Friday 30 September 2005

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

Huntley on suicide watch as he faces at least 40 years in
jail

Soham murderer Ian Huntley will spend the rest of his life in jail
unless he admits to killing schoolgirls Jessica Chapman and Holly
Wells, a High Court judge ruled yesterday.

Mr Justice Moses said the former caretaker should serve a minimum
of 40 years in jail before he is considered for parole.

Huntley is believed to be on suicide watch following the
announcement.

Source:- The Times  Friday 30 September page 6 and 7

Anti-yob powers trigger police state gibe

The prime minister denied he was creating a police state atmosphere
in Britain after he pledged to give officers any powers they needed
to crack down on “yobs”.

Source:- The Times  Friday 30 September page 9

Boy died after heroin overdose

A drug addict told his nephew of the dangers of taking heroin hours
before the 13-year-old boy took a fatal overdose of the drug.

Sean Graham warned Matthew Girvin before his death last September.
He denies manslaughter and cruelty to a child under 16.

The case continues.

Source:- The Times  Friday 30 September page 32

Pensioner dealer

A 74-year-old Glasgow man has pleaded guilty to drug dealing to top
up his pension.

Herbert Hay sold heroin in the city after being told he could make
“good money”.

Source:- The Times  Friday 30 September page 32

ADHD drug may pose suicide risk

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency have warned
that children on medication for ADHD may be at increased risk of
suicidal behaviour.

Source:- The Times  Friday 30 September page 35

Father of expelled Marlborough pupil faces £200,000
bill

A man was left facing a £200,000 legal bill yesterday after
losing a legal battle bought against Marlborough College for
expelling his badly behaved son.

Russell Gray took the £22,000 a year public school to court in
a bid to get them to reinstate his son Rhys.

Source:- The Times  Friday 30 September page 8

Fee-fixing fears delay assistance scheme

The Office of Fair Trading may block attempts by public schools to
offer more places to pupils from poor backgrounds.

Schools are concerned that their efforts to harmonise reduced fee
levels for poorer students may be interpreted as price-fixing by
the OFT.

Source:- Financial Times Friday 30 September page 3

‘Risky’ minimum wage rises worry
employers

More than 1m people will receive a pay rise tomorrow as the minimum
wage rises by 4 per cent to £5.05 an hour, amid business
criticisms of recent increases in the salary floor.

Source:- Financial Times Friday 30 September page 6

Reid warns return to factionalism could destroy
Labour

Minister for communities and local government David Miliband warned
the Labour conference yesterday that the party risked losing
working-class supporters to the far right, unless it overcame
people’s sense of powerlessness.

He said the party’s third-term focus had to be on giving
local communities the powers to improve their lives.

Source:- Financial Times Friday 30 September page 8

Girl’s body found dismembered

Police discovered the dismembered body of a 15-year-old schoolgirl
in south-east London three days after she was abducted.

Rochelle Holness vanished on Sunday evening after going to use a
phone box near her home in Catford.

Source:- The Guardian Friday 30 September 2005 page
11

Rebuff for ministers on council homes funding

Delegates defeated the government at the Labour conference to back
demands that councils wanting to build houses get the same to
access to funds as housing associations.

A succession of speakers pointed to the 92 local authorities where
tenants have voted no in ballots organised to sanction the transfer
of council homes to private or charitable hands.

Source:- The Guardian Friday 30 September 2005 page
12                                                                                                                                           

Baby girl dies after surgery “ignores call from
mother”

A baby from Barnsley died when her mother’s request for a
home visit was ignored, an inquest heard.

Nicola Orrell, 25, had to wait five hours to speak to a doctor
after contacting her local surgery to ask a GP to see her
nine-month-old daughter who was ill with vomiting and
diarrhoea.

Source:- Daily Telegraph Friday 30 September 2005 page
5

Heavy use of cannabis “leads to
psychosis”

People who use cannabis regularly and for long periods are at
greater risk of developing severe mental disorders, research in the
British Journal of Psychiatry found.

Nearly half the people who abused the drug over a lifetime
developed some form of psychosis, frequently schizophrenia.

Source:- Daily Telegraph Friday 30 September 2005 page
12

Scottish news

Asylum girl makes last desperate call before
deportation

A young asylum seeker wept as she made a farewell phone call
only hours before her family was deported to Kosovo.

Saida Vucaj, who lived in Drumchapel in Glasgow for five years,
called a supporter of her family from the Yarl’s Wood detention
centre near Bedford.

Robina Quresh said: “At 4.21 am, I was woken by 13-year-old Saida
Vucaj who phoned me weeping and exhausted. She said they woke her
and her family and told them to get dressed because they were
taking them back to ‘their country’ – and then the line went
dead.”

Source:- The Herald Friday 30 September

Streets where Asbo boy must fear to tread

Feature on a 14-year-old boy from a social housing scheme in
Paisley who is subject to an Asbo. They speak to residents to find
out whether life has changed for them since the
troublemakers’ movements were restricted.

Source:- The Herald Friday 30 September

Doubts cast over success of child porn
inquiry

More than 100 paedophiles in Scotland have been convicted under
Operation Ore, senior officers have revealed. With all but one of
the 420 cases investigated by Scotland’s eight forces, 102 people
have been convicted of having pornographic images of children. But
critics point to the apparently low conviction rate compared to the
number of cases investigated and claim flaws in the evidence have
led to hundreds of innocent people being subjected to intensive
police investigations, some lasting more than a year.

Source:- The Scotsman Friday 30 September

New asylum rules as family is deported

First minister Jack McConnell has claimed to have won Home
Office support for a protocol governing the treatment of families
of failed asylum seekers.

The Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, has agreed it would be
“advisable” to have such a protocol in Scotland, Mr McConnell told
MSPs. It is likely to lead to social workers and education staff
now being present at deportation evictions.

Source:- The Scotsman Friday 30 September

Hospital bed-blocking on the increase

Bed-blocking is on the increase in Scotland’s hospitals,
according to new figures. A total of 1,465 patients were ready for
discharge in July, compared with 1,332 three months
previously.

Some 753 of them had been ready for discharge for more than six
weeks, compared to 636 in April.

Source:- The Scotsman Friday 30 September

Oap carer jailed

A carer who stole £14,000 from an older person she was
caring for has been jailed for 12 months.

Helen Blair, of Berwickshire, embezzled the money over two years
when she worked at the Lennel House nursing home. She started
collecting John Mackie’s pension after he became ill with dementia
but kept the money herself, Jedburgh Sheriff Court heard.

Source:- The Record Friday 30 September

Welsh news

Couple attacked by addict with dog chain

A court has heard how a drug addict attacked a couple with a dog
chain and then followed them to try and shake his victims’
hands.

Nathan Campbell, 22, had been drinking and smoking crack cocaine
when he saw Paula Robshaw and her boyfriend John Morris walking
home.

Campbell, of Butetown Cardiff, admitted charges of unlawful
wounding and carrying an offensive weapon.

Source:- Western Mail Friday 30 September

Pensioner killed for less than £200

A 90 year-old has been murdered in her own home for less than
£200, North Wales Police suspect.

Elsie Hughes was attacked at her house in Abermorddu,
Flintshire.

Source:- Western Mail Friday 30 September

 

More from Community Care

Comments are closed.