Naming of Liverpool teenagers is ‘not in the public interest'

Judge Clement Goldstone QC, the Recorder of Liverpool, took the decision to name Connor and Brandon Doran, aged 17 and 14 respectively, and 14-year-old Simon Evans, who were convicted of the murder of 53-year-old homeless man Kevin Bennett.

The media were also allowed to publish photographs of the three teenagers.

But Howard League for Penal Reform director of campaigns Andrew Neilson says the decision could have a detrimental effect on attempts to rehabilitate the teenagers back into society.

He said: “We regret the naming of these three children as it could throw up barriers to their rehabilitation in later life.
 
“In particular, we are disappointed that their photographs have been made available to the media.”

Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust said: “Public identification of children is a permanent stamp on young lives.”

“In recent years, the number of first-time entrants to the youth justice system has more than halved, as has the number of children who are imprisoned each year and the frequency and severity of reoffending by under-18s has been falling.

“Given the generally positive direction of travel in the youth justice system that these outcomes suggest, we would caution against any move towards loosening restrictions on reporting.”

Meanwhile, a spokesman at the Office of the Children’s Commissioner said: “It is right the boys received long sentences as punishment for their crime. We hope they undergo intensive treatment so they fully comprehend what they have done and are truly remorseful. It is also right the mother of two of the boys was convicted and sentenced for her crimes. 

“However, it is not clear that naming the boys is in the public interest. If they are to be rehabilitated when their sentences are served, naming them now may well make this task far more difficult and more costly.”

All three boys can only be released with approval from the Home Secretary. Connor Doran, who instigated the attack, was sentenced to a minimum of 12 years, while Simon Evans will have to serve a minimum of eight years. Brandon Doran, who was the lookout during the attack, has been sentenced to a minimum of six years in custody.

The court heard that their victim was asleep outside a supermarket when he was attacked in August last year. He suffered a collapsed lung, broken rib cage and facial injuries and died in hospital six days later.

Passing sentence, Judge Gladstone said: “I think it is a desperately sad reflection on this society that each of you was party to serious violence purely for the sake of it.”

The UK government has signed up to the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child, which in Article 16 says all children have a right to privacy and that “the law should protect them from attacks against their way of life, their good name, their families and their home”.