This extract has been taken from the BBC website here Only a fraction of sexual offences in England and Wales results in a conviction, a statistical review says. It said there were up to 517,000 sex assault claims every year, with 54,310 sex offences recorded as crimes by police and 5,620 offenders convicted. Statisticians analysing [...]
Only a fraction of sexual offences in England and Wales results in a conviction according to a statistical review.
January 13, 2013 from Leave a Comment
Universities across the UK consider the issue of moral panics
August 6, 2012 from Leave a Comment
Several universities across the UK are to consider the issue of Moral Panics in a programme of lectures funded by the ESRC. Click here for details of the events. The first event is in Edinburgh Seminar 1 Moral Panics and the family John McIntyre Centre • Edinburgh 23 November 2012 • 10am to 4.45pm Led [...]
Issue 5 of INQUIRY: The newsletter of the Innocence Network UK is now available
July 4, 2012 from Leave a Comment
Issue 5 of INQUIRY: The Newsletter of the Innocence Network UK is now available here This issue is a ‘Symposium Edition’, featuring selected papers given at the INUK Symposium on the reform of the CCRC. We hope you find the content informative. You can see a useful film about the innocence project here
Reoffending rates reach record level
May 25, 2012 from Leave a Comment
This article appeared on the BBC website here on the 24th May 2012 A record number of offenders sentenced for serious crimes had committed previous offences, according to figures for 2011. Some 90% of those sentenced in England and Wales had offended before – and almost a third had committed or were linked to 15 or [...]
Claims of Innocence: An Introduction to wrongful convictions and how they might be challenged
May 8, 2012 from Leave a Comment
Claims of Innocence -an Introduction to Wrongful Convictions and how they might be challenged. Written by Michael Naughton, it is an excellent booklet which addresses the problems faced by those who have had their appeals turned down by the Court of Appeal. It is now available for download on the INUK website as a free-to-download PDF here
Good Enough Caring Website
August 5, 2011 from Leave a Comment
Our attention has been drawn to the Good Enough Caring website which has some excellent articles on it and some tributes to Richard Webster. Well worth visiting www.goodenoughcaring.com/
Reconviction rates published by Ministry of Justice
March 22, 2011 from Leave a Comment
The latest National Statistics on the re-offending of adults released from custody or starting a community sentence in England and just been published. Significantly they show that those convicted of sexual offences against children are the least likely to re-offend. A FACT spokesman said he is not surprised by these findings, which broadly speaking are [...]
Historical Abuse Systemic Review: Residential Schools and Children’s Homes in Scotland 1950 to 1995
November 5, 2010 from Leave a Comment
Our attention has been drawn to a detailed review of Historical Abuse Systemic Review: Residential Schools and Children’s Homes in Scotland 1950 to 1995. Although written in the Scottish context much of it relates to residential care generally and through out the UK. The research includes an excellent literature review The authors are: Robin Sen, [...]
Review of Child Protection System published
October 20, 2010 from Leave a Comment
Professor Eileen Munro has set out her initial analysis on the child protection system in England. She has found that processes and procedures, and the unintentional consequences of previous reforms, are getting in the way of social workers spending time with vulnerable children and families. The early scoping review explains that while previous reforms have [...]
Our thanks to the Manifesto Club
September 20, 2010 from Leave a Comment
We would like to thank the Manifesto Club campaigns for arranging for Josie Appleton to speak at our Autumn Conference on Saturday in Birmingham. The Manifesto Club is against the hyper regulation of everyday life and is particularly critical of some aspects of safeguarding and child protection. For more information see Josies blog here
The mythical memories: How a fifth of us fondly recall happy events… that never actually happened
August 5, 2010 from Leave a Comment
The following article by David Derbyshire appeared in the Daily Mail on the 2nd August 2010 Mind games: Many of our most treasured childhood memories may be fictional From the thrill of a perfect childhood Christmas to the excitement of a holiday romance, memories can sustain and support us through life’s more difficult times. But [...]
Two in three teachers accused of abuse are cleared
May 26, 2010 from Leave a Comment
The following article recently appeared in the Daily Telegraph Fewer than a third of all allegations of sexual or physical harm made against school staff are ever proven, with hundreds investigated by councils each year found to have been made maliciously. Yet the accused can find their career blighted as they are often suspended while [...]
Most claims of abuse by pupils against their teachers are false allegations made maliciously
May 26, 2010 from Leave a Comment
Most claims of abuse by pupils against their teachers are false allegations made maliciously, it has been found. Not even a third of all sexual or physical harm claims are proven, an investigation by the Daily Telegraph found. Hundreds of claims investigated each year are found to be false. The findings have led the NASUWT [...]
Jennie Bristows book review of ‘Researching Sex and Lies in the Classroom’, by Pat Sikes and Heather Piper
December 31, 2009 from Leave a Comment
There is a useful review by Jennie Bristow of Professor Profs. Pat Sikes and Heather Piper’s newly published book on Spiked on Line (here) A provocative new book argues that a combination of suspicion towards adults and officialdom’s belief that children always tell the truth is creating a minefield of abuse accusations in schools. Researching [...]
Book Release: Dr M Naughton. The Criminal Cases Review Commission: Hope for the Innocent
December 17, 2009 from Leave a Comment
Dr Naughtons much acclaimed book The Criminal Cases Review Commission: Hope for the Innocent was published on the 29th November and launched at the House of Commons on the 16th December. Publisher: Palgrave McMillan Introduction with synopses of the chapters ‘Michael Naughton’s timely and authoritative book comprehensively destroys the myth that the central mission of the [...]
Study exposes damage done by false allegations
November 4, 2009 from 2 Comments
Sourced from Sec Ed – a magazine for teachers in secondary schools: Author Dorothy Lepkowska A new study, being published this month, will lift the lid on the impact and extent of malicious allegations by pupils against teachers. The research, by academics from Sheffield and Manchester Metropolitan universities, examines 15 cases where claims of sexual [...]
The teachers who can do no right
October 28, 2009 from 2 Comments
From the TIMES: A report by Professor Frank Furedi claims that a third of teachers have been falsely accused of wrongdoing. Our writer argues that it’s time parents recognised their responsibilities. Who would be a teacher in Britain today? The public may be surprised by a new poll that reveals 28 per cent of school [...]
State databases illegal and not providing value for money
April 1, 2009 from Leave a Comment
There have been a number of reports in the Press regarding recently published research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation into the use of Government Databases. The document Database State reviews a number of Government databases and ranks them according to whether or not, in the opinion of the authors, they meet existing legislative safeguards. There is a very useful [...]
The perils of relying on memory in court
December 17, 2008 from Leave a Comment
At the heart of the recent inquest into the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, the innocent Brazilian shot dead by police three years ago, was a simple question: whose version of events do you believe? Firearms officers recalled running on to the Underground platform at Stockwell and challenging de Menezes by shouting “Armed Police”, [...]
One in ten children may have been abused
December 4, 2008 from Leave a Comment
According to the authors from British and American universities warn that child abuse is much more widespread than indicated by official child protection statistics. One in 10 children may be suffering from abuse in the developed world, according to a series of studies on child abuse published in the Lancet medical journal. The authors from [...]
Huge rise in teacher suspensions
September 14, 2008 from
There has been an 86% increase in the number of teachers suspended on full pay in the UK over claims of pupil mistreatment, the BBC has learned. The Donal McIntyre programme on BBC Radio 5 Live obtained details from Freedom of Information requests to all 204 local authorities in the UK. Among the 40% of [...]
Research to examine why men not attracted to childcare profession
June 12, 2008 from
The Pre-school Learning Alliance has joined up with the University of Derby to launch research looking at why men are not attracted to working in childcare. In the last seven years, just one male student has graduated from the university’s early childhood studies degree course – compared to 377 women. Tim Kahn, inclusion officer at [...]
Research to examine why men not attracted to childcare profession
May 14, 2008 from
The following announcement has been made by Children & Young People Now. The Pre-school Learning Alliance has joined up with the University of Derby to launch research looking at why men are not attracted to working in childcare. In the last seven years, just one male student has graduated from the university’s early childhood studies [...]