Monday 6 October 2003

By Amy Taylor, Clare Jerrom and Alex Dobson.
Parents of truants risk spot fines
Parents who allow their children to miss school could be faced with
on-the-spot fines of £25 to £100, under new government
proposals.
The fixed penalty notices would be imposed by council officials,
headteachers and police as an alternative to taking parents to
court.
Parents who take their children on holiday during term time without
getting permission from the school could also face fines.
Teachers’ leaders have branded the fines unfair and unworkable.
They say it will undermine constructive work being done between
schools and problem families.
Source:- The Guardian Saturday 4 October page 9
Lighting up the dark side of celebrity
Paparazzo Richard Young has talked stars he’s photographed
into revealing their brushes with mental illness in a bid to reduce
the stigma.
Source:- The Observer Sunday 5 October page 3
Met officers suspended after inquest
Eight police officers have been suspended by the Metropolitan
police as part of an ongoing investigation into the death of a
black man in custody.
The day before a jury at an inquest into the death of Roger
Sylvester returned a unanimous verdict of unlawful killing.
Sylvester, who had a history of manic depression and drug abuse,
stopped breathing and went into a coma after being held down on the
floor for 20 minutes. He died 7 days later.
The jurors at the inquest decided that officers had used more force
than was necessary, and held him in one restraint position for too
long. The police officers all denied using excessive force.
Campaigners have said the case is another example of the
disproportionate amount of black men who die in police
custody.
Source:- The Independent on Sunday 5 October page 2
‘Ethnic whites’ replace blacks on race board
The number of blacks and Asians on the board of the Commission for
Racial Equality is to be reduced to make way for more “ethnic
whites”, the chairperson of the organisation has announced.
Trevor Phillips said the “race relations circle” focused too much
on the colour of people’s skin as opposed to the facts of
discrimination.
Gypsies, Jews and Irish immigrants will be among those represented
on the new board, with six of the 12 commissioners due to be
replaced at the end of the year.
Source:- The Sunday Times 5 October page 8
Secret of the super successful…they’re
dyslexic
Millionaires are more likely to suffer from dyslexia than the rest
of the population, according to a new study.
Around 40 per cent of the 300 millionaires studied had been
diagnosed with the condition, four times the rate of the general
population.
Experts think one reason for the findings may be because dyslexics
tend not to be good at details and learn instead to grasp the
bigger picture.
The study was carried out by Tulip Financial Research for a BBC2
series, ‘Mind of a Millionaire’, to be screened on
Tuesday.
Source:- The Sunday Times 5 October page 1
Anti-dementia drug ‘delays need for care
homes’
Prescribing people with Alzheimer’s disease an anti-dementia drug
can delay the need for them having to move into a nursing home for
an extra 18 months, according to new research.
A wider use of Donepezil (Aricept) could mean large savings for
families and the NHS – nursing care currently costs up to
£35,000 a year.
The research, which covered 671 elderly Americans, was published in
the ‘Journal of the American Geriatric Society’.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph Monday 6 October page 8
Vote Tory to stop the rise of the BNP, says race
watchdog
The Labour-supporting  chairperson of the Commission for Racial
Equality called for people to vote for the Tories yesterday in
order to crush support for the British National Party.
Trevor Phillips also called on the Conservatives to try and win
back their former supporters in order to halt the party’s
progress.
Phillips will tell the Tory party conference tomorrow that
decreasing levels of white working class Tory voters in certain
areas, such as Lancashire and West Yorkshire, has caused an opening
for the BNP to move into.
Source:- The Independent Monday 6 October page 10
Scottish newspapers
16 held in paedophile raids across Britain
Police arrested 16 people in raids across Britain as they
smashed a paedophile network. Five children were taken into care
from addresses on the the island of Lewis in the Outer
Hebrides.
Three of the children are said to be under 5 and the other two of
primary school age.
The police are not revealing the exact nature of the alleged
crimes, apart from saying they are extremely serious. They believe
children were being smuggled around Briatian by a highly organised
group of paedophiles.
Four men arrested in Lewis are to appear in Stornoway sheriff court
on Monday.
Source:- The Times Saturday 4 October page 7
Drug taking and violence soars in jails
There has been a dramatic increase in violence and drug taking in
Scotland’s prisons, according to figures published yesterday.
Offences have increased by 46 per cent in the past four years,
Scottish Prison Service statistics revealed.
Between 1999 and 2003, drug taking and possession rose by 155 per
cent, assault increased by 25 per cent and the number of fights
went up by 75 per cent.
Source:- The Scotsman Monday 6 October
Scottish councils debts total £10bn
New figures have revealed that Scotland’s local authorities have
run up debts of nearly £10 bilion prompting a warning from
opposition MPs of a funding crisis in local government.
Scottish executive statistics showed that the debt run up by
Scotland’s councils rose by £100 million last year, taking the
total to £9.98 billion, which is the equivalent of £1,970
for every person in the country.
Source:- The Scotsman  Monday 6 October
‘Disquiet in police’ over failure to make Jodi
arrest
Detectives investigating the murder of Jodi Jones last night denied
that they have been told that not enough evidence has been gathered
to prosecute the prime suspect in the case.
A senior Lothian and Borders police source insisted that reports
claiming officers have already been told by the crown office that
insufficient evidence had been accumulated to warrant charges being
brought, were not true.
The denial came as it emerged that there was disquiet within the
force over the failure to make an arrest three months into the
case.
Source:- The Herald Monday 6 October
Police chiefs told to tackle fear of crime
The Scottish executive has asked Scotland’s most senior police
officers to go beyond tackling criminals and devise ways of
reducing the public “fear” of crime.
A working group has been established to find a way of assessing
public concern and setting targets to reduce the fear of crime
annually, following talks between ministers and the Association of
Chief Police Officers in Scotland.
Source:- The Herald Monday 6 October
Death threats to MSP
Protesters campaigning against the building of a secure
unit for offenders with mental health problems in Bothwell,
Lanarkshire have been accused of sending death threats to the local
MSP.
Michael McMahon, the MSP for Hamilton North and Bellshill said he
and others were under severe pressure to oppose the centre and
admitted that he had received death threats.
The controversy surrounding the plan for the 36-bed unit reached
Holyrood yesterday when John Swinburne, the Scottish Senior
Citizens Party MSP, was forced to apologise after describing the
likely inhabitants of the centre as “two tablets away from flipping
their lid”, during an earlier debate on equality.
Source:- The Scotsman Saturday 4 October
Glasgow evicting asylum seekers
Nearly 170 asylum seekers, who have lost their appeals to
remain in the UK, are being evicted from their homes by Glasgow
Council. Councillors claim they are forced to carry out the policy
by immigration laws set down by the UK government.
The Scottish Refugee Council and housing charities branded the move
as “shameful”.
Source:- The Scotsman Saturday 4 October
Bone must wait for bail decision
A mother jailed for not preventing her boyfriend from
murdering her daughter, must wait to hear if she will be freed
pending an appeal, after judges delayed a final decision on bail
for two weeks yesterday. Andrea Bone, who was convicted of the
culpable homicide of 13-month-old Carla-Nicole Bone is challenging
her conviction and three year jail sentence.
Source:- The Scotsman Saturday 4 October
Colour televisions for the homeless
Homeless people can be housed in bed and breakfast
accommodation which have colour televisions and a hairdryer in each
room under new rules laid down by Edinburgh councillors.
The guidelines, which are aimed at cracking down on rogue landlords
and improving standards, were revealed as it emerged that the bill
to send homeless people to the capital’s B&Bs has risen by
£1.2 million. Edinburgh council defended the decision saying
the basics should be provided.
Source:- Scotland on Sunday5 October
Nursery nurses step up strikes
A fresh wave of strikes by nursery nurses across Scotland
is set to start tomorrow, union chiefs announced yesterday.
Nurseries will be closed in Edinburgh and the Lothians, Inverclyde,
the Highlands, Orkney and Moray as the nurses intensify their
campaign for better pay and conditions.
Source:- Scotland on Sunday 5 October
Abuse ’cause’ of persistent youth crime
The majority of persistent young offenders first came to
the attention of the authorities because of concerns about their
care and welfare, according to research.
A study of cases handled by the Scottish Children’s Reporters
Administration
has shown that two thirds of all those coming before the panel with
10 or
more offences had initially been referred because they were at
risk. In 40-50 per cent of those cases, there were fears for their
safety because of allegations of a lack of parental care, abuse or
neglect.
Source:- Sunday Herald 5 October
Welsh newspapers
Export the patients or find £36m
Bringing an end to long waiting lists for patients in Wales could
cost up to £36 million, according to new figures.
Health experts believe that spare capacity in English state-run and
private hospitals, and on the continent could be used to relieve
the misery of patients in Wales waiting more than a year and a half
for an operation.
But NHS consultants believe that money should be ring fenced for
beds for planned operations.
Source:- Western Mail Monday 6 October page 6
Teenagers help old to stay warm
Teenagers across Wales have been recruited in a drive to keep older
people warm this winter.
Hundreds of volunteers aged 14 and over will be offering their
support as part of the Teenage Concern Cymru initiative. They will
be encouraged to make regular visits to older people living in
their neighbourhoods to check how they are coping with wintry
conditions.
The scheme is managed by the Wales Youth Agency as part of the
Welsh assembly’s ‘Keep Well This Winter’ campaign.
Source:- Western Mail Monday 6 October page 7