Robert Mendick

Robert Mendick has produced a series of scoops, writing with insight on security and intelligence.

His investigations have lifted the lid on the disturbing and troubling murder of WPc Yvonne Fletcher, culminating in a legal ruling almost 40 years after her murder. Mendick secured the first and only ever interview with Director K, the senior MI5 intelligence officer in charge of hostile states counterintelligence, while his continued investigations into the treatment of British troops accused of crimes in Northern Ireland and elsewhere has led to legal changes. Mendick highlighted the upsetting cse of Dennis Hutchings, an 80-year-old dying man dragged into court and who then passed away mid-trial. Mendick’s investigations into the shooting of WPc Yvonne Fletcher led to the High Court finding a close associate of Colonel Gaddafi liable for her murder in a landmark judgment 38 years after her death. A dossier of the case, including a leaked prosecutor's report obtained by the Daily Telegraph, was used to secure the judgment. Mendick has been reporting on the case for many years. That included the revelation that the prime suspect Saleh Ibrahim Mabrouk had become a UK ‘state asset’ allowed to live in the UK. His reporting into the ongoing pursuit of British veterans over deaths in Northern Ireland during the Troubles culminated with the last interview with Dennis Hutchings, a former soldier on trial for attempted murder. Two weeks later Hutchings, who suffered heart and kidney failure, died having contracted covid midwaythrough the trial. Mendick further seriously embarrassed the defence secretary when he disclosed that the MoD was refusing to give Hutchings a military funeral, prompting a u-turn. The Government, under pressure following Hutchings’ death and the collapse of a trial against two soldiers for the alleged murder of an IRA commander also extensively covered by Mendick, subsequently led to the introduction of a new law offering protection from prosectuion to British troops. The law change is a consequence of Mendick’s reporting over the years. His exclusive interview with Director K, the head of MI5’s hostile states counterintelligence branch, followed months of delicate negotiation with the intelligence services. In the interview she revealed the inadequacy of the UK’s spying laws and warned against the threat posed by China as well as Russia. It remains the only interview given by a senior MI5 officer outside of occasional interviews given by the avowed director general. The interview gave an all too rare insight into MI5’s workings, the result of winning over Director K’s trust. Mendick oversaw the newspaper’s responses to the big security stories, including the terrorist bombing in Liverpool and the stabbing of David Amess. For the first months of the Ukraine war, he anchored the Telegraph’s brilliant coverage, pulling together the vast amounts of information to produce insightful, informative splashes and inside recons. His examination of oligarchs included the revelation that the tycoon who bought Vladimir Putin his summer palace on the Black Sea was secretly living in London in one of its most expensive properties.