The child protection expert who led the inquiry into the killing of schoolboy Bailey Gwynne has hit out at the way its findings were handled.

Bailey, 16, died after being stabbed in the heart at Cults Academy in Aberdeen in October 2015.

His killer can legally be named for the first time today - his 18th birthday - as fellow pupil Daniel Stroud.

Stroud was seen with a knife in school several times before the fatal attack - an incident which might have been avoided if teachers had been warned.

The ensuing inquiry recommended giving teachers new powers to let them search pupils for weapons.

That advice was rejected by the Scottish Government following strong opposition from educators, however.

Speaking publicly for the first time, inquiry chairman Andrew Lowe has criticised the way the decision was made, based on a heavily redacted version of his report provided by Aberdeen City Council.

Mr Lowe said: "I'm frankly dumbstruck they could make a decision on the basis of a report that is so heavily redacted. There were 17,000 words in there that were carefully chosen to make my case."

About a third of the report was withheld, while other parts were edited.

Mr Lowe, a former lawyer and director of social work at Borders Council, said he was not consulted before ministers made their decision.

"It wasn't a great surprise to me because the trade unions had spoken against it immediately," he said.

"But it's very disappointing, particularly because I learned subsequently that ministers only saw a redacted copy."

Aberdeen City Council said it was "bound by data protection laws" and had worked closely with the Scottish Government.

But Mr Lowe cautioned against withholding information in the public interest under the guise of privacy.

"If we allow local authority lawyers to interpret data protection rules in such a way as to redact vast acres of text like this, then we're not going to make the learning that we need to make," he said.

A spokesman for the council - which faced similar criticism over its heavily-redacted report into the baby ashes scandal - insisted "provided everything requested" by ministers.

More than 5500 Aberdeen schoolchildren have taken part in knife awareness sessions since Bailey's death.

Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the Education Institute of Scotland, claimed giving teachers statuary search powers might make pupils more likely to carry knives.

"Simply having a stop-and-search approach, we think, would impact negatively on school relationships and might in fact make the situation where a young person would carry a knife more prevalent," he said.

Another recommendation made by the Lowe inquiry was to introduce tougher rules on the sale of knives online in the UK.

Stroud told police he carried a knife, which he bought online and had secretly delivered to his home, to "act tough and be cool". He said he chose to buy it from Amazon because "they don't check if you're over 18".

In the wake of the killing 12 major retailers including Amazon and eBay promised to introduce tougher age checks on knife sales.

Their pledge was not enforced in Scotland, although it is already illegal to sell most knives to under-18s.

In July the UK Government went further, announcing plans to make it illegal to deliver blades to private homes and banning knives at schools.

The legislation will not apply in Scotland as it currently stands, it is understood.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said it is focused on implementing the recommendations of the Lowe inquiry.

"We know there are a lot of youngsters bringing weapons into schools," Mr Lowe added.

"What this incident shows is that if you've got a weapon in your pocket and you get into a conflict there's a good chance you might be tempted to use it."

Hundreds of children have been excluded from Scottish schools for carrying out attacks with weapons including knives.

Most children bring them into school for protection because they are being bullied, according to Police Scotland.

Stroud, who is serving a nine-year sentence, was often teased for his weight and described himself as "fat", telling officers he had never fitted in.

During his five-day trial at the High Court in Aberdeen, a picture emerged of a troubled teenager with a turbulent family life.

Shortly before the killing he had taken a part-time a job at McDonald's and was saving to buy a motorbike but said he had no hobbies other than "TV and computers".

The internet history on his laptop included searches for "illegal knives", "difference between homicide and murder" and "how to get rid of someone annoying".

The fight that resulted in Bailey's death was caused by a row over a packet of biscuits. His killer later described it as a "moment of anger".

Liam Kerr, justice spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives, who are part of the ruling coalition of Aberdeen City Council, said the authority was "quick to implement the findings" of the Lowe inquiry.

"The SNP government eventually followed suit, although ministers stopped short of agreeing all of the recommendations," he added.

"Recent figures have suggested there are serious inconsistencies among Scottish councils around the recording of incidences of knife crime in schools.

"In fact, more than half are still not gathering that information. If we are to avoid a repeat of this awful crime, then education authorities across the country must take this issue more seriously."

About a third of Scottish councils have misrecorded attacks in schools, including Aberdeen and West Lothian.

Schools have the power to exclude children for assaults with improvised weapons like rulers as well as knives and other weapons.

These exclusions should be recorded separately but confusion about the reporting process led 12 councils to submit incorrect figures to the Scottish Government, as revealed by STV News last year.