THE teenage killers of Bolton schoolboy Reece Tansey can be identified for the first time after a judge lifted reporting restrictions preventing them from being named.

James White, aged 16, who was convicted of murdering 15-year-old Reece, and his accomplice, Mark Nuttall, aged 15, who was found guilty of manslaughter, are currently in detention for their crimes.

Last month Mrs Justice Farbey sentenced White, who was aged 15 at the time of the murder on May 4 last year, to life with a minimum of 15 years in detention and Nuttall, who was aged 14 at the time, to six years in detention.

Throughout their four-week trial at Manchester Crown Court last year a legal restriction prevented them being named prior to their 18th birthdays.

But following a successful application by The Bolton News and other media the trial judge, Mrs Justice Farbey, currently sitting at Leicester Crown Court and during a hearing held over video link, agreed to lift the ban on identifying them.

The move came after Clare Ashcroft, representing Nuttall, stated that she did not oppose the press application as he is due to be released after serving three years of his six-year sentence and the date falls just two weeks before he turns 18.

She stated that Nuttall would prefer his identity to be known now while he is in a protected environment rather than at around the time when he is integrating back into the community.

Mrs Justice Farbey agreed that, in this case, the principle of open justice outweighs concerns about the welfare of the defendants.

She stated: "In my judgement the importance for the Bolton community is demonstrated by the attendance of The Bolton News on every day of the trial and at sentence.

"The proceedings were live tweeted scrupulously and in detail. The live tweeting amounted to an important method of stimulating public debate in Bolton and the Greater Manchester area about the dangerous combination of knives and social media in the context of violence by and against children.

"There is a clear public interest in open justice in this case."

Mrs Justice Farbey added that Nuttall is vulnerable but accepted that he preferred to face the consequences of publicity now rather than when he is released.

She stated that White's rehabilitation would be assisted by him remaining anonymous.

"However, he has committed a most serious crime. His 15-year minimum term means he will be able to seek protection in custody from threats and physical harm for a long time," she said.

"I am satisfied that the restriction on the publication of Mark's name and James' name has the effect of imposing a substantial and unreasonable restriction on the reporting of the proceeds. It is in the public interest to remove or relax that restriction."

Reece died from multiple stab wounds following an altercation in Walker Avenue, Great Lever, with White, who wielded the knife, and Nuttall, who was also armed and encouraged his pal to carry out the attack on unarmed Reece.

White and Nuttall ran off afterwards, leaving Reece dying in the street.

The brave schoolboy managed to name his attackers with his dying breath and his family have welcomed the judge's decision allowing the killers to be publicly identified.

Reece's aunt Sam Barnett, speaking on behalf of the schoolboy's mum, Laura Tansey and the family, said: "Laura and all the Tansey family are so relieved that their names can finally be put out there for the world to see.

"It has been a very heartbreaking and devastating court case for us to sit through as Reece's close family, so for them to be named, especially when Reece gave their names when he was struggling to even breathe, is just some sort of justice for us."

And Reece's dad, Ian Nice, said he was pleased with the judge's decision.

"They needed to be named and take responsibility for what they did to Reece," he said.

During the trial White, from Farnworth, who could only be named as Boy A in reports, admitted stabbing Reece but denied intending to kill or seriously injure him. Nuttall, also of Farnworth and described as Boy B, claimed he did not know his friend had a knife.

The jury heard shocking details of how 15-year-old Reece was goaded over social media into arranging a fight with his teenage attackers, who he had never met, and who assured him it would be a fist fight.

But that was a lie and within seconds of arriving at Walker Avenue, Great Lever, in the early hours of May 4, he was stabbed repeatedly by White.

Mr Wright, who defended White, described how the defendants tried to act like “two-bit gangsters”who were not afraid of violence and portrayed themselves as such to acquaintances on social media.

The court heard Reece was friends with a teenager who Mark Nuttall hated, but after agreeing to a two-on-two fight with White and Nuttall, the pal changed his mind and Reece went to the meeting on his own, just after 4.30am.

The court heard how Nuttall, then aged 14, pulled out a knife as Reece swung a punch at White and Reece was then chased along the road by White.

He was brutally stabbed a total of six times by White, who had taken his knife, plus one he gave to Nuttall, from a kitchen drawer at his home.

As Nuttall followed and stood on the sidelines shouting encouragement, Reece was repeatedly attacked and on one occasion fell to his knees in the middle of the road while White plunged a knife into his back.

Each of three stab wounds could have proved fatal on their own, with wounds up to 12cm deep, a pathologist said. One stab wound, which chipped a bone, would have taken particular force and another severed a major artery and vein in Reece’s arm, resulting in massive bleeding.

As White and Nuttall ran off, Reece staggered along the street, dripping with blood, to try and get help from Faisal Shah and Rameez Khan, who were sitting in a car, having just returned from prayers at their mosque.

The men, fearing for their safety, drove off and called the emergency services, but returned a short time later to find Harper Green School pupil Reece collapsed in a house front garden. The front door was smeared with blood as he had been banging on it in a desperate attempt to get the occupants’ attention.

After reassuring a dying Reece that an ambulance was on its way Mr Shah and Mr Khan asked who had injured him. Reece named his attackers and a short time later went into cardiac arrest.