Call for cut in jail population

By Maria Ahmed, Simeon Brody, Amy Taylor and Derren Hayes

Call for cut in jail population
Drug users are deliberately committing offences to gain access to treatment for addictions, the most senior judge in England and Wales said. Lord Phillips, the Lord Chief Justice, called for better drug rehabilitation provision and said there was a need to increase the number of beds for mentally ill offenders if the prison-overcrowding crisis was to be eased.
Source:- The Independent, Tuesday 30 May 2006, page 13
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/article621869.ece

Anti-social workers
Hundreds of would-be social workers have serious criminal convictions. Official figures list 375 fully qualified social workers being considered for official registration as having records for high or medium-risk offences.
Source:- Daily Mirror, Tuesday 30 May 2006, page 10
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17146976%26method=full%26siteid=94762%26headline=exclusive%2d%2danti%2dsocial%2dworkers%2d%2d-name_page.html

£900 a day to scrap Child Support Agency
The man appointed by the government to scrap the Child Support Agency is being paid £900 a day to find a solution – the equivalent of £234,000 a year and more than the country’s most senior civil servant.
Source:- The Guardian, Tuesday 30 May 2006, page 13
http://society.guardian.co.uk/children/story/0,,1785572,00.html

Child-smuggling network smashed
Police have smashed a child-smuggling network that exploited hundreds of children sold by impoverished families in Bulgaria. The youngsters were trafficked into several western European countries including the UK, but the majority ended up in Germany.
Source:- The Daily Mail, Tuesday 30 May 2006, page 23

Prisoner handcuffed to hospital bed after losing leg
A remand prisoner recovering in hospital after surgery to remove one of his legs lies handcuffed to his bed, his lawyer claimed yesterday.
Source:- The Guardian, Tuesday 30 May 2006, page 6
http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,,1785472,00.html

Loyalists blamed as racist attacks on migrants double in Ulster
Racially motivated attacks have risen sharply in Northern Ireland, according to the latest police figures.  Loyalist paramilitaries are believed to be behind a significant proportion of the reported incidents, which have doubled in the past two years.
Source:- The Guardian, Tuesday 30 May 2006, page 8
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Northern_Ireland/Story/0,,1785490,00.html

Parents rebel at school run by millionaire evangelist friend of Blair
Parents have complained that Trinity, the third state-funded secondary to be run by an evangelical Christian and friend of Tony Blair, Sir Peter Vardy, is pushing an aggressive religious agenda. One parent said children were disciplined if they did not carry the bible on certain days.
Source:- The Guardian, Tuesday 30 May 2006, page 12
http://education.guardian.co.uk/faithschools/story/0,,1785555,00.html

Computer NHS files delayed by two years
Plans to give all 50 million NHS patients in England a full electronic medical record are running at least two years late, the health minister overseeing the project has confirmed.
Source:- Financial Times, Tuesday 30 May 2006, page 1

£3 billion bill for advice to public sector
Debt-ridden NHS trusts using “turnaround teams” to try to solve finance problems have helped to push the public sector bill for management consultants to £3billion a year.
Source:- The Times, Tuesday 30 May 2006, page 9
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2202202,00.html

Scottish news

Untapped talent of disabled people can help economy
Strategies to tackle unemployment will not succeed unless the wealth of untapped talent among disabled people is recognised, campaigners are to warn the Scottish executive.
The needs of disabled people in Scotland are being ignored by decision-makers, leading to failures in key government policies, the Disability Rights Commission said.
The commission is calling on the Scottish executive to incorporate disabled people into its thinking on health, poverty, and unemployment.
Source:- The Herald, Tuesday 30 May 2006
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/62938.html

Hospital places for psychiatric patients plunge by a fifth
The number of hospital beds for psychiatric patients in Scotland has fallen by almost a fifth in five years, according to new figures.
The Scottish executive said the fall in beds – from 8,145 in 2000 to 6,558 in 2005 – for mentally ill people was part of a drive to get patients out of hospital and into care in the community.
But mental health campaigners are concerned the change is moving too fast and there are not enough places in the community to move patients on. They want more beds made available, especially for adolescents.
Source:- The Scotsman, Tuesday 30 May 2006

Pair gave methadone to tragic tot
A couple has appeared in court charged with murdering their two-year-old son with the heroin substitute methadone.
Derek Doran and Lisa Dodds were also accused of giving Derek jnr the drug in the months leading up to his death last December.
The couple were charged on Friday with murdering Derek, who was found collapsed at their home in Elphinstone, East Lothian.
They made no plea or declaration to the charges at the private hearing at Haddington sheriff court and were remanded in custody.
Source:- The Record, Tuesday 30 May 2006

Welsh news

Boys on sex assault charge
Two teenage boys have been arrested in relation to an alleged sexual assault on a 14-year-old girl which they are said to have filmed on a mobile phone.
One of the 16-year-olds has been charged with sexual assault and both face charges of distributing indecent images.
Source:- Western Mail Tuesday 30 May 2006

Pensioners’ house bills at 10-year high
Pensioners now spend more of their income on household bills than every before, according to new research.
The retirement index shows that nearly a quarter of pensioners’ disposable income goes on bills.
The study covered household spending on fuel, water, electricity and gas.
Source:- Western Mail, Tuesday, 30 May 2006