

It is understood that police believe material used in the documentary film "had been in the possession of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland(PONI)".

According to reports, PONI reported to the PSNI that the documents had been stolen, and "potentially puts lives at risk".

The PSNI asked Durham Police to investigate the theft of the documents, and reportedly arrested Birney and McCaffrey today on behalf of the PSNI. It is understood that local police carried out three search operations in Belfast at the same time as the arrests.

Posting to Twitter, Alex Gibney wrote: "Alert: @trevorbirney my producer on "No Stone Unturned," and journalist @Barry_TheDetail have just been arrested in Belfast, NI, for doing good, hard-hitting journalism. Outrageous. Raise ruckus. I am traveling. More later."

(MH/CM)

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