Mervyn Hancock, of the Western Daily Press, was one of the entrants in our recent contest to write about the dangers of journalism.
He took a look at some dangers facing the regional press journalist, and we'd like to share his story with HTFP readers...

Going where few men or women fear to tread is part of the job of being a hack.

In Tiverton, Devon, aged just 21, I was sent to investigate a suspicious death on a council estate.

Admitted to the house by a man with a withered arm, via the back door, I sat and listened while he explained how his wife had died after a frenzied knife attack on their garden path.

"I did it with this," he said - producing a large, bloodstained carving knife, just as the police started hammering on the front door. I quietly admitted two startled detectives, and eventually appeared as a witness . John Goldsworthy, was jailed for life..

Being shot at is not part of the job.

But those of us who found ourselves in Savernake Forest and subsequently, the town of Hungerford, when Michael Ryan went berserk with a rifle, had no idea who would be killed next. A housewife, policeman and taxi driver all lay dead when our pack of journos dodged from street to street.

The man was eventually shot in the school house, policemen involved in the Hungerford Massacre received counselling - the journalists got one of the biggest stories, and frights, of their lives.

The man with twinkling eyes, in the doorway of the scruffy house, assured me that he was innocent of killing his daughter.

The police, he said, were wasting their time digging in his garden. But Fred West was lying to me, and I had no idea that the body of several other victims were just feet away from me in No 7 Cromwell Street, Gloucester.

I saw Fred twice more - once in handcuffs being led away from his house, the second in court - then he hanged himself.

Ski-ing with pensioners, courtesy of SAGA holidays, should be an easy assignment.

Not a bit of it. When John Mills, photographer, and I visited Lake Garda in Italy, we found a 90 year old managing the most difficult piste. I had never been on skis, or ever intended to. In fact I wasn't wearing them when I slipped on ice, while trying to reach the chairlift.

I broke an ankle, was rescued from the slopes by police, airlifted back to Britain, spent three months off work - and ended up in the News of the World, courtesy of travel editor John Barnsley, who was also on the trip.

And finally... How about a fight?

I was sent to do a story on the old fairground boxing booths, and at 6ft3ins was not perturbed about being invited to challenge a tiny Korean boxer, half my size and at that time, about twice my age.

For two rounds I chased him around the ring, landing some well aimed blows. The fairground barker counted the money he had collected from the crowd, gave his man the nod, and I hit the canvas, seeing stars. Fight fixing - of course it was. The little bully!

Do you have a story about the regional press? Ring 0116 227 3122/3121, or
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