By Clare Jerrom and Alex Dobson.
£60m emergency building as jail population soars
The government announced an emergency £60 million prison-building programme yesterday as the jail population reached a record 72,443.
David Blunkett has been forced to put more money into providing prison places because of increasing pressure on accommodation that has resulted in between 200 and 300 prisoners being held in police cells.
A further 700 jail places in house blocks and ready to use units will be built within the grounds of existing jails with the money. The new places, which will be available from next April, are in addition to 2,300 agreed as an emergency measure in last year’s budget.
Source:- The Times Tuesday 15 October page 2
Danielle’s note of remorse
Danielle Jones’ mother wept in court yesterday as she described the turbulent relationship she had with her daughter before she disappeared from her home in Tilbury, Essex last June.
Linda Jones read out a letter from the 15-year-old, who wrote: “To Mum. I’m really sorry for what I’ve done…I’m going to really try to change.”
Jones told Chelmsford Crown Court that in the weeks before her disappearance they had got on much better. She also revealed how Danielle’s uncle, Stuart Campbell’s interest in Danielle was abnormal, including taking her on a weekday shopping trip.
Campbell denies her murder.
Source:- The Times Tuesday 15 October page 13
Peers could block gay adoption plan
A House of Lords vote tomorrow could block the government’s plans to allow same-sex couples to adopt children.
Conservative Lady O’Cathain is urging peers to vote against the proposal in the adoption and children bill to open adoption rights to all couples, including gay and lesbian partners and hetrosexual co-habitees.
Opponents believe the move would undermine marriage and risk moving children from institutional care to unstable relationships.
The adoption bill, which aims to increase the number of adopted children, reaches report stage in the house of lords tomorrow after clearing the Commons despite Tory opposition to adoption outside marriage.
Peers have a free vote on the issue of adoption by same sex couples, although Conservative peers will be under a whip to attend.
Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 15 October page 9
Maxine Carr refused bail
The woman accused of perverting the course of justice over the disappearance of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman was yesterday refused bail.
Maxine Carr, 25, of Soham, Cambridgeshire, has been held on remand since she was charged in August.
Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 15 October page 9
Hunger strike by 90-year-old
A 90-year old woman has been on hunger strike since Friday in a bid to save Meadowcroft residential home in Bradford where she lives.
The Conservative controlled council pans to close the home along with three others.
Thora Falkingham is under 24-hour observation.
Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 15 October page 9
Youth crime prison ‘is off critical list’
Feltham young offenders institution is now “off the critical list” according to a report following an inspection of the jail.
Chief inspector of prisons, Anne Owers, says the culture of the prison in west London, has been “fundamentally changed for the better”. It was once condemned as a national disgrace.
Inspection of the jail, which holds around 600 youths aged between 15 and 21, was welcomed by the Prison Service as an endorsement of its efforts to rescue the institution from squalor.
A report in 1999 described conditions in Feltham as “appalling and unacceptable in a civilised society”.
Source:- Daily Telegraph Tuesday 15 October page 2
Serial sex offenders must be tried twice, say law commissioners
The government’s law advisory body says today that serial sex offenders should be tried a second time for any linked offences to stop them escaping full punishment for their crimes.
The proposal follows a change in the law in 1997, which curbs specimen charge effectiveness and stopped judges taking account of related criminal activity not proved in court.
The Law Commission of England and Wales argues that sentences for multiple offenders such as child abusers and serial fraudsters, do not always reflect the extent of their crime.
Under the proposed change, to be considered by ministers, a defendant convicted of a sample count in the first trial could be sent before a judge to be tried on all other related offences.
Source:- Independent Tuesday 15 October page 8
Welsh papers
Homeless left out in the cold by poor services
A new report says that homeless people in south Wales are suffering because of woefully inadequate services.
Research carried out by the Big Issue magazine in Wales shows a picture of homeless people struggling because of lack of support services. The report, called Coming Up From the Streets, is believed to be one of the most extensive pieces of research into the problem of homelessness in Wales and was based on interviews with 100 vendors aged between 17 and 57.
Source:- South Wales Echo Monday 14 October page 4
Ministers pledge millions to tackle drug problem in Valleys
Plans aimed at tackling the spiralling drug problem in the south Wales valleys are to be announced by Welsh Assembly ministers tomorrow.
The multi-million-pound initiative will come in a surprise package in finance minister, Edwina Hart’s draft budget that will be set before the Assembly tomorrow.
The funding is aimed at tackling the growing problem of organised drug gangs who are targeting Valley communities and is expected to include new money for rehabilitation services.
Source:- Western Mail Tuesday 15 October page 8
Teen girls seen by canal urged to help in dead baby inquiries
A police officer made a plea yesterday for the mother of a baby found dead in a canal in south Wales to come forward.
Police would also like to talk to two teenage girls who have been seen on several occasions near the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal in the weeks leading up to the discovery of the body of a baby boy concealed in a holdall.
The police have appealed to them to make contact and stressed that there was no evidence that connected either of the girls to the discovery of the baby. A police spokesperson said that it was necessary to talk to them so that they could be eliminated from the inquiry.
The baby was discovered on October 11th and it is thought that he may have been dead for up to five weeks.
Source:- Western Mail Tuesday 15 October page 9
