Michelle is on the phone. "I told them to call you," she offers. "They won't listen to me and they say they want to speak to the Editor.”

Poor Michelle is our long-suffering office hand who has to deal with a flurry of angry calls when the Cambrian comes out each week. Mostly, the disgruntled are complaining about why their privacy rights are breached, how it's illegal for their names to be in paper and on our website, and how they have spoken to their solicitors about being named and shamed.

If I had a pound for every time I heard someone tell me Cambrian News doesn't have the right to put their name in the public domain, I'd be long retired. And no, that's not going to happen anytime soon. I'm having way too much fun driving the clowns at Ceredigion County Council demented. But I digress.

Listen. It's this simple. If you're charged with an offence, you're going to be in the Cambrian one way or another. No ifs, ands or buts.

There are a couple of very narrow legal reasons why we can't - if you're under 18 or the nature of the sexual offence would identify the victim, or information is order by the court to remain private - but otherwise you're fair game.

I've spoken to many involved in the judicial administration process or involved in law enforcement and they say to a person that naming and shaming in the Cambrian does more to deter criminals than fines or other slaps on wrists at Magistrates court.

So, before you go calling Michelle, here the lowdown.

We, as journalists, are allowed to go to court and report anything which is said or given as evidence in court. That means we are generally allowed to print certain information about people who go to court or give evidence, including their address and a photo of them.

My own standard is that if harass any of my news team over court, you can pretty much guarantee we'll show your smiling mug to all of our 6 million readers each year too. Cheese!

For the record, we do not have to report everything which has been said in court.

We routinely report on court cases because that's all part and parcel of making sure justice happens fairly. We think it's important that you're told about what happens in court, so you can see justice in action - or not.

Fewer and fewer newspapers have the resources now to staff all courtrooms like "the old days".

We will continue to do so. In mid January, we were named the best Weekly Newspaper in Wales. Part of the reason for that award was based on our refusal to go like others in big conglomerate chains have done. Over my dead body. Or when I'm retired. And no, that's not going to happen anytime soon.

And then there the issue of old convictions coming up when a person Googles their name. A good proportion of calls to our offices are about people wanting their old court cases deleted.

Forget it. It's not going to happen.

We at Cambrian News feel it is important to have an accessible archive of all the stories that they have published. We can't cut out stuff from our printed papers. Nor will be cut stuff from our digital archives. It's history. Good and bad. 

If you're worried about your drunken antics coming back to haunt you, we at Cambrian News can't help you.

We all have a general right to be forgotten. But that applies to search engines, not archives. If you want, contact Google and ask. Don't contact the Cambrian. Certainly not Michelle. And definitely not me. The answer is no.

Don’t bother calling. Just use that time on your community service hours or whatever.

Every time I drive by the quad of pubs in Aberystwyth where there’s that cut-price beer-price war, I’m grateful. These are the people who fill my pages one court case at a time.