A trio of journalists from the Press Association have been honoured for their coverage of the Raoul Moat saga last summer.

Tom Wilkinson, Rod Minchin and Hugh MacKnight won the Maurice Bray prize for Hard News in the 2010 Tom Cordner North East Press Awards.

The trio submitted a combined portfolio of their coverage of the crimes and police-hunt involving Moat last July, which made regional, national and international news.

Judges said the PA entry was a superb example of teamwork, combining stories, flashes, round-ups, interviews and background pieces round-the-clock over several days which “helped to underpin reporting across the rest of the media industry.”

It is the first time PA has won the Hard News prize, set up in memory of former Hartlepool Mail editor Maurice Brady, who helped to found the Tom Cordner Awards in 1980.

It was presented as part of the 29th Awards Night at the Customs House Theatre in South Shields. The event, sponsored by health & beauty retailers Semichem, had been postponed from November because of heavy snow.

The North East Journalist of the Year award went to Dave Roberts of the Northern Echo, who also took the honours for Online Video News.

The Trainee Journalist Quill, specifically dedicated to Tom Cordner, was won by Dan Warburton of ncjMedia, while the Lifetime Contribution award went to Jon Smith for his work as a trainer, author and examiner across nearly three decades.

The full list of winners was as follows:

North East Journalist of the Year: Dave Roberts – Northern Echo
Tom Cordner Quill for North EastTrainee Journalist of the Year: Dan Warburton – ncjMedia
North East Weekly Newspaper Journalist of the Year: Brian Tilley – Hexham Courant
Graeme Stanton Award: Lifetime contribution to Journalism in the North East: Jon Smith – NCTL examiner, trainer and author
Jim Merrington Prize: North East Photographer of Year: Stuart Boulton – Northern Echo
Ian Weir Award: Picture of the Year: Stuart Boulton – Northern Echo
Maurice Brady Award – Hard News: Tom Wilkinson, Rod Minchin, Hugh MacKnight – Press Association, Newcastle
Mike Gilligan Prize – Magazine of Year: Tynedale Life – Editor, Myles Hodnett
Online Video News coverage: Dave Roberts – Northern Echo
Fred Hurrell Prize for features: Hannah Davies – ncjMedia
Durhams Sporting Plate: Mark Douglas – ncjMedia
North East Prize for Health & Wellbeing coverage: Karen Wilson – ncjMedia
ABC Spike for overall page design: Alan Formby-Jackson – Evening Gazette
Splash Subbing Award & Tony Dumphy trophy: News Team – Hartlepool Mail
Phillip Hickey Trophy – Columnist/Blogger of the Year: Alastair Gilmour – The Journal
Eric Dobson Scroll – TTop NCE Marks in the region: Alison Goulding – Sunderland Echo