More pensioners suffer as council tax bites harder

By Simeon Brody, Mithran Samuel, Derren Hayes and Amy Taylor

More pensioners suffer as council tax bites harder
More than two million households in England, many of them pensioners, struggle to pay their council tax, according to a report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph, Thursday 28 September 2006, page 12

This case was born out of a clash between common sense and political correctness
A nursery owner falsely accused of assaulting a two-year-old girl in her care yesterday blamed modern discipline techniques driven by political correctness for her 14-month ordeal. She was cleared after being accused by council inspectors of assault when she disciplined a toddler by leading her by the arm and putting her on the “naughty chair”.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph, Thursday 28 September 2006, page 4
 
Woman keeps Prescott and the bulldozers at bay
A disabled grandmother won a high court ruling that John Prescott acted outside the law when he approved an urban regeneration scheme that would have demolished nearly 500 homes including her own.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph, Thursday 28 September 2006, page 6
 
Inspector lists basic failures at prison in corruption inquiry
Forty per cent of prisoners at Pentonville prison have been insulted or assaulted by staff, up from 29 per cent last year, an inspection has found.
The probe by chief inspector of prisons Anne Owers also found that prisoners felt more unsafe on their first night than last year, with five out of six recent suicides taking place within days of arrival.
Source:- The Guardian Thursday 28 September 2006 page 6
 
Children in care to get bonus in trust fund
Children in care will get an extra £100 invested in their Child Trust Fund for every year they spend in care and a £2,000 bursary if they reach university, education secretary Alan Johnson said yesterday.
He told the Labour Party conference that the forthcoming green paper on looked-after children would “tip the scales of justice in favour of children in care”.
Source:- The Guardian Thursday 28 September 2006 page 11
 
£16k for jail strip trauma
A mother and her disabled son have won £16,000 in compensation for being strip-searched while visiting another son of hers in Armley prison in Leeds.
Mary Wainwright and her son Alan, who has cerebral palsy, had their human rights breached, the European Court of Human Rights ruled.
Source:- Daily Mirror Thursday 28 September 2006 page 29

Scottish news

Tests to reveal ASBO babies
A 10-minute test which identifies babies at risk of developing antisocial behaviour has been created by Scottish scientists.
The psychological test, designed for women with children under six months of age, will enable health workers to pick out mothers who are failing to bond properly with their child as studies have shown they have a significantly increased risk of having borderline personality disorder as teenagers.
The tests were developed by the Family and Personal Relationships Laboratory at Heriot-Watt University and funded by the Scottish Executive’s Centre for Integrated Healthcare Research.
Source: The Scotsman, Thursday 28 September  

Health fears for children held after asylum family raid
Concerns are growing for the health of two asylum-seeker children seized in a dawn raid.
Oussama Benai and his younger sister Mayssa, who both have health problems, were removed in the early hours of Wednesday morning with their mother Leila and taken to Dungavel detention centre.
The family, who sought asylum from Algeria, have lived in Glasgow for the last three years. The headteacher of their school said the community was “devastated” by their detention.
Source: The Scotsman, Thursday 28 September

Welsh news

Disabled man discharged with broken back
A disabled man with a broken back died within an hour of being discharged from the Royal Glamorgan hospital after a doctor failed to diagnose his injury, an inquest heard.
Walter Langford, 64, broke his back after falling out of his wheelchair on a trip to a supermarket.
An independent assessment found that Dr Sanjay Pandanaboyana’s examination of Langford was inadequate.
Source:- Western Mail, Thursday 28 September 2006