Describe yourself in three words.

Older not wiser.

Who is the most difficult person you’ve had to interview during your career to date?

The most challenging interview was my first. It was live on TV and just before they switched to us my interviewee whispered, “Please go easy. It’s my first time on telly.”

Do you think the police were ever reluctant of handing over a case to Crimewatch for fear for being shown up?

Yes! On the whole investigating officers had to be confident they’d covered all the bases before they agreed to our involvement.

Have you ever thought that the police may have convicted the wrong person and as a journalist, do you think that maybe the police are not always right ?

Police don’t convict people, magistrates and juries do. My book explain why I am – literally – in contempt of court.

With reference to your Crimewatch sign-off, did you ever have nightmares - or is serious crime really much less common than we think?

I haven’t had a nightmare in years – and yes crime is much rarer than we think. In fact it’s been plunging for many years. Whatever measure you choose, including homicide (where it’s hard to hide the bodies), crime has fallen as steeply as it went up from the 1960s to the 1990s.

Have you ever been a victim of crime? And have you ever committed a crime?

Yes and yes. I was mugged for my chips and pocket money when I was a boy but in those days we called it bullying. I had a threat on my life when I was involved in the civil rights movement in Northern Ireland – and had a gun pointed through the window of my car when I was a reporter there. And, more prosaically, my car was often broken into when car crime was reaching its peak in the 1980s. Oh and yes, I have committed a crime. I shoplifted when I was a child, something I can’t now deny since when I last admitted it, a few years back, it was splashed across the front page of the News of the World.

What part of the world would you most like to live in and why?

London, near Kensington Gardens. I love it. But I had a ball in Belfast when I lived there too. I’d probably be happy anywhere for a time, provided there’s good company, good food and running water. Oh, and fast internet access.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

“Go into broadcasting.” (My psychology professor’s advice not to continue with my PhD when I got an offer from the BBC.)

What are you most looking forward to about taking part in the Swindon Festival of Literature?

Seeing what people make of it when I debunk most established ideas about crime: will they cheer at the jaw-dropping evidence or sit with arms folded in silent disbelief?

What question would you most like to be asked in an interview?

Do you think society is well-served by democracy? (Served yes, well-served, no.)

Nick is speaking as part of the Swindon Festival of Literature on May 15 at 12.30pm in the Arts Centre.