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Comment by joenot443 | Hacker News Reader

So two vandals in their 30s were arrested and remain on bail. In the UK, will we ever hear anything more about them? Do they remain anonymous even after they've been charged?

It's surprising to me this is being treated so lightly. A couple weeks ago when a Florida teenager was charged with a felony after doing burnouts on a crosswalk, UK papers seemed pretty happy to publish his face and name the very next morning [1]. I guess different rules when the crime occurs in a different country? Seems funny to me.

[1]https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13080377/Florida-te...

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No, guidelines specifically say only once charged, people may be named, in line with the principles of open justice.

Sources: https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Reportin...

https://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/2023/news/huge-victory-fo...

https://www.college.police.uk/app/engagement-and-communicati...

Being a suspect and being charged are different things.

Florida publishes the identity of people charged with a crime, as I understand. This is what has cause the phenomenon of "Florida man" headlines.

Makes sense!

The Miami New Times claimed that freedom of information laws in Florida make it easier for journalists to acquire information about arrests from the police than in other states and that this is responsible for a large number of news articles

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Man

Names are normally released when someone is prosecuted, unless they are a minor. It doesn't always seem to happen at the charging stage, which is purely a police decision, but once it reaches a court, it is public.

Fascinating. So the police hold some level of discretion on its release then?

I’m not sure who decides. But here’s an ongoing case in the UK. The judge has named a police officer who’s charged with murder.

(There’s a huge amount of context and it’s a controversial move.)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-68502539

This is totally correct and in line with all guidelines, naming once charged.

In this case there was a question of threats to the defendant’s safety.

Covered already in this instance, thoroughly:

'The judge said in his ruling that he had examined “raw underlying intelligence material” before deciding there was not a “real and immediate risk” to NX121 or his family if his identity was made public.

Lucraft said the three-month delay in naming the officer would allow for “the imposition of any additional mitigating measures to be put in place.”'

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/oct/30/met-officer-...

Apparently so, but it's limited to exceptional cases. See "naming on charge" here: https://www.college.police.uk/app/engagement-and-communicati...

> I guess different rules when the crime occurs in a different country?

Yes, that's how laws work?

If the police in Florida release the names of people mere charged with a crime, but the police in the UK don't - in case, you know, they have the wrong person - then the reporting will be different?

Yes, that's certainly how laws work - what a very astute answer, Karellan.

What I'm observing is that the spirit of the law, as it's being enforced here, is what's amusing. Is a suspect's identity deserving of state mandated protection? Only if they're British, I guess.

It seams you are assuming that the law in UK forbids publishing a suspects identity.

But maybe the law is written in a way that publishing someone’s identity is fine if it’s been made available by Police (in whatever country), in that case there are no double standards at play, just different situations.

Mind you, I have zero knowledge of the actual laws at play here.

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