A criminal who admitted to looting during the London riots has apologised to the people of Croydon through his local newspaper.
Ritchie Smith wrote a letter from his prison cell begging the residents of the town for their forgiveness and saying he deserves everything he gets before sending it to the Croydon Advertiser.
After receiving the letter reporter Gareth Davies managed to track down Ritchie’s mum Marie, who told the Advertiser that her son was ashamed of what drinking had reduced him to.
The weekly title carried the apology on the front page on Friday under the heading ‘I’m sorry’, and an interview with Marie was carried on page five.
In his letter printed in the paper on Friday, he wrote: “I am writing to your newspaper because I was involved in the Looting from Croydon shops and want to say sorry to the Croydon people and shops I stole from.
“I looted from three shops and intended to loot from another, I feel very ashamed and remorseful for my actions.
It went on: “The main reason for this letter is I want your newspaper to print a column from me saying sorry to everyone that lives in Croydon and sorry to House of Fraser, Currys in the Whitgift Centre, Yoke Menswear Store and Argos.
“I am charged with three burglaries and one intent to steal, burglary. Whatever I am given at court I deserve, I feel so, so guilty.”
His mum told the paper ‘it killed her’ to watch him destroy himself because he has a big heart and is such a lovely person when he is sober.
Ritchie confessed to the police about the crimes after he was arrested for trying to use a child’s ticket on a train.
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As grateful as I am to holdthefrontpage for providing weekly updates on Gareth’s career, I think this policy has run its course.
If I wanted this level of micro-detail I’d follow him on Twitter or pick up the phone for a chat.
I know it’s nice easy Friday-for-Monday copy, but surely you can do better than just reporting on the front page of whichever newspaper happens to email you?
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A cracking splash which any local paper would be proud to have. As for “RT”, what’s HTFP for, if not for this sort of coverage? Looking at the treatment of a story offers a fund of ideas for page layout, subbing and design. Meanwhile, cogitating on the content and source of a story can be an education or inspiration for old hands and novices alike. What’s not to like about that?
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It just gets a bit dull reading about the same people week after week Kevin. Maybe it’s down to other people to take responsibility for generating their own publicity, but at the moment we’re getting the same old faces cropping up time and time again. I’d rather HTFP existed to provide a bit of context and analysis – that way maybe we would avoid stories like the woeful reading of the ABC release last week (which claimed paid-paid part free was the future of the print media without any real basis).
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@RT
Hmm…there is another consideration too; the online publishing realm means everyone now has a voice – regardless of how crazed or irrelevant it might be, in the opinion of others. So for journalists, the key to standing out from the cacophony, and hopefully sustaining and developing a career at the same time, is to maintain a high profile. Savvy journalists regard themselves as being a “brand” and “promote” themselves accordingly, using the various online portals at their disposal, such as Twitter, Facebook, and, yes, HTFP and other journalism platforms. Marketing – it’s the name of the game for everyone now. As dear old Oscar said – roughly – there’s only one thing worse than being talked about, and that’s not being talked about! That has never been more true than in the era of digital journalism.
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This RT character always seems to full of opinions but never gives his/her realname. It seems to be the way of these internet forums. Why can’t you just give Gareth a pat on the back and say well done. Does it have to be qualified to such a degree? You’re lucky to have a decent local paper like the CA to break stories like that!
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Richard Taylor. Does that change things greatly, Paul?
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Not too difficult , is it, RT?
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