A recent phenomenon of the publishing world appears to be hoodlums telling their life stories.

You cannot walk into a bookshop without noticing the faces of grimacing individuals - usually with a skinhead haircut, golden earing and fat cigar - staring at you from the shelves.

I'm pleased to see these men have converted to an honest living but I do wonder whether this growth area is indicative of the way some areas of society seem to glorify crime.

As I'm sure you are aware, Middlesbrough Town Hall was the scene of a gold heist recently with someone making off with the Mayoral chain - a piece of local heritage valued at £40,000.

Within hours the media had been tipped off in detail by someone who, if not the thief himself, was clearly well connected to the miscreant.

This was a crime where the motive was not financial but vindictive. The criminal wanted to bring embarrassment to myself, the council, or both. By implication the thief sought to ridicule Middlesbrough and hoped to use the media to achieve that aim.

Now I can take a joke as well as the next person and I've dealt with the media long enough to know that Robocop's chains being nicked is a good story. I'm pleased to say that most of the media reported the theft in a balanced way: the irony of the situation combined with the seriousness of the crime and an appeal for anyone with information to come forward.

Unfortunately, the exception proved to be the local BBC TV news. Journalists sometimes joke that you should never let the truth get in the way of a good story and the way Look North twisted the facts makes me wonder if this maxim is part of their charter.

The result was a sad piece of reporting that revelled in the council's misfortune to the point of glee - using manipulated photographs and distorted facts to glorify the crime to the point where you would have thought Robin Hood was the culprit.

The thief must have been delighted when he turned on his telly. Of course his jubilation didn't last for long. Thanks to the combined efforts of the council and police, the chain has been recovered.

I believe the fear factor was turned onto the criminal. The pressure told and as the police closed in the chain magically appeared.

Like all crimes, this has had victims. I have seen the trauma and distress the theft has caused certain members of the council staff and also the considerable amount of police hours wasted on this charade.

We all effectively pay a tax - the licence fee - to fund the BBC. That's why it is supposed to be a public service broadcaster with certain responsibilities for impartiality and fairness that do not apply to newspapers or independent channels funded by advertising.

Everyone makes mistakes from time to time. I suspect the BBC bosses in Newcastle feel a little sheepish about the way they have been used and I hope they will reflect on the mistakes they made in their coverage.

Nowadays the news has to be presented in a way that will retain viewers but that shouldn't result in the abandoning of journalistic principles and the glorification of crime.