A teenager who beat a lorry driver to death with a hammer and two other juvenile defendants who took part in the attack were named after an application from a Press Association journalist.

East Midlands reporter Ellen Branagh wrote to Judge Charles Wide QC at Northampton Crown Court arguing that the trio should be identified because of the seriousness of their offences and that it was in the public interest, Media Lawyer reports.

Last November Peter Bryan was attacked after he confronted a gang who were kicking his gate.

He was found slumped in an alley 300 yards from his Northamptonshire home and later died in hospital.

Ricky Anderson, 17, admitted murdering the 65-year-old.

Nicholas Riley and Kyle Clinton, also both 17, admitted violent disorder but the trio’s identities were protected by anonymity orders under Section 39 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933.

Before sentencing the gang, the judge lifted the anonymity orders, saying: “None of these defendants are a child, they are all criminally experienced, they are all well-known to each other.

“I have no doubt the people of this community are entitled to know who they are.

“I lift the restrictions. I am of the view that it is in the public interest that their identities should be known.”

Anderson, Riley and Clinton are all due to turn 18 within the next three months.

Darren Watts, 18, also admitted violent disorder while Anderson’s older brother Jamie, 20, admitted affray.