A chief reporter has won the right to identify a teenage knifeman after a battle with both police and legal representatives.

Basingstoke Gazette journalist Ryan Evans won an application to name 16-year-old Connor Ezard and to publish his photograph after an initial request was refused by Hampshire Constabulary.

Ezard was jailed after being found guilty of wounding with intent, with Winchester Crown Court hearing he had stabbed his friend in the face in a “vicious and cowardly” attack.

Ryan, pictured, applied at Ezard’s sentencing for reporting restrictions to be lifted but this was opposed by Nicola Talbot-Hadley, defending, who claimed naming the defendant was “disproportionate and unnecessary”.

But Judge Susan Evans QC backed Ryan’s argument on the grounds that the community had “a right to know what happened”.

After receiving the judge’s backing, Ryan then took his case to the police force in order to obtain a photo of Ezard, but was initially rebuffed because the defendant was still under 18.

However, the decision was later reversed after he appealed to the force’s communications team, noting there was no reason to withhold Ezard’s image because the court had removed the reporting restrictions.

Ryan further stated that picturing Ezard would help to further the force’s goal of protecting the community, by alerting the people of Basingstoke to who the convict, a repeat offender, was.

Speaking to HTFP, Ryan said: “It was the right decision for the court to remove reporting restrictions in this case, and that Hampshire Constabulary released the custody photograph of Connor Ezard.

“This was a shocking crime and an unprovoked attack that left a young man with a scar for life.

“It is absolutely right that the Basingstoke community should know the identity of those convicted of such a serious crime.

“Without a strong local newspaper such as the Gazette, I would not have been at the court to challenge these reporting restrictions, and the community would not have known what happened.

“It is important that justice is not only done but seen to be done, and publishing the identity of defendants and those convicted is a vital aspect of that.”

Ryan had argued in court it was strongly in the public interest for naming Ezard, whose crime had left his victim with a scar for life as well as mental scars.

He argued the community would enjoy greater protection from the defendant in future if the Gazette could identify him, and also cited a previous case in which a judge described the prospect of being named and shamed as “a powerful deterrent.”

The prosecutor gave no view on Ryan’s application, by Ms Talbot-Hadley said naming Ezard “only heightens the naming and shaming that has already taken place”.

She added that allowing the press to identify Ezard “brands them, labels them, and makes it harder for them to be rehabilitated”.

Backing Ryan’s application, Judge Evans said: “The press submit to me that there is a very strong public interest, and that the community have a right to know what happened.

“They point to the fact that Connor’s offending is not a one-off, and it has an impact on a number of people. They also say to me that there is a principle recently reiterated in the case of JC&RT against the Central Criminal Court in 2014 that the prospect of being named is a powerful deterrent.

“Ms Talbot-Hadley rightly makes the point that simply saying that the press cannot name Connor, does not prevent the press from reporting the crime. It is right to say that he is vulnerable. However, he does have a level of maturity that he has demonstrated in custody.

“I do come to the view that the principle of open justice and the need for the members of the public to be informed about crime is such that I am prepared to make that excepting order and allow the press to report the name of Connor Ezard.”