Wednesday 4 June 2003

By Amy Taylor, Clare Jerrom and Alex Dobson.
Sisters jailed for smuggling girls as sex slaves
A court heard yesterday how two sisters smuggled hundreds
of Thai women into Britain, and forced them to work as sex slaves
in a million-pound operation.
Bupba Savada and Monporn Hughes, both Thai nationals, were jailed
at Southwark crown court yesterday for running a network of
brothels in Wimbledon, Surbiton and Harrow.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph Wednesday 4 June page
11
‘200,000 smuggled to UK by Godmother of the
Snakeheads’
A Chinese woman was named by the police yesterday as being one of
the most powerful ‘Snakehead’ leaders in western Europe, smuggling
20,000 people a year to Britain.
Jing Ping Chen, is believed to have planned the smuggling of
200,000 Chinese people into Britain via Holland.
She is currently facing trial in Rotterdam with seven male
accomplices after being discovered by undercover Dutch police and
immigration investigators.
Source:- The Daily Mail Wednesday 4 June page 10
EU snubs Blunkett’s solution to asylum
crisis
The immigration minister has announced that the government it to
press ahead with plans to send asylum seekers to transit camps
outside western Europe despite the EU Commission shelving the
plans.
The commission said the plans needed more research, and suggested
that the EU needed to ‘share’ the asylum burden, rather than
‘shift’ it on to other countries.
Hughes insisted that the plans had the ‘broad support’ of other
member states.
Source:- The Daily Mail Wednesday 4 June page 10
Gays may be barred from church jobs
Church schools could soon be able to turn down gay people for
teaching posts without facing prosecution under new
guidelines.
The employment equality regulations, due to take effect in
December, give religious organisations an exemption from rules
barring discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.
Source:- The Daily Mail Wednesday 4 June page 15
Mental illness  ‘costs more than crime or the
NHS’
Treating and caring for mental health problems cost over £77
billion last year, which was higher than the annual cost of crime,
according to a study from the Sainsbury Centre for Mental
Health.
The research found the full social and economic costs of this
condition were even greater than the £60 billion annual cost
of crime, calculated by the home office on a similar basis.
Source:- The Guardian Wednesday 4 June page 9
Guardian Society
No hiding place
The government’s tough line on  anti-social tenants has been
embraced by some councils, but a new project is opting for support
rather than expulsion to improve behaviour.
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 4 June page 3
Victorious charities secure funds
Two charities have shown that the “compact” agreement between the
government and the voluntary sector can work by successfully
challenging breaches of its implementation.
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 4 June page 4
Help fails to improve carers’ plight
Less than one in three carers have had an assessment of
their needs despite it being a central part of government measures
to help carers.
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 4 June page 4
Freeze a deed
Winning photographs in a competition celebrating Volunteers’ Week
show that anyone can take part, even dogs
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 4 June page 5
In the frame
Dennis Morris ignored his careers adviser and is now a
successful photographer who has been capturing social change
spanning 30 years.
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 4 June page 6
Returning the faith
Churches, mosques and synagogues help society in ways that councils
do not or can not. Yet they are underused and receive little
thanks.
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 4 June page 10
Back from the brink
Profile Terry Charles-Mclean, disabled volunteer
adviser
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 4 June page 11
Joining force
Volunteers and social workers team up to support families
with ‘at risk’ children
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 4 June page 12
Out on a limb
A hospital trust in Sutton Coalfield will be the first to be
managed by the private sector
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 4 June page 13
Are you ready?
All local authorities must be prepared for emergencies, says
Richard Harbord. And there’s only one way to do that:
planning
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 4 June page 13
Where the buck stops
Call for clear lines of accountability in child
protection
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 4 June page 131
The fact vacuum
Disabled population suffers due to out of date data
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 4 June page 131
An open mind
Sarah Ebner meets the founder of a controversial support group for
professionals with severe mental health problems
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 4 June page 132
Scottish newspapers
Peterhead cells are hell for sex offenders
The Scottish prison service was accused yesterday of continuing to
run down Peterhead jail as part of its policy to treat sex
offenders like second class inmates by Scotland’s new prisons
watchdog.
Dr Andrew McLellan, who was appointed to the post of
Scotland’s Chief Inspector of Prisons last October, said he
was shocked at the “dreadful and unacceptable”
conditions under which the sex offenders at the north east prison
were being forced to serve their sentences.
Source:- The Scotsman  Wednesday 4 June page 4
Nursery nurses’ pay talks deadlocked
Public sector union Unison and nursery nurses employers failed to
come to an agreement over pay and conditions following talks
yesterday.
Unison expressed disappointment that local authority employers were
“apparently unable to address the central problem of low
pay”.
Around 5,000 nursery nurses are involved in industrial action
causing the closure or partial closure of hundreds of nurses across
Scotland causing parents to make alternative arrangements for
childcare.
Source:- The Scotsman  Wednesday 4 June
Social worker on heroin deals
A social worker dealt drugs to two women in his care and smoked
heroin, the high court in Kilmarnock heard yesterday.
Eighteen-year-old Leigh McLean told a jury she was supplied with
heroin by social worker Campbell Valentine.
McLean, who admitted having a £700-a-week drug habit before
falling pregnant, claimed Valentine would visit her daily.
Valentine worked for East Ayrshire council and denies being
concerned in the supply of heroin to two addicts between 1 November
2001 and 31 January, 2002.
The trial continues.
Source:- Daily Record  Wednesday 4 June
Welsh newspapers
Banned from working with children
A music teacher from south Wales has been banned from working with
school children after being found guilty of trying to download
child pornography from the internet.
Roddy Lewis will not be allowed to work with children in local
government schools after being placed on the department of
education and skills’ List 99.
List 99 is a confidential document that contains details of people
who have been barred or restricted from working with
children.
Source:- South Wales Argus Tuesday 3 June page 1
‘Naked resident cause of dispute’
A former care worker told an employment tribunal that he
had challenged a council-run home’s policy of taking naked
and semi naked residents into communal areas.
Neil Boyer claims he was unfairly dismissed from his job as a
senior residential services officer at a resource centre in
Abergavenny, and that the fears he expressed over the care of
residents was not acted upon by senior management.
Monmouthshire council is contesting his claims.
Source:- South Wales Argus Tuesday 3 June page 5