A member of the public getting in touch with me with a complaint regarding anti-social behaviour is common.
But when I heard certain throw-away phrases like being 'forced to sleep in a bath tub' and youths 'shrieking like wild animals,' I knew I had an angle to jump on.
The outlandish behaviour occurring opposite one of Bath's most iconic upmarket landmarks during the COVID epidemic also made it news gold.
However, aside from the hyperbolic quotes, this was actually a serious story, and I had to treat it as such.
The images and videos I was being sent were of minors and the IPSO code's emphasis on their paramount privacy rights had to be considered.
In consultation with my editor, video and legal department we decided that we had enough weight to the story without publishing the videos which were difficult to censure fully. I carefully anonymised photos.
I found other accounts of similar behaviour to round-out the story and I chased the police and council to make sure they had the chance to add their perspective.
In the end I was satisfied that I had produced a legally and morally sound story, which had real journalistic value as well as being highly clickable – the best of both worlds.
The story had more than 84,000 page views and was extensively engaged with on social media.
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