Sharon Edwards is a firm believer that justice should not only be done – but that it is also seen to be done.
The Lincolnshire Echo senior reporter successfully persuaded a court to lift reporting restrictions on a youngster who had been handed an anti-social behaviour order.
As part of a special focus on the subject, she wrote this article, which first appeared in the Echo.

It is a long-established principle of the United Kingdom’s judicial system that justice must not just be done, but it must be seen to be done.

The law recognises that members of the press are not unwelcome interlopers in the courtroom.

They are representatives of the public who will later be informed of the decisions being made on their behalf and warned of the disturbing and illegal actions of those who find themselves held accountable.

The importance of this role came into focus recently when the Lincolnshire Echo successfully applied to “name and shame” a teenage tearaway.

Paul Fisher, (14), appeared before Lincoln magistrates last October after the authorities recorded 54 incidents against him over a two-year period.

For example, he is alleged to have put his hands around a woman’s throat and thumped her.

On another occasion, he subjected an elderly Polish man to racial abuse and frightened an elderly woman in her own home, the court heard.

He was also accused of numerous incidents of trespass and criminal damage.

At last, in a last resort effort to bring him to heel, Lincoln City Council and Lincolnshire Police decided to apply for an anti-social behaviour order, to severely restrict his freedom.

It was the first time Lincoln authorities had chosen to apply for the order, which was introduced in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.

In court, Fisher’s solicitor did not oppose the application and the youth was given an order which prevented him from entering many of the areas where he is known to have caused the most trouble.

He was also banned from entering any commercial premises without an adult and made subject to a curfew between 10pm and 6am each day.

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