TUESDAY 20 DECEMBER

Asian inmates feel most unsafe in prison, study reveals
Asian prisoners in England and Wales now face more racist bullying and abuse than black prisoners, according to a survey published today by Anne Owers, the chief inspector of prisons.
Source:- The Guardian, Tuesday 20 December 2005, page 7

“Britishness’ test” for imams abandoned
Plans to force foreign-born imams to take a “Britishness test” were scrapped yesterday in the second climbdown in less than a week on proposals to tighten scrutiny of mosques.
Source:- The Times, Tuesday 20 December 2005, page 1

Doomed police forces plan to challenge shake-up in courts
Charles Clarke faces a battle in the courts to force through plans to slash the number of police forces by more than half.
Source:- The Times, Tuesday 20 December 2005, page 4

Iraqi was “deported by mistake”
British officials are searching for an Iraqi Kurd deported to Iraq without being given the opportunity to make a last-minute appeal to stay. Charles Clarke, the home secretary, admitted to the High Court yesterday that a “regrettable mistake” had been made when Mr A, aged 29, was removed on a charter flight.
Source:- The Times, Tuesday 20 December 2005, page 10

Phone deaf test
A five-minute telephone test for deafness, run by the deaf charity RNID on 0845 6005555, has been introduced for callers worried about hearing problems.
Source:- The Times, Tuesday 20 December 2005, page 14

Foster father admits to slapping Billie-Jo
Sion Jenkins yesterday admitted slapping his foster daughter Billie-Jo, who was murdered as she painted patio doors at the family home. Mr Jenkins, 48, who is being tried for the third time, denied murdering the 13-year-old at their house in Hastings, East Sussex, in 1997.
Source:- The Times, Tuesday 20 December 2005, page 25

“Poor” education paper earns Kelly black mark
Ruth Kelly was told to take her education reforms back to the drawing board yesterday as MPs criticised her “extraordinarily poorly written” plans.
Source:- The Times, Tuesday 20 December 2005, page 26

Clarke orders inquiry to find out why robbery pair were free to kill
An investigation into how two serial offenders were free to kill London financier John Monckton was launched yesterday after it emerged that one was on bail and the other had been released from prison three months previously, just over halfway through his sentence.
Source:- The Guardian, Tuesday 20 December 2005, page 5

Alzheimer’s drugs are “helping more people”
Drugs to treat Alzheimer’s disease may be more effective than previously thought but it is still not possible to tell which patients will benefit, says a new study.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph, Tuesday 20 December 2005, page 6

Jailing parents helps children avoid crime
Jailing parents who commit crimes gives their children respite from the chaos the parent’s behaviour inflicts on them, a new study by the Economic and Social Research Council finds.
Source:- Daily Mail, Tuesday 20 December 2005, page 29

Cheap homes fiasco
Cut-price homes for key workers were branded a costly mess yesterday, by the National Audit Office.
Source:- The Sun, Tuesday 20 December 2005, page 2


Scottish news

Booze culture killing 40 Scots a week, NHS figures reveal
Almost 40 people a week drank themselves to death last year, latest figures on Scotland’s increasingly troubled relationship with alcohol show.
The number of fatalities in which alcohol was the underlying cause or a significant factor passed the 2000 mark for the first time, compared to 881 recorded a decade earlier. Despite teenage drinking often grabbing the headlines, the long-term numbers showed hospital discharges were relatively static or falling among the under-17s.
Source:- The Herald, Tuesday 20 December 2005

Heroin dealing gran jailed
A grandmother who sold heroin despite her daughter being an addict of the drug has been jailed for six years. A judge told Pamela McGee that she should have been all too aware of the problems associated with drugs because her daughter’s life was so ruined by them she had to look after her children. McGee was trafficking the drugs between late 2004 and April 2005.
Source:- The Record, Tuesday 20 December 2005

Welsh news


Truancy beater takes schools into hi-tech networking future
New electronic registration systems are cutting truancy across Wales. Bryn Hafren comprehensive school in Barry, is the latest school to introduce such a system. It has just set up a network that sends parents a text message if their child is not at school.
Source: Western Mail, Tuesday 20 December 2005

Benefits fraud councillor received £8, 000
A councillor received a 180-hour community punishment order yesterday for receiving thousands of pounds in benefits she wasn’t entitled to.
Sarah Hillier, 32, a nursery nurse from Killay, Swansea, did not tell the authorities about circumstances influencing her income support and housing tax benefit.
She was estimated to have received more than £8, 000 in benefits at Swansea crown court yesterday.
Source:- Western Mail, Tuesday 20 December 2005

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