BRITAIN: Britain's aggressive tabloid newspapers lost their bid yesterday to pursue and unmask the secret new identity of newly released convict Maxine Carr, one of the country's most reviled women.
A high court judge in London upheld an injunction that barred British media from disclosing Carr's new identity after her lawyer revealed she has received several death threats.
Carr was freed yesterday into police protection after serving half of a 42-month sentence for lying to protect the murderer of two 10-year-old schoolgirls in a 2002 case that horrified the nation.
The companies that own the top-selling tabloid the Sun and its rival the Daily Mirror challenged the injunction, which draws a veil of secrecy around every aspect of Carr's new life. "There is clear evidence of danger to the life and physical well-being of the claimant. There have been death threats," Judge David Eady told the London court.
"As has already been made clear, has been advised to wear bullet-proof clothing as and when she is released."
Carr was convicted of providing a false alibi for her former boyfriend Ian Huntley, who is serving life in prison for the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.
British courts have approved only two other similar gagging orders in the last 50 years, both for child murderers.
In Carr's case, the newspapers argued that her crime - perverting justice - was not sufficiently serious to warrant the gag order.
The injunction includes a ban on pictures, paintings and drawings of Carr's neighbourhood and the shops she visits. Internet service providers must also take steps to remove information about her posted on their servers. The court will review the injunction in June.
Carr's release from prison hit a snag this week when sensitive papers about her release were stolen from an official's car.
Her defence lawyer Michael Hubbard told the judge: "It is difficult to think of a more wretched creature, blighted, daunted, restricted, always looking over her shoulder. She has but one plea for your honour, that she will be left in peace to recreate within herself a new heart and that she may be free to live her life again."