Hello to all my dear subscribers. Thank you for your support and interest in my work. I may have been a little quieter than usual this past month, mainly because I am following a murder trial (which means attending every day that the court sits) up in Newcastle Upon Tyne, which is the north east of England. As is happens, it is the region in which I was born and raised.

This is a particularly harrowing case, for reasons that will become clear. I am making a podcast series about it for Tortoise Media. The first episode will drop a few weeks after the verdict, which is expected within the next two weeks (although one can never be exact about such matters).

I have been campaigning against and writing about men’s violence towards women and girls for more than 40 years, but never have I been so personally affected by a case as I have this one. The murder of 7-year-old Nikki Allan in Sunderland in 1992 is etched on the cultural landscape of the north east, and is a shameful stain on the police and of much of the community. I will bring you more when I can. In the meantime, here is the first piece I wrote about the murder, back in 2006. I dream of Nikki, and consider her mother Sharon to be one of the most courageous women I know: