Thursday 18 September 2003

By Clare Jerrom, Lauren Revans, David Callaghan and Alex
Dobson.
New law to put an end to asylum ‘gravy
train’
A “short, sharp bill” to curtail the asylum appeals
process and deter the number of people who destroy their papers in
transit will be announced in the Queen’s Speech.
‘The Times’ has learned that the bill will be rushed
through parliament early in the next session to make sure that it
can have an effect on the number of asylum seekers entering Britain
before the next general election.
Source:- The Times Thursday 19 September page 2
Archer urges jail literacy
Jeffrey Archer wants to ban early release for prisoners who cannot
read or write.
The novelist, who was freed from jail after serving half of a
four-year sentence, will outline his ideas as he addresses a
conference organised by the Howard League for Penal Reform in
Oxford today.
Archer will suggest introducing a 12-week reading and writing
course for all illiterate prisoners, which would include a test at
the end of their course They would have to pass the test before
they could be considered for a job or early release.
Source:- The Times Thursday 18 September  page 6
Couple cleared of girl’s Ecstasy death
The couple accused of killing 10-year-old Jade Slack by leaving the
drug ecstasy where she could find it were cleared of manslaughter
yesterday.
Rebecca Hodgson sobbed with relief as she walked from Manchester
crown court. But Mr Justice Morland warned her former boyfriend
Wayne Wood that he faced a substantial prison sentence.
Wood was remanded in custody for supplying ecstasy in Galgate near
Lancaster, and will be sentenced tomorrow.
Source:- The Times Thursday 18 September page 7
Baby entombed in concrete had lived in agony
A baby found entombed in a concrete block would have lived a
miserable life before she died or was possibly murdered, police
said yesterday.
The baby, who detectives have named Lara, is thought to have been
born between 1990 and 1992, and was aged between four and six
months when she died.
Her remains were found last September in a block of concrete dumped
in a derelict garage in Barepot, near Workington in Cumbria.
Source:- The Times Thursday 18 September page 7
Cabinet split delays ID cards plan
David Blunkett’s plans to introduce a national
scheme of identity cards has been held up by objections from
leading cabinet members including education secretary Charles
Clarke and trade secretary Patricia Hewitt.
While several ministers are concerned about the principle of the
scheme, the debate has now turned to practical issues including the
likely £40 per person charge and the 10-13 years it would take
to bring into operation.
Source:- The Guardian Thursday 18 September page 2
Police promise protection to informants on killing of girl,
7
Witnesses who can help solve the gangland murder of a seven year
old girl and her father in north west London will receive full
protection, according to Britain’s senior policeman
yesterday.
Sir John Stevens, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, said that
anyone who came forward would be able to name their terms for
co-operation even if it meant them being settled abroad.
Toni-Ann Byfield, who was in the care of Birmingham social
services, was gunned down in her father’s bedsit on
Sunday.
Source:- The Guardian Thursday 18 September page 5
Marine denies refugee attack
A Royal Marine accused of attacking an Iraqi refugee was yesterday
committed for trial at Plymouth crown court.
Scott Burborough denies causing actual bodily harm to Maryan
Tawfiq.
Source:- The Guardian Thursday 18 September page 5
Inmate murder: man charged
Detectives investigating the death of a Manchester prisoner have
charged a man with murder.
Clement McNally is due to appear before magistrates today.
Anthony James died of asphyxia on Monday.
Source:- The Guardian Thursday 18 September page 5
Explosion of gang violence leaves city in a state of
shock
Feature on gang violence in the streets of St Ann’s in
Nottingham.
Source:- The Guardian  Thursday 18 September page 11
Backlog of bills in Lords delays Queen’s speech
The Queen’s speech is to be delayed to cope with a
backlog of disputed legislation in the Lords.
Downing Street also cited the Queen’s diary as a reason to
delay the speech until November 26.
Among the legislation likely to be announced is the
Chancellor’s baby bond scheme.
Source:- The Guardian Thursday 18 September page 12
£71,428 to return a truant to class
Anti-truancy measures cost the government £50 million last
year – the equivalent of £71,428 per pupil.
The measures produced a fall of just 700 in the number of children
failing to turn up at school, according to the figures released by
the Department for Education yesterday.
The Tories seized the opportunity to claim Labour’s measures
to tackle school attendance are failing.
Source:- Daily Telegraph Thursday 18 September page 2
Fee paying schools aid poor pupils ‘for
charity’
Independent schools have defended their right to divert money from
scholarships to children from poor families saying it complies with
their charitable status.
The Office for Fair Trading has widened its investigation into
alleged “fee-fixing” by leading schools to take in the
switch in charitable funds.
Some schools have reduced the amount of assistance they provide to
outstanding students to subsidise places for children from low
income families.
Source:- Daily Telegraph Thursday 18 September page 2
Demand for the morning after pill remains
static
The availability of the morning-after pill over-the-counter has not
increased its demand, according to figures yesterday.
Seven per cent of women used the emergency contraception in 2002-3,
the same proportion as previous years, according to government
statistics.
Source:- Daily Telegraph Thursday 18 September page 6
Hepatitis in park needles
One in 10 needles discarded in inner-city parks or playgrounds is
infected with hepatitis B or C, according to a study by the Health
Protection Agency.
Park rangers in south London found 106 syringes over four months,
and 9.4 per cent had traces of the viruses.
Source:- Daily Telegraph  Thursday 18 September page 10
Unison chief seeks allies for radical plan
Dave Prentis, general secretary of the public sector union Unison,
has announced that he wants to build an alliance with organisations
outside the trade union movement in a bid to shake off the
“awkward squad” image of union leaders, and to develop
an alternative blueprint for the health service.
The move, which some insiders believe could be challenged by union
members, would involve talking to bodies that traditionally have
had little to do with trade unions, such as the British Medical
Association and the Royal College of Midwives.
Source:- Financial Times Thursday 18 September page 7
Charities demand council tax reform
Help the Aged and the Royal British Legion have called for a reform
of council tax, claiming that annual
“inflation-busting” increases discriminated against
older people, whose incomes tended to be fixed or linked to
inflation.
The charities said council tax had almost doubled in England in the
last decade while pensions had risen by only about a quarter.
Source:- Financial Times Thursday 18 September page 8
IT gaps hinder Prison Service
Inadequate IT systems are hindering the modernisation of the Prison
Service, according to a public accounts committee report published
today.
The MPs’ committee report said the current system for
procuring goods and services within the Prison Service is
fragmented and expensive to run.
Source:- Financial Times Thursday 18 September page 8
Council ‘broke child protection rules’ over
care of Toni-Ann, 7
Birmingham Council social services department allegedly failed to
tell colleagues in London that it was moving Toni-Ann Byfield from
a foster home in Birmingham to the capital in August, just weeks
before she was shot dead.
A spokesperson for Brent Council in north London said yesterday
that the first they knew of the existence of the seven-year-old was
when the news of her murder was announced by the police last
Sunday.
An inquiry into the care of Toni-Ann, who was under the legal
protection of Birmingham Council, has been opened.
Source:- The Independent Thursday 18 September page 2
Brady granted public mental health tribunal
Moors murderer Ian Brady, who is currently on hunger strike and
wants to be moved from secure Ashworth Hospital to an ordinary
prison where he could not be force-fed, has won his campaign for a
public mental health tribunal.
Source:- The Independent Thursday 18 September page 4
Dead man’s shoes: Desert rat Stephen French fought
heroically for his country. Now he needs care he is told someone
has to die first.
A 90-year-old man, who lives in a bungalow in Speke, Liverpool, has
been told he has to wait for a care home place even though he has
been found wandering the streets at night.
There are 206 empty places in care homes in the city, but he has
had to wait since June for an assessment to be completed.
Source:- Daily Mail Thursday 18 September page 17
The illegal land army
Ministers have been accused of turning a blind eye to the
employment of hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants on
farms.
A report from the House of Commons environment, food and rural
affairs committee said the government’s efforts to curb
illegal working had been totally inadequate. Workers are housed in
appalling conditions apparently, and gangmasters avoid tax and
employment laws.
Source:- Daily Mail Thursday 18 September page 17
Scottish newspapers
Runaway Amanda in baby riddle
The schoolgirl who has run away from her family home in Spain with
her older boyfriend had told friends that she was pregnant before
going on the run.
Amanda McDonnell and Scots bar worker Steven Laing are being hunted
across Europe after they stole her mother’s car in
Spain.
It is believed Steven was returning to Scotland after
Amanda’s parents had put him up at their home following an
argument he had with his mother.
Source:- Daily Record Thursday 18 September page 5
Jobless total hits new low
The number of Scots out of work fell last month to the lowest in 28
years.
There were 98,600 claiming job seeker’s allowance, which is
the lowest figure since September 1975 and down 2,500 on the
previous year.
Source:- Daily Record  Thursday 18 September page 2
Cover-up
The family of a murdered baby last night branded the social work
inquiry into her case as “a cover-up”.
Carla-Nicole Bone was battered by her mother’s boyfriend
Sandy McClure while the 13-month old child’s mother did
nothing to protect her.
The couple were jailed a year ago and yesterday social workers were
cleared of any blame over their handling of the case after an
independent investigation said the tragedy could not have been
foreseen.
The child’s father David Shorrock hit out at the findings
while his mother Liz Berry said the report was a cover-up. Had
social services acted when she had contacted them, the baby would
be alive today, she said.
Source:- Daily Record  Thursday 18 September page 13
Abuse hits half of all Scots
Almost half of Scots have been affected by domestic
violence, according to research commissioned by Body Shop founder
Dame Anita Roddick.
Forty three per cent of adults personally know someone who has
suffered at the hands of a violent partner. And more than a third
of those interviewed admitted they had seen verbal or physical
abuse in a social setting.
Source:- Daily Record  Thursday 18 September page 19
Nurses in strike rally
More than 1,000 striking nursery nurses marched for better pay
yesterday bringing the centre of Edinburgh to a standstill.
Around 5,000 nursery nurses are staging a two-day strike after
rejecting an offer by local authority umbrella group Cosla.
Source:- Daily Record  Thursday 19 September page 29

Welsh newspapers
Massive cuts for elderly on the way
Older and vulnerable people in some of those most deprived parts of
Wales are facing massive cuts in social services.
Torfaen council in south Wales claims new figures reveal an
enormous increase in demand for services over the past two years.
Gary Birch, director of social services at the council, said that
the increasing demand is putting a huge strain on social services
budgets.
Source:- Western Mail Thursday 18 September page 5
Teenage suicides: Clarke in new call
Children’s Commissioner for Wales Peter Clarke is calling for
greater attention to be paid to young people’s emotional
health following the suicide of two Swansea teenagers. An inquest
heard earlier this week how 13-year-old Kirsty Botto took her own
life after complaining of being bullied. Her death was followed
only three weeks later by the suicide of her school friend
14-year-old Jade Hughes.
Peter Clarke said he did not want to comment on individual cases,
but that in general more attention should be paid to the emotional
well being of young people so that they could talk through their
problems if they needed too.
Source:- Western Mail Thursday 18 September page 7