Magistrates refused to lift the anonymity of a 13-year-old boy even though he had committed more than a dozen serious crimes in the last five months.

Surely, people have the right to know who he is as nobody deserves to go unnamed if they show a complete disregard for the law.

The teenager has been sent to a detention centre after committing a string of offences, including making hoax bomb and emergency calls and driving an ambulance between Trowbridge and Bradford on Avon.

Psychiatric reports revealed the likelihood of him committing further offences which could endanger people's lives. Our application to the court to release his name was on the grounds of public interest. Surely there is an overwhelming public interest if there is any risk to life.

Magistrates turned down the request because of the boy's age and they wanted to protect his privacy. We can all understand not naming a youngster who has committed their first offence because they may learn from their mistakes. But the persistent nature of this boy's crimes must be enough to stop him hiding behind a cloak of mystery. Maybe naming him would have done him more good.