It could soon be easier for regional newspapers to report on teenage tearaways charged with breaching anti-social behaviour orders.

Automatic reporting restrictions still apply to such cases, despite a change in the law to allow the identification of under-18s who are sentenced to ASBOs following convictions in a youth court.

But the Home Office has now promised to take action to make the reporting of ASBO breaches easier, as a key part of measures to reassure the public that perpetrators are being brought to justice.

The pledge came in the Home Office’s newly published strategic plan Confident Communities in a Secure Britain.

As the law stands, Section 49 of the Children And Young Persons Act 1933, which forbids reporting anything that might reveal the identity of the defendant or any other young person involved in the proceedings, still applies to ASBO breach convictions in a youth court – although courts do have the power to lift the ban.

In addition to this, young people cannot be identified in relation to any other part of their trial other than ASBO sentencing.

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