Missing Isis schoolgirls: Grounded pupils are from same school as three runaway girls

A High Court judge today said it could be revealed that all eight teenagers were pupils at Bethnal Green Academy, in east London

Amira Abase, Kadiza Sultana and Shamima Begum waught on CCTV at Gatwick airport on their way to Turkey in February (AP/Metropolitan Police)

Five teenage girls barred from travelling abroad by a judge after showing an interest in going to Syria are pupils at the same London school as three girls already thought to have fled there to join the Islamic State, the High Court has been told.

In mid-February police raised concerns following the disappearance of Kadiza Sultana, 16, Shamima Begum, 15, and Amira Abase, 15, from their homes in east London.

On March 20 Mr Justice Hayden barred five girls – three 16 and two 15 – from leaving the jurisdiction of England and Wales following a hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in London.

The judge had made an order saying the five girls could not be identified.

But today he said it could be revealed that all eight teenagers were pupils at Bethnal Green Academy, in east London.

He made a ruling allowing the school to be named at a follow-up hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in London – after an application from the Press Association news agency, which argued that revealing the link to the school would be in the public interest.

Mr Justice Hayden had made the five girls wards of court – a move that prevented them from leaving the jurisdiction of England and Wales without the permission of a judge.