A journalist from UK publisher Trinity Mirror has beaten competition from around the world to win a top international journalism prize.

Claire Miller, who helped set up the acclaimed Wales Online Datastore, has been awarded the Global Editors Network award for data-driven investigative journalism, beating rival shortlisted entries from as far afield as New York, Canada, Italy, Hungary and the Philippines.

The prize was in recognition of Claire’s work in exposing how vulnerable children in Wales were being placed in care many hundreds of miles away.

It is her second major award in a matter of weeks after the Wales Online Datastore – which she ran as part of her previous job as a reporter at WalesOnline – won the Digital Award at the UK Regional Press Awards.

Said Claire: “The story grew from reports about the impact children in care being sent from Wales to Kent was having in that county as well as concerns about the vulnerability of children in the care system.

“From there it was using the Freedom of Information Act to survey councils in Wales to find out the scale of the problem. It’s a good example of how data journalism and FOIs can be used to tell compelling human stories.”

David Ottewell, Head of the Data Unit, said: “It’s another fantastic achievement for Claire.  She has shown time and again how data can be the basis of compelling and important stories about the communities that we serve.

“It’s fantastic that the whole of Trinity Mirror’s regional division is now benefiting from her unique combination of journalistic and technical skills.”