MYR -v- Youth Court at Newcastle upon Tyne (anonymity order)

Administrative CourtHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order

Case number: AC-2026-LDS-000129

In the High Court of Justice
King’s Bench Division
Administrative Court

In the matter of an application for judicial review

16 July 2026

Before:

The Honourable Mrs Justice Ellenbogen DBE

Between:

The King
on the application of
MYR
(Claimant)

-v-

Youth Court at Newcastle upon Tyne
(Defendant)

and

(1) Crown Prosecution Service
(2) NRT
(Interested Parties)

Order

ORDER OF THE HONOURABLE MRS JUSTICE ELLENBOGEN DBE

ALL PARTIES SHOULD NOTE THAT THE ORDERS WHICH FOLLOW INCLUDE PROVISION FOR AN EXPEDITED HEARING AND A RELATED SHORT TIMETABLE, ARISING FROM THE NATURE OF THE DECISIONS CHALLENGED.

UPON considering the application for permission to apply for judicial review

AND UPON considering the documents lodged, respectively, by the Claimant; the Defendant; and the First Interested Party (no documents having been lodged to date on behalf of the Second Interested Party)

IT IS ORDERED THAT:

  1. The trial of the Claimant and the Second Interested Party in the Defendant Court, currently listed to commence on Monday 20 July 2026, is stayed until further order of the Administrative Court.
  2. The identity of the Claimant and of the Second Interested Party in these proceedings, and the identity of the complainant in the underlying proceedings (‘the Complainant’) shall not be published.
  3. Pursuant to CPR Rule 39.2(4), there shall not be disclosed in any report of these proceedings, or other publication (by whatever medium) in relation to these proceedings, the name or address of the Claimant or of the Second Interested Party or of the Complainant, or any other matters which could lead to the identification of any of them.
  4. In any report of these proceedings, or other publication (by whatever medium) in relation to these proceedings, the Claimant shall be referred to as “MYR”; the Second Interested Party shall be referred to as ‘NRT’; and the Complainant shall be referred to as ‘the Complainant’. Any matters which could lead to the identification of any of them shall be redacted.
  5. Pursuant to CPR Rule 5.4C:

(a) a person who is not a party to the proceedings may obtain a copy of a claim form, judgment or order from the court records only if the same has been anonymised and redacted in accordance with paragraphs 3 and 4 of this Order;

(b) if a person who is not a party to the proceedings applies for permission to obtain a copy of any other document or communication, such application shall be on at least 7 days’ written notice to the Claimant’s solicitors;

(c) any interested party, whether or not a party to the proceedings, may apply to the Court to vary or revoke paragraphs 2 to 5(b) of this Order, provided that any such application is made on written notice to the Claimant’s solicitors and that at least 3 days’ prior written notice of the intention to make such an application is given.

  1. This Order shall be published on the website of the Judiciary of England and Wales pursuant to CPR r.39.2(5).
  2. As the Second Interested Party is a minor, he shall act only by a litigation friend in these proceedings.
  3. By no later than midday on Monday 20 July 2026, any party seeking to act on the Second Interested Party’s behalf shall file and serve a duly completed certificate of suitability of litigation friend and the file shall be restored to a judge of the Administrative Court for the purpose of considering that person’s appointment by no later than 2:00pm that day.
  4. Unless otherwise ordered, no substantive document shall be filed on behalf of the Second Interested Party until a litigation friend has been appointed. In the meantime, service of all documents shall be effected upon the solicitors who represent him in the underlying criminal proceedings.
  5. The Claimant’s application for permission to apply for judicial review is granted.
  6. The hearing of the application for judicial review is expedited and is to be listed for hearing before the end of Trinity Term 2026 (i.e. by 31 July 2026) at The Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London WC2A 2LL, with a time estimate of one day, to include time for judgment.
  7. By no later than 11:00am on Friday 17 July 2026, the Claimant’s solicitors are to effect service of this order, and of all documents filed and served to date by any party in these proceedings, on the solicitors who represent the Second Interested Party in the underlying criminal proceedings.
  8. Liberty to apply.
  9. Costs reserved.

Directions for final hearing

  1. The Claimant must, by 4:00pm on Monday 20 July 2026, file an undertaking to pay the continuation fee (see below).
  2. The Defendant, and any other person served with the Claim Form who wishes to contest the claim or support it on additional grounds, shall, by 4:00pm on Wednesday 22 July 2026, file and serve (a) an Acknowledgement of Service (unless that document has already been filed and served); (b) Detailed Grounds for contesting the claim, or supporting it on additional grounds; and (c) any written evidence upon which he/it wishes to rely. For the avoidance of doubt, a party who has filed and served Summary Grounds pursuant to CPR 54.8 may comply with (b) above by filing and serving a document which states that those Summary Grounds shall stand as the Detailed Grounds required by CPR 54.14. The Detailed Grounds shall also stand as that party’s skeleton argument for the substantive hearing.
  3. By 4:00pm on Friday 24 July 2026, the Claimant shall file (a) a bundle of documents and (b) a bundle of authorities and materials, the contents of each of which he shall seek to agree with the other parties. An electronic version of each bundle shall be prepared and lodged in accordance with the Guidance on the Administrative Court website.
  4. By 4:00pm on Friday 24 July 2026, the Claimant shall file and serve a skeleton argument.
  5. CPR 2.11 shall not apply to these proceedings.
  6. Liberty to apply.

OBSERVATIONS

  1. This claim was issued in Leeds on 1 June 2026, with a request for expedition, albeit made in the form of a covering letter from the Claimant’s solicitors rather than on form N463. It has been referred to me, as ‘immediates’ judge, today, for a decision on permission.
  2. The Claimant seeks to challenge two decisions by the Defendant Court, being: (a) an initial decision, made on 16 March 2026, to retain the criminal trial of two young defendants (of whom he is one and the Second Interested Pary is the other) in the Youth Court rather than send them to the Crown Court; and (b) a decision of the same District Judge, on 15 April 2026, to maintain that allocation/decline to revisit his earlier decision. It is said that the decisions made are contrary to applicable legislation and Wednesbury-unreasonable. The Claimant and the Second Interested Party are each charged with rape; aggravated burglary; and possession of a bladed article in a public place, arising out of a single incident which is alleged to have occurred on 8 March 2026. The Claimant was 17 at the date of the alleged offending and turned 18 on 11 July 2026. The Second Interested Party was, at the date of the alleged offending, and is still,15 years old.
  3. Albeit that no formal Acknowledgement of Service and Summary Grounds of Response have been filed by the Defendant Court, this court has been provided with what appears to be the district judge’s note of the considerations which led to the decisions now challenged. The First Interested Party has filed an Acknowledgement of Service and Summary Grounds of Response. Nothing has been filed to date on behalf of the Second Interested Party.
  4. I am satisfied that the challenge in relation to each decision is arguable (albeit that the question for the reviewing court in relation to the allocation decision will be whether that decision was wrong, rather than Wednesbury-unreasonable: R (C and D) v Sheffield Youth Court [2003] EWHC 35 (Admin), at paragraph 41. In practice, the decision on that matter is likely to be dispositive of the claim. I note that the First Interested Party considers the claim, in so far as it relates to that decision, to have merit.)
  5. The urgency of this matter, and the associated truncated timetable directed above, arises from: (1) the fact that the Claimant’s and the Second Interested Party’s trial is currently listed to commence in the Youth Court on Monday 20 July 2026; and (2) the importance of trying young defendants in criminal proceedings with due expedition.
  6. The anonymity orders made above have regard to the age of the Second Interested Party; the nature and distinctive facts of the alleged offending; and the Complainant’s right to lifetime anonymity under section 1 of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992. Refer to the Judge in Charge of the Administrative Court for Listing

Signed: Mrs Justice Ellenbogen
Dated: 16 July 2026