Wednesday 21 July 2004

By Clare Jerrom, Amy Taylor, Shirley Kumar and Alex
Dobson

Riot at fast-track asylum removal centre

A riot broke out at Harmondsworth immigration removal centre on
Monday after a detainee was found hanged in his room.

Prison officers regained control of the buildings yesterday morning
but about 80 detainees continued to carry out a stand-off in a
recreation yard until the afternoon.

Source:- The Guardian Wednesday 21 July page 7

Dead pupil ‘spread lies’ jury told

A schoolboy accused of murdering another teenage pupil at school
told a court that his alleged victim had been spreading lies about
him.

The 16-year-old, who was giving evidence for the first time at
Nottingham Crown Court, said there had been a mutual dislike
between him and Luke Walmsley, 14 at Birkbeck secondary school in
North Somercotes, Lincolnshire.

Luke died from a single stab wound to the heart at school in
November last year.

Source:- The Guardian Wednesday 21 July page 6

Mothers to pay fathers denied access

Mothers who refuse access to their ex-husbands in defiance
of the courts could be ordered to pay compensation, the government
has unveiled.

A Green Paper will propose judges should be given new powers to
force the carer to allow contact between the child and the
father.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Wednesday 21 July page
1
 
Dangerous sex offender must be freed from jail

A sex offender is to be released into the community despite
warnings from prison psychiatriststhat he will kill his next
victim, according to North Wales chief constable Richard
Brunstrom.

The Home Office is planning new measures to ensure dangerous sex
offenders are not released until their level of risk is properly
assessed.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Wednesday 21 July page
2
 
Boy smoker hanged himself

A 12-year-old boy hanged himself rather than admit to his parents
he had been smoking, an inquest heard.

David Arnett’s tutor at Cavendish School in Eastbourne, East
Sussex gave him 24-hours to tell his parents that he smoked after
finding a packet of cigarettes on him.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph  Wednesday 21 July  page
2
 
Five detained after BNP documentary

A BBC documentary, Secret Agent, has led to five men being arrested
in connection with racially-motivated crimes.

West Yorkshire police questioned a 23-year-old Bradford man in
connection with racially-aggravated public order offences, a
51-year-old man suspected of racially-aggravated harassment and
another on suspicion of possessing a gun.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Wednesday 21 July  page
4
 
Scientists rule out anti-depressants as ‘suicide
trigger’

Fears that Prozac and Seroxat are more likely to trigger suicidal
behaviour in patients than older style antidepressants have been
ruled out, according to scientists.

A study shows risk of self harm rise in the first month after
starting all types of anti-depressants but the drugs themselves are
unlikely to be blamed.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Wednesday 21 July page
5
 
BT blocks 20,000 attempts a day to access child porn

BT is stopping 20,000 attempts to download hardcore child
pornography on the internet every day.

With some people making repeated attempts, it is unclear how many
users are looking for child pornography.

Source:-The Daily Telegraph Wednesday 21 July  page
7
 
Poor performance of many mental health trusts ‘an
area of concern’

The Healthcare Commission is concerned with the latest NHS ratings
which show the poor performance of mental health trusts.
Seven received the lowest zero rating compared with three the
previous year and more than a third got one star or less.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Wednesday 21 July page
10
 
I saw my grandson knifed, jury told

Pauline Martin told a jury at Carlisle Crown Court that
she saw Shahajan Kabir pull out a knife and grab hold of his son
Hassan’s bib in the bakery.

Martin added she did not actually see the father stab the
baby.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Wednesday 21 July  page 5

Loss of innocence

Can anyone comprehend what it is like to spend years in prison for
a crime you didn’t commit? Eric Allison tracked down those
still haunted by the experience – the victims of miscarriages
of justice, and their families.

Source:- SocietyGuardian Wednesday 21 July page 2

On the road to knowlege

Connexions, the government’s advice service for teenagers,
has employed what is believed its first member of staff dedicated
to working with traveller families.

Charles Birch lives in a house now but still classes himself as a
traveller after growing up in a wagon.

Source:- SocietyGuardian Wednesday, 21 July, page 6

Scores to settle

Nearly 30 years ago, Bob Holman gave up his post as professor to
live and work on a council estate and to campaign on the
residents’ behalf.

Source:- SocietyGuardian Wednesday, 21 July, page 8

Escape routes

Travel operators are not offering more choice for people with
disabilities as well as their families

Source:- SocietyGuardian Wednesday 21 July page 10

Moving on up

Thousands of civil service employees are to redeployed out of the
south-east.

Source:- SocietyGuardian Wednesday 21 July page 14

What else can I do?

A-levels over, Chloe wants to spend a year volunteering with a view
to working later in the charity or public sector. Debbie Andalo
points her in the right direction

Source:- SocietyGuardian Wednesday 21 July page 96

Scottish newspapers

Families clash after couple jailed over cruel death of baby

Fighting erupted outside a courtroom yesterday after a Scots mother
and her boyfriend were jailed for five years each for condemning a
baby to death.

Lorna Gray and James McEwan each pleaded guilty to one count of
child cruelty following the death of 21-month-old John Gray in
March 2003. The baby died as a result of a ruptured liver, thought
to be caused by a blow to the abdomen.

Mr Justice McKinnon said the pair had been guilty of the most
extreme child cruelty.

Angry scenes followed as Gray’s family slammed the sentence
as unjust.

Source:- The Herald  Wednesday 21 July

National poet told he must leave closing care home

Edwin Morgan has been given less than a month to find alternative
accommodation after being informed the care home in which he is
staying is due to close.

The Scottish poet is among 70 residents at the Lynedoch Nursing
Home near Glasgow who have been told they must leave by August
14.

Morgan warned that some residents might not survive the move.

Source:- The Herald  Wednesday 20 July

Man convicted of killing paedophile teacher he befriended
in jail

A man was jailed for life yesterday for murdering his best friend
who he met while they were both serving prison sentences for sex
offences.

Lord Dawson said Ian Sutherland would serve at least 15 years in
prison before being eligible for parole and he imposed a
consecutive sentence of five years for the offence of dismembering
the body in a bid to cover up his crime.

The High Court heard that following their release from jail, the
victim, Alan Wilson, became infatuated with Sutherland, who
rejected his attempts to build a sexual relationship.

Source:- The Scotsman  Wednesday 21 July

Police reveal plan to launch major crackdown on vice girls
in Dundee

A major crackdown on prostitution was announced by Tayside police
yesterday after a flood of complaints about vice girls in
residential areas of the city.

Prostitutes have recently started working close to the eastern edge
of the city centre and the officer in charge of policing in the
city, Chief Inspector Brian Weir, said the force would be taking a
hard-line stance against vice girls and their customers where their
behaviour caused distress to residents.

Source:- The Scotsman  Wednesday 21 July

Half of Scots OAPs ‘living in poverty’

Thousands of older people in Scotland are living below the poverty
line and struggling to survive it has been claimed.

Almost half of the country’s pensioner’s are thought to
be living in poverty with 300,000 households forced to cope on
incomes of less than £10,000 a year, leader of the Scottish
Socialist Party Tommy Sheridan revealed.

Source:- Evening News Tuesday 20 July

Great leap forward for charity

Barnardo’s employee John Calder from the Capital is to
undertake a nine-day long walk along The Great Wall of China in aid
of the charity in September.

Source:- Evening News  Tuesday 20 July

Welsh newspapers

‘Be brave and name dangerous sex
offender’

Chief constable Richard Brunstrom, head of north Wales police,
has been urged to ‘name and shame’ a potentially
homicidal sex offender, after he warned that he is powerless to
stop the man being freed from jail.

Psychiatrists have warned that although the man is not mentally
ill, he could be dangerous, but the chief constable has stopped
short of naming him.

Source:- Western Mail Wednesday 21 July page 1

Jail for nurse who stole from the NHS

A senior psychiatric nurse from south Wales has been jailed for
fiddling her overtime to pay for exotic holidays around the
world.

Rhian Slaymaker conned the NHS out of almost £36,000 to pay
for her jet setting lifestyle and to help pay for a house and a
car. She now faces being struck off by the Nursing and Midwifery
Council.

Source:- Western Mail Wednesday 21 July page 3