Monday 29 September 2003

By Amy Taylor, Clare Jerrom and Alex Dobson

Paedophile of 87 to have his identity
kept secret

An 87-year-old, who has been banned from
having any contact with children by a court, is to have his
identity kept secret.

Police lawyers acting for the man, who
received the ban after making indecent approaches to school girls,
successfully argued that the media should be prevented from
identifying him because “the public cannot be trusted” with the
information.

The man was already on the sex offenders’
register after sexually assaulting a three-year-old girl as she
slept in a pushchair in 2000.

Source:- The Daily
Telegraph Saturday 27 September page 5

Seven held in UK after Germans break
global child porn network

Seven people in Britain have been arrested
after German police cracked one of the biggest ever global child
pornography networks.

Under the German operation, which involved
1,500 police, 502 premises were raided, identifying 503 suspects,
including teachers and police.

Source:- The Independent
Saturday 27 September page 3

Census missed almost 200,000
people

National Statistics have admitted that the
population figures published in the census a year ago were close to
200,000 people short and amended the figure yesterday.

The increase was mainly made up of young men
living in London.

The figures are used by the government for
determining the level of funding given to local authorities.

Source:- The Financial
Times Saturday 27 September page 2

Ministers ‘suppressed’ damming race
report

A member of the government’s Mental Health
Task Force has accused the government of attempting to suppress the
findings of a damming report he wrote.

Professor Sashi Sashidha said the report,
which labels mental health services institutionally racist, also
had specific NHS targets for treating black and ethnic-minority
patients removed under the instructions of ministers.

The senior psychiatrist described how in his
view Inside Outside
was not circulated widely and people only heard about it by word of
mouth, even if they worked in mental health services.

Source:- The Independent on
Sunday Sunday 28 September page 2

Alone in his corner

The sectioning of former boxing champion Frank
Bruno drew widespread sympathy, not least from writers who have
known him over the years, such as Jonathan Rendall. But behind the
sad story of one famous man are the tales of thousands of
unknown  black men and women
– victims of fear and prejudice that keeps them from the mental
health care they deserve.

Source:- The Independent on
Sunday Sunday 28 September page 18

Blacks failed by our ‘racist’ system
of care for mentally ill

Sufferers from ethnic minorities are more
likely to be locked up than given proper treatment.

Source:- The Independent on
Sunday Sunday 28 September page 19

Labour’s £2bn new deal for cities
‘is a flop’

A £2bn government scheme that aims to
regenerate inner city areas has been labelled a failure.

Allegations of mismanagement, waste and
nepotism have been thrown at the New Deal for Communities scheme
set up four years ago.

It involved local boards throughout the
country distributing money to 39 deprived inner-city areas over 10
years.

However, ministers have now been forced to
intervene in five boards after arguments between members over how
to spend the money.

Source:- The Sunday
Telegraph Sunday 28 September page 14

Campaign to free father jailed for
killing child molester

A British man has been jailed in a Danish
court for murdering a paedophile who had molested his daughter.

Stephen Hoath was sentenced to 14 years in
prison in Odense, Denmark, last week for shooting dead Villy
Anderson, a convicted Danish child molester who abused his
nine-year-old daughter.

Campaigners are now calling for his
release.

Source:- The Sunday
Telegraph Sunday 28 September page 4

Sex offenders slip the
net

Thousands of paedophiles are just receiving a
caution because police are unable to cope with the level of
offenders being uncovered by investigations.

Although the men are placed on the sex
offenders’ register, no risk assessments are being carried out on
them.

The Home Office is thought to be investigating
the current system following pressure from children’s campaigners
for reforms to sentencing policy.

Source:- The Observer
Sunday 28 September page 15

Blair under fire on care for the
elderly

The royal commission on long-term care is due
to put pressure on the government by repeating its call for the
introduction of free personal care.

The government rejected the same
recommendation when it was put to them by the commission four years
ago, while the Scottish executive took up their call.

In England, only subsidised nursing care is
available.

Source:- The Financial
Times Monday 29 September page 3

Asylum centre is becoming ever more
dangerous

Harmondsworth holding centre for
asylum-seekers has been branded unsafe and unstable by a prison
watchdog’s report today.

Anne Owers, the chief inspector of prisons,
said the centre, near Heathrow, had increasing levels of disorder,
including arson attacks.

Source:- The Times
Monday 29 September page 6

Yarl’s Wood reopens before blaze
inquiry

The government has reopened Yarl’s Wood
detention centre before an inquiry into a fire at the facility 19
months ago has been completed.

Emma Ginn, of the campaign to Stop Arbitrary
Detentions at Yarl’s Wood, condemned the decision and accused the
government of “treating human life with disregard”.

Source:- The Guardian
Monday 29 September page 6

Scottish news

Number of Scots addicts seeking help soars

The number of people attending drug-help
centres has risen by over 25 per cent in the last five years,
according to the Scottish Drug Misuse Database.

Between March 2002 and March 2003, 11,472
people sought help at a range of community services for drug
problems, compared with 9,128 between 1998 and 1999.

The figures also showed that the number of
people seeking help who were injecting drugs rose from 39 per cent
in 2002 to 42 per cent.

Source:- The Scotsman Saturday 27
September

Drug den needles shut park to
visitors

Wildlife bosses have been forced to close a
city centre nature reserve because of the health risks posed to the
public from dozens of discarded needles left by drug users.

Addicts have used the Johnston Terrace garden
nature reserve as a drug den and have left used needles and
syringes lying around, according to the Scottish Wildlife
Trust.

Around 20 used needles and syringes have been
found each month and the Trust is reluctant to allow the public
into the gardens for fear visitors could stumble upon the
needles.

Source:- The Scotsman Saturday 27
September

Dead baby’s mother refused
freedom

A mother who failed to protect her daughter as
her boyfriend killed the child remained in prison last night, after
judges refused to let her stay with a friend pending an appeal.

A court heard that there were
“substantial concerns” about Andrea Bone’s male
pen-pal, who was offering her a temporary home.

Bone was jailed for three years last year
after being found guilty of culpable homicide of her daughter,
Carla-Nicole.

Source:- The Scotsman Saturday 27
September

Head puts block on Jodi
boy

The boyfriend of murdered school girl Jodi
Jones is being kept out of school by his head teacher, it emerged
yesterday.

Luke Mitchell had tried to find a new school
after he rowed with the head, Marion Docherty, over plans to
isolate him from other pupils at St David’s High in
Dalkeith.

But the 15-year-old agreed to return to St
David’s after he experienced difficulties finding an
alternative school place because of the combination of subjects he
wanted to study.

However, while Midlothian education bosses are
willing to accept him, Docherty is not. She claims Mitchell’s
mother, Corinne, breached security by storming into her office
without speaking to the school secretary beforehand.

Talks to break the deadlock will resume on
Monday.

Source:- Daily Record Saturday 27
September

Gay kids’ fears

Less than one in 10 gays or lesbians
“come out” before the age of 16 because they are scared
of being bullied, a psychology conference in Edinburgh heard
yesterday.

Source:- Daily Record Saturday 27
September

Executive threat over future of
Chancers project

The future of a last-chance project for young
offenders is being reviewed by the Scottish executive while its
leaders have been asked to come up with an action plan to address
the concerns of ministers.

The chairperson of the Airborne Initiative,
based in Braidwood House in Lanarkshire, has rejected calls by the
local MSP Karen Gillon for a suspension of the project and insisted
the next course for persistent offenders would go-ahead in just
over two weeks time.

The executive provides 80 per cent of the
funding for the Airborne Initiative, featured in BBC’s
Chancers documentary. However it has asked the charity to submit
evidence to an investigation by the Social Work Services
Inspectorate, while Hugh Henry, the deputy justice minister, has
met with its chairperson and deputy chairperson.

Source:- Sunday Herald Sunday 28
September

Homelessness ‘worse than
feared’

The official homelessness figures mask the
true extent of the problem, according to a new report.

The study, to be published this week, shows
that the numbers seeking help as homeless in Scotland’s
largest city are nearly a quarter higher than estimated by the
executive’s Homelessness Task Force.

Overall 12,000 applications for help from
homeless people are made each year in Glasgow by 8,000 individuals,
according to the report commissioned by the council to provide an
overview of the city’s homelessness crisis.

Source:- Sunday Herald Sunday 28
September

Scots teenagers to be issued with ID
cards

Every secondary school pupil in Scotland is to
be issued with an ID card bearing his or her name, age and address
under a controversial government scheme.

From March next year, the ‘entitlement
cards’ will be issued to 400,000 12-18-year-olds and will be
used for a range of services including school meals and leisure
centres.

But the scheme, which has been piloted in
Aberdeen, was condemned as a ploy to introduce national identity
cards for adults by the back door.

Source:- Scotland on Sunday Sunday 28
September

Shops and banks warned to toe line on
disability rules

Shops, banks and leisure outlets are being
warned that they could be forced to pay thousands of pounds in
compensation unless they make attempts to meet disability laws.

Disabled Scots are facing discrimination
across the service sector despite legislation obliging businesses
to cater for their needs, a survey has revealed.

A survey by Capability Scotland revealed that
many outlets were potentially failing to meet their current legal
obligations and have “a lot to do to met new obligations a
year from now”.

Source:- The Herald Monday 29
September

Social problems face despairing
fishing communities

Scotland’s fishing ports are facing an
increase in drug abuse, crime and social exclusion, according to an
independent report.

The study claims that the Buchan towns of
Fraserburgh and Peterhead are likely to bear the brunt of the
social consequences of the fishing industry crisis, as crewmen lose
their jobs and overall earnings and employment continue to
fall.

Source:- The Scotsman Monday 29
September

Sex advice on mobile phones for the
young

Young people in Glasgow are to receive advice
on sexual health issues via their mobile phones in a bid to tackle
the city’s high teenage pregnancy rate.

From the end of October, teenagers will be
able to text questions about sexually transmitted diseases,
contraception and pregnancy and receive a written reply from a
health adviser on their phone.

Source:- The Herald Monday 29
September

Welsh news

Kidnap fear teenager home
safe

A teenager who went missing last week has
returned home, safe and well.

Darren Freeman, who lives near Monmouth,
vanished on Tuesday and there were concerns that his use of
internet chatrooms was linked to his disappearance.

Details of the 15-year-old’s return will
be given at a press conference today.

Source:- Western Mail Monday 29
September page 1

A warm welcome for youth
council

The first youth council in Wales has been set
up, with members aged between 14 and 17.

The new group has set up its own constitution
and rules and nominated a chairperson and vice-chairperson. The
group will have links with the town council and local community
groups.

The youth council has been set up under the
Health of Young People in Powys project in Wales’ smallest
town, Llanwtryd Wells.

Source:- Western Mail Monday 29
September page 3