By Clare Jerrom and Alex Dobson.
Mother appeals
The woman who was given two life sentences for killing her two babies launched an appeal against her conviction.
Angela Cannings claimed it was a breach of her human rights. If she fails she will try to get the sentences reduced.
Source:- The Times Tuesday 14 May page 4
Jailing of truants’ mother ‘sends the right message’
The government welcomed a magistrates’ decision to send a woman to jail for allowing her children to play truant.
Patricia Amos from Oxfordshire was sentenced to 60 days' imprisonment for failing to ensure her two daughters attended the local comprehensive regularly.
Amos’ family claimed the sentence was unduly harsh, but education secretary Estelle Morris said it sent the right message to other parents who may be tempted to condone their children’s absenteeism.
It is the first time courts have used new custodial powers directed at the families of truants.
Source:- The Times Tuesday 14 May page 7
Criminals’ benefit cuts cost taxpayer
Measures to cut welfare benefits from criminals who breach community service orders, cost the taxpayer £8,000 for each case, it emerged yesterday.
The scheme, which was introduced under social security legislation in pilot areas last year and is part of a government drive to change the behaviour of persistent offenders, was branded a "costly flop".
The department for work and pensions admitted only 39 people have had their benefits reduced, saving no more than £5,000. The cost of administering the programme in Teeside, the West Midlands, Derbyshire and Hertfordshire since October has been £314,350.
Source:- The Times Tuesday 14 May page 7
‘Love for custody’ is filling prisons
The director general of the prison service has blamed judges’ and magistrates’ "love affair" with custody has been blamed for the overcrowding in prisons in England and Wales..
Martin Narey said: "We cannot simply keep building ahead of this burst for custody. At worst we cannot treat people with dignity or decency or sometimes keep them alive."
Four people had killed themselves in jails in the past three days, he said.
Although he praised the work of the probation service, Narey admitted that victims of crime and even criminals felt they were "getting off" when they were given community punishment.
Source:- The Times Tuesday 14 May page 7
French ‘end guard at Channel Tunnel’
Reports that French police had given up guarding the Channel Tunnel freight depot near Calais, and were leaving the way clear for refugees to risk their lives jumping on trains to Britain, were being investigated by the home office last night.
The move could also prompt train operator EWS to halt services once again.
French authorities are believed to have withdrawn from Frethun depot after eight guards were injured in a fight with refugees on Sunday night.
Twenty five illegal immigrants were later arrested after leaping from a moving train as it arrived at Dover.
A home office spokesperson said the home office had been working with French police to improve security.
Source:- The Times Tuesday 14 May page 8
Blunkett hits at police handling of crime figures
The home secretary yesterday accused the "drip drip" ad hoc publication of crime figures by individual police forces for driving up the fear of crime.
At the same time David Blunkett warned police officers they would set a bad example to young tearaways and thugs if they gave him a hostile reception at the annual conference tomorrow.
Blunkett said in future home office crime figures would be published every three months instead of every year in a bid to present "a more realistic picture" of crime in England and Wales.
The home secretary cannot prevent police forces publicising their own figures, but hoped he would persuade chief constables that separate publication would no longer be necessary.
Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 14 May page 5
Australia ‘regrets’ suffering of migrants
The Australian government expressed its regret for the "injustice and suffering" caused to thousands of people who were physically and sexually abused after being sent to the country as child migrants.
The Child Migrants Trust, which seeks to reunite families separated by the policy whereby some 3,500 British and Maltese children were sent to Australia after the Second World War in part to bring "white stock" to the colony, welcomed the move.
But the International Association of Former Child Migrants criticised ministers that had "whittled down" the scale of the abuse and had stopped short of offering a full apology.
The statement of regret came as the citizenship and multicultural affairs minister Gary Hardgrave announced a $3.84m (£1.38 million) reparation package designed to help former migrants return to Britain to see relatives and to fund family tracing and counselling services.
Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 14 May page 7
Bishop joins critics of gay adoption plan
A leading contender to be the next Archbishop of Canterbury has criticised plans to allow homosexual couples to adopt children.
The Bishop of St Albans, the Rt Rev Christopher Herbert said it was "undeniably the case that the best place for a child to grow up was in the context of a male-female relationship". He said this meant in "normal families".
The bishop’s statement follows an announcement from Alan Milburn last week that MPs would be given a free vote over whether unmarried couples would be allowed to adopt.
Bishop Herbert added: "We also have to ask what it would be like for the child in the playground."
Source:- Daily Telegraph Tuesday 14 May page 9
Prison Service gives partners of gay inmates greater rights
Partners of gay prisoners will find it easier to visit their lovers in jail more easily, the head of the Prison Service has decided.
A change has been made to prison rules in England and Wales to allow homosexual partners to be classified as close relatives, Martin Narey said.
In a letter to Unlock, the national association for former offenders, Narey acknowledged that prison rules discriminated against gay inmates.
"This has been particularly evident in our visits policy, in which recognition is given to common law hetrosexual relationships, but not to same sex couples."
He said he had decided to instruct all prison governors that the rules had been changed and that partners of gay prisoners should "enjoy the special status afforded to other members."
Source:- The Independent Tuesday 14 May page 6
Tories launch campaign to champion the vulnerable
The Conservative party has launched a campaign to persuade people that they will champion the most vulnerable in society.
The shadow work and pensions secretary David Willetts spent last night with homeless people, refugees, the mentally ill, charity workers and police in London to experience life at the sharp end.
His all-night tour was intended to counter scepticism about Iain Duncan Smith’s crusade to reposition the Tories as the party that will represent the interests of the vulnerable.
Source:- The Independent Tuesday 14 May page 8
Scottish newspapers
Asylum centres ‘Recipe for Racial tension’
The home secretary’s plans for large-scale accommodation centres for asylum seekers are a "recipe for racial tension", it was alleged today.
The home office is expected to announce the sites for the three 750 bed centres today.
The centres will house asylum seekers for up to six months while their applications are decided, and will provide healthcare and education on site.
The home office has been looking at sites including Sully hospital at Cardiff, ministry of defence land at Throckmorton, Worcestershire, Hooton Park at Ellesmere Port, former RAF Turnhouse, Edinburgh, MOD land in Bicester, RAF Newton in Nottinghamshire, RAF Hemswell in Lincolnshire and land near Killingholme power station at Grimsby.
Keith Best, chief executive of the immigration advisory service, argued that Blunkett’s plans were misguided: "Everybody is not against the concept of reception centres or accommodation centres, but against the size and location."
"What the home secretary has done is created a recipe for racial tension which seems to me extraordinary," he added.
Source:- The Scotsman Tuesday 14 May 2002
Police find 45 illegal entrants at rail depot
Police arrested 45 illegal immigrants at the Channel Tunnel freight train depot last night, it has emerged.
It is believed the group stowed away on a freight train travelling from Frethun in France to Dollands Moor depot in Kent not long before midnight yesterday.
Their cases were being processed by immigration services in Dover today.
Source:- The Scotsman Tuesday 14 May 2002
Welsh newspapers
Tsar for healthy welsh babies to be appointed
The Welsh assembly is to appoint a breast feeding tsar in an attempt to improve the health of children in Wales.
Health and social services minister Jane Hutt launched the initiative following research that showed that mothers in Wales were failing to heed the message that ‘breast is best’.
Research also shows that the mothers who are least likely to breast feed their babies are from the poorest backgrounds.
In launching the initiative, Hutt said the new appointment would be aimed at boosting the support network for mothers as well as ensuring there were comfortable public places to breast feed.
Source:- Western Mail Tuesday May page 1
Plaid rejects bequest from author
Plaid Cymru has turned down a bequest from alleged paedophile, John Owen it was revealed yesterday.
Owen killed himself last year, just one day before he was due to stand trial accused of sexually abusing four boys at a school in south Wales where he once taught drama.
The children’s commissioner for Wales Peter Clarke set up the Clywch inquiry to look into the allegation of abuse following Owen’s death. The inquiry was adjourned indefinitely just over a week ago when the police decided to investigate fresh allegations against another teacher at the school.
A spokesperson for the party would not say why the bequest had been turned down, and added that in the light of the Clywch inquiry no further statement would be made.
Source:- Western Mail Tuesday 14 May page 1
Social services have failed to improve
A damning audit commission report published last night says that Caerphilly social services department in south Wales has shown few signs of real improvement. The council was at the centre of controversy after a series of child protection cases were highlighted in the late 1990s.
The report says that although there has been a substantial increase in spending on social services, the service is not yet serving people well and despite some encouraging signs, prospects for the future are uncertain.
Health and social services minister in the Welsh assembly, Jane Hutt has called for an urgent meeting with council leaders to discuss the problems identified.
They include delays and backlogs in responding to children in need and children with disabilities.
Source:- Western Mail Tuesday 14 May page 2
