The editor of two sister dailies has publicly warned drink-drivers they will be named and shamed in his newspapers as part of a Christmas campaign.
Nigel Pickover, editor-in-chief of the Eastern Daily Press and Norwich Evening News, has issued the warning in launching the campaign with police forces in Norfolk and Suffolk.
Both papers have “vowed” to name and shame those who are convicted of drink-driving and publish their names, full details and pictures as part of a crackdown on the offence throughout December.
Last year more than 4,600 drivers were breath-tested in Norfolk and Suffolk in December, with more than 180 providing positive readings.
Said Nigel: “There is no hiding place for people who might well kill or seriously injure others for the sake of a few extra drinks.
“For another year the EDP is supporting the police in this worthwhile campaign and will gladly name and shame those who break the law.”
Chief Insp Chris Spinks, head of the Norfolk and Suffolk roads policing team, added: “We repeat the message every year but we still find drivers willing to risk their own lives and the lives of others by drinking and driving.
“We know that driving under the influence impairs your judgment and makes your reactions slower, increasing the chance of being involved in a collision, and is one of the ‘fatal four’ factors that have been shown to contribute to collisions where people have been killed or seriously injured.
“However, there are still some who get behind the wheel after drinking or drug-taking.”
Sign up for our free daily email bulletin
Follow HTFP on Twitter
Got a story? Email the Editor at
Good to see this, but shouldn’t all weekly/evening papers be doing this every day/week of the year and not just in the build-up to Christmas? The way this report is worded suggests that EDP do not. Apologies if they do. When I worked in local newspapers 30 plus years ago virtually every case in the magistrates’ courts was reported. But that was in the days when locals provided a court coverage service for their readers.
Report this comment
Most accidents year-round are caused by reckless young drivers on cannabis. Pickover’s naff Christmas campaign will do little to change that.
Report this comment
No objection to this in principle. Just a shame the papers don’t routinely cover magistrates court any more so even more serious offenders won’t get the same treatment.
Report this comment
It’s going to be even harder to cover our local court in Newbury when it closes and cases are farmed out to Slough, Maidenhead and Reading.
Report this comment
With so few readers for the dire EDP/NEN and EADT its not much of a deterrent is it
Far better to force them to watch Mustard tv
Report this comment
Jeeez
Anything to sell a few more papers via the latest passing bandwagon to jump on
It’s a shame mr Pickover doesn’t feel the need to give this kind of exposure through the year not just at Christmas and on the back of a police campaign which when the numbers are released he will no doubt claim part of the glory.
My how the once credible EDP and EADT have fallen in so short a period of time
Report this comment
‘Vowing’ to name, shame and publish full details of the offenders in the two Norwich morning papers ( Yep,both are on sale around 7am and they wonder why no one buys them) says more about their lack of proper court coverage than anything.
Clearly just a lame attempt by the editor to ride on the back of a seasonal drink drive campaign desperately hoping to get some reflected glory and a few extra copy sales on the back of a credible police campaign.
Leave the policing to the police and you chaps stick to pet supplements and ice rinks
Report this comment
That would have been effective and embarrassed the offenders back when the EDP was a proper paper and had a huge readership, now with record all time low copy sales so few people will see it that it’s a waste of time,no you’ll just have to find another way to flog a few of your papers Nigel, you could always try improving the content instead of hyping it up on Twitter,
Now there’s a thought
Report this comment
Who is the target market for putting on sales? I can’t exactly see the defendants and their families falling over backwards to buy the papers.
Report this comment
Potential buyers of the papers will be those who will want to see the names and addresses of those found guilty of drink driving offences as its always been the case in local paper readerships, it’s the twitching curtain effect: guaranteed copy seller especially when nowadays papers don’t cover the bulk of court cases as they used to.
Maybe if EDP put the full detail on their websites as opposed to in paper more people would see it and for free
Report this comment
I’m sure that there was a time when either the EDP or the News ran lists of all people convicted in the local mags courts.
Report this comment