Thursday 24 July 2004

 
By Amy Taylor, Clare Jerrom and Alex Dobson

Wheelchair that runs on thought

A wheelchair that can be controlled by thoughts alone is being
developed by scientists  and would give more freedom to severely
paralysed and quadriplegic patients.

The invention works by using a skullcap containing electrodes
that pick up brain signals.

When a person thinks that they would like to move to the right,
a computer system within the chair will interpret their brain
signal and move them in their desired direction.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph 24 July Thursday page
8

Parents can check childminders’ pasts

Parents will be given the right to check whether
childminders looking after their children have been ever been
accused of harming other youngsters, under proposals to close a
loophole in the law.

Previously childminders could halt inquiries into past
complaints by refusing to consent to information being
disclosed.

The education watchdog Ofsted, which is responsible for
inspecting childminders, said the details of the reform would be
published this autumn.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph 24 July Thursday page
27

Councils face £80m care bill

Thousands of mental health patients and their families who
have been incorrectly made to pay for residential care could be
reimbursed by up to £80,000 each if new guidance from the
local government ombudsmen is followed.

The report states that councils wrongly charged for the care due
to a misinterpretation of the law.

One of the ombudsmen, Jerry White, said in the report it was
difficult to calculate how much money would be paid out, but the
House of Lords put the bill at around £80m in a calculation
made last year.

The report relates to the misinterpretation of section 117 of
the Mental Health Act 1983 which states that local authorities have
to provide aftercare services for someone who has been discharged
from compulsory detention in hospital until they no longer require
them.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph 24 July Thursday page
11

Minister criticises BBC over asylum shows

Immigration minister Beverly Hughes has accused the BBC of
“trivialising” the issue of asylum in a special day dedicated to
programmes on the topic screened yesterday.

Hughes criticised one programme for making the debate on asylum 
into a “game show” and said a Panorama report was “inaccurate and
misleading”.

The BBC said it felt that it had covered the asylum issue in a
“serious, responsible and accessible way”.

Source:- The Independent 24 July Thursday page 2

‘Support system fails children’

Vulnerable young people are being left without
representation in court due to serious mismanagement in the service
which provides guardians for children in legal proceedings,
according to a report yesterday.

The Commons committee on the Lord Chancellor’s Department report
calls for drastic changes to the Children and Family Court Advisory
and Support Service (Cafcass).

A survey found that it takes an average of five weeks for
independent guardians to be assigned, a figure MPs described as
“wholly unacceptable”.

Source:- The Guardian Thursday 24 July page 10

Illegal workers out of control admits
ministry

The government has admitted for the first time that
several hundreds of thousands of illegal workers could be employed
in this country due to easy access to forged documents.

A Home Office document, released without publicity four days
after the Commons summer recess, confirms the level of the problem
and outlines proposals to tackle illegal working by asylum seekers
and immigrants.

It identifies agriculture, construction, catering, hospitality
and food processing as industries where illegal working is
rife.

Source:- The Times 24 July Thursday page 1

Scottish news

Ex-monk freed pending appeal

A former monk who was jailed after being found guilty of
physically abusing children in his care in the 1960s was released
on bail yesterday pending an appeal against the conviction.

Michael Murphy, formerly known as Brother Benedict was convicted
of 10 offences carried out at St Ninian’s List D school in
Stirlingshire.

Murphy, jailed for two years earlier this month, was released
yesterday following a hearing at the Court of Appeal in
Edinburgh.

Source:- The Scotsman  Thursday 24 July page 8

Killer sues over solitary affront to his
dignity

A young offender who claims that locking him up in
solitary confinement was a breach of natural justice is suing for
£10,000 damages.

Norman Carlton alleges he was not given a fair hearing before
being put on “punishment rule” for a month and that
conditions in an isolation cell at Polmont Young Offenders’
Institution were an affront to his human dignity.

In 2001, the 18-year-old was given an eight-year sentence for
killing Patrick Brady. He was originally accused of murder but the
charge was reduced to culpable homicide.

Source:- The Scotsman  Thursday 24 July

Start of moves to deport Dungavel family

The Home Office was preparing to return a family of
Kurdish asylum seekers to Germany yesterday after their application
for legal aid to take their case to the House of Lords was
rejected.

Lawyers for Yurdugal Ay and her four children, who have been
held at Dungavel detention centre in Lanarkshire for more than a
year, said they planned to pursue the case without public
funding.

They now have one week to lodge a petition with the Lords. Home
secretary David Blunkett was ordered earlier this month not to
deport the family until the end of July.

Source:- The Herald  Thursday 24 July

Our campaign gets MP’s vote

Scots MPs last night backed the Daily
Record’s campaign to urge pensioners to claim the
benefits that they are entitled to.

Around 60,000 older people in Scotland are missing out on
£70m a year in unclaimed benefits.

Westminster politicians also promised to step up their efforts
to help constituents claim what they are due.

Source:- Daily Record  Thursday 24 July page 2

Parly faces new 3-month delay

The new Scottish Parliament has fallen behind schedule by a further
three months, it emerged yesterday

Holyrood is now due to open next Easter, making it nearly three
years late and 10 times over budget at £374m.

Source:- Daily Record  Thursday 24 July page 21

Welsh news

Beaten up on Mother’s Day

A drug addict who attacked his mother on Mother’s
Day after she refused to give him money to feed his habit was given
a 12 month prison sentence yesterday for theft, common assault and
assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Jonathan Hughes had attacked his mother several times before and
stolen money from her. His mother, Valerie, wrote to the Crown
Prosecution Service in an attempt to reduce the prison term he
would serve as a result of his violence towards her.

Source:- South Wales Echo Wednesday 23 July page 6