Editorial Standards

Sourcing and attribution

Material facts must be traceable to an identified, reliable source such as a police force, court, public agency or attributable statement. Articles link to the original source when available and must not present source claims as independently witnessed facts.

Verification and original value

Publication requires more than automated paraphrasing. Our workflow checks UK and crime relevance, cross-source duplication, dates, names, locations, media permissions and whether the article supplies meaningful context or curation. Thin, incomplete and duplicated reports are excluded from search indexing and advertising until improved.

Allegations, courts and victims

People are treated as innocent unless convicted. Charges, allegations and appeals are labelled accurately. We avoid speculation, unnecessary identifying detail, sensational descriptions and material likely to prejudice active proceedings. Legal reporting restrictions and victim anonymity are respected.

Automation and review

Software may assist discovery, transcription, categorisation and drafting. Automation does not remove our responsibility for accuracy. Content must pass editorial quality and moderation controls, and sensitive or uncertain material may be withheld for review.

Updates and corrections

Material changes should be reflected in the article. Substantive errors are corrected promptly and transparently under our corrections policy.