In Today's Papers

By Amy Taylor, Clare Jerrom and Alex Dobson.

‘Hopelessly naïve’ plan for Carr’s release dropped
A secret plan for Maxine Carr’s release that involved her living with her father in a village near her home town of Grimsby has been dropped because it was “naïve”.
The plan was devised by a public protection panel led by probation officers.
It proposed that Carr would be able to return to her normal life quickly without being hassled, but Home Office officials have stopped the scheme believing it underestimated the threat to Carr.

Source:- The Times Friday 7 May page 7
Call for charities to run some public services
The Labour government should pass the running of some public services to charities if it wins a third term in office, Alan Milburn, the former secretary of state for health said yesterday.
Milburn is advising Blair on Labour’s election manifesto.
Source:- The Independent Friday 7 May page 2
Pervert must stay away from all children
A disabled man is the first person to be issued with a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) since the law took effect last Saturday.
The order, which is designed to stop paedophiles, means that Kevin Fisher is banned from all contact with children anywhere in Britain.
Source:- The Daily Mail Friday 7 May page 22
Victim ends hunger strike
A child abuse survivor has called off his 22 day hunger strike protest against what he termed as the unfair and degrading treatment of survivors who have sought compensation.
Tom Sweeny endured five years of physical and sexual abuse in industrial schools in the 1960s.
He was making his protest on the steps of the Irish parliament.
Source:- The Guardian Friday 7 May page 11
Scottish newspapers
Urgent social work review after failings in abuse case
Social work services across Scotland will face an urgent review in the wake of two disturbing reports into the case of a woman who was systematically abused while in the care of Scottish Borders Council.
Minister for education and young people Peter Peacock promised immediate and wide ranging action following the damning reports, which revealed failings at every level in social work ad health care services over a 30-year-period.
The reports, which uncovered abuse of three additional victims, made 42 recommendations for the council, the health services, police and the Scottish executive.
The recommendations call for a review of social work, a tougher inspection regime, legislation to protect vulnerable people and checks to establish whether any staff members involved were still working in social services.
Source:- The Scotsman Friday 7 May
Reliance faces no financial penalty for mistaken release of killer
Reliance Security will face no penalties for mistakenly releasing the teenage murderer James McCormick.
‘The Scotsman’ has learned that the contract between the Scottish executive and the prison escort firm, which provides the private firm with a margin of error for mistakenly releasing a certain number of prisoners each year, makes no distinction between the accidental release of minor and serious offenders.
Source:- The Scotsman Friday 7 May
Father falsely accused of abuse drops social work legal action
A father who was falsely accused of sexually abusing his daughter was yesterday forced to abandon a lawsuit against a social work department, which investigated the claims.
Jim Fairlie launched a £250,000 legal action against the NHS and Perth Council in 1995 claiming their actions had ruined his life. Social workers became involved after psychiatrists used a controversial therapy, which has since been discredited, to extract memories from his daughter Katrina, who claimed he abused her.
Fairlie yesterday withdrew his case after he was told by lawyers that even if he could prove his allegations, he would still not have a case.
Source:- The Scotsman Friday 7 May
MSPs back controversial police powers bill
Plans to give police new powers to disperse groups of young people have squeezed through the latest stage of their progress through Scottish Parliament.

MSPs on the communities committee voted five against four to approve the powers in the Antisocial Behaviour Bill despite widespread opposition.
Source:- Evening News Thursday 6 May
Children’s hearings in the spotlight
The review of the children’s hearing system is set to be discussed at a public meeting in Edinburgh next week.
Minister for Young People Peter Peacock will attend the meeting at the festival theatre on Monday. The review aims to encourage discussion on challenges facing the system.
Source:- Evening News Thursday 6 May
Anger as appeal judges cut child porn sentence
Sexual abuse campaigners were outraged yesterday after a man convicted of collecting thousands of images of child pornography had his sentence reduced on appeal.
Judges at the court of appeal said sheriff Colin Miller failed to take account of the effect that James McGaffney’s conviction would have on his life. McGaffney lost his job at Paisley University and had to move from his home in Ayrshire after his crimes became known.
Lord Macfadyen and Lord McEwan said McGaffney should have been given a lesser sentence for pleading guilty to the charges. He was originally sentenced to 27 months, but jail terms totalling 18 months were substituted when his appeal was allowed. He will also have to serve a two-year extension period under supervision.
Source:- The Herald Friday 7 May
Schools ask for refugee cash aid
The head of a secondary school in Glasgow urged the education minister to provide more Scottish executive funding to support the hundreds of asylum seeker children who are being educated in the city’s schools.
Chris Nairn, headteacher at St Roch’s secondary school where 110 of the 800 pupils are from asylum seeking families, told Peter Peacock that these people would be unable to fulfil their potential without more support.
Source:- The Herald Friday 7 May 2004
Welsh newspapers
Stuck in hospital because there was no social worker
An 89-year-old woman had to stay in hospital for more than three weeks after breaking her wrist because no social worker was available to assess her needs.
Now the family of Olive Breakwell from Abergavenny say that they fear many other older people are blocking NHS beds because of the problem of finding social workers to carry out care assessments.
An investigation is now under way into the failure of Monmouthshire social services to provide a care assessment.
Source:- South Wales Argus Thursday 6 May page 4
Damning diagnosis
A damning Audit Commission report into the state of the Welsh NHS is calling for urgent and radical steps to improve services for patients.
In a scathing overview of the problems within the Welsh NHS the report highlights problems at the heart of the service within its structure and management. The report also endorses ‘root and branch’ reforms as outlined in the Wanless report on health and social care published last year.
Source:- Western Mail Friday 7 May page 1
Plaid steps into Children’s Commissioner row
Prime Minister Tony Blair is being urged to enter the row between the Welsh children’s commissioner and children’s minister Margaret Hodge.
Plaid Cymru’s Hywel Williams, MP for Caernarfon, has written to Tony Blair highlighting the dispute between Peter Clarke and the UK children’s minister.
Margaret Hodge has attacked the work of the commissioner accusing him of losing sight of the bigger picture on child welfare in Wales.
Source:- Western Mail Friday 7 May page 2