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Carlisle reporters beat the rest

Journalists on the News & Star left the rest of the media standing with their exclusive coverage of a methadone death probe.

In their late final edition on Tuesday, they beat national TV crews and national newspaper journalists to be the first to name Dr John Gordon as the GP at the centre of a police investigation into the deaths of five of his patients.

Assistant Editor Nick Turner put their scoop down to traditional regional press reporting and good contacts.

“At one stage in the morning, we had about 10 reporters all pursuing different avenues to get the name – and it paid off.”

Not content to rest on their laurels, Wednesday’s edition continued to lead the field with seven pages of news and analysis, and another exclusive – the names of four of the five men whose deaths are being re-examined by police.

Dr Gordon, 50, who practises in Carlisle, was arrested by Cumbria police and questioned over alleged gross misconduct relating to the prescribing of methadone. This development followed the death of a young man from a suspected methadone overdose last week.

Police said they were investigating four similar deaths since the beginning of 1999.

Dr Gordon has been released on police bail until June.

The News & Star also obtained the first quote from the doctor. He chose to release a brief statement to the evening title, rather than the nationals.

Mr Turner said: “I am very proud of the way our team operated.”

The paper’s detailed analysis included an interview with an addict patient of Dr Gordon who said the doctor was a hero who had helped him keep his life together and run a business. The paper also looked at the controversy surrounding the use of the heroin substitute in the UK, and a former city GP told of the difficulties it presented to doctors.

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