Children’s DNA stored on database

June 15, 2007 in Community Care

Children below the age of criminal responsibility are having their fingerprints stored on a national DNA database, the Liberal Democrats have revealed.

They said over 100 records were held for children under 10, with almost 900,000 for those aged 10 to 17.

Police can now take a DNA sample without consent from anyone they arrest whether they are charged or not.

Source:- The Independent Friday 15 June 2007 page 20

Higher STD rates linked to increase in teenage drinking

Increases in sexually transmitted diseases among young people are being driven by excessive drinking and drug taking, a report out today from the Advisory Group on Sexual Health and HIV has found.

In a report which called for the government to take action over the way alcohol is advertised and marketed at young people, it found four out of 10 sexually active 13- to 14-year-olds were drunk or stoned the first time they had sex.

Source:- The Independent Friday 15 June 2007 page 26

Elderly ‘need new rights to protect against abuse’

Experts have called for older people to have the same safeguards as children in combating abuse after a Department of Health-sponsored report found almost 350,000 were abused in their own homes last year, mostly by spouses and partners.

The most prominent form of abuse identified in the Comic Relief-funded study was neglect, often as a result of partners being unable to cope with caring for their loved-ones.

Source:- The Times Friday 15 June 2007 page 4

‘Give black boys a safe haven’

Social exclusion, school exclusion and poor housing are the key reasons why young black people are over-represented in the criminal justice system, MPs say today in a report.

The home affairs select committee has called for more mentoring programmes for young black boys who lack a male influence and provision for disruptive children remain in schools, but in separate areas, to avoid exclusions.

Source:- The Times Friday 15 June 2007 page 4

Weight-loss drug linked to risk of suicide

A weight-loss drug that is widely available in Britain has been banned in America because it results in an increased risk of suicide.

The decision on Acomplia by America’s Food and Drug Administration followed research indicating it doubled the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviour.

Source:- The Times Friday 15 June 2007 page 17

40 staff abused pupils for 25 years

Glasgow Council is facing a deluge of compensation claims after an investigation found that as many as 40 staff at a children’s residential school for young offenders and children with problematic family lives were guilty of physical and sexual abuse over decades.

A report yesterday on Kerslay school in Ayrshire, which was run by the council until it was shut last year, revealed a “culture of fear and collusion” which allowed the abuse to carry on unchecked for up to 25 years.

Almost 20 compensation claims have already been launched against the council by victims, and 15 members of staff are facing prosecution.

Source:- The Times Friday 15 June 2007 page 36

Treat child obesity as neglect, say doctors

Children under 12 should be taken into care if they are obese, according to doctors, after a survey of paediatricians revealed that the condition was a factor in 20 child protection cases last year.

The British Medical Association is to debate the issue at its annual conference later this month, and doctors will say that in extreme cases overfeeding should be seen as a form of abuse or neglect.

Source:- The Daily Mail Friday 15 June 2007 page 10

Priest jailed for helping paedophile groom girl

A gambling priest who gave his paedophile friend more than £20,000 to fund the grooming of a young girl for sex was jailed for five years yesterday.

The money from Father Jeremiah McGrath enabled his friend Billy Adams to shower a 12-year-old girl with gifts; Adams, from Bootle, Merseyside, later raped the girl repeatedly over a six-month period in 2005 and has been sentenced to life.

McGrath, who was jailed at Liverpool Crown Court yesterday, said he had no idea Adams was using the money for grooming.

Source:- The Guardian Friday 15 June 2007 page 14

Scottish news

Ministers to link elderly cash to inflation

Ministers have promised to link elderly care payments to inflation from next spring, while setting up a nine-month review of the flagship policy by the man credited with designing it.

Lord Sutherland of Houndwood, former principal of Edinburgh University, has agreed to review the workings of free long-term care for the elderly. His assessment of the level and distribution of resources to the local authorities that implement the policy could recommend that the payments should be uprated by the five years of inflation since the levels were last set.

With a committee that is yet to be appointed, he is expected to report by next March, with an interim report this September.

Source:- The Herald, Friday 15 June

Abuse rap kids’ homes staff ‘still working’

Staff named in a report into abuse in a children’s home could still be working with children.

Labour MSP Irene Oldfather revealed that staff can continue to work with children until their cases have been resolved. And that’s even if they are provisionally banned.

She spoke out after a report into abuse at the Kerelaw residential home, in Ayrshire, revealed years of abuse involving up to 40 members of staff.

Source:- The Record, Friday 15 June

Mounting calls for public inquiry into reports of abuse at Kerelaw

Calls are mounting for a public inquiry into reports of mass physical and sexual abuse at one of Scotland’s most notorious schools.

A three-year investigation into the Kerelaw residential unit in Ayrshire had uncovered around 40 abusers among its staff.

The findings have prompted major concern in the Scottish Parliament where politicians of all parties demanded have demands an enquiry so that the abuse is never be repeated.

Source:- The Herald, Friday 15 June

Welsh news

Abuse of elderly more likely in Wales

Older people in Wales are more likely to suffer abuse or neglect than anywhere else in the UK, according to new research.

The UK Study of Abuse and Neglect report says that 6 per cent of older people in Wales had suffered from abuse going from neglect through to sexual assault.

Source:- IC Wales Friday 15 June