Friday 16 May 2004

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

Migrants’ 96 hours in police cells

Migrants are being held in police cells for excessive periods of up
to 96 hours it has emerged.

The Metropolitan Police Authority are to complain to home secretary
David Blunkett after a study of how immigration detainees are being
treated in North London showed lengthy detentions.

The MPA and Scotland Yard are unhappy about the practice of
detainees being held by the Met on behalf of the immigration
service.

The research was carried out by Independent Custody Visitors, lay
officials who monitor activity in police stations.

Source:- The Guardian Friday 15 April page 2

Union call for action on school violence

Parents of unruly children should be forced to attend compulsory
behaviour management classes to help them to manage their
youngsters, teachers have urged.

The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers,
argued that lessons are required to help stem a rise in classroom
violence.

The teachers made the call at its annual conference this week. It
also renewed its demand for air-port style security checks in
schools to reveal hidden weapons carried by pupils.

Source:- The Guardian Friday 15 April page 6

1m children living in unfit homes, says
Shelter

More than a million children are living in inadequate housing that
is damaging their health, according to a new report from
Shelter.

Yesterday the charity launched its biggest ever campaign to tell
the government that their pledge to cut child poverty will fail
without improvements in the supply of adequate and affordable
housing.

Source:- The Guardian Friday 15 April page 12

Happy Pill Britain

New research has revealed that four out of five GPs admit to over
prescribing Prozac and similar drugs for those suffering from
depression and anxiety.

Yesterday, a magazine survey claimed that more than half of all
British women have taken anti-depressants at some time. However,
some of those pills have terrible side-effects.

So, just what is the truth about the new avalanche of ‘happy
pills’ being given out by doctors?

Source:- The Daily Mail Friday 16 April page 34

Deported Colombian is shot after losing plea to stay in
UK

A father who fled to Britain with his wife and children when he
lost four members of his family to a right-wing paramilitary group
in Colombia has been shot.

Despite a campaign by his MP, an anti-deportation group and his
local community in South Shields, immigration authorities
repatriated Jhon Reyes-Prado and his family last month.

Campaigners have now been told that Reyes-Prado had been shot by
two men on motorcycles.

He suffered severe injuries to his arm, and his wife and children
now fear the attackers may also target them.

Source:- The Independent Friday 16 April page 2

Drinkers believe alcohol is healthy

A growing number of people believe that drinking alcohol is good
for their health, according to a new study.

Twenty six per cent of those surveyed said they drank because they
believed it had health benefits, up from 19 per cent in a similar
survey two years ago.

A worrying 21 per cent of men and 14 per cent of women said alcohol
was good for relieving stress in the study by Mintel.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Friday 16 April page 6

Father arrested minutes after baby’s death

A couple were told they were to be questioned by police about the
death of their 10-week-old baby daughter, minutes after doctors had
turned off her life support machine, a court heard yesterday.

Mark Latta and his wife Sharon were approached in the hospital by
police officers. They were arrested and held in separate cells and
Mr Latta was later charged with his daughter’s murder.

The prosecution alleged that Latta lost his temper and struck his
daughter against a hard surface at his home when he had gone
upstairs to feed her.

Latta denies murder. The case continues.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Friday 16 April page 11

Scottish newspapers

Boy, 15, appears on Jodi murder charge with mother at his
side

A 15-year-old boy appeared in court yesterday charged with the
murder of Jodi Jones.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared at
Edinburgh Sheriff Court. He made no plea or declaration and was
committed for further examination and remanded to secure
accommodation.

The boy was also charged in relation to an allegation under the
Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. His mother was arrested and charged with
trying to pervert the course of justice.

Source:- The Herald Friday 16 April

Scots police on trail of web paedophiles

Members of a multi-national members-only paedophile gang, thought
to be living in Scotland, are being tracked by police.

The men, thought to be connected to a secret paedophile ring called
The Shadows Brotherhood, are being hunted by specialist officers at
Strathclyde police. They were identified through Operation
Auckland, an international investigation launched in 2001.

It is thought the group exchange pornographic images of children
through a password only internet “club”.

Source:- The Herald Friday 16 April

Knife killer blames antidepressant for his aggression

A man has blamed the antidepressant drug Seroxat for turning him
into a knife killer.

Charles Simpson was jailed for life yesterday and told by Lord
Bracadale that he would serve 14 years before being eligible for
parole. Simpson denies murdering David Todd in 2002.

After the trial at the High Court in Glasgow, Simpson’s
family claimed his aggressive behaviour was triggered by Seroxat,
prescribed for his depression. Simpson’s counsel Edward
Targowski QC claimed Simpson had mental health problems at the time
of the killing.

Source:- The Herald Friday 16 April

Councils criticised for increase in employee numbers

Local authorities were attacked by the Conservative party yesterday
after it emerged that the number of people employed by Scottish
councils had increased by almost 5,000.

There were 244,393 full time staff working for Scottish councils in
the 12 months to December 2002 – a rise of 4,734 on the
previous December.

The Tories said the increase was an example of the “big
state” approach adopted by Labour and the Liberal Democrats.
But councils insisted the increase was a direct result of more
frontline staff such as social workers and teachers.

Source:- The Scotsman Friday 16 April

Sick Kids respite service to expand

An outreach service which provides care for severely disabled
children in their home is set to be expanded across the
Lothians.

The Royal Hospital for Sick Children scheme will be rolled out to
more families in the Lothians next month following a successful
18-month pilot.

The scheme provides respite care to young people with exceptional
healthcare needs.

Source:- Evening News Thursday 15 April

City study to aid children with autism

A new project by academics at Queen Margaret University College
could help autistic children communicate.

The Economic and Social Research Council has awarded the college a
grant of £178,000 to investigate ways in which children with
Asperger’s Syndrome communicate.

Source:- Evening News Thursday 15 April

Teacher is cleared of groping girl, 14

A teacher was yesterday cleared of groping a 14-year-old
girl.

English teacher Malcolm Sutcliffe told Elgin Sheriff Court that he
may have touched the girl’s breast accidentally.

But Sheriff Ian Cameron cleared him of the assault and said the
case was a “salutary illustration” of how vulnerable
teachers are to false of misconceived accusations.

Source:- Daily Record Friday 16 April page 9

Battle to halt kids’ housing squalor

A million children are homeless or living in slum conditions in
Britain, it emerged yesterday.

It is estimated that the health of 100,000 Scottish children is
blighted by the crisis and housing charity Shelter yesterday called
on the government to tackle the problem.

The charity’s ‘Million Children’ campaign was
launched in Glasgow and London.

Source:- Daily Record Friday 16 April page 15

Welsh newspapers

Hostel fire treated as suspicious

Police are treating a fire that killed man in a south Wales hostel
as suspicious.

South Wales fire service investigators are now trying to establish
the cause of the fire at the Moors Hostel in Rogiet. 

It is believed that Sean Barrett, who had lived at the hostel for
18 months, was killed in the fire. Police are now calling for
anyone with information to come forward.

Source:- South Wales Argus Thursday 15 April page 5

Children’s magician on sex charge

A children’s magician has appeared in court charged with a
sexual assault on a girl under 16.

Eric Blackledge faces four charges of indecent assault that are
alleged to have occurred during the 1990s. He has been granted bail
on the condition that he only works when accompanied by his
wife.

Source:- South Wales Echo Thursday 15 April page 1