Friday 29 July 2005

By Maria Ahmed, Simeon Brody, Derren Hayes and Sally
Gillen

Dying man loses legal battle over his right to be fed

A man who is terminally ill and fears that doctors may allow him to
die of thirst said he was “disappointed” yesterday after the Court
of Appeal overturned an earlier judgement in his favour.

Last July, the High Court granted a challenge by Leslie Burke, 45,
and declared that key sections of General Medical Council guidance
on withdrawal of life-prolonging treatment were unlawful.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Friday 29 July 2005 page
8

‘If I had been on the jury I would have convicted
myself’

Raymond Rock spent six years in prison for killing his girlfriend’s
13-month-old daughter.

It seemed a classic case of Shaken Baby Syndrome. But when new
scientific evidence emerged, doubt was cast on his conviction and
last week he was free.

He tells of why he was at fault for baby Heidi’s death and how that
one moment has changed his life for ever

Source:- The Guardian G2 Friday 29 July 2005 page
2-3

Brownfield record

A record 70 per cent of new homes were built on Brownfield sites
and the average density of new homes development has increased from
25 dwellings per hectare in 1997 to 40 dwelling per hectare, the
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister said.

Source:- The Times Friday 29 July 2005 page 2

Inquest verdict on lost body

A verdict of unlawful killing was recorded at Chelmsford County
Court into the death of murdered schoolgirl Danielle Jones, 15,
from East Tilbury in Essex four years after she was killed by her
uncle.

Stuart Campbell is serving a life sentence for the murder but has
never revealed the whereabouts of the body.

Source:- The Times Friday 29 July 2005 page 5

Give parents power in schools? They need help at home
first

Ruth Kelly’s promise to give parents more power over how
schools are run is likely to result in an increase in disruptive
classroom behaviour, the Professional Association of Teachers
conference heard.

The conference was told the government should provide more support
for parents of consistently difficult children.

Source:- The Times Friday 29 July 2005 page 24

Racism is learnt from fear of the unknown

A negative encounter with someone of a different race has a lasting
impact that fosters fear and prejudice, while an equally bad
experience with someone of the same race is readily forgotten,
researchers have found.

Both white and black people who have dated people from other ethnic
groups lose their predisposition to learn to fear them, according
to the study published in Science.

Source:- The Times Friday 29 July 2005 page 25

Aids drugs are losing battle

A fifth of HIV/Aids patients are resistant to one or more drugs as
a growing number of viruses develop resistance to medications, the
Health Protection Agengy has said.

Source:- The Times Friday 29 July 2005 page 26

Big Issue attacked by animal activists

The Big Issue magazine said it would no longer publish
advertisements for a major pharmaceutical company because one of
its vendors was attacked by an animal rights activist.

Source:- The Times Friday 29 July 2005 page 29

Vet jailed over child abductions

Vet Mustapha Abushima, 45, of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, who helped in the
kidnapping of five British children to Libya has been jailed for
six years.

Norwich Crown Court heard that the children’s father Azzedin
Journazi recruited a gang to take his children from their mother to
Libya.

Source:- The Times Friday 29 July 2005 page 30

Courts not told of drug tests

One in three offenders who tested positive for class A drugs was
not made subject to tough new bail conditions because the results
were not passed to the court, a report into the government’s
“restriction on bail” scheme found.

Source:- The Times Friday 29 July 2005 page 30

Warm and mellow, our friend Omar

Suspected bomber Yasin Hassan Omar was assessed as a
“vulnerable young adult” by social services while
living in north London in 1999.

He was taken into care in 1993 and stayed with a series of foster
parents.

Source:- Daily Mail Friday 29 July 2005 page 11  

Scottish news

Teacher escapes charges on affair with girl

A 43-year-old teacher that set up home with a 16-year-old girl who
is now expecting his child has escaped prosecution.

John Forrester quit his post as the head of music at Kincorth
Academy in Aberdeen in February after his affair with Claire
Bennett became public.

Police carried out an investigation but the Crown Office has
decided it was not in the public interest to prosecute.

Source:-The Herald Friday 29 July

Power of dispersal to be used to tackle city street
drinkers

Police in Edinburgh are to use new powers of dispersal to tackle
drunken behaviour in the heart of the city.

Edinburgh authorities will bring in the city’s first dispersal
order to deal with the problem of drunk, aggressive groups
gathering in the Hunter Square area, just off the Royal Mile.

Lothian and Borders Police say the powers, provided under the
Antisocial Behaviour (Scotland) Act 2004, are needed because
traditional policing methods have failed to combat the problem
fully.

Source:- The Scotsman Friday 29 July

Drop in number of children taking up free nursery
places

The number of children attending nursery education fell by 6 per
cent last year, new figures have revealed.

It showed 6,700 fewer three and four-year-olds taking up free
nursery place provision in Scotland.

The Scottish executive said it was puzzled by the findings because
its own annual census showed 81 per cent of three-year-olds and
97.8 per cent of four-year-olds were now registered.

Source:- The Scotsman Friday 29 July

Welsh news

Parents who refuse to take responsibility for their
children’s behaviour in school should be punished, teachers have
said.

Members of the Professional Association of Teachers (Pat) said
government promises to push to give parents more power has led them
to abuse or even attack school staff. 

At the Pat annual conference members also called for new laws to
force parents to teach their children about sex.

Source:- www.icwales.co.uk Friday 29
July