By Peter Gould BBC News Online correspondent

Mary Bell was released in 1980, after 12 years in custody

In 1968, when she was just 11, she was convicted of the manslaughter of two small boys in Newcastle.

Child killers are a rarity, and the nation was horrified by the details of how the youngsters, aged three and four, had met their deaths.

Yet the story of Mary Bell might have been forgotten had it not been for the circumstances following her release from custody in 1980.

She changed her name, and her new identity was protected by the courts after she gave birth to her own child in 1984.

The result of years of secrecy is that today, few people, apart from the journalists who have tracked her down, know anything about the person Mary Bell has become in adult life.

Injunction

The legal enforcement of her anonymity was due to end a year ago, when her daughter reached the age of 18.

She was described in court as a normal, happy young woman, leading a law-abiding life.

Victim: Martin Brown was four when he was killed by Mary Bell

With mother and daughter still living together, a temporary injunction was granted, continuing the anonymity of both, pending today's ruling by the High Court.

Throughout all the arguments, the existence of Mary Bell's daughter, and the issue of her own right to privacy, has been a complicating factor.

The judge, Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, said during last month's court hearing that there were strong arguments for preserving the teenager's anonymity. However, she warned that it might be difficult to provide legal protection for the daughter, but not the mother.

Mary Bell's lawyers said that on the occasions when her identity had become known, she had been attacked and forced to move home. Now aged 46, her mental health was in a "fragile" state.

But lawyers for the Attorney General told the High Court that it was important to strike the correct balance between the right to privacy and the importance of open justice.

Pain

Some believe that Mary Bell forfeited her right to anonymity in 1998, when she agreed to work with the author Gitta Sereny on a book about her story, Cries Unheard.

Mary Bell was paid for helping to write a book about her story

The fact that she received a payment angered the families of her victims, who said she should not profit from her crimes.

The ensuing row prompted new headlines. And with reporters besieging Mary Bell's home, it was thought that some newspapers were close to revealing her new identity.

The controversy prompted the then Home Secretary, Jack Straw, to say that Mary Bell had herself to blame for the pressure she was under, a line taken by many newspapers.

"By cashing in on her past, Mary Bell has invited a floodlight to be cast on herself and her family," said The Sun in a leader column.

"She is the author of her own misfortune."

But while some said Mary Bell had lost any right to anonymity, others expressed concern that any move to identify her would only cause further pain for the families of her two young victims.