Wednesday 28 April 2004

By Amy Taylor, Clare Jerrom and Alex Dobson

The shocking failures that led to death of Toni-Ann, 7,
in drug shooting
Social services, immigration officials and children’s
guardians have come under fire in an inquiry into the care of a
seven-year-old girl shot dead while staying with a crack
dealer.
Toni-Ann Byfield was placed with a girlfriend of the drug dealer
without a proper risk assessment being carried out.
The child was killed along with Bertram Byfield, and it is believed
she was killed to prevent her identifying the man’s
killer.
The inquiry is highly critical of Birmingham social services, whose
protection Toni-Ann was under.
Source:- The Independent Wednesday 28 April page 1
Blair pledges ‘top to bottom review’ of
immigration system
Tony Blair announced a “top to bottom review”
of the immigration system yesterday.
The prime minister made a passionate defence of migrants, but
announced tough new measures to control jobless workers coming to
Britain from eastern Europe.
He insisted that managed migration to Britain was essential for the
economy, but the public would not accept abuses of the
system.
Source:- The Independent Wednesday 28 April page 6
ID cards ruled out of school screening
Headteachers will not have to check identity cards of the parents
of pupils as a way of preventing children of illegal immigrants
receiving free education, MPs were told yesterday.
Education secretary Charles Clarke ruled out measures to force
schools to check ID cards before children start school while giving
evidence to the home affairs select committee.
Source:- The Times Wednesday 28 April page 2
Old people’s home built for Muslims
A residential home for older Muslim people is to be opened this
summer.
The home is thought to be the first publicly-owned housing block in
Britain to be aimed exclusively at Asians.
The council involved, Tower Hamlets in east London, said it was
important to provide housing that met local needs.
Source:- Daily Mail Wednesday 28 April page 29
Children’s drink problems
More than 3,000 children were admitted to hospital in
England in 2002-3 as a result of alcohol-related problems, it
emerged in a parliamentary answer.
Source:- The Guardian Wednesday 28 April page 9
Sympathetic judge frees truant’s
mother
A judge has freed a mother jailed because of her son’s
truancy arguing that it was unrealistic to expect her to get a
reluctant 15-year-old to school.
Nicola Dunk was freed on appeal after serving three weeks of a
two-month prison sentence.
The judge at Hove crown court said that it would have been very
difficult for Dunk to have force her son Andre who may be bigger
and stronger than her to go to school.
He reduced the sentence to 6 weeks, enabling Dunk to be released
immediately.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph Wednesday 28 April page 5
Mother ‘murders sons weeks after quitting
Britain’
A mother had been charged with murdering her two sons weeks after
leaving Britain for her native America.
Meghan Lippiatt is alleged to have smothered her sons, Silas, two
and Miles, four months, at her parents’ house in
Pennsylvania.
It is believed that Silas had survived an earlier attempt to drown
him in the bath. His hands were held behind his back by handcuffs
when his body was discovered.
It is alleged that after the alleged attacks Lippiatt made an
anonymous call to the emergency services and told an operator she
had killed her children.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph Wednesday 28 April page 7
Smarts move
When Leroy McKoy warns young people about drugs and dealing, they
listen. He’s been there, done that, got the prison
record.
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 28 April page 2
Bad language of love
ASBO threat to family visiting elderly mother in care home
Source:- Guardian Society  Wednesday 28 April page 4
Calculating risk
Some schools, medical staff and police are already pooling
information about local children. But can protection be offered to
the vulnerable without infringing civil liberties?
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 28 April page 10
What else can I do?
Redundancy has forced Louis to rethink his plans. He’s
considering HR, and his years as a volunteer development worker fit
the bill.
Source:- Guardian Society  Wednesday 28 April
Scottish newspapers
Judges delay baby-death decision
A woman is making a fresh attempt to be freed from prison pending
an appeal against her conviction for failing to protect her
child.
Andrea Bone offered a bail address to the court of criminal appeal,
but it turned out to be an empty flat. She had said it was the home
of her new boyfriend.
The appeal judges agreed to continue Bone’s application for
interim liberation until Friday to allow more investigations to be
made.
Bone’s former boyfriend Alexander McClure was convicted of
the murder of Bone’s daughter, Carla-Nicole. Bone was
convicted of culpable homicide for failing to protect her
daughter.
Source:- The Scotsman Wednesday 28 April
Prison upgrade funds spent in drugs fight
It emerged last night that funds originally designed to improve
sanitation in Scotland’s prisons was
“re-allocated”.
The Scottish executive confirmed last night that
“adequate” toilet facilities would not be provided in
all of the country’s jails until at least 2008.
Five prisons have no access to sanitation in their cells and are
forced to “slop out” their own waste in communal toilet
blocks.
Robert Napier was awarded £2,450 in damages earlier this week
for being forced to slop out during his time in Barlinnie Prison in
Glasgow.
It is thought that first minister Jack McConnell and former justice
minister Jim Wallace were involved in the decision to re-allocate
the funds originally designed to end the slopping-out practice to
assist drug rehabilitation programmes and witness protection
schemes north of the border.
Source:- The Scotsman Wednesday 28 April
Seven years for former children’s
worker
A former house parent at a children’s home was jailed for
seven and a half years yesterday for sexually abusing young girls
in his care.
Alexander Wilson became the fourth man to be convicted of molesting
youngsters at the Quarriers Village in Renfrewshire.
A judge turned down a plea of leniency for Wilson, who is suffering
from a wasting disease which has cost him his right leg.
Source:- The Scotsman Wednesday 28 April
Bed-blocking fears over road tolls plan
Road tolls could increase the problems with bed blocking and lead
to more patients being admitted to hospital, health bosses have
warned.
Health board NHS Lothian has been calling for exemptions for key
NHS staff and will set out its opposition to the scheme in a
submission to the public inquiry into the city’s proposed
scheme, due to start today.
NHS Lothian claims that demand for beds will be increased if local
authority and voluntary sector staff are unable to make home visits
to older people.
Source:- Evening News Tuesday 27 April
Nursery nurses reject pay offer
Nursery nurses in the capital have overwhelmingly rejected a 19 per
cent pay offer leaving parents facing continued chaos with
childcare.
Union members threw out the latest offer from the local authority
saying it fell well short of deals put forward in other council
areas.
But council chiefs said today they were not prepared to increase
the offer.
Source:- Evening News Tuesday 27 April
Wooden floors cut risk of care home
fractures
Broken bones in care homes can be reduced by fitting wooden floors,
according to Edinburgh researchers.
The team from Edinburgh University discovered that older people in
residential homes were at significantly lower risk of hip fracture
if they fell on carpeted wooden floors than on to any other type of
flooring.
Source:- Evening News Tuesday 27 April
Social work strike threat over plans
Social workers in the capital could strike over proposed plans to
dismantle the social work department.
Union chiefs said they were prepared to hold a ballot for
industrial action if councillors endorse a proposal which would see
all child protection work transferred to a new
super-department.
Source:- Evening News Tuesday 27 April
Welsh newspapers
Damning report shows children are let down by social
services
A report into children’s services at Blaenau Gwent Council in
south Wales has revealed a catalogue of problems.
The authority was the subject of a damning joint review inspection
report last year and a follow-up report by the Social Services
Inspectorate for Wales (SSIW) found that many issues have still not
been resolved. They include poor management decisions, overloaded
and under qualified staff, bullying of employees and rules on
fostering being flouted.
Source:- South Wales Argus Tuesday 27 April page 1
Schools fear being sued for sunburn
Children may be prevented from playing in the sunshine in the
future because teachers fear that parents may take legal action if
their children suffer sunburn.
Geraint Davies of teacher’s union the NASUWT said that if
parents did not send children with the right clothing to protect
them from the midday sun, the union would support any headteacher
who made the decision to keep children indoors.
Source:- Western Mail Wednesday 28 April page 1
First curfew zone order for Wales
Wales’ first curfew exclusion zone has been announced by
police in an attempt to cut down on town centre trouble.
Police in north Wales will now be able to disperse groups of two or
more who meet in parts of the town centre in Holyhead. Children can
also be taken home if they are out without an adult between 9pm and
6am. The new powers are being used, say police, to target
anti-social behaviour because parts of Holyhead have become
hotspots for violence and drinking.
Source:- Western Mail Wednesday 28 April page 1