Police Nightjack blogger's identity revealed as Lancashire officer (From Blackburn Citizen)
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Police Nightjack blogger's identity revealed as Lancashire officer
7:00pm Tuesday 16th June 2009 in Blackburn
A SECRET police blogger has been revealed as a Lancashire detective following a high court ruling that stripped away his anonymity.
Detective Constable Richard Horton, based in Lancashire Police's Eastern division, had tried to keep his identity secret as he uploaded diary entries on to his critically acclaimed NightJack blog.
Following a national newspaper investigation into who was writing the blogs, Mr Horton was outed as the author and attempted to take out an injunction against the Times newspaper to stop it printing his name.
But in a landmark High Court case this week a judge rules that anonymous bloggers cannot use the court process to keep their identity a secret.
Lancashire Police have issued Mr Horton with a written warning.
Mr Horton's blogs, which were awarded the orwell Prize for political writing, offered a behind-the-scenes look at front-line policing and advised those under police investigation to “complain about every officer... show no respect to the legal system or anybody working in it”.
The Times said that some blog entries contained confidential details of cases being worked on by Mr Horton.
People and locations were changed to offer a thin veil of anonymity but some, including those relating to child sex offences, could be traced back to genuine prosecutions, the paper said.
Mr Horton has now deleted all his blog entries.
A police spokesperson said: “The commentary in the blog is indeed the work of a serving Lancashire detective and clearly the views and opinions expressed are those of the author himself and not those of the wider Constabulary.
“We have conducted a full internal investigation and the officer accepts that parts of his public commentary have fallen short of the standards of professional behaviour we expect of our police officers.
“He has been spoken to regarding his professional behaviour and, in line with disciplinary procedures, has been issued with a written warning.”
Comments(10)
tccharmer
says...
7:56pm Tue 16 Jun 09
Seems to apply here I think.
Southern Badger
says...
9:26pm Tue 16 Jun 09
Totally
says...
10:18pm Tue 16 Jun 09
Southern Badger wrote:I couldn't agree more. Meanwhile treason is committed across the UK and no-one bats an eyelid. Nightjack was more tuned in to decent people than all of the media put together.
Isn't it a shame that a reputable newspaper uses its power to shut down an original and independent voice
JohnR1
says...
11:31pm Tue 16 Jun 09
Jimmy Paterson
says...
8:30am Wed 17 Jun 09
It's odd that those who are 'of doubtful character',useless, sick,lame or lazy simply get a cushy job in your organisation and yet you get disciplined for getting an award!!?
campbell69s
says...
9:08am Wed 17 Jun 09
Article 10
Freedom of expression
1. Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers.
disgusted tunbridge wells
says...
2:55pm Wed 17 Jun 09
Another nail in the coffin of newspapers who always prided themselves on their "sources"
plodder
says...
6:49pm Wed 17 Jun 09
ebygum
says...
8:27pm Wed 17 Jun 09
DC Horton is a very lucky man, a written warning, for something that could set the police back years.Do you know how hard it is to gain the trust of rape victims, child abuse victims etc, yet he writes abouts these things, which if the LET are to be believed are traceable to real cases, would you come forward thinking you could be subject to a blog.
The real detectives are working hard, and dont have the time to sit everyday writing rubbish on their computers, DC Horton must not be very busy, or perhaps was doing it in police time on nights, hence his title.
If it is in fact true he wrote about real, on going investigations, has anyone looked at that document he signed when he joined, the official secrets act.
DC Horton, you are a disgrace to the vast majority of hard working police officers, and you should resign, but you wont, too big a pension at stake.
ms9 says...
7:28pm Tue 16 Jun 09