Monday 11 April 2005

By Simeon Brody, Maria Ahmed, Derren Hayes and Amy
Taylor

Sentences stand

The Attorney-General ruled that sentences given to two teenagers
who pushed David Berry off a bridge in to the River Stour, Dorset,
where he drowned, were not unduly lenient.

One, convicted of manslaughter, was detained for 18 months. A
second, who pleaded guilty, was detained for eight months.

Source:- The Times Saturday 9 April 2005 page 27

Legal aid crisis threatens the poor

Leading lawyers will call for action today over the
disintegrating state of the legal aid system to prevent people
being denied access to justice.

Baroness Kennedy, the Labour peer, will address a rally in London
backed by 15 legal advice groups, which say that lawyers are
abandoning legal aid work and people are being turned away without
help.

Source:- The Times Saturday 9 April 2005 page 28

Travellers depart

More than 40 Romany and Irish travellers, whose leaders faced
the threat of jail after land was developed without planning
permission, have left the site at Iver, near Slough.

Lawyers for South Bucks District Council told the High Court in
London that only hard standings and a few wrecked caravans
remained.

Source:- The Times Saturday 9 April 2005 page 42

Three stay in jail

Three teenagers accused of killing Damilola Taylor were remanded
in custody by the Old Bailey until May 20. They have been charged
with the murder of the ten-year-old who was stabbed in Peckham in
2000.

Source:- The Times Saturday 9 April 2005 page 42

Parents open own school

A group of parents who feared that a sever shortage of secondary
schools would leave their children without a place are to open
their own state school.

Elmcourt Secondary School in Lambeth, south London, will be the
first state school to be set up by parents, using new
legislation.

Source:- The Independent Saturday 9 April 2005 page
18

A rude awakening for troublemakers on housing estate
that banned swearing

Hollingdean estate in Brighton has agreed to ban swearing and
many other forms of antisocial behaviour.

Critics of the programme say there is not enough for children to do
and are sceptical about whether the code will work.

Source:- The Independent Saturday 9 April 2005 pages
28-29

Cash for nurseries that hire graduates

Private nurseries and children’s centres are to get
government’s subsidies to employ graduates to improve the
quality of care and education for under-fives, children’s
minister Margaret Hodge said.

Source:- The Independent Saturday 9 April 2005 page
6

Life for the 15-year-old who knifed model
pupil

A boy of 15 was jailed for life yesterday for murdering a
‘model pupil’ who tried to protect his friend from a
vicious attack.

The killing threw the spotlight on a ‘highly dangerous’
culture in which children routinely carry knives, an Old Bailey
judge warned.

Robert Levy, 16, died after being stabbed in the neck, stomach and
back. His killer will have to minimum of nine years before he can
apply for parole.

Source:- The Daily Mail Saturday 9 April 2005 page
40

Asbo call over jokes about the Pope

A man who published jokes about the Pope’s death on a
spoof village website was threatened with an antisocial behaviour
order.

Police were asked to investigate after Mitch Hawkin, from Wiltshire
posted a spoof advert for the job of pontiff following the death of
John Paul II.

Source:- The Guardian Saturday 9 April 2005 page 7

JP jailed for child porn

Geoffrey Botley, a Bristol magistrate aged 52, was jailed for
six months for downloading child porn.

Source:- The Guardian Saturday 9 April 2005 page 11

Canal death remand

A woman was remanded to appear at the Old Bailey charged with
the murder of a 10-day-old- girl found in a canal at Feltham,
south-west London.

Source:- The Guardian Saturday 9 April 2005 page 11

Security firms in deportations row

Security firms involved in the deportation of failed asylum
seekers are facing more and more claims of intimidation and
assault.

Group 4/Global Solutions Ltd (GSL) topped the league table of
complaints by asylum seekers and their lawyers.

Source:- The Guardian Saturday 9 April 2005 page 14

Revealed: the memos that prove No 10 puts NHS targets
before the safety of patients

Internal documents obtained by the Sunday Telegraph illustrate
how accident and emergency patients are pushed aside and placed in
danger so that hospitals can meet No 10’s rigid targets on
waiting times.

Source:- The Sunday Telegraph Sunday 10 April 2005 page
1

State school tests teaching in mixed age
groups

A secondary school in Hampshire is to become the first in
England to allocate children to lessons based on ability rather
than age.

From September pupils at Bridgemary school in Gosport will be
taught in a mixed age classes in a bid to stretch the most able and
help pupils who have fallen behind.

Source:- The Sunday Telegraph Sunday 10 April 2005 page
14

UN attacks Howard for “false” claims on
asylum

Michael Howard has been accused by the United Nations refugee
agency of indulging in “political opportunism” and
encouraging hatred of foreigners by dragging asylum seekers into
politics.

Anne Dawson-Shepherd, the British representative from the UNHCR,
accused the Conservatives of making false claims about asylum
seekers.

Source:- The Independent on Sunday Sunday 10 April 2005
page 1

Care for elderly is a lottery, MPs say

Older people and those who are chronically ill are being forced
to use their savings to pay for residential care which other people
get for free, the Commons health select committee has claimed.

In a report out today it says there is a “postcode
lottery” with free beds in some areas but not in others.

Source:- The Independent on Sunday Sunday 10 April 2005
page 12

Parties trade blows over immigration

Michael Howard will argue today that immigration is now the
primary concern of voters regardless of race or religion and accuse
Tony Blair of “pussyfooting around” the issue.

The Labour Party will unveil Charles Wardle, a former Home
Office minister under Michael Howard, who will describe Tory
policies as uncosted and unworkable.

Source:- The Observer Sunday 10 April 2005 page 5

Tories: “we’re the true party of the
poor”

The Tories will try to present themselves as the party of the
low paid by unveiling a tax-cutting package expected to help the
low paid.

Source:- The Observer Sunday 10 April 2005 page 5

Showpiece hospital faces axe

Charing Cross hospital in West London is set to close as a
result of huge debts created by more NHS patients being treated in
private centres as well as soaring building maintenance bills.

Source:- The Observer Sunday 10 April 2005 page 7

“Return at any cost” is breach of
rights

A report to be published tomorrow by the Institute of Race
Relations suggests Britain is breaching the Geneva conventions by
sending asylum seekers back to conflict zones.

Information from Congo suggests many refugees who are returned
to the country end up in windowless jails run by the feared
National Security Agency.

Source:- The Observer Sunday 10 April 2005 page 11

Immigration rise increases segregation in British
cities

Rising immigrations is causing white and ethnic minority
communities in some of Britain’s biggest cities to become
increasingly segregated, according to Migrationwatch report.

The report says white families are moving from Birmingham,
Manchester and Bradford to be replaced by Asian families.

Source:- The Sunday Times Sunday 10 April 2005 page
16

My terrifying 24 hours as a gypsy gangster

A Mail on Sunday journalist spent 24 hours in the company of
criminal gypsies witnessing a remorseless crime spree fuelled by
cocaine that spanned several counties.

Source:- The Mail on Sunday Sunday 10 April 2005 page
36

Labour to pledge tax discount for volunteers

Volunteers who take time out to work for their local community
or care for older people will receive a discount in their council
tax bills as part of a drive to build a culture of active
citizenship, the Labour manifesto will say.

Source:- The Guardian Monday 11 April 2005 page 4

Teenage girl stabbed to death at house
party

Police have arrested a 17-year-old girl after a 15-year-old girl
was stabbed to death following a disturbance at a private party in
Ilford, east London yesterday.

Source:- The Guardian Monday 11 April 2005 page 10

Immigration: Howard lights to touchpaper

Politicians who exploit fears about immigration risk causing a
surge in racially motivated violence and harassment, according to
the Immigration Advisory Service.

Its chief executive Keith Best said research suggested every
time something hard line is said about immigration there is a
direct link to racist attacks.

Source:- The Independent Monday 11 April 2005 page
1

Parent power and school discipline take centre
stage

Michael Howard and Tony Blair will push school discipline and
parental choice to the heart of their election campaigns today.

Source:- The Times Monday 10 April 2005 page 2

Child murder case overturned

Donna Anthony, who was jailed for life in 1998 for murdering her
two babies, is expected to be freed by the Court of Appeal
today.

The case against her relied on evidence on Professor Sir Roy
Meadow, the paediatrician whose evidence in other cases has been
discredited.

Source:- The Times Monday 10 April 2005 page 7

Shadow of suicide that hangs over the
Highlands

The suicide rate in the Scottish Highlands has threatened to
reach epidemic proportions, one expert has said.

According to NHS Highland, about 50 men in 100,000 take their life
every year.

Source:- The Times Monday 10 April 2005 page 10

Girl of 15 is stabbed to death at a birthday
party

A girl of 15 was stabbed to death at a birthday party in Ilford,
east London on Saturday night. A 17-year-old girl was being
questions last night.

Source:- The Daily Mail Monday 10 April 2005 page 5

MPs demand end to care home confusion

The care home system which leaves older and sick people facing
huge bills was condemned by MPs yesterday.

The Commons Health select committee called for sweeping reforms to
end confusion and unfairness in the way some have their bills paid
by the state.

Source:- The Daily Mail Monday 10 April 2005 page
34

Scottish news

Hospital admits abortion at 34 weeks

An investigation by Scotland on Sunday has found Scottish hospitals
have carried out abortions on severely abnormal foetuses as late as
34 weeks.

One hospital conducted an abortion just six weeks short of the
baby’s due date after the mother refused an earlier offer to
terminate 17 weeks into the pregnancy.

The practice is legal if the foetus has a sever abnormality but has
been criticised by pro-life campaigners.

Source:- Scotland on Sunday Sunday 10 April

Glasgow plans to force parents to guarantee children’s
behaviour

Glasgow Council wants to introduce behavioural contracts setting
out minimum standards of conduct for pupils.

The measures would list penalties for misbehaviour, from permanent
exclusion for threats of violence against pupils or staff, to
sending pupils home if they swear at teachers.

The contract, to be signed by parents and head teachers as a
condition of entry to school, would also speed up the process of
excluding violent pupils.

Source:- Scotland on Sunday Sunday10 April

Cancer patients left to fund cost of equipment

Cancer patients at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary are being forced to buy
their own medical equipment because of a lack of funds.

There was a limited supply of electric beds, fans and heat pads,
all of which can be used to reduce pain and discomfort for
chronically ill patients, meaning some patients were forced to pay
for their own. 

Source:- Scotland on Sunday Sunday 10 April

Mixed campus fear for special needs pupils

Parents and education experts fear that moves to transfer pupils
with special needs into new schools with mainstream pupils will
harm the education of vulnerable children.

Parents of pupils at a Rutherglen school for special needs pupils
say their opposition to the school’s relocation and the
transfer of pupils to a mixed school campus was ignored. The
Independent Panel for Special Education Advice (IPSEA) warns shared
campuses have to be carefully managed to help pupils cope with the
transition.

Source:- The Sunday Herald Sunday 10th April

Welsh news

Outrage at Archbishop’s gay teacher views

Gay teachers should be banned from Catholic schools in Wales,
according to the Archbishop of Cardiff.

Reverend Peter Smith’s comments have caused outrage. He says
that homosexual in relationships set a bad example for children and
staff and therefore should be banned from schools.

Source:- Wales on Sunday Sunday 10 April

Nurse struck off for abusing patient

A mental health nurse who roughly handled a 74-year-old woman with
Alzheimer’s and verbally abused her in a care home has been
struck off the nurses’ register.

Lisa Howells also went to sleep for four hours while on a night
shift and in charge of 38 older and vulnerable patients and took
her 14-year-old son to work.

The incidents took place at Plas Cwm Carw Nursing Home in Port
Talbot.

Source:- Wales on Sunday Sunday 10 April

Boys ‘start early’ on homophobic bullying

Primary school age boys are using homophobic bullying to establish
their masculinity according to an academic.

Dr Emma Renold, of Cardiff University, has found that boys as young
as nine years old are using the tactics. As a result she wants to
see the issue tackled when children are at a young age.

Source:- Western Mail Monday 11 April