The detective whose eloquent, award-winning blog illuminated the darker corners of 21st-century law enforcement – and landed him in trouble with his superiors – is returning to the literary beat to judge the prize that made his name.
The surprise winner of this year's inaugural Orwell special prize for blogs went to Jack Night, the pseudonym of a policeman who was eventually unmasked as Detective Constable Richard Horton of Lancashire constabulary.
His arresting dispatches from "the darkness at the edge of town", tales of "arrogant child rapists" and acts of hideously casual thuggery captivated the Orwell judges, who said the blog "took you to the heart of what a policeman has to do".
Unfortunately, the recognition also brought its author some unwelcome attention.
Although he called time on the blog, gave his £3,000 winnings to the Police Dependents' Trust and announced his desire to slink back into the anonymity of his day job, Horton's identity was made public after a high court judge lifted the injunction he had won against the Times newspaper.
Horton's online activities were investigated by his superiors, he was issued with a written warning and he stopped work on the police procedural novel he had been labouring over.
Today, however, it was announced that Horton has been chosen, along with the former Labour MP Oona King, to judge the second Orwell blog prize.
This time round, Horton has sought his official permission: "I spoke with work who agreed it was fine."
He is looking forward to choosing a winner whose blog "reads and flows beautifully and gives me an insight into an interesting point of view".
Jean Seaton, the Orwell Prize's executive director, said the panel was delighted to have Horton in its ranks.
"We unexpectedly ended up in the middle of a high court battle after the Times sought to unmask Night Jack, and we are thrilled that amongst our distinguished judges, Richard Horton will be bringing his arresting and Orwell prize-winning common sense and wit to judging the blog prize," she said.
Entries for the Orwell Prize 2010, which recognises those who have proved most successful in achieving Orwell's aim of making "political writing into an art" open tonight and close on 20 January. The shortlists will be released next April, with the winners announced in May.
Horton, who was bombarded with offers from agents and publishers following his victory, has now stopped writing and is "just getting on with the job of being a detective" and concentrating on his promotion exams.
His brush with fame – and "fairly horrible" experience of the press – has left him a little wary and soured his love of writing.
"Once I get the taste of hubris out of my mouth, I may get back to writing but I'm not doing anything at the moment," he told the Guardian. "I'd like to write a novel but the fun and enjoyment went out of it with the Times thing and I lost the flavour for doing the book."
Emails offering him TV work are answered with "a polite no thanks" and his appetite for celebrity remains nonexistent.
"I've never wanted to be a media cop and appear on Newsnight or doing a searing exposé of where we are and how we got there," he said. "I still think that the online sources of commentary and interpretation are interesting and they've become increasingly powerful in forming opinion. I still read blogs. I just don't write anymore. I've said everything I wanted to say and I just don't have the feel for it anymore. That's changed."
And, despite the police service's reputation for long memories and wind-ups, Horton says his colleagues have been uniformly supportive: "I haven't felt picked on or victimised but then it's not something that comes up in conversation every day. Sometimes people come up to me and say, 'I didn't realise it was you', or tell me that they miss the blog, but there's no ongoing grief."
Whether or not he returns to writing, the erstwhile Jack Night and part-time Orwell Prize judge says he is happiest being Detective Constable Richard Horton: "I've always wanted to be a detective and that's what I'm doing now."
