By Clare Jerrom, Reg McKay and Alex Dobson.
Marriage means nothing to many modern parents
Statistics have revealed that 40 per cent of babies are now born out of wedlock, showing that marriage is becoming increasingly irrelevant to modern parents.
The figures from the Office for National Statistics showed the number of births outside marriage has been accelerating rapidly.
When information was first collated in the 1850s only 6 per cent of all births were born outside wedlock. This rose to 10 per cent in 1970 and 30 per cent by 1990.
The report in the latest edition of population trends suggests that couples, who have their first child outside wedlock, are less likely than before to get married before having more children.
More than half of all children born to unmarried couples in 2001, were the second, third, fourth or subsequent children in the family, compared to 40 per cent in 1980.
Source:- The Times Friday 28 June page 6
Leave condoms for kids, parents told
The parents of teenagers should leave condoms around the house where they can be easily accessed, according to the latest government plan to tackle teenage pregnancy.
The government endorsed a list of "tips and hints" for parents yesterday on how best to approach safe sex.
The list suggests that parents draw up a list of local family planning centres and telephone numbers and give them to their children, or display them in the house.
It adds that parents should warn children of the dangers of having sex under the influence of alcohol.
The tips, which have full support of the Department of health as part of the government’s Involving Parents in Preventing initiative, have been drawn up by the charity Parentline Plus.
Source:- The Times Friday 28 June page 6
Murder case patient was ‘calm and settled’
Mental health experts, who refused a man treatment and sent him home just hours after he was suspected of stabbing a woman to death, said yesterday that he had appeared "calm and settled".
Doraj Miah gave no indication that he might have sexually assaulted and stabbed someone, according to staff at St Clement’s mental health hospital in east London. He was assessed by a nurse, who then told him to go home.
Miah, 19, was arrested yesterday morning as he made his way towards his home at Barkingside, Essex, after police took the unusual step of naming him as their prime suspect.
The body of Hazel Prager was found earlier this week in Essex.
Source:- The Times Friday 28 June page 7
More new mothers are committing suicide
The main cause of death among pregnant women and new mothers is suicide, according to the Royal College of Psychiatrists yesterday.
Most of the deaths were among highly educated professionals aged 30 or over. The majority of suicides were "violent", and the majority of new mothers committed suicide before their child’s first birthday.
Consultant in perinatal psychiatry at Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham, Dr Margaret Oates, said the problem was increasing and needed to be taken more seriously.
Some of the deaths could be avoided if health workers were more alert to risk factors, she said.
Source:- Daily Telegraph Friday 28 June page 9
CCTV failed in mental health unit rape
The mental health unit where a woman was allegedly raped last week admitted yesterday that CCTV footage could not help identify the attacker when he entered the building because the tape had run out.
The West London Mental Health NHS Trust admitted the CCTV recording equipment had not been effective yesterday.
The woman was attacked on Friday in her private room at the unit in Ealing.
Source:- The Independent Friday 28 June page 6
Boy, 13, admits four indecent assaults
A 13-year-old boy admitted yesterday that he had committed four indecent assaults, and he used his school uniform to trick his way into his victim’s homes.
The boy was remanded into care at the Old Bailey for pre-sentence reports. The crown accepted his not guilty plea to two charges of attempted rape and two of burglary with intent to rape.
Source:- The Independent Friday 28 June page 6
Scottish newspapers
Executive gives go-ahead for youth courts
The Scottish executive has announced plans to create youth courts and special children’s hearings in a 10-point strategy to tackle youth crime.
Jack McConnell, first minister, said that the new courts and hearings would have a wider range of measures at their disposal. Electronic tagging of persistent offenders is to be reviewed and a three-month, high profile police clampdown is to start in October.
Source:- The Scotsman Friday 28 June page 1
Welsh newspapers
Hundreds of children are sex offenders
The children’s charity, Barnardo’s Cymru is calling on the Welsh assembly to support a national strategy to prevent young sex offenders from becoming adult abusers.
Figures from police and local authorities show that there are hundreds of children that are already sex offenders, and the charity says its cutting edge Taith project is already successfully working with almost 80 young people each year.
The charity also says that one third of all recorded sexual offences in England and Wales are committed by people under the age of 18, and research shows that up to 50 per cent of adult sex offenders began abusing children when they themselves were young.
Taith project leader Pat Duke said that the work was firmly focused on child protection and the prevention of further offences and she added that the programme could serve as an effective model for similar projects throughout Wales.
Source:- Western Mail Friday 28 June page 1
Murphy backs joint fight against drugs
The fight against illegal drugs in Wales is prompting the government to consider giving the principality more control over law and order.
Home secretary David Blunkett has so far resisted calls for control over the police to be transferred to the Welsh assembly, but there is an acknowledgement from the Wales office at Westminster that the assembly has a key role in tackling drug abuse.
The new-found readiness to see law and order issues shared follows a call from assembly deputy health minister Brian Gibbon for an-Wales strategy on drug misuse.
Source:- Western Mail Friday 28 June page 2
Rough sleepers back on streets
Rough sleepers in Newport in south Wales will be back on the streets as the doors of a shelter opened only three months ago close for good.
Newport Action for the Single Homeless (NASH) opened the night shelter in March, but a hoped-for grant of several thousand pounds from the Welsh assembly failed to materialise.
NASH director Richard Frame said that he was angry and distressed after the assembly had switched its funding to other activities within the homeless sector in Wales.
Newport East assembly member John Griffiths, who officially opened the shelter, said that he was extremely concerned and would be calling for a meeting with the minister responsible for funding the shelter, Edwina Hart.
He added that he would be asking her where the funding had gone and what could be done to solve the problem.
Source:- South Wales Argus Thursday 27 June page 7 and editorial page 22