Including headlines from Saturday and Sunday.
By Clare Jerrom, Reg McKay and Alex Dobson.
Workplace will offer no asylum to migrants
Immigration officers will be given powers to search business premises and arrest suspected illegal immigrants, under proposals announced yesterday by the government.
The home office said that officers would be allowed to enter factories or offices where they had reasonable grounds for suspecting that an offender was on the premises. The employer would be unable to refuse entry under the proposals, which are part of a drive to clamp down on the black economy.
The new powers are published in the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill published yesterday.
Source:- The Times Saturday 13 April page 15
Child sex scandal rocks Catholic city
One of the Pope’s most trusted allies in the college of cardinals was under effective siege in his home yesterday.
The archbishop of Boston Cardinal Bernard Law repeated his refusal to resign despite a week of revelations that have stunned America’s most loyal Catholic city.
This week church documents revealed evidence that in his 18 years in the city he has presided over a systematic campaign to protect and even promote known serial abusers.
In a letter sent to priests he said he was "determined to provide the strongest leadership possible" to deal with the problem.
Source:- The Guardian Saturday 13 April page 3
Agency off hook for hiring sex case teacher
There will not be any action taken against Timeplan, the teacher recruitment agency at the centre of the Amy Gehring case, the government has decided.
The company admitted that it made "a monumental error" in failing to respond to warnings that the Canadian supply teacher was a risk to children.
Teachers’ leaders said last night it was appalling that the agency got away with negligence on a grand scale.
Gehring was cleared in January of having sex with under age pupils. But it emerged afterwards that Timeplan had sent her to the Surrey secondary school attended by the boys, despite serious concerns by the police and child protection authorities about the safety of children in her care.
Source:- The Guardian Saturday 13 April page 6
Damilola police accused of fabrications
Police were accused of manufacturing evidence to show a group of teenage boys murdered Damilola Taylor, the Old Bailey was told yesterday.
Officers were concerned that the police’s reputation would be tarnished further following the unsuccessful Stephen Lawrence murder case by another unsolved death of a black person, the jury heard.
Courtenay Griffiths QC defending one of the two brothers accused of murdering Damilola described the prosecution case as a "litany of lies and fairytales."
The prosecution alleges the two boys were part of a group of teenagers that stabbed Damilola in the leg with a broken bottle in November 2000.
Griffiths claims the fatal injury could have been caused by him falling on to broken glass.
The two boys deny murder, manslaughter and assault with intent to rob. The jury is expected to retire next week.
Source:- The Guardian Saturday 13 April page 8
Insurers unwilling to provide cover for asylum centres
Insurers unwilling to cover the network of asylum detention centres for fear of further riots and fires, could jeopardise the future of the government’s asylum detention estate.
Private security company Group 4 admitted yesterday that key facilities at Oakington in Cambridgeshire and Campsfield in Oxfordshire could close if cover is not found.
Two weeks ago, Group 4 had to evacuate detainees from the Yarl’s Wood centre at Bedford after failing to secure adequate cover following a riot in February that caused £97 million damages.
Spokesperson for Group 4 John Bates said: "If insurance cannot be agreed…those centres may have to close but the immigration service and the home office can say they will assume responsibility."
Source:- The Independent Saturday 13 April page 8
Asylum seekers ‘commute’ on cross-Channel trains
Channel Tunnel trains are used by asylum seekers to travel in and out of Britain for holidays and weddings.
Security is so lax they are able to pass backwards and forwards, they say.
Immigration officials believe that up to 400,000 undetected illegal immigrants are entering Britain each year and some may be making return trips.
Source:- The Sunday Times 14 April page 7
Blunkett offers lessons to parents of tearaways
Parents of unruly children will be asked to attend parenting classes in a bid to curb the child’s tearaway behaviour.
Home secretary David Blunkett will announce a new system of "parenting interventions" to encourage parents of delinquents to attend voluntary classes before their children end up in court.
In a speech at a conference on youth crime Blunkett is also expected to remind magistrates they can lock up young offenders awaiting trial in local authority secure accommodation.
Source:- The Sunday Times 14 April page 28
Peril of the parents who have no time
Parents who do not have sufficient time for their children put their teenagers at risk of problems such as drug abuse and teenage pregnancies, according to a study.
Workaholic or distant parents with no time to listen to older children pose a greater threat than single parents for children turning to juvenile crime.
Teenagers who felt "connected" to at least one parent were up to a third less likely to shows some type of problem behaviour, according to a study to be presented at a conference on Thursday organised by the National Family and Parenting Institute.
Source:- The Observer Sunday 14 April page 4
Bakewell killer hunt reopens after 28 years
The murder inquiry into the death of Wendy Sewell will reopen after almost 30 years.
Sewell was bludgeoned to death during her lunch hour in 1973 in a graveyard at Bakewell, Derbyshire.
Stephen Downing, who has learning difficulties, was arrested and interrogated for nine hours without access to a solicitor. He signed a statement he could not read and despite immediately retracting his confession, he was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment at Nottingham crown court.
Downing’s sentence was quashed in this year after the court of appeal found his guilt had been decided on "unreliable confession and unreliable forensic evidence".
Headed by detective superintendent David Gee, the inquiry will be supervised by an independent advisory committee comprising a Crown Prosecution Service representative, a barrister and a home office adviser.
Source:- The Observer Sunday 14 April page 11
Plan to stop more ‘Climbie’ cases
The hidden world of ‘private fostering’, where children are sent to Britain with virtual strangers in pursuit of a better life, will face a crackdown, in a bid to prevent a tragedy like that of Victoria Climbie.
Up to 10,000 children, many from West Africa, are thought to be farmed out with relatives and friends in the UK.
In many cases, arrangements are not known to social workers, leaving children with no checks on their welfare. The risks were highlighted by eight-year-old Victoria who died at the hands of her great aunt and her lover, after being sent to live with them from the Ivory Coast.
The inquiry into the death of Victoria is expected to make recommendations on closing the private fostering loophole. Health minister Jacqui Smith launched a review to report later this year.
Source:- The Observer Sunday 14 April page 14
Security systems help internet paedophiles hide abuse
Internet paedophiles are using a sophisticated security system to hide child abuse, according to Britain’s high tech crime unit.
Paedophile gangs are adopting previously unseen levels of security to commit abuse within special internet porn clubs.
The crime unit has taken into care two children believed to have been sexually abused as part of its internal investigations.
Head of the unit detective chief superintendent Len Hinds said his officers had evidence that children were being abused "online", and that studios in Britain were being used to film sexual assaults on children.
Hinds said paedophiles were creating their online "cyber countries" with specialist security officers who vetted all applicants and policed access to material.
"These groups are incredibly sophisticated in terms of security and are using high technology to disguise their activity. These people are closed groups who operate within cyber countries all on their own."
"Most worryingly we have identified live abuse taking place and shown on the internet. We have removed two children so far as part of our inquiries," he said.
Source:- The Independent Monday 15 April page 5
Church says sorry for sex abuse priests
The Roman Catholic Church in Ireland yesterday acknowledged its mishandling of paedophile priests scandals.
Cardinal Desmond Connell’s missive said he regretted that abuse against children by clergy had gone unchecked and complaints had been ignored for years.
The church is setting up an internal audit into child abuse. Earlier this month the Bishop of Ferns Dr Brendan Comiskey resigned over his failure to prevent sexual abuse in his diocese by Father Sean Fortune, who killed himself in 1999.
Source:- Daily Telegraph Monday 15 April page 9
‘One in four teens’ is victim of text message bullying
One in four teenagers have been victim of bullying via a mobile phone or computer according to children’s charity NCH.
A report found 16 per cent of young people aged 11 to 19 received threatening text messages on their mobile. Seven per cent said they had been harassed in internet chat rooms.
Nearly a third of youngsters said they had never revealed their experiences to anyone.
The charity commissioned the research after hearing anecdotal evidence about bullying emails.
John Carr, associate director of the charity’s children technology unit, said: "Online bullying is a modern menace which needs to be addressed. If we want children to benefit from the good things IT has to offer, we need to protect them from the risks it poses."
Source:- The Guardian Monday 15 April page 9
Young villains sentenced to a long stretch of Shakespeare
Young offenders should be offered Shakespeare as part of their rehabilitation, according to a former chief inspector of prisons.
Burglars, muggers and drug addicts are being given the choice of performing a Shakespeare play rather than community service or having their probation periods extended.
The scheme is successful in America, and former chief inspector of prisons Stephen Tumin believes it should be introduced in Britain.
He said: "Sixty five per cent of prisoners in our prisons can’t read or write, according to home office figures. That means that ninety five per cent of jobs are not available to them."
"If we can get them playing parts in Shakespeare or whatever, it’s going to get them to read and write, and therefore have more chance of getting jobs," he added.
Offenders aged 15 to 17 are working with Massachusetts theatre group Shakespeare and Company under supervision of probation officers. The pilot scheme was so successful the programme has been developed and extended.
Source:- The Times Monday 15 April page 3
Scottish newspapers
Prepare for the rage
A full-length feature on manuals designed to help parents cope with the turmoil of their children’s adolescence.
Source:- The Herald Monday 15 April page 10
Degree threat to social work course
Edinburgh University is poised to scrap its social work course at a time when the profession has a recruitment crisis.
The university attributes the decision to a drop in intake of students by a third. In 1996 there were 303 graduates with a professional social work degree while in 1999 this had plummeted to 193. The university will continue to provide other social work courses apart from the degree course and the department will now become part of the law faculty.
Source:- Sunday Herald 14 April page 7
Asylum seekers moved prior to MSPs visit
A number of high profile asylum seekers have been moved from Dungavel Detention Centre prior to a formal visit by a cross-party group of MSPs. Of those removed, many were involved in the recent hunger strike or attempted suicides. A spokesperson for the home office declined to comment.
Source:- The Scotsman Monday 15 April
Children’s Commissioner moves one step closer
The creation of a children’s commissioner for Scotland moved one step closer when Cathy Jamieson, minister for education and young people, publicly announced the executive’s support "in principle" to the creation of such a post. Jamieson added that much work was still needed to clarify the role.
Source:- The Herald Sunday 14 April page 6
Welsh newspapers
Children's Commissioner criticised over investigation
Children's commissioner for Wales Peter Clarke has come under criticism for his handling of the Clwych Inquiry into alleged abuse at a school in South Wales.
Critics have accused him of poor organisation and failure to appreciate the volume of work that the inquiry will generate. The investigation will look at the activities of alleged paedophile, John Owen, who taught at the school before becoming a TV writer.
He killed himself last year just one day before he was due to face criminal charges of sexual abuse of pupils.
There is also concern that some key witnesses have still not been approached by the inquiry, and the lawyer acting for the eight alleged victims, Hywel James, said he is disappointed in delays in getting documents from the commissioner. He is also concerned that the ceiling of £10,000 placed on the amount of legal support available to alleged victims may be inadequate.
Source:- Western Mail Monday 15 April page 7
Arthritis care worst in Europe
Wales has the worst level of care in Europe for people suffering from arthritis, it is claimed.
While some countries have an expert in every town, there are large areas of Wales without a single consultant rheumatologist and waiting times can be up to three years in some cases.
Hywel Evans, policy officer for Arthritis Care in Wales, said that people with arthritis were having to make do with a second class health service. He said Arthritis Care would be calling on the Welsh Assembly to develop a national strategy to guarantee acceptable levels of service for people wherever they live in Wales.
Source:- Western Mail Monday 15 April page 1
