A daily summary of social care stories from the main newspapers

By Clare Jerrom and Reg McKay.

Sarah suspect ‘gave two different
answers’

The man accused of murdering Sarah Payne was described as
“sweating and shaking” when questioned by detectives 24 hours after
the girl went missing.

Detective Sergeant Steven Wagstaff said he challenged Roy
Whiting about his “evasive” answers about his movements on the day
when the eight-year-old was abducted.

Wagstaff told Lewes crown court: “I sad: ‘Roy I’m
going to be totally up front with you. About an hour ago, two
officers visited you and asked you about your movements. You were
evasive and as such they watched your property after they
left.”

He continued that the officers saw Whiting remove items from his
van, which Whiting said was a tool set.

“I said: I’ve been told they looked like
clothes.’

“He said: “Socks, it wasn’t tools it was socks.”

The detective continued that Whiting was shaking and sweating
when he highlighted that he’d given him two different
explanations for something that happened an hour earlier.

“He replied: ‘It was a shirt, I put it in my
drawer.’”

Sarah disappeared in July last year and her body was found 16
days later.

Whiting denies murder and kidnapping.

The trial continues.

Source:- The Times Friday 23 November page 11

Social worker ‘broken’ by Climbie
murder

The social worker who decided to close the file on Victoria
Climbie a week before she died, told an inquiry into the
girl’s death how she was broken by the tragedy.

Lisa Arthurworrey, a social worker at Haringey council, blamed
the chaos of social services department for its handling of the
case and she accused managers of doctoring the files after the girl
was murdered.

In a statement to the inquiry led by Lord Laming, she said the
case left her “on the verge of a breakdown”, and suffering from
insomnia and depression.

Arthurworrey, suspended by Haringey council pending the inquiry,
said: “I keep playing my involvement with her over and over in my
head…I feel constantly drained and physically exhausted and
this has resulted at times in me being totally bedridden.”

She added that she would have handled the case differently if
doctors had warned her they thought the girl was at risk of
physical abuse.

“I can see how I was completely duped by Kouao and Manning. They
presented as very plausible adults and I did not see through the
respectable façade,” she said.

Victoria died with 128 separate injuries last year. Her great
aunt Marie-Therese Kouao and her lover Carl Manning were jailed for
life in January for her murder.

The inquiry continues.

Source:- The Guardian Friday 23 November page 11

Refugees disrupt freight train service to
France

France’s inability to stop daily invasions of asylum
seekers has resulted in freight train services between Britain and
Europe being severely restricted.

UK Rail Freight Group chairman Lord Berkeley said the suspension
of trains through the Channel Tunnel was costing operators £8
million a week and putting 8,000 jobs at risk.

Berkeley urged troops to be sent to France to guard yards at
Frethun near Calais, where up to 500 illegal immigrants try each
day to board trains to Britain. Nearly all the migrants are staying
at the Red Cross refugee centre at Sangatte.

French police guard the SNCF depot only on weekdays between 9pm
to 3am. As a result of the flow of immigrants, Channel Tunnel
freight services operated in Britain by EWS Railways, have been cut
from 15 a day to a maximum of five, often two or three.

The home office said there was no legal ground for sending
troops.

Source:- Daily Telegraph Friday 23 November page 8

Many child abuse convictions could be unsafe, says
Woolf

Britain’s most senior judge has warned that dozens of men
convicted of sexually assaulting children years after the alleged
offences, may be victims of miscarriages of justice.

The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf, said child abuse allegations
“were easy to make”, and might be motivated by claims for
compensation.

The comments will be seized upon by Jonathan King supporters who
believe the pop mogul is innocent of sexually assaulting boys.

Lord Woolf said concerns had been raised by the Criminal Cases
Review Commission over a number of paedophile convictions. He said
the allegations involved “very old offences” from former residents
of children’s homes.

He added many of the recollections, “may not be accurate”
especially when they are “tempted” by awards from the Criminal
Injuries Compensation Board.

Plans to relax the rules of evidence so that juries would be
made aware of previous convictions could add to the risk of
miscarriages of justice in child abuse cases, he warned.

Source:- The Independent Friday 23 November
page 1

The mixed ward scandal goes on…

A pledge to end the mixed ward scandal will not be met, it
emerged yesterday.

A quarter of English health authorities say trusts in their area
will fail to hit the government’s 2002 deadline.

The admission will mean ministers will fail for the second time
in five years to fulfil the commitment that men and women will no
longer have to share NHS hospital wards, bathrooms and toilets.

The government pledged that 95 per cent of patients would not
suffer by December 2002. But a survey on BBC Radio Four revealed
only 55 per cent of health authorities will meet the target.

Source:- Daily Mail Friday 23 November page 21

Scottish newspapers

Free personal care costs to double

The costs of introducing free personal care has been seriously
underestimated by the Scottish executive according to a report by
two economists published in the Journal of the Institute of
Chartered Finance and Accountancy.

According to Dr Jim and Margaret Cuthbert the estimates
presented by the Care Development Group of £125 million in
year one to more than £250 in year 20 seriously underestimate
a number of factors, but particularly unmet need.

The researchers calculate that 118,000 older people in Scotland
will be potential care seekers swelling the costs of free personal
care to £368 million after three years.

Source:- The Scotsman Friday 23 November

Church video aimed at protecting children

The Scottish Episcopal Church has issued a training video
setting out how and when young children should be handled and how
workers should respond to allegations of abuse. The half-hour film,
aimed at protecting children, is believed to be one of the first of
its kind in the UK.

Source:- The Herald Friday 23 November page 13