Monday 14 June 2004

By Amy Taylor, Clare Jerrom and Alex
Dobson

Professor stands by baby murder claim

A pediatrician said that he still believed a father was guilty of
murdering his two baby sons four years after first making the
allegations.

Professor David Southall told the General Medical Council said that
he had wanted the police to investigate the father’s account
of events when he reported his view in June 2000.

Clark has never been charged with any offence. His wife Sally was
wrongly jailed for killing the boys.

Source: The Guardian, Saturday, June 12, page 13

Gypsies victims of race crime

Two brothers are believed to be the first people in Britain to be
convicted of a racially aggravated crime against members of the
travelling community.

Neil Shepherd, 41, and Martin, 36, repeatedly verbally abused a
gipsy family camping in Blandford, Dorset, and were given 240 hours
of community services.

Source: The Daily Telegraph, Saturday, June 12, page
7

Watchdog praises children’s centres

Early Excellence Centres, which combine daycare, nursery education
and social services, are helping to identify children with special
educational needs early, according to a new report from education
watchdog Ofsted.

The study also found that the centres are successfully tackling
child poverty.

Source: The Times, Saturday, June 12, page 4

Watchdog dams women’s jail for suicides, drugs and
reliance on solitary confinement

Calls for urgent action to tackle drug abuse at a women’s
prison were ignored, according to a new report from the chief
inspector of prisons.

Six women killed themselves at Styal prison near Wilmslow in
Cheshire in 2002-3, all in their first month in custody. Five of
them were addicted to drugs. Anne Owers ordered that the regime at
the prison is changed.

Source: The Independent, Saturday, June 12, page 16

Most problem kids’ go on to thrive

Three out of four children with antisocial behavioural problems
become well adjusted adults, new research reveals.

The Study, carried out by the Australian government’s
Institute of Family Studies followed volatile, uncooperative
children aged 11 to 12 years until they were 18 years.

The findings, to be presented at the National Family and Parent
Child 2004 conference in London this week, could have implications
for government policy which shows parenting classes have a positive
effect.

Source: The Observer, June 13, page 2

Asylum seekers jailed as they flee
Britian

Around 75 asylum seekers have been jailed for trying to leave
Britain as authorities insist on taking them to court instead of
deporting them immediately.

The foreign nationals have been caught trying to flee the country
at Dover or Folkestone. They have had their asylum seeker
applications rejected in the UK and are trying to get into another
country.

French police have stopped 32 people at Dover and 17 at the Channel
Tunnel this year.

Source: The Mail on Sunday, June 13, page 43

Cannabis policy fears as addiction rate soars

More people are becoming addicted to cannabis according to new
government figures.

Almost one in ten people visiting NHS drug-addiction centres is
seeking help to get themselves off cannabis. The figure has doubled
in a decade.

Source: Daily Mail, Monday, June 14, page 20

Blundering Soham police ‘among worst in the
country’

The two police forces criticised in the Soham murder inquiry are
among some of the worst in the country, according to a new
report.

Humberside and Cambridgeshire were both found to have a bad record
on solving car crime and burglary. Cambridgeshire also received the
lowest mark for handling critical incidents such as murder.

Source: Daily Mail, Monday, June 14, page 28

Foreign Office recalls immigration whistleblower to face
visa inquiry

A British civil servant whose whistleblowing led immigration
minister Beverly Hughes to resign is set to be investigated over
visa applications.

James Cameron, the British consul in Romania, reported that he and
other members of embassy staff were being told to turn a blind eye
to fraudulent visa applications by the Home Office.

Cameron has been called to London to defend himself against
allegations of misconduct and improper dealings with a travel
agency in Moldova.

Source: The Independent, Monday, June 14, page 20

Stigma of mental illness ruins lives

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has demanded 20 department and
agencies work to improve employment, housing and educational
opportunities for people suffering mental illness.

The move follows an exposure by the Government’s social
inclusion unit which shows how millions of lives are destroyed by
the stigma attached to mental health problems.

It found increasing discrimination against ailments such as
depression and anxiety, affecting one in six adults.
Health secretary John Reid will follow up with a five-year
strategic plan to tackle stigma and discrimination.

Source: The Guardian, June 14, page 8

NHS ‘in danger’ of failing health of
Britain’s 6m carers

Two thirds of Britain’s six million carers feel their health
has suffered as a result of their supporting roles.
Charities fear the NHS will not cope if nothing is done to protect
them.

Carer’s Week which begins today has highlighted that
voluntary carers save the Treasury an estimated £57 billion a
year.

Chief executives of Carers UK, Crossroads Caring for Carers, the MS
Society and the Princess Royal Trust for Carers are writing to
every Primary Care Trust in the country urging them to improve the
services they provide for carers.

Source: The Daily Telegraph, June 14, page 8

Scottish newspapers

It’s honours all round on Queen’s list

A foster mum is among the Lothian residents recognised on the
Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

Jean Innes has cared for more than 200 children over the last 30
years and adopted four children.

Dr Zoe Dunhill who works at Edinburgh’s Royal Hospital for
Sick Children and High Court judge Lady Cosgrove were also honoured
in the list. Cosgrove received a CBE for services to the criminal
justice system.

Source: Evening News, Saturday 12 June

Stowaway gets chance to contest deportation

An asylum seeker has won a second chance to try to convince
immigration authorities that he will be in danger if he is returned
to Sudan.

Gazi Ahmed Abdallah came to Edinburgh after stowing away on a ship
which docked in Leith more than six years ago. His application to
stay in the UK was refused on the grounds that he was unlikely to
face persecution. But his solicitor told the Court of Session that
having escaped from detention, Abdallah would be considered a
traitor and against the current regime.

The appeal judges ruled yesterday that the case should return to
the Appeal Tribunal.

Source: Evening News, Saturday 12 June


MSPs to show they care at Question Time

Some of the 660,000 people in Scotland who care for older or
disabled relatives or friends are to question a panel of
MSPs.

Carers’ Question Time, organised by Carers Scotland as party
of carers Week, will take place on Tuesday in Edinburgh and will
follow the model of BBC’s Question Time programme.

Source: Evening News, Saturday 12 June

Hospitals hit back at violent patients

Violent and aggressive patients are to be prevented from receiving
all but emergency hospital treatment in a bid to reduce the number
of attacks on doctors and nurses.

Under the controversial move, patients will receive two warnings
before they are banned from routine treatment for up to a
year.
Dumfries and Galloway and Ayrshire and Arran health boards have
already approved the policy and eight of the remaining 10 will
follow suit shortly.

Source: Scotland on Sunday, Sunday 13 June

Carstairs chief calls for release of
women

All female patients at Carstairs are set to be released to lower
security institutions because they do not pose a significant risk
to the public.

Andreana Adamson, chief executive of the high security hospital,
has recommended the move on the basis the 14 women are only a risk
to themselves, and their treatment is hampered by the presence of
male patients.

Adamson’s plan means that in future, any female criminals
sent to psychiatric care would be treated at medium secure
facilities.

Source: Scotland on Sunday, Sunday 13 June

Anger at antisocial eviction threat in new bill

Families of under-16s who are guilty of antisocial behaviour could
be liable for eviction, but only if they are council tenants, it
has emerged.

The threat will not hang over children from owner-occupying
families who receive such behaviour orders and a Labour MSP said
the measure would discriminate against the working classes.

Homelessness charity Shelter fears innocent siblings of young
people on antisocial behaviour orders could be evicted under the
proposal.

Source: Sunday Herald, Sunday 13 June

Most asylum seekers ‘come to UK because lives are in
danger’

The majority of Scotland’s asylum seekers are arriving in the
UK because their lives are in danger, according to a report for
Amnesty International and the Scottish Refugee Council.

The report, to be released at the Scottish parliament tomorrow to
mark the start of Scottish Refugee Week, aims to undermine claims
that most asylum seekers are motivated by financial
considerations.

Source: Sunday Herald, Sunday 13 June

Freed woman held in cells for extra week

Justice minister Cathy Jamieson was last night waiting for the
results of a fresh internal investigation following another serious
blunder by the Scottish Prison Service.

Angela Kennedy was freed on bail by a magistrate on a shoplifting
charge. But instead of walking out of court, she was transported to
Cornton Vale prison and locked up for a week.

The mistake was only identified when she returned a week later to
Glasgow District Court from custody. The Scottish Prison Service
launched an urgent investigation as soon as the error was
identified.

Source: The Scotsman, Monday 14 June

Whistleblower fears ‘dirty tricks’

A man who blew the whistle on an immigration scandal claims to have
been the victim of a dirty tricks campaign by the government.

It emerged that James Cameron, the British consul in Romania, had
been secretly recalled to London after being accused of criminal
misconduct by Whitehall investigators.

The Foreign Office confirmed that Cameron had been withdrawn from
his post and was back in London while an investigation was being
carried out.

Friends claim he has been falsely accused of taking bribes or
obtaining sexual favours in return for granting visas.
Cameron exposed a catalogue of problems and scams which eventually
led to the resignation of Home Office minister Beverley
Hughes.

Source: The Herald, Monday 14 June

Welsh newspapers

Unregistered families lose out on childcare cash

Parents who rely on family or friends for childcare are missing out
on new-style family allowance because they are not registered
carers.

According to a new report, A Different Kind of Care, while the UK
government has doubled its spending on childcare tax credits, fewer
than 3 per cent of all UK families with children actually receive
them. Plaid Cymru MP Hywel Williams commissioned the report.

Source: Western Mail, Monday 14 June, page 7

Fast-track tests at obstetrics unit

Midwives in Newport have launched a new fast track day-admissions
unit to provide more rapid assessments for pregnant women.

The new unit at the Royal Gwent Hospital will provide a service for
high-risk mums-to-be who may encounter problems during their
pregnancies.

Source: Western Mail, Monday 14 June, page 7

More from Community Care

Comments are closed.