By Amy Taylor, Clare Jerrom and Alex Dobson.
Mother 'killed three of her babies, then blamed cot death'
A mother who suffocated three of her four children tried to make their murders look like cot deaths, Reading crown court heard yesterday.
Trupti Patel is alleged to have killed her babies before they reached 13-weeks-old. She denies the charges.
Patel's second child Amar died in 1997 aged 13 weeks, followed by Jamie aged 14 days in 1999. Mia, her fourth child, died aged 22 days in June 2001 after which police were called in to investigate with the first two deaths initially being put down to cot death.
Source:- The Times Wednesday 30 April page 5
Sex suspects may win anonymity
Limited anonymity would be granted to sex offenders under proposals set to be put to ministers.
Under the new measures their name would only be disclosed if charges had been made, keeping them out of the media when only allegations have been made.
They are aimed at protecting people's reputations, such as the television presenter Matthew Kelly, because they often face allegations of having committed a sexual offence but are then never charged.
Source:- The Telegraph Wednesday 30 April page 2
Staff find it pays to blow the whistle
An estimated £10 million in compensation is being given out each year to staff who are victimised after whistleblowing on employers, according to new research.
Pubic Concern at Work, a charity that promotes accountability in the workplace, said the average payment to whistleblowing employees, who then suffer for their actions, was just over £100,000, and the highest was £800,000.
Source:- The Telegraph Wednesday 30 April page 4
Afghan asylum seekers flown back to Kabul
Around 20 asylum seekers landed in Kabul yesterday after being forcibly returned back to Afghanistan from Britain.
Several of the refugees were said to have protested so much that they had to be tied up, according to a fellow deportee.
The home office denies the claim, saying two men were handcuffed but that these were removed once they were on the plane.
Source:- The Telegraph Wednesday 30 April page 4
How the deportation of 30 Afghans was cut back to just 21 at £6,200 each (more than it cost to fly to New York and back by Concorde)
Only 21 asylum seekers were sent back to Afghanistan filling fewer than one in 10 seats on a plane chartered by the home office costing over £130,000.
The seats worked out at £6,200 for each deportee. Up to 30 Afghans had been expected to be onboard.
Source:- The Telegraph Wednesday 30 April page 22
Guardian Society
Ailing estates regain sense of balance
Councils and housing associations are being urged to follow the example of the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust, and sell off empty rental properties to middle class people to create socially mixed communities.
The research on a five-year experiment on the New Earswick estate in York on which the trust sold every second home that became vacant on the open market after marketing them to more well-off buyers, found that the practice has halted the community's decline.
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 30 April page 4
New fund lifts barrier to a better future
Under new government proposals out today voluntary organisations within four areas of public services are to be invited to bid for a part of the sector's £125 million investment fund.
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 30 April page 4
Hard work in a hostile environment
Disabled people alleging to have been discriminated against at work make up over half the cases supported by the Disability Rights Commission over the past year.
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 30 April page 4
On the move
It's not just in the fictional world of the Archers that farmers are having to learn computer skills.
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 30 April page 5
Patient progress
Thousands of people with chronic illnesses are taking part in an NHS programme designed to make them experts in their own condition.
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 30 April page 6
Taxing the patience
The new tax credits are aimed at fighting poverty. But they will miss many of their targets without adequate welfare advice.
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 30 April page 10
Through a glass lightly
Profile Mel Wright, ex-social worker with a novel view on life
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 30 April page 11
Over the wall
As the pay gap in the public sector narrows, will private company executives be tempted to leap across?
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 30 April page 13
Gloves are off
Finance specialists come in various shapes and sizes in both public and private sectors. But there is no love lost between their professional bodies.
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 30 April page 14
On the road to ruin
Mapping the pattern of sexual abuse of young women
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 30 April page 143
Awaiting trial
People with Down's syndrome are living longer, but are denied drug treatment for dementia
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 30 April page 144
Scottish newspapers
Charity worker is jailed for abuse
A community worker was jailed for 10 years yesterday after he used his role with a family support charity to prey on young boys entrusted to his care.
Graham Hammond also received an extended sentence of seven years which will keep him under close supervision in the community when he is eventually released.
Edinburgh high court heard that Hammond befriended boys aged between seven and 12 at the Family Action at Rogerfield and Easterhouse (Fare) project in Glasgow.
He abused some of them at his home in Easterhouse and others during outings that he organised. He was arrested after one of his victims complained to the police..
Source:- The Herald  Wednesday 30 April 2003
Kid-sex rugby doc in suicide
A doctor accused of child abuse was found hanged at his home in Glasgow.
GP Ronnie Graham who was also one of Scotland’s top rugby coaches was facing charges of repeatedly molesting a boy over a 10-year period. It is believed that other boys made similar allegations, many relating to summer camps.
The father of two was found by his wife and son. Graham has previously tried to kill himself by swallowing weed-killer when he was charged by police and suspended by the General Medical Council.
Source:- Daily Record  Wednesday 30 April page 1 and 2
Torture kids left terrified of Scots accents
A woman accused of torturing and beating two young children walked free yesterday from Linlithgow sheriff court because the youngsters were too traumatised to give evidence.
Prosecutors were also forced to abandon the case against Gillian Overton because they were running out of time to bring the case to trial. The court heard how the children cannot even bear to hear a Scots accent.
Overton of West Lothian was accused of carrying out a nine-month reign of terror in 2001 against a boy now six-years-old and his sister, now seven-years-old. The investigation was launched after the children, who are now in care in England, made a complaint at school about their treatment.
At one stage it was planned to take the case to Edinburgh where child-friendly facilities are provided. But a psychologist rejected the idea after examining the children saying they were too distressed to give evidence from behind screens or through a CCTV link.
Overton, who has been suspended from her job in the justice department at the Scottish executive since the allegations arose, refused to comment as she left the court.
Source:- Daily Record  Wednesday 30 April page 17
Welsh newspapers
Indecent assault boy gets electronic tag
A 12-year-old boy who indecently assaulted a mother of three and was convicted of burglary is to be electronically tagged as part of a supervision order.
The boy from Rhondda Cynon Taf has been warned that if he fails to comply with the order, which includes several stringent conditions, he would face detention in the future.
Source:- South Wales Echo Tuesday 29 April page 5
Truant boy back at school after mum’s release from jail
A persistent truant has returned to school two days after his mother was released from prison after serving a sentence for failing to make him attend.
The 14-year-old was back at a Llanelli comprehensive school after discussions with education welfare officers following his mother’s release from a prison in Gloucestershire.
Source:- Western Mail Wednesday 30 April page 1
Care sector campaigner gives up fight
A vocal campaigner for the independent care sector in Wales has decided that she can no longer fight against the under-funding and miles of red tape that she says have seen the sector brought to crisis point.
Cheryl-Wilson-Carter, vice-chairperson of Care Forum Wales, the body that represents care home owners in the principality, has sold her 40-patient Bettws nursing home because of the difficulties she has encountered in trying to maintain high quality care for her clients.
Source:- Western Mail Wednesday 30 April page 7