Friday 5 December 2003

By Natasha Salari, Clare Jerrom and Alex
Dobson.

Dance drug ecstasy falls out of favour as young clubbers
find new highs
Ecstasy may now be regarded as “yesterday’s
dance drug”, according to new official figures.
Home Officers ministers said yesterday that ecstasy use has fallen
for the first time and that wider class A drug abuse among young
people, including cocaine use, has stabilised after rising in the
late 1990s.
New figures from the British Crime Survey show that drug abuse is
highest in affluent areas, which 22 per cent were said to contain
somebody using drugs, compared to 14 per cent of households on
council estates and other low income housing.
Source:- The Guardian Friday 5 December page 3
Mother appeals over baby-deaths jailing
The case against a woman serving a life sentence for killing two of
her babies “beggars belief”, the court of appeal in
London was told yesterday.
Angela Cannings, from Salisbury in Wiltshire, was found guilty last
year of killing seven-week-old Jason in 1991 and Matthew, who was
fourth months-old, in 1999.
Her counsel said that the verdict made “no sense” in
the face of expert  evidence indicating that the deaths could have
been caused by sudden infant death syndrome. The hearing
continues.
Source:- The Guardian Friday 5 December page 11
Doctor quits watchdog in row over HRT ban
A leading doctor has resigned from the medicines watchdog
which issued a controversial warning on hormone replacement
therapy.
Professor David Purdie criticised the ruling which is aimed at
restricting women from getting the treatment for osteoporosis
because of fears over side effects. He said doctors should still be
allowed to prescribe the “tried and tested” drugs to
help women combat bone loss triggered by the menopause.
Source:- The Daily Mail Friday 5 December page 21
Carr vents fury at ‘that thing’ Huntley
Maxine Carr turned to Ian Huntley in the dock yesterday
and said she would not take the blame for what “that thing in
the box” did to Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.
Carr told the Soham murder trial that an abusive and controlling
Huntley left her no choice, but to provide him with a false alibi.
She insisted that she had been pushed into a corner by the man she
loved but that it had been wrong to lie to the police.
Source:- The Independent Friday 5 December page 1
Falconer asks board of child protection agency to step down
after ‘chaos’ claims
Ministers have demanded that the entire board of an
official child protection agency resign amid claims that is had
descended into “chaos”.
A report into the Child and Family Court Advisory and Support
Service (Cafcass) earlier this year from the Commons Constitutional
Affairs committee found there were “serious failings”
in the organisation. The Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer has now
written asking the board to stand down so that Cafcass can make a
fresh start.
Source:- The Independent Friday 5 December page 4
Manhunt unit to track down migrant killers who flee
abroad
Police are planning an international “manhunt unit” to
track down killers who flee abroad following concerns about the
rise in murders among immigrant communities.
The number of murders in London has risen by 22 per cent this year
and much of the increase is being blamed on violence in Turkish,
Asian and eastern European communities.
Assistant commissioner at the Metropolitan Police, Tarique Ghaffur,
said officers could chase suspects rather than wait for information
to come in. He is planning a small team of detectives who will take
over cases from stretched murder squads.
Source:- The Times Friday 5 December page 4
Tesco rejects MPs’ pleas to cut obesity in
children
The superstore giant Tesco has refused pleas from MPs to promote
healthy eating in children.
Members of the health select committee asked Tesco’s director
of government affairs David North to use loyalty cards to reward
customers who ate healthy food.
But he said some customers would regard the move as
patronising.
Source:-  Daily Telegraph Friday 5 December page 10
Scottish newspapers
Drugs fear for elderly spark care homes probe
Pharmacists are to review the amount of drugs being given to older
people in Edinburgh nursing homes, amid fears that over
prescription by doctors is widespread.
Five community pharmacists from Morningside are now monitoring the
prescriptions being handed out at six local care homes under a
pilot scheme designed to ensure that older people in homes are not
taking unnecessary medicines.
The measure follows a similar scheme south of the Border, which
exposed the huge scale of the misuse of medications in homes and
suggested that “chemical cocktails” were being used to
keep some residents sedated.
Source:- Edinburgh Evening News Thursday 4 December
Letter plea bid to end nursery nurses strike
Edinburgh’s 500 council-employed nursery nurses have
been contacted by city leaders, in a bid to end their long-standing
pay dispute.
Frank Russell, the council’s human resources leader, has
written to striking staff and asked them to put pressure on union
leaders to agree a deal with the local authority.
The letter also contained details of a pay offer which the council
is offering nursery nurses.
Unison leaders in the Lothians are refusing to discuss the offer,
insisting that the dispute should be settled at a national
level.
Source:- Edinburgh Evening News Thursday 4 December
Killer’s cell suicide
A teenager, who killed an older woman, committed suicide at Polmont
Young Offenders’ Institution, in Stirlingshire, a fatal
accident inquiry heard yesterday.
Stuart Barrie was given a life sentence in 2000 for stabbing Jean
Sharp in Kirkintilloch, Dunbartonshire.
Bruce Galloway, a prison officer said Barrie had told him:
“I’ve done this horrendous thing and I’m still
alive.”
The 19-year-old was found hanged in his cell.
The inquiry at Falkirk Sheriff Court continues.
Source:- Daily Record Friday 5 December page 31
Welsh newspapers
‘Behave or you’ll get kicked out’
Anti-social youths could make their families homeless under tough
new laws from Newport Council.
Under the rules, families can be evicted from council housing where
there is persistent anti-social behaviour. Such families could then
be blacklisted from returning to council housing.
The government has left it to individual councils whether or not to
adopt the new laws, and in Gwent only Newport council has done
so.
Source:- South Wales Argus 4 December page 11
Council leader urged to resign over Clywch
letter
A council leader, who criticised the handling of an inquiry into
sexual abuse at a south Wales welsh medium comprehensive school,
has been urged to resign.
Jeff Jones, leader of Bridgend Council, may face a contempt hearing
after writing to the Children’s Commissioner for Wales, Peter
Clarke, who chaired the inquiry.
His letter accused parents of victims of abuse at the school of
putting the interests of the Welsh language before the interests of
their children, and claimed that a former director of education had
been made a scapegoat.
A spokesperson for the commissioner’s office said that a
hearing would be held on 22 January to consider evidence relating
to possible contempt arising from the letter.
Source:- Western Mail Friday 5 December page 2
WAG slated over race equality plans
One of Wales’ leading ethnic minority organisations has
accused the Welsh assembly of devising policies that are unsuitable
for small diverse multi-racial settlements in Wales.
In a highly critical response to a consultation document, the All
Wales Ethnic Minority Association (Awema) claims that the assembly
seems bent on having a race equality scheme based on narrow,
sectarian, communal and faith based interests.
The group also said that the assembly is placing too much emphasis
on consulting community leaders with a religious base and not
enough on seeking a wider cross-section of views within ethnic
minority communities.
Source:- Western Mail Friday 5 December page 6