Monday 9th May 2005

By Simeon Brody, Amy Taylor and Derren Hayes

Blair reshuffles pack as Howard throws in hand

Tony Blair brought David Blunkett back into the cabinet as work and
pensions secretary.

Blunkett, who will lead moves to tighten incapacity benefit, was
expected to take part of John Prescott’s empire but the
deputy prime minister opposed it. Patricia Hewitt was moved to
health and David Milliband was brought in as communities and local
government minister.

John Hutton becomes cabinet office minister responsible for public
service reform.

Source:- The Times Saturday 7 May 2005 page 1

This is funny, said teenagers as they set fire to sleeping
man

Two teenagers set a man on fire in Greater Manchester and laughed
as they used a mobile phone to film the attack, a court
heard.

Benjamin Mortenson and David Smolinski, both 18, attacked the
41-year-old after he had fallen asleep in a bus shelter. They were
each sentenced to six and a half years in a young offender
institution.

Source:- The Times Saturday 7 May 2005 page 6

Delia Smith promotes plan for Canaries in the
community

Delia Smith launched a scheme to encourage millions of football
fans to volunteer to participate in community projects. Premiership
players will publicise the scheme in the run-up to the 2005-6
season.

Source:- The Times Saturday 7 May 2005 page 11

Chance encounter led to murder of pregnant girl

A 43-year-old man was jailed for at least 30 years yesterday for
the murder of a heavily pregnant 14-year-old girl after raping her
in a churchyard.

Philip Powell admitted attacking Amy Williams because of
“sexual desire” after she left a family party in
Telford last year.

Source:- The Times Saturday 7 May 2005 page 15

Au pair is cleared of murdering baby boy

A Polish au pair was cleared of killing a baby boy who died of head
injuries while she was looking after him in Harlesden.

Ewa Nowakowska, 20, said the baby’s death had been an
accident and he had fallen from her arms.

Source:- The Times Saturday 7 May 2005 page 28

Syringe threat to toddler

A woman held a syringe to a toddler’s throat as she demanded
cash from his father during a street robbery in Hull. The man and
his son were uninjured in the robbery.

Source:- The Times Saturday 7 May 2005 page 28

Paedophiles “turning Christian to target children in
church”

Paedophiles are converting to Christianity in prison and joining a
church on their release, according to the Churches’ Child
Protection Advisory Service.

The service has produced advice for clergy who face the dilemma of
wanting to welcome new members into their congregation while
protecting young worshippers.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Saturday 7 May 2005 page
12

Hospitals told to check for illegal staff after fraud
inquiry

All NHS hospitals are to be asked to check for illegal workers
after only half of 100 porters, cleaners and catering staff at a
London trust were able to produce the right documents.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph  Saturday 7 May 2005 page
13

Revealed: the pro-euthanasia group that helps finance
visits to Swiss suicide clinic

An organisation is illegally funding trips for terminally ill
British people to go to a Swiss suicide clinic.

The Last Choice was set up by Dr Michael Irwin, a former chairman
of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society, two months ago.

Source:-The Sunday Telegraph Sunday 8 May page 8

Prescott plans 140, 000 homes on south coast

The government is due to launch a new house building initiative on
the South coast.

Around140, 000 homes will be built between Southampton and
Portsmouth between now and 2025.

Source:- The Sunday Times Sunday 8 May page 9

Dr Spock’s advice blamed for cot
deaths

Childcare writers have contributed to the deaths of 10, 000 babies
in Britain by giving out misleading advice, according to a new
study.

The research, by the Institute of Child Health in London says that
instructions to lay babies on their fronts was to blame for
numerous child deaths.

Source:- The Sunday Times  Sunday 8 May page 12

Diana’s sister faces memorial fund axe after
£14.5m fiasco

Princess Diana’s sister may be axed from the Princess Diana
Memorial Fund that she helped to set up.

Lady Sarah McCorquodale is up for re-election as president of the
fund’s trustees and the Mail on Sunday has learnt that she
may not get enough support to remain in her position.

Source:- The Mail on Sunday Sunday 8 May page 19

Does Scope still care about people like my son?

The charity Scope has shut down a unit to help disabled people lead
more independent lives.

The Microtechnology Unit made specialist equipment for cerebral
palsy sufferers.

Source:- The Mail on Sunday Sunday 8 May page 39

Stabbed girl had “fallen in with wrong
crowd”

A girl aged 16 was stabbed to death and another teenage girl was
shot while being held captive by a gang in Reading at the
weekend.

Detectives believe the two girls were attacked by a gang of six men
as they got out of a friend’s car in the town centre.

Source:- The Times Monday 9 May 2005 page 5

TB sufferer who refused drugs infects 12
people

A “human time-bomb” who has infected 12 people with
tuberculosis while refusing treatment has prompted calls for an
urgent change in the law to allow people with infectious diseases
to be treated by force.

The man attacked nurses and security guards after the courts
ordered his detention to prevent the illness from spreading
further.

Source:- The Times Monday 9 May 2005 page 15

Schools accused of abandoning thousands of gay children to
classroom bullies

More than 60,000 gay and lesbian pupils are victims of homophobic
abuse that can range from name calling to serious assault,
according to the gay rights group Stonewall.

Source:- The Guardian Monday 9 May 2005 page 11

I’ve run out of tears, says girl sold around Britain
as a sex slave at the age of 15

Report on Elena, now 16, who escaped from a gang of
people-traffickers who sold her into slavery.

In 2004, nearly 2,000 young women are known to have been trafficked
into Britain from eastern Europe, with police predicting a
year-on-year rise of 10 per cent.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Monday 9 May 2005 page
9

Warning for doctors after 10-year-old girl put on
Pill

Doctors were given a warning yesterday that they could be breaking
the law by prescribing the contraceptive Pill to girls as young as
10-years-old.

A study of GP practices and family planning clinics found that at
least two 10-year-olds were given the Pill last year.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Monday 9 May 2005 page
11

Scottish news

Justice system faces ‘meltdown’ with criminal tag
scheme in chaos

The Scottish executive’s flagship electronic tagging scheme
is facing problems only a month into it.

The Sunday Herald has learned the scheme has suffered a series of
embarrassing setbacks, including offenders re-offending just hours
after being tagged, Glasgow’s social work department failing
to co-operate with its running and criminals being left
unsupervised before they are tagged.

Source:- The Sunday Herald Sunday 9 May

Low birth weight in Glasgow rivals the third world

The number of underweight babies born in some parts of Glasgow is
almost at a level one would expect to find in a third world
country, a leading expert in nutrition has warned.

Professor Michael Crawford believes that too little is being done
to tackle the worsening problem of low birth weight in the UK. The
problem is particularly severe in Glasgow.

Source:- The Sunday Herald Sunday 9 May

Suicide refugee had no interpreter

An asylum-seeker who committed suicide in Dungavel detention centre
had not been provided with an interpreter, a court case has
heard.

Tran Quang Tung was unable to communicate with his doctor or his
solicitor, the fatal accident inquiry heard.

Tung was found hanging in a bathroom next to his dormitory, after
being told he was being deported to Germany in July.

Source:- The Herald Monday 9 May

Second woman says she had sex with Italian waiter in HIV
case

A social worker is the second woman to come forward to say she had
sex with Giovanni Mola, the Italian waiter accused of deliberately
infecting his Scottish girlfriend with HIV and hepatitis C.

She said she knows of at least three other women who had a
relationship with Mola, who lived in Edinburgh for five years and
fled the country rather than face charges in the courts.

The Crown Office said it would work to bring him back to Scotland
as soon as possible to face charges involving a woman he dated in
2003, who accused him of refusing to wear a condom and deliberately
infecting her with HIV and hepatitis.

Source:- The Scotsman Monday 9 May

New staff being hired to look after elderly patients

A special team of care staff will be recruited to look after older
patients at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary in the wake of
allegations of neglect. 

The newly-created posts of “housekeepers” at the hospital will
“befriend” patients and monitor their nutritional needs.

Extra receptionists will be hired to take over administrative
duties during evening hours to free up nurses.

Source:- The Scotsman Monday 9 May

Scandal of kids in care

Hundreds of children are stuck in care homes because of a shortage
of foster parents. A report out today as part of Foster Care
Fortnight reveals about 400 children in Scotland are affected by
the shortage.

Source:- Daily Record Monday 9 May

Welsh news

Baby inquiry: Gran leaves Wales

A 63-year-old woman was ordered to stay in a bail hostel in
Birmingham due to concerns over her safety after she appeared in
court charged in connection with the investigation into the deaths
of three babies.

Ann Mahoney, was charged with trying to hide the birth of a
child that she delivered by hiding the body.

The remains of two infants were found in Mahoney’s house
on the Gurnos Estate in Merthyr Tydfil. The other remains were
found in the attic of a separate house on the estate.

Source:- Western Mail Saturday 7 May

Attic babies cash-in outcry

People living on the estate where three babies were found in the
attics of two houses are cashing in on the situation.

Neighbours on the Gurnos Estate in Merthyr Tydfil are charging
photographers and journalists for using their houses to gain views
of what’s going on .

Source:- Wales on Sunday Sunday 8 May

Two quizzed over dead tot

Two people were being interviewed by Swansea police last night
following the death of a baby in hospital.

The 13-month-year-old died at the University of Wales hospital
in Cardiff on Friday.

The cause of death is not yet known.

Source:- Wales on Sunday Sunday 8 May