Most wanted criminals Web site crashes
Staff
Published: 18 Nov 2005 15:20 GMT
It's the case of the disappearing Web site. A sophisticated online service which aims to help catch the UK's most wanted suspects is unavailable on its first day
The UK's 'FBI style' most wanted Web site has crashed on its first day due to high demand.
Photographs, CCTV footage and descriptions of suspects hunted by police were due to appear on the site, which has been described as the "biggest advance since the wanted poster". But on 17 November instead of the full Web site, a note read: "Site too busy… due to the unprecedented popularity of this site, we are temporarily unable to serve this page. We will rectify this problem as soon as possible. Please try again later."
The service was also designed to allow members of the public to leave tip-offs using a secure online form.
Its unveiling in Leicester Square attracted widespread media coverage and Crimestoppers, the organisation responsible, had reached an agreement with The Sun newspaper to publish most wanted pictures.
A Home Office spokesperson told Government Computing News that the site was expected to be popular.
"In terms of Web traffic, we don't yet know exactly how many people have visited the site but we expected that a lot of people would visit it on the first day," the spokesperson said.
The Home Office indirectly funded the site as it supports Crimestoppers, which is an independent UK wide charity. So far, a total of 11 police forces are sharing information with the public through the Web site.
The most wanted figures described on the site include Ayub Khan, a suspect in a 2003 double murder case, James Francis Hurley, who escaped while being transferred between prisons in 1994, and Joseph Oduguwa, who is believed to be connected with a serious fraud case.
Speaking to mark its launch the BBC Crimewatch presenter Nick Ross, hailed the Web site as the "biggest advance since the 'Wanted' poster".
"It is astonishing this has never happened before," he said. "Apart from Crimewatch there is virtually no way of getting national publicity for most cases and many wanted people could just disappear — until now."
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