Charles Thomson (journalist)

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Charles Thomson
Thomson in 2020
Born1988[citation needed]
United Kingdom
OccupationInvestigative/music journalist

Charles Thomson is a British investigative journalist. He has written for media outlets including The Sun, The Mirror, The Guardian, Mojo, Wax Poetics and the Huffington Post.[citation needed] From 2011 to 2019, he worked at Yellow Advertiser.[1][better source needed] He is best known for his investigation into the cover up of a historic pedophile ring, for which he won multiple journalism awards.[2][3][4]

Work[edit]

Thomson spent years investigating the cover-up of a historic paedophile ring in Shoebury, Essex, eventually finding evidence that the leader of the ring had been a police informant.[5][4] The investigation began when he discovered a series of compensation payments authorised by Essex County Council for "alleged abuse" linked to its children's departments between the 1970s and the 1990s.[1][6] His campaign for transparency over the payments led to a whistleblower coming forward with concerns about how authorities had handled an investigation into a 1980s paedophile ring in Shoebury.[7]

When other whistleblowers came forward with corroborating stories, Thomson arranged for them to meet the then Essex Police and Crime Commissioner, Nick Alston, who in turn introduced them to the Chief Constable of Essex Police and a senior detective. These meetings resulted in police reopening the case and a man being arrested. Further work by Thomson later caused police to reopen the case a second time.[1][8] Thomson discovered a link between the Shoebury ring and the sex offender Lennie Smith, a member of the "Dirty Dozen" paedophile gang, which was responsible for the deaths of Jason Swift, Barry Lewis and Mark Tildseley in the 1980s.[citation needed] Thomson also discovered old files that documented the cover-up of the Shoebury case in real-time.[citation needed] The documents included a confession by a police officer that the leader of the paedophile ring had been a "registered informant", despite decades of sexual offending against children.[9][better source needed]

In 2008, Thomson interviewed James Brown's former co-writer Fred Wesley for Wax Poetics magazine. During the interview, Wesley spoke about working on Brown's final album in 2005. The interview inspired Thomson to research the album, spending several months interviewing more than a dozen people who were directly involved in its production.[10] In October 2010, Tomi Rae Brown, the widow of Brown, gave Thomson an interview. In the article published by Sawf News, Brown spoke about her husband's 2004 arrest for domestic assault and how she nursed him through cancer in 2005.[11][dubious – discuss] She also claimed that Brown's legs had been sawn off after his death to obtain DNA to prove her son's paternity.[12] Thomson has also written about Brown for Mojo magazine and spoken about the singer on the Los Angeles radio station KPFA-FM.[13]

Thomson's work on Michael Jackson's 2005 trial was cited in Randall Sullivan's 2012 Jackson biography Untouchable: The Strange Life and Tragic Death of Michael Jackson.[14] His work was also cited in other Jackson biographies including Joseph Vogel's Man in the Music, Mike Smallcombe's Making Michael and J. Randy Taraborrelli's The Magic and the Madness.[verification needed]

Awards and commendations[edit]

Thomson won a 2009 "Special Commendation" in the Feature Writer of the Year category at the Guardian Student Media Awards, 2009. The commendation was created in 2009 especially to acknowledge the strength of Thomson's article, "James Brown: The Lost Album", which pieced together the final recording sessions of the so-called "Godfather of Soul". One competition judge later commented, "I thought it was the best piece of student journalism I'd read in a long time, if not ever."[15][16][17]

In 2015, he was named Weekly Print Journalist of the Year at the East of England Media Awards, organized by HoldTheFrontPage.[citation needed]

In 2016, Thomson won the "Highly Commended" award in the Local Heroes category at the British Journalism Awards. In 2018, Thomson was shortlisted in the category for the second time.[18]

In 2017, he was named Highly Commended Weekly Reporter of the Year at the Society of Editors Regional Press Awards. In 2018, he won the commendation for the second consecutive year.[19]

In 2018, Thomson won the inaugural Ray Fitzwalter Award for Investigative Journalism out of 3 applicants. The award, created in honour of the World in Action journalist Ray Fitzwalter, was sponsored by ITV and Channel 4. Thomson won for his Shoebury sex ring investigation. The judges praised Thomson's "resourcefulness and determination". His campaign led the police to reopen their investigation into this case.[1]

In 2018 he was named Weekly Reporter of the Year.[20]

A month later, he was awarded a commendation in the MHP 30 to Watch awards, which identifies Britain's "most talented and influential journalists" aged 30 and under.[2]

He was shortlisted for the Paul Foot Award 2020 for his Yellow Advertiser investigation into a paedophile police informant.[21]

On 19 June 2020, Thomson was announced, for the third year in 4 years, as "highly commended" in the weekly reporter section when the winners of Regional Press Awards for 2019 were announced.[22][23][24][25] One judge said, "[He is] already an award winner who refuses to give up even when his paper folds. Tireless in his pursuit of justice, never thwarted by officialdom a credit to his trade."[26][better source needed]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "Campaign to reopen sex abuse case wins investigative journalism prize". University of Salford. 20 April 2018. Archived from the original on 22 September 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  2. ^ a b Sharman, David. "Yellow Advertiser chief reporter recognised by MHP 30 to Watch - Journalism News from HoldtheFrontPage". HoldtheFrontPage. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  3. ^ "Charles Thomson | HuffPost". www.huffpost.com.
  4. ^ a b Investigations, Archant. "True crime podcast investigates claims that Essex paedophile ring victims were failed". Romford Recorder.
  5. ^ Thomson, Charles. "Paedophile Dennis King struck a deal to get out of jail early to commit 15 Cambs offences". huntspost.co.uk.
  6. ^ "Campaign to open sex abuse case wins Ray Fitzwalter award". Prolific North. 20 April 2018.
  7. ^ News, Behind Local (6 July 2020). "How I uncovered shocking failings in the case of Shoebury's Lost Boys". Medium. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  8. ^ "Yellow Advertiser prompts Essex Police to reopen Shoebury 'child sex ring' investigation for a second time". 30 October 2017.
    - Thomson, Charles (6 July 2020). "True crime podcast series investigates allegations police covered up Essex paedophile ring". World News. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  9. ^ Charlotte Hitchins (7 December 2018). "Salford University grant helps journalist with breakthrough in horrific case". Salford Now. Archived from the original on 17 November 2019. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  10. ^ "Freelance Alliance Spotlight: Charles Thomson :: Freelance UK". www.freelanceuk.com.
  11. ^ "James Brown's Widow Says He Was Drugged & Murdered, Begs For Police To Investigate". 15 July 2019.
  12. ^ "James Brown's Widow Tomi Rae Bares Her Soul in Exclusive Interview". Sawf News. 25 December 2010. Archived from the original on 28 December 2010. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
    - "Facebook". www.facebook.com.
    - "James Brown's Widow Tomi Rae Brown Thinks He Could Have Been Murdered". Music.
    - "James Brown legs Have Been Cut Off!!!". 11 August 2014.
  13. ^ "Young journalist praised for 'extraordinary piece of work'". Echo.
  14. ^ Sullivan, Randall (6 November 2012). Untouchable: The Strange Life and Tragic Death of Michael Jackson. Grove/Atlantic, Inc. ISBN 9780802195654 – via Google Books.
  15. ^ In pictures: Guardian Student Media Awards 2009 winners Archived 9 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine, The Guardian, 26 November 2009
  16. ^ Young journalist praised for 'extraordinary piece of work' Archived 5 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Basildon Recorder, 19 December 2009
  17. ^ "Student media awards". The Guardian. London. 26 November 2009. Archived from the original on 9 April 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  18. ^ "BBC's Laura Kuenssberg named Journalist of the Year". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 17 November 2019. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
    - "2018 Awards – British Journalism Awards". Archived from the original on 23 April 2019. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
    - James Walker (26 June 2019). "Tindle Newspapers closes Essex-based Yellow Advertiser series". UK Press Gazette. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  19. ^ Paul Linford (18 May 2018). "Regional Press Awards judges hail MEN's 'exceptional year'". HoldtheFrontPage. Archived from the original on 17 November 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  20. ^ "Lyra McKee honoured at Regional Press Awards". Archived from the original on 17 November 2019. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
    - "Regional Press Awards Winners". Society of Editors. Archived from the original on 17 November 2019. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  21. ^ "The Paul Foot Award 2020". Private Eye (1523): 14. 5 June 2020. Archived from the original on 29 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  22. ^ Mariella Brown, "Winners of Regional Press Awards for 2019 announced" Archived 21 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine, Society of Editors press release, 19 June 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  23. ^ "Winners of Regional Press Awards 2019 revealed". Chard & Ilminster News.
  24. ^ "Winners of Regional Press Awards 2019 revealed". East London and West Essex Guardian Series.
  25. ^ inpublishing.co.uk/articles/regional-press-awards-2019-winners-announced-15552
  26. ^ "Weekly/Sunday Reporter of the Year" Archived 22 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine, Society of Editors website. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
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