THE council which scandalised a nation by spying on a mother and her three children will be hauled before a regulatory tribunal this week.

A panel of eminent judges and QCs will consider the case of Jenny Paton and her family at a two-day hearing before the Investigatory Powers Tribunal in London.

They hit the headlines nationally in April last year after the Daily Echo broke the story that Borough of Poole put them under surveillance for three weeks to check the validity of their school application. They were not found to have broken the rules.

The case was taken up by civil liberties and human rights charity Liberty – which will be representing Jenny at the hearing on Thursday and Friday.

The tribunal has the task of looking into complaints about the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act – or Ripa – under which Poole council carried out its surveillance.

It will decide if the council’s actions were lawful under the act and, if it finds in Ms Paton’s favour, could order Borough of Poole to pay her compensation.

Tomorrow is a long-awaited day for Jenny who has been fighting for tighter restrictions on the use of Ripa powers.

Over the past year, the matter has been examined by the press, scrutinised by MPs and the government has called a review of Ripa and its uses.

Jenny told the Echo the tribunal was the end of a “hard slog”.

“I just felt we needed a test case,” she added. “It’s the only place you can say ‘Were Poole council right or wrong to use this piece of legislation to carry out surveillance in this way?’”

The tribunal will hear the evidence this week but could take weeks or even months to come to a decision.