In Today's Papers

By Amy Taylor, David Callaghan and Alex Dobson.
Blair plans to go ahead with asylum protection zones
The prime minister faced criticism on Friday night over his plans to deport asylum seekers from Britain to protection zones in Africa.
Home office documents show that the government is considering whether people could be moved from Europe to protected areas to have their asylum applications processed.
Blair said he would go ahead with pilot projects, enlisting the help of any other willing EU nations despite European Union leaders rejecting the plans on Thursday.

Source:- The Independent Saturday 21 June page 4
Eight children 'destined for sex trade' taken into care
Newcastle council has taken eight African children into care after believing they were going to be sent to work in the sex industry.
Social workers launched an emergency child protection operation to tackle what they described as "organised crime against children".
Northumbria police are investigating the case.
Source:- The Independent Saturday 21 June page 6
Care home evicts widow aged 102
A 102-year-old widow was evicted yesterday after her care homes owners said that the council did not pay enough for her care.
Winifred Humphrey had paid her fees at Bradley House, near Whitstable, Kent, until last year using money made from selling her house and when this ran out, Kent council paid the fees.
Lifestyle Care Homes evicted Humphrey after claiming that the amount paid by the council was too low.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph Saturday 21 June page 9
Try telling a 14-year-old that lives behind razor wire that her 'home' is not a prison
The IoS gains exclusive access to Dungavel Detention Centre where a Kurdish family has been held for more than 11 months
Source:- The Independent on Sunday 22 June page 6
Buses 'to be detention cells'
Buses equipped with detention cells to interrogate asylum seekers are set to be developed under new home office plans.
The buses are to be used as mobile reporting centres, and will act as an alternative to police stations in small towns.
The first such vehicle is to be tested in August in a three-month pilot scheme.
Source:- The Independent on Sunday 22 June page 6
Uproar over plan to seize drug homes
The home secretary is currently in a dispute with other ministers over his proposals to allow police to seize the homes of cannabis users if they are seen to be a "serious nuisance".
The proposal is revealed in leaked cabinet papers outlining Blunkett's plans to amend the Anti-social Behaviour Bill to enable police to shut premises seen to be linked to soft drugs for a maximum of three months.
Source:- The Sunday Times 22 June page 1
MPs seek ban on child smacking
The joint parliamentary committee on human rights is set to call on the government to ban smacking.
The committee, made up from MPs and peers, will tell ministers that they risk breaching European human rights legislation if smacking remains legal.
At present parents are allowed to use physical force to discipline their child if they can prove that the motive is "reasonable chastisement".
Source:- The Sunday Times 22 June page 4
We pay tax so give us equal treatment say Africans with HIV
Last week NHS consultants claimed that hospitals were overwhelmed by asylum seekers: now patients answer back
Source:- The Sunday Telegraph 22 June page 10
War veterans face eviction as RAF charity cuts losses
A group of older people who served in the Second World War are being forced to leave their retirement home after the Royal Air Forces Association said it could no longer afford to keep the building open.
The five residents have to move out of Woodford House in Southport, Merseyside, by 1 August.
The RAF Association said it could not afford to pay for the group to take up residence at other homes after overspending their budget by millions of pounds in recent years.
Source:- The Sunday Telegraph 22 June page 12
Bullied children hit back by taking schools to court
Over 540 law suits are currently being prepared against schools claiming that they failed to defend children against bullies which could result in a multi-million pound compensation bill.
Education secretary Charles Clarke admitted that many schools fail to get to grips with bullying this weekend.
New research by Kidscape, to be launched this week, has found that up to half of bullied young people who go to its assertiveness courses missed school in order to avoid bullies, and a quarter had thought about committing suicide.
Source:- The Observer 22 June page 6
How abused children learn to trust adults
New research has found that by placing abused children with the right family their expectations of the world can be raised.
The research by a team at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London made the discovery by using a storytelling technique to explore the way children's minds work.
Source:- The Observer 22 June page 11
Scandal of self-harm in women's jails
An emergency hit squad has been sent into a women's prison in Manchester after five women have committed suicide over the past few months.
The team were sent into Styal prison, Cheshire, by women's prisons chief Niall Clifford, where four women have died since August.
Source:- The Observer 22 June page 14
Immigration law firms 'overcharging by millions'
The soaring cost of legal aid bills for asylum seekers is partly caused by lawyers overcharging the state by millions of pounds, according to a parliamentary report.
Legal professionals are further criticised for putting some vulnerable immigrants at risk in some of their work.
Legal aid bills for immigrants increased from £58 million in 2000-01 to £138 million in 2001-02 and are expected to further increase this year.

Source:- The Independent Monday 23 June page 2
Sickly immigrants 'are adding £1bn to costs of the NHS'
The NHS has to foot an extra £1 billion bill each year for treatment of asylum seekers, a new report warned yesterday.
The research by medical analysts found that taxpayers are likely to be charged with an ever-increasing bill for treatment of asylum seekers with infectious diseases such as Aids and TB.
It states that the spread of such diseases is increasing in many countries from which immigrants come to Britain.
Source:- Daily Mail Monday 23 June page 25
Scottish newspapers
Murdered girl’s body dumped in canal by mother
A mother took her murdered daughter’s body in a suitcase through Inverness town centre before dumping it in a canal. Tracey Reid was helped by Christopher Gaytor, brother of Lee Gaytor who admitted killing five-year-old Danielle Reid by hitting her over the head and bundling her down a flight of stairs.
Reid admitted failing to notify the authorities and of dumping the body in a canal.
Highland council is to conduct a review to see if Danielle’s death could have been prevented.
Source:- The Scotsman Saturday 21 June page 1
Paedophile jailed for seven years
A man who abused a boy he babysat has been jailed for seven years.
Gordon Sheppard, of Stirling, took pictures of the boy and circulated them. They were spotted by researchers in Ireland who alerted the police.
Source:- The Scotsman Saturday 21 June page 4

Homes to close
Up to 14 care homes run by the Church of Scotland may close by next year. Four are definitely going to close and a further 10 may follow. The remaining homes of the Kirk’s total of 31 are safe it has been said.
Source:- The Scotsman Saturday 21 June page 1
Monk sex rap trio face jail
Three elderly men, who used to work at a school run by monks, face prison sentences after being found guilty of abusing children in their care.
Former pupils of St Ninian’s List D school in Stirlingshire told of abuse including electric shocks.
Michael Murphy, aged 69, Charles McKenna, aged 83, and James McKinstrey, aged 70, could now be jailed despite their ages.
Source:- Daily Record Saturday 21 June page 12
Revealed: Drug court scheme a failure
American-style courts for drugs offenders introduced in Scotland are not working well. Six out of 10 offenders are not turning up at the courts, which are also under-staffed.
Many offenders see the courts as a soft option compared with appearing before a sheriff’s court. One clerk, who works for the drug courts programme in Glasgow, said they take advantage of a more tolerant system.
Source:- The Scotsman Monday 23 June page 1
Police appeal for help to find mother of abandoned baby
A new born baby girl was found in the doorway of a builder’s house in Irvine. She is now in a critical condition at Glasgow’s Hospital for Sick Children.
She weighed only 5lb 7oz and needed medical treatment to help her breathe and keep her heart beating.
Source:- The Scotsman Monday 23 June page 4
Daughter hopes to copy surrogate mother
The daughter of Britain’s most prolific surrogate mother wants to become a surrogate mother herself. Jenny Riva, aged 19, daughter of Morag Riva who has been a surrogate mother for seven babies, said she also wants to help infertile couples.
Source:- The Scotsman Monday 23 June page 7
Child tagging plans defended
Draft proposals from the Scottish executive to tackle anti-social behaviour will include tagging of children as young as 10.
Source:- The Scotsman Monday 23 June page 9
Blind tot’s happiness sacrificed for few quid
A five-year-old girl who has a rare disorder which has left her blind and unable to walk, may be moved from Edinburgh’s Royal Blind School because Edinburgh council can no longer afford to finance her education there.
Anna Bartsch’s family have vowed to go to the European Court of Human Rights to fight the plan.
Source:- Daily Record Monday 23 June page 27
Welsh newspapers
Prescription delay hitting chronic sick, say Lib-Dems
The needs of the long term sick are being ignored say Welsh assembly Liberal Democrat members.
There are now growing fears that plans to scrap prescription charges for the chronically ill could be delayed by up to four years because Labour is concentrating on fulfilling its manifesto pledges.
Labour has promised to end all prescription charges in Wales, but months before the May election a decision had already been taken to end a 30-year-old prescription exemption system that had seen the majority of people with chronic illnesses paying for their prescriptions.
Liberal Democrat assembly member Kirsty Williams said that Labour was concentrating on headlines by abolishing all prescription charges instead of taking immediate action to help the chronically ill. She said that if free prescriptions were to be phased in gradually then stage one should be to end charges for the long term sick.
Source:- Western Mail Monday 23 June page 6