The Evening Gazette has lost its bid to name a 14-year-old who terrorised a Middlesbrough estate.

The teenager was made the subject of an anti-social behaviour order last week, but district judge James Prowse, sitting at Teesside Magistrates Court, banned publication of his name until January 8, pending any possible appeal.

But the Evening Gazette challenged the naming ban and editor Steve Dyson and reporter Matheus Sanchez put the paper’s case forward during a 90-minute hearing.

Judge Prowse said he accepted the need for publicity to help enforce the order and act as a deterrent to others, but delayed the lifting of reporting restrictions for four weeks after the teenager’s solicitors said they may consider appealing.

Gazette editor Steve Dyson said: “We are very disappointed by the decision, which in our opinion has diluted the administration of justice.

“The people in this community have been put through misery by this young lout and ASBOs are supposed to protect those victims, not the culprit.

“Our disappointment is shared by the council, police chiefs and community groups. That is because, like us, they feel the anti-social behaviour order imposed has been diminished by the continued protection of his identity.

“It is not this 14-year-old lout who needs protection, it is the folk who suffered the harassment and yobbish antics that led him into the courtroom in the first place.

“They have been put through misery by his disgraceful behaviour and deserve to see, publicly, what their efforts have achieved.”

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