Tuesday 9 August 2005

By Simeon Brody, Mithran Samuel, Derren Hayes and Amy
Taylor

Girl, 15, gets HIV drug to save baby

Doctors are monitoring the health of a baby born to a 15-year-old
schoolgirl who did not know she had HIV until she was diagnosed
during routine antenatal screening.

Doctors have taken steps to reduce the risk of transmission and the
mother has been given anti-HIV drugs. The baby has so far tested
negative for HIV but it will be three months before doctors can
give the all-clear.

Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 9 August 2005 page 6

Policeman avoids assault charges

A police officer captured on CCTV kicking a black man as he was
held down on a pavement by colleagues will not face
prosecution.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission was informed by the
Crown Prosecution Service that there was insufficient evidence to
bring charges against three police officers from Greater Manchester
police.

Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 9 August 2005 page 8

Councils contest new asylum law

A group of local councils yesterday demanded an urgent review of
legislation that can leave failed asylum seekers homeless and
destitute and their children taken into care.

In a letter to the Home Office the councils said they want the
review to ensure children are not subjected to distress.

Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 9 August 2005 page 8

The Independent

Ethnic groups shun minister’s “rebranding”
plan

Britain’s ethnic communities have been dismayed by a
suggestion from Hazel Blears that they should “rebrand”
their identities, using terms such as Asian-British.

Source:- The Independent Tuesday 9 August 2005 page
6

Daily Mail

Prescott gives nod to 30 green belt traveller camps

John Prescott has authorised 30 traveller camps on green belt land,
prompting the Conservatives to accuse him of
“destroying” rural areas of Britain.

Source:- Daily Mail Tuesday 9 August 2005 page 6

Asylum payouts fury

Furious JobCentre workers threatened to strike over a
benefits loophole that let two asylum seekers pick up £26,000
at taxpayers’ expense.

The payments were for three years of backdated benefits that were
not paid while their cases were being processed.

Source:- Daily Mail Tuesday 9 August 2005 page 6

The Times

Attacker caught

A teenager who fled court after being found guilty for his part in
an attack on two Asian children has been found and remanded in
custody.

James Peters, of Oldham, Greater Manchester, will be sentenced on
16 August.

Source:- The Times Tuesday 9 August 2005 page 4

Daily Mirror

Ban the BNP too

The British National Party could be banned under government plans
to outlaw groups preaching “messages of hate”.

Asked whether the BNP could be proscribed under the proposed raft
of anti-terror measures, Home Office minister Hazel Blears did not
rule out the possibility.

Source:- Daily Mirror Tuesday 9 August 2005 page 2

Runaway mum: I’ve no regret dumping daughter for
love

A woman who moved to Turkey to join a man she met on holiday said
leaving her 15-year-old daughter behind was a “price worth
paying”.

Elaine Walker’s daughter Laura had to be taken in by social
services after her mother moved to Turkey, and is expected to be
reunited with her father this week.

Source:- Daily Mirror Tuesday 9 August 2005 page 15

Care homes drugs shock

Almost half of all care homes failed national minimum standards for
handling drugs, according to figures released by the Department of
Health.

Staff in many homes did not know how to store, dispense or dispose
of medicines and left out-of-date drugs lying around.

Source:- Daily Mirror Tuesday 9 August 2005 page 24

Deaf row cop takes on police

An award-winning special constable has launched a disability
discrimination case against West Yorkshire Police, claiming it did
not give him a job because of his hearing impairment.

Dennis McCoy, named special constable of the year in his region in
February, said he was effectively doing the job of an officer
unpaid and an independent consultant said his hearing could be
improved with an aid.

Source:- Daily Mirror Tuesday 9 August 2005 page 27

Scottish news

Asylum plea bride wins move for review of her case

A woman who fled to Scotland from Pakistan because she feared being
killed by her parent-in-laws has won a court challenge to have her
asylum case reconsidered.

Farah Butt faced deportation after being served with a notice for
her removal last year. But a judge at the Court of Session in
Edinburgh yesterday ordered that her case should be referred to the
Asylum and Immigration Tribunal.

Source:- The Herald Tuesday 9 August

30% of Scots prisoners found on drugs at time of
release

Almost a third of Scotland’s prisoners are using drugs at the time
of their release, new figures show.

The Scottish National Party said the figures showed the need for
the Scottish executive to do more to tackle the causes of crime.
But the Scottish Prison Service defended its work in tackling drugs
in prison, pointing out that four out of five prisoners tested
positive for drug misuse when they arrived in jail.

Source:- The Scotsman Tuesday 9 August

Welsh news

Girl, 15, told she has HIV, gives birth

A teenager who did not know she had HIV until she became
pregnant gave birth yesterday.

The 15-year-old only found out she had the virus when she was
screened at an ante-natal clinic.

The baby, who was born at Swansea’s Singleton Hospital,
has so far tested negative but it will be three months until
doctors are able to tell definitively whether the child has been
infected or not.

Source:- Western Mail Tuesday 9 August