Tuesday 3 May 2005

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

Terminally ill man refused release

A terminally ill prisoner who has been offered the last rites is to
remain in jail despite assurances that his application to be
released on compassionate grounds would be reviewed if his
condition deteriorated.

Clive Spinks, 62, who was described by the Court of Appeal in
January as having no prospect of recovery, remains in the hospital
wing of Wakefield prison.

Source:- The Guardian Tuesday May 3 2005 page 8

Remand inmate dies in hospital

An inquiry began last night following the death in hospital of
Craig Whittle of Coatbridge. He had been on remand at HMP
Barlinnie.

Source:- The Guardian Tuesday May 3 2005 page 11

Children must learn to embrace risks, heads are
told

Children are being robbed of an understanding of risk by a
rights culture that turns people into victims so they can claim
compensation, the director-general of the CBI told the National
Association of Head Teachers conference.

He told the conference children were told they could have rights
coming out of their pores but responsibility is for someone
else.

Source:- The Times Tuesday 3 May 2005 page 9

Increasing parent power is dismissed as
folly

Handing more control of schools to irresponsible parents would
be like putting an alcoholic in charge of a bar, the National
Association of Head Teachers conference has heard.

General secretary David Hart said governing bodies were
overloaded with parents.

Source:- The Times Tuesday 3 May 2005 page 9

Boy in custody

A boy aged 15 from Wigan was remanded in custody when he
appeared before magistrates charged with the murder of Mi Gao Huang
Chen, 41, who died after being attacked by youths outside his
takeaway in Wigan.

Detectives have arrested more than 20 other teenagers.

Source:- The Times Tuesday 3 May 2005 page 9

Shelter at risk

A homeless shelter in Norfolk is being threatened with closure
because it is run by Christians.

Norfolk Council is threatening to withdraw annual funding of
£150,000 from Barnabas House unless it changes its exclusively
Christian ethos.

Source:- The Times Tuesday 3 May 2005 page 9

Failed asylum family fights order to deport them back to
Angola

A family of asylum seekers whose claims have failed is to
challenge a government decision to deport them on the ground that
it breaches their human rights.

Nadia Daniel, 14, is making the appeal to prevent her
35-year-old mother, sister and brother from being expelled after
two years in Britain.

Source:- The Times Tuesday 3 May 2005 page 11

Council tells girl, 8, to hitch-hike rather than take
school bus

A mother from Aberdeenshire has been told her eight-year-old
daughter must hitch hike to school because the bus, which drives
past her house, cannot afford to stop for her.

Source:- The Times Tuesday 3 May 2005 page 13

How teenagers are more “zedonists” than
hedonists

A survey of 500 young people aged 17 to 24 found that only 5 per
cent felt their parents did not understand them and more than half
described their mother or father as “good mates”.

More than half said they would not want to spend the whole of
Saturday night at a party and 94 per cent describes their ideal
night out as getting a takeaway meal with friends or going to the
cinema.

Source:- The Independent Tuesday 3 May 2005 page 9

Junk-food diet “makes children badly
behaved”

Diets high in processed foods are causing bad behaviour and
learning difficulties in children, Oxford University scientists
said yesterday.

They said junk food stops the brain working properly leading to
a host of disorders.

Source:- Daily Mail Tuesday 3 May 2005 page 3

Yeah but, go but!

A 19-year-old woman from Northumbria, who has been nicknamed
Vicky Pollard by her neighbours, has been put on an anti-social
behaviour order and evicted from her home.

The order bans her from playing music or having more than two
visitors at her house after she threatened neighbours with a
hammer, hurled bins at cars and shattered the front windows of her
house.

Source:- Daily Mail Tuesday 3 May 2005 page 9

Scottish news

No child should be deported while under investigation

Scotland’s children’s commissioner Kathleen Marshall has
stepped into the row over young asylum seekers being deported while
concerns over their welfare are still under investigation.

Of six cases at Dungavel detention centre referred to the
children’s hearing system because of welfare concerns, none ended
up being investigated because the youngsters had already been
deported by the Home Office by the time the reporter could
intervene.

But Marshall said no young people should be deported while their
welfare is still under investigation.

Source:- The Herald Tuesday 3 May

Children crisis for families as women choose education
jobs

Scottish Childminding Association research shows that more than
half of parents looking for a childminder will be unable to find
one because of a severe shortage.

The study blamed the shortage on the fact that more women are
working in a wider range of jobs.

However, the research also found it was affecting some parents’
ability to go out to work, with many unable to afford the high cost
of a nursery place.

Source:- The Herald Tuesday 3 May

One Scot in every 100 applies to be classed as
homeless

One in every 100 Scots has applied to be homeless – the
highest rate ever recorded – as a result of the
executive’s new homelessness policy.

The number officially counted as homeless by Scotland’s 32
local authorities has doubled over the last 10 years and jumped by
24 per cent since devolution.

Over the last year, 54,829 applications were processed, of which
38,650 were assessed as homeless, the vast majority living in
temporary accommodation, prompting critics to blame the growth on
recent legislation that makes it easier to apply.

Source:- The Scotsman Tuesday 3 May

Knife Neds face city bans

Those found carrying knives are to be served with court orders
banning them from city centres and could face being locked up if
they breach the ban.

Under the scheme, which is to be tried out in Glasgow, police will
be issued with photos of banned troublemakers to help them identify
offenders.

The scheme will be extended to other Scottish cities if it is
successful.

Source:- Daily Record Tuesday 3 May

Welsh news

Tug of love baby on way home

A baby is to be returned to Wales from New Zealand where a court
will decide if she should live with her mother or her father.

A family court in New Zealand ordered for nine-month-old Caitlin
Jelicich to be returned after she was taken abroad and into hiding
by her father in January.

Stephen Jelicich and his estranged wife Diane, who is from
Swansea, both want their daughter to live with them in their
homelands.

Source:- Western Mail Tuesday 3 April