Thursday 21 July

By Amy Taylor and Maria Ahmed

Gay right to stay

A man refused asylum in 2003 was given a new chance to stay in
Britain because he is a Muslim homosexual. Appeal judges ruled that
as a gay man the 34-year-old Palestinian would face persecution if
he returned home in Lebanon.

Source:- The Times, Thursday 21 July 2005, page 2

Father killed boy

James Tuff, 21, who became angry if interrupted while playing
computer games, was found guilty of the manslaughter of one of his
twin sons. Norwich Crown Court was told that Byron, four months,
had a fractured skull and two broken ribs.

Source:- The Times, Thursday 21 July 2005, page 2

CSA backlog increases

The backlog of cases at the Child Support Agency increased last
year, with only 66 per cent of non-resident parents complying with
maintenance assessments, against a target of 78 per cent, according
to the agency’s annual report.

Source:- The Times, Thursday 21 July 2005, page 4

Teenagers ‘isolated and at risk’

Thousands of homeless teenagers are being placed in unsafe
bed-and-breakfast accommodation and left to fend for themselves
because councils fail in their duty to provide suitable housing,
research by Centrepoint has found.

Source:- The Times, Thursday 21 July 2005, page 24

Invest for a better old age

Older people risk spending more of their later years in bad health
unless the Government invests more on disease prevention and
technologies that allow people to monitor their own wellbeing,
according to a report by the House of Lords Science
Committee.

Source:- The Times, Thursday 21 July 2005, page 24

Experts reject PM’s views on suspension

A suggestion from the prime minister that parents of children
suspended from school for disruptive behaviour should be forced to
stay at home with them was yesterday condemned as
“unrealistic” and “unworkable.”

Source:- The Guardian, Thursday 21 July 2005, page 5

Abuse stories ‘isolating’ African communities

The government was yesterday urged to ensure than African
communities in the UK are not stigmatised over claims of
ritualistic child abuse. At a summit called by ministers amid
concerns over abuse linked to rituals such as exorcism, there were
calls for a focus on a wider range of immigrant communities in the
UK, some of which are seen as hard to reach by social services and
other authorities.

Source:- The Guardian, Thursday 21 July 2005, page
11

A kicking for the anti-yob crusade

A teenager won a High Court challenge over the legality of the
government’s child curfew zones yesterday.
The Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 enables police to set up zones
in certain areas and remove any under-16s present from between
9pm-6am.

The Home Office and the police said they would appeal against the
ruling.

Source:- Daily Mail, Thursday, 21 July, page 4

Seven years in jail for stepfather who shook girl to
death

A stepfather who shook a two year old girl to death was sentenced
to seven years in jail yesterday.

Gavin Fletcher, 23, claimed that Michaela Moffatt had fallen out of
bed but tests showed she had brain injuries consistent with being
shaken roughly and thrown against a hard surface.

Fletcher was found guilty of manslaughter but cleared of
murder.

Source:- Daily Mail, Thursday, 21 July, page 33

Scottish newspapers

‘Disgraceful nedette’ who hit and kicked police walks
free

A SHERIFF yesterday hit out at the growing “nedette” culture in
Scotland as a teenage girl escaped punishment for brawling with
police officers. Sheriff Robert McCreadie branded the actions of
Emma Brown and her friend Emma Cobban “a disgrace”.

The Scotsman, July 21