When a court bid by the Herald Express failed to persuade magistrates to lift reporting restrictions on a “happy slapper” it still ran the story on the front page – concealing her identity.

The Torquay paper wanted to reveal the 15-year-old’s identity in the public interest. But the court decided not to lift restrictions because it could hinder the girl’s rehabilitation.

The teenager had pleaded guilty in the youth court to beating up another teenage girl while others filmed it on their phones.

South Devon reporter Emma Pearcy said: “We challenged the restrictions under Section 49 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933.

“Although we were unsuccessful, we ran with a story blanking out her identify and telling our readers why we could not reveal who she was.

“We also ran a story on reaction from the mother of the girl beaten up by the teenage ‘happy slapper’ who said the court’s decision to protect her identity was a ‘joke’.”

Despite being unsuccessful, Emma said the experience and the magistrates’ response resulted in a “cracking front page”.

Support from editor Andy Phelan and the newsdesk team helped make the experience less daunting.

Emma said: “I would argue all reporters, whether senior or trainee, to challenge the courts in the future where they believe there genuinely is grounds to do so.

“Obviously it has to be on the merits of each case but I feel it is important, in this age of more and more legislation piled up against press freedom, that we continue to challenge the judiciary system and be seen to be doing so, in the interests of our readers.”