A judge praised a regional daily’s anti-knife campaign – but refused the newspaper the right to name a teenager who stabbed another boy to death.

Judge Mr Justice Nicklin rejected an application by Sheffield daily The Star to name the killer of Samuel Baker, pictured, who was just 15 when he died in May this year.

The unnamed attacker, who was 15 at the time of Samuel’s death but is now 16, pleaded guilty to manslaughter earlier this month on the grounds that he had stabbed Samuel in self-defence.

At the boy’s sentencing hearing on Thursday, where he was jailed for two years and eight months, Star court reporter Sarah Marshall attempted to get a Section 45 order lifted by Mr Justice Nicklin, saying it believed naming the killer would act as a deterrent.

The paper said in its application: “The Star feels that publicising full details of this case, including the names of both boys involved, will have more of an impact on those in the community, and may act as a deterrent to stop incidents of this nature taking place in the future.

“This was a notorious crime that shocked and appalled many in the community. Identifying the defendant will help to maintain the public’s confidence in the justice system.”

The Star further argued that while Samuel Baker’s name could be included within a court report that details his previous criminal behaviour, and may tarnish his reputation in the minds of right-thinking members of society, the identity of the boy who killed him would be protected.

But Mr Justice Nicklin rejected the application, telling Sheffield Crown Court: “Power to dispense with the order must be exercised with great care, caution, and circumspection. It would be wholly wrong for any court to dispense with a juvenile’s prima facie right to anonymity as an additional punishment. It is also very difficult to see any place for ‘naming and shaming.'”

The Star has recently been running an anti-knife campaign, and handed out 1,500 copies of a special edition on the subject of knife crime to secondary schoolchildren across Sheffield.

Praising The Star for its “impressive local journalism”, Mr Justice Nicklin added: “Given its laudable campaign against knife crime, I have every confidence that the Sheffield Star will also fully report this case even if the defendant is not named.

“Ultimately, the public interest in this case centres on knife crime, the prevalence of the carrying knives by young men and the awful consequences that too often follow. The media will be free to report all the details of this case, save for the name of the defendant.

“The additional element that might be supplied by publishing his name is not necessary in the interests of justice, and the order preventing him from being identified does not represent a substantial and unreasonable restriction on the reporting of the proceedings.”

Star head of content Julia Rogerson told HTFP: “Sarah put together a very detailed challenge under S.45 Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999. Mr Justice Nicklin rejected the application to lift the restriction but praised the Star’s anti-knife campaign, describing it as ‘impressive local journalism’.

“He also reiterated how impressed he was with Sarah’s challenge adding it was more thorough and better presented than some submissions he’d seen from barristers.

“It was an excellent piece of work by Sarah, looking at all the details of the case and presenting to our readers how and why we attempted to lift the reporting restrictions in the interest of open justice.”

On Friday morning, The Star reported on the latest victim of knife crime in Sheffield – a 17-year-old boy who suffered a stab wound to his back in an attack on Thursday evening.

The victim was treated in hospital before later being discharged, while a 22-year-old man arrested at the scene on suspicion of wounding has been released on bail pending further enquiries.