| ABNEY GARSDEN McDONALD - solicitors |
Est.'d 1985 | |||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||
|
7th March
2001  North
Yorkshire police have interviewed the driver of the Land Rover which caused
Wednesday's train crash in Selby. Detectives
- who were investigating the possibility that Gary Hart may have fallen
asleep at the wheel - say he was not arrested and no charges have been
brought against him.
6th
March 2001 5th
March 2001 22nd February 2001 Violence
in Youth Jail (the Independent) or the
BBC 19th February 2001
15th February 2001 How do we feel about sex at 20? At 30? At 40? Do our views change as we reach later life? What do different generations regard as "normal" in the 21st century? In a major survey, The Independent is addressing questions about commitment, casual sex and curiosity. To take part, go to: http://www.independent.co.uk/enjoyment/Sex21/ 13th February 2001 Retirement age to be abolished
BBC News also cover the headline and their story reads "People could soon be able to continue working beyond 60 or 65 under the terms of an initiative aimed at ending age discrimination. The plan being examined by a government working party has been welcomed by pensioner groups. The UK has five years before it must implement the European ban on fixed retirement ages. 26th
January 2001 Rescue efforts have entered their second day, amid fears that the death toll could rise as the intensified search uncovers more victims. 22nd
January 2001 18th
January 2001. In a free vote, MPs voted in favour of an outright ban, rejecting two other options set out in the draft legislation before them. 16th
January 2001 11th January 2001 Army knew of Uranium Risk 4 Years Ago  The
British Army was told four years ago in an official report that soldiers
exposed to dust from depleted-uranium ammunition risked developing lung,
lymph and brain cancer.
The secret report, prepared by the Army's medical team and seen by The Independent, warned that soldiers cleaning and cannibalising vehicles hit by rounds tipped with depleted uranium (DU) were exposed to eight times the UK's accepted safety levels for the dust. 5th January 2001 Relatives Call for Shipman Confession 
The serial killer Harold Shipman has been urged to make a full confession
after a new investigation revealed the possible extent of his murders.
The report suggests that the former GP probably killed 236 patients over his 24-year career, making him one of the world's worst murderers. 27th December 2000 Our judiciary needs to be more representative of the society it seeks to serve Read a searching discussion into the quality and value of our judges in the Independent. 22nd December 2000 Five
Jailed in Meat Fraud Case In the multi-million pound fraud, the men repackaged pet food-grade
poultry and sold it on to supermarkets and food outlets across Britain,
a jury at Hull Crown Court heard. 18th December 2000
But medical advisers to the sport's controlling bodies say that with the proper precautions, it need not pose too high a risk. 5th November 2000 Severe Storms threaten more floods
23rd October 2000 Is Fingerprint evidence on the way out? The infallibility of fingerprint evidence has been questioned by Britain's leading police expert, who is calling for an overhaul of the system to prevent people being jailed for crimes they did not commit.The national head of police fingerprint training warned that "corners were being cut" and he feared that subjective assessments of prints were not being thoroughly and independently checked before being sent to court. 18th October 2000 Government stands by Cannabis plans  Decriminalising
the possession and use of cannabis would be "irresponsible",
the home office minister, Lord Bassam of Brighton, has said. His comments
came as a survey in Accountancy Age suggested that a third of Britain's
top bosses had tried cannabis.6th October 2000 Behind his smile the Pope remains scornful of the English "The Pope has just said that the Queen and her predecessors have been living a sort of lie " Read an interesting piece of comment in the Independent. It makes surprising reading if the force of the argument is correct. 29th September 2000 House of Lords victory on right to trial The House of Lords threw out Jack Straw's Bill to curb a defendant's right to trial by jury last night. 23rd September 2000 Court of Appeal rules on Siamese Twins  Siamese
twins Jodie and Mary should have an operation to separate them, even though
one will certainly die, the Court of Appeal has ruled.
But the parents are now allowed to go to the House of Lords with a final appeal against the operation. 1st September 2000 "Big One" Roller Coaster Crash An investigation is under way after 14 people were injured in an accident on the Big One roller coaster at Blackpool Pleasure Beach.The crash, which involved two of the roller coaster's trains, happened at about 8.30pm last night at the station where people get on and off the ride. Four people were trapped in the cars. Two teenage boys were this morning still being treated for leg injuries in Blackpool Victoria Infirmary. 5th August 2000 Is the home secretary right to accept medical opinion, or should General
Pinochet still be extradited? 13th July 2000 Lawyers to get £40 Million for Human Rights cases Lawyers are to be given an extra £40m to help people bring new cases under the Human Rights Act when it is introduced in October. Yesterday the Government pledged a total of £65m to cover the cost of implementing the European Convention on Human Rights. The Legal Aid budget will get £39m of that to pay lawyers taking cases for those who believe their rights have been violated. And £21m more will pay for the extra court hearings. 23rd May 2000 6th May 2000 Anti Battering Campaign Launched
11th April 2000 The Jenkins case brings into question guidelines on judges' interests, says Robert Woffinden in the Times. The case which is going to the European Court concerns the alleged non-declaration of an existing interest in the outcome of a case by the High Court Judge Penry Davey who is on the Northern Circuit and is going to try one of the child abuse cases interlocutory hearings 26th March 2000  If
you are injured by somebody else's negligence, when can you claim compensation?
How much can you get? And why are civil settlements so much greater
than criminal ones? In the UK, financial compensation is offered to
make up for damage suffered physically, as with a leg injury, or psychologically,
as with stress and depression. - This is an excellent informative summary
of compensation for injuries in this country.4th March 2000 Firearms - a Civil Liberties issue?  In
1998, Americans recoiled in horror after the shooting dead of four students
and a teacher at a school in Jonesboro, Arkansas.Politicians, church
leaders and ordinary members of the community said that it should never
be allowed to happen again. Unfortunately, it did.Since then, the US has witnessed more appalling and seemingly motiveless mass killings, three of the worst being at Columbine High School in Colorado in April 1999, another mass killing in the middle of Atlanta three months later, and a church shooting in Fort Worth, Texas, in September. 26th February 2000 London Train Compensation Procedure Simplified  People
involved in the west London crash or their families should receive compensation
without having to pin liability on one of the three companies involved.
The rail industry accepted responsibility for the collision shortly after
it happened on 5 October and Great Western, Thames Trains and Railtrack
issued a statement to that effect.The situation is further simplified
by the fact that Great Western and Thames have the same insurance company,
St Paul.Bullied Girl taken out of school17th February 2000  A
13-year-old girl who was assigned a teacher to protect her from bullies
has been withdrawn from school by her parents.Amie Salmon, from Nottingham, says she was called names again when she arrived at school on Thursday morning after being featured in news reports and giving interviews on radio and television. 16th February 2000
Children in Care - then and now
12th February 2000 Abuse Victims evidence was Harrowing
9th February 2000 Gill Pugh on the minefield Barnardo's has to tread in opening up its confidential files. In 1995, Barnardo's opened its original records to adults who had been in its care as children. The charity's files, going back to 1866, cover most of the 350,000 children cared for in its homes until the late 1970s. Inquirers had previously received information in the form of a written summary, but now original documents were available. The article gives the different and varying effects upon former children in care when they see their records for the first time in many years and discover their past as it really was. With the report on sexual and physical abuse in north Wales children's homes due next week, former Barnardo's boy Phil Frampton calls on the government to follow Canada's lead by introducing compensation schemes for child victims (A very interesting read - tells of a government compensation scheme in Canada for the victims of child abuse in children's homes many years ago - it seems that we exported this commodity to Canada - See the story on Jacobi v. Curry) 5th February 2000 FA
on the attack as paedophiles target football's talent factories 4th February 2000 Cruelty and neglect kill 1,000 children in decade The Independent 4th February 2000 by Roger Dobson ( a dedicated journalist in this field who has written many excellent articles on the subject) Charity calls for wide-ranging overhaul of procedures as murder of boy highlights deeply flawed review process. Nearly 1,000 children have been killed by abuse or neglect in Britain within the last 10 years, according to the NSPCC, which called on the Government yesterday to set up independent review teams to investigate child deaths. |
|
|||||||||||||||
|
Abney Garsden McDonald, 37,Station Road Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire. SK8 5AF Tel: +44 0161 482 8822 Fax:+44 0870 990 9350 Email: admin@abneys.co.uk or [name]@abneys.co.uk Also at 45 Park Lane, Poynton, Cheshire SK12 1RD. |
||||||||||||||||
This
page contains news about the firm as well as national news items which
appeal to your 
The
men accused of murdering the black teenager Stephen Lawrence could face
a second trial under a proposed change to the centuries-old rule that
prevents defendants being tried twice for the same offence.The Law Commission
of England and Wales has raised the prospect of a second trial by calling
for the double jeopardy law to be relaxed for murder cases where there
is compelling new evidence. The commission will urge the Government
today to ensure the change in the law is retrospective so it could apply
to anyone acquitted of murder. For an explanation on the law see 
The
BBC has summarised links to all the foot and mouth stories so far in
one place, which is handy. Help can also be obtained by going to the
The
chief inspector of prisons has warned the Home Secretary that a youth
jail is "not safe" after uncovering "appalling"
evidence that hundreds of inmates have suffered physical injuries –
more than 90 at the hands of staff.
The
national retirement age, fixed at 65 for men, is to be abolished, with
ministers introducing sweeping anti-discrimination laws designed to
allow employees to continue working as long as they like.
The
lower house of the British parliament, the House of Commons, has voted
to ban the centuries-old tradition of fox hunting with dogs in England
and Wales.
Laws
intended to allow "no fault" divorces were scrapped by the
Government yesterday.
It means couples who want to divorce in less than two years will have
to prove adultery, unreasonable behaviour or one of three other grounds
for ending a marriage.
Five
men who passed off hundreds of tonnes of condemned meat as fit for human
consumption have been jailed for a total of 26 years and nine months.
Many
doctors see boxing as an unacceptably dangerous sport - the British
Medical Association (BMA) would certainly like to see it banned.
UK
Home Secretary Jack Straw has accepted medical advice that former Chilean
dictator General Augusto Pinochet is unfit to stand trial in Spain for
torture.
A
Mexican drifter who confessed to murdering nine people has been sentenced
to death in Houston, Texas. Afterwards, he said he would rather die
than spend the rest of his life in jail and ordered his attorneys to
mount no defence in the punishment phase of the two-week-long trial.
The
NSPCC is launching a television and poster campaign to help stressed
parents at risk of abusing their babies. The BBC's Naomi Goldman reports.
Infants under 12 months are four times more likely to be murdered than
the rest of the population, with at least one killed every fortnight,
according to Home Office figures. A study published in the British Medical
Journal found that up to three-quarters of babies under two taken to
hospital with shaking injuries suffer profound disabilities or die as
a result
The
Waterhouse Report gives the many victims of child abuse in north Wales
homes the opportunity to speak out about their ordeals. "Within
a matter of days I was physically abused and sexually abused and that
went on for two years," one victim said.
Children
in care in north Wales endured years of "appalling suffering",
the UK's largest child abuse investigation has revealed. "It is
a tragedy that such treatment should have been meted out to children
in care," Welsh Secretary Paul Murphy told the House of Commons.
Mr Murphy said there was no evidence of a high-level paedophile conspiracy,
but that a paedophile ring around Cheshire and Wrexham had preyed on
young people in care in the 1970s and 1980s.
"In
the 1970s and 80s residential homes, although not independent, were
run like closed institutions," he said. "You didn't have the
flow of people coming and going that you have today. "You did have
inspections, but if a charismatic, controlling individual was running
the home he could get round inspectors." The second important realisation,
he said, was that the looked-after child must be listened to - on issues
ranging from not liking the food, through bullying, to serious abuse
allegations. "Children's views must be heard," Mr Linehan
said. "If you don't do that you start undervaluing them. If you
do that they'll start to undervalue themselves."
A
judge heading a massive inquiry into abuse at childrens' homes in north
Wales has spoken of the "harrowing" evidence uncovered. Sir
Ronald Waterhouse was speaking at the Listening to Children conference
in London about some of the lessons learned from the investigation into
allegations of abuse. He revealed that nearly half of the 260 witnesses
needed counselling for psychiatric help after giving evidence. 
