In Today's Papers

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

Migrants' 96 hours in police cells

Migrants are being held in police cells for excessive periods of up to 96 hours it has emerged.

The Metropolitan Police Authority are to complain to home secretary David Blunkett after a study of how immigration detainees are being treated in North London showed lengthy detentions.

The MPA and Scotland Yard are unhappy about the practice of detainees being held by the Met on behalf of the immigration service.

The research was carried out by Independent Custody Visitors, lay officials who monitor activity in police stations.

Source:- The Guardian Friday 15 April page 2

Union call for action on school violence

Parents of unruly children should be forced to attend compulsory behaviour management classes to help them to manage their youngsters, teachers have urged.

The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers, argued that lessons are required to help stem a rise in classroom violence.

The teachers made the call at its annual conference this week. It also renewed its demand for air-port style security checks in schools to reveal hidden weapons carried by pupils.

Source:- The Guardian Friday 15 April page 6

1m children living in unfit homes, says Shelter

More than a million children are living in inadequate housing that is damaging their health, according to a new report from Shelter.

Yesterday the charity launched its biggest ever campaign to tell the government that their pledge to cut child poverty will fail without improvements in the supply of adequate and affordable housing.

Source:- The Guardian Friday 15 April page 12

Happy Pill Britain

New research has revealed that four out of five GPs admit to over prescribing Prozac and similar drugs for those suffering from depression and anxiety.

Yesterday, a magazine survey claimed that more than half of all British women have taken anti-depressants at some time. However, some of those pills have terrible side-effects.

So, just what is the truth about the new avalanche of ‘happy pills’ being given out by doctors?

Source:- The Daily Mail Friday 16 April page 34

Deported Colombian is shot after losing plea to stay in UK

A father who fled to Britain with his wife and children when he lost four members of his family to a right-wing paramilitary group in Colombia has been shot.

Despite a campaign by his MP, an anti-deportation group and his local community in South Shields, immigration authorities repatriated Jhon Reyes-Prado and his family last month.

Campaigners have now been told that Reyes-Prado had been shot by two men on motorcycles.

He suffered severe injuries to his arm, and his wife and children now fear the attackers may also target them.

Source:- The Independent Friday 16 April page 2

Drinkers believe alcohol is healthy

A growing number of people believe that drinking alcohol is good for their health, according to a new study.

Twenty six per cent of those surveyed said they drank because they believed it had health benefits, up from 19 per cent in a similar survey two years ago.

A worrying 21 per cent of men and 14 per cent of women said alcohol was good for relieving stress in the study by Mintel.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Friday 16 April page 6

Father arrested minutes after baby’s death

A couple were told they were to be questioned by police about the death of their 10-week-old baby daughter, minutes after doctors had turned off her life support machine, a court heard yesterday.

Mark Latta and his wife Sharon were approached in the hospital by police officers. They were arrested and held in separate cells and Mr Latta was later charged with his daughter’s murder.

The prosecution alleged that Latta lost his temper and struck his daughter against a hard surface at his home when he had gone upstairs to feed her.

Latta denies murder. The case continues.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Friday 16 April page 11

Scottish newspapers

Boy, 15, appears on Jodi murder charge with mother at his side

A 15-year-old boy appeared in court yesterday charged with the murder of Jodi Jones.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court. He made no plea or declaration and was committed for further examination and remanded to secure accommodation.

The boy was also charged in relation to an allegation under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. His mother was arrested and charged with trying to pervert the course of justice.

Source:- The Herald Friday 16 April

Scots police on trail of web paedophiles

Members of a multi-national members-only paedophile gang, thought to be living in Scotland, are being tracked by police.


The men, thought to be connected to a secret paedophile ring called The Shadows Brotherhood, are being hunted by specialist officers at Strathclyde police. They were identified through Operation Auckland, an international investigation launched in 2001.

It is thought the group exchange pornographic images of children through a password only internet “club”.

Source:- The Herald Friday 16 April

Knife killer blames antidepressant for his aggression

A man has blamed the antidepressant drug Seroxat for turning him into a knife killer.

Charles Simpson was jailed for life yesterday and told by Lord Bracadale that he would serve 14 years before being eligible for parole. Simpson denies murdering David Todd in 2002.

After the trial at the High Court in Glasgow, Simpson’s family claimed his aggressive behaviour was triggered by Seroxat, prescribed for his depression. Simpson’s counsel Edward Targowski QC claimed Simpson had mental health problems at the time of the killing.

Source:- The Herald Friday 16 April

Councils criticised for increase in employee numbers

Local authorities were attacked by the Conservative party yesterday after it emerged that the number of people employed by Scottish councils had increased by almost 5,000.

There were 244,393 full time staff working for Scottish councils in the 12 months to December 2002 – a rise of 4,734 on the previous December.

The Tories said the increase was an example of the “big state” approach adopted by Labour and the Liberal Democrats. But councils insisted the increase was a direct result of more frontline staff such as social workers and teachers.

Source:- The Scotsman Friday 16 April

Sick Kids respite service to expand

An outreach service which provides care for severely disabled children in their home is set to be expanded across the Lothians.

The Royal Hospital for Sick Children scheme will be rolled out to more families in the Lothians next month following a successful 18-month pilot.

The scheme provides respite care to young people with exceptional healthcare needs.

Source:- Evening News Thursday 15 April

City study to aid children with autism

A new project by academics at Queen Margaret University College could help autistic children communicate.

The Economic and Social Research Council has awarded the college a grant of £178,000 to investigate ways in which children with Asperger’s Syndrome communicate.

Source:- Evening News Thursday 15 April

Teacher is cleared of groping girl, 14

A teacher was yesterday cleared of groping a 14-year-old girl.

English teacher Malcolm Sutcliffe told Elgin Sheriff Court that he may have touched the girl’s breast accidentally.

But Sheriff Ian Cameron cleared him of the assault and said the case was a “salutary illustration” of how vulnerable teachers are to false of misconceived accusations.

Source:- Daily Record Friday 16 April page 9

Battle to halt kids’ housing squalor

A million children are homeless or living in slum conditions in Britain, it emerged yesterday.

It is estimated that the health of 100,000 Scottish children is blighted by the crisis and housing charity Shelter yesterday called on the government to tackle the problem.

The charity’s ‘Million Children’ campaign was launched in Glasgow and London.

Source:- Daily Record Friday 16 April page 15

Welsh newspapers

Hostel fire treated as suspicious

Police are treating a fire that killed man in a south Wales hostel as suspicious.

South Wales fire service investigators are now trying to establish the cause of the fire at the Moors Hostel in Rogiet. 

It is believed that Sean Barrett, who had lived at the hostel for 18 months, was killed in the fire. Police are now calling for anyone with information to come forward.

Source:- South Wales Argus Thursday 15 April page 5

Children’s magician on sex charge

A children’s magician has appeared in court charged with a sexual assault on a girl under 16.

Eric Blackledge faces four charges of indecent assault that are alleged to have occurred during the 1990s. He has been granted bail on the condition that he only works when accompanied by his wife.

Source:- South Wales Echo Thursday 15 April page 1