The Newspaper Report

More than 26 dogs were seized from a home in Rushford, following a raid by the RSPCA and police on Thursday 9th March.

RSPCA officers, a vet and police entered the detached house in North Rushford and took the dogs and their puppies into care.

The animal charity applied for a warrant because they were concerned about the harsh way the dogs were being treated.

The dogs were put in cages and taken in vans to the Rushford Dogs’ Home, where they were given a thorough medical examination.

Officers from the animal rescue charity will make the decision whether to prosecute the owner of the 26 dogs and puppies.

PC Woof was part of the police team who raided the property. He commented, “the RSPCA will do a thorough investigation, look at all the evidence and decide if action is to be taken against the owner of the dogs.

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• For a newspaper report - use a HEADLINE and a STRAP LINE.
• Recount the main details of the story - where, when, why, which, who?
• Structure your work. Write your points in the order they happened.
• Organise your work into short paragraphs.
• Help the reader to visualise the scene, with detailed description.
• Add further background information.
• Use quotes from people who were there.
• Add a comment from the writer.

Now write the text for a newspaper report about a crime that has occurred. You could use the Great Train Robbery at the end of this book or maybe the headline - ’20 Cats Seized’.

Have you ever played a party game called ‘murder in the dark’? Some cards are prepared in advance. All the party guests take one. The guest with the card ‘detective’ on it leaves the room. The lights are turned off. The guest with the card ‘murderer’ on it taps a guest and they fall down on the floor screaming. The lights go on. Now the detective has to interrogate all the people in the room, until he finds who did it.

• Can you name some famous detectives?
• Can you name a book, a film or a television programme featuring a famous detective? Write down what the plots are of these books or films.
• Write your own detective story. Think about the crime, the clues, the witnesses and solving ‘who done it’.