Thursday 6 March 2003

By Amy Taylor, Nicola Barry and Alex
Dobson.

Paedophiles face ban on ‘sex tourism’ trips

Paedophiles will soon no longer be able to go abroad on ‘sex
tourism’ trips, if government plans announced yesterday go
ahead.

Under the measures convicted sex offenders will have a travel
banning order placed on them if police suspect they are planning a
trip to suspect countries such as Thailand and Cambodia.

Offenders who try to escape the orders could face up to five
years in jail.

Currently those on the sex offenders register can travel
anywhere in the world without telling anybody for up to eight
days.

Source:- The Independent Thursday 6 March page 4

I won’t take my children back unless the council gives
me a bigger home

A mother who abandoned her five children to go on holiday has
said she does not want them back unless the council give her a
bigger home.

Kim Marshman made the statement after returning from her trip to
Gran Canaria. Her children, the oldest of which is 13, are
currently in foster care.

Source:- Daily Mail Thursday 6 March page 7

Killer on the forecourt

A man who was murdered while cleaning his car at a petrol
station could have been the victim of a racist attack..

Qamar Mirza was stabbed to death by a white man who calmly
brought cigarettes at the garage shop before walking up to him and
plunging an eight inch knife into his back.

Police are not ruling out a racist motive being behind the
attack.

Source:- Daily Mail Thursday 6 March page 21

Defiant head bans children of ‘playground brawl’
travellers

A headteacher yesterday went against the education authority and
barred six children whose mothers were involved in an attack on
another woman in a playground.

Colin Lowther had been forced to keep the children in school by
the local authority, being told he could only exclude them if they
had actually done something wrong.

However, the National Association of Head Teachers yesterday
ruled that he could tell the children to stay away from school
because of safety issues.

Source:- Daily Mail Thursday 6 March page 37

Why ex-nurse has tattoo of her last wish

An ex-nurse, who in her opinion has seen many people being
brought back to life who she believes should not have been, has had
“Do Not Resuscitate” tattooed across her chest to ensure she is
left to die.

Frances Polack has carried a living will in her handbag for
years, but is worried that this could be missed in an emergency,
and had the tattoo to ensure doctors or her relatives do not get
into trouble for letting her die.

Source:- Daily Mail Thursday 6 March page 41

Sacked vicar condemned

A Cumbrian vicar accused of sexual harassment and intimidation
has been condemned in a damming judgement by the Archbishop of
York.

Archbishop David Hope found Reverend Harry Brown, who is also
accused of misappropriating church funds, guilty on all counts in a
73-page assessment of his conduct.

Hope also recommends that the reverend should never be allowed
to hold a position in holy orders again.

Source:- The Guardian Thursday March 6 page 8

Ghost nation: a few faces among thousands of Britons
currently missing without a trace

Source:- The Independent Thursday 6 March page 3

Scottish newspapers

Sex case union leader forced to quit

The Scottish union official tipped to succeed John Edmonds as
leader of the GMB was forced to resign in disgrace yesterday, after
the union paid out £50,000 in a costly sexual discrimination
case brought against him.

However, Robert Parker is expected to walk away with a pay-off
of one year’s salary. The payment is expected to infuriate
the union’s 700,000 members, many of whom are among the
lowest paid workers in Britain.

There is another case pending against Parker.

Source:- The Scotsman Thursday 6 March page 1

Support grows for African rape victims

Raped repeatedly, left for dead and condemned to a life infected
by HIV, Mercy fears being deported to Africa to a death sentence,
either at the hands of her political tormentors, or from a virus
which goes largely untreated across the continent.

The campaign to save nine African asylum seekers, raped and
infected with HIV, from deportation from their Glasgow homes, has
attracted parliamentary support both at Westminster and
Holyrood.

Source:- The Scotsman Thursday 6 March page 8

Council house handover approved

The controversial handover of Glasgow’s 81,000 council
houses to an independent landlord was yesterday signed and sealed
by First Minister Jack McConnell.

He hailed the stock transfer as one of Europe’s most
ambitious public sector projects, claiming it would create jobs and
improve tenants’ quality of life.

Source:- The Scotsman Thursday 6 March page 8

Welsh newspapers

Row brewing over children in pubs

The government has confirmed it is to review plans to allow
children under 14 to enter pubs, clubs and bars alone.

The department of culture, media and sport was forced into a
rethink after the proposal, which forms part of the Licensing Bill,
was defeated in the House of Lords. The bill proposes sweeping
reforms to outdated drinking laws in England and Wales.

Source:- Western Mail Thursday 6 March page 3

Council attacked after crèche injury

The parents of a baby girl injured at a crèche have
condemned a local authority for failing to prosecute.

One-year-old Charlotte Francis fell against a radiator and
suffered burns to her face at the Fairytale Creche in Mountain Ash,
south Wales.

Her parents are angry that Rhondda Cynon Taff council decided
not to prosecute the crèche, but have instead offered a formal
caution.

Source:- Western Mail Thursday 6 March page 6

Council house repairs kitty is £2.9bn
short

Almost £3 billion is needed to bring Wales’ council
housing stock up to standard, a Welsh Assembly official has
admitted.

The assembly’s director of housing, John Bader, told the
Chartered Institute of Housing Cymru conference in Llandudno that
over the next 10 years some £2.9 billion will be needed to
improve housing stock in the principality.

Source:- Western Mail Thursday 6 March page 7

Free swimming pool access for youngsters

Children and young people in Wales are to be offered free access
to swimming pools.

The national initiative, which is the first of its kind in
Europe, will be launched today.

Boys under 16 and females under 24 will be targeted by the
scheme that offers free admission to swimming pools during school
holidays, under plans announced by the Welsh Assembly.

Source:- Western Mail Thursday 6 March page 10