Monday 10 March 2003

By Amy Taylor, Nicola Barry and Alex
Dobson.

Judge calls for end to ‘evil trade’ of buying babies for
adoption

The “evil and exploitative trade” of buying and selling babies
for adoption has to stop, a high court judge said yesterday in the
case of a black American baby that was sold to unsuitable parents
for just £624.

The white British couple were deemed suitable to adopt the baby
although the adoptive mother had been married four times, had a
history of depression and later committed suicide.

The broker, Jay Carter, may now face criminal proceedings.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Saturday 8 March page
12

Anti-yob laws will target litter louts and
vandals

Beggars, vandals, litter louts, truants and hooligans are to be
targeted in an attempt to convince the public that crime levels are
falling, according to a leaked white paper.

The paper, due to be published next week, outlines new laws on
anti-social behaviour and will shortly be followed by a bill.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Saturday 8 March page
18

Asylum: The joke’s on us

Brandishing grenades and guns, they threatened to blow up a
packed airliner at Stansted to win asylum. When the siege was over,
Jack Straw vowed to deport them. Yet three years on the nine Afghan
hijackers are still here, seven of them on benefits and living in
£250,000 luxury houses paid for by the state.

Source:- The Daily Mail Saturday 8 March page 11

Whistleblower ‘forced out’ over Broadmoor rape and abuse
claims

The director of women’s services at Broadmoor high security
mental hospital has said she was driven from her post after
speaking out about allegations of rape, indecent assault and sexual
harassment on female patients by male inmates.

Source:- The Daily Mail Saturday 8 March page 26

Crofters fear haven for addicts will ruin island of
dreams

Plans to open a sanctuary for recovering drug addicts on the
Shetland isle of Papa Stour are raising concerns from
residents.

Sabina and Andy Holt-Brook, working in collaboration with
Dumfries-based Christian charity the Lochbank Trust, want to
convert their guesthouse into a hostel for four former drug users,
but other island residents object.

Source:- The Times Saturday 8 March page 10

Low-cost childcare ‘a London priority’

Ken Livingstone, the mayor of London, will today announce
measures to provide low cost childcare to help single mothers get
back to work.

He is set to tell the Capital-women conference in London that
more childcare is essential to reduce poverty.

Source:- The Times Saturday 8 March page 13

Mother loses truancy challenge

A mother lost a high court battle yesterday against her
conviction for failing to make sure her son attended school.

Alison Barnfather was unsuccessful in her attempt to get the
ruling overturned by challenging the truancy law that makes her
criminally liable even if she did everything in her power to ensure
he attended.

Source:- The Guardian Saturday 8 March page 11

‘No women must be locked up in Broadmoor’

The detention of women in high-security hospitals is to be
investigated by MPs.

David Hinchliffe, the Labour MP who chairs the House of Commons
health select committee, said women should never have been locked
up in institutions such as Broadmoor and should be removed.

His comments come in response to a whistleblower’s allegations
about the sexual abuse of female patients by male inmates.

Source:- The Independent on Sunday 9 March page 6

Depressed refugee gets right to sue

The home office could soon have to pay out damages to an asylum
seeker who claimed he was made “depressed” by delays and mistakes
in processing his application.

A judge ruled the Libyan asylum seeker had the right to claim
damages in the high court last month. Lawyers said they expected
the ruling to open the gates to many more similar cases.

Source:- The Sunday Times 9 March page 3

Blunkett plans to send asylum seekers to
Albania

New government plans will see all asylum seekers being sent to
Albania, under new efforts to stop the high numbers coming to
Britain.

The refugees will be flown to Albania, where they will be housed
in detention centres while their claims are dealt with.

Source:- The Sunday Times 9 March page 1

Custody war kids killed as red tape jams
courts

The Children and Family Court Advisory Service (Cafcass) has
been criticised after the deaths of two vulnerable children while
waiting for courts to appoint a guardian to look after them during
custody battles.

The deaths both took place over the past few months and were
separate incidents. Cafcass began in 2001 with the aim of finding
protectors for children at risk during cases.

Source:- The Observer Sunday 9 March page 11

Townshend ‘to escape child porn charges’

Pete Townshend will not face criminal charges over child
pornography allegations.

The Who star is instead set to receive a caution, a measure that
allow him to escape court, but still receive a criminal record.

Source:- Daily Mail Monday 10 March page 7

Charity attacks nursery credits

The government’s tax credit scheme being introduced in April is
“hopelessly inadequate” in meeting the childcare needs of parents,
according to a new report from children’s charity The Daycare
Trust.

The trust says the average cost of a nursery place for a child
under two is now £128 a week, while the average amount through
tax credits is around £40.

Source:- The Guardian Monday 10 March page 12

Scottish newspapers

Not proven verdict frees childminder

A childminder charged with murdering a one-year-old boy wept
with relief and thanked a jury after they returned a not proven
verdict.

There were emotional scenes at Edinburgh’s high court
after the jury decided the prosecution had failed to prove beyond
reasonable doubt that Tina Mcleod was responsible for the death of
Alexander Graham.

Source:- The Herald Saturday 8 March page 1

Family embittered by justice system

The family of a one-year-old boy, whose childminder was charged
with murder but walked free from court last week, launched a bitter
attack on the Scottish criminal justice system.

Stephen and Kirstie Graham, the parents of Alexander, said the
not proven verdict left them “deeply dissatisfied”. They said the
legal system was concerned with upholding the accused’s
rights at the expense of the victim’s.

Source:- The Herald Saturday 8 March page 5

Three new child death cases probed

Police are investigating three cases involving the possible
murder of children dating back to the 1970s.

One case is believed to involve three children from one family
in Lothian. Another woman from Edinburgh is alleged to have killed
one of her children and assaulted another. Police are also
investigating the deaths of up to eight children of Roberta Bibby
from West Lothian.

Source:- The Sunday Times 9 March page 1

Land of the lost children

A Scottish mother may have concealed the deaths of up to eight
babies simply by moving house. Public agencies are still allowing
children to slip through the net.

Source:- The Sunday Times 9 March page 17.

Welsh newspapers

Schools ‘plunging into debt’

The number of schools in Wales with massive debts is soaring and
a string of local authorities are being blamed for neglecting
education in the principality.

The problem is made worse in some areas by falling school rolls,
caused by families moving out of the area because of job
losses.

Many teachers are facing possible redundancies across Wales
because of pressures on budgets, and both individual authorities
and the Welsh assembly have been criticised.

Rhys Williams, communications, campaigns and political officer
for NUT Cymru, said he wanted to see a basic level of funding for
schools throughout Wales, that everyone understood.

Source:- Western Mail Monday 10 March page 5