A convicted murderer and rapist has won a landmark ruling against a newspaper publisher which prevents it from publishing his photo unpixelated.

Mr Justice Stephens ruled at Belfast High Court that Independent News and Media, publishers of the Belfast Telegraph and Sunday Life, couldn't publish an unpixelated image or the whereabouts of Kenneth Callaghan.

Callaghan, who is currently on day release, had previously obtained a temporary injunction against the papers but the ruling has now been made permanent.

In 1987, he beat 22-year-old Carol Gouldie to death and then raped her as she lay dead or dying.

Last October, his life sentence tariff expired meaning he is now eligible for release on licence and is currently on a pre-release scheme allowing him to spend his days in the community.

The victim's family said after the ruling: "We are of course disappointed at today's decision as our concern in this case has been about protecting the innocent.

"Once again the courts have found in favour of the wrongdoer and the wider safety concerns of the law abiding public have been cast aside.

"This sends out a very disturbing message to the society of Northern Ireland, which is to be given a lower level of safety than the rest of the UK."

Similar lifetime blackouts have been handed to media for Maxine Carr, who gave child murderer Ian Huntley a false alibi, and Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, the two young killers of toddler James Bulger in 1993.

In a lengthy editorial piece, the Belfast Telegraph said: "Our view was – and still is – that it is impossible to substantiate the proposition that publication of Callaghan's picture could endanger his life. We say there is a legitimate public interest in alerting communities to the presence of such individuals.

"On balance, surely the community's right to be able to identify such individuals outweighs an unquantifiable risk to an offender who has carried out the most evil crimes?"

It added: "While the Callaghan ruling is regrettable, of greater significance to the media is that an injunction was granted to the Prison Service preventing publication of pictures of any "serving" prisoner, or one who is or has been assessed at the Service's Prisoner Assessment Unit in Belfast, unless their features are obscured.

"The paper also has to give the authorities 48 hours notice of the intention to publish.

"In our view, it is a Draconian measure which is so swingeing in scope that it could seriously impede the media's right to investigate matters of public interest in relation to crime."

Sunday Life editor Jim Flanagan said: "The ban on publishing any photographs of inmates on a pre-release scheme without giving two days' notice is extremely wide-ranging and could impede journalists' legitimate investigation of crime."