David Mills faces trial on fraud charge alone

David Mills, the estranged husband of the Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell, is to stand trial for fraud on his own after Silvio Berlusconi pushed through a law granting the Italian Prime Minister immunity from prosecution (Richard Owen writes). Mr Mills, a former tax lawyer for Mr Berlusconi, will be tried in Milan on a charge of accepting a $600,000 bribe from Mr Berlusconi to give misleading testimony in a corruption case involving alleged tax fraud. Both men deny the charge.

Balls knew of test risk

Ed Balls personally endorsed the failing system of online exam marking despite knowing it was “subject to risk”. The Schools Secretary made the admission in a letter to the head of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority on March 30.

Drunk-friendly streets

Redesigning streets to be more manageable for drunks could reduce violence, scientists say. A team at Cardiff university ran a simulation, which suggested that with a clear path home, fewer drunken fights would occur, New Scientist reported.

GP may be struck off for prescribing ‘suicide pills’

A GP who gave sleeping pills to a patient so that she could kill herself was found guilty of misconduct by the General Medical Council (David Lister writes). Iain Kerr, 61, prescribed 30 sodium amytal pills to the 87-year-old woman in 1998 after she told him that she had considered suicide. He faces being struck off.

Suzanne Goddard, QC, counsel for the GMC, said that what Kerr did was “akin to handing her a noose with which to hang herself at a time of her choosing”. The GMC panel found that Kerr’s fitness to practise was impaired by his actions, which were “inappropriate, irresponsible, liable to bring the profession into disrepute and not in your patient’s best interest”.

The same ruling was made against the Glasgow GP for failing to refer the retired businesswoman to hospital after she overdosed on Temazepam tablets in December 2005. Two days later the doctor prescribed more tablets, and she killed herself, using Temazepam, two weeks after her failed suicide attempt. The panel has still to decide what penalties, if any, the GP faces.

Teenager dies after binge-drinking in Greece

A British teenager who died while drinking with friends in a Greek holiday resort is believed to have taken a cocktail of spirits known as a “bomb” (David Brown and John Carr write). The 17-year-old youth collapsed outside a bar after a night of binge-drinking in the Laganas beach resort on the island of Zakynthos in the early hours of Monday. His friends could not be found and police identified the youth by calling a number for his parents found in his mobile telephone.

Greek police declined to release the name of the victim until toxicology tests were completed. A doctor said that he had choked then suffered a cardiac arrest.

It was reported that the youth collapsed after being ejected from the Cocktails and Dreams Club. There was suspicion that he had been drinking a blend of several strong drinks and a dose of industrial alcohol.

Several bars on the island are being investigated by the police as part of a crackdown on the behaviour of British tourists.

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