Thursday 23 October 2003

By Amy Taylor, Clare Jerrom and Alex
Dobson.
Antisocial bill may alienate young
Young people believe that new powers set to be given to
police under the antisocial behaviour bill will damage their
relationship with officers, according to a new survey.
The NOP survey, covering 700 people aged between 10 and 16, found
that four out of five young people felt that new powers such as
being able to disperse small groups of youngsters would cause
resentment between them and police.
Source:- The Financial Times Thursday October 23 page 7
Drive-thru nursery
The country’s first ‘drive-thru’ nursery is set to open in order to
help parents who struggle to find parking spaces.
Parents using the £1 million nursery will be able to pull into
a specially built carport area, let their children out to awaiting
staff and then drive away.
‘Paint Pots’ nursery is set to open in Stockport early next
year.
Source:- Daily Mail Thursday October 23 page 43
Ethnic minority pupils get more help
The persistent under-achievement of ethnic minority pupils is to be
tackled by a multi-million pound scheme being launched by the
government.
The £10 million “Aiming High” package includes the
introduction of a national qualification for teachers who work with
bilingual pupils.
The scheme follows a consultation by the Department for Education
and Skills into the causes of poor attainment levels amongst some
ethnic minorities.
Source:- The Guardian Thursday 23 October page 8
PCC acts on asylum seekers
The Press Complaints Commission has called on journalists
to stop using the term “illegal asylum seeker” in new
guidance.
The commission said that it had issued the guidance after receiving
increasing levels of complaints surrounding the reporting of asylum
issues.
A spokesperson explained that an ‘asylum seeker’ is someone
currently seeking refugee or humanitarian protection. “There can be
no such thing as an ‘illegal asylum seeker’, he said.
Source:- The Guardian Thursday 23 October page 10
UK teenagers use so much cannabis that market can grow
little more says study
Cannabis use amongst UK teenagers has stabilised, but only
because it is so high that there is little room for the market to
increase, the European Union’s drug agency warned yesterday in its
annual report.
The EU monitoring centre on drugs and drug abuse went on to raise
concerns about the emergence of a significant  new group of teenage
boys who are using cannabis more than 20 times a month.
The research goes on to state that Europe is so far a long way from
meeting the official goal of reducing its drug consumption by
2006.
Source: The Guardian Thursday 23 October page 11
Government considers local income tax to aid the
poor
A local income tax reducing bills for low income households, but
increasing them for middle class families, that could replace
council tax, has been proposed by Nick Raynsford, the local
government minister.
Labour is wary of people’s reaction as the impact of council tax
rises becomes evident, and could fight the next election on a
commitment to abolish the tax in order to win back voters.
Source:- The Independent Thursday October 23 page 2
Prison inspector denounces treatment of child
inmates
The treatment of children in prison under rules drawn up for adult
males was criticised by Anne Owers, the chief inspector of
prisons.
Speaking to the British Institute of Human Rights in London, Owers
questioned whether current measures protected the interests of
children and called for an overhaul by the home office.
Source:- The Independent Thursday October 23 page 10
Chatroom dangers explained to pupils
Children aged 11 are to be taught how to evade chatroom
paedophiles, under a scheme launched by the Metropolitan
Police.
The campaign will help young people to decide what information is
safe to give out over the internet, and teach them to consider if
the person they are in contact with is who they say they are.
The 11-year-olds will be taught to learn the term S-A-F-E-R. This
stands for Secrets (never keep them), Attachments (don’t open
them), False (don’t believe them), Exit (don’t stay there) and
Remember (remain in public chat areas).
Source:- The Independent Thursday October 23 page 6
Scottish newspapers
Blind girl caught up in council row over school
A teenage girl, who is eligible for a place at the Royal
Blind School, has been told she cannot attend because of a bitter
funding feud between her mother and Edinburgh Council.
Jacqueline Wallace is considering legal action against the council
if her daughter, Paula, is forced to go back to a mainstream school
where she was badly bullied.
It is believed that a place was available at the Royal Blind
School, but Wallace claims that the council will not pay the
£12,000 a year fees. Paula suffers from borderline blindness
and has missed eight months of school and her mother is refusing to
send her back to a mainstream school.
Source:- The Scotsman Thursday 23 October
Court told about baby killer’s ‘abnormal’ mind
A court heard yesterday that a former soldier had an
“abnormal mind” when he killed his wife’s 18-month old
daughter.
Dr Elizabeth Campbell, a consultant forensic psychologist, said
that Harry Caldwell suffered from emotional unstable personality
disorder which left him susceptible to extreme violence.
Caldwell denies the murder of Louisa McDaid , but admits culpable
homicide on the grounds of diminished responsibility – a plea which
the crown rejected.
The case continues.
Source:- The Scotsman Thursday 23 October
Eighth arrest in abuse inquiry
An eighth person is expected to appear in court today in
connection with an ongoing child abuse inquiry in the Western
Isles.
A man was arrested in England yesterday and is expected to appear
in private at Inverness sheriff court today.
Seven people have already appeared in court in connection with the
inquiry.
Source:- The Scotsman Thursday 23 October
Teachers ‘not equipped’ for special needs
Primary school teachers have called for changes to the policy of
placing children with special needs in mainstream classes.
A survey of teachers across East Dunbartonshire found that teachers
feel they lack the training to teach children with a broad range of
special needs, including autism and visual impairment.
The teachers also claim that less able children are losing out
because teachers have to focus so much attention on pupils with
special educational needs, the study by the Educational Institue of
Scotland found.
Source:- The Herald Thursday 23 October
Solvent abuse risk to teens
Solvent abuse could be more of a threat to Scottish teenagers than
cocaine and ecstasy, a new report claims.
The EU drugs agency report reveals that as many as 15 per cent of
teenagers in the UK are using solvents.
Source:- Daily Record Thursday 23 October
Welsh newspapers
Mums stand up to bullies
As part of the newspaper’s campaign against bullying, two
women whose children have been victims talk about the experience
and the measures they would like to see introduced to counteract
the problem.
Both women believe that more should be done to support victims and
that the government has a responsibility to make schools safe
places for all children.
Source:- South Wales Argus Wednesday 22 October pages 1, 4 and
5
Puppet man in child porn shame
A missionary preacher who used puppets to teach bible stories to
children has admitted downloading child pornography from the
internet.
Dewi Lloyd Howell worked with children on a regular basis in his
job for the Mission Board of the Presbyterian Church of
Wales.
He pleaded guilty to 16 charges of having indecent images of
children, and asked for 985 similar offences to be taken into
consideration.
Magistrates adjourned the case for pre-sentence reports, but Howell
was ordered to register as a sex offender.
Source:- South Wales Echo Wednesday 22 October pages 1and 6
Controversial home to be put on the market
A controversial residential home for older people is to be put up
for sale almost two years after it was shut.
The Hazelcroft home in Cardiff was closed following a series of
allegations that included staff making hundreds of allegations
against one another.
There have been concerns at the security costs involved while the
building has been unused, and Cardiff Council has been involved in
talks with the Hafod Housing Association about its future, but it
now looks likely that the site will be sold.
Source:- South Wales Echo Wednesday 22 October page 4
Welsh family helps autism case
Campaigners who claim that their children are the victims
of the controversial MMR jab are to use a Welsh family as a test
case for a judicial review.
Nicholas Williams, aged 13, is severely autistic and has not spoken
since the age of five when he was given the controversial
vaccine.
His case will be used as a spearhead in the fight for justice for
other children who it is believed have been adversely affected by
the vaccine.
Source:- Western Mail Thursday 23 October page 5