Friday 19 March 2004

By Natasha Salari, Clare Jerrom and Alex
Dobson.

How can a woman of 92 in agony with a broken leg be a
‘low priority’?
An elderly woman who broke her leg lay on a pavement for more than
an hour before an ambulance arrived.
Ethel Harris died three days later from a blood clot after under
going surgery on the fracture.
The London Ambulance Service has explained the delay by saying that
the 999 call had been treated as ‘low priority’.
Harris slipped and fell as she was putting rubbish out at her home
in Enfield, north London. Neighbours called for an ambulance three
times before one arrived 77 minutes later.
Source:- The Daily Mail Friday 19 March page 45
Chronic illness doubles in the young
Record numbers of children and young adults are suffering chronic
illness, according to new figures.
One in six children under five now suffer from a long-standing
illness, compared with four per cent in 1972. Chronic conditions
have more than doubled among five to 15-year-olds, from eight per
cent 30 years ago to one in five in 2002. A quarter of people aged
16 to 44 now suffer from a long-term illness, according to the
figures from the Office for National Statistics.
Source:- The Independent Friday 19 March page  6
Husband’s rape appeal fails
Men can be convicted of raping their wives whenever the attack
occurred, the court of appeal has ruled.
Three judges dismissed a challenge by a man who assaulted his wife
in 1970, more than 20 years before judges ruled that marital rape
was a crime.
The appeal was brought by Barry Crooks, aged 58, who was jailed at
Hull crown court in 2002 for assaults on four women, including his
former wife.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph Friday 19 March page 2
Blow to fathers as custody scheme is ditched
Ministers are about to put an end to part of a plan to cut the
number of bitter court battles between parents over child
contact.
The Department for Constitutional Affairs was set to pilot
“early intervention” this year, under which separating
parents would be presented with parenting plans.
Based on an idea that has reduced the number of court battles over
children in the US, the plans would give both divorced parents
generous time with their children.
Now the initiative has been taken over by the Department for
Education and Skills, but the model under consideration is a more
ad hoc scheme by which parents would be helped by mediation to work
out their own plans.
Source:- The Guardian Friday 19 March page 5
Social worker cleared of rape
Social worker Graham Leatherland has been cleared at Northampton
crown court of raping a 14-year-old girl at the St John’s
Centre children’s home in Northamptonshire in the late
1980s.
Source:- The Guardian Friday 19 March page 6
Young women embrace the binge culture
A national survey of 20,000 households in Britain has found that
young women aged 16 to 24 drank an average of 14.1 units of alcohol
a week in 2002, compared with 11 units in 1998.
Young men of the same age drank more than women, but their alcohol
intake was on a downward trend, averaging 21.5 units a week in
2002, compared with 25.5 in 1998.
The survey, from the Office for National Statistics, also revealed
that over the last four years the proportion of 16 and 17-year-olds
on the pill increased from 17 to 24 per cent.
Source:- The Guardian Friday 19 March page 9
Blind man killed intruder in self-defence
An intruder who was fatally stabbed when he broke into the home of
a 63-year-old blind man was lawfully killed, a coroner has
ruled.
Lee Kelso, aged 23, had been on a seven-hour drinking session when
he kicked in the front door of Thomas O’Connor’s home
in Stockport, greater Manchester.
O’Connor, who is registered blind, told police he had stabbed
Kelso in self-defence using a knife kept in his lounge for
protection.
The coroner, sitting at Stockport magistrates court, ruled that the
killing had been lawful.
Source: The Guardian Friday 19 March page 9
Scottish newspapers
‘Politically incorrect’ crackdown on gangs dropped by
murder hunt police
A high level investigation into a clampdown on the emergence of an
Asian gang culture in Glasgow has been abandoned by Strathclyde
after the operation was deemed politically incorrect.
Police and community leaders in the Pollokshields area of Glasgow
called for calm following increased public concern over the kidnap
and murder of Kriss Donald.
As detectives hunt for the 15-year-old’s killer, it emerged
that Operation Gadher, a police operation designed to tackle the
growth of Asian gang culture, was stopped six months ago amid fears
that it was not politically correct.
Source:- The Scotsman Friday 19 March
End strike and win review, nurses told
Striking nursery nurses were told by Jack McConnell that he would
support a review of the profession if they settled a pay
dispute.
The first minister said in parliament yesterday there was a
“case” for a review, but he said he would not consider
setting up one until the employers and unions had settled their
differences.
Source:- The Scotsman Friday 19 March
Care homes to have sprinklers in wake of fatal
fire
Communities minister Mary Mulligan announced yesterday that all new
and converted care homes, sheltered housing and tower blocks will
have to fit fire sprinklers.
Builders will have to install sprinkler systems before 1 May 2005,
and the minister promised tougher guidance for existing buildings,
especially residential care homes.
The move follows a fatal fire at a Lanarkshire care home last month
in which 14 older people died.
Source:- The Scotsman Friday 19 March
Kurds end hunger strike
Three Kurdish asylum seekers ended their hunger strike last night,
just hours after first minister Jack McConnell urged the group to
reconsider their protest.
Fariborz Gravindi, Mokhtar Haydary and Faroq Haidari from Iran had
sewn their lips together after the government rejected their
applications for asylum. For almost a month, the men have survived
solely on small amounts of water.
Last night they announced they would end their strike following the
“overwhelming” support they had gained for their cause.
They pledged to continue their fight to stay in the UK.
Source:- The Scotsman Friday 19 March
Welsh newspapers
Stay away from our children
In one of the first cases of its kind, a paedophile who assaulted a
teenage girl at a swimming pool, has been banned from every sports
centre in the UK.
The special order was made against Christopher Padday, aged 46, who
was also jailed for 12 months after he had admitted indecent
assault on the 15-year-old. He has been placed on the sex
offender’s register for 10 years and banned from working with
children.
Source:- Western Mail Friday 19 March page 1
Father loses appeal to have access to
children
A father denied access to his children after a history of domestic
violence against their mother, has been told that he will not be
granted contact with them, in spite of his claims that the violence
has not affected them.
The man from Swansea, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had
attacked his wife in the presence of his children. Judges in the
court of appeal ruled that his behaviour had alarmed and distressed
his two children.
Source:- Western Mail Friday 19 March page 5