A couple shamed a yob by writing his name in the shop window he smashed during a vandalism spree, only to be told to remove it by police in case it harmed his civil liberties. Dennis and Christine Lusby wrote 'Damage Done by Ben Hill' on the boarded up windows of their village store after he went on a drunken rampage.
...'The lad was caught straight away but people kept coming in to ask us what had happened and who was responsible. Eventually Christine wrote his name up there on the window boards. We thought we'd let everyone know who had done all the damage. But then we were warned by the police for writing it because they say it's taking away his civil liberties What about our civil liberties? We chose to quietly ignore the police advice.'
read more @ daily mail
2. mother challenges council over spying powers
A mother-of-three has branded Poole Borough Council "ludicrous and completely outrageous" as she took the authority to court for using controversial powers to spy on her family. The council was accused of playing "fast and loose" in its attempts to establish whether Jenny Paton's children lived in the correct school catchment area.
It is alleged a council official made notes documenting the comings and goings of the mother-of-three and her partner, Tim Joyce, for nearly three weeks to find out if the family lived at an address in the catchment area for Lilliput First School. Ms Paton questioned why officials did not simply knock on the door and speak to her if they doubted her story.
Ripa, dubbed a "snooper's charter", is used to monitor relatively trivial offences by some local councils. The hearing comes as it was learned that Ripa - introduced in 2000 to give the police, security services and Revenue and Customs the powers to spy on people in the fight against crime and terrorism - will be used to track down parents who refuse to pay child support.
read more @ independent3. construction of underground mansion approved
Proving just how much the housing market has gone through the floor, the go-ahead has been given for Britain's first underground mansion. Developers have announced plans for a £2m subterranean property, which will be entered via an unassuming door at ground level and descend up to 50ft below. Several footballers are believed to be engaged in a desperate battle to buy the underground property, in a bid for maximum privacy.
...The plans were unveiled after wealthy residents in an upmarket Cheshire neighbourhood complained about the tacky Footballers Wives-style mansions being built above ground in the area,many of which are home to Premiership stars.
read more @ daily mail
4. hospital staff 'fail patients in dying days'
Four out of 10 patients admitted to hospital close to the end of their lives received poor care from the NHS, a report says today.
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The report says: "Change in the hospital team structure over recent years has seen individual clinicians become transient acquaintances during a patient's illness rather than having responsibility for continuity of care. Staffing arrangements and shift working have also been shown to be disruptive and with the implementation of the European Working Time Directive, this disruption is likely to continue and to impact on the training of tomorrow's doctors."
In one in four cases there was a "clinically important delay" before the patient was seen by a consultant, access to CT and MRI scanning is a "substantial problem" at many hospitals and in one in five hospitals "do not attempt resuscitation" orders were signed by "very junior trainee doctors". The report says district hospitals "may have particular problems delivering a high standard of care when dealing with very sick children", because of the need for a well co-ordinated team.
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