Taser man dies

A man who died after being shot with a Taser stun gun also had self-inflicted knife injuries, police said (Sean O’Neill writes).

The man, who was in his thirties, brandished a knife and threatened police who had been called to a domestic incident on Saturday night. Officers fired the Taser, which hits the target with a 50,000-volt electric charge, in an attempt to subdue him.

The man then went back into his house, and when police entered they found him in need of urgent medical attention “because of subsequently self-inflicting serious injury to himself”. The man was rushed to Bedford Hospital, where he died from his injuries, Bedfordshire Police said.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission has been informed and a post-mortem examination is to take place today to determine the cause of death.

Tasers have been used 450 times in the past five years in Britain, with, police say, no fatalities or serious injuries. Amnesty International claims that they pose a disproportionate risk to vulnerable people, such as those with mental health or drugs problems or with a heart condition.

Surrogate mother plans eighth child

A surrogate mother who has given birth to seven children over 16 years plans to break records by carrying an eighth child (Yepoka Yeebo writes).

Jill Hawkins, 43, suffers from clinical depression and has attempted suicide. Her family say the psychological strain of repeated pregnancy, and giving the babies away, has had an adverse effect on her mental health. The news also prompted politicians to call for surrogacy to be regulated.

Ms Hawkins, a secretary, promised to stop carrying babies for others after the last was born in 2006. She now plans to help a couple for whom she has already had a child, after the twins she was carrying for them died nine weeks into the pregnancy.

“I was feeling particularly broody at the time and so I offered to complete their family,” she said. “A lot of family and friends are not very happy with my decision. They think I am missing out on life, but I am not.”

Ms Hawkins, who has no children of her own, will be paid £12,000 after the child is born.

Neighbourly cat saves pensioner

A cat saved the life of a 90-year-old woman who had collapsed. Stanley the cat was visiting his neighbour Olive Rodgers in Southsea, Hampshire, when she fell and hit her head, knocking herself unconscious. As she lay in a pool of blood, Stanley miaowed loudly. When his owner, Patricia Pemberton-James, 57, came to the door of Mrs Rodgers’s house she heard her cat, peered through the letterbox, spotted Mrs Rodgers and summoned help. Mrs Rodgers was released from hospital after several stitches. She said: “I would probably be dead if it wasn’t for Stanley.”

Tragedies ‘warping government policy’

Government policy is often badly formed because it is drawn up in response to tragedies and problems, the Government’s new head of risk management has said (Sam Coates writes).

Rick Haythornthwaite, head of the Risk and Regulation Advisory Council, said that policy was often affected by pressure from an aggressive media and a confrontational Parliament. “We have got to deal with some of the systemic flaws in policy-making within Whitehall,” he said.

He told The Politics Show on BBC One that calls to protect the public sapped self-reliance, resilience and the spirit of adventure. Some risk could be a very good thing, he said.

Average age rising

Improvements in medicine, sanitation and nutrition will drive up the median age of the world’s population from 26 years and 7 months in 2000 to 45 years 7 months by 2100, according to research by the World Population Programme in Austria, published today in the journal Nature.

House prices steady

The Bank of England’s base-rate cut in December may have helped to stabilise property prices, a homes search website suggests. Rightmove says that its prices slipped by 0.8 per cent this month after a 3.2 per cent fall in December. It puts the average asking price for a house at £230,428.

Lupus breakthrough

Genes involved in the disease lupus have been pinpointed by a collaboration that included scientists from Imperial College in London, published in Nature Genetics and the New England Journal of Medicine. Lupus is a complex disease where the immune system attacks organs in the body.

Call to lift haggis ban

The Scottish Executive is calling on the US to lift its ban on the import of haggis. The 249th anniversary of Robert Burns’s birth is celebrated on Friday, but Americans are unable to eat Scottish haggis because of a 19-year ban linked to the BSE scare. The Food Standards’ Agency has said that haggis poses no risks.

Streamline call for the police

Police workers such as community support officers should be given powers to arrest and search the public, according to a plan for radical police reform.

The think-tank Policy Exchange wants a review of the office of constable — with ranks streamlined to abolish inspectors and chief inspectors — and a bigger role for private companies.

Fat is a problem for ‘safe’ millions

Nearly four million people weighing a “normal” amount could be at risk of obesity-related conditions. A study on behalf of Lloydspharmacy found that millions with a normal body mass index could face problems such as diabetes due to their central fat distribution.

Store will stock only British veal

Tesco has pledged to phase out its sales of imported veal and instead stock meat from British calves bred to higher welfare standards. This is possible because 930 milk farmers have agreed not to export their dairy calves, keeping them in the British supply chain.

Immigrants take British names

Increasing numbers of immigrants are adopting British names, according to the UK Deed Poll Service. Muslims with names such as Karim and Muhammad are calling themselves Kevin and Michael. The changes are often to avoid difficulty in pronunciation, it said.

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