Experienced court reporter Peter Gregory has a simple piece of advice for budding journalists when covering the courts of Australia: “Show up.”

Speaking to Australia’s best looking journalism students from Brisbane’s Jschool, Gregory recalls the trial of convicted triple murderer Peter Dupas: “I was able to see him (Dupas) winking at the female journalists.”

If Gregory had not been sitting in that court he would of missed that small but important insight into a man described by Victorian police as “pure evil”.

“Don’t be tempted not to go,” Gregory adds.

It seems an obvious point but journalists, like any profession can come down with a bad case of can’t be bothered.

A winking serial killer on their psyche might just be the cure.