Thursday 24 February 2005

By Clare Jerrom, Derren Hayes and Amy Taylor

Boy, 14, questioned over two murders

A boy aged 14-years-old, a man and a woman are being questioned by
police in connection with the deaths of Iris Jones and her adopted
daughter Mandy Joseph near Leighton Buzzard last week.

Jones had fostered or adopted more than 120 children over 30
years.

Source:- The Independent  Thursday 24 January page
16

Teenage girls ‘depressed by modern life’

Girls as young as 14 are suffering from depression and feel unable
to cope with the pressures of life, a survey for the magazine Bliss
has found.

Mental health specialists warned that girls as young as 14 were
copying binge drinking and the stressed out behaviour of the adults
around them as they tried to cope with teenage life.

Source:- The Independent  Thursday 24 February page
23

Blair to fast track reforms in bid to secure his
legacy

A raft of new reform Bills will be hurried through Parliament in
order for Labour to secure a third term in power.

Prime minister Tony Blair wants changes made to childcare,
incapacity benefit, maternity and paternity leave, housing and
public health in a parliamentary session that would last from May
until November next year.

Source:- The Independent  Thursday 24 February page
25

Pupils to opt for academic or vocational learning at
14

Every 14-year-old pupil will be able to choose whether to take an
academic or vocational route or a mixture of the two under plans
unveiled by education secretary Ruth Kelly yesterday.

Kelly outlined the biggest expansion in vocational education for 60
years.

Source:- Daily Telegraph  Thursday 24 February page
1

Only one in four crimes in punished

One in four crimes results in the offender being punished according
to Home Office statistics.

In 2003, police recorded just under six million offences and just
under 1.5 million offenders were sentenced during the year.

Source:- Daily Telegraph  Thursday 24 February page
8

£100,000 legal aid bill as Maxine returns to
court

Maxine Carr will take her fight for anonymity to the High Court
today.

The former girlfriend of Ian Huntley is seeking a court order
preventing the publication of her new name, whereabouts, care and
treatment alongside any photographs of her.

Court costs are likely to be around £100,000 and her
application for legal aid was accepted by the Legal Services
Commission last night.

Source:- Daily Mail  Thursday 24 February page 7

Why do ministers value a fox’s life above my
son’s?

Families of the victims of knife crime accused the government of
putting the lives of foxes above those of humans.

Families accused ministers of wasting time trying to outlaw hunting
instead or trying to clampdown on knife crime.

The families of Damilola Taylor, who was stabbed to death in
Peckham and Luke Walmsley who was stabbed to death in school were
brought together by the Victims of Crime Trust.

Source:- Daily Mail Thursday 24 February page 17

Thugs set man on fire and took his picture with a mobile
phone

Two teenagers set a man alight then took pictures of him using a
mobile phone, a court heard yesterday.

Matthew Kitchen dozed off in a bus shelter and the teenagers
covered him with cardboard and set it alight. A neighbour rushed
out with a bucket of water but Kitchen suffered 75 per cent
burns.

Benjamin Mortenson and David Smolinski pleaded guilty to assault
with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and were remanded to
custody.

Source:- Daily Mail  Thursday 24 February page 37

Labour’s lead cut as asylum and immigration top
voters’ concerns

Labour’s lead in the opinion polls has been cut to just two
percentage points in the past month, according to a MORI poll for
the Financial Times.

The survey follows pre-election campaigning where the Tories have
pledged to tackle asylum and immigration and cut taxes.

Source:- Financial Times  Thursday 24 February page
1

Scottish news

NHS 24 plans non-medical advisers

Health advisory service NHS 24 is considering using non-medical
advisers to answer calls in an effort to reduce pressure on its
nursing staff.

The move to expand the role of call handlers is designed to ease
the recruitment crisis, in which a quarter of full-time nursing
posts have been unfilled, and reduce the wait for callers.

Source:- The Herald Thursday 24 February

Inquiry after teacher quits to set up home with
pupil

Anne Black, an independent social work consultant, is to carry
out an investigation into allegations that a teacher at an Aberdeen
school ran off with a pupil for the second time in three
years.

Police have also launched an investigation after allegations of an
inappropriate relationship between the 16-year-old pupil and
43-year-old John Forrester, head of the music department at
Kincorth Academy.

A council spokesperson said Forrester had submitted his resignation
on Monday, with immediate effect.

Source:- The Herald Thursday 24 February

Sick pics shame of carer

Care worker Joseph Shearer took degrading photos of residents at a
nursing home with his mobile phone.

One had an infirm resident with a pair of knickers on her head
while another was seen struggling to eat her dinner.

Staff at Parkhouse Manor Nursing Home in Barrhead, Renfrewshire,
reported Shearer, who admitted breach of the peace at Glasgow
Sheriff Court.

Source:- Daily Record Thursday 24 February

Welsh newspapers

Pressures of life today sent teenage girls over the edge

Half of teenage girls in Wales say that they regularly feel
depressed, a new study has found.

The finding comes from the Teen Emotional Health Survey of Great
Britain 2005, commissioned by Bliss magazine.

Source:-Western Mail Thursday 24 February page 4

Dead woman charged for care

Conway Council should not have charged a dead woman more than
£78,000 for her care in a residential home, the local
government ombudsman has ruled.

The woman was detained under the Mental Health Act in 1996 while
she was in hospital and was later moved to residential homes where
she died in 2000.

Source:- Western Mail Thursday 24 February page 6

Elderly targeted

Health minister Brian Gibbons announced £3 million of extra
funding for services for older people yesterday.

The money will be shared between local authorities and the
voluntary sector.

Gibbons added that the draft bill to establish and older
people’s commissioner for Wales would be introduced to
Parliament this year.

Source:- Western Mail Thursday 24 February page 16