BRITAIN: A British woman convicted as a child of killing two toddlers yesterday won lifelong anonymity, together with her daughter, because of the "exceptional" features of their case.
Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, president of Britain's High Court Family Division, emphasised that injunctions won by 46-year-old Mary Bell, who was given a new identity upon release from prison, and the girl, now 18, did not establish a general precedent.
"The granting of the relief sought by the claimants in this case is not, and is not to be taken to be, a broadening of the principles of the law of confidence nor an increase in the pool of those who might in the future be granted protection against potential breaches of confidence."
In December 1968, 11-year-old Bell was convicted of the manslaughter of Martin Brown, four, and Brian Howe, three. She was sentenced to be detained at Her Majesty's Pleasure, which means a person is imprisoned until such time as the authorities - judicial, social and political - decided on the basis of expert advice that the person may safely be released into society. Bell was freed on licence in 1980.
Dame Elizabeth said that Bell and her partner had since created a largely settled life in the community and had brought up her daughter to be a "charming and well-balanced girl". Mother and daughter, whom the judge described as "inextricably linked", had asked the court for protection from any disclosure of their identities, their addresses or any details about their lives which might identify them.
The move was not opposed by the media and won the backing of the Attorney General, representing the public interest, who supported an injunction under Section 8 of the Human Rights Convention.
Dame Elizabeth said that it would be wrong for the court to find that notoriety would of itself entitle an offender released from prison to such injunctions. That would "open the floodgates" for criminals and would be contrary to the protection rightly afforded to freedom of expression in the Human Rights Act.