Thursday 17 April 2003

By Amy Taylor, Nicola Barry and Alex Dobson.
Holly and Jessica parents face to face with suspects
Ian Huntley, the former school caretaker, pleaded not
guilty to the murder of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman at the Old
Bailey yesterday.
The trial brought the first meeting of Huntley with his former
girlfriend Maxine Carr since they were arrested last August.
Source:- The Times Thursday 17 April page 3
Swiss suicide clinic makes a mockery of our laws, says
MP
The Swiss authorities were criticised last night after a British
couple, who were not terminally ill, received help to commit
suicide in Zurich.
Bob Stokes, aged 59, and his wife Jenny, aged 53, were the first
known Britons who were not terminally ill to have  received help
from the “assisted suicide” organisation Dignitas.
Stokes, had bad epilepsy and his wife had multiple sclerosis,
according to the Zurich district attorney Edwin Luscher.
Edward Leigh the Conservative MP for Gainsborough, said that he was
appalled by Dignitas’ actions.
Source:- The Telegraph Thursday 17 April page 8
Revenue’s bungles hit the poorest
Michael Howard, the shadow Chancellor, called for an inquiry into
the Inland Revenue’s handling of the new tax credit system after
reports that delays and mistakes will cause thousands of low income
families to miss out on their payment.
In a letter to Gordon Brown he described the system as “chaos”, and
said that thousands of families would miss out on payments that in
some cases double their income.
More than 700 extra staff have been drafted in by the Inland
Revenue to handle around 200,000 extra calls to its specialised
call centres.
Source:- The Guardian Thursday 17 April page 10
‘Freedom curbed’ in care homes
People with learning difficulties are having their human rights
infringed by care workers locking them out of their rooms and
preventing them from coming and going, according to a new report by
the Commission for Health Improvement.
The investigation on learning difficulty services provided by
Bedfordshire and Luton Community NHS trust also found that the
quality of life at one home was “seriously and unacceptably
compromised” by measures followed to contain one person.
Source:- The Guardian Thursday 17 April page 12
Childminder who bit a baby boy escapes jail
sentence
A childminder who hit a 10-month baby in her care will not be sent
to jail it was ruled yesterday.
The attack by Geraldine Rama initially caused social workers to
think that the baby had been abused by his parents.
Yvonne and Abiodun Omisore’s ordeal ended when the judge gave Rama
a six-month prison sentence suspended for two years, for inflicting
actual bodily harm to the baby.
Source:- Daily Mail Thursday 17 April page 45
Scottish newspapers
Judge says asylum family’s torment ‘shames
Scotland’
The abuse suffered by a family of asylum seekers ‘shamed the
whole of Scotland’, a court heard yesterday.
Mehmet Gezer and his family were subjected to bullying, racial
harassment and threats of violence after being sent to live in
Glasgow. The family of Turkish Kurds were sent to Toryglen from
London as part of a home office dispersal scheme, but bullying
forced them to flee back to England.
Mehmet’s claim for £20,000 compensation from the home
office was rejected by Lord Justice Moses, who went on to express
disgust at the treatment the family had received in Scotland.
Source:- Scottish Daily Mail Thursday April 17 page
2
Welsh newspapers
Don’t Expel My Kosovan Boys
A foster couple from Ebbw Vale have vowed to fight any
decision to deport one of two teenage Kosovan boys they have
fostered for the last three years.
Edmond Pone and Krenar Lleshi, who are both now 18, were found
concealed in a lorry in south Wales in 1999, and were subsequently
fostered by Julia Gregg and her partner Steve Crandon.
But recently Edmond’s asylum application has been turned
down, and they fear he will have to return to his homeland. He now
faces a month-long wait for a hearing to decide his fate.
Source:- South Wales Argus Wednesday 16 April page 1
Clywch inquiry set to resume
The inquiry into the handling of sex-abuse allegations against the
late former drama teacher, John Owen, will resume next month.
The Clywch Inquiry chaired by the Children’s Commissioner for
Wales, Peter Clarke, was set up in the wake of Owen’s suicide
in 2001 while he was awaiting trial for allegedly sexually abusing
children in his care.
Source:- Western Mail Thursday 17 April page 7