Charles Thomson

A decade after Jason Moore was convicted of murder, Charles Thomson’s ceaseless reinvestigation revealed potential police misconduct. Over two years, Thomson scoured paperwork and spoke to witnesses and experts, tracking down the only eyewitness to identify Moore as the killer – the witness admitted he had been drunk and wasn’t sure he had named the right person. His findings are being used to challenge the verdict, and led to protests outside Downing Street and the High Court.

Equally impactful was Thomson’s piece about a serving police officer, ‘Aaron’, whom Thomson helped feel secure enough to discuss his abuse at the hands of Roger Moody - a well-known left-wing activist who had died in 2022. Thomson proved Moody continually secured jobs with children, despite being a proud paedophile, having spent weeks corroborating Aaron’s testimony. In the wake of Thomson’s report, dozens more victims approached the Islington Survivors Network.

A willingness to spend considerable time corroborating details and hunting out vital clues is what marks Thomson out as an exceptional reporter. Indeed, judges said he is “both a tenacious investigative reporter and an excellent all-rounder”. In one investigation, he revealed that staff at a school in Newham allegedly walked out of their jobs after they were accused of trying to “turn children gay”, with subsequently appeasing the complainants. Nobody would talk but Thomson worked tirelessly and won an Information Commissioner appeal which revealed the school had been bombarded with abusive, menacing emails accusing staff of “grooming” children.