Friday 10 January 2003

By Amy Taylor, Nicola Barry and Alex
Dobson.

Father names and shames erring children on the
web

A father “named and shamed” his two teenage children on the
internet in an attempt to prevent them from falling into a life of
crime.

David Forward, a single parent, gave up his job to keep watch on
his daughter, Sam, aged 16, and son Tom, aged 13, after they became
involved in drugs, joyriding and shoplifting.

Mr Forward, of Malmesbury, Wiltshire, said he had been “at the
end of his tether” after warnings from the police, advice from
social services and his own attempts failed to control his
children.

Now he says that Sam and Tom have agreed to behave after he
detailed their behaviour on his website.

Source:- The Times Friday 10 January page 5

Public humiliation may only make things
worse

Public humiliation is unlikely to improve the behaviour of
unruly teenagers for the better because it does not address the
fundamental problems, experts said yesterday.

Stephen Scott, senior lecturer in child and adolescent
psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, said that “punishment”
could even make things worse, by giving children more kudos amongst
their peers.

He said the most useful thing parents can do is spend try to
spend more time communicating with their children.

Source:- The Times Friday 10 January page 5

70% of muggers are black in robbery
hotspots

Black suspects made up over 70 per cent of mugging offenders in
some of the worst areas for street robbery in England and Wales,
according to a study published yesterday by the home office.

The research shows that up to 87 per cent of victims in Lambeth,
south London, told the police that their attackers were black.
Almost 80 per cent of victims were white.

Black people account for 31 per cent of the population in these
areas.

Eighty two per cent of victims on London Underground and 70 per
cent of victims on commuter railways also identified their muggers
as black.

Source:- The Times Friday 10 January page 11

Asylum minors ‘in need of haven’

Thousands of children arrive in Britain each year with no parent
or guardian. Many have no documents to prove their identity, age or
country of origin.

It is widely accepted, even by children’s organisations, that
some of these “minors” are adults pretending to be under 18 to
avoid being sent to detention centres.

Refugee groups dismissed fears yesterday that terrorists could
be taking advantage of the system and establishing themselves in
Britain.

Source:- The Times Friday 10 January page 14

Gun deaths coroner in race gaffe

The coroner conducting an inquest into the death of Charlene
Ellis, one of the girls killed during the Birmingham gang
shoot-out, was forced to apologise last night after he said the
black community should name the killer to “pay back” the city for
accommodating it.

Aidan Cotter, the Birmingham coroner, said the city had shown
dedication in welcoming all cultures and religions, and that the
black community now owed it to the city to stop protecting those
responsible for the shootings.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Friday 10 January page
1

80% of criminals are on drugs

Crime is being increasingly fuelled by drugs with over 60 per
cent of arrested suspects testing positive for heroin or
cocaine.

One chief constable said that as many as 80 per cent of
criminals have traces of drugs in their system.

A government-funded pilot scheme, operating at a number of
police stations throughout Britain, has exposed the extent that the
need for cash to feed drug habits is driving crime.

Source:- Daily Mail Friday 10 January page 7

Targets are damaging services – watchdog

The government came under renewed pressure yesterday for its
failure to meet promises to improve public services, after the
Audit Commission painted a devastating picture of the “dangerously
proliferating” targets by which delivery is being judged.

James Strachan, the chairperson of the main watchdog that
scrutinises delivery of health and local government services, told
MPs: “The problem we have faced time and time again is the slavish
devotion to targets, many of which have not been set very
intelligently.

“It’s a surefire way of not getting improvements in public
services,” he said.

Source:- The Guardian Friday 10 January page 12

Scottish newspapers

Police fear deluge of rape complaints

Police units specialising in tackling offenders who use the date
rape drug, are standing by for a possible flood of victims coming
forward after nearly 500 people visited a website providing
information about the crime in less than a month.

Chief Superintendent Barry Dougall, of the community safety
department of Strathclyde Police, launched the website in December
to warn of danger over the festive period.

Source:- The Scotsman Friday 10 January page 10

Disabled have a long wait for help

He pioneered a new deal for the disabled and helps direct a
leading charity – but Shand Sivewright, who has muscular
dystrophy, has been waiting nearly two years for equipment he needs
to help him get out of bed.

The charity, Capability Scotland, describes his frustration as
typical of that felt by thousands of Scots who need aids and
adaptations to their homes to lead their daily lives.

Source:- The Herald Friday 10 January page 14

Danielle suspect in prison suicide attempt

A man at the centre of the investigation into the death of
five-year- old Danielle Reid has tried to kill himself in
prison.

Lee Gaytor was found with both wrists slashed in his cell at
Inverness Prison. He was taken for treatment to the city’s
Raigmore Hospital.

Gaytor is on remand after being charged, along with his brother,
Christopher and Danielle’s mother Tracy Reid, with attempting
to pervert the course of justice in connection with the death of
the child.

Source:- Daily Mail Friday 10 January page 1

Debt firms accused of breaking rules

Debt management companies which promise to act for consumers
with heavy borrowings, are instead taking advantage of some of the
most “desperate and vulnerable” people in society, the
Consumers’ Association said yesterday.

Which? the association’s magazine, said the industry was
showing “a shocking contempt” for government standards, often using
misleading tactics to maximise profitability.

Source:- The Scotsman Friday 10 January page 8

Welsh newspapers

W H Smith takes back woman with disability

A major high street newsagent chain has re-offered full pay and
benefits to a woman with learning disabilities.

Karen Godfrey was told just before Christmas that she would no
longer be able to work at the WH Smith shop in Monmouth because she
was not covered by the staff insurance scheme. She had worked there
for four hours a week for the previous six years, but for the last
five had been paid in gift vouchers.

Following the tabling of an early day motion condemning the
company’s actions in the House of Commons by Monmouth MP Huw
Edwards, the firm has offered Godfrey her job back with full pay
and conditions.

Source:- Western Mail Friday 10 January page 5

Courts are ‘ignorant of dangers’ in
centres

Judges who refer victims of domestic abuse to contact centres
often do not realise they are under-funded and largely run by
volunteers, a new report reveals.

Children and their mothers subjected to violence are often
passed on to centres where they can find themselves meeting up with
potentially violent parents or partners.

Research commissioned by the Lord Chancellor’s department
and carried out by the University of Warwick, concluded that judges
displayed a dangerous lack of understanding about how the centres
work in practice.

Source:- Western Mail Friday 10 January page 5