Monday 18 October 2004

By Amy Taylor, Maria Ahmed and Clare Jerrom

Heroin prison officer jailed

Prison officer Norman Egerton has been jailed for six years for
attempting to smuggle 147 wraps of heroin hidden in his shoes to
inmates at Forest Bank in Manchester.

Source:- The Guardian Saturday 16 October 2004 page
7

Curfew teenager jailed for life

Plymouth Crown Court jailed a teenager for life for killing a
homeless woman while on a police curfew.

Ian Hartshorn, 17, was supposed to remain in supervised
accommodation but on the night of the killing he stole alcohol and
stabbed Flo Seccombe.

Source:- The Times Saturday 16 October 2004 page 10

MPs press for tighter laws on fostering

A group of MPs is pressing for tighter laws in private fostering by
relatives or families who are unknown to or unchecked by social
services.

To provide better protection for the estimated 15,000 children
living in such arrangements, a group of MPs will table an amendment
in the Children Bill next week that would place a duty on local
authorities to establish and maintain a register of people in their
area suitable to foster children privately.

Source:- The Times Saturday 16 October 2004 page 16

Woman prisoner, 19, found hanged

A teenage prisoner was found hanged in her cell at Brockhill jail
in Worcestershire yesterday.

Kathryn Jones 19, was not on suicide watch. She was facing a charge
of attempted murder.

Source:- The Independent Saturday 16 October page 23

The phoney captain who sold heroin from his walking
stick

A former Royal Marine living in sheltered accommodation and
claiming state benefits has been uncovered as running a
‘heroin empire’ from his house.

Anthony Kesler dealt the drug from a hollowed out walking stick and
met his clients under the cover of walking his dog.

He was foiled when his neighbours became suspicious of the
“strange goings on” at the door of his home in
Normanton, Derby.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Saturday 16 October page
9

 Police fail to use powers to tackle binge drinking

There is a “lack of coherence” between the council and
the police in their approach to tackling crime and disorder fuelled
by drink, according to a leaked document.

The report, which was sent to the prime minister last week, states
that although the police and councils now have the powers required
to deal with offenders they do no use them as much as they
could.

Source:- The Sunday Times Sunday 17 October page 8

Jowell warns bookies on internet bets by children

The government told gambling firms that they were on their final
warning in regards to stopping underage betting.

Tessa Jowell, the culture secretary, said that if bookmakers failed
to install technology to identify children gambling online they
would face unlimited fines and could lose their license.

Source:- The Sunday Telegraph Sunday 17 October page
2

No drink please, we’re teenagers

A new survey has found that British youth would rather shop for
clothes and fast food than go on a pub crawl

Source:- The Observer Sunday 17 October page 12

Rogue therapists face crackdown

Therapists in Britain are set to be regulated for the first
time.

At the moment there is nothing to stop anyone calling themselves a
counsellor, a psychotherapist or a psychoanalyst.

Under the new system therapists with no qualifications or training
will be unable to join a national register.

Source:- The Observer Sunday 17 October page 10

Call for heating aid as 18,000 die from cold

Figures showing that more than 18,000 older people died last winter
from cold-related illnesses have prompted calls for all older
people’s homes to be fitted with central heating.

A campaign due to be launched by the charity National Energy Action
this month will reveal that 700,000 pensioners in England live
without central heating. The charity want central heating to be
provided in all pensioners’ homes as it is in Scotland.

Source:- The Observer Sunday 17 October page 14

Jail suicide crisis left to ‘babysitters’

Unqualified ‘babysitters’ are to be made to carry out
suicide watch in prisons it has been revealed.

Penal reform campaigners and the prison officers’ union have
written to the Home Office citing concerns that the unqualified
staff will be unable to cope if someone attempts suicide.

Source:- The Observer Sunday 17 October page 3

Ronnie Barker’s fugitive son has secret Yard talks
over child porn

The police have been talking to Ronnie Barker’s family to try
to get his son to return to Britain to face internet child porn
charges.

Adam Barker fled to France after being arrested on bail for
allegedly downloading over one thousand indecent images of
children.

Source:- The Mail on Sunday Sunday 17 October page
15

Single mothers’ benefits ‘cover up’

The government has been accused of suppressing a report suggesting
Labour’s high benefits encourage people to become single
mothers.

A senior insider said that the study by the Office for National
Statistics was deemed politically sensitive. It has not been
published.

Source:- The Sunday Times Sunday 17 October page 3

Home Office due to deport ‘ill men’

Two failed asylum seekers said to be mentally ill and unfit to
travel are due to be deported today in apparent defiance of Home
Office guidelines.

In one case, a member of the Independent Monitoring Board at
Norwich jail has warned that the detainee is seriously unwell. In
the other, two psychiatrists believe that the man should not be
moved.

Source:- The Guardian Monday 18 October page 10

‘Crime-buster’ judge is named

Britain’s first ‘community judge’ will be named
today at the new £3 million Liverpool community justice
centre. The job will involve dispensing justice to those guilty of
anti-social behaviour and low-level crime. The judge will also be
given direct access to custody alternatives such as drug treatment,
restorative justice and debt counselling.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Monday 18 October page
11

Scottish newspapers

Reassurance after closure of school secure unit gets go-ahead

Ministers insisted that their plans to increase the number of
places for troubled young people in Scotland were still on track,
despite Glasgow Council’s announcement that it will stop
running one of the country’s specialist units.

Councillors yesterday agreed to close the secure unit at Kerelaw
School in Ayrshire and rubber-stamped the decision to close the
residential part of the school next March.

The moves follow a critical report by Her Majesty’s
Inspectorate of Education and the Care Commission.

The executive announced last year it was creating a further 29
places to bring the number of beds in secure units across the
country up to 125 by the end of 2007, but 12 places were earmarked
for Kerelaw.

Justice minister Cathy Jamieson last night insisted room could be
found at alternative units in order to cope with Kerelaw’s
impending closure.

Source:- The Scotsman  Saturday 16 October

Births must keep up with immigrants, cardinal tells
Catholics

Catholics must have more children or face their faith being
eclipsed by the religions of immigrants, Cardinal Keith
O’Brien has said.

The head of the Catholic Church in Scotland said members of the
Church hierarchy fear immigrant groups could “take
over” in Western European countries because they have more
children than indigenous Christians.

Source:- The Scotsman  Saturday 16 October

Service face cuts as bills target revealed

Edinburgh council will have to make major cutbacks to council
services in order to meet tough news Scottish executive targets,
city chiefs warned today.

Senior councillors had planned a four per cent rise in council tax
bills for 2005-6 but first minister Jack McConnell told local
authorities last week that they should not raise council tax bills
by more than 2.5 per cent annually over the next three years.

Councillors warned the executive they must provide enough resources
to ensure the council can deliver the same levels of service to
avoid swinging the axe.

If the council is forced to tighten its belt services such as home
helps ad road repairs could be affected by jobs being axed in these
areas.

Source:- Evening News  Saturday 16 October

Heroin kits on demand for Scots prisoners

Heroin kits are to be given to prisoners in Scottish jails under a
plan to combat the risk of spreading disease, it emerged last
night.

Hundreds of inmates will be handed clean syringes and swabs on a
“no questions asked” basis under the scheme which was
slammed last night as the ultimate surrender in the war on
drugs.

It is estimated that 80 per cent of convicted criminals entering
Scottish prisons are on drugs, 40 per cent of whom are using
heroin.

Source:- Scotland on Sunday  Sunday 17 October

‘Chemical cosh’ threat to violent pupils

Ministers were warned last night that some of Scotland’s most
vulnerable schoolchildren will have to be controlled using Ritalin
because staff fear prosecution if they use physical
restraint.

A special school head teacher said a lack of official guidance on
how to restrain violent youngsters left staff open to allegations
of assault and the increased use of drugs may be the only way to
deal with the problem.

Chief executive of Kibble Education and Care Centre in Paisley
Graham Bell said his staff were using force around five times a
week and as a result were facing an average of one assault
allegation a month.

Source:- Scotland on Sunday  Sunday 17 October

Highlands on suicide watch after 50 deaths

Suicide in the Highlands and Islands is running at
“epidemic” levels, according to an expert in the
field.

Forty two people have taken their lives in the year to date and a
further eight people from outside the area travelled north to kill
themselves.

Most of the group were male, aged between 20 and 30 and hanged
themselves.

Dr Rory O’Connor who heads the Suicidal Behaviour Research
Group at Stirling University said the epidemic was recognised but
that it was not understood why suicide rates were increasing when
they had evened out elsewhere in England and Wales.

Source:- Sunday Herald  Sunday 17 October

It’s black and white: Scots police ‘failing
minorities’

Police in Scotland are failing to tackle racial discrimination in
their own ranks and crimes against ethnic minorities on the
streets, it has emerged.

Strathclyde Police’s key adviser on race relations, Ranjana
Bell, claimed constabularies across the country are struggling to
gain the support of ethnic minorities as a result of a significant
increase in race-hate crimes.

Bells believes Scot officers must learn to treat ethnic minorities
with respect and that most racially motivated crimes in Scotland go
unreported as minority groups are frightened to tell
authorities.

Source:-  The Scotsman  Monday 18 October

Welsh newspapers

Out-of-hours GP service concern

Plaid Cymru has tabled an Assembly question asking for reassurances
that no more patients will experience difficulties with the new
out-of-hours primary care service in Wales.

The question has been tabled after a mother from Bridgend was told
that the nearest available doctor was in Sheffield when she
contacted an out-of-hours GP service.

Source:- Western Mail Saturday 16 October

Parents say no to perverts’ prison

A protest by parents against sex offenders being kept at an open
prison in Gwent took place yesterday.

The march came two weeks after paedophile Robert Neil Stokes
escaped from Prescoed open prison. He was missing overnight before
police managed to locate him.

Source:- Wales on Sunday Sunday 17 October

Gran who dealed in death jailed

A heroin dealing granny has been captured by police.

Georgina Greenslad dealt the drug from her Bristol home to dealers
from South Wales.

Earlier this month, Carmarthan Crown Court sentenced Greenslade to
four years in prison after she pleaded guilty to conspiracy to
supply Class A drugs.

Source:- Wales on Sunday Sunday 17 October

No asylum lies, vow Lib Dems

The Liberal Democrats have pledged to “say the right
thing” on asylum and immigration regardless of its impact on
votes.

Lib Dems home affairs spokesperson, Mark Oaten, made the comments
in a speech to the Welsh party’s autumn conference yesterday
in Llandrindod Wells.

Source:- Wales on Sunday Sunday 17 October

Learning difficulties boy, 12, missing

A 12-year-old boy with learning difficulties went missing from his
home at Amloch, near Caernarfon, yesterday evening.

Police said that Phillip Murphy could be heading for Crewe.

Source:- Western Mail Monday 18 October