TWO youths convicted of murdering Brianna Ghey can be named – but ONLY onwards from the hearing in which they are sentenced.

It comes following a ruling by a judge following applications by members of the press and media.

It comes following two 16-year-olds, aged 15 at the time of the killing, being convicted of the Birchwood schoolgirl’s murder.

The pair were convicted by unanimous verdict at Manchester Crown Court yesterday, Wednesday, following a four-week trial, and four hours and 40 minutes of jury deliberations.

Throughout coverage of the trial, they were referred to in coverage only as girl X, from Warrington, and boy Y, from Leigh.

They were both – and still are – protected by reporting restrictions preventing them from being named from the time they were arrested and charged.

A hearing was held back at Manchester Crown Court this morning, Thursday, to deal with outstanding matters in the case.

These included reporting restrictions, setting a date for sentence and applications to release certain pieces of evidence seen by the jury during the trial.

The hearing was presided over by Justice Amanda Yip, who has sat through the entirety of the trial and previous pre-trial hearings.

She confirmed, following discussions between counsel in the case on availability and the preparation of pre-sentence reports, that the date of sentence will be Friday, February 2.

She also confirmed, in a written ruling read out in court, that reporting restrictions preventing the two defendants from being named will be lifted during the hearing.

This will be at a certain point when she directs they will be named, and NOT before this point.

Mrs Justice Yip ruled: "There is a strong public interest in the full and unrestricted reporting of what is plainly an exceptional case."

More to follow.

Brianna died aged 16 after being stabbed with a hunting knife 28 times in her head, neck, chest and back in Culcheth Linear Park on the afternoon of February 11.

The killers, both said their backs were turned when the other defendant began stabbing Brianna in a “frenzied” fashion.

The trial heard both defendants had a fascination for violence, torture and murder and had planned the killing for weeks.

Jurors heard girl X was “obsessed” with Brianna, enjoyed watching internet torture and killing material from the “dark web” and had an interest in serial killers.

The jury was also shown a "murder plan" on how to kill Brianna, along with phone messages girl X and boy Y exchanged, including a "kill list" of other children they planned to harm.

On the opening day, prosecutor Deanna Heer said: “The prosecution case is that, whoever delivered the fatal blows, both defendants are equally guilty.

“Acting together, they planned and executed their plan to kill her.”

The jury heard how both defendants accepted that they were present in Linear Park with Brianna at the time she was killed, and boy Y accepted that he took his hunting knife with him.

However, both denied inflicting any injury upon her, and participating in her killing in any way, choosing instead to blame each other.

The prosecution did not have to prove who it was that wielded the knife – only that they both intentionally participated in the killing in some way, assisting or encouraging the other to commit the offence, intending that Brianna be killed or at the very least very seriously injured.

Ms Heer said: “The evidence clearly demonstrates that the defendants acted together to bring about Brianna’s death, and that they intended to kill her.

“The messages they exchanged show how they encouraged one another and egged each other on, how they thought about and discussed how to kill and how they planned to get Brianna to Linear Park, where they thought they would be undisturbed.

“How they each encouraged the other to bring a knife and how they planned to kill Brianna by stabbing her in the neck and the back, just as she was in fact stabbed in the neck and the back.

“In the aftermath of Brianna’s killing, they left the scene together and remained in contact with each other, keeping each other informed of the progress of the investigation and planning what they should say to the police.”

Girl X told the trial said she enjoyed “dark fantasies” but had no intention to ever turn them into reality, while boy Y said he went along with them and did not take them seriously.