Wednesday 2 November 2005

By Maria Ahmed, Mithran Samuel, Derren Hayes and Amy Taylor

Millions of women ‘face poverty in old age’
Millions of women face poverty in their old age because their pensions will be insufficient, according to a report.
The government study says women are being penalised for choosing to look after children rather than pursue a career.
Source:- Daily Mail  Wednesday 2 November page 21
Binge drinking fuels rise in sex infections
Sexual infections among young people are soaring because of binge drinking and easy attitudes to sex, doctors have warned.
Source:- Daily Mail  Wednesday 2 November page 26

Alcoholics failed
Twenty-five per cent of people in England and almost 40 per cent of men have alcohol problems, but doctors are failing to identify the majority of cases, a government study has found.
The report said that the level of treatment for alcohol dependency fell far short of recommended standards.
Source:- The Times Wednesday 2 November 2005 page 2

Lifers back in jail
A record 90 life-sentence prisoners were returned to jail last year after breaking the terms of their release, a Parole Board report says.
Source:- The Times Wednesday 2 November 2005 page 2

Jenkin’s third trial under way
Sion Jenkins went on trial yesterday for third time accused of bludgeoning his teenage foster daughter to death at the family home in Hastings.
Source:- The Times Wednesday 2 November 2005 page 2

Head loses post
The headmaster at the school where Shanni Naylor, 12, had her face slashed during a lesson is to lose his job. 
Ed Wydenbach, 57, was criticised by Shanni’s family after the attack by another 12-year-old girl at Myrtle Springs School in Sheffield.
Wydenbach is to lose his post in an education reorganisation.
Source:- The Times Wednesday 2 November 2005 page 2

Troubled boy ‘snapped and bear his tormentor to death with pool cue’
Tommy Kimpton, 19, is on trial for murdering Ben Williams, his best friend who also led a group of bullies that ‘mercilessly tormented’ Kimpton.
Kimpton denies murder. The trial continues.
Source:- The Times Wednesday 2 November 2005 page 3

Blair has failed Leah over drugs
The parents of ecstasy victim Leah Betts yesterday quit their campaign to save kids from drugs after accusing Tony Blair’s government of failing them.
The announcement came 10 days before the 10th anniversary of day Leah, 18, took her fatal tablet.
Source:- The Sun Wednesday 2 November 2005 page 19

Red tape hinders crime fighting, says thinktank
Policing is being dragged down by poor entrance standards and training and too much red tape, according to a report by thinktank Politeia.
The author, Anthony Howlett Bolton, a former Bedfordshire deputy chief constable, said bureaucracy, rigid targets and initiative designed to service their political masters, hindered police.
Source:- The Guardian Wednesday 2 November 2005 page 8

Immigrants tell of forced prostitution and slavery as trafficking gang is jailed
The plight of thousands of eastern European women kept as sex slaves in British brothels was highlighted yesterday as court proceedings against members of a major trafficking ring ended.
Detectives believe the gang brought at least 600 illegal immigrants to the UK, many of whom were locked up, forced into prostitution and told their families back home would be killed if they refused to obey orders.
Source:- The Guardian Wednesday 2 November 2005 page 11

Teaching role for prison staff urged in report
Prison officers should play a greater role in the education of inmates to prevent re-offending, according to a report published by the centre for crime and justice studies at King’s College, London.
Source:- The Guardian Wednesday 2 November 2005 page 10

Ministers scrap plan to end Ofsted checks on childcare for over-fives
Ministers abandoned their attempt to end the compulsory regulation of childminders, after-school clubs and playschemes caring for children over five yesterday.
Beverley Hughes, the children’s minister, performed the U-turn after a revolt by parents and childminders, who feared deregulation could open the market to rogue operators and put children at risk.
Source:- The Guardian Wednesday 2 November 2005 page 13

Pension reforms paper give chance to fight back
David Blunkett will today attempt to prove allegations over his business dealings have not distracted him from his welfare reform agenda by publishing a paper showing the current pensions structure is letting down more than two million women and carers.
Source:- The Guardian Wednesday 2 November 2005 page 12

Home Office inquiry team barred from privately run child prisons
Former Labour minister Sally Keeble, MP for Northampton North, called for the contract of two privately run child jails to be terminated yesterday after they refused access to a Home Office team investigating their use of physical restraint techniques on teenage inmates. The highest use of restraint was at two centres run by Rebound, a subsidiary of GSL Limited, one at Rainsbrook near Daventry, Northamptonshire, and the other at Medway in Kent.
Source:- The Guardian Wednesday 2 November 2005 page 14

A choice in the wilderness
Without fanfare or truimphalism, evangelical Christians have opted to live and work in blighted areas of Manchester to tackle inner-city social problems
Source:- The Society Guardian Wednesday 2 November 2005 page 1

Out of the shadows
The government’s increasingly punitive approach to antisocial families fails to prevent bad behaviour
Source:- The Society Guardian Wednesday 2 November 2005 page 3

Orders of merit
Research shows that the threat of prison can deter attendance at parenting skills courses imposed as a condition of the courts
Source:- The Society Guardian Wednesday 2 November 2005 page 3

Turning the screws
Despite an ‘outdated’ negative image, they are ‘doing one of the most difficult jobs in Britain’. Eric Allison meets the chairman of the Prison Officer’s Association, in whose member’s company he spent decades.
Source:- The Society Guardian Wednesday 2 November 2005 page 5

 Life on the breadline
In the final part of his series on poverty, Nick Davies discovers the economic realities faced by one London pensioner
Source:- The Society Guardian Wednesday 2 November 2005 page 7

Patient choice hindered as GPs deal stalls
Plans to give people the choice of up to four hospitals look set to be delayed because GPs have not been promised a cash incentive to do the work.
The government is still locked in contract negotiations with the British Medical Association, stalling plans to introduce the system in January.
Source:- Financial Times Wednesday 2 November 2005 page 2

Move to open top jobs to poorer students
The government will endorse a report today calling for professions, including law and medicine, to open their ranks to people from poorer backgrounds.
Source:- Financial Times Wednesday 2 November 2005 page 3

Local authorities warn of £100 council tax increases
Councils face a £2.2 billion funding gap because of new responsibilities imposed by government, the Local Government Association has warned.
 The LGA said council tax bills would have to rise by 10 per cent next April unless the government increases grant levels.
Source:- Financial Times Wednesday 2 November 2005 page 5

Scottish news

Sex equality as new law targets kerb-crawlers and prostitutes
Ministers are to create a new prostitution offence that punishes both sexes equally. Both prostitutes and clients will be prosecuted under a common offence of causing a nuisance – until now the most clients would be charged with a breach of the peace. Scotland’s 32 councils will also be issued with guidance on how to manage prostitution on their streets, but will not be allowed to create “tolerance zones” where illegal activity is ignored.
Source:- The Herald Wednesday 2 November

Scotland’s homeless hits record number
Homelessness has hit a record high in Scotland with an average 57,000 applications for official homeless status last year.
One in every 100 Scots applied for homeless status for the second year running, according to figures released for 2004-5. While officials highlighted the slowing rise in homeless applications – 1 per cent over the year – opposition parties pointed to record number of children in temporary accommodation.
Source:- The Scotsman Wednesday 2 November

B&B kids disgrace
The number of children forced to live in B&Bs has been branded a national disgrace. The attack came from SNP housing spokesperson Tricia Marwick after figures showed 262 kids living in B&Bs in March – up from 234 last year. The Executive had promised to stop putting kids in such temporary accommodation.

Welsh news

Paedophile ‘invented ghost to frighten girl into having sex’
A paedophile pretended that a schoolgirl’s home was being haunted by ghosts in order to get to have sex with her.
The man, who cannot be named, is alleged to have used fishing rods and poles to move ornaments and furniture around to make out that ghosts were at work.
Cardiff Crown Court heard that the 13-year-old girl let the man have sex with her due to him telling her it would exorcise the house. The man has pleaded not guilty.
The case continues.
Source:- Western Mail Wednesday 2 November

No charges over toddler’s 1971 death
South Wales police have announced that no charges will be brought against a man and a woman recently arrested in connection with the death of a toddler in 1971.
Officers said that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute the pair who were arrested in March after the case into the death of two-year-old Tanya Sims was reopened.
A verdict of accidental death was recorded for Tanya at the time, who died from a cerebral haemorrhage due to a head injury, but the investigation was reopened after new evidence came to light.
Source:- icWales Wednesday 2 November