A former Yorkshire Evening Post court reporter who was among Yorkshire’s most respected journalists has died at his home in Ossett.
Douglas ‘Dougie’ Wilson, who retired from the paper in 1995, was 84.
A Barnsley man, Mr Wilson started his life in newspapers on the Barnsley Chronicle and over the next two decades took his talents to the Morecambe Advertiser and the Peterborough Evening Standard.
He arrived in Leeds to work for the Government news network, then known as the Central Office of Information, but sorely missed newspapers and went to work for the Dewsbury Reporter before joining the Yorkshire Evening Post first at its Wakefield office and then in Leeds.
Mr Wilson was a cornerstone of the Yorkshire Evening Post’s criminal court coverage for many years, working on high profile cases including that of the spy Nicholas Prager and the bribing millionaire John Poulson.
Described by colleagues as a modest man, he was equally well respected by police, courts officials and judges.
Former YEP deputy news editor Tony Harney said: “Dougie was great to work with. He was a fine shorthand writer, a lightning quick reporter and very accurate. He taught a lot of younger journalists the high standards he set himself.”
In his younger years Mr Wilson was a fine footballer and cricketer and played snooker for the Ossett Cricket Club team. He leaves a widow, Marjorie, and sons Philip and Neil.
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