Lazy local journalists

I’d been writing about my past and discussing my history with my sister when I found the article detailing Tim’s conviction. My Siter became the first person to challenge the way I was thinking. I was stuck defending him like I was still a kid that needed to do what he was told.

It was 2020, and the article was three years old so why hadn’t I seen it before? The only reason I can think of is that I put ‘paedophile’ after his name, and that turned up an obscure article from a publication in Salisbury.

Tim’s conviction was in Swindon Crown Court, and at the time he lived in Chippenham, a neighbouring town to Swindon, so why wasn’t it covered by the Swindon Advertiser? More concerning is that the Salisbury Journal is owned and operated by the same news group as the Swindon Advertiser. So why didn’t they share the information? Information that would have meant an active paedophile wouldn’t have been able to hide his conviction and blend into the community.

The paper that did post about it, did so online, with a clickbait headline, and simply published the same thing that the police had. The police released simple details of the successful conviction, as they do most times they close a case with a positive outcome and the Salisbury Journal clicked ‘copy’ then ‘paste’ then published. I wonder if they even read it first.

The only publication to locally publish the story was Wiltshire 999s, a blog site by a Swindon local, but they resorted to copy and paste from the Wiltshire Police website. In questions set to Wiltshire 999s, they inadvertently admitted they could have done more. 

All the publications had more details of the case, particularly, the photo of Tim. They had access to the mug shot taken by the police when he was arrested, but decided to take the quick, easy, lazy, option and post the cut-and-paste story with no photo of Tim Darch.

Tim, having no remorse or shame, made his way to the comments section of the Salisbury Journal article and started getting into discourse with decent people about how the crimes weren’t that bad. He went as far as saying, People should be allowed to do what they wanted in their own home, even if that is downloading and viewing child abuse. Salisbury Journal and Newsquest have been contacted to ask why that was allowed to happen. They are responsible for what they post, and in turn, are responsible for the comments section too. They should have someone in their group who is responsible for monitoring the activity on their websites, and surely, a member of the public posting about how ‘child abuse is acceptable’, should raise a red flag.

The Swindon Advertiser is also part of Newsquest Group, it’s a larger publication than the Salisbury Journal, and covers the areas that Tim resided in, and some of the areas that he committed crimes in. Why would one part of Newsquest, not send an email to their counterpart covering the affected area, and suggest they publish the news of the conviction too? Does the community that an active paedophile lives in, not deserve to get a heads up about their fellow resident? Do the publications not think that as reporters of the news, they have a responsibility, or even a duty, to inform their readership of local events?

Their lack of action allowed Tim to carry on hiding. He moved, to a new house, and yet another one that looked at a primary school. He immediately changed his name, so he could shrug off all accountabilities. He was on the sex offenders register, but is that going to stop someone from pursuing their perversions? Had any one of the ‘journalists’ that should have been producing news for their communities looked into what they were copy-and-pasting, they would have seen what was obvious. That Tim Darch was experienced at hiding and evading. He clearly wanted to live beside primary schools, as every time he moved he lived beside one, and assimilated into the community like any other normal person.

No one other than Tim can be held responsible for his actions, but, if since 2017, when the Salisbury Journal reported his convictions, any child has interacted with Tim, or worse, been subjected to abuse by him, then does Newsquest not have some moral responsibility there? Or for the danger their inaction presented to the communities their readers live in?

Certainly, if the journalists had done their job properly, Tim wouldn’t have been able to move, change his name by Deed Poll, and get a position in a new community as a councillor, portraying himself as a responsible and trusted figure.

Newsquest say on their website, “We are committed to bringing a voice to your region.” But are they? Or are they complicit in dangerous criminals operating in the regions they report in. 

In replying to questions put to them, the Regional Editor for Newsquest said she couldn’t answer for previous editors, but no lazy journalism will happen on her watch.

The problem is, lazy journalism has happened under her watch. Both Swindon Advertiser & Wiltshire 999s have posted a few articles surrounding Tims most recent trial, where I, along with two other victims, gave evidence against him for historical sexual abuse. Both publications were given the opportunity of full details of Tim’s hidden past and up to date photos. The Swindon Adver did take the photos along with the details, but did nothing with it and Wiltshire 999s refused the offer.

The Swindon Advertiser has promised to give their full attention to the upcoming sentencing hearing of Tim at the end of this month. I guess time will tell, if their word, or that of their parent company, Newsquest, can be trusted.