In Today's Papers

By Clare Jerrom, Nicola Barry and Alex Dobson.

Holly and Jessica funerals

The families of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman have laid their children to rest at separate funeral services this week.

Jessica was cremated on Monday and Holly was buried yesterday morning. Both services were strictly private at the request of the girls’ parents.

At a memorial service to the two 10-year-olds on Friday at Ely Cathedral, 2,000 guests were invited to remember the lives of the girls with joy rather than sorrow.

Ian Huntley, a caretaker at Soham Village College, has been charged with the murder of the two girls. His girlfriend Maxine Carr has been charged with trying to pervert the course of justice.

Source:- The Times Wednesday 4 September page 3

‘Three strikes’ rule for cannabis smokers

A "three spliffs and you’re out" rule will soon be introduced for cannabis users stopped on the streets by police.

By next July, people caught once or twice with the drug for personal use will be allowed to hand over the drug and accept a formal warning. But if they are caught for a third time in 12 months they face arrest and heavier penalties, which may include a caution that could be held against them if they go to court for other offences.

Repeated arrests would lead to a charge, resulting in a court appearance, a fine and criminal record.

The policy will be outlined in Blackpool today at a national conference on drugs by the Association of Chief Police Officers.

Source:- The Times Wednesday 4 September page 1

Actors put a face on feelings to help autistic read emotions

Autism sufferers who cannot read the emotions of others in their faces, will soon benefit from a tool to help them.

Educational software to be launched at the Autistic Society National conference this week contains the facial expressions of 412 emotions or states of mind.

By playing a DVD containing the expressions, which are linked to voices speaking in an appropriate intonation and to stories that explain how the emotion has risen, autistic learners should be able to learn what usually comes naturally.

Autistic people can often face difficulties communicating as facial expressions mean little to them.

The software has been developed at the Autistic Research Centre at Cambridge University.

Source:- The Times Wednesday 4 September page 7

Mental Health Act protest march called off

A national protest march against government legislation was called off by mental health campaigners last night for fear that it was no longer safe to present their arguments because of heightened public mood following the deaths of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.

After a debate among charities, the Mental Health Alliance said it was calling off the march in central London on the 14 September, and hoped instead to organise a lobby of parliament in mid-October.

The mental health charities had been planning to launch a coordinated attack on a draft bill published by the government in June to reform the Mental Health Act 1983.

Source:- The Guardian Wednesday 4 September page 7

Somalis to blame for crime rise, says MP

A Labour MP was condemned as irresponsible yesterday after he attributed an increase in street robbery in his constituency to Somali asylum seekers.

Piara Khabra, MP for Ealing Southall, told the Radio 4 Today programme that his Asian constituents had complained that the vast majority of street robberies in the area were being carried out by Somali youths. He also suggested Asian groups might take vigilante action out of frustration.

An estimated 5,000 Somalis live in Southall, west London, many of them among the poorest in the area.

A Metropolitan police spokesperson said: "These comments are highly irresponsible. There is no evidence that Somalis are committing all street crime."

Source:- The Guardian Wednesday 4 September page 9

‘Explosion’ in black and Asian homeless

A rising population and increasing family breakdown is resulting in an "explosion" in numbers of homeless black and Asian people, the homelessness charity Crisis warned yesterday.

Increased stigma attached to homelessness among ethnic minorities made such people more reluctant to seek help, it said.

While there are still relatively few black and Asian rough sleepers, head counts by London housing association Thames Reach have shown the proportion on the streets of central London in Marylebone and Mayfair rising over the past six months from four out of 52 to 10 out of 57.

Chief executive of Crisis Shaks Ghosh said the numbers would escalate. "We know that overcrowding and poverty lead to homelessness… If you put two and two together, I expect in a few years there’s going to be an explosion in homelessness."

Source:- The Guardian Wednesday 4 September page 10

Vetting chaos hits hospitals

Social services, care homes and hospitals were caught up in the vetting crisis engulfing schools.

The government was warned that a shortage of social workers, childminders, carers for older people and others had been created by the backlog in police checks at the Criminal Records Bureau.

David Wright of the Association of Directors of Social Services, which has members in 150 local authorities, said the situation was becoming desperate with staff under "enormous strain".

"The vetting delays have affected our ability to recruit everyone from residential care workers to adoptive parents," he said.

"This has caused huge difficulties. The whole social services system has slowed down dramatically," he added.

Source:- Daily Telegraph Wednesday 4 September page 1

Guardian Society

Under siege

Bad press hits public service recruitment

Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 4 September page 4

Eyes on the horizon

New survey aims to open doors to work for disabled people

Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 4 September page 4

Sign of support

Advice pack for mental health carers

Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 4 September page 4

Bitter harvest

In Africa, chewing the stimulant khat is a generally harmless, recreational activity. But now that the drug is being sold legally in Britain, it is causing problems in many immigrant communities

Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 4 September page 6

Slow pulse

The job of ensuring that health care delivery in England is up to scratch is to be transferred to local authorities. Are they ready for it?

Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 4 September page 10

New hands

As voluntary organisations struggle to cope with an acute shortage of carers, one charity launches an apprenticeship scheme,

Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 4 September page 12

Chain reaction

Supporting loved ones with mental health problems is a consuming job. Kim Hunter on the carers left to cope alone

Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 4 September page 160-159

Freedom from fear

A trust is helping young gay people escape from persecution

Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 4 September page 159

Scottish newspapers

14 year old prostitutes use former tolerance zone

Schoolgirls as young as 14 are selling sex on the streets of Leith, say campaigners wanting a tolerance zone for prostitutes reintroduced in Edinburgh.

Three children have been identified selling sex in Leith in the past few months. One told the community drug problem service in Edinburgh that soliciting was funding her drug habit.

Activists fighting for the return of the tolerance zone say prostitution of under 16s was virtually extinct in the city when the zone was in place. They fear its collapse last year, following a battle with residents, has meant men are taking advantage of younger girls and introducing them to prostitution.

Source:- The Herald 4 September page 12

Checks on child care workers

New security checks on child minders, nursery school staff and nursing home workers are to go ahead as part of moves to improve regulation of the care industry.

As the crisis surrounding the late vetting of school staff in England and Wales continues, the Scottish Care Commission has unveiled plans to update checks on thousands of workers north of the border.

Source:- The Scotsman 4 September page 5

Chief Inspector of Prisons haunted by a prison suicide

Clive Fairweather, outgoing prisons watchdog, says he is haunted by a letter from a despairing teenager, written hours before the boy hanged himself in a Scottish jail.

In a lecture in Edinburgh, Fairweather said the letter, which arrived hours before the youngster took his life, revealed a young man in utter despair.

He told his audience that, in the eight years he has been chief inspector, 170 prisoners had died, yet between 1900 and 1963, only 35 were executed by hanging.

"Bring back hanging?" Mr Fairweather said: "There's no need. It's DIY hanging at eight times the rate these days, for our young prisoners."

Clive Fairweather is soon to be succeeded as HM inspector of prisons by the Very Rev Dr Andrew McLellan, former moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

Source:- The Herald 4 September page 3

Welsh newspapers

‘More support’ plea for children bullied at school

A quarter of all schoolchildren will be bullied this year and while there are anti-bullying policies in place, experts say not enough is being done to support children.

All schools must have anti-bullying strategies, but Delwyn Tattum director of the countering bullying unit at the University of Wales Institute Cardiff (UWIC), says that not all schools are fulfilling their promises.

Tattum said that policies are sitting gathering dust or are not imaginatively employed and this was something that was being picked up by Welsh school inspectors.

Jackie Yeoman’s, from Rhyl in north Wales, former vice president of the National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations (NCPTA), said that a national rethink is necessary, and a new initiative is needed to deal with the problem.

Last year Childline Cymru/Wales took 2,747 calls from children concerned about bullying and spokesperson Jonathan Green said that people did not realise how stressful and damaging bullying can be.

He said it could cause depression, anxiety and even suicidal or murderous feelings in the worst cases and should not be underestimated.

Source:- Western Mail Wednesday 4 September page 2

Rural area loses Aids helpline after fall in callers

A helpline for Aids and HIV sufferers in a rural area has closed after a dramatic slump in callers.

The end of the service comes despite a slight increase in cases of HIV and Aids in Powys during the past three years. But the Powys Aids Line (Pals), which had run the free service for 14 years saw the amount of callers plummet from hundreds to only one per week and on some days voluntary staff received no calls at all.

Pals will continue to provide other services from its offices in Llandrindod Wells in mid Wales, such as sexual health advice and help to people with HIV and Aids and their families.

A spokesperson for the service said that a reduction in funding had meant that less could be spent on advertising the phone line.

Source:- Western Mail Wednesday 4 September page 9

Sufferers are offered hope by new scheme

People struggling to come to terms with conditions like multiple sclerosis and arthritis are being offered special support with the launch of a new scheme in south Wales this week.

The scheme, which is the first of its kind in Wales, aims to offer emotional support following diagnosis and the six-week course is run by people who have themselves been diagnosed with a long-term illness.

The project – Living a Healthy Life - is a joint venture by the Multiple Sclerosis Society and the Haemophilia Society.

Claire Norman, a multiple sclerosis patient and one of the tutors, said that the course which is free, is open to anyone with a lifelong illness and the aim was to help them build up their confidence and take control of their lives.

She said that the scheme was the first in Wales, but that the Welsh Assembly was considering introducing similar courses across other parts of Wales.

Source:- South Wales Echo Tuesday 3 September page 19