Articles

When The Prodigy’s Keith Flint died we knew Essex Live and the Essex Chronicle had a big part play. And when it came to his funeral, with the band inviting fans from all over to come to Braintree and ‘raise the roof’ in memory of the musician, it was no different. Our coverage of Keith … Continue reading Bringing Keith Flint’s funeral to fans across the world →

Joe Stratton had first come onto the radar of the Essex Chronicle when he was in court on drugs charges several years ago. The judge in that court case had spared him a jail sentence in part due to a passionate plea from his father, Steve, who had been trying to help his son deal … Continue reading Telling the story of a grieving father who found his son dead →

We were greeted to a Valentine’s Day surprise in the newsdesk email when it transpired someone working at the Toby Carvery in Brentwood had leaked us a number of in-house emails. The emails contained a number of disgusting images of the state of the kitchen along with an email chain that explained the reason why … Continue reading The leak that showed the true nature of a carvery kitchen →

Back in May 2018 a Facebook message landed in the Harlow Star inbox that happened to pop up while I was scrolling. The woman who had sent it said she was getting in touch as friends had told her that her own story was an incredible one. I decided to reply and get in touch … Continue reading The Harlow woman who left school at 14 and is now a doctor – and how we made her story go national →

Kenneth Ibbetson, an 86-year-old living at a £1,000-a-week Bupa care home in Brentwood, died in June 2015 after contracting Legionnaire’s Disease. Three years after the grandfather’s death, Bupa Care Homes were up in court with the potential of a huge fine coming their way. In the end they were hit with a £3million fine – … Continue reading How the family of a pensioner who died in a care home brought a court case against Bupa to life →

In November I had spent most of the day working on a feature based in Dagenham and Barking. As I was in the area the call came through from the newsdesk that a flat fire had broken out with around 70 firefighters called. I went down, as always to breaking news incidents, and fed back … Continue reading Finding a story of heroism while covering a Dagenham flat fire →

After four months with a print-first mentality my transition back to the digital team took a bit of time. However, it was eased when a dive into some planning documents turned up a real gem that would work for both online and the newspaper. As it turned out the planning application I had come across … Continue reading Bringing the transformation plans for a retail park to life online →

In my role as Brentwood Gazette reporter for the print team, this story is one of my favourites. It showcases what I think is my main asset as a reporter – sit me down with someone for a chat face to face and I will often get far more out of them than expected. My … Continue reading How an interview with a bodybuilder became much more →