Two journalists inappropriately arrested over material that appeared in a documentary on a Troubles massacre have settled their case against the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).
It is understood the PSNI has agreed to pay damages to Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey and delete material it seized when they raided their homes and offices in August 2018.
The settlement was announced during a brief hearing at Belfast High Court this morning.
Mr McCaffrey and Mr Birney were arrested over the alleged theft of a police watchdog document that appeared in their film No Stone Unturned about a notorious loyalist massacre in Loughinisland during the Troubles.
Last year, judges ruled search warrants used by police to search the journalists' home and their offices at Fine Point Films been "inappropriate".
This resulted in the criminal probe into the journalists being discontinued.
The original police operation had been undertaken by Durham Constabulary at the request of the PSNI amid conflict of interest concerns.
In the summer, PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne issued an unreserved apology to the two journalists.
Reacting to the settlement, Mr Birney said: "Today marks an end to the legal process I began in a police cell on August 31 2018 after being arrested and my home and offices raided by dozens of PSNI and Durham police.
"We launched a Judicial Review in the face of the PSNI's most egregious attack on journalism to protect our journalism, our sources, and press freedom itself."
He added: "Over the past two years, the PSNI fought our attempts to protect our journalism and sources every step of the way.
"They sought to defend their indefensible attack on press freedom right up until the judgment delivered by the Lord Chief Justice in July this year.
"We have welcomed the current Chief Constable's apology for the actions of the PSNI. No such apology has been received by his predecessor George Hamilton, under whose leadership the PSNI arrested us.
"Journalists in this jurisdiction now need to see Simon Byrne take all steps necessary to ensure accountability for the PSNI's despicable attack on press freedom and to assure the press that lessons have been learned."
Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan welcomed the fact that a settlement had been reached between the parties.
"We congratulate the parties on finding an answer to this interesting and difficult, but also important case," he told lawyers in Belfast High Court.
The PA news agency understands that the PSNI has agreed to pay out £875,000.
The total includes £600,000 to Fine Point Films, £150,000 to Mr Birney and £125,000 to Mr McCaffrey.
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Barry McCaffrey questioned why it had taken the PSNI so long to settle with them.
"It's a relief that it's finally over but I don't see why it took so long," he told the PA news agency.
"This whole thing has cost the State millions.
"Millions of pounds wasted for what? This could have been spent on Covid and people in hospitals, but somebody within the PSNI decided that public money, millions of pounds of public money, was going to be wasted. Who's going to be held to account?
"I support policing, we support proper policing, but this was the dark arts. This was the dark forces. This was an attack on press freedom. And as far as we can see, those people have been allowed to escape.
"The Lord Chief Justice vindicated us. He cleared our names and we're very happy about that but the people that did this to us and that attacked the Fourth Estate and press freedom they have been allowed to escape.
"We think that the Policing Board should investigate this."
A PSNI spokesman said of the settlement with the two journalists: "The Police Service of Northern Ireland is pleased that these matters have now been concluded".
Mr Birney's solicitor Niall Murphy said the size of the pay-out was unprecedented.
"It's a totally unprecedented, I have never experienced or heard of in the legal community of a settlement of this scale in respect of unlawful arrest," he said.
"And that, in and of itself, speaks to the egregious actions that were planned, conspired and executed by the PSNI and Durham police.
"We often hear in the context of legacy that there are no resources for investigations.
"Yet here resource was not an issue. Millions of pounds were expended on a whim, on a lie. It was a lie. The police were pursuing a lie that these man had stolen a document or had breached the Official Secrets Act.
"This case extols the virtues of a free press and the value of investigative journalism.
"These two professional journalists shone a light on the State's darkness, and the State didn't like it, and it responded in character, in kind, with its unlimited resource."
Amnesty International, which supported the journalists' campaign, said the settlement represented a victory for press freedom.
Patrick Corrigan from the organisation said the Policing Board should investigate the episode so lessons could be learned.
"This is a huge victory for press freedom and the fundamental principle of protecting journalists' sources," he said.
"Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey have successfully defended press freedom, not only on their own account, but on behalf of media across the UK.
"Time after time, the PSNI has chosen to tear up the rule book and ride roughshod over the principle of press freedom. Time after time, they have ended up making apologies and paying damages out of public money - but only after sending a chill through every newsroom in Belfast.
"The Policing Board must now take responsibility for addressing the fallout of this debacle, which has caused huge harm to public confidence in policing in Northern Ireland, and between legal fees, court costs and damages, has cost millions of pounds to the public purse."
