WEDNESDAY 12 APRIL 2006

Wife beaters who say sorry go free
Men who commit domestic violence should be spared jail sentences if they appear genuinely sorry for their crimes, according to draft guidelines published yesterday.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph, Wednesday 12 April 2006, page 1

Son who strangled mother is jailed
A “distraught, exhausted but loving” son who acted as a carer for his chronically ill mother was jailed for a year yesterday for strangling his mother to ensure her death after she had taken a drug overdose. Judge Christopher Ball said he did not blame Paul Weber, 48, for his actions as without his care his mother would not have lived as long.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph, Wednesday 12 April 2006, page 10

Wards where dying OAPs are denied the best care
Thousands of elderly people are being denied a dignified death because of the pressures facing hospital staff, according to a survey by Help the Aged.
Source:- Daily Mail, Wednesday 12 April 2006, page 20

Prisons watchdog accuses Serco of meanness
Serco, the company that runs four prisons and a young offender institution as well as providing training for juvenile offenders, is accused of “institutional meanness” by the prisons watchdog after being found responsible for “squalid” conditions at 800-inmate Doncaster prison.
Source:- Financial Times, Wednesday 12 April 2006, page 4

Call for end to faith school funding
Faith schools should have their state funding removed to stop fundamentalist religious groups indoctrinating children, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers decided at its annual conference.
Source:- Financial Times, Wednesday 12 April 2006, page 4

Royal Society attacks teaching of creationism as science
The Royal Society issued a strongly worded attack on the teaching of creationism, as a leading scientist compared it to the theory that babies are brought by storks. The warning comes amid increasing concern over the attempts by religious fundamentalists to challenge the theory of evolution in schools and colleges by teaching the idea that god created the world, as if it were a scientific theory.
Source:- The Guardian, Wednesday 12 April 2006, page 4

Hewitt warns of more NHS job cuts to reduce deficits
Patricia Hewitt will tell a Downing Street seminar on the cash crisis in the NHS that the shake up of job is a short term pain to guarantee a service free at the point of use for the future. But there will be a at least a “year of turbulence” as trusts eliminate deficits that have been hidden for years but have now been exposed by reforms.
Source:- The Independent, Wednesday 12 April 2006, page 18

100,000 jobs will vanish in health reforms, says thinktank
At least 100,000 NHS employees will lose their jobs in the government carries through the health reforms Tony Blair wants, according to a report from thinktank Reform.
Source:- The Guardian, Wednesday 12 April 2006, page 8

NHS trust cuts 500 jobs as it fails to resolve debts
Up to 500 hospital jobs are to go at West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust, bringing the nationwide total of job losses announced in recent weeks to more than 7,600 as the NHS struggles to overcome an overall budget deficit that some estimates suggest could be more than £800 million this year. The prime minister is meeting with health ministers today to discuss a financial recovery plan.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph, Wednesday 12 April 2006, page 6

Clarke presses on with police mergers despite opposition from forces
The government pressed on with more mergers of constabularies yesterday despite strong opposition in the areas affected.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph, Wednesday 12 April 2006, page 10

Teachers raise alarm over lost childhoods
Parents are allowing children to miss out on childhood by letting them wear sexy clothes and share the burden of adult concerns, teachers said yesterday.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph, Wednesday 12 April 2006, page 11

Scottish news

Tough love scheme to beat antisocial behaviour
A scheme to help problem families end their antisocial behaviour is to be expanded across Scotland at a cost of £2 million.
Cathy Jamieson, the justice minister, hailed a successful project in Dundee, and announced similar measures to be adopted for three more areas, South Lanarkshire, Falkirk, and Perth and Kinross, over the next two years.
The schemes bring together health, housing and social work professionals to provide intensive supervision and intervention for the worst cases of dysfunctional families whose antisocial behaviour distresses their neighbourhoods.
Source:- The Herald, Wednesday 12 April 2006

Police on horseback to tackle sex pests
Mounted police will be used to patrol indecent exposure “hotspots” as part of a crackdown on sex offenders. The horses will be used by Fife Constabulary to provide a greater presence in quiet areas popular with sex offenders. Council workmen will be told to make sure overgrown plants are cut back and street lighting is improved.
Source:- The Scotsman, Wednesday 12 April 2006

Welsh news

Why teachers need to get tough on pupils
Teachers will call for a zero tolerance approach to badly behaved pupils in Welsh schools today.
The teachers will make the argument at a conference being held by teaching union NASUWT in Birmingham.
NASUWT members in Wales want violent and disruptive pupils to be educated outside mainstream schools.
Source:- Western Mail, Wednesday 12 April 2006

Youth threatened couple with an axe
A teenager who robbed a young couple and their baby in Newport while wielding an axe was sentenced to two years in youth custody yesterday.
Ellis Abdie, 18, demanded money from Lisa Davis and said he would attack her boyfriend Scott Morgan in front of their child unless she complied.
Morgan was unable to help deal with Abdie as he was on crutches at the time.
The incident ended with Abdie robbing the couple and pushing their two-year-old baby Liam down a street.
Source:- Western Mail, Wednesday 12 April 2006