Thursday 9 June 2005

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

Child contact rule

Ministers have dropped plans to punish parents who ignore child
contact orders by placing them under curfew and tagging them.

Maria Eagle, the minister for children, said that parents who
repeatedly prevent non-resident parents from seeing their children
without due cause would face community penalties.

Source:- The Times Thursday 9 June 2005 page 2

‘Slapping’ shot

A teenager became a victim of “happy slapping” when a
youth shot her in the leg and his friend photographed her injuries
with his mobile phone.

Source:- The Times Thursday 9 June 2005 page 2

Home alone woe

Almost one in three secondary pupils who head to an empty home
would prefer their parents to be there, a survey says.

Boys feel this more strongly than girls, with a quarter of 14 to
16-year-old boys saying that they would like someone to talk to or
help them with homework.

Source:- The Times Thursday 9 June 2005 page 4

Boy mocked the law by breaching Asbo eight times

A 15-year-old boy who terrorised a neighbourhood in Macclesfied
broke his antisocial behaviour order eight times last year.

Magistrates sent the boy to a young offender institution but it did
not change his behaviour.

Source:- The Daily Mail Thursday 9 June 2005 page 4

Disaster of ‘inclusive’ special needs teaching
by the woman behind it

Baroness Warnock has said she believes the mainstream school system
is failing thousands of vulnerable youngsters.

Source:- The Daily Mail Thursday 9 June 2005 page
6-7

Police boss arrested

A police authority chair has been arrested in connection with child
abuse allegations.

Colin Inglis, of Humberside police authority, was bailed on Tuesday
night after being arrested earlier in the day.

North Yorkshire police were asked to investigate the case after a
man made allegations about Inglis relating to when he was a social
worker at a Hull children’s home in the 1980s. Inglis denies
the allegations.

Source:- The Daily Mail Thursday 9 June 2005 page 19

Asbos are a breach of human rights, says the Euro
watchdog

Labour’s flagship antisocial behaviour orders are a violation
of human rights, European human rights commissioner Alvaro
Gil-Robles ruled yesterday.

He warned ministers that the “indiscriminate naming and
shaming” of Asbo subjects was a breach of fundamental
entitlement to privacy and family life. The comments came as part
of a critical report on Britain’s record on human rights,
raising concerns over the treatment of terror suspects, asylum
seekers, gypsies and prison inmates.

Source:- The Daily Mail Thursday 9 June 2005 page 26

Police get power to hand out banning orders

Police are to be given powers to ban individuals from town
centres and other locations for up to 48 hours in the latest
government attempt to tackle alcohol-fuelled anti-social
behaviour.

The Violent Crime Reduction Bill will allow police to issue a
written exclusion notice to anyone considered to represent a
“risk of disorder” even if they are not drunk or have
committed no offence. The notices will operate on a similar basis
to asbos.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Thursday 9 June page 1

Wanock U-turn on special schools

The drive to include children with special needs in mainstream
classes has failed, educationalist Baroness Warnock has
admitted.

Wanock, whose report led to the policy, urged the government to
carry out a radical review of the closure of special schools.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Thursday 9 June page 2

Thirteen is too young for court

Children aged 12 or 13 should not be brought before a criminal
court, the European human rights commissioner said yesterday.

Alvaro Gil-Robles recommended that the age of criminal
responsibility in Britain should be raised to the level of other
European countries, where limited responsibility starts at 13 or 14
and full responsibility at 18.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Thursday 9 June page 2

Schoolgirl dies yards from home after clash between
teenagers

A schoolgirl died in front of her mother after a fight between two
groups of teenagers yards from her home.

Aimee Wellock, 15, from Bradford, had been enjoying an evening
outdoors with friends when she was caught up in the confrontation.
A boy of 15 and three girls aged 15, 17 and 19 were arrested and
detained for questioning in connection with the incident, which
police are treating as a “suspicious death”. A post
mortem revealed that Aimee was suffering from a serious medical
condition, possibly involving her heart.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Thursday 9 June page 7

Man who killed wife will serve one year

A husband who killed his wife after she ran off with his best
friend will have to spend only a year in prison, a court decided
yesterday.

Gareth Lewis, from Bury St Edmonds, was sent to prison for three
years and four months, but with remission he will be free in a
year.

The court heard Lewis was suffering from depression and the judge
agreed he was suffering from an “abnormality of mind that
substantially impaired his responsibility”.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Thursday 9 June page 7

Social worker in Climbie case wins job fight

Lisa Arthurworrey, the social worker sacked for failing to prevent
the murder of Victoria Climbie, won the right to resume a career
working with children.

The care standards tribunal overturned a decision to place her on
the Protection of Children Act register concluding that her role in
the Climbie case did not warrant permanent exclusion from the
profession.

Source:- The Guardian Thursday 9 June page 2

Batman and Robin quit protest group

Members of Fathers4Justice have quit to form a breakaway group,
angry at what they see as its creeping conservatism and departure
from direct action.

Source:- The Guardian Thursday 9 June page 3

Scottish news

Neds gain recognition, but beware the asbo

The word Neds – Scottish slang for a young person who takes
part in anti-social behaviour – has made it into the new
Collins English dictionary. The official definition is that the
word is derogatory, used to describe “a young working-class male
who dresses in casual sports clothes”.

The asbo – anti social behaviour order – also makes it
into the dictionary.

Source:- The Herald Thursday 9 June

Second chance in asylum case

A mother who fears persecution and torture if she and her two
children are returned to Sudan from their new home in Glasgow have
won a second chance to claim asylum. Joyce Wani fled the country
with the help of her church after her husband was seized by
soldiers in 2000. An immigration adjudicator had rejected her
account of her escape as “not credible”, but a judge in the Court
of Session set aside the decision and allowed her to make another
application.

Source:- The Scotsman Thursday 9 June

Welsh news

Chronic shortage of quality affordable childcare

The leading economic development agency for women in Wales has
called again for affordable good quality childcare to allow women
to return to work in what is National Childcare week.

Chwarae Teg argues that everyone gains when childcare and early
education are offered together.

Source:- Western Mail Thursday 9 June

Brothers get Asbos

Two brothers who have created havoc on a Welsh housing estate have
both been given anti-social behaviour orders.

Calvin Hooper, 10, and Kyle, 12, have been placed under an Asbo for
five years. The brothers, from Broadmead Park, Newport, are banned
from damaging property and staring fires.

Source:- Western Mail Thursday 9 June