Article on a criminal is cut (10)
I believe the answer is:
laceration
'is cut' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'article on a criminal' is the wordplay.
'criminal' is an anagram indicator.
'article'+'on'+'a'='articleona'
'articleona' with letters rearranged gives 'LACERATION'.
(Other definitions for laceration that I've seen before include "Cut, scratch" , "Tear" , "wound" , "Tearing (of skin)" , "cutting" .)