Evening News wins four prizes at JP Awards

The paper was named Newspaper of the Year at a special ceremony last night.

Health reporter Daniel Sanderson was awarded the title Reporter of the Year for his coverage of the ongoing crisis at NHS Lothian.

Associate editor Gina Davidson won Scoop of the Year for revealing the Mortonhall ashes scandal.

And Ian Rutherford, who takes pictures for the Evening News as well as sister papers The Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday, was named Photographer of the Year. The awards were announced at the ceremony in Peterborough after judges pored over entries from Johnston Press papers across the country.

Daniel’s stories have charted the troubles at NHS Lothian, including the deliberate manipulation of waiting list statistics and allegations of bullying.

Gina’s story in December revealed that for 45 years the ashes of stillborn and days-old babies who had been cremated at Mortonhall were buried in cardboard boxes, while parents were told no remains were left.

Gina said: “I’m delighted, but it does feel odd to win an award for such a terrible event.”

Editor Frank O’Donnell said: “This is welcome recognition of the high quality journalism that our team produces every day. It shows once again that the Evening News is offering unbeatable value to our readers.”