Wednesday 23 April 2003

Cabbies to be trained to help women fleeing domestic
violence

Taxi drivers are to get compulsory training to encourage victims
of domestic violence to confide in them, the government announced
today.

The idea comes from the Women and Equality Unit, following
concerns that the government are not being “creative” enough in its
attempts to reduce domestic violence.

Ministers hope that women fleeing violent partners will talk to
their drivers, in an attempt to build on the “confessional”
atmosphere of a taxi.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Wednesday 23 April page
10

Ten years on a tribute to Stephen Lawrence

Relatives and friends of Stephen Lawrence, the teenager murdered
in a racist attack, gathered yesterday to mark the tenth
anniversary of his death.

Nobody has been convicted for the murder of the 18-year old who
was stabbed by a gang of youths at a bus stop in Eltham, south-east
London, near his home.

Relentless campaigning by his parents, Doreen and Neville, and
inquiries into the unsuccessful investigation of his death made the
case into a landmark in British race relations.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Wednesday 23 April page
13

Suicide pact suspect found dead

A man who was set to stand trial for assisting the suicide of a
stranger with whom he made a suicide pact a year ago, killed
himself yesterday.

Louis Gillies hanged himself just as he was due in court charged
with aiding and abetting Michael Gooden’s death.

Gooden died in May of last year just days after meeting Gillies
in an internet chat room where they discussed suicide and entered
into a pact.

Source:- The Times Wednesday 23 April page 3

Chat rooms can ease pain and save lives

Mental health experts have mixed views over the increasing
numbers of websites and chat rooms about suicide.

While evidence shows that explicit descriptions of suicide
methods can lead to an increase in the number of people attempting
to commit the act, it is also thought that some sites can help to
prevent suicide by giving people a place to air their emotions.

Source:- The Times Wednesday 23 April page 3

Fatal fallout

The suicide rate among veterans of the first Gulf war is almost
five times higher than the number of deaths in combat. Yet the NHS
has no extra funds for specialist mental health treatment after the
latest conflict in Iraq.

Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 23 April page 2

Lottery of life in the pockets of poverty

Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 23 April page 4

UN ‘dinosaur’ sticks to the zero option

Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 23 April page 4

Sheer genius

A rundown resort in Kent has reinvented itself by combining old
glories and a new vision

Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 23 April page 5

Giving it away

The Funding Network’s donation days bring together charities and
the ‘new philanthropists’

Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 23 April page 6

System decay

Patched-up NHS dentistry remains on the critical list. Raekha
Prasad asks whether the latest plans to revive it will be enough to
save the nation’s teeth

Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 23 April page
10

Home front

The first housing scheme for single former military personnel
has been set up

Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 23 April page
12

Suits for hire

Temps – or interim managers- are working at the highest levels
of NHS trusts, councils and central government

Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 23 April page
12

Tending the numbers

Is community care failing to protect the vulnerable?

Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 23 April page
75

Weigh forward

Laurence Pollock on a scheme pioneered by service users to
tackle the side effects of a new psychiatric drugs

Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 23 April page
76

Scottish news

Joiner jailed for six years after raping
prostitute

A man with previous convictions for attacking women was jailed
for six years yesterday after being found guilty of raping a
prostitute in Aberdeen.

Lord Brodie ordered that Leslie Watt should serve a further six
years following his jail sentence so that he can be kept under
supervision in order to protect the public.

The judge heard that Watt, a joiner, had attacked women working
as prostitutes in the 1980s and in 1990 was sentenced to four years
for indecently assaulting a 17-year-old girl who was not involved
with the sex trade.

Source:- The Herald Wednesday 23 April

Prisoner sues for missing church services

A Scottish prisoner is claiming £15,000 damages for being
denied the opportunity to attend church after he has been held in
solitary confinement for more than five months.

Sammy Ralston says his spiritual needs have suffered while he
has been unable to attend Church of Scotland services alongside
fellow inmates.

Yesterday his lawyers went to court claiming his lengthy
segregation was a breach of his human rights and tried to have him
removed from solitary confinement.

Ralston from Cranhill, Glasgow is serving a 12-year sentence for
his part in an armed raid on a shop in Glasgow, which he
denies.

Source:- The Scotsman Wednesday 23 April

Welsh News

Site ‘vital for village’

Plans to build a bungalow that would house an autistic child and
his family have upset a south Wales community.

Local residents are objecting to proposals from Charter housing
association to build a three bedroom detached bungalow in the
village of Talywain. Local people argue that the land should be
retained for use by the whole community.

But despite a 12-month long search no other suitable
accommodation has been found and if the plans get the go-ahead the
autistic child and his family would be able to remain within a
network of family support.

Source:- South Wales Argus Tuesday 22 April page 13

Welsh Tories asylum storm

Welsh Tory leader Nick Bourne has provoked an angry response by
claiming that Britain is being “swamped” by asylum seekers.

His comments overshadowed a visit to Wales by Conservative
leader, Iain Duncan Smith yesterday, when he warned that people
felt overwhelmed by the massive number of migrants seeking refuge
in the UK.

His views were swiftly condemned by refugee workers as
inflammatory and by his political opponents as desperate.

Source:- Western Mail Wednesday 23 April page 1