Victims have yet to receive any compensation after a document was mistakenly published in 2023 containing data belonging to members of the Police Serv

Northern Ireland cops whose info was leaked in 2023 may get £240M+ damages

submited by

Style Pass

2024-09-25 13:30:02

Victims have yet to receive any compensation after a document was mistakenly published in 2023 containing data belonging to members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), but reports say damages in the case could hit as much as £240 million ($320.9 million).

In the incident, the names of all serving PSNI officers, plus their rank and location/department, were mistakenly included in a publicly available Freedom of Information (FoI) response.

While the case has been adjourned to December, it's set to be handled by a mediation process, which is viewed as the best way of reaching a compensation figure for the officers affected by the breach, the BBC reports.

A legal representative for the PSNI said the sum would be put to claimants as a "universal offer," with the main goal being to clear as many of the cases as possible quickly, which would then leave a subset of more complex cases to work through.

Philip Gordon, partner at Edwards Solicitors, which is representing around 5,000 of the 7,000 total claimants, said: "Mediation will look at a possible universal offer to officers and civilians we represent as well as the test cases currently being progressed. Mediation advances the case in a meaningful manner.