Thursday 11 December 2003

By Clare Jerrom, David Callaghan and Alex
Dobson

Cot deaths mother freed
Angela Cannings became the latest mother to have her convictions
for murdering her babies quashed.
The judges overturned a jury’s verdict that Cannings
smothered her seven-week-old son in 1991 and her 18-week-old son in
1999.
She always insisted that the boys died of sudden infant death
syndrome, otherwise known as cot death.
Source:- The Times Thursday 11 December page 1
Chancellor gambles on pre-election boom
Chancellor Gordon Brown announced increases worth £1 million
in tax credits for millions of children in lower income
families.
At the same time, Brown announced new help to companies and mothers
for childcare provision in his pre-budget report.
Source:- The Times Thursday 11 December page 1
‘Ruthless Huntley killed girls in clash over sexual
desires’
Prosecution case:
Ian Huntley was “ruthless” and “merciless”,
killing Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman because each was a
potential witness to his sexually motivated desires, the Old Bailey
was told yesterday.
Summing up, Richard Latham QC for the prosecution, said Huntley was
a man in control “thinking very hard indeed” about his
actions, and that his behaviour was “cold and
calculating”.
He added that Maxine Carr was a liar and there was material to
suggest she was “intimately involved with what he (Huntley)
was up to”.
Source:- The Times Thursday 11 December page 5
‘Yes he deserves punishment – for
manslaughter’
Defence case:
Ian Huntley’s defence counsel said yesterday that his client
is guilty of manslaughter and should be punished for killing
Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells.
Stephen Coward QC said that Huntley, who denies murdering the girls
but admits they died in his house while he was there, deserved to
be punished and that there was enough to find Huntley guilty of
manslaughter.
He had earlier said that although a sexual motive had been
suggested “over and over again” there was “not a
single shred of evidence”.
Source:- The Times Thursday 11 December page 5
Brutality of prison officers exposed
Prison officers subjected inmates at Wormwood Scrubs to sustained
beatings, mock executions, death threats, chokings and torrents of
racist abuse, the Prison Service has admitted.
Fourteen prisoners were seriously assaulted by officers at the
prison in west London, the Prison Service has admitted. According
to court documents, prisoners suffered at least 122 separate
instances of assault between 1995 and 1999.
The Prison Service has also settled a further 32 cases without
admitting the prisoners’ claims of violence were true. It has
paid out £1.7 million so far, although that figure could
become much higher.
Source:- The Guardian Thursday 11 December page 1
Life for baby son’s murder
Chah’Oh-Niyol Kai Whitewind was jailed for life at Birmingham
crown court after she was found guilty of murdering her 12-week-old
son by asphyxiation.
Source:- The Guardian Thursday 11 December page 7
Antidepressants ‘do children more harm than
good’
Doctors were warned yesterday not to give children some of the most
common antidepressants after a review found the risks outweighed
the benefits.
The new advice follows concerns that the drugs could trigger
suicidal thoughts and self-harm among teenagers.
Source:- Daily Telegraph Thursday 11 December page 11
Chancellor sees skills as the key to work for long-term
unemployed
A skills drive aimed at the long-term unemployed and workers
without qualifications, was announced yesterday by the
Chancellor.
Gordon Brown announced that Labour’s flagship New Deal scheme
will shift the focus from creating jobs to increasing training and
skills.
Source:- The Independent Thursday 11 December page 9
Hundreds escaping open jails
The number of prisoners absconding from open prisons has increased
by 57 per cent this year, with more than three prisoners
disappearing every day.
It emerged that 1,173 inmates walked out of the 15 open prisons in
England and Wales in the 12 months to the end of October, according
to Home Office figures.
This compares to 749 escaping from open jails in 2001-2002.
Source:- The Independent Thursday 11 December page 13
Mother loses designer baby planned to save her
son
A mother who wants a baby so that blood cells from the newborn
child can be used to treat a rare blood disorder in her son, has
suffered a miscarriage.
Shahani Hashmi had won a legal battle for IVF treatment to allow
her to become pregnant again.
Her five-year-old son Zain suffers from beta thalassaemia which
could kill him by the age of 30. He needs stem cells from a sibling
by the time he is six.
Source:- Daily Mail Thursday 11 December page 39
‘Please don’t hurt me’
999 operator hears desperate pleas of schoolgirl rape victim
A court heard a tape recording of a 15-year-old rape victim begging
for mercy as her attacker threatened to kill her.
The girl managed to dial 999 before her mobile phone fell to the
floor. An operator listened for 11 minutes as the girl pleaded with
the man to let her go.
She had been threatened at knifepoint at a bus stop in Bradford
before being forced to get into a car. She was later beaten and
raped by two men.
Asif Hussain of no fixed abode denies rape. His friend Ali Ahmed
has admitted rape.
The case continues.
Source:- Daily Mail Thursday 11 December page 37
Scottish newspapers
Police cells are used to house mentally ill
People with mental health problems in Scotland’s rural areas
are often kept in police cells because the stretched health service
cannot deal with them, according to a report released
yesterday.
The police warn that such treatment may be a breach of human rights
and may end in tragedy and litigation.
NHS Scotland funded an investigation into the management of
psychiatric patients in Scotland’s remote areas. It was
published yesterday and identified a “very high level of
concern” among health professionals.
Source:- The Herald Thursday 11 December
Programme will help refugees find work
A new project launched by the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce will help
refugees in Glasgow secure long-term employment and plug the
city’s skills gap.
Refugees are six times more likely to be unemployed despite a rise
in skilled or semi-skilled immigrants given permission to live and
stay in the UK.
Source:- The Scotsman Thursday 11 December
Baby murder leads to child safety rethink
Proposals for a radical overhaul of Aberdeenshire’s child
protection services are likely to be backed by councillors
today.
The move follows the death of Carla Nicole Bone, who was battered
to death by Sandy McClure, her mother’s partner, in
Aberdeenshire in May last year, shortly after the family moved from
Aberdeen.
An independent inquiry concluded that the murder could not have
been predicted nor prevented by the agencies in her care, but urged
improvements in a number of areas including sharing of
information.
Members of Aberdeenshire’s social work and housing committee
will today be urged to take the first steps towards implementing a
detailed action plan to address the shortcomings identified in the
report and the recommendations made in a Scottish executive review
of child protection procedures following inquiries into the deaths
of two other children.
Source:- The Scotsman Thursday 11 December
Attack thug is caged
A man who left his disabled victim with a fractured skull and
punctured lung was jailed for six years yesterday.
Paul Anderson admitted he kicked and punched Graham Rae at
Aberdeen’s Picktillum Place. He told the high court that Rae
had headbutted him and hit him with a pool cue at the Northern
Hotel.
Anderson denied claims that he was covering for his brother John,
who was cleared of attempting to murder Rae, who suffers from
arthritis.
Source:- Daily Record Thursday 11 December page 19
Perv is banned from the net
A man who used his computer to find child porn pictures has been
banned from using the internet in what is believed to be the first
ruling of its kind.
Derrick Robertson had more than a thousands images featuring
children as young as six being sexually abused.
Sheriff Shona Waldron told him he could have been jailed for 10
years, but sentenced him to three years’ probation and 240
hours community service. He was banned from using the internet on
his own and from spending time alone with anyone under the age of
17.
Source:- Daily Record  Thursday 11 December page 34
Welsh newspapers
Flout an ASBO and you get locked up
Young people who flout court orders aimed at curbing anti-social
behaviour, will face being locked up, south Wales magistrates are
warning.
Police in Newport are becoming concerned that anti-social behaviour
orders are being consistently breached. There are currently six
young people and two adults in Newport who between them, are
alleged to have breached their anti-social behaviour orders more
than 30 times.
Source:- South Wales Argus Wednesday 10 December page 5
Watchdogs axe hospice charity
A children’s charity based in Chepstow has been
wound up after the Charity Commission found that it spent most of
its money on fundraising and running costs.
The commission found that between November 1997 and March 2002
‘The Farm in the Forest’, which worked to provide
hospice facilities for terminally ill children, had spent 97 per
cent of its income on fundraising and administration and had not
carried out any charity work.
Source:- South Wales Argus Wednesday 10 December page 7
Box turning toddlers into teens
A children’s charity is warning that expensive electronic
Christmas gifts are turning toddlers into teenagers, before their
time.
NCH Cymru is concerned that the trend for giving young children the
latest entertainment devices could stifle their imagination and
creativity.
Source:- Western Mail Thursday 11 December page 2