Brothers who tortured 2 young boys in Edlington granted indefinite anonymity
A judge has granted indefinite anonymity to two brothers who were aged 10 and 11 when they tortured two young boys in Edlington.
A judge has granted indefinite anonymity to two brothers who were aged 10 and 11 when they tortured two young boys in Edlington.
The pair were sentenced to an indeterminate period in custody, with a minimum of five years, following the horrific incident in 2009 which became known as the Edlington Case.
A court order made at the time granted them anonymity until they both turned 18.
As the younger of the two brothers approaches his 18th birthday, lawyers acting for the pair appeared in High Court to seek lifelong anonymity, claiming that identifying them would breach various sections of the Human Rights Act.
High Court judge Sir Geoffrey Vos today ruled that they should remain anonymous.
The attack shocked Britain, and drew comparisons with the murder of two-year-old James Bulger in 1993.
The pair lured their victims to a secluded spot and subjected them to 90 minutes of violence and sexual humiliation.
The victims were throttled, hit with bricks and made to eat nettles – with parts of the attack being recorded on a mobile phone.
Sentencing the brothers at Sheffield Crown Court, a judge told them their truly exceptional'' crimes amounted to torture.
The brothers admitted causing their victims grievous bodily harm with intent and other offences.
The judge heard that the boys watched ultra-violent films as part of a toxic home life'' ofroutine aggression, violence and chaos''.
When they were sentenced, the judge refused to allow the boys to be named.
He said that allowing the defendants to be identified could lead to problems for the brothers and their secure units, including them being ostracised or harmed'' by other inmates; problems for the brothers' family, including the cost of having to rehouse them if their identities were made known; and it could have an adverse effect on their rehabilitation.