A paedophile who changed his name by deed poll midway through court proceedings in an attempt to achieve anonymity has been identified thanks to a regional newspaper’s successful challenge.

The Southern Daily Echo took action after a judge at Southampton Crown Court agreed to impose an order in the case of Raymond Morrison, 43, that banned them from revealing that he had changed his name from Hughes just weeks earlier.

Raymond Hughes, a senior matron at Southampton General Hospital, had first appeared in court under his original name to plead guilty to downloading 2,800 images of children involved in sexual acts, including 468 classed as extreme.

Also found on his computer were videos showing acts the judge described as nothing less than torture.

However when Hughes returned to court weeks later to be sentenced to two years in jail he had changed his name by deed poll to Raymond Morrison.

The Daily Echo’s reporter in court, Corey Stephenson, challenged the order with Judge Jeremy Burford QC, but this was rejected.

The Southern Daily Echo reported the case under the restrictions on its front page, explaining to readers that for legal reasons the paper was barred from revealing the defendant’s previous name.

The paper then made legal representations in the form of a letter to the judge written by Newsquest head of legal Simon Westrop, asking for the order to be lifted and the ban on revealing the defendant’s previous name removed.

After receiving the letter the court confirmed to the paper that Judge Burford was now in agreement that the previous identity could be disclosed. The paper revealed the full facts of the case, including Hughes/Morrison’s complete identity and a police photograph, in yesterday’s edition.

Editor Ian Murray said: “This was a shocking attempt by a nasty individual to avoid identification and I am glad we have been able to prevent this. I was surprised the judge went as far as he did in warning us to not even reveal the defendant’s original name.”