Tuesday 5 October 2004

By Clare Jerrom and Amy Taylor

Rapist cut off a hand

A man cut off his left hand with a circular saw when police came to
arrest him for raping an 8-year-old girl a court heard
yesterday.

Jurors at Turo Crown Court were only told about Anthony
Armstrong’s actions after he had been convicted as the judge
said they could have regarded it as some kind of “bizarre
confession”.

Armstrong, 66, was remanded in custody and will be sentenced in
December.

Source: The Times, Tuesday, 5 October, page 13

Drug clinic ‘cast aside duty of care’

Seven doctors at a leading clinic for heroin addicts “cast
aside” aside their duty of care by prescribing the incorrect
type, quantity and combination of drugs to patients a disciplinary
hearing was told yesterday.

The doctors, from the Stapleford Centre, are appearing in front of
the General Medical Council’s professional misconduct
committee in what is seen as a clash between different schools of
thought on how heroin addicts should be treated.

The accused doctors are Colin Brewer, 63, who set up the clinic in
1986, Ronal Tovey, Antony Haines, Hugh Kindness, Timothy Willocks,
Martin O’Raw and Nicolette Mervitz.

Soruce: The Guardian, Tuesday, 5 October, page 5

Paedophile gets life sentence

A man thought to be the UK’s most prolific paedophile was
sentenced to life imprisonment yesterday.

William Goad, a millionaire businessman, is thought to have
sexually abused thousands of boys over the past 40 years.

Goad, 60, admitted 14 specimen counts of buggery and two of
indecent assault at Plymouth Crown Court.

Source:- The Guardian, Tuesday, 5 October, page 5

City targets beggars and their benefactors

Westminster council has announced its biggest drive so far to
eradicate begging in the borough.

Its new strategy includes measures to help beggars together with
those to try and stop the public giving money to them. It also
plans to restrain beggars if they refuse to stop.

Source:- The Guardian, Tuesday, 5 October, page 6

Climbie carer ‘was scapegoat’

A social worker responsible for child abuse victim Victoria Climbie
told a tribunal that she had been made a scapegoat by her social
services department.

Lisa Arthurworrey, 35, was sacked by Haringey council in North
London in November 2002.

Source: The Guardian, Tuesday, 5 October, page 10

Pitcairn Island mass trial sees first guilty pleas in
child sex abuse cases

A defendant in the Picairn child sex abuse trial pleaded guilty to
one charge of indecent assault and two of sexual assault against
young girls in court yesterday.

Dennis Christian is the first to acknowledge that criminal acts
have been carried out against young girls in the British dependent
territory in the South Pacific.

Source:- The Independent, Tuesday, 5 October, page 2

Scottish newspapers

Children’s hearing system to stay

Scotland’s unique children’s hearing system will be
retained, but ministers want it reformed so parents and families
are more involved in decisions about a child’s welfare.

A consultation found overwhelming support for the system and Euan
Robson, the deputy minister for education and young people, said it
would retain its current focus on children’s needs.

Source:- The Herald  Tuesday 5 October

Teachers say indiscipline is major problem

A survey of secondary school teachers has concluded that
indiscipline in schools is a serious problem.

Almost 60 per cent of teachers think indiscipline is a serious or
very serious problem – up from 34 per cent in Scotland eight
years ago.

Eight per cent of teachers claimed to have been the victims of
physical aggression, compared with one per cent in 1996.Although
the problem was not as acute in primary schools, the survey
revealed that behaviour among younger children was also getting
worse.

Source:- The Scotsman  Tuesday 5 October

Archbishop attacks anti-social culture

Antisocial behaviour has been slammed by Glasgow’s archbishop
for rendering people too scared to go out at night.

Speaking at a mass in Edinburgh on Sunday, the Most Rev Mario Conti
claimed violence was so pervasive in society, that parishioners
were unwilling to involve themselves in activities in the evening
for fear of leaving the house.

Source:- The Scotsman  Tuesday 5 October

Families of friends who took their own lives seek MPs
help

Ministers have been urged to help reduce the number of suicides by
the families of three friends who took their own lives within weeks
of each other.

Mark Thow, Ivor Robertson and Richard Burnside were found hanged in
separate incidents this year.

Their families are calling for more research to be carried out into
suicide and are hoping to get funding from Scotland Office for a
support group that has just been formed.

Source:- The Scotsman  Tuesday 5 October

Shock rise in attacks on city social workers

Three frontline social work staff are being injured per week while
on duty in the capital according to new figures.

There has been a 19 per cent increase in violent attacks on social
workers and the rise has prompted calls for staff to be given
greater protection.

Source:- Evening News  Monday 4 October

Union in £1m publicity drive

Public sector union Unison today launched a £1 million
recruitment drive in a bid to make people aware of the opportunity
to join the union.

The campaign will include a television advert to be screened during
Coronation Street and activists will distribute post cards at a
number of public venues.

Unison represents 150,000 public service workers in Scotland.

Source:- Evening News  Monday 4 October

Welsh newspapers

Council workers voting on strike

Swansea social services will learn if some of its members are to go
on strike in a couple of days.

The result of a vote of thousands of Unison members across the
council in a range of departments is expected to be announced on
Wednesday.

The possible striking is over fears about departments being
“outsourced” to the private sector.

Source:- Western Mail, Tuesday, 5 October