Thursday 1 July 2004

By Shirley Kumar, Amy Taylor and Sally
Gillen

Treatment of asylum seekers ‘very generous’

The treatment of asylum seekers is very generous, Home Office
permanent secretary John Gieve told MPs.

Grieve told cross-party public accounts committee yesterday that
the number of asylum applications was high compared to other
countries.

He said people came to Britain for economic reasons and the
decision-making process on asylum seekers used to be slow.

Source:- Financial Times, July 1, page 2

New policy on rape victims aims to ‘give victims greater
confidence’

Wide variations in the conviction rates for rape nationwide has
prompted Solicitor General Harriet Harman to launch a new policy
for prosecuting

Harman said that rape was less likely to be reported, prosecuted
and result in a conviction than any other violent crime.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph, July 1, page 13

£80 million plan to develop rundown West Midland
neighbourhoods

The Office of Deputy Prime Minister has allocated around
£80m to redevelop some of the most deprived areas of the West
Midlands.

The funds will regenerate Sandwell, and the Birmingham districts
of Handsworth and Lozells.

Source:- Financial Times, July 1, Page 4

Mental patient faces murder trial 40 years
on 

A man who spent 40 years in a mental hospital for a double
murder has appeared in court following a decision by the Home
Secretary that he should stand trial.

Victor Wilson, a former farm worker appeared before Jull Crown
Court accused of killing Joan Botterill and her friend Gladys
Tate.

Wilson who would have faced the death penalty was ordered to be
detained indefinitely under the Lunacy Act of 1800.

Source:- The Times, July 1, page 5

Jail to be Europe’s largest for women

A Cheshire jail – the subject of a damning inspector’s report –
is to almost double its population making it the largest women’s
jail in Europe.

Styal prison will increase its capacity from 400 to 770
inmates.

Source:- The Guardian, July 1, page 6

Scottish papers

Father claims he was denied a fair trial

Sion Jenkins, convicted six years ago of murdering foster
daughter Billie-Jo Jenkins, was denied a fair trial by misleading
information by his wife, three appeal curt judges have been told.
He was convicted of killing 13-year-old Billie-Jo at the family
home in Hastings, Sussex, in 1997, but a member of Jenkin’s legal
team Clare Montgomery QC said evidence from two of his four
daughters would suggested an intruder was responsible for the
murder but they were never called because it was believed they had
become hostile to their father.

Source: Herald, 1 July 2004

The huge gap between rich and poor

Research has found that the north-side divide is increasing and
Glasgow is the poorest city in the UK and that deprivation was
increasing more in the city than in other parts of Scotland. The
only local authority areas worse off than Glasgow are Hackney and
Tower Hamlets in London. 

The study was carried out by Sheffield University and was based
on the census. John Dickie, head of Child Poverty Action Group in
Scotland, said: “Across Scotland over a quarter of children live
below the official poverty line.”

Source: Herald. 1 July 2004