described "an avalanche of prejudicial comment", and the BBC retrospectively described how he effectively "ordered media outlets to remove every comment about the trial from any news article and social media post", remove outbound hyperlinks from their websites, and "refrain from issuing or forwarding tweets relating to the trial". It was their opinion that this "effectively meant [they] had to remove all reports of the trial [...] or disable every hyperlink" on the BBC website. Citing public interest, these reporting restrictions were challenged by Associated Newspapers, the BBC, Express Newspapers, Sky News, The Guardian, The Independent, The Mirror Group, The Telegraph, and The Times, although the restrictions were upheld. The case was taken to the Court of Appeal before Lord Justice Leveson, Lady Justice Hallett and Lady Justice Sharp. On 11 February 2016, Leveson granted the appeal but with imposed restrictions: the media may report the retrial but without the use of social media or allowing comments on articles; and they may not report on the legal challenge until the verdicts of the trial had been given. The same month, the second trial began at Leeds Crown Court; both girls denied murder but the elder admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. On 6 April, both girls were found guilty of murder, and the following day were sentenced to minimum terms of 15 years' imprisonment. A hearing on 21 and 22 October 2020 upheld the perpetrators' anonymity. The High Court ruled on 4 February 2021 that both perpetrators should have lifetime anonymity to prevent jeopardising their continued rehabilitation and the risk of self-harm if their identities were revealed. The judgment stated that the event of one of the girls' identities being revealed may lead to "jigsaw identification" whereby the other's identity may be determined. Therefore, both should have anonymity which can be reviewed in the future if there is a material change in circumstances. See also Murder of James Bulger – murder of a toddler by two 10-year-old boys Sharon Carr – Britain's youngest female murderer (aged 12) Lorraine Thorpe – Britain's youngest female double murderer (aged 15) Footnotes References 2014 murders in the United Kingdom Murder committed by minors Murder in County Durham British female murderers Violence against women in England History of Hartlepool