The Lead's story on the fight for compensation for those wrongly jailed is up for Private Eye's Paul Foot Award
Adam Bychawski's powerful reporting on the case of Ahmed Adan is one of 12 stories selected for the national award recognising brilliant investigative campaigning journalism.
An expose into how wrongly convicted people are being denied compensation, published in The Lead, is up for a national journalism award.
Adam Bychawski’s reporting is in the running for the Paul Foot Award 2026 - the most prestigious prize in investigative and campaigning journalism.
Published in March last year, Adam’s powerful investigation tells the story of Ahmed Adan who spent 13 years in prison for an assault he didn’t commit.
It details he and his father’s fight for compensation over the miscarriage of justice - and how few people are successful.
Adam said on the Paul Foot Award longlisting: “I’m absolutely delighted that my work has been recognised by the Paul Foot Award, particularly given the calibre of stories produced by my fellow nominees.
“I hope the nomination brings greater public attention to how the state continues to fail victims of miscarriages of justice. Their stories, and the injustices they’ve suffered, too often go untold. That’s why I’m grateful to editors at The Lead for taking an interest in them. In a fast-moving industry, it’s rare for editors to back a story that isn’t already on the news agenda, particularly from a freelancer they haven’t worked with before.”
The Paul Foot Award, run by Private Eye, began in 2006 and is in memory of revered investigative journalist Paul Foot, who died in 2004. See the full longlist for this year’s awards.
National Editor of The Lead, Natalie Morris, said: “We’re incredibly proud to see Adam Bychawski’s reporting recognised with a longlisting for the Paul Foot Award. It’s a testament to the depth and determination he brought to this story. At The Lead, we knew this investigation exposed an underreported injustice, and Adam pursued it with rigour and humanity.
“His work epitomises the kind of journalism we’re committed to commissioning: stories that challenge power and centre overlooked voices. So it is especially gratifying to see that commitment recognised, and we hope this helps to bring wider attention to the systemic failures his reporting has uncovered.”
Our archive has a paywall on it - to help support our independent original journalism - but to mark Adam’s longlisting we have removed the paywall on the story so people can see the award-nominated journalism we publish. Please support The Lead today with a subscription to help us tell more stories like Ahmed Adan’s and help reporters like Adam expose injustice.
The Lead’s journalism has been catching the eye of the media industry with our The Lead North team winning best specialist/regional newsletter at Press Gazette’s Future of Media Awards and our regular contributor Hannah Fearn winning two awards at the Freelance Journalism Awards for her writing in The Lead.