Crimestoppers' guest articles

• Paying the price of knife crime 50 years on by Wensley Clarkson

  Crime writer Wensley Clarkson compares the current wave of knife crime with a similar spate of violence in London more than 50 years ago. Interviewing ex-gangster Gordon McShane, Clarkson finds that although children today have similar reasons for joining gangs, young knife carriers in our current society don't know where to draw the line when it comes to violence. [December 2008]

• Fact and fiction by John Escott

  Writer John Escott tells Crimestoppers about his fascination with crime fiction and how it's moved on apace since the 'golden age' of the detective story. He goes on to examine some real-life crimes, looking in particular at the case of the Great Train Robbery and one of the robbers, Ronnie Biggs. [November 2008]

• ‘Essex Boys and the new breed of criminal' by Bernard O'Mahoney

  Ex-member of the notorious 'Essex Boys' gang Bernard O'Mahoney tells Crimestoppers why he's worried about the way crime is being tackled in Britain today, and how he learned that being in a gang is far from glamorous. [September 2008]

• 'Adopt a burgar's way of thinking' by Michael Fraser

  'Beat the Burglar' Michael Fraser explains how to think like an opportunist thief in order to make your home burglar-proof. [August 2008]

• Inside the UK prison service by Jim Dawkins

  Drawing from his experiences as a prison officer in some of London's most notorious prisons, and more recently from his Channel 5 programme ‘Banged Up', Jim Dawkins shares his insight into the problems of the UK prison service. [July 2008]

• Anti-Social Behaviour Policy - Driving fast, running on empty? by Professor Peter Squires

  We entered the 21st century with concerns about rowdy and anti-social youth. Moving towards the end of the decade, communities are panicking about youth weapon carrying and violence. [June 2008]

• Turning down the noise and breaking down the wall of silence on gun crime by Professor Peter Squires

  A continuing problem in tackling gun crime in Britain has been the reluctance of victims to report it or witnesses to come forwards with evidence. The difficulties that the police had while investigating the Rhys Jones murder were not untypical. [May 2008]

• High-tech crime: The new dangers by Roy Ramm

  We've all embraced internet shopping, plastic money and online banking quickly and readily. However, we're fast recognising that with these digital conveniences also lies the ‘cyber-criminal'. [April 2008]

• Ipswich prostitute murder trial by Martin Brunt

  In mid-December 2006, the bodies of five prostitutes were found in Ipswich. On 21st December 2006, Steve Wright from Ipswich was charged with the murders. Martin Brunt reported on the Ipswich murders for Sky News and tells Crimestoppers about Day One in the life of a crime reporter at Ipswich Crown Court. [January 2008]