Monday 1 December 2003

By Amy Taylor, Clare Jerrom and Alex Dobson.
Carr ‘told Huntley’s mother that his story did not add
up’

Maxine Carr told Ian Huntley’s mother that the story he had told to
the police did not fit with what he had told her months after the
pair were arrested, the Old Bailey trial heard yesterday.
Speaking in telephone conversations to Lynda Nixon, Carr said
Huntley had been talking about getting some beer and watching a
video minutes after Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells were said to
have entered his house at around 6.30pm on 4 August last
year.
Source:- The Independent Saturday 29 November page 6
Cabinet backlash threatens Blair’s asylum
crackdown

A number of ministers are seeking to block a part of prime minister
Tony Blair’s proposals aimed at tackling bogus refugees, who come
to Britain, according to a leaked document.
The measures, contained in a bill in the Queen’s Speech last week,
would force airlines to photocopy passengers’ identification papers
before they fly. They are an attempt to stop bogus claimants from
destroying their identity papers during the flight, and then
falsely claim they are fleeing a violent homeland when they arrive
in Britain. 
The cabinet rebels say the moves would cause hours of delays for
passengers and be costly for airlines.
Source:- The Sunday Times 30 November page 1
Ministers target disabled benefit cheats with medical
reviews

The government is attempting to catch anybody incorrectly claiming
disability benefits by introducing a new review of medical records
and compulsory jobcentre interviews to find people work.
The measures have been introduced in order to quell the large rise
in the number of people claiming disability and incapacity
benefits. The cost of providing disability living allowance has
risen by £3 billion a year since Labour came to power in
1997.
Source:- The Sunday Times 30 November page 6
Trust me, I’m a psychopath
Anthony Hardy, released early from custody, went on to commit two
horrific murders. How do such men dupe officials into believing
that they are reformed? Alasdair Palmer reveals flaws in the
treatment of killers
Source:- The Sunday Telegraph 30 November page 21
Revealed: plan to expel thousands of asylum
children

Thousands of unaccompanied young asylum seekers will be forcibly
sent back to their home countries from early next year under plans
being drafted by the government.
The first groups of children are expected to be sent back to
countries such as Albania, Macedonia and the Kosovo region in
April.
Source:- The Independent on Sunday 30 November page 1
Tories plan alternative mental health bill
The Mental Health Alliance is working with the Conservatives to
produce a private member’s bill to try and force the government
into changing its plans to detain people with mental health
problems thought likely to commit crime.
The government’s forthcoming Mental Health Bill was absent from the
Queen’s speech following criticisms from campaigners that parts of
a draft bill are designed for public protection and will undermine
people’s rights.
Source:- The Independent on Sunday 30 November page 11
Killings by the mentally disturbed
‘increasing’

The number of people being killed by mentally-disturbed people
living in London who abuse drink and drugs is increasing, one of
Britain’s leading police officers said yesterday.
Tarique Ghaffur, the Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner in
charge of murder squads, said that the current system for
monitoring people with mental health problems outside of hospitals
needed an “urgent” overhaul with murder suspects often having a
history of medical treatment.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph 30 November page 12
Paedophile found battered to death
Police are investigating whether a convicted paedophile found
battered to death at his home was a victim of a vigilante
attack.
Arnold Hartley’s body was found in the early hours of Saturday
morning at his house in Redcar, Cleveland.
The 73-year-old was jailed for 12 months in 2001 for making
indecent images of a girl under the age of 14 and gross
indecency.
Police said was well known in the local community as a sex
offender.
Source:- The Independent, 1 December, page 2
Blunkett asylum law ‘will face court battle’
Proposals to withdraw all state benefits from rejected asylum
seeking families who refuse to leave the country, will be met with
human rights challenges in the courts, government lawyers have
warned home secretary David Blunkett.
Blunkett’s other proposals to restrict asylum seekers’ access to
the high court to challenge his decisions through judicial review
are thought to have been criticised by the lord chief justice, Lord
Woolf.
Source:- The Guardian Monday 1 December page 9
Homeless are offered relationship courses
A charity has launched a scheme to offer marriage counselling to
people sleeping rough in London.
The scheme, ‘Relatively Speaking’, by St Mungo’s
is in response to research showing one in five people on the
streets has suffered a relationship breakdown.
The people will be offered “life coaching” to help them
gain confidence, and a mediation service will help them create
better links with their families.
Source:- The Times Monday 1 December page 7
Pensioners call for a slow-pay protest against council tax
rise

A new campaign in north London is calling on the public to go slow
on payments of council tax in protest against steep rises.
The Harrow Council Tax Campaign is asking residents to stop all
standing orders and direct debit arrangements to pay council
tax.
Source:- The Times Monday 1 December page 2
Scottish newspapers
Bullied boy’s mum is fined

A mother who kept her son at home because he was being bullied at
school was fined £200 yesterday.
The woman let her son stay off school for three months because she
was “fearful for his safety”, Glasgow sheriff court
heard.
Sheriff Michael O’Grady said there had been “no
reasonable excuse” to keep him off school, and said the
mother should have looked at other ways to prevent the bullying
such as asking the school to intervene.
The boy is now at another school.
Source:- Daily Record Saturday 29 November
Jodi murder: boyfriend’s lawyer urges probe into
police ‘leak’

Luke Mitchell’s solicitor has hinted that his client may be
suicidal, and has demanded that an investigation is launched into
the conduct of Lothian and Borders Police who have victimised the
15-year-old.
Nigel Beaumont said Luke had been subjected to vigilante action in
the past few days since a leak claimed he was the sole suspect in
the murder inquiry into his former girlfriend, Jodi Jones’
death.
Source:- Sunday Herald 30 November
MS patient care embarrassing, say doctors
The quality of treatment for people with multiple sclerosis is
embarrassing, according to Scotland’s 44 neurologists.
The doctors point out in a letter to the ‘Sunday
Herald’ that Norway has one neurologist for every 20,000
people, whereas in Scotland there is one neurologist for every
116,000 people.
Source:- Sunday Herald 30 November
A shot in the arm for city’s notorious
schemes

A glitzy video will be launched by regeneration agencies tonight in
a bid to show estate agents that the north of Edinburgh is an
attractive place to live.
Seven years ago, cinema-goers saw the Edinburgh underworld in the
film ‘Trainspotting’, but some experts believe the
areas of Pilton, Muirhouse and Granton could follow Leith up the
property ladder.
Source:- The Herald Monday 1 December
Scots hit hardest as Help the Aged axes
staff

Help the Aged is planning to reduce Scottish staff numbers by 60
per cent as it struggles to cope with a £6 million income
shortfall, it has emerged.
The charity, which is looking at a four per cent reduction in staff
across the UK, was warned yesterday that its plans could be
“catastrophic” and render the organisation
“irrelevant” in Scotland.
Source:- The Herald Monday 1 December
Welsh newspapers
‘Give every school a children’s
counsellor’

Every school should have a counsellor to help children cope with a
range of emotional problems, such as bullying and abuse.
The NSPCC has launched a campaign to try to persuade the Welsh
Assembly to pay for counselling for all pupils who need it.
The campaign, ‘Slugged Smiles Can Be Deceptive’, says
that children can hide a multitude of problems behind an outwardly
happy demeanour.
Source:- Western Mail Monday 1 December page 1
Providing better homes for all
A half-page feature looking at the often controversial issue of
transferring housing stock from local authorities to private
management.
Two academics from the Regeneration Institute at Cardiff University
argue that moving council housing from local authority control to
social landlords can be beneficial.
Source:- Western Mail Monday 1 December page 10

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