News round-up: Coroner condemns Rye Hill jail

Coroner condemns Rye Hill jail where prisoner on suicide watch bled to death

A coroner today condemned “appalling and unacceptable conditions” at a privately-run prison where an inmate on suicide watch was allowed to bleed to death.

Aleksey Baranovsky, 33, a Ukrainian national, died in a blood-covered cell at HMP Rye Hill, Warwickshire, in June 2006.

Read more on this story in The Guardian

Make greater use of charities for adoptions, councils urged

Adoption charities should be used more frequently to find permanent homes for thousands of children currently in care, the government will say today, in recognition that council-run adoption units are struggling to match children with adoptive parents.

This is one of a series of government recommendations to be made today, aimed at promoting adoption as the best option for many children in care, and responding to research which highlights that children given stable, permanent homes have higher chances of success in life.

Read more on this story in The Guardian

Most mental health patients do not feel safe, survey reveals

The first ever official survey of NHS mental health inpatients has revealed high levels of dissatisfaction with services, with only a minority of respondents saying they “always felt safe” on the wards.

The groundbreaking findings, published today, show only a third of patients felt fully involved in their care and treatment.

Read more on this story in The Guardian

Aids vaccine found to cut risk of infection

An experimental vaccine designed to combat HIV has shown the first signs of protection against the virus.

The vaccine, which was being used in a trial of more than 16,000 men in Thailand, cut the risk of infection by a third, researchers announced in Bangkok today.

Read more on this story in The Times

Assisted suicide guidelines will ease fears, says DPP

The director of public prosecutions has acknowledged that new guidelines on assisted suicide could lead to an increase in numbers of Britons choosing to die at home in the UK rather than travelling to Dignitas in Switzerland, reassured that people who help them would be safe from prosecution.

“Only time will tell. It may do,” said Keir Starmer QC, stressing the possibility was “something which we will take into account” during a 12-week consultation period.

Read more on this story in The Guardian

Complaints against police up by 8%

Complaints against police forces in England and Wales rose by 8% last year, the Independent Police Complaints Commission said today.

The police watchdog said members of the public made 31,259 complaints against forces in England and Wales in 2008/09, an increase of 2,296 on the previous year.

Read more on this story in The Guardian

Panel to investigate Catholic Church abuse allegations

A pilot scheme allowing an investigator to report to a panel chaired by a judge, senior lawyer or member of the social care professions in cases where there is a possible risk but police have judged there to be no realistic prospect of a prosecution, is under way, the National Catholic Safeguarding Commission said.

Adrian Child, director of the Catholic Safeguarding Advisory Service, (CSAS), said the independent investigation procedure would concentrate expertise in handling cases where the police said no prosecution was viable but there was a ”unclarified level of possible risk”.

Read more on  this story in The Daily Telegraph

Glitter is banned from France hol

TWISTED perv Gary Glitter was banned today from travelling to Europe for a two-week holiday – because he’s still a danger to kids.

The former 1970s glam-rock star, real name Paul Gadd, wanted permission to travel to the south of France on Friday.

Read more on this story in The Sun