A regional daily newspaper has won a High Court battle to name a convicted sex offender who had a Sexual Offences Prevention Order made against him.

The Grimsby Telegraph has had to pay thousands of pounds fighting a legal battle to name Gary Allen, 37, – who claimed his human rights would be breached if his name was published in relation to the SOPO.

The order was imposed on him last year preventing him from approaching prostitutes but a district judge imposed a Section 4 order under the Contempt of Court Act, postponing publication of his name and photo until a higher court could decide on his application for anonymity.

But at a High Court hearing in Leeds on Friday, Mr Justice Coulson threw out Allen’s application, with his legal team conceding he no longer had grounds to keep his identity out of the public eye.

Last month, the Telegraph had decided to publish details that Allen was now living in Grimsby along with a photograph of him to make local people aware of this, but without mentioning the SOPO.

Following the paper’s coverage, a Facebook campaign was set up – Keep Gary Allen Out Of Grimsby – containing threats which was used in support of Allen’s application for anonymity.

But the judge last week said such campaigns were ‘a fact of life’ and the paper had not been in contempt of court for publishing its story.

Allen, who was living in Grimsby until recently, had been granted legal aid for his application but the Telegraph has had to pay legal costs running into thousands of pounds to fight the challenge.

Deputy editor Michelle Hurst told HTFP: “In this climate that kind of money is large for regional newspapers but it was the principle involved and something we were determined to fight.”

Allen is currently remanded in custody charged with assaulting a police officer and two breaches of the SOPO by allegedly approaching a prostitute in Scunthorpe’s red light district.