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Herald man shortlisted for Paul Foot journalism honour

Regional newspaper journalist Eamonn O’Neill has won through more than 100 entrants to be shortlisted in the final six of an award for campaigning journalism.

Eamonn, from The Herald in Glasgow, will find out tonight if he will win the inaugural Paul Foot Award.

The annual award has been set up by Private Eye and The Guardian in memory of Paul Foot, and will be presented at Simpson’s-in-the-Strand, London, tonight.

The judges’ citation said of Eamonn’s work: “Foot relished nothing better than the pursuit of a bent copper.

“Eamonn O’Neill’s tenacious and lengthy quest for justice in the case of Robert Brown, who spent 25 years in jail – put there by a detective later convicted for corruption – before being cleared of murder, echoes some of Paul’s most famous campaigns.

“This was raw, cutting edge journalism at its best.”

The judges for the Award are Ian Hislop, Alan Rusbridger, Bill Hagerty, Richard Stott, Jeremy Dear and Richard Ingrams.

They also shortlisted journalists from The Guardian, The Bristolian, the Daily Mail, and The Sunday Telegraph.

The long-list of journalists whittled down from the 100-plus included two reporters from the Lancashire Evening Post.

Nick Owens exposed life inside Preston Prison and Stef Hall wrote articles under the heading ‘The Pedlars of Death’.

Stef was praised for articles produced as part of the Lancashire Evening Post’s ‘Pedlars of Death’ campaign, which aims to expose the world of suicide chatrooms on the internet and the sale of suicide handbooks by retail giants including Amazon.

The series, sparked by the suicide of a local girl, has added resonance with the recent terrorist atrocities by suicide bombers in the UK, many of who are believed to have been recruited over the internet.

Trainee reporter Nick Owens, still with just a year’s experience under his belt, was commended for a unprecedented expose of the realities of life and issues surrounding Preston prison including the massive reoffending rates and the true extent of the prison’s drug problem.

A £5,000 prize will go to the winner and £1,000 will be given to each of the runners-up.