WEDNESDAY 15 FEBRUARY 2006

Quashed convictions unlikely after shaken baby review
A review of 88 “shaken baby syndrome” convictions of parents and carers over the past 10 years may not see a single conviction overturned, according to results unveiled by the attorney general yesterday. Only three if the 88 – a murder conviction in 2001 and manslaughter convictions in 1994 and 2001 – have revealed any cause for concern.
Source:- The Guardian, Wednesday February 15 2006, page 8

Care home scandal
One in five elderly care home residents is seriously underfed, according to figures released last night. Official inspection teams from the British Association for Parental and Enteral Nutrition, which monitors food standards in homes, found more than 2,000 failed to meet minimum requirements for nutrition last year.
Source:- The Daily Mail, Wednesday February 15 2006, page 13

New help for battered wives
Sarah Brown, the wife of the Chancellor, thrust herself into the public eye last night by fronting a new campaign by charity Women’s Aid to help battered wives.
Source:- The Times, Wednesday February 15 2006, page 22

Preachers of hate could be trying to recruit Muslim inmates
Up to 20 more imams who preach the same message of hate as Abu Hamza could still be trying to recruit young Muslims in universities and prisons, the government’s terror watchdog warned MPs yesterday.
Source:- The Times, Wednesday February 15 2006, page 2

Race chief arrest
The head of a race equality charity has been arrested on suspicion of voyeurism after allegations that he secretly made videos of women in the street. Jazz Iheanacho, 44, of Cardiff, who is director of the Welsh charity Race Equality First, has been released on police bail by South Wales Police.
Source:- The Times, Wednesday February 15 2006, page 2

Egg attack hearing
A fathers’ rights campaigner has appeared in court charged with an egg attack on Ruth Kelly, the education secretary, last week. Michael Downes, 43, a decorator from Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester, was remanded in custody until February 28 by Trafford magistrates.
Source:- The Times, Wednesday February 15 2006, page 5

Mother of truant is tagged as a warning and a punishment
A mother has been placed on curfew and tagged to prevent her going out at night as punishment for failing to stop her 15-year-old daughter’s persistent truancy, a council announced yesterday. Education welfare officers from Bracknell Forest borough council in Berkshire made repeated attempts to get Carol Horne, 42, to accept her parental and legal responsibility to ensure that her youngest child was at school.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph, Wednesday February 15 2006, page 7

Homeless crisis deeper 40 years after landmark TV programme
Forty years after a public outcry over homelessness was triggered by Cathy Come Home, a BBC drama depicting one family’s descent to the streets, 100,000 households are still living in temporary and often cramped accommodation, a report by the charity Shelter showed today.
Source:- The Guardian, Wednesday February 15 2006, page 10

The excluded
Peter is 14 and enjoys drawing and hanging out with his mates. He is also one of the 10,000 children permanently excluded from school last year, deemed officially too bad to teach. What happens to a child who falls through the cracks in the education system?
Source:- The Guardian, G2, Wednesday February 15 2006, page 6

Out of the box
Forty years ago the television broadcast of Cathy Come Home astonished the nation, put homelessness on the map and helped launch Shelter. Filmmaker Roger Graef salutes its enduring power.
Source:- Society Guardian, Wednesday February 15 2006, page 1-3

Family comes first
Felicity Collier’s defence of social workers led to attacks by the media, to the extent that hate mail became an occupational hazard.
Source:- Society Guardian, Wednesday February 15 2006, page 5

Locked in the past
The common sense view is that prisons work. But the evidence suggests they are failed, outdated and costly. Is it time to abolish them?
Source:- Society Guardian, Wednesday February 15 2006, page 6

Taken for granted
A punishing work ethic, coupled with chronic racial abuse, has put intense pressure on Britain’s Chinese “takeaway families.”
Source:- Society Guardian, Wednesday February 15 2006, page 7

Clarity begins at home
Charities must raise awareness of how they are run is they want to keep earning the public’s trust – which means revealing a few home truths about how money is spent
Source:- Society Guardian, Charities supplement, Wednesday February 15 2006, page 1

The voice of reason
Andrew Hind is the more conservative half at the helm of the Charity Commission which, in the 21st century, aims to be much more than just a watchdog.
Source:- Society Guardian, Charities supplement, Wednesday February 15 2006, page 3

Come on over
Public sector executives looking for a career change could do worse than consider what the voluntary sector has to offer.
Source:- Society Guardian, Charities supplement, Wednesday February 15 2006, page 4

Real care in the community
Non-profit organisations are stepping into the public services with a fresh approach and a human touch.
Source:- Society Guardian, Charities supplement, Wednesday February 15 2006, page 5

Class skip pair jailed
A couple were yesterday jailed for three months for failing to get their children to school. Claire Brady and Gary Brudenell were offered help by social workers including wake-up calls. But the Middlesbrough couple’s four children, aged 10 to 15, missed more than a third of school in six months, Teesside magistrates heard.
Source:- Daily Mirror, Wednesday February 15 2006, page 19

Scottish news

Life of Scot’s tourette’s sufferer to be made into film
The story of Tourette’s sufferer John Davidson, from Galashiels in the Borders, is to be turned into a film and is attracting the attention of some of Hollywood’s most successful directors. He became a national talking point in 1989 thanks to a QED documentary called John’s not mad.
Davidson’s early life was blighted by the condition as most people did not understand it – he was educated alongside special needs children, ate alone when at college and was stared at wherever he went in his home town.
Source: The Herald, Wednesday 15 February 2006

Welsh news

Children’s champ hits out at Respect policy
Children’s commissioner Peter Clarke slammed the government’s Respect agenda last night. Clarke said adults confused the term with “fear and obedience” and hankered after a “bygone age” when children were afraid of adults.
He went on to accuse politicians’ of providing a “shoddy lead” on the issue.
His comments came the night before his annual report was due to be debated at the National Assembly.
Source:- Western Mail, Wednesday 15 February 2006

Incapacity benefit claimant, 66, jailed for deception
A man who ran three successful minibus companies while claiming incapacity benefit has been jailed.
Ronald Sargent received nearly £55,000 in benefits between June 1996 and June 2004 while his company held contracts with the council and local NHS board.
He was sentenced to 18 months in prison at Cardiff  crown court yesterday after pleading guilty to ten counts of obtaining property by deception.
Source:- icWales, Wednesday 15 February 2006