Wednesday 4 May 2005

By Simeon Brody, Clare Jerrom, Derren Hayes and Amy
Taylor

Teacher is raped and threatened with death by pupil, 15

A 28-year-old teacher was raped in the classroom of a London by a
15-year-old pupil on her second day at a new school, an Old Bailey
court was told.

During a 12-minute attack she was head-butted, bitten, punched and
told she would be killed unless she gave in to his demands. The
attacker, now aged 16, admitted raping the woman.

Source:- The Times Wednesday 4 May 2005 page 4

£250m a month saved for school

Parents are cutting down on nights out, takeaway meals and holidays
to save more than £250 million a month for their
children’s education, according to research by ING
Direct.

Parents are putting away on average £36 a month because of
fears about the quality of secondary education and graduate
debts.

Source:- The Times Wednesday 4 May 2005 page 20

Boy dies after being shot in eye

A 12-year-old boy has died after being shot in the eye, allegedly
with an air gun, while playing with a 14-year-old friend in the
bedroom of a house in Doncaster. Police are treating the death as
an accident.

Source:- The Independent Wednesday 4 May 2005 page 6

“Mastermind” seat for autistic boy

An 11-year-old boy with Asperger’s syndrome has won a place
on BBC’s Junior Mastermind because of his detailed knowledge
of Star Wars.

Andrew Cowan, from Glasgow, said: “I wanted to show that
people like me can live a normal life and what we’re not what
people think. Asperger’s syndrome is … a blessing not a
curse.”

Source:- The Times Wednesday 4 May 2005 page 7 

Nursing crisis puts patients at risk, says consultant

A hospital consultant has warned that a desperate shortage of
nurses is putting patients’ lives at risk.

Elderly and critically ill patients are being left unattended for
hours because there are not enough staff on wards, according to
surgeon Milton Peña.

Source:- Daily Mail Wednesday 4 May 2005 page 4

Blair hints at error over cannabis downgrade

The prime minister yesterday admitted that his government could
have been wrong to downgrade cannabis from a Class B to a Class C
drug.

He told concerned parents in Lancashire that there was increasing
evidence to show that cannabis was “not quite as harmless as
people make out”.

Source:- Daily Telegraph Wednesday 4 May page 1

Teacher ‘kicked seat from under unruly
pupil’

A court heard yesterday how a teacher kicked a chair from
underneath an unruly pupil and then challenged him to a fight after
he had been asked five times to stop playing with his mobile phone
in class.

The court heard how Frederick Harding grabbed the boy aged 12 at
the time when he tried to leave the class without permission.

The trial continues.

Source:- Daily Telegraph  Wednesday 4 May page 4

Parents more likely to neglect ugly children

Researchers in Canada have claimed that parents are more likely to
neglect their children if they are ugly.

Source:- Daily Telegraph Wednesday 4 May page 8

Travellers face jail over illegal village site

Travellers camped on an illegal site in Fenland have been warned
they could be jailed.

South Cambridgeshire district council yesterday said it has agreed
to serve injunctions on travellers at a site in Cottenham who
persistently fail to comply with planning enforcement
notices.

Source:- Daily Telegraph  Wednesday 4 May page 13

Mother loses murder appeal

Judges at the court of appeal yesterday refused to overturn the
life sentence given to Chaha’Oh-Niyol Kai-Whitewind for
murdering her son claiming there was insufficient evidence to
discount any doubts about the conviction.

Lord Justice Judge said the law governing the killing of young
children was “outdated”, reinforcing concerns about
courts relying on evidence of medical experts to prove guilt.

Source:- The Guardian  Wednesday 4 May page 11

Immigration staff let woman die

Immigration officials repeatedly ignored pleas for a doctor from a
Kurdish asylum seeker who had fallen ill during her eight day
journey in the back of a lorry, an inquest heard yesterday.

Elmas Ozmico was not taken to hospital until 19 hours after she
arrived at port and she died four days later from what is thought
to be septicaemia.

Source:- The Guardian  Wednesday 4 May page 12

Judge tells of probation bottleneck

People are being kept in custody for up to five weeks because of a
shortage of funding and a lack of staff in Merseyside, it emerged
yesterday.

Senior north west circuit judge Sean Duncan said the 13 staff at
the probation service was insufficient to deal with the increasing
number of cases at Liverpool crown court.

Source:- The Guardian  Wednesday 4 May page 14

Women to be warned of drink risk

A hard hitting poster campaign will highlight the link between
alcohol and violence against women.

The drinks industry lobby organisation the Portman Group which is
behind the campaign said it wanted to highlight the dangers to
women who may have overindulged on alcohol. Risks include using an
unlicensed minicab, going home with a stranger or even rape or
assault.

Source:- The Guardian  Wednesday 4 May page 14

On civvy streets

Ex-paratrooper Stuart Griffiths was homeless and living in a hostel
when he began to take these remarkable portraits of former comrades
down on their luck.

Source:- Society Guardian  Wednesday 4 May page 2 and 3, 4
and 5

‘No-hoper’ raises hopes

Mother contests seat just to improve support for children with
dyslexia.

Source:- Society Guardian  Wednesday 4 May page 6

Distorted stories

Report criticises media for mixed messages on drugs to young
people

Source:- Society Guardian  Wednesday 4 May page 6

Dangerous liaisons

Donal MacIntyre’s fly-on-the-wall TV documentaries give
startlingly edgy insight into links between injustice, poverty and
crime.

Source:- Society Guardian  Wednesday 4 May page 8

What else can I do?

Debbie Andalo seeks out fresh challenges for Nick, a social
services team leader who has 15 years’ experience working
with adults with a learning disability.

Source:- Society Guardian  Wednesday 4 May page 96

Welsh news

Pillar of community held

Police who arrested a 64-year-old woman yesterday after a
baby’s body was discovered in an attic six weeks ago have
found the bodies of two babies in the attic of her home.

Ann Mahoney, has been a nurse, a school governor and secretary of
Merthyr Labour Party and has been described as a leading pillar of
a Welsh community.

The two bodies were found at her property in the Gurnos area of
Merthyr Tydfil. The first body was found in a separate house in the
same area in March.

Source:- Western Mail Wednesday 4 May

Tug-of-love baby custody-row not over yet

A Welsh nurse whose husband went into hiding with their baby to New
Zealand has been warned that the fight for custody of the child is
not over.

Diane Jelicich arrived back in the UK last night after a family
court in Auckland ruled the custody of nine-month-old Caitlin could
be decided in Britain at the weekend but her husband Stephen has
said that he will continue to try to get the case back into a New
Zealand court.

Source:- Western Mail Wednesday 4 May