Worst child abuse images quadruple online in three years, says watchdog

Worst child abuse images quadruple online in three years, says watchdog
There has been an explosion in the worst forms of child abuse found on the internet in the past three years, watchdog the Internet Watch Foundation has said.
It said that in 2003 hardcore child abuse accounted for 7 per cent of child pornography investigated by the group, in 2006 the figure was 29 per cent. IWF chair Peter Robbins said the phenomenon was demand driven with sites turning to more abusive and violent imagery to ward of competitors.
Source:- The Guardian, Tuesday 17 April 2007, page 4

Ministers press ahead with Mental Health Bill
Ministers last night have vowed to press ahead with its Mental Health Bill in the face of opposition from campaigners, experts and all sides of Parliamentary opinion.
The bill, which is designed to  introduce compulsory treatment in the community and enable people to be sectioned even where their condition was not necessarily treatable, passed its second reading in the Commons yesterday.
Though peers have overturned many of the bill’s most controversial elements, the government has promised to reverse the changes in the Commons.
Source:- Financial Times, Tuesday 17 April 2007, page 2

Autism sufferers could fall foul of Mental Health Bill
People with autism could be held against their will under new mental health legislation campaigners warned yesterday.
The National Autistic Society said that the Mental Health Bill, which was debated by MPs last night, could lead to autistic people being held against their will in psychiatric units.
Source:- Daily Mail, Tuesday 17 April 2007, page 35

Refugees ‘can sleep at new Sangatte’
Refugees with special needs will be able to sleep at the camp described as a second Sangatte, it has been claimed by sources close to the project.
The French have said that the refugees would only be able to receive food and take showers at the welfare centre in Calais and not stay the night.
Source:- Daily Mail, Tuesday 17 April 2007, page 31

Ministers plan to let private prisons discipline inmates
Prison governors have warned that provisions to hand over to private prisons the right to discipline inmates are a “step too far” in the marketisation of the service.
The little-noticed provision in the Offender Management Bill, which is being debated today, would scrap current provisions where Home Office officials handle disciplinary investigations against prisoners and decide on the use of punishments such as segregation cells and restraints in private prisons.
Under the bill, private prisons would become charged with the “fair and lawful” treatment of prisoners, which the Prsion Governors’ Association claimed may lead to discipline being conducted with an eye to profit and cost.
Source:- The Guardian, Tuesday 17 April 2007, page 11

Black lawyers’ loss
Afro-Caribbean suspects will be hit hardest by plans to cut legal aid because most small, black law firms will close, said lawyers. The Black Solicitors’ Network says changes to the distribution of legal aid could shut two in three independent black-owned law firms.
Source:- The Times, Tuesday 17 April 2007, page 21

Scottish news

McConnell plans ‘instant Asbos’
Labour plans to give police powers to issue “instant Asbos” and impose curfews without having to go through courts.
The proposal for an extension of antisocial behaviour orders would give police extra powers to act without going through a judicial process.
Known as community protection orders, Labour leader Jack McConnell compared them with parking tickets issued by traffic wardens, letting police create “instant exclusion zones and curfews”. They are aimed at moving persistent offenders away from off-licences and troublespots, and would remain in place until a court was convinced that the individual’s behaviour had changed.
Source:- The Herald, Tuesday 17 April 2007

Call to encourage more disabled into teaching
Ministers have been urged to do more to encourage people with disabilities into the teaching profession in Scotland.
The call came after new figures showed there were only 421 disabled teachers in Scotland out of nearly 53,000.
At the same time, the percentage of disabled people entering teacher training has fallen from 8.8% in 1999 to just 4.5%.
Source:- The Herald, Tuesday 17 April 2007
 
Nursing home had only half staff needed to operate
A nursing home has been caught operating with as few as half the staff it needs just a year after a damning report by Scotland’s care standards watchdog.
A spokeswoman for Age Concern Scotland warned the failings were “not uncommon” in the industry and praised the care home residents and their families for complaining.
On one unannounced visit to the Drummohr nursing home in Wallyford, East Lothian, inspectors found there were only three staff on duty when there should have been a minimum of six.
Source:- The Scotsman, Tuesday 17 April 2007

Welsh news

Asbo pensioner threatened with arrest
An eighty-one-year-old convicted of harassment and breaching her Asbo six times was threatened with arrest yesterday.
Dorothy Evans of Abergavenny, who has been described by a judge as a neighbour from hell, had been given until today to attend Cardiff crown court before an arrest warrant is issued.
Judge Roderick Denyer QC, issued the ultimatum in court yesterday.
Source:- Western Mail, Tuesday, 17 April 2007

Woman accused of throwing baby into bonfire
A woman went on trial yesterday accused of throwing a baby into a bonfire while under the influence of drink and drugs.
Tania Rose Williams, of Fforestfach, Swansea, denies the allegations.
Source:- Western Mail, Tuesday 17 April 2007