Wednesday 30 April 2003

By Amy Taylor, Clare Jerrom and Alex Dobson.
Mother ‘killed three of her babies, then blamed cot death’
A mother who suffocated three of her four children tried
to make their murders look like cot deaths, Reading crown court
heard yesterday.
Trupti Patel is alleged to have killed her babies before they
reached 13-weeks-old. She denies the charges.
Patel’s second child Amar died in 1997 aged 13 weeks, followed by
Jamie aged 14 days in 1999. Mia, her fourth child, died aged 22
days in June 2001 after which police were called in to investigate
with the first two deaths initially being put down to cot
death.
Source:- The Times Wednesday 30 April page 5
Sex suspects may win anonymity
Limited anonymity would be granted to sex offenders under proposals
set to be put to ministers.
Under the new measures their name would only be disclosed if
charges had been made, keeping them out of the media when only
allegations have been made.
They are aimed at protecting people’s reputations, such as the
television presenter Matthew Kelly, because they often face
allegations of having committed a sexual offence but are then never
charged.
Source:- The Telegraph Wednesday 30 April page 2
Staff find it pays to blow the whistle
An estimated £10 million in compensation is being given out
each year to staff who are victimised after whistleblowing on
employers, according to new research.
Pubic Concern at Work, a charity that promotes accountability in
the workplace, said the average payment to whistleblowing
employees, who then suffer for their actions, was just over
£100,000, and the highest was £800,000.
Source:- The Telegraph Wednesday 30 April page 4
Afghan asylum seekers flown back to Kabul
Around 20 asylum seekers landed in Kabul yesterday after being
forcibly returned back to Afghanistan from Britain.
Several of the refugees were said to have protested so much that
they had to be tied up, according to a fellow deportee.
The home office denies the claim, saying two men were handcuffed
but that these were removed once they were on the plane.
Source:- The Telegraph Wednesday 30 April page 4
How the deportation of 30 Afghans was cut back to just 21 at
£6,200 each (more than it cost to fly to New York and back by
Concorde)
Only 21 asylum seekers were sent back to Afghanistan filling fewer
than one in 10 seats on a plane chartered by the home office
costing over £130,000.
The seats worked out at £6,200 for each deportee. Up to 30
Afghans had been expected to be onboard.
Source:- The Telegraph Wednesday 30 April page 22
Guardian Society
Ailing estates regain sense of balance
Councils and housing associations are being urged to follow the
example of the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust, and sell off empty
rental properties to middle class people to create socially mixed
communities.
The research on a five-year experiment on the New Earswick estate
in York on which the trust sold every second home that became
vacant on the open market after marketing them to more well-off
buyers, found that the practice has halted the community’s
decline.
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 30 April page 4
New fund lifts barrier to a better future
Under new government proposals out today voluntary
organisations within four areas of public services are to be
invited to bid for a part of the sector’s £125 million
investment fund.
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 30 April page 4
Hard work in a hostile environment
Disabled people alleging to have been discriminated against at work
make up over half the cases supported by the Disability Rights
Commission over the past year.
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 30 April page 4
On the move
It’s not just in the fictional world of the Archers that farmers
are having to learn computer skills.
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 30 April page 5
Patient progress
Thousands of people with chronic illnesses are taking part
in an NHS programme designed to make them experts in their own
condition.
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 30 April page 6
Taxing the patience
The new tax credits are aimed at fighting poverty. But they will
miss many of their targets without adequate welfare advice.
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 30 April page 10
Through a glass lightly
Profile Mel Wright, ex-social worker with a novel view on
life
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 30 April page 11
Over the wall
As the pay gap in the public sector narrows, will private company
executives be tempted to leap across?
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 30 April page 13
Gloves are off
Finance specialists come in various shapes and sizes in both public
and private sectors. But there is no love lost between their
professional bodies.
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 30 April page 14
On the road to ruin
Mapping the pattern of sexual abuse of young women
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 30 April page
143
Awaiting trial
People with Down’s syndrome are living longer, but are denied drug
treatment for dementia
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 30 April page
144
Scottish newspapers
Charity worker is jailed for abuse
A community worker was jailed for 10 years yesterday after
he used his role with a family support charity to prey on young
boys entrusted to his care.
Graham Hammond also received an extended sentence of seven years
which will keep him under close supervision in the community when
he is eventually released.
Edinburgh high court heard that Hammond befriended boys aged
between seven and 12 at the Family Action at Rogerfield and
Easterhouse (Fare) project in Glasgow.
He abused some of them at his home in Easterhouse and others during
outings that he organised. He was arrested after one of his victims
complained to the police..
Source:- The Herald  Wednesday 30 April 2003
Kid-sex rugby doc in suicide
A doctor accused of child abuse was found hanged at his
home in Glasgow.
GP Ronnie Graham who was also one of Scotland’s top rugby
coaches was facing charges of repeatedly molesting a boy over a
10-year period. It is believed that other boys made similar
allegations, many relating to summer camps.
The father of two was found by his wife and son. Graham has
previously tried to kill himself by swallowing weed-killer when he
was charged by police and suspended by the General Medical
Council.
Source:- Daily Record  Wednesday 30 April page 1 and
2
Torture kids left terrified of Scots accents
A woman accused of torturing and beating two young children walked
free yesterday from Linlithgow sheriff court because the youngsters
were too traumatised to give evidence.
Prosecutors were also forced to abandon the case against Gillian
Overton because they were running out of time to bring the case to
trial. The court heard how the children cannot even bear to hear a
Scots accent.
Overton of West Lothian was accused of carrying out a nine-month
reign of terror in 2001 against a boy now six-years-old and his
sister, now seven-years-old. The investigation was launched after
the children, who are now in care in England, made a complaint at
school about their treatment.
At one stage it was planned to take the case to Edinburgh where
child-friendly facilities are provided. But a psychologist rejected
the idea after examining the children saying they were too
distressed to give evidence from behind screens or through a CCTV
link.
Overton, who has been suspended from her job in the justice
department at the Scottish executive since the allegations arose,
refused to comment as she left the court.
Source:- Daily Record  Wednesday 30 April page 17
Welsh newspapers
Indecent assault boy gets electronic tag
A 12-year-old boy who indecently assaulted a mother of three and
was convicted of burglary is to be electronically tagged as part of
a supervision order.
The boy from Rhondda Cynon Taf has been warned that if he fails to
comply with the order, which includes several stringent conditions,
he would face detention in the future.
Source:- South Wales Echo Tuesday 29 April page 5
Truant boy back at school after mum’s release from
jail
A persistent truant has returned to school two days after his
mother was released from prison after serving a sentence for
failing to make him attend.
The 14-year-old was back at a Llanelli comprehensive school after
discussions with education welfare officers following his
mother’s release from a prison in Gloucestershire.
Source:- Western Mail Wednesday 30 April page 1
Care sector campaigner gives up fight
A vocal campaigner for the independent care sector in Wales has
decided that she can no longer fight against the under-funding and
miles of red tape that she says have seen the sector brought to
crisis point.
Cheryl-Wilson-Carter, vice-chairperson of Care Forum Wales, the
body that represents care home owners in the principality, has sold
her 40-patient Bettws nursing home because of the difficulties she
has encountered in trying to maintain high quality care for her
clients.
Source:- Western Mail Wednesday 30 April page 7