Almost every day, The News publishes details of crimes in a bid to help the police track down the people they are hunting.

As well as witness appeals appearing throughout the paper, The News also devotes specialist coverage to two campaigns aimed at tackling problem drinking in the city – Operation Drink Safe and the Best Bar None Awards.

And each week we devote an entire page to tracking down crooks where police have drawn a blank with our Don't Let Them Win campaign.

We publish CCTV images and efits and ask readers if they recognise the suspects.

And there have been successes great and small welcomed by police and victims alike.

A pervert who groped a teenage girl at a bus stop and a betting shop thief were both convicted in recent months after News readers helped track them down.

Sex attacker Jamie Gold was caught on CCTV just moments before carrying out a terrifying attack on a 17-year-old girl.

And David Helm stole more than £600 from a betting shop before going on the run for three months.

He was found hiding in an airing cupboard at a flat by police. Officers had received several calls after he was featured in our Don't Let Them Win section following the robbery at the BetFred bookmakers in London Road, North End, Portsmouth.

At Portsmouth Crown Court Helm, of Wheatley Green, Leigh Park, was given an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

He was ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work for the community and be supervised by the probation service for six months.

At the time, Detective Constable Richard Rock from Portsmouth CID said: 'As a direct result of the appeal, several readers recognised David Helm and provided information that led me to an address in Leigh Park.

'This case shows how important help from members of the public can be.'

Jamie Gold, from Basingstoke, was convicted of indecent assault and jailed for three years and four months after his image appeared in The News in relation to an attack on a 17-year-old girl.

Then, PC Keith Hall from Southsea Police Station said: 'Without public- spirited members of the community responding to the media appeal in The News we would have had no idea who this person was.'