Thursday 19 August

By Amy Taylor, Clare Jerrom and Alex Dobson

GP accused of patient’s death

A GP is set to appear in court today charged with the murder of one
of his patients.

Howard Martin was initially questioned about the death of
74-year-old Harry Gittins in May and released on bail.

Today he will appear before Newton Aycliffe magistrates charged
with the killing. Gittins had undergone hospital treatment for
cancer which was completed six days before he died.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph, Thursday, August 19, page
2

Elderly could share homes with jobseekers

Pensioners who are lonely and live in properties with spare rooms
are to be encouraged to house share with single young people by the
government.

Under the plans the young people will help around the house and
with other tasks such as shopping in return for
accommodation.

The measures will be part of a green paper on adult social care set
to be published this autumn.

Source:- The Independent, Thursday, August 19, page
16

Father accused eight years after girl’s
death

A father was charged with his daughter’s murder yesterday,
eight years after she died.

Phyllis Porter’s body was exhumed last year after the police
reopened an inquiry into her death.

The 11-year-old, who had learning difficulties, was found lying
face down on a pillow on her bed at the family’s home in
Wigan, Greater Manchester, in November 1996.

Her father, Geoffrey Porter, was said to have been devastated by
her death. A post-mortem examination failed to discover the cause
of death.

Source:- The Times, Thursday, August 19, page 5

Compromise on mental health bill

Proposals in the mental health bill that would have allowed the
compulsory treatment of potentially dangerous people who have not
carried out any crimes have been watered down.

A revised bill due to be published last month will include new
measures to help mentally ill people.

Source:- The Guardian, Thursday, August 19, page 7

Scottish newspapers

Jury sees images of baby’s body

A man accused of murdering his step son sat in the dock at High
Court in Forfar yesterday as the jury was shown
“distressing” pictures of the eight month old’s
corpse.

It was the opening day of the trial of Mohammad Ullah who denies
murdering Kyle Mutch by striking him in January this year.

Ullah also denies attempting to pervert the course of justice by
contacting is wife Karen Ullah in April and offering her an
inducement of £5,000 to falsely testify at any trial.

Source:- The Scotsman  Thursday 19 August

Judge shows mercy over heroin death

A man who killed his brother by supplying him with a heroin was
shown mercy by a judge yesterday.

Jamie McGilvray had been shocked into kicking his own drug habit as
he regretted his actions, a court heard.

Lord Maclean said the death of William Brown was wholly unexpected
and could not be fully explained. McGilvray was put on probation
for two years and ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid community
work.

Source:- The Scotsman  Thursday 19 August

Pilot scheme to tag young offenders

Young offenders aged under 16 are to be electronically tagged in a
series of pilot schemes across Scotland.

Young people from seven local authority areas are expected to take
part in the initiative which is one of the key provisions of the
Scottish executive’s antisocial behaviour legislation.

Source:- The Scotsman  Thursday 19 August

Paedophile jailed for breaking parks ban

A paedophile has been jailed for 12 months for breaching a ban
forbidding him from entering a children’s playground and
public parks.

Richard Duff broke the prohibition order just nine days after he
was released from prison.

Source:- Evening News  Wednesday 18 August

Sheriff frees doctor who downloaded child porn

A doctor who admitted downloading pornographic images of boys from
the internet has been spared jail after assurances that he would
only work with older people.

Dr Craig Morton was found in the possession of images of boys aged
14 to 16.
Sheriff Derek Pyle excused Morton from a sex offenders’
rehabilitation scheme as it would bar him from practicing
medicine.

Source:- The Herald  Thursday 19 August

Welsh newspapers

£5,000 Every month

The cost of protecting a former Cardiff residential home
for older people from vandals is £140,000 and the bill is
soaring by £5000 each month.

The new ruling Liberal democrats at Cardiff council have now
pledged to end the drain on public resources and have promised a
decision on the future of the site, next month.

The home, Hazelcroft in Fairwater was at the centre of a number of
allegations including hundreds of complaints by staff against one
another and was closed in 2001.

Source South Wales Echo Wednesday 18 August page 5

Abused babies sent home to suffer again

Almost one in three Welsh babies who are abused will
suffer the same treatment within three years of being returned
home, according to new research published in the journal, Archives
of Disease in Childhood.

The joint research by Cardiff and Keele Universities identified 69
babies who had been abused before they were a year old and
monitored them for the next three years using information from
health and social services.

Source Western Mail Thursday 19 August page 3