Thursday 29 April 2004

By David Callaghan, Clare Jerrom and Alex
Dobson.

New hearing into jail race death
The government is set to announce a public inquiry into the death
of an Asian teenager who was bludgeoned to death by a known racist
after being put in the same cell.
Zahid Mubarek was killed by Robert Moore in Feltham Young Offenders
Institution in March 2000.
Source:- The Guardian Thursday 29 April page 5
Mother of murdered Toni-Ann issues demand for public
inquiry
The mother of a murdered seven-year-old girl has called for a
public inquiry after a report published today will show that social
services and guardians failed Toni-Ann Byfield from Birmingham, who
was shot dead while staying with a crack dealer in London.
The dealer, Bertram Byfield, was also shot and it is believed
Toni-Ann witnessed the murder and was killed herself to keep the
killer’s identity secret.
Toni-Ann’s mother Roselyn Richards said her daughter would still be
alive if if Birmingham social services had acted properly.
It is believed the chld was placed with one of Byfield’s
girlfriends without proper checks being made.
A review of the case has been done by David Lambert, a former chief
inspector at the Social Services Inspectorate on behalf of
Birmingham area child protection committee.
Source:- The Independent Thursday 29 April page 1
Teenage mother gives up her baby son for adoption – on
reality TV
A 16-year-old woman is to give up her child on a reality TV show in
America after selecting one of five couples to take her son.
Source:- Daily Mail Thurseday 29 April page 33
Prison holding ‘mentally ill women’
Chief inspector of prisons Anne Owers said Wakefield prison was
holding women and girls with severe mental health problems, who
should be accommodated in a more suitable setting.
Source:- The Independent Thursday 29 April page 10
Children who live with one partent ‘are no worse
off’
Sociologists at Stockholm University claim their research shows
that children who live with one parent can be just as well off
emotionally and psychologically as children who grow up with two
parents.
Source:- Daily Telegraph Thursday 29 April page 11
Chatroom clue in hunt for girl, 13
Police said a 13-year-old girl who has been missing from
her home In Tunbridge Wells, Kent, for nearly a week has an
interest in internet chatrooms.
Megan Doran was last seen at the town’s railway station last
Friday, and it is believed she may have gone to Brighton or
London.
Source:- The Guardian Thursday 29 April page 8
Scottish newspapers
School for unruly teens faces criticism
Improvements that should have been made to a school for disturbed
teenagers have not taken place two years after they were demanded
by inspectors, a report warned yesterday.
Kerelaw School in Ayrshire is run by Glasgow Council, and takes
children from the city and elsewhere in the west of Scotland. Most
of the children there at the time of inspection in November were
there as a result of decisions taken at children’s hearings
or court orders.
The report highlights that senior managers failed to give staff
support to implement necessary action for improvement.
The school did not have a suitable management structure to support
educational achievements within the school, despite this being a
main recommendation from the HM Inspectorate of Education in
2001.
Source:- The Herald Thursday 29 April
School for unruly teens faces criticism
McConnell defends reallocation of prison funds
The Scottish executive’s failure to end the practice of
slopping-out in Scotland’s prisons was defended by Jack
McConnell yesterday.
The first minister defended the decision in 1999 to switch £13
million from the Scottish Prison Service’s budget to pay for
the establishment of a drug enforcement agency.
Robert Napier was awarded £2,450 in damages earlier this week
after Lord Bonomy ruled that the practice contravened human
rights.
Source:- The Scotsman Thursday 29 April
Care home worker wins £34,000 for
sacking
A council has failed in its appeal against an employment tribunal
ruling ordering it to pay £34,000 to a residential care home
worker accused of grabbing a child by the throat.
Hugh Cairns was sacked by East Ayrshire Council as a result of the
incident at a children’s unit in Kilmaurs in August 2001.
Cairns said he used minimum force to control the child and denies
grabbing him by the throat.
The Glasgow employment tribunal ruled that he was unfairly
dismissed although he was 40 per cent to blame.
Source:- The Scotsman Thursday 29 April
Home help jailed for stealing from elderly
A former home help who stole money from older people has been
jailed for 28 months.
Sandra Gilhooley used her previous experience as an agency home
help to gain the trust of older people in Edinburgh and steal from
them.
At Edinburgh sheriff court she admitted six charges of theft.
Source:- Evening News Wednesday 28 April
Kirk slams soundbites in yob fight
Politicians should look at what works in the fight against
antisocial behaviour rather than indulging in easy soundbites, a
Kirk report has urged.
The Church of Scotland is set to call for better back-up for
children’s hearings and more emphasis on restorative
justice.
It warns that figures of people’s fear of crime do not
reflect crime statistics and attention should be focused on what
works rather than the acceptance of attractive soundbites.
Source:- Evening News  Wednesday 28 April
Welsh newspapers
No Quick Fix
Council chiefs at Blaenau Gwent have promised to improve services
for vulnerable children.
The pledge comes after the publication of a damning inspection
report that revealed serious concerns about the quality of services
for children. But they have warned that solving the problems will
take time and that there is no quick fix.
Source:- South Wales Argus Wednesday 28 April page 1
‘I’ll fight to keep Edmond in
Wales
A woman from Ebbw Vale has vowed to keep her Kosovan foster son in
Wales.
Julia Gregg says that she is prepared to spend thousands of pounds
on a judicial review if an immigration appeals panel decides that
her 19-year-old foster son Edmond Pone must return to his home
country.
Pone has already lost one appeal to stay in Wales where he has
lived for the last five years, after arriving in the country stowed
away on the back of a lorry. Pone is now waiting for news from the
Home Office on whether he will be allowed exceptional leave to
remain in the UK.
Source:- South Wales Argus Wednesday 28 April page 9
Welsh nurse ‘tried to kill patients to clear
beds’
A Welsh hospital nurse tried to murder four patients in a
‘ruthless efficiency’ drive to free up beds, a court in
Chester has been told.
Barbara Salisbury allegedly took steps to hasten the death of four
seriously ill patients at a hospital in Crewe. In each case she is
alleged to have administered overdoses of diamorphine or to treated
patients in other ways that would speed up their deaths.
Source:- Western Mail Thursday 29 April page 1