A teenage thug has been unmasked in the South Wales Evening Post after the paper persuaded a judge to remove reporting restrictions.

Recorder Keith Thomas agreed that people had the right to know the identity of the 17-year-old, despite her age.

She was in court for carrying out a vicious street robbery with two other girls and was sentenced to a two year detention and training order after a string of previous convictions was revealed.

Courts can ban the naming of a defendant if they are under the age of 18 and such an order was put in place to cover this hearing.

After receiving a request from the Evening Post, Mr Thomas said: "She will be 18 in a matter of months and it is right the public should know she was responsible for this very unpleasant offence.

"Such offences are all too common and the message must go out that they will be dealt with in a severe manner."

A Home Office spokesman, while declining to comment on individual cases, told the Post: "The Government does encourage the naming and shaming of persistent offenders where appropriate."

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