THURSDAY 27 APRIL 2006

MPs say welfare state is baffling
The welfare benefits system has been attacked by the Commons public accounts committee for being “increasingly arcane, unwieldy and baffling” to staff and customers. It said some complexity was inevitable but it contributed to error and fraud worth £2.6 billion in 2004-5.
Source:- Financial Times, Thursday 27 April 2006, page 4

State must provide care for the elderly, urges Age Concern
The “wicked” system which sees 70,000 elderly people sell their homes each year to pay for their care must be consigned to history immediately, Age Concern says today. The state must provide free care for all older people who need it, the charity says in a scathing assessment of social care.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph, Thursday 27 April 2006, page 8

Black people are four times more likely to be murdered
Black people in London are four times more likely to be murder victims than white people, with those responsible for murders also far more likely to be black, according to a report to be presented today by the Metropolitan police commissioner.
Source:- The Independent, Thursday 27 April 2006, page 6 

Murderer raped boy, 10, while freed on licence
Stephen Ayre, 44, a convicted murderer who raped a 10-year-old boy while out on licence from a life sentence was told yesterday that he would spend the rest of his life in jail.
Source:- The Guardian, Thursday 27 April 2006, page 13

Not wasted, not high and not crazy
Sarah Jenner has a condition that affects her speech. When she was viciously attacked in her own home police dismissed her as drunk. She talks about her life with ataxia.
Source:- The Guardian, G2, Thursday 27 April 2006, page 24

Pressure for Home Secretary to reign mounts over fiasco of foreign prisoners
Charles Clarke was under pressure last night to resign despite his pledge to stay in office to put right the fiasco over the release of foreign prisoners that has left the government in turmoil.
Source:- The Times, Thursday 27 April 2006, page 2

Babysitter killed boy, 6, after ‘message’ from TV
A babysitter who stabbed a six-year-old boy to death claimed that he had received instructions to kill while watching a science fiction drama on television, Manchester crown court was told. Anthony Barnwell, 25, a paranoid schizophrenic with a history of drug misuse, admitted manslaughter on the ground of diminished responsibility after his plea of not guilty to murder was accepted. He was detained indefinitely at a mental hospital.
Source:- The Times, Thursday 27 April 2006, page 9

New targets for five-year-olds
Ruth Kelly yesterday announced new targets for measuring the educational progress of children aged five.
Source:- The Times, Thursday 27 April 2006, page 16

Ban on smacking children rejected by union
Moves to outlaw the smacking of children were rejected yesterday by nurses who described how they feared the criminalisation of parents at the Royal College of Nursing’s annual conference.
Source:- The Times, Thursday 27 April 2006, page 30

Drinking to excess lands fifth of young men in cell
One in five young men has ended up in a police cell after drinking excessively, according to a study by the Portman Group.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph, Thursday 27 April 2006, page 10

Scottish news

Why was tagged youth free to murder?
A judge yesterday demanded to know how a teenager on an electronic tagging order was able to commit murder.
Callum Evans, 18, who had previous convictions for carrying a knife, failed to trigger an alarm when he left his flat. However, he and a friend, Peter Clark, 18, were caught on CCTV cameras stabbing and hacking John Hatfield to death.
Source:- The Herald, Thursday 27 April 2006

Record pay-out for sex abuse at children’s home
A man has accepted a £150,000 out-of-court settlement, believed to be the largest pay-out of its kind in Scotland, for the sexual abuse he suffered in a children’s home in the 1960s.
Thomas Wilson, 52, is among 39 victims who have claimed compensation from Fife Council over the actions of its former employee David Murphy. Murphy received a 15-year jail sentence in 2001 and later died in prison.
Source:- The Scotsman, Thursday 27 April 2006

Welsh news

Deadline on schools shake-up
It will become clear today whether a large scale reorganisation of Cardiff’s schools will go out to public consultation.
Cardiff councillors are due to vote on putting the plans before the public but opposition parties say they will vote against this in are effort to stall the reforms.
The council said the plans were necessary due to falling pupil numbers.
Source:- Western Mail, Thursday 27 April 2006