Macclesfield Express trainee reporter Charlotte Cox scored a significant legal victory with a Section 39 ruling in a crown court case.

She was surprised to be told by a clerk at Chester Crown Court that she wouldn’t be able to name a 17-year-old – because the Section 39 ruling imposed at an earlier magistrates’ court hearing applied.

But Charlotte stuck to her guns, pointing to the case of R v Lee where Lord Justice Lloyd ruled that a Section 39 order made in the magistrates court does not apply to a case when it reaches the crown court.

The judge had not imposed a full or even a partial Section 39 order. Section 39 of the Children and Young Persons Act, 1933, bans the media from identifying children and young people involved in a case, including their name, address and school, and publishing anything “calculated” to lead to their identification.

Charlotte insisted that the clerk spoke to the judge to clarify the situation. He confirmed that she was correct, that he hadn’t imposed the order and therefore the defendant could be named.

Express editor David Lafferty said: “This incident will be of interest to all reporters who cover courts on a regular basis. I am extremely proud of Charlotte who stuck to her guns and was sure of the law regarding this matter.

“It would have been easy to assume a court clerk would have the superior knowledge but this is not always the case.

“It makes perfect sense as a judge would not like to be dictated to over matters such as this by a lower court.

“This was an important, high profile case in Macclesfield and we felt it was crucial the 17-year-old was named.”