Wednesday 30 March 2005

By Mithran Samuel, Amy Taylor, Clare Jerrom and Derren
Hayes

Mystery caller clue over baby

A woman has tried to contact nurses looking after a baby which was
abandoned near a housing estate in Bedford
Baby Bonnie, as she has been named, is being treated in hospital at
Bedford and could be put with foster carers shortly.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Wednesday 30 March page 2

Runaway girl and cousin ask priest to marry them

A 14-year-old girl and her 23-year-old cousin are believed to have
possibly fled to the Republic of Ireland after a priest in Northern
Ireland refused to marry them.

Margaret O’Brien left her home in Thornaby, Teeside on Good
Friday, and she is thought to be with James Patrick O’Brien.
They are both members of the same travelling community.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Wednesday 30 March page 6

Iraqi orphan with no arms denied benefit for
‘unproved’ injury

The Iraqi orphan who lost his arms in the Iraqi war has found out
that he is not entitled to back payments of disability living
alliance this week.

Ali Abbas applied for disability living allowance last October but
got a letter this month saying he could not claim any backpayments
because he could not prove he was disabled before this date.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Wednesday 30 March page 8

For the record

Award-winning photographer Vanley Burke set out to record the
impact on the local community of the Aston ‘drive-by’
gangland shootings. The images that dominate the front pages of
newspapers are only part of the story, he tells Steve
Sampson.

Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 30 March page 2

Cash-strapped charity to sue

The chief executive of mental health charity Sane, Marjorie
Wallace, is set to take the Department of Health to court.

The charity claims that the DoH has brought it close to financial
ruin by withholding vital funding.

Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 30 March page 4

In the public interest

Stephen Dunmore today unveils plans to distribute £2.4bn of
lottery cash. It is time money for good causes is spread more
fairly and widely, he tells Alison Benjamin

Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday, 30 March page 6

Hull’s angels

A neglected estate is being transformed by a warden scheme that is
giving focus for local youngsters

Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 30 March page 7

Closure motion

These disabled residents are being forced out of their sheltered
flats. Their landlord, disability charity Scope, says living in the
community will empower them. They disagree.

Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 30 March page 10

What else can I do?

Deborah, a social science graduate, who is deaf, would like to
broaden her experience campaigning for the rights of disabled
people.

Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 30 March page 56

Childcare vouchers help well-off more

Childcare vouchers due to come into force next month will
benefit affluent families more than the poorest, according to the
Child Care Trust.

It said the scheme, which will give people up to £50 a week
tax free, will net people in the top 40 per cent income tax bracket
around £1,000 a year and people on lower incomes around
£800 a year.

This is because it will be paid to each employee, benefiting
families with two working parents.

Source:- Financial Times Wednesday 30 March page
5      

Kelly accused of failiing poorer families

The leader of Britain’s largest teaching union has made a
stinging attack on education secretary Ruth Kelly, saying her
“obsession” with parental choice risks widening the
class divide in schools.

National Union of Teachers general secreatary Steve Sinnott said
Kelly’s early decisions as education secretary, such as her
rejection of key recommendations from the Tomlinson report, would
benefit middle-class children at the expense of the
disadvantaged.

Source:- Financial Times Wednesday 30 March page
5         

Howard: I’ll Give Britain Back Its
Borders

The Conservatives have pledged to set up a border police force
as leader Michael Howard stepped up his attack on Labour’s
record on asylum and immigration.

The force, which would be responsible to a new minister for
homeland security, would be drawn from the 40,000 extra police
officers the Tories are promising, if elected.

Source:- Daily Mail Wednesday 30 March page 1,5

Jail for teacher who turned gun on teenage
yobs

A special educational needs teacher has been jailed for six
months for firing a pellet gun at a group of teenagers she thought
had been victimising her family.

Linda Walker, who said she had been subjected to a campaign of
anti-social behaviour, escaped a longer sentence because of her
previous good character.

Source:- Daily Mail Wednesday 30 March page 13

Spare women shoplifters from prison, says
Kennedy

Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy has called for female
shoplifters to be spared jail, especially if they have
children.

At the launch of a mini-manifesto on crime, he said it was wrong
for women to be separated from their families for non-violent
offences, and called for community penalties instead.

Source:- Daily Mail Wednesday 30 March page 28

The space invaders

Wakefield Council is planning to evict a family of travellers
for setting up camp on a children’s play area, putting it out
of action for the Easter holidays.

It said there was a legal site just a few miles away and that
the encampment would cost around £50,000.

Source:- Daily Mail Wednesday 30 March page 33

Is this the face of the sleepover rapist?

Essex Police have released an artist’s impression of the
man who raped a girl in her bed, as her mother, three siblings and
two friends slept nearby.

It was put together from a series of interviews with the girl
and will be displayed on posters in the Basildon area.

Source:- Daily Mail Wednesday 30 March page 38

Teachers demand tougher action on abusive pupils

The National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women
Teachers conference yesterday heard that teachers across the
country are enduring verbal and physical abuse from children as
young as five years old.

Source:- The Times  Wednesday 30 March page 10

Report condemns women’s prison

Many areas of Holloway women’s prison were found to be filthy
and plagued by mice and insect infestations, according to a report
by the prisons inspectorate.

Source:-The Times  Wednesday 30 March page 24

Freed King admits to under-age sex

Jonathan King yesterday left prison after he served half of his
seven year sentence for sexually assaulting teenagers. He showed no
compassion claiming his victims were “of an age and mental
maturity” and went on to reveal he had had sex with people
who were under-age.

Source:- The Times  Wednesday 30 March page 26

Scottish news

Councils stockpile record £1bn as taxes rise

A Scottish spending watchdog report has revealed that local
authorities had record reserves of more than £1 billion when
they increased council tax by 4.4% last year. Tom McCabe, finance
minister, said he wanted councils to maintain adequate reserves,
but warned: “There is no case for unreasonably high ones.”

Opposition parties said some of the reserves should have been used
to keep council tax rises lower, and feared it had damaged
councils’ argument they were under-funded.

Source:- The Herald Wednesday 30 March

Children ‘should learn to drink’

Scottish children should be introduced to alcohol by their parents
as soon as they can sit at the kitchen table, a leading drink
expert has said.

Dr Paul Skett, a senior lecturer in pharmacology at Glasgow
University and one of the main expert witnesses in court cases
where alcohol is a factor, said we should follow the French example
and offer youngsters wine with their evening meal. He believes the
move would allow children to learn how to drink alcohol socially
and therefore prevent them from binge drinking as teenagers.

Source:- The Scotsman Wednesday 30 March

Welsh news

Police seek sex attacker

South Wales Police are investigating and indecent assault on a
14-year-old girl in Penarth. The assault, which has only just been
reported to police, happened on January 2.

Source:- Western Mail Wednesday, 30 March page 7

Dead baby in suitcase: Man sought

Police have appealed for a man to come forward after the remains of
a dead baby were found in a suitcase in the attic of a house.

The remains were found in a property on the Gurnos Estate, Merthy
Tydfil on March 20.

The police have already appealed for the baby’s mother to
come forward.

Source:- Western Mail Wednesday 30 March page 10

Society grapples with infestation of Neets

Wales has more young people not in employment, education or
training (Neets) than England, it has been revealed.
In Wales 12 per cent of 16-18 year olds are Neets compared to 9 per
cent in England.

Source:- Western Mail Wednesday 30 March page 123