In Today's Papers

By Natasha Salari, Clare Jerrom and Alex Dobson.

How can a woman of 92 in agony with a broken leg be a ‘low priority’?
An elderly woman who broke her leg lay on a pavement for more than an hour before an ambulance arrived.
Ethel Harris died three days later from a blood clot after under going surgery on the fracture.
The London Ambulance Service has explained the delay by saying that the 999 call had been treated as ‘low priority’.
Harris slipped and fell as she was putting rubbish out at her home in Enfield, north London. Neighbours called for an ambulance three times before one arrived 77 minutes later.

Source:- The Daily Mail Friday 19 March page 45
Chronic illness doubles in the young
Record numbers of children and young adults are suffering chronic illness, according to new figures.
One in six children under five now suffer from a long-standing illness, compared with four per cent in 1972. Chronic conditions have more than doubled among five to 15-year-olds, from eight per cent 30 years ago to one in five in 2002. A quarter of people aged 16 to 44 now suffer from a long-term illness, according to the figures from the Office for National Statistics.
Source:- The Independent Friday 19 March page  6
Husband’s rape appeal fails
Men can be convicted of raping their wives whenever the attack occurred, the court of appeal has ruled.
Three judges dismissed a challenge by a man who assaulted his wife in 1970, more than 20 years before judges ruled that marital rape was a crime.
The appeal was brought by Barry Crooks, aged 58, who was jailed at Hull crown court in 2002 for assaults on four women, including his former wife.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph Friday 19 March page 2
Blow to fathers as custody scheme is ditched
Ministers are about to put an end to part of a plan to cut the number of bitter court battles between parents over child contact.
The Department for Constitutional Affairs was set to pilot “early intervention” this year, under which separating parents would be presented with parenting plans.
Based on an idea that has reduced the number of court battles over children in the US, the plans would give both divorced parents generous time with their children.
Now the initiative has been taken over by the Department for Education and Skills, but the model under consideration is a more ad hoc scheme by which parents would be helped by mediation to work out their own plans.
Source:- The Guardian Friday 19 March page 5
Social worker cleared of rape
Social worker Graham Leatherland has been cleared at Northampton crown court of raping a 14-year-old girl at the St John’s Centre children’s home in Northamptonshire in the late 1980s.
Source:- The Guardian Friday 19 March page 6
Young women embrace the binge culture
A national survey of 20,000 households in Britain has found that young women aged 16 to 24 drank an average of 14.1 units of alcohol a week in 2002, compared with 11 units in 1998.
Young men of the same age drank more than women, but their alcohol intake was on a downward trend, averaging 21.5 units a week in 2002, compared with 25.5 in 1998.
The survey, from the Office for National Statistics, also revealed that over the last four years the proportion of 16 and 17-year-olds on the pill increased from 17 to 24 per cent.
Source:- The Guardian Friday 19 March page 9
Blind man killed intruder in self-defence
An intruder who was fatally stabbed when he broke into the home of a 63-year-old blind man was lawfully killed, a coroner has ruled.
Lee Kelso, aged 23, had been on a seven-hour drinking session when he kicked in the front door of Thomas O’Connor’s home in Stockport, greater Manchester.
O’Connor, who is registered blind, told police he had stabbed Kelso in self-defence using a knife kept in his lounge for protection.
The coroner, sitting at Stockport magistrates court, ruled that the killing had been lawful.
Source: The Guardian Friday 19 March page 9

Scottish newspapers
‘Politically incorrect’ crackdown on gangs dropped by murder hunt police
A high level investigation into a clampdown on the emergence of an Asian gang culture in Glasgow has been abandoned by Strathclyde after the operation was deemed politically incorrect.
Police and community leaders in the Pollokshields area of Glasgow called for calm following increased public concern over the kidnap and murder of Kriss Donald.
As detectives hunt for the 15-year-old’s killer, it emerged that Operation Gadher, a police operation designed to tackle the growth of Asian gang culture, was stopped six months ago amid fears that it was not politically correct.
Source:- The Scotsman Friday 19 March
End strike and win review, nurses told
Striking nursery nurses were told by Jack McConnell that he would support a review of the profession if they settled a pay dispute.
The first minister said in parliament yesterday there was a “case” for a review, but he said he would not consider setting up one until the employers and unions had settled their differences.
Source:- The Scotsman Friday 19 March
Care homes to have sprinklers in wake of fatal fire
Communities minister Mary Mulligan announced yesterday that all new and converted care homes, sheltered housing and tower blocks will have to fit fire sprinklers.
Builders will have to install sprinkler systems before 1 May 2005, and the minister promised tougher guidance for existing buildings, especially residential care homes.
The move follows a fatal fire at a Lanarkshire care home last month in which 14 older people died.
Source:- The Scotsman Friday 19 March
Kurds end hunger strike
Three Kurdish asylum seekers ended their hunger strike last night, just hours after first minister Jack McConnell urged the group to reconsider their protest.
Fariborz Gravindi, Mokhtar Haydary and Faroq Haidari from Iran had sewn their lips together after the government rejected their applications for asylum. For almost a month, the men have survived solely on small amounts of water.
Last night they announced they would end their strike following the “overwhelming” support they had gained for their cause. They pledged to continue their fight to stay in the UK.
Source:- The Scotsman Friday 19 March
Welsh newspapers
Stay away from our children
In one of the first cases of its kind, a paedophile who assaulted a teenage girl at a swimming pool, has been banned from every sports centre in the UK.
The special order was made against Christopher Padday, aged 46, who was also jailed for 12 months after he had admitted indecent assault on the 15-year-old. He has been placed on the sex offender’s register for 10 years and banned from working with children.
Source:- Western Mail Friday 19 March page 1
Father loses appeal to have access to children
A father denied access to his children after a history of domestic violence against their mother, has been told that he will not be granted contact with them, in spite of his claims that the violence has not affected them.
The man from Swansea, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had attacked his wife in the presence of his children. Judges in the court of appeal ruled that his behaviour had alarmed and distressed his two children.
Source:- Western Mail Friday 19 March page 5