The mother of a boy who was murdered in 2019 has called for changes to a law prohibiting the identification of child homicide victims to be fast-tracked.
She was speaking after the boy’s uncle was jailed for life for stabbing the 11-year-old to death in the south west of the country.
Harrowing details were heard today about how the young boy was killed. He was hit with a hammer and stabbed 27 times in the kitchen of a house in the southwest.
His uncle handed himself in afterwards, claiming a voice in his head told him to do it, but he wasn’t deemed to be psychotic at the time.
Section 252 of the Children Act prohibits the identification of child victims. A ruling last year confirmed that protection also exists in cases where the child is dead.
No identifying facts can be revealed, including the names of the boy’s parents who gave emotional victim impact statements today, outlining what a wonderful son he was and how he was robbed of a very bright future by such an ‘evil act”.
The Minister for Justice has committed to changing the law but the mother in this case is urging her to fast-track the process so she can speak publicly about her son.
One of the unforeseen consequences of the law is that it also ensures the anonymity of child killers where a link can be established with the victim.
Given the fact the killer, in this case, was the boy’s uncle, he too can’t be named.
