Journalist uncovers the truth to make a difference
internal affairs, Daly found himself making headlines for all the wrong reasons. It was a period which he says saw “an incredibly dark PR campaign” waged against him and the BBC.
That all changed when The Secret Policeman was broadcast in autumn 2003. The film sparked a political row which led to 10 officers resigning and 12 more facing disciplinary action.
Daly had immersed himself in that world for almost two years, stripping away large chunks of his own identity in order to go “deep cover”. He admits that no matter how many books read on the subject, psychological tests conducted or role play sessions performed, it was impossible to be prepared in advance for what unfolded.
He went undercover as a trainee officer and secretly filmed at the Bruche National Training Centre, in Warrington, Cheshire, and also on patrol in Greater Manchester. “I had all this James Bond kit with cameras everywhere including in my bulletproof vest, briefcase, dashboard of the car, stereo and whenever possible had a covert crew following me on the beat,” he recalls.
“It was literally like living a double life. I was in constant fear of making a mistake.”
Daly was aware the “good cops” he had trained alongside – those who weren’t racist – would feel betrayed. That niggling guilt made the subsequent emotional fall-out less cut and dried.
“The difficulty with long-term undercover is that, unless you are made of steel and a robot, you are going to make connections with people,” he says.
Then came an invitation to speak at the National Black Police Association annual conference in 2004 where Daly received a standing ovation from 600 officers. “They told me I had changed their lives and had been waiting for that for decades,” he says. “That helped me deal with the fall-out of betraying people I had become close to. Ultimately, I felt what I was doing was worth it.”
Daly has gone on to work on high-profile BBC investigations including Rough Justice: Murder Without A Trace about a miscarriage of justice involving Barri White and Keith Hyatt who were wrongly convicted of murdering 19-year-old Rachel Manning in 2000.
The programme, which aired in 2005, played a pivotal role in White and Hyatt’s convictions being quashed in 2007. Six years later, Shahidul Ahmed was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for killing Ms Manning. Daly describes it as “the most important journalism I have ever done”.
Other headline-making projects include the Scottish Bafta-winning documentary Rangers: The Men Who Sold The Jerseys, which revealed the details of payments made to players and staff of the club through offshore Employee Benefit Trusts (EBTs) between 2001 and 2010.
More recently Daly fronted Panorama specials Catch Me If You Can, which delved into allegations of doping in sport spanning more than 30 years, and Seb Coe and the Corruption Scandal, in which he investigated how much Lord Coe knew about corruption and doping cover-ups in athletics.
Daly loves sport, but concedes his recent forays have taken the gloss off watching it as a fan. It is a subject matter he finds too compelling to step back from.
“There is a never-ending trail of great tales to investigate,” he says. “For so long, the people in the corridors of power in sport believed it was their domain to run it as they saw fit. They don’t like scrutiny – they hate it. Career high: Rough Justice documentary where Barri White, wrongly convicted of murdering his girlfriend, went free. Career low: Independent Police Complaints Commission finding against our film over Met corruption in the Stephen Lawrence case. Favourite film: All The President’s Men and Jaws. Last book read: The Laidlaw Trilogy by William McIlvanney. Best and worst traits: Best: listening, worst: procrastination and being late. Best advice received: If you’re talking, you’re not listening.
“I believe sports administrations are on their toes now. WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) is beleaguered, the IOC (International Olympic Committee) is under the most pressure it has perhaps ever been, Fifa and the IAAF (International Association of Athletic Federations) have their own issues. It is very fertile ground.”
He refuses to be drawn on the issue of the contentious Scottish Six news programme other than to acknowledge the potential to “bring dozens of new jobs at a time when the industry is on its knees”.
The youngest of five children, Daly comes from Clydebank. His father was a shipyard worker and late mother a housewife. With an older brother who required extra care due to a disability, Daly recalls being acutely conscious Biggest influence: Graham Crawford (first editor at Clydebank Post), Jim Wilson (The Scotsman), Simon Ford (BBC) and Murdoch Rodgers. Ideal dinner guests: Ernest Shackleton, Doreen Lawrence, Ben Bradlee, Joe Pistone, William McIlvanney, Andy Murray and my wife. throughout his life of not troubling his parents with trivial matters.
He was a naturally inquisitive child always in search of adventure. Daly laughs when asked about embarking on Famous Five-style escapades. “I grew up in Clydebank – it wasn’t quite five go off on a jolly adventure with lemonade and a wee treasure map,” he grins. “I went to what could be described as quite a tough school. It was hard. I was a bit of an outsider.”
While the men in his family had traditionally gone into the shipbuilding trade, Daly studied film and media at the Stirling University. It was there his love of journalism blossomed. He went on to complete a postgraduate diploma in journalism at Strathclyde University and got his first byline in a national newspaper writing about swimming for The Herald in 1998.
Daly landed a job on The Clydebank Post and worked there for a year before being moving to The Scotsman and then the Daily Record. He joined the BBC in 2002 and his career in investigative journalism took off.
Daly is gregarious company, although fiercely guarded of his personal life. Hardly a surprise given the torrent of online abuse he has faced over the years as a result of his investigative work. In 2012, a man was charged and later fined after making threatening remarks to Daly on Twitter.
He is married to Seonaid, 35, who works in the arts (“probably my biggest fan and fiercest critic”) and the couple have two children.
Daly was a keen swimmer throughout his childhood and swam competitively at university (in the same waters at Stirling now graced by stars such as Ross Murdoch and Robbie Renwick).
In more recent years, Daly has completed two Ironman races and enjoys cycling although family commitments have seen his bike forlornly gathering dust of late.
He rarely fully switches off from work and is a self-dubbed perfectionist. “Would people call me a control freak?” he ponders. “I’m very much across all the elements of the production. I like to be in the edit, write the scripts and do the meetings with the lawyers …”
Nor could he imagine doing any other job. “It is addictive,” he says. “If I was to end my career tomorrow I would be happy with what I have achieved. But I can’t think of anything else that would give me the same amount of satisfaction.”