By Amy Taylor, Natasha Salari, Clare Jerrom and Alex
Dobson
One simple message: law is being relaxed but drug is still harmful
and remains illegal
A government advertising campaign to dispel the confusion
surrounding the change in cannabis laws aims to reach more than 80
per cent of Britain’s teenagers.
Radio advertisements will be carried on 48 national and regional
stations in England promoting the message that although the
cannabis laws are being relaxed next week it is still a harmful
drug that remains illegal.
Article continues below the advertisement
Separate campaigns will run in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
and will be backed up by the distribution of more than 2.5 million
leaflets.
Source:-
The Guardian Friday 23 January page 4
Boy banned from city for 10 years
A 16-year-old boy has been banned from entering Manchester
for 10 years under an anti-social behaviour order.
Manchester youth court heard how Terrence Westran, who is
originally from Scotland, had taken part in “gratuitous and
unbridled attacks” on a businessman in Gorton, north
Manchester. He hit him with a baseball bat and broke his nose with
a bottle.
He was also given a two-year training and detention order.
Source:-
The Guardian Friday 23 January page 13
‘Elder abuse’ rife
More than half of care homes are failing to administer
older people’s medication properly.
A commons select committee into elder abuse found that only 45 per
cent of homes met minimum standards.
Source:-
The Times Friday 23 January page 14
The evil charade
North Lincolnshire social services department has defended
its staff after a three-year old girl was battered to death by her
mother and stepfather.
A neighbour called in social services after seeing Stewart Pirie
constantly hitting Jasmine Galyer. From one visit, social workers
concluded that the accusations were unfounded and Pirie went on to
batter Jasmine to death.
Pirie has been jailed for eight years after admitting manslaughter.
Jasmine’s mother, Melissa, was sentenced to two-and-half
years after pleading guilty to cruelty.
Source:-
The Daily Mail Friday 23 January page 17
New crackdown on heroin users
Using heroin could become a criminal offence on the same
level as possessing the drug under new government plans.
A Downing Street report recommends that using heroin becomes an
offence with a punishment of up to seven years in jail.
Currently the law is based around possession of, or dealing in, the
drug.
Source:-
The Independent Friday 23 January page 1
Blunkett faces setback to asylum centres plan
Campaigners opposed to the building of an accommodation
centre for asylum seekers in Oxfordshire won the right to take the
case to court yesterday.
The government planned for the facility in Bicester to become the
first in a string of new accommodation centres. However, the High
Court has granted a judicial review into the government's decision
to overturn a planning inspector's decision that the centre was
unsuitable.
Source:-
The Independent Friday 23 January page 12
'Voices' told addict to push man under train
A drug addict pushed a man under a tube train because
"voices in his head" told him to just hours after he was refused
help from a psychiatric hospital, the Old Bailey heard
yesterday.
Stephen Soans-Wade pushed Christophe Duclos under the tube at Mile
End station in East London. Duclos was rescued by emergency
services but died from multiple injuries three days later.
Soans-Wade told station staff that he had carried out the attack
after being sent away from Whitechapel hospital.
Source:-
The Daily Telegraph Friday 23 January page
7
Scottish newspapers
Baby death mother gives up child
A mother, who is serving a three-and-a-half year prison
sentence for the culpable homicide of her daughter, has given up
her second child for adoption.
Andrea Bone witnessed her boyfriend, Alexander McClure, murder her
eldest daughter Carla-Nicole in May 2002 and did nothing to save
her child. She was released from prison early pending an appeal
while McClure is serving a life sentence for murder.
In a court hearing in Aberdeen, Bone gave up all rights to her
other daughter, now aged 18 months, who will go up for
adoption.
Source:-
The Scotsman Friday 23 January
HIV test will help babies
Routine screening for HIV among pregnant women in the
Greater Glasgow Health Board area has allowed women to undergo
treatment and take precautions to minimise the risk of infection to
their babies.
The move is part of a national drive to reduce the number of
infants born with HIV.
Source:-
The Scotsman Friday 23 January
Scot gives Russian asylum seeker refuge
A Russian woman who spent nearly two years in Dungavel
detention centre in Lanarkshire has been given a home by an
unemployed single mother.
Article continues below the advertisement
Lisa McCaffrey came forward to help Maria Ramanova after hearing of
her prolonged incarceration.
Ramanova was released into McCaffrey’s care and will report
to police weekly until a final decision is made regarding her
appeal to stay in the UK.
Source:-
The Herald Friday 23 January
Campaign to free Iraqi detained in Dungavel
Campaigners are trying to secure the release of an Iraqi
who has been held in Dungavel detention centre for nearly two
years.
According to Robina Quereshi of Positive Action in Housing, John
Razek Khaled has been held in Dungavel for 20 months because the
Home Office believes he is from Egypt as his mother is
Egyptian.
Source:-
The Herald Friday 23 January
Drugs expert’s warning over cannabis
The government’s move to downgrade cannabis from a
class B to a class C drug next week has been condemned by a leading
Scottish drugs expert.
Professor Neil McKeganey, of Drug Misuse Research at Glasgow
University, said there was growing evidence that even infrequent
users of the drug faced a one in 10 chance of becoming
dependent.
Cannabis consumption also increased the risk of lung and throat
cancers, he added.
Source:-
The Herald Friday 23 January
Soft drugs…hard lines
Cannabis dealers in Scotland will face tough police action
even after the drug is downgraded to a Class C drug, police warned
yesterday.
Scots police are to continue their tough approach to dealers as the
top penalty for dealing Class C drugs rises from five to 14
years.
Ministers backed officers yesterday and warned that possessing or
selling the drug remained illegal, whatever the drug’s
classification.
Source:-
Daily Record Friday 23 January page 8
Child porn? It’s no worse than trainspotting
A politician who made indecent photographs of children
said his interest in child porn was similar to the hobby of
trainspotting.
SNP councillor Iain Hunter confessed his interest in child
pornography and admitted that he used his party’s council
computer to access images on the Internet.
However, a prosecution blunder meant he was found guilty of
downloading just three images, even though police said hundreds of
illegal pictures of young boys had been downloaded at the council
headquarters and at his home.
He could now face a lesser sentence because of the smaller number
of photographs involved.
Source:-
Daily Record Friday 23 January page 9
Anti-bullying guide for kids
Children are to be given anti-bullying advice by a council
in a move thought to be the first of its kind.
Renfrewshire Council will hand out bookmarks, jotters and diaries
with tips for dealing with bullies printed on them to nearly 30,000
children attending schools in the area.
Source:-
Daily Record Friday 23 January page 27
Welsh newspapers
Search for ‘missing’ baby called off as police
inquiries continue
Police have called off a search for a newborn baby,
following the arrest of a woman for alleged child neglect.
Detectives halted the search for the ‘missing’ child
after it became unclear whether the woman from the Flint area in
north Wales had given birth to a child or had been pregnant at
all.
She was arrested amid claims that she had recently given birth, but
despite a widespread search, no child has been found.
Source:-
Western Mail Friday 23 January page 3
Childcare bill leaves family growing like Topsy
The cost of bringing up a family has rocketed over a
five-year period, according to a new report.
The Office for National Statistics study looked at factors such as
the cost of providing meals and looking after children. The report
found that the biggest increase was in paying for childcare, which
had risen by 81 per cent.
Source:-
Western Mail Friday 23 January page 5
Satellite technology used to protect domestic abuse
victims
Victims of domestic abuse are being protected by satellite
technology for the first time in West Wales.
The movements of vulnerable women are being tracked using specially
adapted phones that send signals to a control centre so that they
can be located if they experience problems.
If the user feels in danger, she can hit a panic button to alert
the police.
Source:-
Western Mail Friday 23 January page 5
