Apologies, this is an elongated harumph.

I just wrote up a short witness appeal from a police press release - and then asked myself why I'd bothered.

Here's the release (from the force's website) in all its glory:

Police are appealing for witnesses after an elderly woman’s bag was stolen as she shopped for food.

The incident happened late last month on Friday January 22 at about 10.50am, while she was shopping at a supermarket in Humberstone Gate.

The 71-year-old victim believes that her bag was taken from her trolley as she was shopping in the bread aisle.

The bag is described as a brown reusable bag which contained a smaller bag and a black zip up leather handbag. Inside the handbag were keys, some cash, some bank cards and an umbrella.

PC Heather Brown, the officer, investigating the incident, is appealing for anyone with information about the theft, those responsible or the current whereabouts of the bag to contact her.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact PC 4598 Heather Brown on Leicester (0116) 222 2222, follow the instructions to leave a message for an officer and when prompted key in his identification number 4598. Alternatively, people can call Crimestoppers free* and anonymously on 0800 555 111.

* Some mobile phone providers may charge for this call

Two things struck me.

How about you?

Well, it happened a month ago and the supermarket isn't named.

Has the lady only just reported this to the police?

Possible and not uncommon.

My gripe here is the "supermarket in Humberstone Gate" bit.

Has the company concerned told the police not to name the store?

I think they probably have - even though we can all make a pretty good guess which shop we're talking about here.

This is happening a lot just lately and it's becoming a major harumph point for me.

Apart from the most serious cases, the police ask permission before naming businesses in witness appeals.

Victims - robbed shopkeepers, assaulted clubbers and the like - deserve anonymity and we give it to them routinely and willingly where the crime is so grave that their best interests are not served by being identified.

But big shops where thefts occur or bars where people get punched or glassed are in no conceivable way victims and, in my book, should be named.

The purpose of a witness appeal is to generate information for the police investigation.

On a good day the criminals get caught as a result of a good call to police.

As a reporter my heart sinks when I have to call up a big business.

They are self-serving sorts to say the least and, in most cases, run a mile when I ask for their help.

Do I have to mention Tesco again at this point?

Why can't the police toughen up and tell businesses "our priority is to find witnesses and criminals, not to worry about your reputation"?

UPDATE:
As I suspected, this Humberstone Gate supermarket appeal isn't going anywhere near the paper.

My name is Ciaran, I search the internet for people in uniforms.

I've added a few police blogs to the 'who I'm reading' list on this site.

I found them by running 'police blogs UK' through Google.

I've not had time to read them too closely, although I've scanned a couple of them quickly and they seemed pretty funny.

It's all very day to day observations in the style of David Copperfield - the original police blogger, now apparently living in Canada.

I didn't spot any references to my kind in the couple of articles I read in this handful of blogs.

I'd love to know what they and other police officers make of us reporters.

What are police officers thinking when I ring up asking (or on occasions, begging) for a story or a bit of guidance?

If any of you want to chip in with answers to that I'd love to hear.

Answer came there none - part III. Or is it part IV?

Still waiting for the Tesco press office to come back to me.

Harumph.

This is as complete a case of "declined to comment" as I have ever come across.

If our code of practice allowed, I'd start calling these corporate press offices claiming to be from the Daily Mail or the News at Ten.

Then I might get an answer.

It's time to move on I think.

One of my heroes is back.

This is nothing at all to do with the police, the Merc or even Leicester.

Gil Scott-Heron is back on record after more than 15 years.

It seems he's been in and out of prison. Drugs-related a lot of it.

I'd often wondered where he was and, frankly, whether he was still with us.

Mind you there are one or two older street drinkers I've got to know over the years here who I haven't seen for some time.

Where are they? Have they come through the winter freeze unharmed?

Anyway, at least one 60-year-old who's had erm, 'substance misuse issues' is back with us for sure.

I'm away to town later to buy his new record.

UPDATE:
It's a record and a half.

The Tesco press office - answer came there none.

Clearly, I'm at the back of the queue when it comes to the Tesco press office.

Going back to the strong cider and lager story from a few days ago.

I know, I know. I'm tired of it too now, but I should update it.

The offending items have been taken off the shelves at the London Road Tesco Express.

Fair enough.

But what about an explanation from the company?

I want to tell the readers whether they broke the terms of the licence through oversight or cyncism.

I said a couple of days ago that we had no co-operation from the company's press office on the original story.

I hate writing "so and so was not available to comment", but I had to.

Often the missing people are those the journalist most needs to hear from.

You know, a bit of an explanation, context or even an apology.

Oh well.

They do seem to be in the news a lot though don't they?

Maybe the press office is overloaded but is working something up for me and I'll hear from them in due course.

There are criminals and there are criminals.

This is Anthony Wayne Jesson. He robs elderly women in their homes.

His speciality is cutting their telephone wires and threatening them with knives and hammers.

One lady, Rosie Coates, was tied up, despite the intense pain it caused her. Arthritis, you see.

Your body gets that way when you're down your 80s.

Mrs Coates died a few weeks ago, so we'll never know if she would have taken some comfort from knowing Jesson is facing a long spell in prison.

Doris Brown, also well into her 80s, was shoved to the ground when she found Jesson in her home, rooting through her possessions.

She ended up with a broken arm.

She doesn't go out on her own anymore and hasn't been sleeping well ever since.

I spoke to Doris' family a day or so after this happened to her, in November 2008.

I remember clearly this little detail.

They told me that Jesson calmly stepped over Doris on his way out of her home, completely oblivious to her pain.

A 78-year-old man also had the misfortune to cross paths with Jesson, who's from Collett Road, Beaumont Leys. We didn't manage to speak to him or his family for tomorrow's story.

A full report of his Jesson's trial at Leicester Crown Court is in tomorrow's paper. He will be sentenced next month.

The detectives involved in the case investigate some of the nastiest crimes. Speaking to them they were clearly as shocked as any of us.

Some dropped into the court this week to watch proceedings, even though they've moved on to new roles.

We're told some Leicester's criminals are deeply unimpressed with Jesson's methods.

As his trial unfolded this week - yes, he denied the crimes - some pretty tasty looking fellas were taking it all in.

That could be interesting.

It happens to the best of us.

A funny story from my desk neighbour, education correspondent Ian Wishart, pictured here looking rather intense.

He posted it on his blog a few days ago and I know it will strike a chord with journalists everywhere.

Readers will enjoy hearing how we suffer when things go wrong.

An old boss of mine used to say: "The man who never made a mistake is the man who never did anything."

That was as long as he was somehow implicated in whatever disaster we'd created.

If the mistake was entirely down to you and he was in the clear his language could get pretty incendiary.

Anyway, Ian's blog:

Tramp Juice pt II

Bad alcohol seems to be the theme of the week.

A fella who comes into the office to see me from time to time - frankly, he's a big drinker - was roaring drunk when I bumped into him in Cheapside the other day.

He was being loud, very loud and I was pretty sure someone was going to call the police.

I didn't want him to get lifted because he's a terrific man and he's had a stupid run-in with the legal system lately.

So I started escorting him through the city centre. It was like pushing a grand piano up the stairs.

He popped into a shop on the way.

A moment later he emerged carrying a two-litre bottle of nasty, cheap cider. It had cost him 73p.

Why did the shopkeeper not say "Sorry sir, you've clearly had enough today. May I suggest you go home and sleep it off."?

Yeah, I know.

Some hope.

That's me, with the 'tramp juice'. Don't I look happy?

This is me after I bought a few cans of Tennent's Super and a bottle of Diamond White. Strong stuff indeed.

Normally, I'm more of a Guinness man.

I bought them from the new Tesco Express shop next to Leicester railway station for a story.

Tesco had voluntarily agreed it would sell no beers, lagers or ciders stronger than 5.5 per cent and that became a condition of the licence they were granted by Leicester City Council.

The Tennent's is an eye-watering 9 per cent and the Diamond White 7.5 per cent.

So, in the spirit of erm, Roger Cook, we had them. A big company. The Man.

I contacted the Tesco press office on Monday and we ran the story on Tuesday.

Funnily enough - and three days on from asking - I've still not heard anything from Tesco's press office.

How come?

I wanted them to make it clear whether this was all a mistake or something more cynical.

They have my mobile number and my e-mail address. Still.

In their defence, I also checked whether they were sticking to another condition of their licence. The shop opens at 6am and their idea originally was to sell alcohol as soon as they opened the doors.

Again, they volunteered to abide by a licensing condition and knocked it back to 8am.

I went in just after 6am on Monday and loitered in the alcohol section.

"Sorry, we don't serve alcohol until 8am. It's in our licence," an assistant said.

So, well done there then.

But, why anyone would want to buy alcohol at 8am is beyond me.

Is is really posh commuters stocking up on Chateau Neuf du Pape (okay, to be honest I just called out across the newsroom 'name me a posh wine') before they jump on a train for London?

Or is it people who get out of bed before dawn, raging for a drink?

But frankly high strength alcohol is nothing new.

Most places sell them and plenty of people drink them happily and without doing themselves any harm.

Plenty of shopkeepers who sell it to people who are clearly winos then have the nuts to complain to the police and us about the bad behaviour of alcoholics in their street.

Some shops I've spoken to this past year or so are choosing to not sell these products anymore.

They say there's not much profit there and (how to put this politely?) these drinks tend to be favoured by winos. Sometimes, not the most polite customers.

Selfish sometimes too.

Take a walk down certain streets in the city today and keep your eyes to the ground and - I guarantee - you will see their empties all over the place.

There's been talk of bans on the high strength stuff, but it's not going to happen is it?

So, street alcoholics who frankly don't know how to take care of themselves, will always get their hands on their favourite poison for the price of a bottle of mineral water.

Whether it's from the corner shop or a major chain.

At least, I'm guessing, Tesco Express in London Road will now have a clear conscience that at least they're not contributing to this very specific aspect of the country's drink problem.

That's it, I'm going home.

It's been another bitty day. Coming at the end of a bitty week.

When I came in this morning I was feeling bright and pleased with myself.

You see, I had a couple of stories on the go and I was confident they'd come off before the end of play.

One did come together but wasn't as enthusiastically received by the bosses as I'd hoped.

I liked it though and so did the police officers who were involved in it.

A thief called Russell Archer stole a sat nav from a car and presumably thought he'd got away with it.

A few minutes later he got nicked in the street because he looked suspicious. Man lurking for no apparent reason in the street in the early hours etc.

The officers, from Spinney Hill Park and Keyham Lane stations, checked the most recent destination in the sat nav and went to visit the owner.

Archer got 30 weeks for that and other crimes.

Ho ho.

The stories didn't get done because 'such and such' or 'so and so' weren't around to speak to me.

Oh well, they'll keep until Monday.

I'm looking forward to one of them because it's not the kind of story I normally write.

If I'm correct - and I'm pretty sure I am - a big chain is selling something it shouldn't.

The other is about an estate where crime has fallen madly because police have succeeded in getting their top 10 criminals locked up.

They're all in jail at the same time and will be there for months to come.

Also, I think there's a gang going round cracking safes. How Sweeney-like.

So, it takes time to bring certain stories together.

We're quick, but if you want super-quick switch the telly on.

Sky announced this afternoon that John Terry had been stripped of the England captaincy a good 20 minutes before I saw anything on the BBC website or on the Press Association wires.

Ah, the lifestyles of junkies and winos. And people who hang around on stairwells.

This is a picture taken by one of the beat officers down on Leicester's St Matthews estate.

It's a littered communal stairwell in one of the blocks of flats down there.

Look closely and you'll see a drinks can fashioned into a crack pipe.

Some of it is just litter, pure and simple. Ciggy butts and the like.

Now generally when I write stories I apply the 'what would my mum make of this?' test.

How would she feel walking through the city centre come Friday night? Would she be upset by groups of kids hanging around the Clock Tower on a Saturday afternoon?

In those cases I don't think she'd be much bothered. Although, some people tell us and the police they feel otherwise.

I don't need to ask how she'd feel if she had this crap on her doorstep.

One of the residents told us: "I am fed up with all the people coming onto the stairs where I live, they seem to be taking drugs and leaving the litter everywhere.

"Once I have been out shopping in the morning I feel too scared to come out again for the rest of the day."

Read that again.

This lady is staying in because she doesn't know what she's going to find outside her front door.

Wrong, wrong, very wrong.

The only positive here is the police team on St Matthews - good friends of the paper they are too - are going after the people who are putting this lady and others like her through this.