Patricia Devlin: Timeline of Death Threats and Harassment

Patricia Devlin: Timeline of Death Threats and Harassment

Patricia Devlin, an award-winning crime reporter working for the Sunday World, has been the target of vicious online attacks and threats to her family since 2019 for her coverage on crime, drug and criminal gangs, and how their activities are intertwined with certain loyalist paramilitary groups.

View more details by clicking the year.

2019

• April 2019: Patricia Devlin's personal details including links to her Facebook account, contact details and other social media accounts were shared on online forums. She was targeted with death and rape threats after her personal details posted online.

  An anonymous account on Twitter targeted Patricia Devlin and said “target on her back.”

• October 2019: Patricia Devlin received rape threats about her three months old baby son directly through her Facebook account. The direct message signed off with the name of a neo-Nazi terror group, had links to some loyalist paramilitaries in Northern Ireland.

2020

• April, 2020: Patricia Devlin was urged by Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) that paramilitary loyalists planned assassination in her car. The plan was to target Patricia while she was visiting an area for covering drug crimes. She was advised not to enter that area.

• May 8, 2020: The Sunday Life and the Sunday World newspapers journalists were issued extensive threats including Patricia Devlin. The journalists were visited by PSNI and warned about the imminent attacks.

• May 19, 2020: Belfast based newspapers, Irish unions and National Union of Journalists (NUJ) released a joint statement about the malicious death threats against Irish journalists. They highlighted the rising numbers of the brutal threats against journalists.

• July 21, 2020: Patricia spoke to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). She described the threats she was targeted because of the coverage she did about crime, drug and criminal gangs, and loyalist paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland.

• Sep 25, 2020: Patricia was interviewed by BBC Radio’s Teresa Craig. The journalist explained all ongoing threats her and her baby were subjected to. Patricia said that the rape threats against her baby boy was the most disturbing she received, to the point that she considered leaving journalism.

• Oct 13, 2020: Patricia filed an official complaint for "a complete failure" against PSNI for not investigating the online rape threat against her baby son properly.

• Nov 23, 2020: Patricia along with her lawyers sent a protocol letter to PSNI Chief Simon Byrne to take legal action and to provide protection measures to the journalist. If the journalist’s request continues to be ignored, an application for judicial review of the PSNI decision will be brought before the High Court.

• Dec 1, 2020: The ongoing death threats against journalist Patricia Devlin took a severe turn. The two latest threats —including a death threat— were made by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland.

2021

• Feb 13, 2021: Patricia received sinister death threats on February 13, 2021. A graffiti depicting her name and a gunshot sign was drawn on different locations in east Belfast. The chilling sight of graffiti addressing Patricia is a direct threat to her life.

• April 21, 2021: A supporter of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) falsely accused Patricia of orchestrating the threat she received in February. This occurred immediately after Patricia reported on the death threats received by a 17-year-old boy in the community by the UVF.

• September 11, 2021: A police ombudsman upheld a complaint filed by prominent crime reporter Patricia Devlin. The journalist had initiated the case against the Police Service of Northern Ireland for its failure to investigate the online threat against her baby. The police ombudsman concluded the case in Patricia's favour.