In Today's Papers

By Clare Jerrom, Mithran Samuel and Derren Hayes

Others may join Sedgemore’s revolt, Blair told

Income inequality remains unchanged after eight years of Labour rule, according to a report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

However the report says that if not for Labour’s tax credit policies, the gap between rich and poor would have widened.

Source:- The Independent Wednesday 27 April 2005 page 4

Staff blamed for death of prison inmate

The prison ombudsman labelled the imprisonment of mentally ill and drug dependent women as “disproportionate, ineffective and unkind” in a report the government has refused to publish.

Stephen Shaw’s report, which has been seen by The Independent, investigated the deaths of six women, including 18-year-old Sarah Campbell, at Styal prison.

In an inquest yesterday, a jury found that a nurse at the prison had been at fault in the fatal overdose of one of the women, Julie Walsh, for leaving a trolley containing antidepressants unattended.

Source:- The Independent Wednesday 27 April 2005 page 6

Prime Minister ‘booed by rebellious pupils” as he opens school building

Two Fathers for Justice campaigners tried to handcuff themselves to education secretary Ruth Kelly at a meeting in her Bolton constituency last night.

Police tried to arrest the men but they managed to escape.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Wednesday 27 April page 8

Work plan for skilled refugees

Failed asylum seekers who cannot be returned to their country of origin could be allowed to stay and work in the UK if they are highly skilled.

Home secretary Charles Clarke confirmed this in a television debate last night.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Wednesday April 27 page 9

British condemned as racists over attitude to gypsies

Former union leader Rodney Bickerstaffe has said the public’s attitude to gypsies and travellers reflects a “racist streak” in the country at a conference on the issue.

He also blamed politicians and the media for a rise in racially motivated attacks on travellers.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Wednesday 27 April page 10

Mother of five stabbed at hostel

A care worker was stabbed to death on at a hostel for single parents in Crawley before her attacker tried to set fire to the building.

Melanie Gray, who works as a chaperone for children with special needs, was temporarily staying with her boyfriend at the hostel.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Wednesday 27 April page 12

Victims of crime ‘to get own lawyer in court’

Labour pledged yesterday that victims of crime would get their own lawyers to represent them in court.

A Labour spokesperson said “victims’ advocates” would be able to appear in murder cases on behalf of the dead person’s next of kin and to represent the victim in rape cases.

Source:- The Times  Wednesday 27 April page 2

Health workers back legal prostitution call

Moves to decriminalise prostitution for health reasons are being backed by nurses.

The Royal College of Nursing annual congress at Harrogate yesterday heard how the law forces prostitutes into a situation where they are stigmatised and denied healthcare.

The congress approved the resolution by a vote of 355 to 83 with 21 abstentions.

Source:- The Times  Wednesday 27 April page 16

Billie-Jo jury told of wife’s fears

The former wife of Sion Jenkins, accused of killing his foster daughter Billie-Jo in 1997, told the Old Bailey yesterday of her fears about the way her former husband had acted at a press conference three days after Billie-Jo’s death.

Lois Jenkins said she thought his behaviour meant he had murdered the 13-year-old and she later became hysterical when told that scientific evidence linked him to the crime.

Jenkins denies murder.

Source:- The Times  Wednesday 27 April page 4

Migrants more than paying their way, report says

A study published today shows that migrants in Britain are more than paying their way and contributing more to the public purse than anyone else.

The research by the Institute for Public Policy Research shows that although the migrant workforce makes up 8.7 per cent of the population, it contributes 10.2 per cent of all the income tax collected.

Source:- The Guardian  Wednesday 27 April page 7

Get out of jail early

Burglars, thieves and dangerous drivers are to be released from prison early under new sentencing rules.

Lord chief justice Lord Woolf ordered that courts will cut 15 per cent from the sentences of those who are considered to pose no risk of violence to the public.

Source:- Daily Mail  Wednesday 27 April page 4

700,000 pupils a year play truant

Around 700,000 secondary school pupils are playing truant from school each year despite an eight year truancy crackdown costing around £1 billion, the Tories claimed today.

Unauthorised absences have increased by 10 per cent in the last year alone, according to figures launched today by the Conservative party.

Source:- Daily Mail  Wednesday 27 April page 17

I dropped the baby

An au pair yesterday admitted dropping a baby after feeling dizzy.

Ewa Nowakowska said she stumbled, then heard a bang and saw Jonathan Adeleye lying at the foot of the bed.

The Old Bailey heard how she said she saw him blinking rapidly and picked him up and put him back in his cot.


The polish au pair denies murder.

The trial continues.

Source:- Daily Mail  Wednesday 27 April page 24

Half of all children are logging on to porn sites

Millions of young internet users are routinely logging on to pornographic websites while their parents have no idea, according to research.

More than half have viewed explicit material on websites while a quarter have been sent junk pornographic emails, according to the research by the London School of Economics.

Source:- Daily Mail  Wednesday 27 April page 25

Warm heart of steel

A UN programme aims to resettle 500 refugees a year in the UK. But political jitters have led to only two councils singing up to the scheme.

Source:- Society Guardian  Wednesday 27 April page 8

Across the divide

Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland are helping to build their own and each other’s houses as part of an affordable housing scheme striving to bring the two communities together.

Source:- Society Guardian  Wednesday 27 April page 10

What else can I do?

After five years in internet marketing, Lizzie feels she is at a dead end and wonders if the public sector would offer her a fresh challenge.

Source:- Society Guardian  Wednesday 27 April page 100

Scottish news

How concentrating on helping drug addicts neglects families

Drug agencies are overlooking the problems experienced by addicts' families, according to a new study.

The report, by Glasgow University, said concentration on abusers themselves meant the severe impact on parents and siblings was being "eclipsed".

Family members who tried to help a drug addict often suffered stress, anxiety and other health problems, the study said.

Source:- The Herald Wednesday 27 April

Children 'must no longer go to jail'

Scotland’s chief inspector of prisons last night demanded urgent action to end the "shocking" practice of sending children to adult prisons.

Dr Andrew McLellan launched a scathing attack on the policy after unveiling his report into Kilmarnock jail, which revealed five 15-year-old boys were sent there in the last year because there was nowhere suitable to put them.

Following his inspection of Scotland’s only privately run jail, he said the prison "regularly" found itself forced to contain children.

Source:- The Scotsman Wednesday 27 April

Booze doc says start ‘em young

Dr Paul Skett, a senior lecturer in pharmacology at Glasgow University, says children should be served in pubs to educate them about the dangers of binge drinking.

He has called for new laws that would let barmen serve alcohol to children from the "earliest feasible age".

Dr Skett says the idea would solve Scotland's binge-drinking culture by normalising alcohol, similar to the approach taken in France.

Source:- Daily Record Wednesday 27 April

Welsh news

Four sons killed – but now I’m a mum again

A woman whose husband gassed their four children to death has spoken at her joy of becoming a mum again.

Samantha Tolley was forced to listen on the mobile phone as Keith Young killed their sons in a Jeep in March 2003 after they separated.

Tolley said the birth of her son called Morghan is helping her to deal with the grief of losing her four sons Joshua, Thomas, Callum and Daniel.

Source:- Western Mail  Wednesday 27 April

Bullies forced boy ‘to watch Iraq execution’

The parents of a child who claims bullies forced him to watch the execution of Ken Bigley on the internet, are to take legal action against the school.

Nathaniel Titley has dysphraxia and claims he has been bullied so badly he cannot face going to school.

However, the headteacher at Cathays High School, Cardiff, claims his parents have not raised the matter with the school.

Source:- Western Mail  Wednesday 27 April

Two accused of murdering homeless addict

Two men who were jailed for an attack on a homeless drug addict have gone on trial for murder after his death.

David Davies and Daniel Shannon, who lived in a series of homeless hostels in Swansea, both deny separate charges of murder.

Swansea Crown Court heard how the men carried out a violent attack on Peter Bowen and left him unconscious and fighting for his life. He fell into a deep coma and died of bronchopneumonia brought on by long-standing brain damage in February 2004.
Davies and Shannon had previously pleaded guilty to unlawful grievous bodily harm in December 2000.

Source:- IC Wales  Tuesday 26 April