A regional daily has successfully thwarted a bid to keep secret the identities of two teenagers convicted of murder after a “brutal” gangland attack.

The Manchester Evening News successfully applied for reporting restrictions to be lifted after 17-year-old Kiahus Baddoo and 16-year-old Shayne Stewart were among seven young men to be handed life sentences over the death of Sait Mboob.

The pair were part of a gang who travelled in convoy to launch a knife and machete attack on 18-year-old student Mr Mboob, fatally wounding him.

Barristers representing Baddoo and Stewart, who are allegedly members of a gang called 7M, had objected to the MEN’s application, but trial judge Mr Justice King told Manchester Crown Court he had “no doubt” the bar should be lifted.

Clockwise from top left: Emil Bell, Kiahus Baddoo, Lequornne Morgan, Requan Brown, Ryan Isaacs, Husam Ghazanfar, Shayne Stewart, Laif Morgan

However, the judge stipulated a prohibition on their addresses being published should remain after hearing submissions from their barristers about fears for the safety of their families.

Andrew Bardsley, the MEN court reporter who had covered the trial’s opening, wrote in his letter to the judge: “We would argue that it would be in the interests of open justice, and in the interests of the public to see the justice system at work.

“The death of Mr Mboob was such a shocking incident for the community, and allowing the press to name those found responsible would promote confidence in the judicial system.”

Andrew also pointed out that the judge had previously lifted an anonymity order in the previous trial of an eighth defendant, Emil Bell, who was 17 at the time of his conviction.

MEN crime reporter John Scheerhout, who covered the pair’s sentencing, told HTFP: “Andrew drafted the letter so it was down to him really. I just handed it up. The barristers for the two concerned objected to the application but their arguments were thin.

“In 20-odd years of covering crime I can’t recall a case where a youth convicted of murder was allowed to keep their anonymity upon a guilty verdict, so we were pushing at an open door. But had we not made the application I’m pretty sure those two young men would still be enjoying anonymity they don’t deserve.

“In that scenario, the public would have found it perverse that we could name five of the defendants but not two others on the grounds that they were a few months younger.

“Each of then had played a similar part in a truly shocking crime although the person who caused the fatal injury was never established. There are fewer reporters covering court these days so it is important we challenge orders in situations like this.”

All defendants were convicted of murder, although prosecutors admitted they could not prove who dealt the fatal blow.

Baddoo and Stewart were given the youth equivalent of life sentences, while 23-year-old Laif Morgan and 19-year-olds Lequornne Morgan, Requan Brown, Ryan Isaacs and Husam Ghazanfar were also handed life terms.

They were handed minimum terms ranging from 14 to 19 years for their part in the attack, which happened on 8 August last year.

Jailing the seven, Mr Justice King said: “The attack was a sustained and brutal one involving the indiscriminate use of violence. It involved the use of weapons in the form of knives, claw-hammers and machetes and the like.

“You were each convicted on the basis of joint enterprise to commit this offence.”