Thursday 15 September 2005

By Maria Ahmed, Amy Taylor and Sally Gillen

New cot deaths warning

Nearly one third of parents do not receive, or fail to remember,
advice they are given about cot death, a survey has shown.

Cot death rates have fallen in recent years, but it still claims
the lives of 300 babies very year.

Source:- Daily Mirror Thursday 15 September 2005, page
14

Mummy dearest

A mother who battled adversity to become a deputy head teacher was
named Single Mum of the Year at an award ceremony organised by
That’s Life magazine.

Source:- Daily Mirror Thursday 15 September 2005, page
28

Slapping Quiz

A girl of 18 has been arrested and is being quizzed over a
“happy slapping” attack on a 14-year-old.

Victim Rebecca Swaby was allegedly head-butted, stamped on and
kicked by an older girl while 20 boys filmed the attack on mobile
phones in Leamington Spa, Warwicks.

Source:- The Sun Thursday 15 September 2005 page 15

Editor is cleared of inciting hatred

Charges against a newspaper editor who complained about the
government’s policy on housing refugees have been
dropped.

Alan Buchan, 46, was accused of stirring up racial hatred by police
under the Public Order Act. The action came after he published an
editorial an editorial in his paper, the North East Weekly, based
in Peterhead, Scotland under the headline Perverts and
Refugees.

Source:- The Daily Mail Thursday 15 September 2005 page
4

Elderly going into care ‘must be allowed to keep
£100,000’

Pensioners going into care homes should be allowed to keep
£100,000 in the bank and still qualify for state support,
according to a study for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

It calls for an overhaul of the ‘unfair and incoherent’
way long-term care for the elderly is paid for in Britain.

Source:- The Daily Mail Thursday 15 September 2005 page
37

Sex-abuse suicide

A teenager leapt to her death from a multi-storey care park after
learning that the man who had abused her as a child was to be
released from prison, an inquest was told.

Amy Martin, 17, of Torquay, Devon, died in January.

Source:- The Times Thursday 15 September 2005, page
2

Three million key workers say they will strike over
pensions

Trade unions threatened yesterday to bring schools, hospitals, town
halls and fire stations to a standstill after rejecting
minister’s latest plans to overhaul public sector
pensions.

More than three million workers could strike – more than
double those who prepared to walk out earlier this year –
after an unprecedented number of unions agreed to work together to
fight the plans.

Source:- The Times Thursday 15 September 2005 page 4

Lies free tramp

A homeless man jailed in 1998 for the murder of a homeless woman in
Liverpool has had his conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal
because his propensity to tell lies made it unsafe. John Flanagan,
35, confessed to another homeless person that he had killed Sharon
Lynch in a row over drugs.

Source:- The Times Thursday 15 September,2005 page 4

Rory: dead man was only suspect

The man found hanged who was suspected of killing the schoolboy
Rory Blackhall would have been charged with his murder, prosecutors
said.

The Crown Office also confirmed that Simon Harris, 37, was the only
suspect in the killing of the 11-year-old in Livingston, West
Lothian.

Source:- The Times Thursday 15 September 2005 page
25

Gays on the threshold of ‘married’ bliss

Hundreds of gay and lesbian couples are preparing to tie the knot
this Christmas when the new civil partnership legislation comes
into force.

Source:- The Times Thursday 15 September 2005 page
29

Judge orders Hewitt to court

A suicidal teenager was found a hospital bed last night after a
judge demanded that Patricia Hewitt, the Health Secretary, to
attend court to explain why no NHS accommodation was
available.

Nadine Radford QC, a recorder, was seeking an appropriate place for
an alleged robber who had tried to kill himself while in
prison.

She criticised buck-passing within the health service. Hewitt did
not attend court but Rosie Winterton, a junior health minister,
went to Snaresbrook Crown Court in East London.

Source:- The Times Thursday 15 September 2005 page
35

Teenage suicide rate 18 times higher among young
offenders

Teenage boys in custody are 18 times more likely to kill themselves
than those who are not imprisoned, according to new research.

The findings come as a judge refused to return a boy with a mental
age of six who had tried to kill himself six times to Feltham Young
Offender Institution because of concerns about his wellbeing.

Source:- The Independent Thursday 15 September page
13

Poorer families struggling to meet care bills for
elderly

The system for paying for long term care is having a major effect
on poorer families, a former health chief has admitted.

Sir Christopher Kelly, a former permanent secretary at the
Department of Health, said that the government couldn’t
“duck” changes to a system where many elderly people
had to sell their homes to pay for their care.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Thursday 15 September page
12

Scottish news

Scots plea for school nurses

Children’s charities in Scotland are calling for every child
to have access to a school nurse to tackle problems such as
binge-drinking and obesity.

Source:- The Scotsman Thursday 15 September 2005

Antisocial order bars owner from flat

A flat owner has been thrown out of his flat under the terms of an
ASBO in one of the first cases of its type under the
legislation.

David Haith, 24, was given just hours to leave his flat after the
Sheriff’s judgment. It followed complaints by neighbours
about all-night parties.

Source:- The Herald 15 September 2005

3m in Pension Strike Threat

Three million public sector workers have threatened to go on strike
over government plans to make them work over the age of 60.

Dave Prentis, head of union Unison, said: “We are stronger
and more united than ever and will take action to defend our
pensions.”

Source:- The Daily Record Thursday 15 September 2005

Welsh news

On his very last day at school Scott was a happy as he
could be

An inquest heard that there were no suspicious circumstance
surrounding the death of a boy found hanged by the neck from a tie
secured to a bed stand yesterday.

Scott Buckle, 12, was found by his adoptive mother Fiona on
February 6 at the family home in Swansea.

Buckle said that Scott had been doing well at school and had a
number of friends.

Source:- Western Mail Thursday 15 September