Thursday 21 November 2002

By Clare Jerrom, Nicola Barry and Alex
Dobson.

Child abuse ‘hotspots’ uncovered in five
Catholic dioceses

Paedophile priests have been allowed to flourish in pockets
around the country after church authorities failed to end their
activities, it emerged yesterday.

Founder of the victim support group Minister and Clergy Sexual
Abuse Survivors, Margaret Kennedy, said that questions had to be
asked as to why sex abusers migrated to specific hotspots in the
west midlands and the south east where they obviously “felt
safe”.

In a letter in The Times today, Cardinal Cormac Murphy
O’Connor denies that he turned a blind eye to the problems of
paedophile priests in his former diocese of Arundel and
Brighton.

He acknowledges, however, that it was a mistake to appoint
Father Michael Hill to the chaplaincy of Gatwick airport after
receiving “conflicting psychiatric reports”.

Hill will be sentenced today for a further string of offences on
boys in addition to those that led to him being jailed in 1997.

An investigation by The Times has found five Roman
Catholic dioceses are all investigating multiple allegations of
sexual abuse. The areas are Birmingham, Arundel and Brighton,
Cardiff, Salford and Northampton. Most involve young altar boys,
disabled children, young people in church care homes and boys being
tutored by priests.

Source:- The Times Thursday 21 November page 1

Advice call for warring couples

A parenting charity yesterday called for peace-keeping classes
to help divorcees who are locked in conflict over their
children.

Few frontline agencies are capable of providing the specialist
advice parents need to minimise the impact family breakdown can
have on children, a report by Parentline Plus has found.

A third of calls to the charity’s hotline are from parents
who believe the family break up has caused or contributed to
emotional and behavioural problems in their children.

The report concludes that there is a strong case for classes in
good divorcing as in good parenting.

Source:- The Times Thursday 21 November page 2

Doctor in abuse case allegations suspended

A leading consultant paediatrician is to be investigated by the
General Medical Council over her role in a child abuse scandal
after being suspended from clinical practice.

Camille San Lazaro has had to leave her post at Newcastle
University and the city’s Royal Victoria Infirmary pending an
inquiry into her involvement in false allegations of abuse at a
local nursery school.

Christopher Lillie and Dawn Reed were both awarded £200,000
in libel damages at a high court hearing earlier this year, after
they were wrongly branded as paedophiles in a report commissioned
by Newcastle council that drew heavily on San Lazaro’s
opinions.

Source:- The Times Thursday 21 November page 9

Murder arrest

A fourth person has been arrested by detectives in connection
with the murder of a boy whose body parts have been scattered
around Loughborough, Leicestershire.

Two men and a 15-year-old girl were arrested on suspicion of
murder on Tuesday evening.

Source:- The Times Thursday 21 November page 9

Race failure

Oldham council, which saw the worst rioting for a decade last
year, has been criticised for failing to promote good race
relations by a government watchdog.

The council’s weak leadership and poor strategic planning
is highlighted by the Audit Commission.

Source:- The Times Thursday 21 November page 9

Teacher is still suspended after seven
years

A union leader has called for an investigation into why a
teacher cleared of allegations of sexual abuse is still suspended
on full pay seven years later.

More than £300,000 has been paid to Anthony McNally during
nearly a quarter of his career which has been spent on
suspension.

McNally was suspended on full pay in 1995 from Woodhey High
School in Greater Manchester after a 15-year-old boy accused him of
“inappropriate touching”.

Police investigations and the school governors cleared him of
impropriety, but the local education authority kept him away from
the school after its child protection committee expressed continued
concerns.

Last year, the court of appeal affirmed that McNally was not
guilty of misconduct but the local education authority is still
investigating his conduct after a further allegation was made
against him in September 2000.

Source:- The Times Thursday 21 November page 11

Blunkett’s asylum ruling thrown out

The home secretary’s immigration policies suffered a
further setback yesterday when an asylum seeker won the right to
remain in Britain pending an appeal against being removed to
Germany.

Iraqi Kurd Mohamed Ali Razgar says he endured two years of
detention and torment at the hands of Saddam Hussein’s
regime. He won a high court ruling that he was entitled to stay in
Britain to lodge an appeal.

German authorities refused asylum to Razgar, but he then
travelled to the UK and claimed asylum here in February 1999. The
German authorities have however accepted responsibility for him
under the Dublin Convention, which aims to prevent multiple asylum
applications in the European Union.

Using a new fast track procedure David Blunkett certified that
his claim was “manifestly unfounded”, and that he should be removed
to Germany from where he could make a further appeal.

But Blunkett’s decision was quashed by Mr Justice Richards
sitting in London as he ruled that Razgar had the right to appeal
to an adjudicator while in the UK.

Source:- The Times Thursday 21 November page 12

Child risk check for acquitted police

A Roman Catholic priest is being assessed for any risk he may
pose to children more than two years after parishioners first
highlighted concerns about him directly to Cardinal Cormac Murphy
O’Connor.

Following inquires about the case made by the Daily
Telegraph, Fr Philip Temple, who is attached to the parish of
Christ the King at Cockfosters, north London, is to undergo a child
protection “risk assessment”.

The delay in acting raises concerns about the Church’s
tough new rules on child protection.

Source:- Daily Telegraph Thursday 21 November page
6

Juveniles face fines for anti social
offences

The home secretary suggested that children as young as 12 could
be forced to pay on-the-spot fines for anti-social behaviour and
other low level disorder offences.

Youngsters who were deemed by police or council wardens to be
guilty of vandalism, graffiti spraying or neighbour nuisance would
be liable for fines of up to £80.

Other offences that would trigger the fines are being found
drunk and disorderly, throwing fireworks, using threatening
behaviour and wasting police time.

Using penalty notices to combat anti-social offences is a
centrepiece of Tony Blair’s drive against anti-social
behaviour and will feature in a bill this parliamentary
session.

Source:- The
Independent Thursday 21 November
page 6

Scottish newspapers

Longer prison sentences for sex offenders

Severely increased penalties for sex and violent offenders in
Scotland were agreed by MSPs yesterday, promising an untroubled
passage through the Scottish parliament for the controversial
Criminal Justice Bill.

The changes mean the most dangerous offenders can, in theory, be
imprisoned for life.

Source:- The Herald Thursday 21 November 21 page 6

Child protection bill clears first hurdle

A bill to prevent unsuitable adults from getting jobs working
with children passed its first stage in parliament yesterday with
unanimous support.

The Protection of Children (Scotland) Bill gives the executive
powers to draw up a list of adults deemed to be a risk to
children.

Source:- The Herald Thursday 21 November page 6

Welsh newspapers

Baby had fractured ribs

A cot death verdict was recorded on a six-month-old-baby, but
the child had seven fractured ribs at the time of his death.

Pathologist Dr Abdul Rashid told Cardiff crown court that his
conclusions would have been different if he had known about the
injuries when the child was taken to the Royal Gwent Hospital in
Newport in 1998.

The child’s father who reported finding the child dead in
his cot was subsequently charged with murder after he was allegedly
found trying to smother a second baby of the family a year
later.

The injuries to the first baby were only discovered after a
doctor at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London found them after
examining x-rays taken prior to the child’s death.

The case is proceeding.

Source:- South Wales Echo Wednesday 20 November page
17

Council hits out at asylum centre plan

Newport council has criticised plans to house an asylum appeals
centre on the outskirts of the city.

The council has objected to the £3 million project on the
grounds that the planned facility is too far from the city centre,
but it has no power to determine where the court service will place
the new centre.

The plans have met with widespread opposition from both
councillors and residents alike.

Source:- Western Mail Thursday 21 November page 7