Angela Wrightson: Teenage torture killers keep anonymity

Two teenagers who tortured and murdered a vulnerable woman in her own home have been granted lifelong anonymity.

The pair were 13 and 14 when they subjected Angela Wrightson, 39, to a vicious attack in Hartlepool.

Both were jailed for a minimum of 15 years in April 2016.

They were not named then because of their age and an interim injunction extended that anonymity after they turned 18. On Thursday, the High Court upheld the ban on naming the pair.

At a hearing in London last year, their barrister argued both teenagers suffer from "recognisable mental conditions" and were "extremely psychologically vulnerable", adding they would be at "a very significant risk" of being attacked if their identities were revealed.

In her ruling, Mrs Justice Tipples was unconvinced by arguments based on the threat of attack by others, but upheld the anonymity orders on mental health grounds and the risk of self-harm.

Miss Wrightson died after being subjected to an attack lasting seven hours.

She was hit with a shovel, a TV, a coffee table and a stick studded with screws after she let the pair into her Stephen Street home in December 2014.

The girls posted a photograph on Snapchat showing them smiling with Miss Wrightson pictured in the background shortly before her death.

In her judgement, in which the teenagers were referred to as D and F, Mrs Justice Tipples said the killing had "resulted in public outrage and revulsion, together with public concern about how these two young girls could commit such a brutal murder".

However, she went on to describe it as "an exceptional case in which the balance is tipped very firmly in favour" of protecting the pair's right to remain anonymous.

"The trial took place in public and was fully reported at the time it took place. All matters relating to this offence are in the public domain, except for the identities of D and F.

"I am clear on the evidence before me that revealing the claimants' identities is likely to cause each of them very serious harm.

"It is both necessary and proportionate to grant the injunctions sought so that both their identities are protected and not revealed."