Friday 13 September 2002

By Clare Jerrom, Nicola Barry and Alex
Dobson.

Jessica family policeman held over child
porn

A policeman who comforted the family of Jessica Chapman during
the hunt for the person who murdered their daughter was arrested
yesterday as part of an FBI probe into child pornography.

Detective constable Brian Stevens was one of two officers
investigating the deaths of Holly Wells and Jessica who were seized
in raids shortly after dawn. Stevens and the other man were
detained after the raids on their homes in Cambridgeshire.

The second man, a constable in his thirties based at
Cambridgeshire police headquarters in Huntingdon, is understood to
be an exhibits officer responsible for the storage and cataloguing
of evidence in the case.

The pair were taken to a police station outside the county and
interviewed by detectives from West Midlands Police.

“They were arrested on suspicion of inciting others to
distribute indecent photographs of children, an offence contrary to
common law,” a Cambridgeshire police spokesperson said.

Source:- The Times Friday 13 September page 1

Refugees cannot return for appeal

A high court judge who ruled that a family of asylum seekers
were deported illegally to Germany has blocked them from returning
to Britain.

The Ahmadi family were ordered out of a West Midlands mosque and
returned to Germany by British authorities last month. They will
instead take part in an appeal via a video link from their refugee
camp in Germany.

Mr Justice Scott Baker accepted the compromise made by home
secretary David Blunkett, and said the hearing before an
independent adjudicator should take place within a month.

Source:- The Times Friday 13 September page 4

Asylum seekers make Britain first choice

More asylum seekers are coming to Britain than any other
industrialised country, according to the latest statistics.

The number is also growing faster than for any other
country.

The total number of people claiming asylum in the industrialised
world fell by 12 per cent to 268,498 in the first six months of
this year, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees.

In contrast the number claiming asylum in the UK rose by almost
10 per cent by more than 4,000 to 51,500 compared with the previous
six months.

The second most popular destination was Germany, followed by the
US.

Source:- The Times Friday 13 September page 4

Grandparents save £1bn a year on
babysitting

Grandparents are saving their children more than £1 billion
a year in childminding fees by doing more unpaid childcare than
ever before, according to a survey.

The average grandparent does at least 40 childcare shifts a
year, the study commissioned by Abbey National bank says.

The survey found grandparents are spending more time than ever
with their grandchildren. The proportion of children regularly
cared for by their grandparents has jumped from 33 per cent in the
1930s to 82 per cent.

The findings reflect a growing number of households with both
parents working and parental fears over child protection.

Source:- The Times Friday 13 September page 12

500 homes bought for B&B families

The government is planning to buy 500 homes on the open market
at a cost of £17 million in a move to cut the number of
families living in bed and breakfast accommodation.

The homes will be refurbished before being let to families with
children living in emergency accommodation in London. After 10
years London and Quadrant Housing Trust, which is buying the homes
for the government, will be free to sell them.

Homeless families will pay affordable rent to their local
authorities, which will lease the homes from the trust.

Head of the homelessness directorate Louise Casey admitted that
“handing out front door keys” would not provide a long term
solution to homelessness, and accepted the government could not
afford to buy homes for all homeless people even if it wanted
to.

Source:- The Times Friday 13 September page 12

Vetting hits pupils who act as school
helpers

The new vetting rules will force hundreds of volunteer schemes
in schools to be scrapped this year as they are being applied to
pupils working with younger children.

Headteachers say a backlog means they will be unable to complete
criminal checks on the thousands of secondary pupils who visit
primary schools to help with reading, computing, sport or art.

Independent schools, which run the 208 partnership projects with
state schools, say the schemes will have to be disbanded this year
in local education authorities that demand disclosure certificates
from the Criminal Records Bureau for each pupil taking part.

Source:- Daily Telegraph Friday 13 September page 9

Scottish newspapers

Bullied Emma hangs herself because she had
spots

Tormented 12-year-old Emma Morrison killed herself after taunts
from a girl gang at her school.

The youngster was found hanging from a bunk bed in her Edinburgh
home after being branded “ugly” and “pizza face”.

Source:- Daily Record September 13 page 1.

A Grim Toll

Scotland has one of the highest suicide rates for young people
in the western world.

The global average suicide rate for under 21s is 16 per 100,000.
In Scotland that figure almost doubles to 36 per 100,000.

Source:- Daily Record September 13 page 5.

Grandparents are £1bn minders

The role of grandparents in the modern family unit is growing
with news that their babysitting skills are saving working parents
£1 billion a year.

Almost 50 per cent of the nation’s children are looked after by
their grandparents, according to a new report by Abbey
National.

Source:- The Herald September 13 page 1

When finance minister Andy Kerr stood up in parliament, he had
more money within his gift than any other Scottish minister in
history.

He had been handed an extra £4.1 billion by the Treasury to
distribute to domestic departments over the next three years – the
equivalent of £1,000 for every man, woman and child in
Scotland.

Source:- The Scotsman September 13 page 4

Welsh newspapers

New policies will help fight drug menace

New policies are urgently needed if the drug problem in south
Wales is to be dealt with effectively.

Jon Owen Jones, Labour MP for Cardiff Central, tells readers as
part of the newspapers ‘Dump the Dealers’ campaign that
present policies are illogical and do not work.

He says that cannabis is a relatively harmless drug with
millions of users and making it illegal causes far more harm than
good. He adds that the present legal position brings the law into
disrepute and criminalises many citizens while creating billions of
pounds worth of profit for criminal gangs.

Source:- South Wales Echo Thursday 12 September page
20

Care home worker to be investigated

A care home’s financial manager is to be investigated by
the Care Standards Inspectorate for Wales

Myles Bryant was financial manager of St John’s
Residential home in Newport when in May of this year he assaulted a
recovering cancer patient in a road rage attack.

Now the Care Standards Inspectorat, which registers and monitors
standards in residential and nursing homes, is to examine all the
circumstances surrounding the case.

Bryant was found guilty of the assault earlier this week at
Newport crown court. He has six previous convictions, including
assaulting a police officer.

Source:- South Wales Argus Thursday 12 September page
10

Foster carer, 67, denies sexually abusing
children

A foster carer accused of sexually abusing boys in his care told
a court yesterday that the allegations made against him were
false.

Ronald Laurence Jones said while giving evidence at Mold crown
court that he did not know why the allegations had been made. Jones
denies two charges of buggery on one boy, 11 indecent assaults and
three charges of gross indecency with a child.

Jones told the court that he and his wife began fostering
children in 1979 and that they had not undergone any training. He
said that no-one from social services had advised them of the
rights and wrongs of looking after children in their care.

The case is proceeding.

Source:- Western Mail Friday 13 September page 3