‘Get tough’ justice package angers penal reformers

‘Get tough’ justice package angers penal reformers
Penal reformers last night accused John Reid of surrendering home affairs policy to the tabloids, after the home secretary unveiled his criminal justice package. There will be 8,000 new prison places by 2012, custody plus is to be cancelled. But less jailing of women and non-dangerous people with mental health problems are also pledged.
Source:- The Guardian, Friday 21 July 2006, page 6
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Pride and ignorance cost pensioners £2 billion
More than a million older people are not claiming means-tested pension credits because they are unaware of the benefits or too proud to ask for them, parliament’s spending watchdog, the National Audit Office warned today.
Source:- The Guardian, Friday 21 July 2006, page 12
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Care home fined £10,000 after staff mishaps
Residents at Sunnybank House care home in Wemouth, Dorset were left without care after two staff members got locked in a kitchen and another injured herself, Weymouth magistrates heard.
Source:- The Guardian, Friday 21 July 2006, page 12
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‘Honour’ murders leave thousands of women living in fear
Thousands of young women in Britain are living in fear of the “hidden scourge” of so-called honour killing, a conference of police, Home Office staff and victim support groups was told yesterday.
Source:- The Guardian, Friday 21 July 2006, page 11
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Rape of children soaring
The number of under 13-year-olds who have been raped in England has rocketed 38 per cent, police records show. There are also rises is sexual grooming of children, mainly on the web, and of children involved in prostiution and pornography.
Source:- The Sun, Friday 21 July 2006, page 2
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Asylum-seeker hangs himself
A failed asylum-seeker hanged himself at Campsfield House immigration removal centre in Oxfordshire where he had been held for four and a half months, an inquest in Oxford was told.
Source:- The Times, Friday 21 July 2006, page 4
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My long battle with manic depression
Stephen Fry has spoken of his battle with manic depression for a new BBC2 show he hopes will break the taboos surrounding mental health.
Source:- The Guardian, Friday 21 July 2006, page 5
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Public sector records biggest June deficit
The public sector recorded its biggest June deficit as government borrowing continued to rise faster than expected, highlighting the pressure on the public finances.
Source:- Financial Times, Friday 21 July 2006, page 3
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Biggest wave of migrants in history
Britain is experiencing the biggest wave of immigration in its history two years after opening the door to Eastern Europeans, according to academics.
Source:- Daily Mail, Friday 21 July 2006, page 1 
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 Axed for being too Christian, the prison course proven to help criminals change their ways
A religious help scheme for prisoners has been scrapped in case it offends men from other faiths and homosexuals.
Source:- Daily Mail, Friday 21 July 2006, page5
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Welfare reforms will tempt cheats
Incapacity benefit cheats will be encouraged to keep claiming state handouts thanks to flaws in the government’s reform plans, according to Frank Field. Giving people who pass the incapacity test a higher rate of support after 13 weeks will be a “perverse incentive”, he said.
Source:- Daily Mail, Friday 21 July 2006, page 35

Scottish news

UK database to protect children
Criminal record information and pre-conviction data is to be pooled in a UK-wide database for the first time to try to improve child protection provisions.
The Scottish intelligence database has traditionally been kept by and for Scottish forces. But from September, it will be linked to the new national system in England and Wales, allowing officers to access information on any individual across Britain.
The system has been brought in as a result of recommendations made by Sir Michael Bichard following his inquiry into the deaths of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in Soham in 2002.
Source:- The Herald, Friday 21 July 2006
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Welsh news

Body in river was paedophile
One of the two bodies found in the river Taf earlier this week has been identified as a convicted paedophile.
Andrew Michael Grovell, 44, had a number of convictions for indecently assaulting children.
The other body has been identified as his nephew Steven, 22. Police have not yet discovered if the pair jumped or fell into the river but they are not treating the deaths as suspicious.
Source:- Western Mail, Friday 21 July 2006