Friday 22 April 2005

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

Baby Charlotte should be allowed to die, court
rules

The parents of the severely ill baby Charlotte Wyatt lost their
battle to overturn a court ruling that she should not be
resuscitated if she stops breathing.

Source:- The Independent, Friday 22 April, page 8
 
Counsellor on porn charges

Matthew Parkinson, 50, a counsellor at Torquay Community
College, was given a three-year rehabilitation order at Exeter
crown court after admitting charges of downloading child
pornography images.

Source:- The Guardian, Friday 22 April, page 8
 
Drinking by young British women forecast to
soar

Young women in Britain, already outdrinking their counterparts
in the rest of Europe, will consume more than three times as much
alcohol as young women in France and Italy by 2009, market analysts
said yesterday.

Source:- The Guardian, Friday 22 April, page 10

Urgent action over hospital deaths

Emergency measures have been ordered to support maternity
services at Northwick Park hospital in north west London after the
deaths of 10 women in childbirth over the past three years.

The move, recommended by the Healthcare Commission and ordered
by health secretary John Reid, include bringing in more staff and
extra supervision.

Source:- Financial Times, Friday 22 April, page 2
 
Rise and rise of violent crime mars overall fall in
offences

Violent crime rose 9 per cent in the last three months of 2004
with firearms offences soaring by 66 per cent, although the overall
number of crimes recorded by the police fell 5 per cent.

Figures from the separate British Crime Survey show an 11 per
cent overall fall in crime.

Source:- The Times, Friday 22 April, page 6
 
Class of ’04 fearful and consumed by
worries

A generation of fearful schoolchildren are worried about their
weight, health, bullying and safety on the streets according to a
report by the Schools Health Education Unit.

One in 10 primary school children, rising to a quarter in boys,
said they had drunk alcohol in the past seven days.

Source:- The Times, Friday 22 April, page 17
 
Health breach

A Barrow-in-Furness council officer was found guilty of
breaching health and safety laws after seven people died of
Legionnaires’ disease in 2002. Preston Crown Court heard that
Gillian Beckingham, 46, ended a maintenance contract at the arts
centre, which was the source of the disease.

Source:- The Times, Friday 22 April, page 27
 
Girl’s flesh was found on father’s
clothing

Deputy head teacher Sion Jenkins, who is accused of bludgeoning
his foster daughter to death, was found to have tiny pieces of her
flesh and blood on his clothing, the Old Bailey was told
yesterday.

Jenkins, 47, from Aberystwyth, denies murder. The trial
continues.

Source:- The Times, Friday 22 April, page 27

Parents can’t sue care staff over
abuse

Parents wrongly accused of abusing their children cannot sue the
health care professionals who made the wrong diagnosis, the House
of Lords ruled yesterday.

The parents took action after suffering psychiatric damage and
financial loss when their children were taken away but the law
lords ruled that doctors and social workers did not owe a duty of
care to parents.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph, Friday 22 April, page
11
 
Teacher loses racism tribunal

A French teacher who suffered racial abuse lost her race
discrimination case because a tribunal in Norwich ruled the school
could not be held responsible for its pupils’ actions.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph, Friday 22 April, page
11
 
Scottish news

Graduates flock to public sector

There has been a huge rise in the number of students seeking
public sector jobs because of higher salaries and more secure
pensions, according to a new study. The UK Graduate Careers Survey
found applications from final year students for civil service jobs
have risen by 41 per cent since last year, 14 per cent more have
applied for teaching jobs, and applications to the police are up 57
per cent. The public sector now accounts for 27.5 per cent of jobs
in Scotland.

Source:- The Herald, Friday 22 April

Help at hand for baby blues

A campaign has been launched to help the estimated 10,000
Scottish women who suffer from postnatal depression every year. The
condition affects about 10 per cent of mothers and is one of the
biggest killers of women, through suicide, in the year after giving
birth. The Church of Scotland’s Postnatal Depression Project
hopes to raise £250,000 to “break the cycle of despair and
isolation” by raising awareness and providing support.

Source:- The Scotsman, Friday 22 April

Kids see martial arts thug attack

A man with learning difficulties was attacked with a martial
arts weapon in the street. Douglas McIntosh, a voluntary worker,
was out for a walk in Edinburgh when he was attacked by a man with
a stick-and-chain. He managed to escape to his father’s
nearby home. Children who saw the attack were left traumatized.

Source:- The Record, Friday 22 April

Welsh news

Child assaulted in playground snatch

Gwent police are carrying on with their hunt for a man who
sexually assaulted a six-year-old boy. The man carried out the
attack after taking the boy from a playground in Cwmfelinfach, near
Newport, on Tuesday afternoon.

Source:- Western Mail, Friday 22 April