Brianna Ghey murder: Which other young killers have been named by courts?

The killers of James Bulger in 1993 are among those who have been named in the past.

A boy and a girl, both 16, have been found guilty at Manchester Crown Court of the murder of teenager Brianna Ghey (Family handout/Warrington Police/PA) (PA Media)

The media will be able to report the identities of Brianna Ghey’s killers when they are sentenced next February after a ruling by a Crown Court judge.

Children appearing in youth or crown courts in England and Wales, whether as a victim, witness or defendant, generally cannot be identified if they are under the age of 18.

However, anonymity orders can be lifted by judges. Here are some previous examples:

– The killers of James Bulger

Jon Venables and Robert Thompson were 10 when they abducted, tortured and murdered two-year-old James Bulger in Liverpool in February 1993.

After they were convicted at a high-profile trial, judge Mr Justice Morland allowed the boys to be named.

The judge said: “I considered that the public interest over-rode the interests of the defendants.”

In 2001, shortly after they turned 18, the High Court made an injunction preventing the media from publishing their new identities, effectively granting them lifelong anonymity.

– Leighton Amies

Amies, aged 15 when he was named, had stabbed 14-year-old Tomasz Oleszak to death in a Gateshead nature park in October 2022 and was convicted of murder on April 17 following a trial at Newcastle Crown Court.

Mr Justice Spencer, lifting the reporting ban, said: “There is a public interest in trying to deflect young people from the carrying of knives, where when that happens, this kind of utterly tragic outcome can occur.”

The judge added: “In my judgment, the public interest in reporting fully of these proceedings, including the identity of the defendant, in fact outweighs the interests of the defendant in having the anonymity of his identity maintained.”

– Khayri Mclean’s killers

Jakele Pusey, 15, and his cousin Jovani Harriott, 17, were jailed for life at Leeds Crown Court earlier this year and given minimum terms of 16 and 18 years respectively for the murder of Khayri.

Pusey and Harriott had lain in wait for Khayri, with masks and large knives, near his Huddersfield school in September 2022 and attacked him in front of other school children.

Mrs Justice Farbey, lifting the order, referenced “acute public concern at a national level” about knife crime and the “particular concern in Huddersfield”, where a number of teenagers have died in recent years.

– Teacher murderer

Will Cornick was 15 when he stabbed to death Ann Maguire, 61, as she taught a class at Corpus Christi Catholic College, in Leeds, in April 2014.

Mr Justice Coulson, who ruled Cornick could be named as he was jailed for at least 20 years, said lifting his anonymity would have a “a clear deterrent effect” and will also aid debates about the wider issues involved.

He added: “Ill-informed commentators may scoff, but those of us involved in the criminal justice system know that deterrence will almost always be a factor in the naming of those involved in offences such as this.”

– Jack Hindley and Samuel Jones

In September 2022, Mr Justice Sweeney lifted reporting restrictions at Winchester Crown Court to allow the naming of Hindley and Jones, then 17, who were found guilty of the murder of 35-year-old musician Edward Reeve.

The keyboard player suffered multiple stab wounds in the attack at his home in Christchurch, Dorset, on new year’s eve 2021.

Mr Justice Sweeney said that open reporting could have a “deterrent effect” on youth knife crime and attacks in the home, which he said were “two areas of public concern”.

He added: “There is greater weight in open justice and unrestricted reporting than in the interests of these defendants.”

– Logan Mwangi murderer

Last year Mrs Justice Jefford permitted the identification of then 14-year-old Craig Mulligan after he murdered his five-year-old step-brother Logan.

Mulligan was convicted alongside his step-father, John Cole and Logan’s mother Angharad Williamson of killing the young boy in Bridgend in July 2021.

The judge ruled it was in the public interest for Mulligan to be named because “there is a significant gap in any understanding of this case” if he remained anonymous.

– Marcel Grzeszcz

Mr Justice Jeremy Baker allowed the naming of 15-year-old Grzeszcz after jailing him in 2021 for the murder of 12-year-old Roberts Buncis.

The killer lured his victim to an area of woodland in Fishtoft, near Boston, Lincolnshire, on December 12 2020 before attempting to decapitate him.

In his ruling at Lincoln Crown Court, the judge said identifying Grzeszcz would assist the “investigation” of knife crime and its “causes and prevention”.

– Essex stabbing

Joshuah Sparks, who stabbed father-of-four James Gibbons to death on the day of his twin daughters’ second birthday party, was named in court aged 16 in December 2021.

The 34-year-old plumber had challenged a group of youths who were harassing a homeless man, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.

Mr Justice Charles Bourne lifted an anonymity order.