By Maria Ahmed, Shirley Kumar and Amy Taylor
Community judge appointed
Sheffield district judge David Fletcher has been appointed as the first community justice judge who will preside over the country’s first US-style one-stop crime shop.
He will move to Liverpool to head the £3m Community Justice Centre based on a scheme in Red Hook, New York.
Source:- The Guardian, Tuesday 19 October 2004, page 8
Missing mother found safe
A pregnant woman who went missing with her two sons has been found safe and well.
Louisa Vowles of Chignall, Smealy, near Chelmsford has a history of depression.
Source:- The Guardian, Tuesday 19 October 2004, page 8
Sicknote culture must end, GPs told
The work and pensions secretary Alan Johnson warned doctors to rethink the way in which they allowed people to claim incapacity benefit.
He signalled a change in procedure is included in the forthcoming public health white paper.
Source:- The Guardian, Tuesday 19 October 2004, page 12
Productivity in NHS shows decline on all measures despite increased spending
Office for National Statistics has found productivity in the health sector has fallen consistently since 1997 according to new figures.
Researchers concluded it fell between four and eight per cent in the six years to 2003.
Source:- The Financial Times, 19 October 2004, page 1
Government to fund trial of heroin clinics
The Home Office has agreed to fund treatment for heroin users that involves prescribing heroin rather than methadone.
The National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse said the government had agreed to trial three centres for an initial 18 months. It will involve clinics in Manchester and London.
Source:- The Financial Times, Tuesday 19 October 2004, page 2
Bail hostel closes after riot
A bail hostel in Nuneaton has closed after a “serious” race-related disturbance involving 100 people last week. The trouble began after hostel residents taunted local Muslims returning from Ramadan prayers.
Four residents were arrested for being in breach of bail conditions. A spokesman for the National Offender Management Service said that no residents or staff of the hostel had been injured.
Source:-The Times 19 October 2004 page 2
Antisocial OAP
Alexander Muat, 87, the oldest man in Britain to be given an anti-social behaviour order has appeared before Liverpool Crown Court accused of harassing his neighbours. Muat, who is profoundly deaf, denies seven counts of breaking his Asbo.
Source:-The Times 19 October 2004 page 2
‘It’s getting worse for vulnerable
parents’
Two months ago, The Daily Telegraph explored the problem of children being taken into care after their parents had been falsely accused of ill-treatment. Since then more than 40 couples have defied the rules of secrecy to tell of their own experiences.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph 19 October 2004 page
17
Welsh newspapers
Missing boy is found
A missing boy from Anglesey who has learning difficulties has been found safe and well 40 miles from his home.
A major police search was launched after the 12-year-old went missing from his home in Amlwch on Sunday. He was found in Rhyl, Denbighshire.
Source:- Western Mail, Tuesday, 19 October, page 9
‘Only 38 asylum seekers’
Some people living in Wrexham when race riots took place thought there were 6,000 asylum seekers in the town when there were only 38.
Source:- Western Mail, Tuesday, 19 October, page 17
Scottish newspapers
Convicts who sue cost public £1m
Prisoners who are suing the government under human rights laws could cost the Scottish taxpayer £1 million.
Figures show a huge rise in the number of inmates embarking on legal action and prison sources think the recent "slopping-out" case against the Scottish executive has acted as a catalyst to opportunists.
The number of applications for legal aid from prisoners has risen by more than 1,000 per cent from 17 in 2000-1 to 210 this year.
Source:- The Scotsman Tuesday 19 October
Life for serial sex offender who strangled boy, eight
A serial sex offender was jailed for life yesterday at Glasgow High Court for strangling an eight year old boy then dumping his body.
Stuart Leggate, who had three previous convictions for sexually assaulting children and who was on the sex offenders register when he committed the murder, confessed to killing Mark Cummings.
Source:- The Scotsman Tuesday 19 October
'Serious weakness' exposed in cities social work system
Scottish executive inspectors have claimed that "serious weaknesses" in Glasgow Council's social work department means offenders are not being encouraged to stop offending.
The quality of court reports was also weak, according to a report into the city's criminal justice social work department.
Source:-The Scotsman Tuesday 19 October
Jamieson says action needed to help cut re-offending
Justice minister Cathy Jamieson yesterday said persistent criminals need better treatment to prevent the "revolving door of re-offending".
A Scottish executive consultation exercise found a lack of services to help offenders reform.
Source:- The Scotsman Tuesday 19 October
Locals to be surveyed over fate of Sighthill
A social survey will target thousands of tenants in a bid to decide the fate of one of Scotland's most disadvantaged areas.
Almost 2,000 tenants will be canvassed in the consultation scheme by Glasgow Housing Association over Sighthill, which is notorious for tensions over asylum seekers.
Source:- The Herald Tuesday 19 October
Six accused are first to appear at special domestic abuse court
Six men charged with assaulting their wives or partners were the first accused to appear in Scotland’s first dedicated domestic abuse court yesterday.
All six pleaded not guilty to a series of charges. Four were given bail with a trial date at the beginning of December on the condition they did not contact their partners. Two were refusd bail and had trial dates set for next month.
Source:- The Herald Tuesday 19 October
