Friday 6 September 2002

By David Callaghan, Katie Leason, Nicola Barry and Alex
Dobson.

Girls more likely to be depressed

Teenage girls are more likely than boys to be depressed, drink
alcohol, smoke, eat unhealthily and avoid exercise, a new report
shows.

A study of more than 1,500 teenagers aged 14 and 15 found that a
third of the girls were likely to suffer depression, which is much
higher than for boys.

Researchers quizzed teenager sat eight GP practices in
Hertfordshire and found that of both sexes, 23 per cent smoked, 35
per cent had been drunk in the previous three months, and 15 per
cent had taken drugs.

Source:- The Independent Friday 6 September page 6

Start of term report: must do better

Capita, the private firm at the centre of the Criminal Records
Bureau controversy, insists that home office civil servants must
share some of the blame for the severe delays in checks on teachers
and social care workers.

Capita employs 13,000 staff, make £44.3 million profits
last year and is worth about £1.9 billion. It grew out of the
computer arm of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and
Accountancy.

Source:- The Guardian Friday 6 September page 3

Elderly Britons have more fun than
Europeans

A survey of over-55 Europeans has shown than older Britons smoke
more than other nationalities, have less sex than the French and
die younger than the Italians.

But the figures released at a summit in Rome, which were
compiled by Viagra manufacturers Pfizer, also show that Britons
have more fun generally than their counterparts on the
continent.

In this country though, older people do feel their skills are
undervalued, their pensions are too low, and that they are more
isolated from their families as they become older.

Source:- The Guardian Friday 6 September page 6

Loophole that let a child molester reinvent
himself

A loophole that allows sex offenders to avoid the law by giving
themselves a new identity has been revealed.

A convicted paedophile was able to carry out sex attacks after
changing his name by deed poll and moving from his address.

James McAlpine was jailed for life yesterday for assaulting
three young boys. He had used the loophole to evade the
restrictions of the sex offenders’ register, and police and
probation officers were unable to find him after he changed his
name.

The home office said it would work to ensure police are able to
cross check all deed poll name changes against names on the
register.

Source:- Daily Mail Friday 6 September page 4

Trauma therapy “is no help”

Counselling does not help the survivors of traumatic events and
could be harmful, according to a study.

Dutch researchers say counselling by therapists could cut
victims off from everyday support from family and friends and may
make them feel their reactions are abnormal because they need
professional care.

Source: Daily Mail Friday 6 September, page 9

Firm in vetting crisis seeks more millions

The company responsible for the teacher vetting problems is
asking for more money.

Capita, which runs the Criminal Records Bureau, is negotiating
with the government to increase its £400 million contract.

But teachers believe the firm should be financially penalised
not rewarded.

Source:- Daily Mail Friday 6 September, page 45

Carer accused

A man has been accused of raping six young girls while he was
working as a residential care worker.

Ian Taylor, 37, of Walgrave, Northamptonshire, who was employed
at St John’s Centre, Tiffield, entered no plea at Corby magistrates
and was remanded in custody.

Source:- The Times Friday September 6 page 2

Dead girl’s parents “hell to live near

A couple accused of torturing and starving their toddler to
death were described yesterday as “neighbours from hell”.

Gwendoline Veale told the Old Bailey that she was so concerned
about screaming coming from the home of Leanne Labonte and Dennis
Henry that she called social services several times to report her
concern for their children.

The couple’s two-year-old daughter, Ainlee Walker, was found
dead at the flat in Plaistow, East London, in January. She had 60
burns, bruises and lesions on her body and was emaciated.

Henry and Labonte deny manslaughter and cruelty.

Source:- The Times Friday 6 September page 11

Blunkett attacks “whining” rioters

Home secretary David Blunkett yesterday criticised those
convicted of taking part in last summer’s Bradford riots for
“whining” about their jail sentences.

About 90 people have been convicted for taking part in the
Bradford riots and jailed for up to eight and a half years.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Friday 6 September 6 page
3

Scottish newspapers

Losses force centres for blind to close

The Guide Dogs for The Blind Association has announced the
closure of all its residential training centres in the UK after
losing £20 million on the stock market.

Both of its centres in Scotland, at Forfar and Larkhall, are due
to close over the next two years. A section of the Forfar centre
will remain open to provide initial training for guide dogs.

Source:- The Herald September 6 page
3

Anger over new private prison plan

The first of two new prisons announced by justice minister Jim
Wallace is to be another privately run institution.

Prison officers and the SNP reacted with fury to the
announcement.

Peterhead will stay open.

Source:- The Herald September 6 page 8

McLeish to quit

Henry Mcleish, the former first minister, has announced his
intention to stand down from the Scottish parliament at the
elections in May next year.

His decision signals the end of a political career which saw the
former professional footballer win the top job in Scottish
politics, only to resign in disgrace a year later.

Source:- The Scotsman September 6 page 1

Welsh newspapers

I’ll buy heroin for addicts

Controversial police chief Richard Brunstrom has offered to buy
heroin for drug addicts as a way of preventing crime.

The offer came following a speech made to delegates at the Welsh
Local Government Association conference, where Brunstrom was
speaking about the growing illegal drug problem in Wales.

He told delegates that local authorities needed to do more to
break the link between drugs and crime, and said that north Wales
police were already spending part of their budget on projects
designed to help addicts break free from their addiction.

Brunstrom is no stranger to controversy; he has already called
for the legalisation of all drugs, saying that the war on drugs
cannot be won. He was heckled at the Police Federation conference
in Bournemouth this year when he reiterated that call.

Source:- Western Mail Friday 6 September page 1

Child abuse by swimming coaches ‘ignored by
ambitious parents’

Pushy parents have turned a blind eye to child abuse by sports
coaches says a new report from the NSPCC.

The report, ‘In at the Deep End’, reveals that
parents have been known to tolerate abuse from coaches as long as
they felt that their children were succeeding in swimming
lessons.

In one case a mother from Swansea who discovered that her
daughter was being abused by swimming coach, Paul Hickson, said: ”
We just got carried away with the fact that our daughter was so
talented, swimming became an obsession, a drug”.

The research analyses case files on the 78 coaches accused of
abuse of children (aged 11 to 17 years old), over a four- year
period, from the Amateur Swimming Association (ASA).

The NSPCC says that Paul Hickson is one of these. He was jailed
for 17 years in 1995 after a jury at Cardiff crown court found him
guilty on 15 charges, including two of raping teenage swimmers
under his charge.

Source:- Western Mail Friday 6 September page 1

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