By Mithran Samuel, Amy Taylor and Derren
Hayes
Honour-killing victim told police four times of fears father would
murder her
Campaigners have demanded an Independent Police Complaints
Commission investigation police handling of the case of a woman who
was murderered of a 20-year-old woman by her father and his brother
in a so-called honour killing.
Following the conviction of Mahmod Mahmod and his brother Ari
Mahmod, from south London, for murdering Banaz Mahmod, it emerged
that she had told police four times that she feared for her life,
but an officer concluded she was making the story up.
PC Angela Cornes later told the jury she had been instructed to
doctor evidence by a detective to present the inquiry in a better
light.
Banaz was murdered because of a relationship she had with a man
of whom her family disapproved.
Source:- The Independent Tuesday 12 June 2007 page
11
Buy-to-let landlords ‘must help disabled’
The government will today publish a green paper on modernising
anti-discrimination regulation, which will include plans to force
landlords to adapt properties for disabled tenants and outlaw age
bias in the provision of goods and services.
Source:- The Times Tuesday 12 June 2007 page 9
Prisoners ‘locked out’ as jails hit full capacity
A record 550 new prisoners were prevented from entering jails
yesterday due to overcrowding and were forced to spend the night in
police or court cells.
Source:- The Times Tuesday 12 June 2007 page 22
Government ‘must protect children from divorce harm’
Children’s and family support charities have called for more
support for children through the “emotional fallout” of parental
separation in a letter to prime minister elect Gordon Brown.
The groups, including One Parent Families, Fathers Direct and
Relate, said the government had concentrated too much on the
practical arrangements arising from separation, such as residence
and contact, rather than emotional support for children.
Source:- The Times Tuesday 12 June 2007 page 26
Working days lost to strikes soar
Over 750,000 days were lost to strike action last year, up from
just over 150,000 in 2005, with more than 80% accounted for by
public sector industrial action.
The figures come with incoming prime minister Gordon Brown
facing a fresh round of public sector strikes over low pay
deals.
Source:- The Financial Times Tuesday 12 June 2007 page
4
Cautions for 8,000 sex offenders
Almost 8,000 sex offenders have been cautioned rather than charged
over the past five years, figures obtained by the BBC show.
The figures included 1,600 offences against children, 350 of
them involving victims under 16, while 230 involved rape, however
the practice was defended by the Association of Chief Police
Officers, who said a caution still meant entry on the sex
offenders’ register and a criminal record.
Acpo also said cautions were mainly used in particular
circumstances, such as when a 16-year-old boy has consensual sex
with a 15-year-old girl.
Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 12 June 2007 page 5
Children smuggled into UK for sex abuse and slavery
Over half of traafficked children placed with local authorities
have gone missing from care, raising fears that some have returned
to their captors, a report by the Child Exploitation and Online
Protection Centre has found.
The report identified 330 suspected or confirmed child
trafficking victims, mostly from China and Africa, but the true
scale is believed to be far higher.
Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 12 June 2007 page
14
Agency arrests 83 paedophiles in first year
The government agency set up to tackle internet-fuelled child abuse
has said it has rescued 76 children from abuse in its first year of
operation.
In its annual review, the Child Exploitation and Online
Protection Centre said it had arrested 83 alleged sex offenders, as
a result of techniques such as officers posing as children online
to attract offenders.
Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 12 June 2007 page
14
Scottish news
Dementia services
leave some patients locked up 24 hours
A damning report into dementia care revelaed some patients are
locked up 24 hours a day for years.
In its report Older and Wiser, the Mental Welfare Commission for
Scotland singled out a "disappointing" effort by carers to provide
stimulating activities for their patients and reported that of the
29 patient records studied, nine had not left their wards since
admission.
Some of those patients who had not left their wards were admitted
more than two years ago. The report also outlined a worrying
problem of under-staffing at mealtimes in the 16 hospital wards
across the country it visited unannounced.
Source:- The Scotsman, Tuesday 12 June
Welsh news
Schoolgirl’s tragic suicide
A Welsh school girl studying in England has committed suicide after
being bullied over her Welsh roots.
Sian Yates, 13, who was a pupil at Riverside Business and
Enterprise College in Rowley Fields, Leicester, left an undated
note saying she had been unhappy at home and school for
months.
Source:- Western Mail, Tuesday, June 12 2007
Rhodri backs Harman, not Hain, for deputy
leadership
First minister Rhodri Morgan has announced he will be backing
Harriet Harman in her bid for the Labour deputy leadership and not
Welsh secretary Peter Hain.
Morgan’s wife Julie, the MP for Cardiff North, has supported Harman
for a long time.
Source:- Western Mail, Tuesday, June 12 2007