Move to ban phones in cars after fatal crash

A campaign group has called for a blanket ban on the use of mobile telephones in vehicles after a lorry driver was jailed for causing a fatal accident while talking on a hands-free kit (Alexi Mostrous writes).

Mervyn Richmond, 49, from Oakwood, Derbyshire, was jailed for 4½ years yesterday for crashing into stationary traffic on the A631 near Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, as he spoke to his mother. The conversation made him “oblivious to all around him”, Lincoln Crown Court was told.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (Rospa) said that ban on hand-held telephones should be extended to all devices. “When you are using any mobile while driving you are four times more likely to have an accident,” Roger Vicent, a Rospa spokesman, said. “It is the conversation itself that is the problem, because people get more and more involved and pay less attention to the road.”

Rospa said that drivers should pull over before making a call.

Baby rescued from River Thames dies

A ten-month-old baby who fell into the Thames during a day trip with her mother has died (Lucy Bannerman writes).

Monica Parsons, of Streatley, Berkshire, was initially declared dead after being pulled from the water at Goring, Oxfordshire, and airlifted to hospital on Wednesday morning. Hopes for her survival were raised briefly when doctors at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, then detected a faint heartbeat, despite calling off attempts to resuscitate her.

Monica’s death was confirmed yesterday. A postmortem examination is due to be held in Oxford today.

Nameless witness Bill

Laws to protect the use of anonymous evidence in court cases are to be rushed through Parliament before MPs go on their summer break, Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, said. An emergency Bill would be pushed through by July 22, he said, to prevent a “significant” number of serious cases being put at risk.

Jail for blinding pilot

A man who temporarily blinded a police helicopter pilot by shining a laser at him was jailed for four months. Sentencing Dean Bottomley, 21, at Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, Judge Khokhar Mushtaq said: “There was a risk of catastrophic consequences.” Bottomley, of Brinnington, Cheshire, it emerged in the trial, had previously been arrested with the aid of the helicopter for taking a vehicle.

Call to reduce IVF risk

Better NHS funding of fertility treatment is critical if Britain’s high rate of IVF twins is to be cut, leading fertility bodies said. Multiple births pose the greatest risk of such treatment. Efforts to persuade couples to have only one embryo implanted during IVF fail because so little treatment is provided free, doctors say. At present 23.6 per cent of IVF births involve twins and 0.4 per cent triplets.

Ghost ship licence

A licence to break up so-called “ghost ships” from the United States containing potentially toxic materials has been granted to Able UK, based in Hartlepool, by the Environment Agency, five years after the four obsolete US Reserve Fleet vessels arrived on Teesside. Able has had to gain planning permission to make extensive changes to its base to handle the waste and then win a waste-management licence.

Fine time to give up

Smokers fined for throwing cigarette butts on the street will get their money back if they quit smoking in a pilot scheme starting next month. As well as receiving a £75 fine, they will be given details of the nearest stop-smoking course. If they give up for 28 days, their fine will be refunded. The scheme is running in the Hampshire borough of Rushmoor, with Havant and Gosport soon to follow.

Pray and display

A new parking permit is being issued for religious leaders carrying out official duties. The permit, issued by the London Borough of Barnet, will allow them to park in residents’ parking bays without charge. Barnet council said that the scheme would enable better access to “vulnerable residents in time of spiritual need”. The permits will be open to applicants of all faiths.

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