News round up: Jersey police examine secret suicide claims

Police look into claims of secret suicides at Jersey home

Jersey detectives are trying to establish whether staff at a home where scores of children were physically and sexually abused may have concealed suicides.

Several abuse victims have told detectives they knew of a number of boys who hanged themselves after being raped at Haut de la Garenne, and some believe others died in the home’s sick bay.

Read more on this story in The Guardian

Rape cases: police admit failing victims

Police are contributing to the “appalling” conviction rate in rape cases because officers too often fail to take alleged victims seriously enough and settle for mediocrity in their inquiries, the senior policeman responsible for raising standards in rape investigations has told the Guardian.

Read more on this story in The Guardian

Nurse guilty of murdering four patients on ward

A staff nurse who predicted correctly what time one of his patients would die was found guilty yesterday of murdering four elderly patients in hospital on his shifts by administering lethal insulin injections.

Colin Norris, 32, of Glasgow, was also found guilty of attempting to murder a fifth patient by a jury at Newcastle crown court.

Read more on this story in The Guardian

Crackdown on the sale of alcohol to underage drinkers

A fivefold increase in the maximum fine for antisocial drinking in public places and a battery of new sanctions on supermarkets and off-licences that sell alcohol to underage drinkers are to be announced by ministers today.

The package comes with the publication of the official Culture Department review of the impact of the changes in the licensing laws, which receive a verdict of “7/10 – good but could do better”.

Read more on this story in The Guardian

Tories would pay jails for less reoffending

Prisons would get bonuses worth thousands of pounds if convicts they release do not re-offend within two years, under proposals announced yesterday by David Cameron.

Read more on this story in The Daily Telegraph

Vouchers proposed to help poor with rising fuel bills

Millions of Britons who are struggling to pay their heating bills could apply for discount vouchers under government plans for a nationwide fuel poverty scheme.

The government has proposed that energy companies pay a set proportion of their turnover, which it would then match with tax revenues, to fund a national voucher scheme.

Read more on this story in The Times