Tuesday 15th October 2002

By Clare Jerrom and Alex Dobson.

£60m emergency building as jail population
soars

The government announced an emergency £60 million
prison-building programme yesterday as the jail population reached
a record 72,443.

David Blunkett has been forced to put more money into providing
prison places because of increasing pressure on accommodation that
has resulted in between 200 and 300 prisoners being held in police
cells.

A further 700 jail places in house blocks and ready to use units
will be built within the grounds of existing jails with the money.
The new places, which will be available from next April, are in
addition to 2,300 agreed as an emergency measure in last
year’s budget.

Source:- The Times  Tuesday 15 October page 2

Danielle’s note of remorse

Danielle Jones’ mother wept in court yesterday as she
described the turbulent relationship she had with her daughter
before she disappeared from her home in Tilbury, Essex last
June.

Linda Jones read out a letter from the 15-year-old, who wrote:
“To Mum. I’m really sorry for what I’ve
done…I’m going to really try to change.”

Jones told Chelmsford Crown Court that in the weeks before her
disappearance they had got on much better. She also revealed how
Danielle’s uncle, Stuart Campbell’s interest in
Danielle was abnormal, including taking her on a weekday shopping
trip.

Campbell denies her murder.

Source:- The Times  Tuesday 15 October page 13

Peers could block gay adoption plan

A House of Lords vote tomorrow could block the
government’s plans to allow same-sex couples to adopt
children.

Conservative Lady O’Cathain is urging peers to vote
against the proposal in the adoption and children bill to open
adoption rights to all couples, including gay and lesbian partners
and hetrosexual co-habitees.

Opponents believe the move would undermine marriage and risk
moving children from institutional care to unstable
relationships.

The adoption bill, which aims to increase the number of adopted
children, reaches report stage in the house of lords tomorrow after
clearing the Commons despite Tory opposition to adoption outside
marriage.

Peers have a free vote on the issue of adoption by same sex
couples, although Conservative peers will be under a whip to
attend.

Source:- The Guardian  Tuesday 15 October page 9

Maxine Carr refused bail

The woman accused of perverting the course of justice over the
disappearance of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman was yesterday
refused bail.

Maxine Carr, 25, of Soham, Cambridgeshire, has been held on
remand since she was charged in August.

Source:- The Guardian  Tuesday 15 October page 9

Hunger strike by 90-year-old

A 90-year old woman has been on hunger strike since Friday in a
bid to save Meadowcroft residential home in Bradford where she
lives.

The Conservative controlled council pans to close the home along
with three others.

Thora Falkingham is under 24-hour observation.

Source:- The Guardian  Tuesday 15 October page 9

Youth crime prison ‘is off critical
list’

Feltham young offenders institution is now “off the
critical list” according to a report following an inspection
of the jail.

Chief inspector of prisons, Anne Owers, says the culture of the
prison in west London, has been “fundamentally changed for
the better”. It was once condemned as a national
disgrace.

Inspection of the jail, which holds around 600 youths aged
between 15 and 21, was welcomed by the Prison Service as an
endorsement of its efforts to rescue the institution from
squalor.

A report in 1999 described conditions in Feltham as
“appalling and unacceptable in a civilised
society”.

Source:- Daily Telegraph  Tuesday 15 October page 2

Serial sex offenders must be tried twice, say law
commissioners

The government’s law advisory body says today that serial
sex offenders should be tried a second time for any linked offences
to stop them escaping full punishment for their crimes.

The proposal follows a change in the law in 1997, which curbs
specimen charge effectiveness and stopped judges taking account of
related criminal activity not proved in court.

The Law Commission of England and Wales argues that sentences
for multiple offenders such as child abusers and serial fraudsters,
do not always reflect the extent of their crime.

Under the proposed change, to be considered by ministers, a
defendant convicted of a sample count in the first trial could be
sent before a judge to be tried on all other related offences.

Source:- Independent  Tuesday 15 October page 8

Welsh papers

Homeless left out in the cold by poor
services

A new report says that homeless people in south Wales are
suffering because of woefully inadequate services.

Research carried out by the Big Issue magazine in Wales shows a
picture of homeless people struggling because of lack of support
services. The report, called Coming Up From the Streets, is
believed to be one of the most extensive pieces of research into
the problem of homelessness in Wales and was based on interviews
with 100 vendors aged between 17 and 57.

Source:- South Wales Echo Monday 14 October page 4

Ministers pledge millions to tackle drug problem in
Valleys

Plans aimed at tackling the spiralling drug problem in the south
Wales valleys are to be announced by Welsh Assembly ministers
tomorrow.

The multi-million-pound initiative will come in a surprise
package in finance minister, Edwina Hart’s draft budget that
will be set before the Assembly tomorrow.

The funding is aimed at tackling the growing problem of
organised drug gangs who are targeting Valley communities and is
expected to include new money for rehabilitation services.

Source:- Western Mail Tuesday 15 October page 8

Teen girls seen by canal urged to help in dead baby
inquiries

A police officer made a plea yesterday for the mother of a baby
found dead in a canal in south Wales to come forward.

Police would also like to talk to two teenage girls who have
been seen on several occasions near the Monmouthshire and Brecon
canal in the weeks leading up to the discovery of the body of a
baby boy concealed in a holdall.

The police have appealed to them to make contact and stressed
that there was no evidence that connected either of the girls to
the discovery of the baby. A police spokesperson said that it was
necessary to talk to them so that they could be eliminated from the
inquiry.

The baby was discovered on October 11th and it is thought that
he may have been dead for up to five weeks.

Source:- Western Mail Tuesday 15 October page 9