Judge wrong to allow Met to seize journalist’s material, high court rules

Dozens of officers from the Metropolitan police’s counter-terror unit raided the freelance journalist’s property in July 2022. Photograph: Kirsty O’Connor/PA

A freelance journalist has defeated an attempt by the Metropolitan police to seize protected source material, after the high court quashed an order obtained by the force as part of an Official Secrets Act investigation into alleged defence and intelligence leaks.

The high court ruled on Friday that Judge Mark Lucraft, the recorder of London, was wrong to have allowed police to obtain source material last year on the premise that information may have been stolen from the government.