Training for doctors to treat alcoholics
Doctors are to be trained to identify and treat problem drinkers, the
Department of Health announced yesterday (Nigel Hawkes writes). Over the
next decade 60,000 new doctors with alcohol training will graduate from
medical schools, Dawn Primarolo, the Health Minister, told the British
Medical Association’s public health conference in London.
She said: “Doctors and nurses are our eyes and ears when it comes to
identifying problem drinkers. It’s absolutely essential we give them the
training they need [to help drinkers].”
Alcohol Concern welcomed the training but pointed out that it should be as
part of a package of measures including incentives for GPs to raise
alcohol-related issues with patients.
Pension continuation
Public sector employees who volunteer in developing countries will continue to
receive pension contributions. The Government has created a £13 million
fund, available to doctors, nurses, police officers and teachers who leave
the UK between April this year and March 2011 for between seven and
twenty-four months.
£1bn donations
Charitable donations made on credit and debit cards exceeded £1 billion for
the first time last year, figures showed. The figure was up from £842
million in 2006, according to the APACS payments body. The average value of
a donation made using a credit or debit card during 2007 was £44.75.
Greene windfall
A first edition of Graham Greene’s Rumour at Nightfall that had
been handed into an Oxfam charity shop was sold yesterday for a record price
of £15,000. Bloomsbury Auctions in London sold it on behalf of Oxfam. It had
been estimated to make between £6,000 and £8,000.
Heathrow charge
A 27-year-old man is to appear at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court today charged
with aircraft endangerment. Ketheeswaran Uthayakumar, of no fixed abode, was
arrested near the northern runway of Heathrow yesterday during an incident
that caused flight cancellations.
Cambridge drops language demand
Cambridge University is to drop its requirement for a GCSE in a foreign
language in an attempt to attract more applicants from state schools
(Alexandra Frean writes). The university said its hand was forced by a big
decline in the number of pupils from state schools studying modern
languages. The Government took a decision in 2004 that the study of foreign
languages should no longer be compulsory and today fewer than half of pupils
at state schools study a language to GCSE and only 17 per cent of state
schools require children to study a foreign language after 14. The
university said that it was the biggest change to its admissions criteria
since it scrapped the requirement for a Latin qualification in the 1960s.
Car driven at police
Two teenagers aged 14 and 15 were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder
after a car was driven at two armed policemen in Battersea, South London, at
1am yesterday.
One of the officers was dragged under the vehicle for 6ft while the other went
over the bonnet. The car then collided with an armed response vehicle parked
around the corner, injuring three other officers. Their injuries are not
said to be life-threatening. The youths were being held in custody.
MPs fear further lists
MPs are considering mounting a legal challenge to keep their home addresses
private after details of their expenses were made public.
Political leaders and MPs reacted with shock at the disclosure of the
so-called “John Lewis” list, which showed the maximums MPs can claim for
household goods, including up to £10,000 for a new kitchen.The Commons
Commission is now considering whether there are any legal grounds for
appealing against the disclosure of MPs’ second home addresses.
Tea ‘good for heart’
Women who drink tea are less likely to develop blockages in their arteries, a
French study reports in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.
The more tea they drink, the less likely they are to have “plaques” in their
carotid arteries, reducing risks of heart attacks and strokes. A team from
Lille found the plaques in 44 per cent of women who did not drink tea, 42.5
per cent of those who drank one to two cups a day and 33.7 per cent who
drank more than three cups. Men did not appear to receive the same benefit.
Footballer cleared of rape allegations
Allegations of rape against the Manchester United footballer Jonny Evans have
been dropped. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said there was
“insufficient evidence” to prosecute the 20-year-old Northern Ireland
international, who was arrested after an incident at the club’s Christmas
party on December 17 last year.
A 26-year-old woman claimed that she had been raped as players danced and
drank at a hotel in Manchester city centre.
Police received a call that a woman had been raped in the early hours of
December 18. Evans, who was 19 at the time, was arrested later that day and
spent the night in the cells.
He was released on bail and kept silent publicly about the incident, while
reportedly telling friends he had not raped anyone.
Yesterday the CPS said there was no chance of securing a conviction in the
case. Greater Manchester Police said they had presented a dossier of
evidence to the CPS that had led to the decision.
A spokeswoman for the force added that no charges would be brought against the
alleged victim.
Fortnums cashier stole £91,000
A Fortnum & Mason cashier who stole more than £90,000 to feed her
obsession for shopping was jailed for two years.
Sheila Chivers, 55, a trusted section chief who had worked at the store in
Piccadilly, Central London, for nearly two decades, pocketed ever-larger
sums over nearly a year. She bought jewellery, including a £590 diamond
ring, clothes, double glazing and a bathroom, and spent £3,108 on curtains.
As time passed she grew bolder, graduating from an initial “test” theft of
£800 to an £18,000 “milking” in the busy weeks before Christmas. Southwark
Crown Court was told that she would have stole much more if an office
trainee had not stumbled across the hole in the accounts. Chivers, of
Mitcham, Surrey, denied theft, insisting that someone else must have been
the thief because the extra money in her life had come from her two sons.
But investigators found that each of the 95 thefts occurred only when she was
on duty. They jury convicted her on ten counts of theft.
Cheeky speeding biker is spared jail
A motorcyclist who was photographed making a rude gesture at a speed camera as
he raced by has avoided jail.
Patrick Sheehan-Dinler, a road worker, was snapped 65 times by the same camera
on a 30mph road at speeds of up to 88mph, Luton Crown Court was told. The
29-year-old from Borehamwood, Herts, owned seven high-powered bikes
registered under false names. He received a six-month sentence, suspended
for 18 months, and ordered to carry out 200 hours’ community service. Judge
Barbara Mensah told him: “Offences of this nature divert valuable police
time.”
Dormice wake to an eager audience
Dormice, having spent the best part of seven months fast asleep, are expected
to start waking from their hibernation soon (Lewis Smith writes).
Among the first to rise will be those on the West Dean Woods Nature Reserve in
Sussex which is running a monitoring scheme with the Sussex Wildlife Trust.
Observations of the creatures are designed to establish their numbers,
distribution and to identify the best types of habitat. Lessons provided
should help conservationists to bolster the reclusive species by improving
habitat available to them.
