THE council has been ordered by a High Court judge to share information about the tragic death of young karate star.

Worcestershire Coroner Geraint Williams is looking into the death of the 16-year-old Dana Baker who was found hanging from a tree in Worcester Road, Kidderminster, in March 2011.

Her death followed a troubled history of periods in foster care and of abuse by her karate instructor, Jaspal Riat.

But he had to go to court after the Worcestershire Safeguarding Children Board queried whether it was in the public interest to disclose highly sensitive material relating to her contact with social services and other agencies as a "looked after child".

Whilst "anxious to give all proper assistance" to Mr Williams, the Board argued that the purpose of the material - garnered during a "serious case review" - was not to discern how Dana died but to identify and learn lessons and to improve ways in which to safeguard children.

The Board said disclosure of 10 'individual management reviews' and six 'information reports' would violate confidentiality and discourage candour and that there was a risk that 'interested parties' at the inquest would seek access to at least parts of the material.

Mr Justice Jeremy Baker, sitting at London's High Court, accepted that some of the material was 'potentially immune' from disclosure on public interest grounds.

However, he told the court: "I consider that the public interest in the pursuit of a full and appropriately detailed inquest into the death of Dana firmly outweighs the claim for non-disclosure."

He added that, if third parties seek access to the information, there are "sufficient safeguards" in place to ensure that the material does not make its way into wider circulation without proper consideration.

Jaspal Riat, 49, was jailed for eight years at Gloucester Crown Court in September 2011 after he was convicted of sexual assault and counts of sexual activity with a child.

Dana was a highly gifted youngster with a passion for karate, who represented Great Britain in the martial art. However, the coroner's counsel, Jonathan Hough, said she had a "troubled" background, giving "cause for concern from her early years".

There were acute stresses on her family, said the barrister, particularly following a catastrophic car crash 12 years ago which left her mother "seriously injured and disabled".

Her father had to give up work to care for her mother, said Mr Hough, and in 2009 the county council arranged a placement for Dana through a private fostering company.

In May 2009, Dana had taken a medication overdose which appeared to be a "genuine suicide attempt", the barrister disclosed.

Her case, he added, raised a "number of serious questions" over issues such as the "continuity of social worker involvement, communication between professionals and agencies, and the appropriateness and handling of the decision to terminate the foster placement".

Diana Fulbrook, Independent Chair of Worcestershire Safeguarding Children Board (WSCB), said: "WSCB have a statutory duty to undertake Serious Case Reviews and respect the highly confidential nature of the information gathered as part of the process.

“This duty gave us concerns about releasing all of the documentation to the Coroner without first asking the Court for guidance on this sensitive issue.

“We have now received that guidance and will be disclosing the information requested to the Coroner subject to the conditions set out by the Court."