Friday 2 December 2005

By Simeon Brody, Derren Hayes and Amy Taylor

The poison of society
A judge yesterday condemned Anthony Walker’s murderers as “racist thugs poisonous to any society”.
Paul Taylor and Michael Barton were sentenced to life in prison for killing the teenager because of the colour of his skin.
Source:- Daily Mail  Friday 2 December page 13

Pupils film girl’s agony in school thug attack
A 12-year-old collapsed and spent a night in hospital after she was kicked more than 20 times by a pupil while others filmed the assault on mobile phones.
Rachael Neville was attacked at Bullers Wood School in Kent.
Source:- Daily Mail  Friday 2 December page 29

CSA ‘enforces’ who cost us £12m but recover only £8m
The Child Support Agency spends more on running its enforcements unit than it actually recovers, it emerged yesterday.
The department costs £12 million to run but only recovered £8 million.
Source:- Daily Mail  Friday 2 December page 35

Sex slavery gang are jailed
Five Albanian gangsters were jailed at Southwark crown court for a total of 63 years yesterday for luring hundreds of teenage girls to Britain for a life of prostitution.
Source:- Daily Mail  Friday 2 December page 46

NHS plans for £200m overspend despite record funding
The NHS is planning to overspend by £200 million this year, in spite of being in its seventh year of funding increases. The NHS chief executive Sir Nigel Crisp said in September that deficits were “unacceptable” but announced yesterday that clawing back last year’s £250 million overspend was proving tougher than expected, so a £200 million deficit was agreed for this year.
Source:- The Financial Times Friday 2 December 2005 page 2

Prescott takes hard line to stop town hall workers retiring early
John Prescott has imposed new pension scheme rules on council staff and employers and unions failed to reach a compromise.
Prescott has decided to scrap the 85-year rule that allows council employees to retire on full pensions at 60 provided their age and years of service add up to 85.
Source:- The Financial Times Friday 2 December 2005 page 4

Hit teams sent into hospitals in deficit
Emergency turn-around teams are to be sent into the worst-performing hospitals in England to tackle the NHS’s predicted £620 million budget deficit.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph Friday 2 December 2005 page 1

Brown’s baby bond scheme attacked as expensive flop
The Child Trust Fund baby bond scheme introduced before the election has flopped, according to the Liberal Democrats.
Figures given to Parliament show that nearly a million families have not opened an account to deposit the £250 vouchers issued by the government.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph Friday 2 December 2005 page 12

Scottish news

Carers rejoice as road plan U-turn save community
A facility for 200 vulnerable children and adults have welcomed the announcement that the controversial Aberdeen bypass will not be routed through the heart of its community.
Tavish Scott, transport minister, has opted for a completely new route – which is expected to raise the cost of the development by £100 million – after rejecting five other possible routes.
The decision is a victory for the Camphill Community for people with learning difficulties, which has held a high-profile campaign supported by politicians and the north-east business community.
Source:- The Herald Friday 2 December

Cannabis users with mental illness ‘face schizophrenia risk’
An academic has warned Scotland could be sitting on a mental health time-bomb fuelled by heavy cannabis use.
It follows new evidence from a Danish study into the possible damaging effects of cannabis on mental health have been revealed by scientists.
Professor Neil McKeganey the director of the Centre for Drug Misuse Research at Glasgow University, said that Scotland had one of the highest rates of cannabis use in Europe – and that users were starting at younger ages.
Source:- The Scotsman Friday 2 December

Voice of Scotland
An article written by Neil Carnegie, antisocial behaviour strategy officer for Aberdeen Council, discusses issues around antisocial behaviour. He explains about the tools available to councils for dealing with anti-social behaviour…and it’s not all about ASBOs.
Source:- Daily Record Friday 2 December

Welsh news

Tip-off sees benefit cheat jailed for four months
A benefits cheat was jailed yesterday after the authorities received an anonymous tip off that he was working as well as signing on.
Russell Scott, 42, worked as a cash-in hand labourer despite claiming £15,0000 worth of job seeker’s allowance over two years.
Scott, from Adamsdown, Cardifff, admitted obtaining benefits by deception.
Source:- Western Mail Friday 2 December

Care home manager gave medication to patients while he was high on heroin
A care home manager who looked after patients while he was under the influence of heroin was struck off as a nurse yesterday.
A Nursing and Midwifery Council hearing in Cardiff heard how Jonathan Williams had given medication to mentally ill residents at Meadow Nursing Home, Gorseinon, despite smoking heroin before he went to work.
Source:- Western Mail Friday 2 December

 

 


 

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