Tuesday 7 March 2006

Four Years
MPs have demanded that young people who rob at knifepoint face minimum three-year jail terms.
The home affairs select committee said sentences should be lighter for young robbers in a gang if peer pressure were found to be a factor.
Source:- Daily Mirror Tuesday 7 March 2006 page 8

£3bn sick debt paid to miners
The government said yesterday it had paid out over £3bn to miners in compensation for illnesses and injuries caused by working with vibrating machinery.
Payments have been made to over 400,000 families and the total bill could reach £5bn.
Source:- Daily Mirror Tuesday 7 March 2006 page 19

A mother…at only 13
The parents of a 13-year-old mother are planning to sue the council that placed her in the children’s home where the baby was conceived.
Charlotte Maddox’s mother, Samantha, and step-father, Troy Lane, said the authority had failed to protect her.
Source:- Daily Mail Tuesday 7 March 2006 page 35

US snubs Britain over sex criminals
The US congress has refused to ratify a deal meaning Britain cannot prosecute criminals residing in the US, including sex offenders and paedophiles.
Source:- The Times, Tuesday 7 March 2006, page 1

Girl aged 11 raped in Sainsbury’s
Police are looking for a teenager who raped an 11-year-old girl in a Leamington Spa supermarket toilet. The attacker is believed to be a white male, thought to be about 16, who was wearing a hoody and had a heavy amount of acne.
Source:- The Times, Tuesday 7 March 2006, page 9

Parents in court bid to stop doctors ending sick child’s intolerable life
The parents of a terminally ill boy went before a judge to try to stop doctors withdrawing the child’s life support. The 18-month-old child has a severe degenerative muscle condition and is virtually paralysed.
Source:- The Times, Tuesday 7 March 2006, page 17

Bed-blocker forced out after three years
An elderly “bed-blocker” who has refused to leave hospital for nearly three years despite needing no medical or nursing care has been ordered out by a High Court judge. The 72-year-old man was given 14 days to leave the Finchley Memorial Hospital in North London and ordered to pay £10,000 towards the legal bill.
Source:- The Times, Tuesday 7 March 2006, page 17 

Elected mayors are key to urban renewal
David Miliband will call today for more directly elected mayors with greater powers to help rejuvenate England’s core cities. He will argue that stronger leadership of conurbations is the key to urban renaissance and economic regeneration.
Source:- The Times, Tuesday 7 March 2006, page 33

Schools let down on drinking and drugs
Schools trying to educate pupils about the dangers of drugs and alcohol are being undermined by the government’s 24-hour drinking reform and the downgrading of cannabis, a leading head teacher claimed.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph, Tuesday 7 March 2006, page 6

TV ruled out as a cause of hyperactivity in children
Young children do not develop hyperactivity and attention problems by spending hours in front of the television, according to psychologists.
Source:- The Guardian, Tuesday 7 March 2006, page 8

Schools bill will rely on Tory votes thanks to hardcore Labour rebels
The Labour frontbench is increasingly convinced it will only be able to clear the Education Bill through its Commons second reading next Wednesday with the support of the Tories.
Source:- The Guardian, Tuesday 7 March 2006, page 13

Scottish news

McConnell to review methadone policy
A review of the use of methadone in drug rehabilitation programmes was announced by the first minister after a child’s death prompted wider questions about the heroin substitute.
Jack McConnell said the ministers for health, justice, and children were being asked to report to cabinet this week on whether policies on rehabilitation were clear or consistent enough. His comments came after tests showed the death of Derek Doran, two, from Elphinstone, East Lothian, was linked to methadone which both his parents were receiving as treatment for heroin addiction.
Source:- The Herald, Tuesday 7 March 2006

Revolution on way for £1bn public service bureaucracy
A revolution in Scottish public services will be launched today when the country’s biggest council, health board, and enterprise company unite in a joint venture intended to break down bureaucratic barriers.
The ambitious project in Glasgow, which will also include police, housing, social work and job centres, will bring together more than £1bn of spending under one umbrella organisation employing 6000 people.
Glaswegians are to be presented with a unified, simplified point of contact for the services they use most, with some services moving to operate from joint offices and clinics.
Source:- The Herald, Tuesday 7 March 2006

£13.5 million to settle row
Council chiefs in Aberdeen are to sell £13.5million of assets to settle a pay row. Around 2000 caterers, cleaners and care staff would get around £6000 each from Aberdeen Council. A meeting yesterday approved the sale of land and disused school buildings to release the cash after a long-running equal pay dispute.
Source:- The Record, Tuesday 7 March 2006

Welsh news

Two boys seriously ill on Ecstasy
Two boys are in hospital after taking pills believed to be ecstasy in a Swansea nightclub.
The 15 and 16-year-old took the drugs at the Escape club in Swansea and were rushed to hospital after becoming unwell. Both boys ahve been classed as critically ill.
Source:- Western Mail, Tuesday 7 March 2006

Mum’s appeal over son’s ‘mysterious’ death
A mother has appealed for information about the death of her son who was found dead more than nine years ago in her garden.
Kevin Grint, 26, of Townhill, Swansea, south Wales died after overdosing on drink and drugs in 1997.
Police believe he died elsewhere and was taken to the garden but they are still unaware of the circumstances of his death.
Source:- Western Mail, Tuesday 7 March 2006