Tuesday 3 June 2003

By Amy Taylor, Clare Jerrom and Alex Dobson.
Injured Labour insider attacks race-riot inquiry as a
disgrace
A member of Labour’s national executive is outraged that
no police officers are to be disciplined for allegedly injuring him
during the race riots in Burnley.
Shahid Malik, who at the time was a member of the Commission for
Racial Equality, said he was “shocked and dismayed” by the
decision.
Malik suffered a head wound and bruising after his run-in with the
Lancashire Constabulary while he was trying to calm tensions during
the violence.
Source:- The Times Tuesday 3 June page 2
‘No win, no fee’ claims checked for fraud
A company whose owner pledged to give £6 million to the NSPCC
over a number of years, has ceased trading and is being checked for
fraud.
The bus company Arriva has hired private detectives to look over
more than 400 claims for compensation made through the Accident
Group, Britain’s largest personal injury claims firm.
The NSPCC said that as far as they were aware the pledge still
stood.
Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 3 June page 10
Britain ‘owes a debt’ to Saddam’s asylum seeking
daughters
Lawyers acting on behalf of two of Saddam Hussein’s daughters, who
are attempting to seek political asylum, will claim that Britain
owes them ‘a debt’.
The women are attempting to live in this country on the grounds
that their husbands were passing secrets to the west. Saddam’s
cousin, their father, is acting on their behalf.
Source:- The Daily Mail Tuesday 3 June page 23
Scottish newspapers
Nursery nurses strike again
A third wave of strikes by nursery nurses was due to take place
today as both sides of the dispute were set to meet for the first
time since the action began.
Unison said its members in Inverclyde, east, north and south
Ayrshire, Orkney and Shetland were set to be involved in the
industrial action and the public sector union called for a
“significant move” as it prepared to meet Cosla for
talks to end the dispute.
Source:- The Scotsman Tuesday 3 June page 6
Minister expelled over sex abuse
A Church of Scotland minister was expelled yesterday for trying to
grope a schoolboy in a leisure centre toilet.
Minister of St Andrews High in Musselburgh, Ian Andrew, had already
been placed on the sex offenders’ register when he pleaded
guilty to attempted assault at Stonehaven sheriff court last
October.
Source:- The Scotsman Tuesday 3 June page 6
Youth court criticised after first day
The stepfather of the first teenager to come before the new youth
court criticised the fast track system yesterday.
William Ramsey’s stepfather John MacManus claimed the scheme
could undermine the justice system. The Conservative party added
that the fact that one of the accused failed to turn up on the
first day, proved youth courts would not work.
But police disagreed and said the first day of the youth courts had
been “a good start”, and that they would provide a
“tremendous opportunity” to break the cycle of
re-offending among some young people.
In total the youth court at Hamilton sheriff court sat for around
10 minutes.
Source:- The Herald Tuesday 3 June
Sex charge health chief escapes jail
A senior health board official in the Borders, who was
found to have more than 60 pictures of children on his computer,
escaped prison yesterday.
Tom Skinner was fined £2,000 and placed on the sex
offenders’ register for five years after he admitted paying
to download the images.
The court heard how the secretary of Borders Health Board had been
caught during Operation Ore.
Source:- The Herald Tuesday 3 June
Diet can help tackle autism
Cutting out foods such as pasta, bread and cakes from
autism sufferers’ diets can reduce their symptoms, according
to research.
Dr Ken Aitken, a clinical psychologist with Greater Glasgow Primary
Care Trust, claimed that a gluten-free regime could minimise
behavioural problems associated with the condition, especially in
children.
Source:- Daily Record Tuesday 3 June page 6
Boy’s porn hell
A couple were told that their son had been abused and the images
broadcast to paedophiles around the world.
Gordon Sheppard had been molesting the boy, now 10-years-old, for
two years then posting pictures of the abuse on the internet.
Unemployed Sheppard, who admits sex abuse and distributing
pornographic images, will be sentenced on 20 June.
Source:- Daily Record Tuesday 3 June page 13
Old age MSP takes on care homes
Tough action against ‘dodgy’ residential care
homes and their owners, was urged by pensioners’ MSP John
Swinburne yesterday.
In his first motion for parliament, Swinburne, the Scottish Senior
Citizens Unity Party’s sole MSP hit out at inadequate care in
some residential homes.
He called on the Scottish executive to give the Care Commission
powers to insist on random spot checks, and to strip unscrupulous
owners of their right to run homes.
Source:- Daily Record Tuesday 3 June page 21
Welsh newspapers
Queen Awards Six Welsh Groups
Six south Wales groups who serve the community, have been
given prestigious Queen’s Golden Jubilee Awards.
The awards recognise the contribution of voluntary groups who
support people in their communities in a number of ways. The groups
singled out for the honour included the Aberfan and Merthyr Vale
Youth project, Grangetown Community Concern and the Muslim Welfare
Association.
Source:- South Wales Echo Monday 2 June pages 10-11
Tenants warned of legal scam
Council tenants are becoming the victims of a legal scam after
being persuaded to sue their local authority over made-up housing
problems, and then charged for the unsuccessful claims.
Dozens of residents in Carmarthenshire have been visited by people
claiming they can win compensation from the council for work they
say needs to be carried out, but in almost every case the council
has been exempt from legal action.
Source:- Western Mail Tuesday 3 June page 5