The Council of the City of York -v- DSB (anonymity order)

County CourtAnonymity Order

Claim number: L00YO301

In the County Court at York

12 December 2025

Before:

District Judge MacCuish

Between:

The Council of the City of York

-v-

DSB
(a protected party, by their Litigation Friend, TOS)

Anonymity order

Before District Judge MacCuish sitting at the County Court at York, Piccadilly House, 55 Piccadilly, York, YO1 9WL.

UPON consideration of the application by the Defendant’s solicitors;

AND UPON considering the application on the papers;
(1) Consideration of the Article 8 rights of the Defendant to respect for private and family life, and the Article 10 right to freedom of expression.

(2) It appearing that non-disclosure of the identity of the Defendant is necessary to secure the proper administration of justice and in order to protect the interests of Defendant and that there is no sufficient countervailing public interest in disclosure.

(3) The Claimant indicating its neutrality to the making of the order and there being no representations from the press or any other interested party.

AND PURSUANT to section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998 and CPR rules 5.4C, 5.4D and 39.2(4)

WHEREAS for the purposes of this order:

(1) ‘Publication’ includes any speech, writing, broadcast, or other communication in whatever form (including internet and social media), which is addressed to the public at large or any section of the public.

(2) Publication for the purpose of this Order includes any further publication (as defined in subparagraph (i) above) from the date of this Order, even if such information has derived from a previous stage or stages of these proceedings.

IT IS ORDERED BY CONSENT THAT:

  1. The identity of the Defendant as a party to these proceedings is confidential and shall not be published.
  2. Pursuant to CPR Rule 39.2(4), there shall not be disclosed in any report of these proceedings or other publication the name or address of the Defendant , the Defendant ’s Litigation Friend or other immediate family members, or any details (including other names, addresses, or a specific combination of facts) that could lead to the identification of the Defendant in these proceedings. The Defendant and the Litigation Friend shall be referred to as set out at paragraph 3 of this Order.
  3. In any judgment or report of these proceedings, or other publication (by whatever medium) in relation thereto:

(i) The Defendant shall be referred to as “DSB”.
(ii) The Litigation Friend shall be referred to as “TOS”.
(iii) Any other details which, on their own or together with other information publicly available, may lead to the identification of the Defendant (including any names of other immediate family members or their addresses) shall be redacted before publication.

  1. Pursuant to CPR Rules 5.4C and 5.4D:
     
    (i) A person who is not a party to the proceedings may not obtain a copy of a statement of case, judgment or order from the Court records unless the statement of case, judgment or order has been anonymised in accordance with subparagraphs 3(i) to (iii) above.
    (ii) If a person who is not a party to the proceedings applies (pursuant to CPR r.5.4C(2)) for permission to inspect or obtain a copy of any other document or communication, such application shall be on at least 7 days’ notice to the Defendant’s solicitor, trustee or deputy.

  2. The Claimant’s solicitor shall file with the Court an electronic (PDF) bundle of the statements of case, position statements, witness statements and exhibits, orders and applications and reports that have been anonymised in accordance with paragraph 3 above by 5 November 2025. Should any statement of case be further amended by the Court, the Claimant shall re-file the amended document within 21 days of such amendment being approved.
  3. The Court file shall be clearly marked with the words “An anonymity order was made in this case on 15 October 2025 and any application by a non-party to inspect or obtain a copy document from this file must be dealt with in accordance with the terms of that Order.”
  4. Any interested party, whether or not a party to the proceedings, may apply to the Court to vary or discharge this Order, provided that any such application is made on 7 days’ notice to Defendant’s solicitor, trustee or deputy.
  5. Pursuant to the ‘Practice Guidance: Publication of Privacy and Anonymity Orders’ issued by the Master of the Rolls dated 16 April 2019 a copy of this Order shall be published on the Judicial Website of the High Court of Justice (www.judiciary.uk). For that purpose, a court officer will send a copy of the order by email to the Judicial Office at judicialwebupdates@judiciary.uk.
  6. The costs of obtaining this order be costs in the case.
  7. There be a detailed assessment of the Defendant’s publicly funded costs.

Dated 15 October 2025