By Sarah Lagan
Manchester Evening News district journalist Dean Kirby successfully
challenged a Section 49 order to name five white teenagers responsible
for an horrific attack on three Asian schoolboys.
An argument had broken out between the gang and the Asian boys and
the following day they came to their school with about 100 youths,
chased the Asian boys and assaulted them.
The MEN wrote to the
court in advance of the case to ask that the restrictions be lifted.
Kirby, who writes for the paper’s Oldham and Rochdale edition,
requested at Rochdale Youth Court that district judge Alan Berg remove
the automatic reporting restriction on the grounds of public interest
and that justice needed to be seen to be done. The judge agreed to lift
the ban.
Deputy news editor Amanda Killelea said: “We felt it was
important that those responsible for such a serious crime were made an
example of and it was a matter of public interest for them to be
identified.”
Three of the attackers, aged between 15 and 17, received custodial sentences and one was given a supervision order.
The fifth fled the court during the case and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
The MEN reported the case on its front page and included an interview with one of the victims on page four.
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