A MAN and woman from Barrow are set to go on trial after pleading not guilty to neglecting and causing suffering to a baby girl and a young boy.

The Mail can reveal details of the offences faced by Rebecca Leigh O'Brien, of Lynter Terrace, and Nathan Moscrop, of Gloucester Street, after successfully challenging an attempt by both defence solicitors and the prosecution solicitor to have a court order imposed.

Under Section 45 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 courts can, if persuaded to do so on the request of a party involved, impose an order which would grant anonymity to a juvenile defendant, witness or victim in adult criminal proceedings.

This is typically allowed in the interests of a child's welfare to prevent any harm being caused by the publication of their name.

However, in cases of alleged child abuse this can effectively mean newspapers are unable to report the names of the defendants, for fear of the identity of any children being revealed.

At today's hearing at South Cumbria Magistrates Court, prosecution solicitor Mr Peter Kelly along with O'Brien's defence solicitor Maureen Fawcett and Moscrop's solicitor Mike Graham, applied for reporting restrictions to prohibit identification of the two children in the case.

The Mail challenged the request and argued that in the interests of open justice, and in order to allow both O'Brien and Moscrop to be named, an order would place a substantial and unreasonable restriction on reporting of the case.

We put forward the argument to District Judge Gerald Chalk that while we had no intention or inclination to name the two alleged victims we could only reasonably report on the case if we could identify the defendants.

After deliberating, the judge ruled in The Mail's favour, and refused the request for reporting restrictions.

"I don't believe any press coverage is likely to cause any detriment to the two children involved" the judge said.

Both O'Brien, 25, and Moscrop, 27, are accused of two counts of assaulting, neglecting or ill-treating a child in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering or injury.

The charges relate to a then six-month-old baby girl and a one-year-old boy and are alleged to have taken place between March 2015 and March 2016.

The pair, who are no longer a couple, both pleaded not guilty and will next appear at Preston Crown Court on July 6.