Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Anthony Arkwright


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was   delete. As pointed out in the discussion, being a serial killer does not make a subject inherently notable; given that most of the arguments for keeping the article seem to focus on this premise, I think it is reasonable to conclude that consensus is on the side of deletion. – Juliancolton  &#124; Talk 17:46, 16 September 2009 (UTC)

Anthony Arkwright

 * – (View AfD) (View log)

See WP:BLP1E. Wikipedia shouldn't be a publisher of true crime stories. This person has no historical significance that would merit an article, nor are there any truly biographical sources (that is, where he, rather than the one event he gained notoriety for, is the subject of the source). He committed a murder that was briefly the subject of news reports, and that is all. But Wikipedia is not a newspaper. Delete. Dominic·t 12:12, 9 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Delete per WP:BLP1E. Being a murderer, even one whose crime was serious enough to make it unlikely that he will ever be released, does not make him notable. JohnCD (talk) 13:40, 9 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Keep. Killed four people, which makes him very unusual in Britain, where multiple killers are rare. -- Necrothesp (talk) 17:04, 9 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Delete Nothing turns up in a Google search of news (even in 1989) or books, indicating that he wasn't considered notable even when he was killing people. In fact, what few newspaper articles did come up were from another person with the same name.  http://news.google.com/archivesearch?q="anthony+arkwright"&scoring=a&hl=en&ned=us&um=1&sa=N&sugg=d&as_ldate=1990&as_hdate=1999&lnav=hist10] .  Mandsford (talk) 18:06, 9 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Delete: A regular murderer. Joe Chill (talk) 21:17, 9 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Delete The article says he had the ambition to be as infamous as Jack the Ripper. By killing all victims in a short period, he frustrated the desire of tabloids for articles about an ongoing series of perplexing murders, not did he write taunting letters to the authorities. Thus a lack of books and secondary coverage. Also, no evidence of any enduring effect on society, beyond that if the 4 victims had been killed in a car wreck. Fails WP:BIO. Edison (talk) 00:28, 10 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Week keep in that I think serial killers (especially those in the UK ) are notable; however, I would acknowledge that he does appear to be your garden variety serial killer. Location (talk) 06:45, 10 September 2009 (UTC)
 * I think that underscores the idea that multiple killers aren't really that rare in Britain, especially when there's a list of 35 living serial killers behind bars. I'm not aware of an inherent notability for killers -- maybe there should be one where you get an article after your 7th victim -- and this one doesn't seem to have attracted notice in the usual way.  Mandsford (talk) 13:41, 11 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Er, have you actually read that list before commenting on it? A number of the people on it killed a single person and only ten could actually be defined as serial killers (note that a serial killer is not just somebody who kills more than once). Arkwright (who isn't a serial killer, by the way) is the only one on the list who appears to be a true spree killer (who tend to kill themselves at the end of their rampage). As I said, multiple killers are rare in Britain! As the only British spree killer currently serving a whole life sentence, is Arkwright really not notable? As usual, doing a Google search is an utter red herring - he was convicted before the internet. If he hasn't done anything notable while in prison then it's predictable that not a lot comes up on him. We do not, however, only document cases in the internet age. Try doing a Google search on any senior government official (for example) who lived before the internet. Nine times out of ten you'll find next to nothing on him too. Does that mean he's not notable? Of course it doesn't. Yet you'll find reams of information on complete nobodies who live now. Funny that! -- Necrothesp (talk) 15:15, 11 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Comparing a government official to a murderer with no hint of notability that isn't one event? That reminds me of someone comparing Emmy award winners and murderers. Joe Chill (talk) 04:05, 12 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Please actually take time to read a post before you make an inaccurate comment about it! At no point did I compare anyone to anyone else. -- Necrothesp (talk) 17:53, 12 September 2009 (UTC)
 * "Try doing a Google search on any senior government official (for example) who lived before the internet. Nine times out of ten you'll find next to nothing on him too. Does that mean he's not notable? Of course it doesn't." Joe Chill (talk) 19:03, 12 September 2009 (UTC)
 * In what way was that a comparison? I was just making a point about the unreliability of Google searches for anyone who lived before the internet, even somebody (like a government official) with long and distinguished service. I was in no way saying that the notability of a murderer should be compared with that of an official. Google searches are overused in AfD debates in an attempt to "prove" notability or lack of it and this is a perfect example of how one is utterly irrelevant in this instance. -- Necrothesp (talk) 12:53, 13 September 2009 (UTC)


 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Crime-related deletion discussions.  —Location (talk) 04:02, 12 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Necro is correct, I didn't actually read the list before commenting upon it. However, I think Google searches have become very reliable for pre-internet events.  True, post-1995 gets more coverage on the web.  However, Google News has improved to the point that it's an excellent repository for AP, UPI, Reuters, etc. articles for the second half of the 20th century at least.  I consider it a good indicator as to whether something was notable at the time that it happened.  Google Books, of course, is a good indicator as to whether something had "historic notability", since it shows whether an individual received mention years after they made the news.  In both cases, I consider those to be more reliable than the Internet in general.  While it's not perfect, I don't know of a better way that the average person can independently verify notability.   Mandsford (talk) 16:31, 15 September 2009 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.