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The Best Student Writing ... : Autumn 2018
The Best Student Writing ... : Autumn 2018
The www.KettleMag.co.uk
best student writing online and in print... KettleMag 1
How to report
on a murder
investigation
Andy Robinson
@KettleMag
of the scene, and sent them all back victim. Finally, some regulars
to my colleague to write a story. I confirmed this was the man who
still didn’t know what was going had been stabbed to death and they
on and neither did anyone I spoke were devastated by the news.
to. Residents outside the cordon
were too far away to know what We had the ID, so we could run
happened apart from apparently the “named locally” story before
hearing shouting. anyone else did. I was absolutely
knackered, but I was told not to
I was sending all my news from leave the scene until all possibilities
the scene back to the office via our were exhausted, so I went round all
WhatsApp group chat, and it was the houses again asking for tributes
here I received the all-important to the victim. I was constantly told
message. “ANDY, IT’S A MURDER he was a man “who liked to keep
INVESTIGATION!”. himself to himself”
The penny had We already had the but I managed to
dropped. This was murder accused’s age get three people to
massive. Nothing and a quick Facebook talk. Someone even
like this happens in search of the name told me the name
what the nationals of the man who
call a “leafy Kent
brought up a match. I had been arrested
town”. So I worked went back to the road on suspicion of the
out the house the next morning to find murder.
number and used an ID - this time for the
a database to see suspect - and I got it, so We already had the
who lived there. murder accused’s
we could run his picture age, and a quick
We knew someone when he was charged. Facebook search of
had died but the name brought
who? This was the hardest part. I up a match. I went back to the road
searched the name that popped up the next morning to find an ID - this
in the database on Facebook and time for the suspect - and I got it,
managed to find someone with a so we could run his picture when he
matching name and age from the was charged. While our competitors
area. Was this him? By this point, I and the nationals were all at the
had already knocked on quite a few scene, I got everything first and
doors, but no one seemed to know owned the story as it evolved from
anything about what happened, a mere air ambulance landing to
and it was actually our stories one of the biggest stories of the year
which were supplying them with in our area.
information.
OODIE
T L E H
KET
#JournoRequest
Hoodie
#Journ
T-ShirtoRequest
kettlemag.teemil.com
4 KettleMag www.KettleMag.co.uk