Friday 2 May 2003

By Amy Taylor, Clare Jerrom and Alex
Dobson.

Mother ‘who suffocated babies had refused
help’

A mother who is alleged to have suffocated three of her babies
refused an ofer of resuscitation lessons a week before the death of
her second child, a court heard yesterday.

Trupti Patel told a nurse that she would be able to cope if
there were any complications despite being unable to revive her
first child 18 months previously.

Her husband accepted the lessons.

Patel also turned down the use of an apnoea monitor, against her
husband’s wishes, which would have set off an alarm if her baby had
stopped breathing.

Source:- The Times Friday 2 May page 5

Heroin addicts who detox more likely to die of an
overdose

Heroin addicts who complete detoxification programmes to rid
themselves of the drug are at a higher risk of overdosing if they
relapse, researchers warned today.

Five addicts died, three of an overdose and two from other
causes, within 12 months of being discharged from the in-patient
unit at the National Addiction Centre at the Maudsley Hospital in
London.

The deaths raise questions over the safety of detoxification
treatment used in hospitals and out-patient projects throughout the
country.

Source:- The Independent Friday 2 May page 11

Cannabis smoking could cause 30,000 deaths a year, study
claims

If the ill effects of smoking cannabis are comparable to those
of smoking tobacco, it may be responsible for the deaths of 30,000
people a year, researchers have warned.

Working with the figure of an estimated 3.2 million people using
cannabis in the UK, doctors have calculated the deaths based on the
120,000 deaths among the 13 tobacco smokers.

Source:- The Independent Friday 2 May page 11

Girl, 11, arrested in raid on ‘crack house’

A girl aged 11 was arrested for possessing cannabis after a raid
on a house in Middlesbrough where police found crack cocaine and
£1,000 cash. A woman aged 26 and a man aged 25 were also
arrested on suspicion of possessing crack cocaine with intent to
supply.

Source:- The Independent Friday 2 May page 8

Scottish newspapers

Killer mum ‘devoted to little
Erin’

A mother who killed her five-year-old daughter with a claw
hammer was a devoted caring parent, the high court in Glasgow heard
yesterday.

Ann Dunn smashed Erin Gilmour’s skull and almost killed
another child in he frenzied attack, after which she took an
overdose.

But Dunn’s lawyer Desmond Finnieston said Dunn had been a
good mother who lost control after being gripped by a serious
mental illness. She became depressed after breaking up with
Erin’s father Kenneth Gilmour.

When she appeared in court last month Dunn admitted culpable
homicide by reason of diminished responsibility, and she pleaded
guilty to seriously assaulting the other girl.

Temporary judge Leeona Dorrian ordered Dunn to be returned to
Carstairs hospital so her mental state could continue to be
assessed.

Dunn is due back in court on 24 July.

Source:- Daily Record  Friday 2 May page 19

I’ll climb Everest in a wheelchair

Disabled Glenn Shaw and friend Neil Laughton are setting off to
climb Mount Everest later this month in a bid to break the record
for the highest ascending disabled man in history.

The four-week trip in the Himalayas range is the first time a
wheelchair climb of its kind has been attempted.

Using a specially designed harness wheelchair Laughton and his
team will push and lift Shaw, who has brittle bones, up the 29,000
ft plus mountain.

Source:- Daily Record  Friday 2 May page 37

Pupils sue charity over perv teacher

Former pupils of a charity set up to educate children of Scots
servicemen are set to sue the charity claiming they were abused by
one of its staff.

Housemaster Allen Meredith was jailed for 10 years in 1995 for
subjecting youngsters to a catalogue of sexual abuse at the Royal
Caledonian School in Hertfordshire. The school is now closed.

But Meredith’s victims are claiming damages from the
charity which ran the school, the Royal Caledonian Education
Trust.

Source:- Daily Record  Friday 2 May page 43

Welsh newspapers

Nurse is struck off after abuse

A mental health nurse who ill-treated patients at two nursing
homes, has been struck off the profession’s register.

Stefan Spedding was jailed for 12 months in May 2001 for 11
counts of ill-treating patients at a nursing home in Bridgend.
Later that year he was given a further three months’ sentence
after pleading guilty to six counts of ill-treatment at another
home in the town.

The professional conduct committee of the Nursing and Midwifery
Council has now ruled that his name should be removed from the
register with immediate effect.

Source:- South Wales Echo Thursday 1 May page 13

Jail short of staff, inspector warns

Staffing levels at Parc prison in Bridgend are too low to ensure
the safety of inmates and wardens, says the Chief Inspector of
Prisons Anne Owers.

The 800-inmate prison, operated by Securicor, was safe and
respectful according to a new report but it says: “Additional
staff are urgently needed to ensure that levels of safety are
maintained”.

Parc prison, which opened in 1997, holds adults, young offenders
and juveniles on remand.

Source:- Western Mail Friday 2 May page 7