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Thugs named after trainee's court challenge

A trainee reporter successfully challenged a court order to enable two thugs who beat a cyclist to pulp to be named and shamed.

Portuguese national Filipe Nunes David, 40, was left severely brain-damaged after the attack by a group of men who wrongly believed he was a paedophile.

A judge at Kingston Crown Court had previously imposed a Section 39 order to protect the identities of two 17-year-olds who took part in the attack.

But the pair, Jamie Bailey and Frank Miller, have now been named after Epsom Guardian reporter Thais Portilho-Shrimpton managed to overturn the ruling.

Thais, who is originally from Brazil, had to address the court from the witness box and lay out her arguments to have the order lifted.

Assistant editor Kerry McQueeney said: “This was such a horrific attack, where a father-of-two had to have a quarter of his skull removed because of the injuries he sustained, that to have kept the Section 39 in place would have been an injustice.

“Friends and neighbours of Jamie Bailey and Frank Miller have every right to know what they did, alongside Brett Carslake. They should not expect to hide behind their anonymity.

“Thais did really well with the challenge. Despite other journalists being in court, she was the only one who stood up and spoke.”

Bailey and Miller had both previously pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm with intent.

Bailey was sentenced to five years in jail while Miller was given a 24-month supervision order.