By Clare Jerrom, Nicola Barry and Alex Dobson.
Child abuse ‘hotspots’ uncovered in five Catholic dioceses
Paedophile priests have been allowed to flourish in pockets around the country after church authorities failed to end their activities, it emerged yesterday.
Founder of the victim support group Minister and Clergy Sexual Abuse Survivors, Margaret Kennedy, said that questions had to be asked as to why sex abusers migrated to specific hotspots in the west midlands and the south east where they obviously "felt safe".
In a letter in The Times today, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor denies that he turned a blind eye to the problems of paedophile priests in his former diocese of Arundel and Brighton.
He acknowledges, however, that it was a mistake to appoint Father Michael Hill to the chaplaincy of Gatwick airport after receiving "conflicting psychiatric reports".
Hill will be sentenced today for a further string of offences on boys in addition to those that led to him being jailed in 1997.
An investigation by The Times has found five Roman Catholic dioceses are all investigating multiple allegations of sexual abuse. The areas are Birmingham, Arundel and Brighton, Cardiff, Salford and Northampton. Most involve young altar boys, disabled children, young people in church care homes and boys being tutored by priests.
Source:- The Times Thursday 21 November page 1
Advice call for warring couples
A parenting charity yesterday called for peace-keeping classes to help divorcees who are locked in conflict over their children.
Few frontline agencies are capable of providing the specialist advice parents need to minimise the impact family breakdown can have on children, a report by Parentline Plus has found.
A third of calls to the charity’s hotline are from parents who believe the family break up has caused or contributed to emotional and behavioural problems in their children.
The report concludes that there is a strong case for classes in good divorcing as in good parenting.
Source:- The Times Thursday 21 November page 2
Doctor in abuse case allegations suspended
A leading consultant paediatrician is to be investigated by the General Medical Council over her role in a child abuse scandal after being suspended from clinical practice.
Camille San Lazaro has had to leave her post at Newcastle University and the city’s Royal Victoria Infirmary pending an inquiry into her involvement in false allegations of abuse at a local nursery school.
Christopher Lillie and Dawn Reed were both awarded £200,000 in libel damages at a high court hearing earlier this year, after they were wrongly branded as paedophiles in a report commissioned by Newcastle council that drew heavily on San Lazaro’s opinions.
Source:- The Times Thursday 21 November page 9
Murder arrest
A fourth person has been arrested by detectives in connection with the murder of a boy whose body parts have been scattered around Loughborough, Leicestershire.
Two men and a 15-year-old girl were arrested on suspicion of murder on Tuesday evening.
Source:- The Times Thursday 21 November page 9
Race failure
Oldham council, which saw the worst rioting for a decade last year, has been criticised for failing to promote good race relations by a government watchdog.
The council’s weak leadership and poor strategic planning is highlighted by the Audit Commission.
Source:- The Times Thursday 21 November page 9
Teacher is still suspended after seven years
A union leader has called for an investigation into why a teacher cleared of allegations of sexual abuse is still suspended on full pay seven years later.
More than £300,000 has been paid to Anthony McNally during nearly a quarter of his career which has been spent on suspension.
McNally was suspended on full pay in 1995 from Woodhey High School in Greater Manchester after a 15-year-old boy accused him of "inappropriate touching".
Police investigations and the school governors cleared him of impropriety, but the local education authority kept him away from the school after its child protection committee expressed continued concerns.
Last year, the court of appeal affirmed that McNally was not guilty of misconduct but the local education authority is still investigating his conduct after a further allegation was made against him in September 2000.
Source:- The Times Thursday 21 November page 11
Blunkett’s asylum ruling thrown out
The home secretary’s immigration policies suffered a further setback yesterday when an asylum seeker won the right to remain in Britain pending an appeal against being removed to Germany.
Iraqi Kurd Mohamed Ali Razgar says he endured two years of detention and torment at the hands of Saddam Hussein’s regime. He won a high court ruling that he was entitled to stay in Britain to lodge an appeal.
German authorities refused asylum to Razgar, but he then travelled to the UK and claimed asylum here in February 1999. The German authorities have however accepted responsibility for him under the Dublin Convention, which aims to prevent multiple asylum applications in the European Union.
Using a new fast track procedure David Blunkett certified that his claim was "manifestly unfounded", and that he should be removed to Germany from where he could make a further appeal.
But Blunkett’s decision was quashed by Mr Justice Richards sitting in London as he ruled that Razgar had the right to appeal to an adjudicator while in the UK.
Source:- The Times Thursday 21 November page 12
Child risk check for acquitted police
A Roman Catholic priest is being assessed for any risk he may pose to children more than two years after parishioners first highlighted concerns about him directly to Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor.
Following inquires about the case made by the Daily Telegraph, Fr Philip Temple, who is attached to the parish of Christ the King at Cockfosters, north London, is to undergo a child protection "risk assessment".
The delay in acting raises concerns about the Church’s tough new rules on child protection.
Source:- Daily Telegraph Thursday 21 November page 6
Juveniles face fines for anti social offences
The home secretary suggested that children as young as 12 could be forced to pay on-the-spot fines for anti-social behaviour and other low level disorder offences.
Youngsters who were deemed by police or council wardens to be guilty of vandalism, graffiti spraying or neighbour nuisance would be liable for fines of up to £80.
Other offences that would trigger the fines are being found drunk and disorderly, throwing fireworks, using threatening behaviour and wasting police time.
Using penalty notices to combat anti-social offences is a centrepiece of Tony Blair’s drive against anti-social behaviour and will feature in a bill this parliamentary session.
Source:- The Independent Thursday 21 November page 6
Scottish newspapers
Longer prison sentences for sex offenders
Severely increased penalties for sex and violent offenders in Scotland were agreed by MSPs yesterday, promising an untroubled passage through the Scottish parliament for the controversial Criminal Justice Bill.
The changes mean the most dangerous offenders can, in theory, be imprisoned for life.
Source:- The Herald Thursday 21 November 21 page 6
Child protection bill clears first hurdle
A bill to prevent unsuitable adults from getting jobs working with children passed its first stage in parliament yesterday with unanimous support.
The Protection of Children (Scotland) Bill gives the executive powers to draw up a list of adults deemed to be a risk to children.
Source:- The Herald Thursday 21 November page 6
Welsh newspapers
Baby had fractured ribs
A cot death verdict was recorded on a six-month-old-baby, but the child had seven fractured ribs at the time of his death.
Pathologist Dr Abdul Rashid told Cardiff crown court that his conclusions would have been different if he had known about the injuries when the child was taken to the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport in 1998.
The child’s father who reported finding the child dead in his cot was subsequently charged with murder after he was allegedly found trying to smother a second baby of the family a year later.
The injuries to the first baby were only discovered after a doctor at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London found them after examining x-rays taken prior to the child’s death.
The case is proceeding.
Source:- South Wales Echo Wednesday 20 November page 17
Council hits out at asylum centre plan
Newport council has criticised plans to house an asylum appeals centre on the outskirts of the city.
The council has objected to the £3 million project on the grounds that the planned facility is too far from the city centre, but it has no power to determine where the court service will place the new centre.
The plans have met with widespread opposition from both councillors and residents alike.
Source:- Western Mail Thursday 21 November page 7
