criminal cases reporting dead ends

[tali122]

i ve located some crime news stories that are 5 years old or more, however they draw a blank at "was arrested and charged with murder" after that- nothing a complete dead end despite extensive googling of names and details of those involved - it cant be reporting restrictions given how long the cases were- are some cases kept secret? - regardless of guilt ,aquittal or the case been thrown out there should be details should nt there? -

[Buenchico]

The vast majority of court cases won't show up when you try a web search. If the case made the national news (or was important enough to be reported on the BBC's regional websites) then you might be able to track it down by using the search facilities at www.bbc.co.uk. This is because the BBC does not routinely remove 'old' pages from its website.

Most local newspapers will report major court cases on their websites but 'old' pages are normally removed within a week (or in some cases, daily). Unless Google happens to cache the relevant page, details of the court case will no longer be available on the web.

It's unlikely that reporting restrictions are stopping you from finding the information you seek. In some cases, however reporting restrictions can last for several years, particularly if the outcome of case A can't be reported until the conclusion of case B. Even so, if you're determined to find out what happened and you've got as far as knowing which magistrates court the defendant first appeared before, you can consult the court records (at the magistrates courts and then the Crown court) to find the outcome. It's a lengthy procedure but the court registers are public documents so it can be done.

In the first instance, however, try a search at the BBC site. If the case was important enough to be reported of one of the BBC regional sites, a search from the BBC home page should track it down.

Chris