A weekly reporter succeeded in overturning a court an order banning a dead baby from being named after a judge agreed it had been imposed in error.

Kent Messenger reporter Guy Bell was at Maidstone Magistrates Court on Friday when the Section 45 Order was given to prevent publication of the identity of one-month-old Freddie Lomas.

Defendants Danni Knowler, 19, and James Lomas, 20, are accused of causing unnecessary suffering or injury to one-month-old Freddie, who died in 2016. Both deny the charge.

The presiding judge revoked the restriction immediately after Guy argued it had been wrongly imposed and asked for it to be reviewed.

Messenger editor Denise Eaton, pictured, said: “Guy was armed with a letter appealing the decision on the grounds that the Order had been wrongly imposed, but it wasn’t necessary in the end as the error was realised and revoked immediately when questioned.

“The judge was very good-natured about it, even apologising to the reporter for the mistake, suggesting he may have detected hesitancy in his voice when making the Order.

“Fortunately our reporter was there to challenge the restriction, otherwise the outcome may well have been different.”