Tuesday 17 August 2004

By Amy Taylor, Clare Jerrom and Alex Dobson

The children social workers say must live with
lesbians

Social workers want two children who have been living with
heterosexual foster parents for over a year to be removed and
placed with a lesbian couple because this is what they are used
to.

The mother of the girl aged two and boy aged three was in a same
sex relationship. Greenwich Council social services in south-east
London would like a lesbian couple to care for the children, but
others would like to see them placed with a heterosexual
couple.

The case was heard in a Family Proceedings Court yesterday after
months of arguing.

Source:- Daily Mail Tuesday 17 August page 9

Protestors try to stop C4 broadcast

Campaigners are calling on members of the public to join their
fight to prevent a documentary that claims white schoolgirls are
being groomed for sex by Asian men in Bradford from being shown on
Channel 4.

The lobby groups, who are running their campaign through the Black
Information Link website, want people to send emails to the TV
company. They argue that it will incite racial violence and cause
the British National Party to gain support.

Edge of the City is due to be screen on 26th August.

Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 17 August  page 6

Dogs to help disabled youths

British disabled children are being helped by assistance dogs for
the first time.

The dogs are trained to alert parents when a child needs
assistance.

Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 17 August page 7

One million people are working beyond retirement age as
pensions crisis deepens

Large numbers of pensioners are working beyond retirement age to
prevent falling into poverty, new figures show.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that 1, 011,
000 people over the state pension age were doing paid work last
month.

Source:- The Independent Tuesday 17 August  page 13

Scottish newspapers

‘Sex for sale in lap-dancing clubs’

Lap-dancers suffer humiliation and sexual harassment in clubs in
Glasgow and licensing conditions and employment laws are repeatedly
breached, according to a new report.

The study, commissioned by Glasgow Council, found that sexual
favours are made available in the clubs as many dancers are in debt
which adds pressure on them to provide sexual services.

The research claims that dancers are ordered to dress “like
sluts”, some suffer from anorexia and many have to cope with
threats of violence.

Julie Bindel’s main conclusion in her report is that councils
should be given powers to license the clubs as sex shops arguing
they should no longer be classed as leisure entertainment, but as
part of the sex industry.

Source:- The Herald  Tuesday 17 August

Bed-blocking fears as three care homes shut

Fresh fears of a bed-blocking crisis were re-ignited yesterday as
it emerged three private care homes in the capital are set to
close.

Social services have to find places for 90 older people in a care
homes market which is bursting at the seams. A shortage of places
means some older people are likely to end up in hospital
beds.

Hillside Cottage in Juniper Green, the Lynedoch in Drumsheugh
Gardens and Charteris House in Luberton are set to close in
September.

The news will be a major setback to health and council chiefs who
are working on a target of reducing the number of blocked beds by
20 per cent by April 2005.

Source:- Evening News Monday 16 August

Girl pupils ‘more likely to truant and
steal’

School girls in the capital are more likely to play truant from
school, steal and spray graffiti than boys, according to research
by Edinburgh University.

Around 60 per cent of girls in their third year of secondary school
regularly skipped school with over half of 15-year-old truants
admitting to taking drugs in the last 12 months.

Only a fifth of truants at primary school age were girls yet the
figures soared once the pupils reached secondary school age.

However, boys were more likely to be excluded from school than
girls.

Source:- Evening News  Monday 16 August

Chloroform killer finds prison ‘too hard’

A killer has made a claim for £90,000 compensation because he
found prison “too hard”.

Craig McCreight claims he has had to endure “inhumane and
degrading” treatment at Saughton prison in Edinburgh and
Shotts prison in Lanarkshire. This includes being forced to
slop-out of his cell and having a lack of opportunity to work and
be educated.

McCreight, who was jailed in 2002 for murdering his girlfriend
Yvonne Davidson, is one of more than 100 prisoners to make claims
citing alleged breaches of the European Convention on Human
Rights.

Source:- Evening News  Monday 16 August

Welsh newspapers

10-years for ‘groomer’ in child sex abuse

A paedophile has been jailed for 10 years after being branded a
threat to young boys.

Darren Clarke was placed in a hostel near Ruabon as part of his
rehabilitation after a six-year sentence for sex offences.

While working for the Salvation Army, he met and befriended a
socially deprived family and having gained their trust, he sexually
abused their 13-year-old son on a number of occasions.

Source:- Western Mail Tuesday 17 August page 5

We must cure nursing’s ills

A half-page feature looking at the heavy workload and stress
that many nurses experience during their working lives. Richard
Jones, interim director of the Royal College of Nursing in Wales,
argues that urgent steps need to be taken to address retention
problems within the sector.

Source:- Western Mail Tuesday 17 August page 8

 

 

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