Call for supermayors

Call for supermayors
Directly elected mayors with extensive powers should head city regions throughout England, Ruth Kelly suggested.
Source:- The Times, Tuesday 27 June 2006, page 2
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UK too soft on cannabis dangers
New strains of highly potent cannabis are as dangerous as heroin and cocaine and the drug can no longer be dismissed as “soft and relatively harmless” the United Nations said yesterday.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph, Tuesday 27 June 2006, page 1
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NHS endangered by health reforms, warns BMA chief
Government health reforms are putting the NHS in danger and giving private companies a “licence to print money”, the chairman of the British Medical Association has warned.
Source:- The Independent, Tuesday 27 June 2006, page 13
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Council tax protester jailed for non-payment
A pensioner who protested against antisocial behaviour and litter in her neighbourhood has been jailed for refusing to pay her council tax.
Source:- The Independent, Tuesday 27 June 2006, page 15
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Inmates accuse prison officers of racism
Whitemoor high security prison is facing legal actions alleging acts of abuse by guards against inmates.
Source:- The Guardian, Tuesday 27 June 2006, page 4
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Judges not lenient
Media claims that judges are imposing overly lenient prison terms are incorrect and undermine public confidence in the criminal justice system, the most senior judge in England and Wales has warned.
Source:- The Guardian, Tuesday 27 June 2006, page 4
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Scottish news

Home to blame for patient’s death
A pensioner, so emaciated that he looked like a “skeleton”, died after a series of failures at an under-staffed nursing home, a sheriff has ruled.
George Fairlie was admitted to hospital suffering after shocked members of his family who had arrived to take him out to lunch found him in poor health and raised the alarm. Medical staff were unable to save him and he died a month later.
Sheriff David Pender said that Fairlie’s death in 2002 was due to staff shortages and appalling standards at the £400-a-week Alexandra nursing home, Paisley, following a lengthy fatal accident inquiry.
Source:- The Herald, Tuesday 27 June 2006
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Police referrals ‘swamping’ child hearings system
Scotland’s police forces have been accused of “swamping” the children’s hearings system with tens of thousands of unnecessary referrals.
Shadow justice minister Christine Grahame warned youngsters in real danger were at risk of not getting enough attention from children’s reporters struggling to cope with a soaring caseload and standstill budget.
Nearly nine out of 10 referrals come from the police but more than half of these result in no action being taken.
Source:- The Herald, Tuesday 27 June 2006
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Family lawyers call for more specialist courts
Family courts in Scottish cities – and a family law “circuit” to cover rural areas – must be established to hear cases as the courts struggle to cope with the workload, experts are demanding.
The Family Law Association is calling for a major overhaul because child custody, divorce and other sensitive cases are not getting a fair amount of court time at the moment.
Source:- The Scotsman, Tuesday 27 June 2006
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500 Lothian kids left to care for addicts
As many as 300 children – some as young as five – are being forced to care for their heroin or methadone-addicted parents in Edinburgh.
The children, many still at primary school, are made to cook, clean, shop and look after their younger siblings by parents hooked on hard drugs.
Rob Warren, director of the Edinburgh Young Carers Project, today estimated the number of children who have become the hidden victims of the rising use of heroin and methadone in the city now stands in the hundreds.
Source:- The Scotsman, Tuesday 27 June 2006
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Welsh news

Psychologist struck off for affairs with patients
A psychologist who previously had a relationship with a patient has been struck off after conducting a further inappropriate affair. Dr Steven Manley, who lives in Wrexham, was suspended for three years last October after his first affair but he has now been struck off for good after moving in with another patient.
Source:- Western Mail, Tuesday 27 June 2006
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‘Disabled’ boxer claimed invalidity benefits
A Welsh boxing hero has been claiming thousands of pounds worth of disability benefit while taking part in numerous fights Blackwood magistrates’ court heard yesterday. Keith Jones, 37, of Cefn Hengoed, took a year off from his factory job in 1996 due to suffering from asthma but when he was well enough to return to work he failed to declare it to the authorities.
Source:- Western Mail, Tuesday 27 June 2006
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Cot death research unveiled
Research that could help to protect babies at risk from cot death has been published by scientists at Swansea University. The study found a genetic mutation that may contribute to the chances of cot death taking place in some cases.
Source:- Western Mail, Tuesday, 27 June 2006
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