Teenage killer is named after court challenge
THE teenage drug dealer responsible for murdering a rival in a turf war can now be named publicly for the first time.
Brandon
Liversidge, 17, stood trial alongside six adult defendants accused of murdering fellow teenager Harry
Baker in Barry in
August 2019. At the time of the fatal attack Liversidge, from Bishopston Road in Cardiff, was just 16 years old.
During his evidence he said he started selling cannabis while in school which expanded to him running what he described as a “cannabis line”, though he said he was not a “big-time” dealer. He said a knife discovered at his home during a police search in 2018 was “for protection”, adding: “It was on my wall, it was to protect myself. I’m the man in the house and it was for protection, really.”
He also told the court he knew Mr Baker, telling the jury: “We were friends on social media and knew of each other. If I saw him out clubbing I would say hello.”
Until yesterday, Liversidge’s identity was covered by an order made under section 45 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999, which prevented the media from publishing anything which would be likely to lead members of the public to identify him as being a person concerned in the proceedings while he remained under the age of 18.
This included using his name and address, as well as details of any school he attended, any workplace he had, and any still or moving image of him. Such orders can apply to defendants, victims, or witnesses in court cases but aren’t applied automatically.
The Echo submitted a written challenge to the order at the end of the trial following Liversidge’s conviction for murder, outlining the reasons why we felt he should no longer benefit from the anonymity provided by it.
Our challenge centred on three key points:
■■The seriousness of the crime; ■■The importance of open justice, with perpetrators of serious crimes being publicly acknowledged. This stops the dissemination of incorrect information and also has an important social function, particularly in cases such as this where the victim was well-known; and; ■■The fact Brandon Liversidge turns 18 next month. Given that the anonymity of the existing court order only applies until he reaches the age of 18 he will only be covered by it for a further month in any event and his sentence will last until well beyond his 18th birthday.
We also cited other examples where we and other media organisations had successfully challenged similar restrictions, including the case of teenage murderer Reuben Brathwaite, who killed his stepmum with a samurai sword and an axe, and Islamic State-inspired Lloyd Gunton, who planned a terror attack in Cardiff.
During the sentencing hearing yesterday Mr Justice Picken agreed with our submission and lifted the reporting restriction.