Friday 17 June 2005

No charges over death of man in police
custody

No charges will be brought over the death of Roger Sylvester, a
mentally-ill black man who died in police custody, the Crown
Prosecution Service has confirmed. Sylvester died in January 1999
after being restrained by police. Eight officers were suspended
after a 2003 inquest ruled that the 30-year-old had been
“unlawfully killed” but were reinstated when that
verdict was quashed by a High Court judge in November last
year.

Source:- The Independent Friday 17 June 2005 page
23

Moment of madness

Chief Inspector Victor Wallace, 40, from Essex police, was
jailed yesterday after falsely claiming that a pair of 16-year-olds
had mugged him.

Source:- The Daily Mail Friday 17 June 2005 page 7

Offshore asylum plan is dumped

A flagship plan to process asylum applications abroad has been
quietly dropped, it emerged. The government has abandoned proposals
for offshore holding centres – first proposed by David
Blunkett two years ago – because of a lack of support in the
European Union.

Source:- The Daily Mail Friday 17 June 2005 page 22

Police report claims African boys
sacrificed

MPs and community activists have called on the Metropolitan
Police to investigate assertions made during a police research
project which suggested that trafficked children were being beaten
and even murdered after being branded witches by pastors.

Amid growing anxiety about the safety of migrant children, up to
40 MPs signed a Commons motion yesterday calling for a register to
log the identities of children as they enter the country.

Source:- The Guardian Friday 17 June 2005 page 5

Convictions over shaken babies “may be
unsafe”

Expert witnesses had left juries with no choice but to convict
four people of deliberately and violently shaking babies in a
momentary loss of temper, despite the lack of any corroborating
evidence, the Court of Appeal heard yesterday.

Launching appeals for four people jailed for killing or harming
babies, Michael Mansfield QC said research in the past five years
suggested that injuries associated with deliberately shaking a baby
could be caused accidentally.

Source:- The Guardian Friday 17 June 2005 page 6

Private-finance hospital “putting lives at
risk”

A confidential government report has condemned a new privately
financed hospital for the mentally ill and people with learning
difficulties for putting the lives of 300 patients and staff at
risk by breaching every section of the fire safety code.

The report by NHS Estates found shortcomings in documentation,
design, construction, operation and management at the
£47million Newsam Centre at Seacroft Hospital in Leeds. Two
other centres run by Leeds Mental Health Teaching NHS Trust –
Becklin centre in Burmantofts and the Mount near Leeds General
Infirmary – were also criticised in the report.

Source:- The Guardian Friday 17 June 2005 page 9

Asylum clash

One worker suffered a broken rib and several others were injured
in a fracas with failed asylum seekers waiting to be deported at
the Immigration Removal Centre in Dover.

More than 40 asylum seekers confronted staff when they were not
allowed out into the grounds to exercise.

Source:- The Times Friday 17 June 2005 page 4

Give and take

Big-name charities are taking a greater share of donations,
leaving smaller organisations struggling, the Charities Aid
Foundation said in its annual trends survey.

The collective income of the top 10 rose by nearly 13 per cent
to £1.2billion last year while the income of the smallest 10
rose by 4.5 per cent to £21 million.

Source:- The Times Friday 17 June 2005 page 8

Scottish news
 
Ministers to review murder of girl by sex offender

The Scottish social work and police inspectorates are to review
the case of a 16-year-old girl who was killed by a sex
offender.
They will go over a report on the Karen Dewar case produced by Fife
Council and Fife police.

Colyn Evans, 18, was jailed for life for Karen’s murder at
the High Court in Edinburgh last week.

Source:- The Herald Friday 17 June

Sex offenders likely to face conditions for early
release

Cathy Jamieson, the justice minister, attempted to stop
recommendations for the unconditional early release of sex
offenders from becoming reality yesterday.

The Sentencing Commission is looking at the future of automatic
early release for all inmates and has said that sex offenders
should not be treated any differently to anyone else.

Source:- The Scotsman Friday, 17 June

Jodi Jones’ killer appeal

Teenager Luke Mitchell has been given more time to lodge an
appeal against his conviction for the murder of schoolgirl Jodi
Jones.
The deadline has been extended to 1 July.

Source:- The Scotsman Friday, 17 June

Welsh news

Concern for older people’s
‘voice’

Concerns about the level of power and the remit of the new older
people’s commissioner were voiced yesterday in the Welsh
Assembly.
Plaid Cymru’s Jocelyn Davies said that the commissioner would
not be able to make Westminster act on their recommendations.

Source:- Western Mail Friday, June 16,