Children taken from parents and adopted ‘to meet ministry targets’

Jehovah witness paedo walks free

A judge has refused to jail a sex offender convicted on 24 counts of indecent assault on children, one as young as 18 months old.

Judge Tom Crowther gave Michael Porter a three-year rehabilitation order and banned him from working with under 18s, in a move criticised by children’s campaigners.

Porter abused his position in a church in Clevedon, Somerset, to abuse children.

Source:- The Sun, Friday 24 August 2007, page 25

Britain has the worst stroke care in Europe, says professor

The UK has the worst stroke care in Europe because of the country’s failure to administer treatment quickly enough, a leading doctor and academic warned yesterday in a British Medical Journal article.

Professor Hugh Markus, of London University, pointed to studies showing that British stroke victims are twice as likely to die as those in countries such as France and Germany, and said that just 1% of victims receive anti-clotting drugs within three hours of their stroke, a much lower rate than comparator countries.

He also cited a lack of specialist staff and brain scanners.

Source:- The Daily Mail, Friday 24 August 2007, page 31

The babies of single mothers are three times as likely to die

A premature baby charity has called for more research to be done into the links between single parenthood and premature births and lower infant mortality rates, after government figures showed wide disparities between lone-parent families and others.

Tommy’s warned against villifying single parents and cited social deprivation as a key cause for why babies born to single mothers were more likely to have premature babies, and premature babies were more likely to die young than in other types of family.

Source:- Daily Mail, Friday 24 August 2007, page 51

Adoption worries

Record numbers of young children are being removed from their parents and adopted unjustly because of government targets and the “secrecy” of the family courts, campaigners claim.

They told the BBC Radio 4’s Face the Facts programme that there are more than 100 possible miscarriages of justice where there was insufficient evidence parents were causing children harm.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph, Friday 24 August 2007, page 16


Court orders halt to Congo deportations


A High Court judge has ordered Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, to stop sending failed asylum-seekers back to Democratic Republic of Congo.

Source:- The Times, Friday 24 August 2007, page 2

Retirement challenge

Age Concern’s membership organisation, Heyday, is asking the High Court to seek a preliminary ruling from the European Court of Human Rights on whether new rules on age discrimination, allowing employers to retire staff forcibly at the age of 65, breach an EU directive.

Source:- The Times, Friday 24 August 2007, page 2

Children taken from parents and adopted ‘to meet ministry targets’

Record numbers of young children are being taken from their parents and adopted – sometimes unjustly – to meet government targets, it is claimed.

Source:- The Times, Friday 24 August 2007, page 23

Scottish news 
 
New jail at Peterhead to be built for sex offenders

A new jail is to be built at Peterhead to house sex offenders, replacing the Victorian building there.
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill is also expected to set out plans to reduce prisoner numbers in Scotland by more extensive use of non-custodial sentences.

The SNP administration wants to limit its prison building programme to replacement of current capacity, rather than adding to it. This is in the hope that prisoner numbers can be cut back by tackling offending behaviour early and then pushing harder for more use of alternatives to jail.

Source: The Herald, Friday 24 August 2007 

‘Put CCTV in addicts’ homes to protect children’

A plan for CCTV to be used to protect children in the homes of chaotic drug-abusing parents has been proposed by one of Scotland’s most eminent drugs experts.

Professor Neil McKeganey, head of the centre for Drug Misuse Research at Glasgow University, believes radical measures are required to protect the estimated 160,000 children in Scotland living with an alcoholic or drug-addicted parent.

He believes the sheer scale of the problem makes it impossible for social workers to guarantee children’s safety.

Source: The Herald, Friday 24 August 2007

Sport taster for disabled

Young disabled people in the Lothians can try out sports including football, bowling and aerobics.
Capability Scotland’s active futures team is holding the event for 17 to 24-year-olds at Broxburn Sports Centre on August 31 at 7pm.
There will also be advice on healthy lifestyles.

Source: The Scotsman, Friday 24 August 2007

 

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