Monday 3 February 2003

By Amy Taylor, Nicola Barry and Alex
Dobson.

Officer in Soham case faces prison over child
porn

An officer involved in helping to search for murdered girls
Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells has pleaded guilty to owning child
pornography at Ipswich crown court.

PC Antony Goodridge admitted possessing 330 indecent images of
children.

Source:- Daily Mail Saturday 1 February page 31

Tory plan to detain refugees is only ’emergency
measure’

Oliver Letwin MP has softened the Conservative’s attitude
towards asylum seekers saying that Iain Duncan-Smith’s proposal to
detain them on arrival in Britain is only an “emergency” measure
that would be overturned when the terrorist threat lessened.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Saturday 1 February page
2

I feel no guilt, says assisted suicide
widow

A feature looking at how Win Crew accompanied her terminally ill
husband to Zurich where he took a fatal dose of barbiturates so he
could ‘die with dignity’.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Saturday 1 February page
8

Jailed paedophile who plotted girl’s murder gets
life

A judge has described the case of a paedophile who planned to
kill the eight-year-old girl he regarded as responsible for his
imprisonment as the most disturbing case he had ever seen in his
approximately 40 years in court.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Saturday 1 February page
10

‘Vicious racism’ costs Met £250,000

£250,000 in damages was awarded to a middle-aged black man
with no criminal record who was assaulted by police officers,
racially abused and prosecuted on inflated charges.

The money is one of the largest ever awards made for misconduct
by the police.

Source:- The Guardian Saturday 1 February page 6

Back door entry lures Iraqis on a 2,500-mile
voyage

Source:- The Independent Saturday 1 February page
14

Benefits scam that officials cannot even
address

A man only realised his swish West London address was being used
by a bogus asylum seeker to claim benefits when he received a
letter from the National Asylum Support Service (Nass) this
month.

Charles Bathurst was shocked when he learned that nobody in the
immigration service thought to check his Kensington address given
by an Iraqi asylum seeker or any made any attempt to check that any
other address they are given is correct.

Source:- The Independent Saturday 1 February page
14

The secret prisoners who get a Well Man
clinic

Since September 11 growing numbers of Islamic terrorist suspects
are being held at Belmarsh high-security prison in south-east
London.

They are being held under such closed conditions that few people
outside the prison know how many of them there are.

However, unlike the 600 detainees at Guantanamo Bay, the US
military prison camp in Cuba, the terrorist suspects are treated to
some of the best conditions around in prison. These include
television in their cells; sporting facilities; and access to a
“Well Man Clinic” once a month.

Source:- The Independent Saturday 1 February page
15

Blunkett: results will take time

It will take until the summer before the rising numbers of
asylum seekers, thought to soon top 100,000 for the first time,
starts to decrease, David Blunkett has admitted in private.

Sources said that efforts were to be increased to ensure the new
measure in 2002’s Asylum and Immigration Act were fully acted
on.

Source:- The Independent on Sunday 2 February page
14

Mentally ill at risk of violent abuse

An institute of psychiatry study published last week has found
that people with mental health problems living in the community are
twice as likely to be the target of violent abuse than the general
public.

Source:- The Independent on Sunday 2 February page
15

Archbishop wants asylum seekers held in secure
centres

The Archbishop of Canterbury has said that asylum seekers should
be locked up in “secure accommodation” until their applications
have gone through in order to counteract the threat of
terrorism.

Rowan Williams said that it was “perfectly reasonable” that
asylum seekers should be placed in secure accommodation as long as
the government gets quicker at processing asylum applications.

Source:- The Sunday Times 2 February page 5

Black racism is being ignored, says Labour
whip

A government whip has written to the Race Equality Commission
claiming that “racist” attacks on white people by blacks and Asians
are being ignored by politicians.

Phil Woolas, who is the MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth,
areas that suffered race riots two years ago, said in his letter
that race relations are being harmed by the refusal of politicians
to condemn black racism on white people.

Source:- The Sunday Times 2 February page 7

Asylum seekers offloaded on rural towns

Inner city councils are moving asylum seekers in their care to
privately rented accommodation in rural areas.

The towns concerned have no way of stopping the councils’
practice and say they are being swamped by the numbers, with some
smaller rural areas having six times the number of asylum seekers
they have been allocated by the home office.

Source:- The Sunday Telegraph 2 February page 13

Is this man disabled? Ken says he isn’t

Karl Davies, a thalidomide victim, must use public transport
after being refused exemption from the Mayor of London’s congestion
charge. We join him on a tube journey to work.

Source:- The Sunday Telegraph 2 February page 15

Heavy drinkers to be locked up

Measures in the planned Mental Health Bill, which define
addiction as a psychiatric illness, will allow heavy drinkers to be
locked up and forced into “detox” treatment or alcohol education
courses.

Source:- The Observer 2 February page 8

Doctors rebut scare stories of ‘infectious’
migrants

Department of Hhealth officials have said that they do not
recognise figures claiming to show immigration is doubling the rate
of HIV and increasing the risk of Hepatitis B twentyfold, as
claimed in The
Sun and Spectator.

The officials say the figures have been manipulated, and have
led to doctors saying voluntary health checks should be offered to
all refugees.

Source:- The Observer Sunday 2 February page 14

£50,000 for woman who failed Victoria?

Lisa Arthurworrey, the social worker in the middle of the
Victoria Climbie inquiry, could be set to receive over £50,000
compensation if she is successful in her appeal against her
dismissal for gross misconduct.

Arthurworrey was severely criticised in Lord Laming’s recent
report into Victoria’s murder.

Source:- The Mail on Sunday 2 February page 40

Brown vows to reform public services

Parts of the public services are still ready for reform by
market forces according to Chancellor Gordon Brown.

He is set to tell Labour supporters that they must forget about
their ideological objections to commercial companies and the
private finance initiative (PFI) where they can be used for great
success.

Source:- The Times Monday 3 February page 1

Race abuse officers suspended

Two Metropolitan police officers involved in the beating of
Sylbert Farquharson, who won £250,000 damages in a civil claim
against the police for the attack, have been suspended.

Source:- The Times Monday 3 February page 11

Scottish newspapers

Number of Scots in hospital due to drug abuse soars by
62%

The number of Scots hospitalised as a result of drug abuse has
soared by 62 per cent over the past five years.

Last year, 4,700 people were admitted for treatment as a result
of their drug habit, compared with 2,900 in 1997, according to the
latest official figures.

Source:- Scotland on Sunday 2 February page 5

Age Concern is more concerned than ever at
60

“Some of the ways in which we treat old people we would not
accept for any other section of society.”

The damning view of Jess Barrow, head of Policy for Age Concern,
Scotland, spoken 60 years after the charity was set up to fight the
hardships of old age like isolation, poverty and poor housing. The
country is falling towards a crisis in pensions, nursing homes are
closing and many old people say days pass and they speak to
no-one.

Source:- The Herald Monday 3 February page 6

Hospitals accused of neglect in feeding
elderly

Hospitals are failing to feed older people properly, according
to leading charities.

Maureen O’ Neill, director of Age Concern Scotland, said
the government’s attempt to have the best drugs, technology
and training has been prioritised over ensuring the welfare of the
frail.

Source:- The Herald Monday 3 February pages 1, 8 and
15

A nation of oldies

Scotland is ageing faster than any other part of the UK.

Pensioners will outnumber children in Scotland in just eight
years, the latest government figures show. They warn that an
increasing proportion of older people will rely on being supported
by a smaller working age population.

Source:- Daily Record Monday 3 February page 2

The parent fatigue trap

Children are rebelling against hyperactive mums and dads intent
on cramming every moment with quality time.

Hyper-parenting has arrived from the US and a survey, involving
hundreds of young people has revealed that children in the UK are
crying out for some peace and quiet.

Source:- The Herald Monday 3 February page 11

Welsh newspapers

Assembly plans action on bullying

The Welsh Assembly will unveil measures today that are aimed at
tackling bullying in all its forms.

Education minister Jane Davidson will launch the consultation,
‘Respecting Others’, at a specially convened conference
in Cardiff organised by the Welsh Institute for Health and Social
Care, the University of Glamorgan and Childline.

She is expected to outline the ways in which the assembly will
tackle the problem, including measures designed to cut down on
mobile phone harassment and she will stress the need for an
inclusive approach to policy formulation.

Source:- Western Mail Monday 3 February page 5