An investigative journalist who was among the first to raise concerns about the injuries suffered by suspected murder victim Katie Simpson before her death believes she was later placed under PSNI surveillance.
Tanya Fowles confirmed she has now referred her case to a major review set up to investigate PSNI snooping.
The reporter has worked to lift the lid on the scandal surrounding the botched PSNI investigation into Ms Simpson’s death.
Ms Fowles initially red flagged concerns about the injuries suffered by the showjumper a day after she was admitted to Alnagelvin Hospital in Derry on August 3 2020.
Her death a week later was wrongly treated by police as a suicide before a murder investigation was later launched.
The man later accused of killing her, Jonathan Creswell, the partner of Ms Simpson’s sister, took his own life on the second day of his trial in April.
Ms Fowles became suspicious after being made aware of the injuries suffered by Ms Simpson.
A well-known court reporter, she was familiar with Creswell’s past record, which included a conviction for assaulting a former partner in 2009.
A Police Ombudsman’s report this week found the PSNI “failed” the Simpson family by a “flawed” investigation.
Ms Fowles, who recently made a fresh complaint to the Police Ombudsman, now believes she was being snooped on by police from 2021 onwards, which involved close-quarter surveillance in a bid to identify her sources.
The journalist confirmed she has referred her case to the McCullough Review.
Headed by London based KC Angus McCullough, the review was set up by PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher earlier this year after it emerged police have been carrying out surveillance on journalists and members of the legal profession.
Ms Fowles also confirmed she has submitted a subject access request to the PSNI which she says is “significantly overdue”.
Under data protection legislation a member of the public has the right to request confirmation as to whether or not the PSNI is “processing” their personal data, and where that is the case, receive a copy of the information “unless an exemption applies”.
“I had become the thorn in the side, I wasn’t letting it go,” Ms Fowles said.
“Things went very badly wrong, the relationship with the PSNI completely broke down, they were not answering enquiries and then they began to obviously feel uncomfortable.
“I think they were trying to find out if I was getting information from other officers, which I wasn’t.”
Ms Fowles said she has notified Jon Boutcher’s office.
“I have a subject access request in, as we were all advised to do, the chief constable’s office has been notified.
“I have filed with the McCullough Review and the minute the ball is very much in the PSNI court.”
Ms Fowles has previously said that information she provided to the PSNI later “vanished”.
In a report to the policing board in June the PSNI admitted making 823 applications for communications data for journalists and lawyers over a 13-year period from 2011-2024.
It later emerged that more than 4,000 phone communications between 12 journalists were monitored by police over a three-month period.
Details came to light through the London-based Investigatory Powers Tribunal, which is examining allegations that investigative journalists Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney, were subjected to unlawful surveillance.
