Friday 18 July 2003

By Amy Taylor, Clare Jerrom and Alex Dobson.
I didn’t have sex with Shevaun, Studabaker tells
court

The former US marine who ran away with a 12-year-old-girl he met
over the internet has denied having any sexual contact with the
girl.
Toby Studabaker, aged 31, has agreed to be extradited to Britain
after an application from Greater Manchester police.
He insisted that he had believed that Shevaun Pennington from
Lowton, Greater Manchester, was 18-years-old.
Source:- Daily Telegraph Friday 18 July page 9
Disability deal extended
A programme designed to help disabled people into work has been
extended for a further two years, the government announced
yesterday.
The new deal for disabled people, which helps those on disability
or health-related benefits to get jobs, will now run until March
2006.
Source:- Daily Telegraph Friday 18 July page 14
Video mobiles bring new risk for children
The trend for video mobile phones will increase the risk
of children being “groomed” by paedophiles in internet chat rooms,
a new report for the home office taskforce has warned.
Rachel O’Connell, a member of the home office taskforce on child
protection on the internet, said paedophiles could ask children to
send photos of themselves progressing onto asking them to take
photographs of themselves naked or performing sexual acts.
Source:- The Times Friday 18 July page 3
Jenna, 14, goes missing after sex talk in internet chat
room

A girl aged 14-years-old has ran away with an older teenager she
met in an internet chatroom.
Jenna Bashir disappeared 13 days ago after putting photographs of
herself on the website and falsely claiming that she was 17.
Bashir is believed to have ran away with 17-year-old Sean Marshall,
but last night a person claiming to be Marshall phoned and emailed
the Daily Mail and said that Bashir was not with him.
He said that although they had communicated over the internet they
had never met.
Source:- Daily Mail Friday 18 July page 9
Health department admits ratings errors
The department of health has admitted that two NHS trusts
have had their ratings upgraded to three stars after it became
apparent that mistaken data had been used.
Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare had previously only received one
star while Oxfordshire Learning Disability, a mental health trust,
was only given one.
It emerged yesterday that a mistake in the data collected on the
mental health trust was discovered weeks ago, but not immediately
changed by the health department because the official responsible
had gone on holiday.
Source:- The Financial Times Friday 18 July page 5
Refugee children must be moved out of Dungavel, says
expert

Children of asylum seekers who are detained in refugee detention
centres should be moved as a matter of urgency, according to an
expert on the psychological problems suffered by this group.
School-aged asylum seekers were almost three times more likely to
suffer psychological problems than their peers, a report by Mina
Fazel of Oxford University said.
She also expressed concern that holding them in units such as
Dungavel detention centre, Lanarkshire, repressed their
development. She identified the problem of settling into a new
country as one of the key triggers behind their mental
distress.
Source:- The Herald Friday 18 July
Care home scrutiny tightened after death
Extra checks on junior staff at a Borders nursing home
have been introduced by care home watchdogs following the death of
a resident from a suspected overdose of insulin.
Police investigated the death of a resident at the Galashiels
nursing home last year, it emerged yesterday, and further
recommendations may follow.
A police spokesperson confirmed that a report had gone to the
procurator fiscal, but that the contents of the report would not be
revealed.
The Care Commission has been keeping a close watch with unannounced
visits.
Source:- The Herald Friday 18 July
Welsh newspapers
Revealed: child obesity threatens rich and poor
New research shows that children from middle class
families are just as much at risk from obesity as those from poorer
backgrounds.
Children as young as 12 are showing signs of heart disease and
diabetes and the research from the University of Glamorgan reveals
that as many as one in four Welsh children is overweight.
The Welsh assembly has introduced a number of initiatives aimed at
tackling the problem of the unhealthy diets and lack of exercise of
young people in Wales.
Source:- Western Mail Friday 18 July page 1
Offender unit plan puts Hain in conflict
Plans for a secure training centre for young offenders have been
submitted to Neath Port Talbot council.
The plans for the 80-100 bed centre at Glynneath will create up to
250 permanent jobs, but local people are opposed to the
scheme.
The site is considered to be highly suitable and Welsh Secretary
and Neath MP Peter Hain, said that the project will be of great
benefit to the area.
There is currently a serious shortage of secure juvenile
accommodation in Wales.
Source:- Western Mail Friday 18 July page 7
£11m bill to clean up Wales’ dirty
hospitals
A damning report from the Auditor General for Wales on
cleanliness and hygiene in the country’s 17 acute hospitals
has revealed worrying inadequacies in the way the problem is
handled.
According to the report, cleaning specifications are often poorly
defined and may not be helping cleaning staff to achieve the
desired outcome – a clean hospital.
Source:- Western Mail Friday 18 July page 11

More from Community Care

Comments are closed.