Tuesday 3 February 2004

By Clare Jerrom, David Callaghan and Alex
Dobson

Fathers protest
Protests by campaign group Fathers 4 Justice caused delays to
motorists in Bristol, London and Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Two of the men, who were campaigning for better access for divorced
men to their children, were arrested.
Source:- The Times Tuesday 3 February page 4
Carers dismissed
Two care workers at Coventry Council, who abandoned a teenager 85
miles away after a day trip to Bournemouth, have been
dismissed.
Police found the 14-year-old boy walking along a dual carriageway
near Newbury more than 12 hours after he was left by the
roadside.
Source:- The Times Tuesday 3 February page 4
Mental patient ‘lost in system was isolated in
blacked-out room’
A man is to sue a high-security mental hospital for more than
£150,000 after he claims he was subjected to enforced
electricity blackouts and physical restraint during years in
isolation.
The man, known as W, who has not been convicted of any crime,
claims that Ashworth hospital in Liverpool was negligent in its
treatment and care.
Lawyers representing W, who has spent 20 years in mental hospitals,
claim he has been “lost in the system”. He was sent to
Ashworth after suffering a head injury as a child that left him
mentally impaired and liable to violent behaviour.
Source:- The Times Tuesday 3 February page 7
Company ‘held back’ data on drug for
children
The British manufacturers of an antidepressant drug that
was banned from use among children last year knew as long ago as
1998 that it did not work.
A position paper shows that managers at SmithKline Beecham, now
GlaxoSmithKline, were concerned at the commercial implications of
two clinical trials in which their drug Seroxat was given to
children and adolescents with major depression.
The results show the drug was no better than a placebo – an
inert pill – in alleviating depression among children.
However, the company deliberately avoided publishing the data
because of the lucrative adult market.
Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 3 February page 2
Milk ads for social workers
Milk cartons sold in Safeways and Tescos are to have adverts on the
side aimed at attracting 45,000 more people into social work.
Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 2 February page 6
On-the-spot-fines extended
A scheme aimed at lowering the age limit from 18 to 16 for the
£40 and £80 on-the-spot fines are to be piloted by Essex,
Metropolitan, North Wales and West Midlands police forces.
Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 3 February page 6
Suicide verdict on schoolgirl
A head-teacher faced the second inquest in two weeks of pupils who
committed suicide amid accusations of bullying.
Gemma Dimmick died after swallowing an overdose of painkillers in
June, just a fortnight after Karl Peart, another pupil at Hirst
high school in Ashington, Northumberland, took his life in the same
way.
Coroner Ian McCreath recorded a verdict of suicide just a week
after he recorded a similar verdict on Peart.
Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 3 February page 8
High court review for mother ruled to have killed
babies
A mother convicted of killing her two babies after Sir Roy Meadow
gave expert evidence, will have her case reviewed by the high
court, judges ruled yesterday.
Julie Ferris was granted a judicial review of a decision by
Birmingham crown court not to retry the case against her.
Ferris is one of the hundreds of mothers accused of killing their
children whose cases are being examined following last
month’s appeal court judgement that cleared Angela Cannings
of murder.
Source:- Daily Telegraph Tuesday 3 February page 11
Fuel poverty scheme ‘failing most in
need’
A House of Commons committee has found that the ‘Warm
Front’ initiative that distributes grants to ease fuel
poverty has not been effective.
The public accounts committee found that the initiative, which was
launched in 2000 and allocates £150 million each year, only
spends about a third of its grants on the people who really need
the cash. The aim is to eliminate fuel poverty by 2010.
The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs admitted
that of the £150 million spent annually about £113
million was available for direct help after administration costs.
Between £234 and £410 million went to people who are not
fuel poor.
Source:- Financial Times Tuesday 3 February page 5
£2 million haul of the teenage car gang
A group of teenagers broke into more than 200 homes and stole cars
worth £2 million, a court heard.
The eight males and three females were aged between 17 to 19, apart
from one youth who was 21. They were given a total of 27 years in
prison or young offenders institutions by Leeds crown court.
Source:- Daily Mail Tuesday 3 February page 22-23
Scottish newspapers
Protesters bring fathers’ fight to Scotland
Protesting fathers who caused traffic chaos after climbing several
major bridges have warned that Scotland will be their next
target.
Campaigners for Fathers 4 Justice, which is demanding better access
to children for divorced fathers, said they are prepared to go to
jail because the current laws were destroying the sacred bond
between parent and child.
A spokesperson said it was only a matter of time before the four
men, dressed as Batman, Robin, Spiderman and Superman, would target
Scotland for protests.
Source:- The Scotsman Tuesday 3 February
Baby murder charge
A man appeared in court yesterday charged with the murder of his
nine-month-old stepson.
Mohammad Ullah was charged with murdering Kyle Mutch following an
investigation into the child’s death in Turriff,
Aberdeenshire, early on Saturday.
Ullah was remanded in custody for further examination.
Source:- The Scotsman Tuesday 3 February
Hue and cry as social workers train in
luxury
Cash strapped social work bosses have sparked a row by sending
staff to a luxury hotel for training sessions organised by a former
pop star.
Edinburgh Council is spending thousands of pounds on
“professional development” away days for staff at
Malmaison Hotel in Leith.
Opposition councillors claimed it was a waste of money at a time
when a “funding crisis” is being blamed for senior
staff deserting the department.
Source:- Evening News Monday 2 February
Child’s right to be in pubs rejected
A controversial plan for a change in the law to give children a
statutory right to enter pubs was rejected by justice minister
Cathy Jamieson this week.
However, she agreed that local communities should be given a bigger
say in whether or not off-licence applications are granted.
Source:- Evening News Monday 2 February
Kirk ministers to back prostitute zones plan
Kirk ministers will tonight be urged to give their blessing to
tolerance zones for prostitutes.
A report drawn up by ministers in Edinburgh said the Kirk should
recognise the tolerance zones would protect prostitutes from
violence.
Source:- The Herald  Tuesday 3 February
10 lost friends
Photographs of 10 residents who lost their lives in a fire
at a care home were released yesterday as the death toll rose to
13.
The residents succumbed to smoke and toxic fumes from a small fire
which broke out in a cupboard at Rosepark Care Home in Uddingston,
Lanarkshire, on Saturday.
An older woman died in hospital yesterday and eleven of the dead
have now been named.
Source:- Daily Record Tuesday 3 February pages 6 and 7
Carer fed talcum powder to Lucy, 89
A care worker forced an older woman to eat talcum powder, a court
heard yesterday.
Nordia Noteman was filmed putting the substance into Lucy
Neal’s mouth after the older woman’s son installed a
hidden camera in her room. Prosecutor Stephen Thomas said that
three women were hired by Birmingham social services through the
Welcome Care Agency in Winson Green to care for Neal at her home
last year.
Noteman denies three charges of common assault.
Source:- Daily Record  Tuesday 3 February page 17
Potty
The star of Radio Scotland’s Beechgrove Garden programme
faces being interviewed by police after he gave tips live on air to
a phone-in caller trying to grow cannabis.
Jim McColl and the Beechgrove team spent more than three minutes
telling the man which compost to use and how to feed the
plants.
However, the stars of the show said later they thought the caller
was talking about cabbage not cannabis.
Source:- Daily Record  Tuesday 3 February page 1
Welsh newspapers
Sick of waiting?
Welsh patients may be treated in England under plans to cut waiting
lists for hospital treatment.
It is understood that hospitals in Bristol, Gloucestershire,
Kidderminster and the private sector could be used to treat
patients who have been waiting 18 months or more.
Source:- Western Mail Tuesday 3 February page 1
Grieving parents fear suppression of the
truth
A grieving father whose son died of a treatable illness has claimed
that an inquest into the boy’s death is suppressing the
truth.
William Powell, whose 10-year-old son Robbie died of
Addison’s disease, repeatedly questioned one of the doctors
who had cared for his son, but was warned by the coroner to
restrict his questioning to the events in which the doctor had
played a part.
Powell complained that he was seeking the truth about his
son’s death, but that everyone else was trying to suppress
it.
Source:- Western Mail Tuesday 3 February page 1
Missing Tammy: man on abduction charge
A 30-year-old man has been charged under the Child Abduction Act
following the disappearance of a 15-year-old Welsh
schoolgirl.
Tammy Lane had been missing from her home for six days and police
had traced a mystery internet friend called ‘Dawn’ who
later turned out to be a man from Birmingham, who was using a false
name to contact young girls via the internet.
Police are still searching for Tammy and believe she may be in the
Birmingham area.
Source:- Western Mail Tuesday 3 February page 1