Wednesday 6 October 2004

By Amy Taylor and Clare Jerrom

Barker’s son flees

Ronnie Barker’s son has gone on the run after being arrested
over child porn allegations.

It is claimed that around 1, 200 pictures of child pornography were
found on Adam Barker’s computer at his home in Ealing.

The 38-year-old, who is also an actor, was arrested as a part of an
investigation into people who download child pornography from the
internet.

Source:- Daily Mail, Wednesday, October 6, page 13

Law chief acts after judge frees man who had sex with
girl, 12

The Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith QC, has sent a case involving
a man who had sex with a 12-year-old girl he met on the internet to
the Court of Appeal after ruling that the original sentence was
‘unduly lenient’.

Last month a judge ruled that the girl had instigated sex and
allowed Michael Barrett, 20, to escape prison. He gave Barrett a
two-year conditional discharge, disqualified him from working with
children for the same time period and put him on the sex offenders
register.

However, Lord Goldsmith saw the sentence as too lenient and
referred the case to the Court of Appeal.

Source: Daily Mail, Wednesday, October 6, page 31

Curfew for thug, 11

An 11-year-old boy has become one of the youngest children to be
given an anti-social behaviour order.

Aneeze Williamson has been banned from every street on his estate
in Shipley, West Yorkshire, apart from his own.

Source:- Daily Mail, Wednesday, October 6, page 45

Staff give £1bn-worth of time to company-backed
voluntary work

Time worth £1.1bn is given by employees on employer backed
volunteering schemes, according to new research.

Tony Blair has pledged to increase the number of volunteers by 5
per cent between 2001 and 2006.

The report, Employer-Supported Volunteering and Giving, collates
information in the 2001 Home Office citizenship survey.

Source: Financial Times, Wednesday, October 6, page
2

Child rights ‘for both parents if couple split
up’

Parents who split up would both be given rights to see their
children under proposals announced by the Conservative Party at its
annual conference yesterday.

The Conservatives said that they would publish a Bill shortly after
getting into power to create equal rights for both parents.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph, Wednesday, October 6, page
9

Doctors ‘gave suicidal addict more
pills’

A doctor treating drug addicts increased a woman’s dose of
amphetamine tablets from eight tablets a day to 38 despite her
claims that she was going to kill herself a General Medical Council
heard yesterday.

Dr Colin Brewer is alleged to have prescribed Mrs ST 15 different
drugs over eight years, often without consulting her doctor.

Brewer is one of seven doctors from the Stapleford Centre, a
private clinic, who is charged with allegations of serious
professional misconduct.

Source: The Daily Telegraph, Wednesday, October 6, page
12

Anxiety takes toll on children

More than a million children could be suffering from anxiety and
depression according to new research.

The study, carried out by Norwich Union Healthcare and covering 400
parents, found that the pressures of modern life were the cause of
the high levels of stress.

Source: The Times, Wednesday, October 6, page 12

Autistic man wins damages for being held in
hospital

The European court of human rights ruled that the holding of an
autistic man ‘informally’ in a psychiatric hospital
without the legal safeguards provided for people
“sectioned” under the Mental Health Act was a breach of
his human rights yesterday.

The court ordered the UK government to pay £20,000 damages to
the man.

The ruling could apply to tens of thousands of people with learning
disabilities and dementia who do not have the ability to give
consent or refuse to treatment.

Source: The Guardian, Wednesday, October 6, page 7

Shaping the future

The Eden Project is more than just a botanical garden, says its
creator. It is a place where people are encouraged to think
differently.

John Vidal hears how Tim Smit now hopes to use his inspirational
vision to effect wider social and environmental change.

Source: SocietyGuardian, Wednesday, October 6, page
2

Demonstrators rattle Scope

Campaigners held a demo outside the disability charity
Scope’s headquarters on Monday to protest at what it sees as
the charity’s high-handed approach towards disabled
people.

Source:- SocietyGuardian, Wednesday, October 6, page
4

Our friends in the Fens

Its former chief executive blew the whistle on corruption, its
ex-leader has been jailed for misconduct in office, and the
inspectors plan to visit. Peter Hetherington reports on how
Lincolnshire county council is proving an embarrassment to the Tory
party

Source: SocietyGuardian, Wednesday, October 6, page
6

Just the job

Mary O’Hara on how Kensington and Chelsea is helping people
with mental health problems into long-term work

Source: SocietyGuardian, Wednesday, October 6, page
7

The cutting edge

The recent stabbing of a 16-year-old boy in east London highlights
the growing use of knives by young people. A report out today asks
why so little is being done to halt the trend.

Source:- SocietyGuardian, Wednesday, October 6, page
8

Men about the house

A new study warns that unless more males take on the role of
looking after ill or elderly relatives, Britain faces a serious
shortage of carers. But can attitudes be changed?

Source: SocietyGuardian, Wednesday, October 6, page
10

The wage gap

Can senior civil servants prove that they should get salaries on a
par with their private sector counterparts

Source:- SocietyGuardian, Wednesday, October 6, page 14

What else can I do?

Tina has been working as a coordinator in a drug action team for
four years and is wondering if it is time to move on. Debbie Andalo
gives her some pointers.

Source: SocietyGuardian, Wednesday, October 6, page
103

Scottish newspapers

Parents say Scots children are more prone to
depression

Scottish children suffer from more depression, stress and panic
attacks than their counterparts in the rest of the UK, according to
a survey of parents.

Almost 30 per cent of parents in Scotland felt that their children
were more prone to these symptoms compared with just 17 per cent
across the UK as a whole.

The “Growing Pains” study by Norwich Union Healthcare
said that peer pressure and school stresses such as bullying and
exams had the greatest impact on their children’s health and
wellbeing.

Source:- The Scotsman  Wednesday 6 October

Tories blame Scotland’s ‘failures’ for
low immigration

The Scottish Conservatives said yesterday that Scotland is failing
to attract migrants because it is a less attractive place to live
than the rest of the UK.

Shadow Scottish secretary Peter Duncan argued as part of a defence
of Tory policy that the country does not need its own immigration
policy.

The Conservatives want a single national limit on immigration but
party leaders in London have ruled out the possibility of setting a
distinct Scottish quota within the national immigration limit in
order to encourage migrants to move away from London and the
south-east.

The Tories have decided that Scotland’s failure to increase
its share of UK migrants can be wholly attributed to the
country’s own inadequacies.

Source:- The Scotsman  Wednesday 6 October

Ex-soldier in gun siege at war bunker sent into
care

A former soldier who sparked a three-day siege when he barricaded
himself inside a nuclear bunker was committed to psychiatric care
yesterday.

Ronald McDonald admitted being at the centre of the two-day siege
at the Secret Bunker tourist attraction in Fife.

Source:- The Scotsman  Wednesday 6 October

Parents slam bid for sex shop near school

Plans to open a sex shop close to a primary school in Edinburgh
have been slammed.

Community leaders, teaching staff and parents are preparing to
fight the move by entrepreneur Vince Delicato to open the
shop.

More than 140 signatures have already been collected for a petition
against the proposal.

Source:- Evening News  Tuesday 5 October

Welsh newspapers

Council’s services may be crippled after thousands
vote to strike

It is understood that Unison members at Swansea City and County
Council have voted to go on strike over concerns about
privatisation and redundancies.

The industrial action will affect service such as social care and
education.

Source: Western Mail, Wednesday, 6 October, page 3