How we report crime, courts and policing
Fast reporting still has to preserve the difference between an allegation and a finding of fact.
Every report states the procedural stage when it is known: investigation, arrest, charge, trial, conviction, acquittal or sentence. A charge is not a conviction, and the language in the headline and opening must preserve that distinction.
Police and prosecution releases are attributed. We look for court records, defence responses, later hearings and independent reporting before treating contested facts as established.
We do not identify complainants in sexual-offence cases or publish details that could identify protected children or witnesses. Reporting restrictions and the risk of jigsaw identification take priority over completeness.
A single incident cannot prove that crime is rising. Trend claims require comparable official data with a named period, geography and measure. Recorded crime is not the same thing as crime committed, and changes can reflect reporting or classification.
When a charge is dropped, a defendant is acquitted or an earlier report becomes materially incomplete, the outcome belongs on the original case record as well as in a new article.
Send a correction or case update
If a hearing, charge or outcome has changed, send the court, case number and source document so we can update the record.
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