Teachers accused of abusing pupils should be granted the same level of anonymity, the Tories have said. The Conservatives want immediate legislation to give teachers a statutory guarantee of anonymity at least until a criminal charge is brought against them to help protect against malicious claims.Tim Collins, the shadow education secretary, said most teachers accused [...]
It’s getting worse for vulnerable parents
October 19, 2004 from Leave a Comment
Two months ago, health.telegraph explored the problem of children being taken into care after their parents had been falsely accused of ill-treatment. Since then, reports Cassandra Jardine, more than 40 couples have defied the rules of secrecy to tell of their own experiencesSince the acquittal of Sally Clark, Angela Cannings and Trupti Patel, a large [...]
Tories promise Bill to protect teachers against false abuse allegations
October 6, 2004 from Leave a Comment
Schools news Teachers question Tory promises John MartinWednesday October 6, 2004 Unions have cautiously welcomed a pledge by the Conservatives to introduce a bill to give teachers legal protection against false allegations from pupils – but have questioned how it would work in practice.The shadow education secretary, Tim Collins, told the Conservative party conference in [...]
Teachers in Northern Ireland threaten strike action
October 4, 2004 from Leave a Comment
Teachers at a Northern Ireland college are to take strike action over the treatment of a colleague cleared of sexual assault. Fifty-four members of the NASUWT at Laurelhill Community College in County Antrim plan to strike from 7 October to highlight what they say is “gross mismanagement” of the situation. Senior union officials have been [...]
Early guilty pleas may earn discounts on jail terms
September 21, 2004 from Leave a Comment
In a move that will bring hoirror to all those who maintain their innocence and have been wrongly accused the Sentencing Commission chaired by Lord Woolfe have recommended that early guilty please might attract a discount. A report in todays Guardian states:”Defendants facing murder charges will be encouraged to plead guilty early to cut a [...]
I will not be bought
September 13, 2004 from Leave a Comment
A MAN who claims he was the victim of abuse at the hands of Catholic priests has vowed he will not be silenced.Jim Beresford, 56, of Raw Nook Road, Salendine Nook, says he was physically and sexually abused as a teenager while attending an industrial school near Dublin in the early 1960s.Now solicitor Jonathan Dixon, [...]
Children of falsely accused parents taken away from home
August 2, 2004 from Leave a Comment
Social workers who believe that parents have harmed their children say they always act ‘in the best interests of the child’. But what happens to those parents who protest – and believe that they can prove – their innocence? In a two-part investigation into the closed world of child protection, Cassandra Jardine hears from families [...]
Children are taken away – but the system can’t admit it’s wrong
August 2, 2004 from Leave a Comment
Children are taken away – but the system can’t admit it’s wrong By Cassandra Jardine(Filed: 02/08/2004) Social workers who believe that parents have harmed their children say they always act ‘in the best interests of the child’. But what happens to those parents who protest – and believe that they can prove – their innocence? [...]
Fight to stop another Soham
July 30, 2004 from Leave a Comment
NORTH Wales Police are prepared to go to court to ensure criminal records are not destroyed.They have refused calls to weed out old information, saying a government body ordering the update is in the wrong.The move comes in the wake of the Bichard Inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the Soham murders.There was severe criticism of [...]
Review warns of more wrongful cot death convictions
July 25, 2004 from Leave a Comment
More than two dozen parents may have been wrongly convicted of killing their babies, the Attorney General has revealed, suggesting that miscarriages of justice over cot deaths may be more widespread than feared. In almost one in eight cases so far checked by Lord Goldsmith, the conviction has now been judged potentially unsafe. Among them [...]
Concerns over repressed memory therapy [Australia]
July 23, 2004 from Leave a Comment
The Victorian government will reportedly conduct an investigation into the practice of repressed memory therapy.The government revealed plans it would look into who was practising repressed memory therapy and the training they had received, according to a report on the ABC TV program Stateline.The Health Services Commissioner will oversee the inquiry which is expected to [...]
A return to tradition in schools – and common sense?
July 9, 2004 from Leave a Comment
A return to traditional school uniforms, the house system and competitive sport was announced by the Government yesterday.The back to basics agenda forms part of Labour’s five-year plan to reform comprehensives and make them more like sought-after fee-paying schools. Charles Clarke said uniforms help define the ethos of schools Charles Clarke, the Education Secretary, said [...]
When the detector lies: why polygraph use will be restricted
May 29, 2004 from Leave a Comment
Developed from an idea by William Marston, the creator of Wonder Woman, the polygraph has long been a feature of Hollywood films, detective novels and more recently daytime talk shows. But serious questions have been raised about the use of lie detectors when it comes to the criminal justice system. Those involved in the Home [...]
Sex offenders to be tracked after jail – use of lie detectors
May 28, 2004 from Leave a Comment
The home secretary, David Blunkett, today confirmed his intention to introduce prison without bars for sex offenders by extending satellite tracking and subjecting them to lie detector tests once they leave prison. Mr Blunkett’s outlined his plans for tracking sex offenders while campaigning alongside Tony Blair in his Sheffield constituency.Political onlookers are widely expecting to [...]
How Soham could shape privacy laws
May 27, 2004 from Leave a Comment
The infamy of the Soham murders and the need to protect the pair from vengeance will see to that. But the more immediate concern for the government is how to respond to the Bichard Inquiry’s report into how police checks failed to prevent Ian Huntley getting a job at a school. Its findings will land [...]
Trainee teacher cleared of assault – vows never to return to teaching
March 26, 2004 from Leave a Comment
A trainee teacher cleared of fondling a pupil’s breast said yesterday that the incident had put him off the profession for good. Jonathan Dunning-Davies, who was acquitted by a Hull crown court jury, said that credulity towards students’ false allegations had made the job impossible. Speaking after the hearing, at which Judge Stuart Brown QC [...]
Australia face male teacher recruitment crises – applicants put off by fear of being falsely accused
March 11, 2004 from Leave a Comment
The Government yesterday introduced a bill to Federal Parliament to allow schools to discriminate in favour of men to address the shortage of male teachers…However, attracting those applicants could be difficult as young men were still turned off teaching for fear of being falsely accused of child abuse. The Daily Telegrapah (AUS)
Abuse by Proxy – Let child crime database list professionals as well as perpetrators
March 7, 2004 from Leave a Comment
Children’s Minister Mrs Margaret Hodge is to spend £100 million to provide a massive computer containing details of every single one of Britain’s 11 million children. This is supposed to stop another case like that of Victoria Climbié, the child who was tortured to death by her aunt and the aunt’s lover. Mrs Hodge explained [...]
Child protection reform could lead to false abuse claims warns expert
March 4, 2004 from Leave a Comment
Government plans to set up a sophisticated tracking system to keep tabs on every child in England could lead to parents being falsely accused of child abuse, child welfare experts warned today.An electronic file would be created on every child to record warning signs of abuse and neglect, including professionals’ concerns and theories, in a [...]
Radio 4 – Andy Sutton Whistleblowing and Waterhouse
March 2, 2004 from Leave a Comment
Not long after he came to power, Tony Blair promised that the Labour Government would root out wrong-doing in Britain’s town halls. But File on 4 this week asks how much impact that pledge has had on the ground. In a special investigation, Angus Stickler examines the way one local authority has conducted its business. [...]
Police Clash With Data Watchdog
February 25, 2004 from Leave a Comment
The most senior police officers in the country condemned the Government’s Information Commissioner yesterday, accusing him of undermining the safety of children by ordering the destruction of valuable criminal intelligence. The Association of Chief Police Officers said Richard Thomas had demanded that police forces delete convictions for violence and allegations of sexual assault from computer [...]
Child Abuse Victims Accused of False Claims by LOVE and BFMS
February 19, 2004 from Leave a Comment
The Irish Republic’s Child Abuse Commission is seriously flawed, encouraging people who have not been abused to seek compensation and accuse innocent people, it was claimed today.The British False Memory Society and Irish group Let Our Voices Emerge (LOVE) criticised the commission and claimed the scale of alleged abuse in Ireland was incredulous and caused [...]
Sheffield teacher warns that innocent teachers may be harmed by new regulations
February 19, 2004 from Leave a Comment
A SHEFFIELD-based teacher’s union leader today warned proposed new methods of storing information about suspected criminals could put his members at risk. Dave Battye of the NASUWT urged the Government to be cautious in implementing guidelines on sharing information about arrests of people suspected of a crime.It follows proposals submitted to the Bichard Inquiry into [...]
Former care home resident at Bryn Estyn turned down for child care post
February 17, 2004 from Leave a Comment
A MAN who was abused when he lived in a North Wales care home was shocked to be bracketed with Soham murderer Ian Huntley when he applied for a job as a social worker. Darren Laverty, 36, was physically abused at the notorious Bryn Estyn home in Wrexham and later gave evidence to the North [...]
Blair criticised over apology to innocent Guildford Four and the McGuire Seven
February 11, 2004 from
This item first appeared on the F.A.C.T. website on 10th February 2005 Members of INNOCENT, the Manchester-based group of families and friends of miscarriage of justice victims reacted angrily to Tony Blair’s apology to the Guildford Four and Maguire Seven. They were very pleased for these eleven victims and their families. What miscarriage of justice [...]