In Today's Papers

By Maria Ahmed, Simeon Brody, Derren Hayes and Amy Taylor

Mother killed by ‘unstable’ son

A woman was stabbed to death by her son three days after her husband had pleaded for him to be sectioned under the Mental Health Act, a court was told yesterday.

Philip Wayne, a paranoid schizophrenic, stabbed Maxine Penfold after she complained about him smoking in the family home in Devon. Doctors had told Penfold’s husband that nothing could be done and to ignore Wayne’s increasingly irrational and aggressive behaviour.

The Devon Partnership NHS Health Trust are to hold an inquiry into Wayne’s treatment.

Source:- The Times Tuesday 24 May 2005 page 23

TUC blacklists grandmas and youths

Grandmas and youths are out but black coffee is fine, according to a new guide for politically correct language by the TUC.

“Youth” carries connotations of inexperience, impetuosity, and unreliability or even dishonesty, the guide says, recommending the use of the term “young people” instead.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Tuesday 24 May 2005 page 1

One in four teenage boys thinks he may need cosmetic surgery

The obsession with body image has spread from girls to boys, according to research published today which says that eight in 10 teenage males are unhappy with their appearance.

A quarter thought they may have cosmetic surgery, the research published in the British Journal of Developmental Psychology says.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Tuesday 24 May 2005 page 11

Will they let you die with dignity?

Older people are discriminated against in the care they get when they are near death

Source:- The Times  T2 Tuesday 24 May 2005 page 10-11

‘Uneducable’ man who learnt to beat disability

Mark Ellis, who was born with cerebral palsy, was given the “individual learner of the year” award for triumphing over adversity as part of Adult Learner’s Week.

Source:- The Independent Tuesday 24 May 2005 page 11

Pubs ban happy hours to curb binge drinking

More than half of Britain’s pubs promised to stop selling cut-price alcohol through drink promotions and happy hours.

The British Beer and Pub Association announced that cheap deals will be banned by its members, saying it was doing its bit to combat binge drinking and anti-social behaviour.

Source:-The Guardian Tuesday 24 May 2005 page 5

Safety fear for mental health staff

Three-quarters of nurses on mental health wards in England and Wales have been attacked or threatened by patients who were often under the influence of drugs, an audit published by the Healthcare Commission finds.

The audit, carried out by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, shows 34 per cent of patients had personal experience of being attacked or threatened, rising to 76 per cent for full-time staff.

Source:-The Guardian Tuesday 24 May 2005 page 6

Homes plan is backward step, says rural campaign

Government plans for new homes in the south-east will threaten green fields and undermine hard-won progress to rebuild inner cities, the Campaign to Protect Rural England claimed.

The government is expected to make an announcement on house-building in the south-east and plans to help first-time buyers tomorrow.

Source:-The Guardian Tuesday 24 May 2005 page 13

Villagers who aren’t needy enough to be given a lottery grant

A rural community has been told it cannot have a lottery grant to build a village hall because it will not benefit enough asylum seekers or ethnic minorities.


Residents of the villages of Sandiway and Cuddingham, in Cheshire, had hoped to replace their crumbling building with a new one to hold dances and concerts.

Source:- Daily Mail Tuesday 24 May 2005 page 10

Why Pension Credit “can’t be sustained”

Pension Credit is “unsustainable” because it is destroying the incentive to save, says Adair Turner head of the government’s Pension Commission.

Turner warns that Britain cannot end up with more than half of its 11 million pensioners on the means-tested handout.

Source:- Daily Mail Tuesday 24 May 2005 page 18

Scottish news

Head of troubled NHS 24 services quits

The head of NHS 24 Christine Lenihan has resigned with immediate effect from the £47 million-a-year service.

Her four-year appointment as chair was not due to end until August, but it is believed a report out later this week will severely criticise the telephone helpline.

Lenihan's departure from the £25,000-a-year post follows months of complaints from the public.

Source:- The Herald Tuesday 24 May

Police chief wants yobs fined on-the-spot

A senior Scottish police officer called yesterday for those who commit minor acts of anti-social behaviour to be given fixed-penalty fines instead of appearing in court because he does not believe prison works for them.

Malcolm Dickson, deputy chief constable of Lothian and Borders, said that low-level offences such as urinating in the street and vandalism should be dealt with by on-the-spot fines.

In Tayside, police officers issued 72 £40 fines for anti-social behaviour in the first week of a trial scheme.

Source:- The Scotsman Tuesday 24 May

Welsh news

Two-for-one drinks go on as happy hour bites dust

A Welsh drugs and alcohol charity has warned that Britain’s trend for binge drinking has not been adequately curtailed by measures to crack down on happy hours.

The British Beer and Pub Association has announced that cheap alcohol sales, including happy hours, will be banned by its 32,000 members but it has admitted that two for one drinks offers will still be allowed.

The Welsh charity CAIS welcomed the move but said that by allowing two-for-one offers the industry was still encouraging people to drink larger amounts.

Source:- Western Mail Tuesday 24 May

More sensible to scrap health boards

Scrapping all of Wales’ local health boards is preferable to the Welsh Assembly’s plans to bring three quangos under the direct control of the civil service, a leading academic has argued.

Professor Kevin Morgan, says that if the plans really aimed to raise the quality of the public services in Wales then he would have expected the 22 health boards to have been dismantled first because of public dismay with health services.

The quangos being dissolved include the regeneration body the Welsh Development Agency.

Source:- Western Mail Tuesday 24 May