A teenage gangster involved in three shootings has been named after a reporter’s successful court fight.

The Liverpool Echo has won the right to identify Harry O’Brien, who was just 16 at the time he led a gun and drug mob in the south of the city.

Echo crown court reporter Neil Docking asked for reporting restrictions, made under Section 45 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999, to be lifted after O’Brien was jailed for almost a decade for his involvement in organised crime.

Neil, pictured, successfully argued there was a strong argument in allowing the 17-year-old to be named, given the case involved serious organised crime, and that the order would in any case have expired upon the youth’s 18th birthday next month.

Speaking to HTFP, Neil said: “We highlighted that O’Brien will be 18 on May 28, a month after sentencing, so, if the S45 order were to remain in place, the media would in any event be able to name him at that point.

“We submitted that there was no reason for a delay in informing the public of his identity and the impact of the reporting of court proceedings is significantly increased if the young person concerned is publicly named and pictured at the time of sentencing.

“However, we said even if O’Brien were not so close to his 18th birthday, there would still be a strong argument in allowing him to be named, given the case involved serious organised crime, and he was said to be at the heart of the criminality and played a leading role in three shootings and an arson attack.”

The Echo’s submisstion to Judge Neil Flewitt QC added: “We believe that allowing the media to name him in reports of the sentence you impose will send a strong signal to young people that if they use firearms and other violent means to pursue unlawful ends, they will face very serious consequences.

“It will also reassure the local community terrorised by O’Brien and his associates that such lawlessness will not be tolerated and those guilty of such crimes will be dealt with firmly and appropriately.”

Liverpool Crown Court heard how O’Brien controlled a “graft” line and a crew of dealers selling cannabis on the streets, but his “lucrative” trade was exposed after a “feud” led to three shootings in three weeks.

The teenager took part in all of the shootings and also perpetrated an arson attack in which he poured petrol through the letterbox of a mum’s home and set it ablaze, as she and her children ran for their lives.

Judge Flewitt jailed O’Brien for nine years and eight months, with an extended three years on licence after he admitted conspiring to possess a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, and conspiring to commit arson being reckless as to whether life would be endangered.

He had already admitted conspiracy to supply cannabis.

In deciding to lift the order, the judge said: “I have reached the conclusion that, in this case, the interests of Harry O’Brien are outweighed by the public interest in open justice and unrestricted reporting.

“In making that decision, I have been influenced by Harry O’Brien’s age, the short time for which publication would be delayed if I refused the application, the serious nature of the offences and the sentence that I intend to impose.”