Reporters are free to reveal the name of a 13-year-old attack victim who was set upon at school.

Youth court reporting restrictions meant that neither the defendant – a 12-year-old – nor the victim could be named.

When the case was transferred to Sheffield Crown Court, the Sheffield Star and the Press Association made written representations to Judge Patrick Robertshaw asking him not to make an order under S39 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 in relation to the victim, Shanni Naylor.

Her name had already been in the press, and she had been on the front page of a national newspaper and on television at the time of the attack, which left her needing 30 stitches to her face.

The judge was also told that Shanni’s family supported the lifting of her anonymity.

Prosecutors told a pre-trial hearing that they would not bee seeking a naming ban for the victim, but would still want the defendant’s identity to remain protected.

A provisional trial date has been set for later this year.

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