By Clare Jerrom, Nicola Barry and Alex Dobson.
Auxiliary police on patrol
David Blunkett’s first new auxiliary police went on patrol in central London yesterday.
The 44 community safety officers aged between 19 and 58, were on the streets equipped with a police radio and body armour. By next year, Scotland Yard hopes to extend the scheme to Heathrow, London City Airport and Canary Wharf.
As the recruits began work, the home secretary announced that it would allow regular officers to end security patrols and return to frontline policing.
Source:- The Times Tuesday 24 September page 2
Further video hearing for Carr
Maxine Carr is to again appear in court via a video link later this week. The woman is accused of perverting the course of justice in connection with the killings of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.
Carr, of Soham, Cambridgeshire will appear on the video screen at Peterborough crown court on Friday.
When Carr appeared at Peterborough magistrates court earlier this year, there were scenes of anger and violence as hundreds of people shouted abuse and threw eggs. The special arrangements are being made to avoid a repetition of these scenes.
Ian Huntley, who was a caretaker at Soham Village College, is accused of Holly and Jessica’s murders, and is currently being held at Rampton Hospital in Nottinghamshire.
Source:- The Times Tuesday 24 September page 9
Poor children at greater risk on roads
Children in Britain’s poorer neighbourhoods are three times more likely to be knocked down by cars, according to research which is calling for a widespread speed limit of 20 mph.
The Institute for Public Policy Research will publish the study next month and call for 20mph limits to be the norm in residential areas, with poorer areas given high priority.
Eight thousand children were killed or injured on the roads in Britain’s poorest 10 per cent of council wards during 1999 and 2000 compared with just 1,000 casualties in the richest wards.
The worst areas were Small Heath and Sparkhill in Birmingham and Middlesbrough’s Easterside estate.
Tony Grayling, associate director of the IPPR, said: "This is a huge social problem – there are big inequalities underlying our bad record in child pedestrian safety."
Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 24 September page 10
4,000 could lose sight in one eye due to drug delay
The delay of the introduction of a new drug for sight loss to the National Health Service could result in up to 4,000 people going blind in one eye.
Medical charities are expressing fears that patients are missing out on therapy for age related macular degeneration (AMD), which is the most common form of blindness in Britain.
The National Institute for Clinical Excellence was due to recommend limited use of the first NHS treatment for the disease in July. But when doctors warned the guidelines would ration the therapy to people who had already lost sight in one eye, the decision was postponed for six months.
The delay means that between 3-4,000 people will miss out on potentially sight saving therapy, according to the Royal National Institute for the Blind.
Source:- Daily Telegraph Tuesday 24 September page 8
Scottish newspapers
Shirley On Board
Shirley Manson of the pop group Garbage has admitted that as a victim of bullying she herself would "mercilessly torture" her sister.
Manson, who suffered depression as a child, was badly bullied whilst at secondary school, but at home she would abuse her sister, Sarah, daily and would threaten her with a knife.
The singer has pledged her support to the Daily Record's campaign to tackle the increasing rate of suicide amongst young people.
Source:- Daily Record Tuesday 24th September page 11
Trust pledge on mental health
Mental health services in the west coast of Scotland are facing uncertainty after three of the four area's consultant psychiatrists resigned.
Meeting yesterday, officials from Lomond and Argyll Primary Care Trust sought to ease concerns of patients and the public by announcing that the trust was in talks with Greater Glasgow Primary Care Trust to secure consultant cover to allow the service to continue.
The three consultants, who have tendered their resignations, are known to have complained to the director of mental health services for the trust about the scarcity of resources for mental welfare in the area. The trust admitted the national shortage of consultant psychiatrists could hinder the filling of these vacancies.
Source:- The Herald Tuesday 24th September page 6
Mother 'haunted' by baby's death
A mother accused of murdering her daughter told yesterday how she stood "petrified" as her partner swung the 13-month-old baby against the wall.
Andrea Bone was giving evidence to the trial in Stonehaven at which she and her former partner, Sandy McClure, are charged with the murder of Carla-Nicole Bone earlier this year.
McClure is accused of murdering Carla-Nicole by grabbing the child and slamming her head and body against a wall and knocking her head against the floor at the couple's cottage at Forgue, Aberdeenshire. Bone is accused of wilfully failing to protect her and ensuring her wellbeing or seeking medical treatment following the alleged attack.
Bone told the court how she had once loved McClure, but now hated him for killing her "little girl".
On the day of the alleged attack she said, ""It was a side of him I had never seen. His face was full of evil. It wasn't like him."
Source:- The Scotsman Tuesday 24th September page 8
Welsh newspapers
Sex abuse case may be retried
A jury was discharged yesterday after it failed to reach a verdict on 12 charges against a former foster carer charged with sexually abusing boys.
Ronald Jones had been found not guilty of two charges of buggery and two of indecent assault last week at Mold crown court in north Wales.
But the jury, whch had been considering a further 12 charges, could not come to a conclusion and Judge Merfyn Hughes discharged them.
He said that the case could be re-listed next week, and the prosecution could then decide whether to continue or press ahead with a retrial.
Source:- Western Mail Tuesday 24 September page 3
‘We swore blind his accusers were lying’
An alleged victim of abuse at a school in south Wales has told an inquiry that he wishes he had spoken out sooner.
The inquiry chaired by Children’s Commissioner for Wales Peter Clarke is looking into the circumstances surrounding alleged abuse by former drama teacher, John Owen.
The former pupil said that Owen had a psychological hold over his alleged victims, and that at the time when the first allegations were made in 1991 he was unable to tell the truth about what had happened or come forward to support those who were making the allegations.
John Owen killed himself last year the day before he was due to stand trial on charges of indecency against children.
Source:- Western Mail Tuesday 24 September page 6
