A FEW years ago, I was interviewed under caution at a police station and it was not a pleasant experience.

The reason was that The Northern Echo was allegedly in contempt of court by identifying children involved in a court case in which their parents had been charged with neglect.

The Crown Prosecution Service took the view that by naming the parents in a brief report of the court case, and saying they were charged with neglect of two children, the paper had identified the youngsters.

Our report did not name the youngsters and made no reference to the nature of their relationship with the accused. It did however refer to their ages and their sex and it was those details, together with the published names of the defendants, which led to my interview in a small room at Newton Aycliffe police station.

In the end, no charges were pursued but I received a stern warning from the Attorney General. The advice from my own lawyer was that the implications of the warning made the reporting of child neglect cases almost impossible.

Fast forward to last Thursday when, in a completely unrelated case, Gillian Hendry and Craig Dick appeared before Teesside Crown Court to admit the appalling neglect of their two children.

This time, we were able to name the defendants, and tell our readers of their cruelty, because our reporter challenged a court order which would have preserved their anonymity.

Their cruelty included failing to get treatment for a 12-year-old boy for so long that a cataract left him blind in one eye. He and his sister were subjected to such squalid conditions at a house in Thornaby, on Teesside, that experienced police officers and social workers were sickened.

There is, of course, a balance to be considered in reporting such cases. I don’t know an editor who fails to appreciate the importance of protecting the identity of vulnerable children.

But it is also an important part of the criminal justice system in this country for newspapers, and their websites, to be able to name those who commit criminal offences.

It acts as a deterrent, it contributes to a wider understanding of what some children are having to endure, and it sends a strong message that neglect will not be tolerated.

Each case has to be considered on its own merits but I thank Judge Howard Crowson for agreeing to The Northern Echo’s legal challenge, and allowing us to name Gillian Hendry and Craig Dick.

Let us all hope the poor children who suffered so badly at their hands find a loving home.

AS an ex-tipster (sacked after six fruitless weeks) I enjoy a day at the races.

I had a lovely day recently as guest at York and I couldn’t help feeling the prize on offer to jockeys in the first race was inappropriate.

These are fellas who earn a crust by starving themselves in order to ride at ridiculously low weights, and the winner – a stick-thin rider called George Baker – was presented with a whopping great hamper, overflowing with food.

Poor old George could hardly carry it, let alone eat it.