Honour-killing victim told police four times of fears father would murder her

By Mithran Samuel, Amy Taylor and Derren Hayes

Honour-killing victim told police four times of fears father would murder her

Campaigners have demanded an Independent Police Complaints Commission investigation police handling of the case of a woman who was murderered of a 20-year-old woman by her father and his brother in a so-called honour killing.

Following the conviction of Mahmod Mahmod and his brother Ari Mahmod, from south London, for murdering Banaz Mahmod, it emerged that she had told police four times that she feared for her life, but an officer concluded she was making the story up.

PC Angela Cornes later told the jury she had been instructed to doctor evidence by a detective to present the inquiry in a better light.

Banaz was murdered because of a relationship she had with a man of whom her family disapproved.

Source:- The Independent Tuesday 12 June 2007 page 11

Buy-to-let landlords ‘must help disabled’

The government will today publish a green paper on modernising anti-discrimination regulation, which will include plans to force landlords to adapt properties for disabled tenants and outlaw age bias in the provision of goods and services.

Source:- The Times Tuesday 12 June 2007 page 9

Prisoners ‘locked out’ as jails hit full capacity

A record 550 new prisoners were prevented from entering jails yesterday due to overcrowding and were forced to spend the night in police or court cells.

Source:- The Times Tuesday 12 June 2007 page 22

Children’s and family support charities have called for more support for children through the “emotional fallout” of parental separation in a letter to prime minister elect Gordon Brown.

The groups, including One Parent Families, Fathers Direct and Relate, said the government had concentrated too much on the practical arrangements arising from separation, such as residence and contact, rather than emotional support for children.

Source:- The Times Tuesday 12 June 2007 page 26

Working days lost to strikes soar

Over 750,000 days were lost to strike action last year, up from just over 150,000 in 2005, with more than 80% accounted for by public sector industrial action.

The figures come with incoming prime minister Gordon Brown facing a fresh round of public sector strikes over low pay deals.

Source:- The Financial Times Tuesday 12 June 2007 page 4

Cautions for 8,000 sex offenders

Almost 8,000 sex offenders have been cautioned rather than charged over the past five years, figures obtained by the BBC show.

The figures included 1,600 offences against children, 350 of them involving victims under 16, while 230 involved rape, however the practice was defended by the Association of Chief Police Officers, who said a caution still meant entry on the sex offenders’ register and a criminal record.

Acpo also said cautions were mainly used in particular circumstances, such as when a 16-year-old boy has consensual sex with a 15-year-old girl.

Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 12 June 2007 page 5

Children smuggled into UK for sex abuse and slavery

Over half of traafficked children placed with local authorities have gone missing from care, raising fears that some have returned to their captors, a report by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre has found.

The report identified 330 suspected or confirmed child trafficking victims, mostly from China and Africa, but the true scale is believed to be far higher.

Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 12 June 2007 page 14

Agency arrests 83 paedophiles in first year

The government agency set up to tackle internet-fuelled child abuse has said it has rescued 76 children from abuse in its first year of operation.

In its annual review, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre said it had arrested 83 alleged sex offenders, as a result of techniques such as officers posing as children online to attract offenders.

Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 12 June 2007 page 14

Scottish news

Dementia services leave some patients locked up 24 hours

A damning report into dementia care revelaed some patients are locked up 24 hours a day for years.

In its report Older and Wiser, the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland singled out a “disappointing” effort by carers to provide stimulating activities for their patients and reported that of the 29 patient records studied, nine had not left their wards since admission.

Some of those patients who had not left their wards were admitted more than two years ago. The report also outlined a worrying problem of under-staffing at mealtimes in the 16 hospital wards across the country it visited unannounced.

Source:- The Scotsman, Tuesday 12 June

Welsh news

Schoolgirl’s tragic suicide

A Welsh school girl studying in England has committed suicide after being bullied over her Welsh roots.

Sian Yates, 13, who was a pupil at Riverside Business and Enterprise College in Rowley Fields, Leicester, left an undated note saying she had been unhappy at home and school for months.

Source:- Western Mail, Tuesday, June 12 2007

Rhodri backs Harman, not Hain, for deputy leadership

First minister Rhodri Morgan has announced he will be backing Harriet Harman in her bid for the Labour deputy leadership and not Welsh secretary Peter Hain.

Morgan’s wife Julie, the MP for Cardiff North, has supported Harman for a long time.

Source:- Western Mail, Tuesday, June 12 2007