Fourfold rise in gun crime since Dunblane

Firearms injuries have quadrupled in less than a decade, according to research into gun crime (Sean O’Neill writes). The Policy Exchange think-tank studied trends in Home Office statistics since the passage of the Firearms Act 1997 after the Dunblane massacre.

Despite policies to combat gun crime, levels have risen since the law was passed – there were 9,608 firearms offences recorded in 2006-07 compared with 5,209 in 1998-99. There were 864 fatal shootings and injuries between 1998 and 1999. By 2005-06, the total rose to 3,821, comprising 49 deaths, 476 serious injuries and 3,296 slight injuries.

Hip assessment

The Government said yesterday that most four-bedroom homes are getting an E energy rating (from a scale of A, as the most efficient, to G) in the home information pack assessment. Iain Wright, the Communities Minister, said that if households managed to up their rating from E to C by a range of energy-saving measures they could save £180 a year on heating, £60 on lighting and £30 on hot water.

Olympics disappoint

Nearly two thirds of the public are opposed to the 2012 Olympics, and would prefer to see the money spent on public services or tax cuts, a YouGov survey has found. The survey, for the TaxPayers Alliance, found that 44 per cent of people think the £9.3 billion cost of the Games should go on schools and hospitals, while a further 20 per cent would like to see the money spent on reducing taxes.

Plea for suspects

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, said that suspected terrorists must be shown the “respect and patience” owed to every person, at a conference marking the anniversary of 9/11. Addressing Christians and Muslims, Dr Williams said that torture was unjustifiable when extracting information and, like disabled people and the poor, suspects had human rights.

Sir Trevor not racist

The broadcaster Sir Trevor McDonald has been cleared by Ofcom of allegations of racism after he described the late comedian Bernard Manning as a “fat, white bastard” on the satirical ITV1 programme News Knight. The regulator said that Sir Trevor “obviously and intentionally drew on Bernard Manning’s own style of humour”. More than a hundred complaints were made about the show.

Psychiatric record

The number of people detained in secure psychiatric wards has reached a record high. In July there were 3,723 people in the units, the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health says in a report on the care of people who have been in the criminal justice system before being transferred to the NHS. While the number kept in high-security units has fallen, the number in medium-security units has increased.

BBC put viewers at risk with Games logo

The BBC placed epileptic viewers at risk by screening the 2012 London Olympics logo without making health checks, Ofcom ruled (Adam Sherwin writes).

The £400,000 fluorescent logo, containing rapid, flashing images, triggered at least 22 epileptic fits, and more complaints, when it was shown on news reports. The BBC admitted that the new logo “may have been a risk to viewers,” but blamed the 2012 Olympic Committee for failing to alert the corporation.

Despite protests, led by Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London, the organisers refused to drop the logo, which was criticised for its cost and graffiti-style look.

Older trains better

A rail company is dumping its fleet of 14 high-speed trains and replacing them with refurbished stock — because the older trains are more reliable. The refurbishment programme will cost First Great Western £160 million. A spokesman said: “The older trains with their new engines are five times more reliable. Also, the new trains only have 280 seats and the older ones will be able to seat 515.”

Teacher jailed

A primary school teacher was jailed for six and a half years for sexually abusing young boys. Howard Beattie, 52, abused five boys aged 10 and 11 over a 15-year period, York Crown Court was told. The offences began in 1977 when Beattie was a newly qualified teacher at a school in York. Beattie was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register and was disqualified from working with children.

Boy, 10, drove car

A father who calmed his autistic, visually impaired son, 10, by letting him drive on public roads, has been ordered to attend parenting classes. Derby Crown Court was told that Robert Hanson, 48, who admitted two dangerous driving charges, had no licence or insurance. His wife, who did not know her son drove the car, was given it in a mobility scheme because of his problems and Hanson’s spinal condition.

City melting pots

Leicester is to become Britain’s first city where no ethnic group will form a majority, in 12 years’ time, a study says. Research at the University of Manchester also suggests that Birmingham will reach plurality in 2024. The researchers say the study dismisses a claim made by the Commission for Racial Equality that Leicester will have Europe’s first city with a “majority nonwhite population”in three years.

Onion rings a bell

Onions may help to fight memory loss, Japanese scientists have discovered. Researchers at Hokkaido Tokai University said that they had found an antioxidant, which contains sulphur, in onions that binds with harmful toxins in the brain and flushes them out of the body. They said that the findings could be important in beating brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

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