THE Press has been temporarily banned by a judge from reporting on a Burnley murder trial.

The trial began at Preston Crown Court yesterday and is expected to last several days.

The news blackout was ordered by Judge David Clarke, Recorder of Liverpool, preventing all media reporting until the end of the hearing.

Defendants Sajid Hussain, 20, of Bramble Street, Burnley, and a 17-year-old local youth are charged with the murder of James "Seamus" McParland in Burnley on April 4 last year.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.