In Today's Papers

By Amy Taylor, Clare Jerrom and Alex Dobson.

Carr accused of lying to get school job
Maxine Carr has been charged with lying about her qualifications in her application to work at a primary school in Soham, Cambridgeshire and benefit fraud.
Carr is being charged with seven offences of benefit fraud against North Lincolnshire Council. She faces a further five charges involving false information about her qualifications in a number of job applications going back to 1996.
She is due to appear before Peterborough magistrates on 26 March.

Source:- The Financial Times Friday 12 March page 6
Town hall strikes nearer after pay talks fail
The chance of a national council worker strike came nearer yesterday when pay talks broke down.
Councils are under pressure to keep wages down to prevent high council tax rises. Such rises were recently heavily criticised by the government.
Over 1 million workers are considering industrial action after rejecting an offer of 7 per cent over three years.
Source:- The Financial Times Friday 12 March page 6
Law Lords condemn 'grim' prison suicide rates
The Law Lords ordered a fresh inquest into the death of a woman prisoner that is likely to lead to an overhaul of the inquest system.
The Lords condemned the "grim" suicide rates among prisoners after Sheena Creamer, aged 22, was found dead at New Hall prison near Wakefield, West Yorkshire, while on remand for an offence of dishonesty.
The review would make it easier for juries to protest about official failings allowing them to speak out if they feel neglect contributed to deaths.
Source:- The Independent Friday 12 March, page 13
Call to halt rise in woman jailed for shoplifting
Campaigners have called for women, who do not pose any public danger, to avoid prison in the wake of new Home Office figures showing that one in three women in prison are there for shoplifting.
Smart Justice said that more community-based sentences should be used as an alternative.
Source:- The Guardian Friday 12 March page 7
Keep Seroxat dose low, doctors told
Thousands of patients have been prescribed too high dose of Seroxat, the anti-depressant drug that is alleged to cause a minority of those who take it to become suicidal or violent, according to the regulatory authority.
The Committee of the Safety of Medicines has told doctors not to put patients on doses higher than 20mg. The risk of side effects is increased by higher doses.
Source:- The Guardian Friday 12 March page 7
Research raises doubt on 'shaken baby evidence'
New research has raised doubts about the safety of shaken baby syndrome convictions.
A study has found that babies' brains can be injured during birth far more easily than was previously thought.
Brain scans on 111 healthy newborn babies at Royal Hampshire Hospital, Sheffield, found that eight per cent had undiagnosed brain bleeding.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph Friday 12 March page 13
Fight trade in children, minister urges Blair
Increasing evidence of high levels of child trafficking in children from West Africa and Eastern Europe has lead to a leading politician calling on the prime minister to make combating the issue a high priority.
Harriet Harman QC, the solicitor general, is asking Tony Blair to make a manifesto pledge to tackle the trade in children and women. She has made the request after meeting thousands of homeless children vulnerable to trafficking in Sierra Leone.
Source:- The Times Friday 12 March page 17
Scottish newspapers
Nursery nurses take pay demand to the parliament
Hundreds of Scottish nursery nurses striking in favour of better pay took their demands to the Scottish parliament yesterday.
Around 300 women lobbied MSPs as they turned up for a Holyrood debate on the issue.
Although nine councils have agreed local settlements, Unison wants a national agreement to be struck.
Source:- The Scotsman Friday 12 March
McConnell hits back after attack on crime bill
First minister Jack McConnell yesterday struck back at criticism of the Antisocial Behaviour Bill by a senior police chief in his own constituency.
Chief superintendent Tom Buchan said earlier in the week that giving police powers to disperse groups of youths were unnecessary.

Yesterday in the Scottish parliament, McConnell said Buchan’s comments were regrettable and he thought he was wrong.
Source:- The Scotsman Friday 12 March
Gipsy attacks councils ‘jobs racism’
Perth and Kinross Council was taken to an employment tribunal yesterday after a Scottish gypsy claimed she was racially discriminated against when she failed to secure a job at the local authority.
Roseanna McPhee claims she was passed over for a job as a Gaelic development officer because of her “gypsy traveller” origins.
The council claims her lack of a driving licence prevented her from getting the job.
Source:- The Scotsman Friday 12 March
Owners of home where 14 died hope to reopen in summer
The owners of Rosepark Nursing Home in Lanarkshire where 14 older people died after a fire, have said they hope to re-open the home in the summer.
Forensic experts have now moved into the site after police inquiries at the scene were concluded, and they will compile their own report.
Tom and Anne Balmer have said once all their inquiries were completed they hope to move residents back into the home for the start of summer.
Source:- The Scotsman Friday 12 March
Girl’s mother to sue council over attack in school
A mother of a girl with special needs is to sue Lothian education chiefs after her daughter was assaulted by a parent who walked into the building unchecked.
Stephanie Galloway spent two nights in hospital after she was attacked by Doreen Ramsay, who is believed to be the mother of another pupil at St David’s High School in Dalkeith.
Ramsay pleaded guilty to two charges of assault to injury at Edinburgh sheriff court and was sentenced to two years’ probation.
Source:- Evening News Thursday 11 March
Attack thugs get 7 years
Two teenagers who attacked a man to the extent that he will have to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair were each imprisoned for seven years yesterday.
Christopher Nugent suffered permanent brain damage after being severely beaten by the two attackers.
Only one of the attackers, Paul Currie, can be named as the other is 15-years-old and as a juvenile cannot be identified.
Source:- Daily Record Friday 12 March page 36
Welsh newspapers
Hospital child safety concern
Wales’ largest hospital has been accused of putting young people at risk after adults were treated in the same ward as children.
Due to a shortage of beds at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, a small number of adults were treated on a designated children’s ward.
An unnamed paediatric doctor said that having adults on the ward poses a risk to children. He said that all staff working on the children’s ward have been police checked, but adult patients have not.
A spokesperson for the hospital said that the safety of young people on the ward had not been compromised.
Source:- Western Mail Friday 12 March page 2
Stickers to encourage children to eat their five portions of fruit and veg
Children are to be encouraged to eat healthily by giving them stickers to record their fruit and vegetable intake.
The British Heart Foundation is launching a new ‘Peel and Stick 5-a-Day Activity Sheet’, to help encourage parents and teachers to promote healthy eating amongst children.
Source:- Western Mail Friday 12 March page 6
Roadshows will promote foster caring
Foster care is being promoted in a series of roadshows across south west Wales this week.
Staff from Foster Care Alliance based in Swansea, are raising awareness of issues surrounding foster care by taking information in a special trailer to town centres across the area.
Source:- Western Mail Friday 12 March page 8