News round up: Jersey kids’ home pits probe

Jersey kids’ home pits probe

Two pits are being dug up near the boys’ dorm at a former Jersey children’s home where a kiddie’s remains were found.

The inquiry team at Haut de la Garenne, where more than 100 people say they were abused, was contacted by a man claiming he was asked to dig pits in the 70s or 80s.

Read more on this story in The Sun

Judge: baldness is not a disability

A teacher whose pupils poked fun at him because of his baldness has lost his claim that he was a victim of disability discrimination.

James Campbell, 61, a former art teacher at Denny High School in Stirlingshire, took Falkirk Council to an employment tribunal over the issue, saying he had suffered harassment at the hands of his pupils, who saw his baldness as a weakness.

Falkirk Council argued that baldness was not a physical or mental impairment, and therefore was not covered by the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).

In his ruling, the tribunal judge Robert Gall said: “[This] would take the definition of impairment too far. If baldness was to be regarded as an impairment then perhaps… a big nose [or] big ears might [also] be regarded as an impairment under the DDA.”
Read  more on this story in The Independent

Police charged Down’s syndrome boy with mental age of five

When two police officers came to interview Jamie Bauld, a polite, friendly Down’s syndrome boy with a mental age of about 5, he welcomed them with a big smile and a handshake. As the officers read him his rights and charged him with assault and racial abuse, he agreed with everything they said, then thanked them for coming to see him.

Jamie, 18, cannot tie his shoelaces or leave home on his own, nor can he understand simple verbal concepts such as whether a door is open or shut. But his parents said that he was charged with attacking a fellow student, an Asian girl who also had special needs.

Read more on this story in The Times

Alzheimer’s risk to big drinkers and smokers

Alzheimer’s disease develops earlier in heavy drinkers and smokers, a study has shown.

Dr Ranjan Duara, who led researchers, said: “The combination of heavy drinking and smoking cut the age of onset of Alzheimer’s by six to seven years, making them among the most important preventable risk factors.”

Read more on this story in The Daily Mirror

End of net child porn

Child porn websites could be eradicated by an international campaign, a charity claims today.

The Internet Watch Foundation says it counted 2,755 English language paedophile sites last year. But that is down 10% on 2006.