By Clare Jerrom and Alex Dobson.
Blunkett uses TV to pillory asylum rejects
People being deported from Britain are to be filmed by television cameras in a bid to convince the public that the asylum system is working.
The home secretary has overcome internal home office opposition to push ahead with plans to tip off broadcasting crews so they can film scenes of asylum seekers boarding planes.
Blunkett hopes the move will deter illegal immigrants, who believe they can enter the country with impunity because few people are deported.
Currently 1,000 asylum seekers a month are removed even though thousands of asylum claims are rejected.
Source:- The Times Friday 24 May page 1
Young criminals let out early to ease jail crowding
Hundreds of young offenders are to be released from jail early in a bid to ease overcrowding in prison, the government announced.
As the prison population hit a record 71,000, ministers were on the verge of authorising the use of police cells to hold criminals.
Up to 1,500 young people aged between 12 and 17 will be eligible for release from young offenders institutions in a move portrayed as a "toughening" of punishment because those freed will be tagged.
The record number of prisoners is despite efforts by David Blunkett and lord chief justice lord Wolf to "talk down" the problem by encouraging magistrates and judges’ to use non custodial sentences.
Source:- The Times Friday 24 May page 2
Mentally ill are found screaming in unsafe prison
A women’s jail has been condemned an establishment in crisis, as deeply disturbed women in the healthcare centre constantly "cry, scream and shout" for attention.
One very disturbed 17-year-old girl spent almost 60 days in segregated cells, according to a report published today by chief inspector of prisons Anne Owers.
Four women held in a special wing at Eastwood Park prison in Gloucestershire, could only mix in the corridor outside their cells where they also had to eat their meals.
"In our view this amounted to sensory deprivation," Owers says.
The report is published as the overall prison population reached a record level of more than 71,000. Niall Clifford, operational manager of women’s jails, warned they would run out of places for women by July.
Source:- The Times Thursday 24 May page 12
Legalise cannabis, says former Lord Chief Justice
Cannabis should be legalised, according to a former lord chief justice and one of the most distinguished judges in England and Wales.
Lord Bingham of Cornhill says the cannabis laws are "stupid" in the current edition of The Spectator.
In the interview he supports the conclusions of a report by Viscoutess Runciman two years ago which called for widespread liberalisation.
When asked if he would legalise cannabis, Bingham said: "Absolutely. It is stupid having a law which is not doing what it is there for."
Source:- The Times Friday 24 May page 12
Police bail for young offenders ‘routine’
Young offenders are routinely released on bail rather than being charged, according to a report yesterday.
Offenders who are arrested are often given police bail and told to return at a later date. One reason is to give the police time to make further forensic or other inquiries, do drug tests or ID parades, but in half the cases, the report found no reason for the delay.
The practice is a significant factor in the continuing failure to meet targets in bringing persistent young offenders to trial, the report by a group of criminal justice inspectorate says.
Source:- The Times Friday 24 May page 12
Thousands more pupils are expelled
The number of children expelled from school has risen for the first time since Labour came to power.
There was a 10 per cent rise in expulsions of older pupils and permanent exclusions in primary schools went up by nearly a fifth.
The figures means it is likely to miss its target of reducing them by a third by September.
Head teachers blamed the rise on a higher incidence of violence and disruption.
Source:- Daily Telegraph Friday 24 May page 6
Baby found dead ‘after heroin addict fed her cheesecake’
A baby died after the social worker responsible for her case went on sick leave and did not transfer the case, despite warnings from both grandmothers about the child’s welfare, an inquest heard yesterday.
The 13-month-old child, Sophie Casey, choked on her own vomit after her mother’s boyfriend Peter Casey, a one armed heroin addict, fed her a mixture of cheesecake, ice cream, cereal and milk for breakfast.
Gateshead county court heard how vital information about her case was deleted from reports before an inquiry into her death.
Sophie’s grandparents allegedly they told social workers she was unwashed, underfed and had a fractured skull. Social services were also contacted by teachers, a health visitor, a hospital nurse and neighours about her condition.
The social worker assigned to her case, David Potts took sick leave with a sore right eye a month before Sophie’s death. He was sacked from his post after she died.
The inquest heard how Peter Casey was well known to South Tyneside council and police because of his lengthy criminal record and allegations of child abuse.
The coroner Terence Carney criticised social workers after discovering that vital information had been deleted from reports during the inquiry into the death.
The hearing continues.
Source:- Daily Telegraph Friday 24 May page 8
Decision to close Sangatte attacked
A Tory MP criticised a decision by the French government to close the Sangatte refugee centre and implored the government not to take more illegal immigrants.
The deal could mean more than 1,000 refugees coming to Britain.
Peter Luff, Mid Worcestershire, said: "Any deal that involves the current residents of Sangatte coming to the United Kingdom is likely to be seen as a further softening of UK Immigration policy and lead to even more asylum applications."
Source:- Daily Telegraph Friday 24 May page 16
Greater powers urged for school truancy teams
Truancy teams should be given greater powers to take errant children back to school, the government was told yesterday.
Truancy checks showed that many children were with a parent who had no valid excuse as to why their child was not at school, according to Caroline Flint, Labour MP for Don Valley.
"But the truancy teams have no powers to return that child to school if they are in the company of a parent," she said.
But education secretary Estelle Morris said those schools that had successfully tackled truancy had worked with parents.
In the past month there had been truancy sweeps in more than 230 areas.
Source:- Daily Telegraph Friday 24 May page 16
Labour promises to tackle poverty
Older people who save throughout their lives will be helped by new measures designed to tackle pensioner poverty.
The government says that up to half of all pensioners will benefit from the State Pension Credit Bill, with five million gaining an average of £400 a year.
It will guarantee a minimum level of income to those over 60 and introduce a savings credit, which will, from age 65, provide an additional income for pensioners who have low or modest incomes in addition to the basic state pension.
Work and pensions secretary Alistair Darling said the legislation, which cleared the Commons last night will end "a fundamental unfairness in the social security system" under which pensioners had been unfairly penalised for saving.
Source:- Daily Telegraph Friday 24 May page 16
Scottish newspapers
Housing transfer plan ‘unworkable’
The plans for delivering the £4 billion Glasgow housing stock transfer have been criticised as "unworkable" by housing association leaders yesterday.
A consultation document issued by the new landlord taking over the city’s 82,000 council houses would, if carried out in full, effectively renege on the pledge to empower tenants.
Instead, Glasgow Housing Association appeared to be giving local housing groups "responsibility without power" – assigning them time consuming and onerous tasks, such as collecting debts, while keeping control over spending and budgets, they said.
They added that so much would be needed to overcome the GHA’s mindset, that the scheduled date for transfer – November 28 – now looked "increasingly ambitious".
The criticism emerged after a meeting of the Glasgow and West of Scotland Housing Association Forum, which includes 30 local housing associations due to carry out the day-to-day management of 24,000 houses on behalf of GHA.
Source:- The Herald Friday 24 May
Welsh newspapers
The Final Insult
A man who served 11 years in prison for a murder he did not commit has been charged £37,000 for 'living expenses'.
The home office has presented Michael O'Brien with a bill for board and lodging, although he has also been offered £650,000 in compensation for his wrongful conviction.
O'Brien's father and baby daughter died during the years he spent in prison, and he says that the offer is insulting, and that the attempt to claim living expenses from him has added to the insult.
A spokesperson for the home office said that: "The saved living expenses deducted in Mr O'Brien's compensation is part of the assessment formula. If he refuses the assessment it will be looked at again although the compensation will not necessarily change as a result."
A spokeswoman for the Howard League for Penal Reform questioned whether the home office `saved living expenses` deduction was legal.
Source:- South Wales Echo Thursday 23 May page 1 and 2
Drug related deaths on the rise in Wales
The number of drug-related deaths in Wales has risen significantly over the last eight years, new figures from the Welsh assembly have revealed.
The number of deaths related to misuse of heroin and cocaine have almost trebled in the last three years, and over the eight-year period there were almost 1,100 drug- related poisoning deaths.
Liberal democrat assembly member Peter Black said that the figures highlighted the need for targeted investment in drug treatment across Wales as well as a new approach to the way addicts are dealt with.
Source:- South Wales Echo Thursday 23 May page 19
