In Today's Papers

By Natasha Salari, Amy Taylor, Clare Jerrom and Alex Dobson.

Baby killing cases to be reviewed
Hundreds of parents who have been jailed for killing their babies are to have their cases reviewed, the attorney-general has ruled.
Over 250 cases where the parent has been convicted for murdering a child under two, but which could have involved sudden infant death syndrome, or "cot death", are to be reviewed urgently.
Top priority is being given to 54 cases where the parent is still serving a prison sentence.

The decision comes after three senior judges warned that in criminal trials "it is simply not enough to be able to establish even a high probability of guilt".
Source:- The Financial Times Tuesday 20 January page 2
Mentally ill 'should be in hospital not jail'
A network of psychiatric units should be built to stop prisons being overwhelmed with offenders suffering from mental health problems, the chief inspector of prisons has advised.
In her annual report, Anne Owers said that many in the prison system have a mental health problem and that there is a need for places where people can be "detained" rather than going to prison .
She also called for internal jail inquiries into all incidents of serious self-harm after new figures showing that they are running at a rate of more than 15,000 a year.
Source:- The Times Tuesday 20 January page 12
Scottish newspapers
All 258 cot death convictions to be reviewed
The court of appeal ruling in England on prosecutions that may involve cot death as a defence, is to be studied by the crown office to see if any cases in Scotland need to be re-examined.
In England and Wales the attorney general has called for an urgent review of the 258 cases where parents were convicted of killing their children. Helen Cormack, vice-chairperson of the Scottish Cot Death Trust, said it was unlikely miscarriages of justice had occurred under Scots law.
There was a tighter system of paediatric inquiry into infant deaths in Scotland and a different set of cultural assumptions.
Source:- The Herald Tuesday 20 January
Family to challenge prison suicide inquiry
The family and friends of a young woman who hanged herself in Cornton Vale prison, are seeking a legal challenge to a fatal accident inquiry which they believe failed to investigate her death properly.
The death of April Adams has raised serious questions over the implementation of the Scottish Prison Service suicide strategy. They plan to take the issue to the European Court of Human Rights.
Source:- The Scotsman Tuesday 20 January

End of road for asylum seeker given refuge by MSP
An asylum seeker and her child who have been living with socialist MSP Rosie Kane, are to be deported tomorrow at 5am.
Mercy Ikolo, who wanted to become a social worker, has been given 48 hours to leave Scotland by the Home Office. Officials will transport the woman and her 18-month-old daughter to Glasgow airport where she will be put on a flight to Dublin, her first port of entry after she fled persecution in Cameroon in 2002.
Source:- The Scotsman Tuesday 20 January
Welsh newspapers
Flexi hours for social workers
Cardiff Council is offering family friendly working times in an attempt to recruit more social workers.
There is continuing concern over high levels of vacant posts among social workers in children’s services in the Welsh capital, and a new recruitment campaign will begin in February.
Source:- South Wales Echo Monday 19 January page 12
Schoolgirl, 12, runs off with Welshman twice her age
A 12-year-old schoolgirl whose disappearance sparked a major police hunt may be in Cardiff with the 23-year-old man she is thought to have run away with.
Alexandra Howe went missing on Friday from her home in Greater Manchester and is thought to be with Welshman Raymond Wilks.
Police are now concentrating their search on the Cardiff area.
Source:- Western Mail Tuesday 20 January page 1
‘Someone must say sorry’ for school bus death
Campaigners are demanding that someone say sorry for the death of a 12-year-boy that died when a school bus crashed into a tree.
Following a five-day inquest into the death of Stuart Cunningham-Jones, a jury returned a verdict of accidental death after being told that horseplay on the bus led to the driver losing control, after a boy grabbed the steering wheel.
Now Stuart’s parents are asking for a review of the case and hope that lessons can be learnt that will improve safety on buses that carry schoolchildren.
Source:- Western Mail Tuesday 20 January page 1