Tuesday 20 January 2004

By Natasha Salari, Amy Taylor, Clare Jerrom and Alex
Dobson.

Baby killing cases to be reviewed
Hundreds of parents who have been jailed for killing their babies
are to have their cases reviewed, the attorney-general has
ruled.
Over 250 cases where the parent has been convicted for murdering a
child under two, but which could have involved sudden infant death
syndrome, or “cot death”, are to be reviewed urgently.
Top priority is being given to 54 cases where the parent is still
serving a prison sentence.
The decision comes after three senior judges warned that in
criminal trials “it is simply not enough to be able to establish
even a high probability of guilt”.
Source:- The Financial Times Tuesday 20 January page 2
Mentally ill ‘should be in hospital not
jail’

A network of psychiatric units should be built to stop prisons
being overwhelmed with offenders suffering from mental health
problems, the chief inspector of prisons has advised.
In her annual report, Anne Owers said that many in the prison
system have a mental health problem and that there is a need for
places where people can be “detained” rather than going to prison
.
She also called for internal jail inquiries into all incidents of
serious self-harm after new figures showing that they are running
at a rate of more than 15,000 a year.
Source:- The Times Tuesday 20 January page 12
Scottish newspapers
All 258 cot death convictions to be reviewed

The court of appeal ruling in England on prosecutions that may
involve cot death as a defence, is to be studied by the crown
office to see if any cases in Scotland need to be
re-examined.
In England and Wales the attorney general has called for an urgent
review of the 258 cases where parents were convicted of killing
their children. Helen Cormack, vice-chairperson of the Scottish Cot
Death Trust, said it was unlikely miscarriages of justice had
occurred under Scots law.
There was a tighter system of paediatric inquiry into infant deaths
in Scotland and a different set of cultural assumptions.
Source:- The Herald Tuesday 20 January
Family to challenge prison suicide inquiry
The family and friends of a young woman who hanged herself
in Cornton Vale prison, are seeking a legal challenge to a fatal
accident inquiry which they believe failed to investigate her death
properly.
The death of April Adams has raised serious questions over the
implementation of the Scottish Prison Service suicide strategy.
They plan to take the issue to the European Court of Human
Rights.
Source:- The Scotsman Tuesday 20 January
End of road for asylum seeker given refuge by MSP
An asylum seeker and her child who have been living with
socialist MSP Rosie Kane, are to be deported tomorrow at 5am.
Mercy Ikolo, who wanted to become a social worker, has been given
48 hours to leave Scotland by the Home Office. Officials will
transport the woman and her 18-month-old daughter to Glasgow
airport where she will be put on a flight to Dublin, her first port
of entry after she fled persecution in Cameroon in 2002.
Source:- The Scotsman Tuesday 20 January
Welsh newspapers
Flexi hours for social workers

Cardiff Council is offering family friendly working times in an
attempt to recruit more social workers.
There is continuing concern over high levels of vacant posts among
social workers in children’s services in the Welsh capital,
and a new recruitment campaign will begin in February.
Source:- South Wales Echo Monday 19 January page 12
Schoolgirl, 12, runs off with Welshman twice her age
A 12-year-old schoolgirl whose disappearance sparked a
major police hunt may be in Cardiff with the 23-year-old man she is
thought to have run away with.
Alexandra Howe went missing on Friday from her home in Greater
Manchester and is thought to be with Welshman Raymond Wilks.
Police are now concentrating their search on the Cardiff
area.
Source:- Western Mail Tuesday 20 January page 1
‘Someone must say sorry’ for school bus
death

Campaigners are demanding that someone say sorry for the death of a
12-year-boy that died when a school bus crashed into a tree.
Following a five-day inquest into the death of Stuart
Cunningham-Jones, a jury returned a verdict of accidental death
after being told that horseplay on the bus led to the driver losing
control, after a boy grabbed the steering wheel.
Now Stuart’s parents are asking for a review of the case and
hope that lessons can be learnt that will improve safety on buses
that carry schoolchildren.
Source:- Western Mail Tuesday 20 January page 1

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