No charges for 10,000 violent crimes
By Anonymous on Apr 30, 2013 02:49 am 29 April 2013 Last updated at 23:43 ET 
Unlike a caution, a community resolution does not lead to a criminal record
Police in England and Wales dealt with more than 10,000 serious violence offences without prosecutions or cautions last year.
Instead "community resolutions", which can include an apology or compensation to the victim, were used.
That was despite Association of Chief Police Officers guidelines saying such crimes should be dealt with formally.
The data came from 33 police forces in England and Wales who responded to a Freedom of Information request
They were analysed by the House of Commons library after being obtained by the Labour Party.
BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said police were increasingly being encouraged to deal with minor incidents informally to reduce the burden on the criminal justice system.
As part of this approach, known as a community resolution - or restorative justice - the offender apologises to the victim, pays compensation or repairs any damage caused and is given advice about their behaviour.
Unlike a caution, a community resolution does not lead to a criminal record.
The Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) advises in guidelines that community resolutions should be used for "less serious" offences which may include "minor assaults without injury".
But last year a community resolution was applied in 10,160 incidents of "serious violence" - about 12 times the figure for five years ago, the figures obtained by Labour show.
Incidents classed as serious violence include:
- Inflicting GBH without intent
- Assault occasioning actual bodily harm
- Malicious wounding
- Wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm
- Use of substance or object to endanger life
- Grievous bodily harm
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the figures were "extremely serious".
There had been "a massive increase in the number of serious and violent crimes dealt with just by community resolution ever since the police cuts started - breaking all the expert guidance and promises from ministers", she said.
"Offenders who admit to serious and violent crimes - including knife crime, domestic violence, and serious assault - are increasingly being let off with no criminal record, no justice and not even a caution.
"That's bad for justice, bad for victims and goes against all the evidence."
Ministers had "allowed this to happen," she said.
But Acpo's Assistant Chief Constable Garry Shewan said guidelines were in place "to help forces decide where the use of community resolutions might be appropriate.
"But in every case, this decision will be victim-led and above all reflect their views and wishes.
"At times it may be necessary, and appropriate, to use such informal resolutions to deal with more serious cases."
He said "going through a restorative justice meeting has also been proven to have more impact on an offender than a prison sentence or a court punishment alone, as they see the consequences of their actions and so want to make changes in their future behaviour".
He added: "We are clear that these cases should be judged upon their outcomes, not only for the victim, but the offender and wider community."
The Restorative Justice Council - "the national voice for restorative practice" - said it should be "available for all victims of crime who want it, subject to a risk assessment by a trained restorative justice professional".
"When offered alongside the right sentence for the offender, restorative justice can meet the needs of victims of the most serious crimes," director Lizzie Nelson said.
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Prisoners 'must work harder' for TVs
By Anonymous on Apr 30, 2013 03:10 am 29 April 2013 Last updated at 20:13 ET 
Under new rules, films with an 18 certificate will be banned in prisons
Male prisoners in England and Wales must work harder for privileges such as TVs in cells, the government has said.
From November, under changes to the Incentives and Earned Privileges scheme, inmates must "actively earn privileges" - "a simple absence of bad behaviour will not be enough".
Satellite and cable TV channels, currently available in some private prisons, will be banned altogether.
Critics say it is better to do what is effective rather than what seems tough.
But Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said that "in the past, we've sent the wrong message".
Other changes to the scheme will include:
- A longer working day for prisoners
- A ban on films with an 18 certificate
- Extra gym time being dependent "on active engagement with rehabilitation"
- Restricted privileges, including access to private cash, for prisoners in the first two weeks of their sentence. They must also wear uniform at entry level
- Prisoners then put on either basic or standard "IEP level" depending on how they "co-operate with the regime or engage in rehabilitation"
- Those on basic level no longer allowed TVs in cells
The Ministry of Justice said there would also be a change to prison rules "increasing our power to recover money from prisoners to pay for damage to prison property".
The changes follow a review of the prison incentives scheme.
Officials are still working on possible changes to the privilege scheme for women prisoners.
'Lose things' Mr Grayling said: "I want a regime that sends the right messages - turn your life around and there'll be some incentives in prisons, but if you don't engage, if you behave badly, then you'll lose things."
When the new system is introduced, existing prisoners will not lose the privileges they already have unless their status is reviewed.
But they will lose any cable or satellite TV in private prisons.
Prison Reform Trust director Juliet Lyon said it was "perfectly reasonable" to remove subscription TV channels as well as to stop inmates, "some of whom have committed violent crimes", from watching 18-certificate films.
"No-one wants to see 'doing time' equal wasting time," she told BBC News.
"But the world 'privileges' is misleading and it implies there is a lot of luxury in prison, whereas that really is not the case."
She said the important thing was "always to focus on what's effective - not what sounds tough".
"There is no evidence at all to show that a so-called tough approach works," she added.
"But to be more effective, you have to focus on employment and skills training, on making sure people have safe housing to go to and that they have good contact with their family.
"Those are the three things that cut reconviction rates… not getting rid of tellies."
The Howard League for Penal Reform, meanwhile, said it was "bizarre" to introduce "new layers of red tape which will only add to the cost of prison and demands on staff time".
"It is also astounding that the justice secretary spends his time policing what prisoners watch on DVD, to the point that Scary Movie 2 or series three of The Inbetweeners will be banned," chief executive Frances Crook said.
"Instead, Chris Grayling should look at taking our prison population back to a manageable level - giving non-violent people community sentences so something productive can be done with those who remain in prison."
Last month, MSPs warned that prisoners in Scotland's jails were spending too much time watching TV instead of taking part in activities to cut reoffending.
The Scottish Parliament's justice committee said it was concerned some prisoners had "unlimited opportunity to watch television" and recommended guidelines on "the appropriate amount of television viewing time".
Read in browser » Dutch Queen Beatrix to abdicate
By Anonymous on Apr 30, 2013 02:49 am 29 April 2013 Last updated at 22:41 ET 
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Anna Holligan tours the venues involved in the investiture of the new Dutch king
Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands is to abdicate in favour of her son Prince Willem-Alexander - an event which is being celebrated across the nation.
Queen Beatrix, 75, will sign the instrument of abdication in Amsterdam after 33 years on the throne.
Willem-Alexander, 46, will then become the country's first king since Willem III, who died in 1890.
Huge crowds of orange-clad partygoers are expected to flood the capital, to pay tribute to the popular queen.
'Heart-warming affection' Queen Beatrix will relinquish the throne at a short ceremony in the Royal Palace on Tuesday morning.
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People in the Netherlands are getting excited about the new Dutch king
Willem-Alexander will then be sworn at the Nieuwe Kerk, before a joint session of the Dutch parliament.
His wife Maxima, a 41-year-old Argentine-born investment banker, will become queen consort.
In the evening, the royal family will take part in a water pageant.
The ceremonies will be attended by other invited royals and high-ranking dignitaries, including Britain's Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia of Spain and Denmark's Crown Prince Frederik and his wife.
About a million visitors are also set to pour into Amsterdam, and street parties are planned across the nation.
On Monday, Queen Beatrix thanked the nation, saying the people's devotion had given her the strength to carry on during her 33-year reign.
"Without your heart-warming and encouraging displays of affection, the burdens, which certainly have existed, would have weighed heavily," she said.
Paying tribute to her late husband Prince Claus, who died in 2002, she said he had helped modernise the House of Orange.
"Perhaps history will bear out that the choice of my partner was my best decision," said the monarch, who is known affectionately as Queen Bea.
She said hereditary authority of itself did not give substance to a contemporary monarchy; rather this was earned through "the will to serve the country".
Willem-Alexander is well-prepared for the task ahead of him and will stand above party and group interests, she said.
Willem-Alexander has already said he wants to "be a king that can bring society together, representative and encouraging in the 21st Century".
"People can address me as they wish because then they can feel comfortable."
Abdication 'tradition' Queen Beatrix is the sixth monarch from the House of Orange-Nassau, which has ruled the Netherlands since the early 19th Century.
Correspondents say she is extremely popular with most Dutch people, but her abdication was widely expected and will not provoke a constitutional crisis.
Under Dutch law, the monarch has few powers and the role is considered ceremonial.
In recent decades it has become the tradition for the monarch to abdicate.
Queen Beatrix's mother Juliana resigned the throne in 1980 on her 71st birthday, and her grandmother Wilhelmina abdicated in 1948 at the age of 68.
Queen Beatrix has remained active in recent years, but her reign has also seen traumatic events.
In 2009 a would-be attacker killed eight people when he drove his car into crowds watching the queen and other members of the royal family in a national holiday parade.
In February last year her second son, Prince Friso, was struck by an avalanche in Austria and remains in a coma.
Read in browser » Lloyds sees profits rise to £2bn
By Anonymous on Apr 30, 2013 03:11 am 30 April 2013 Last updated at 02:26 ET 
The government owns a 39% stake in Lloyds
Lloyds Banking Group has reported a big rise in profits for the first three months of the year.
The bank, which is 39% taxpayer-owned, reported a statutory pre-tax profit of £2.04bn in the first quarter, up from £280m for the same period last year.
Group chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio said the bank had made "substantial progress".
It said it was continuing to invest in "simple, lower risk, customer focused UK retail and commercial banking".
Read in browser » Shingles jab for people in their 70s
By Anonymous on Apr 30, 2013 02:50 am 29 April 2013 Last updated at 20:31 ET By Michelle Roberts Health editor, BBC News online 
The rash can be extremely painful and blister
People in their 70s in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland will be offered a vaccine against shingles from this September.
Experts have been recommending routine immunisation for some years.
The government-led programme will target 70, 78 and 79-year-olds in the first instance and should prevent tens of thousands of shingles cases a year.
Elderly people are at greatest risk and vaccination should prevent nearly half of cases in the over 70s.
The Welsh government is debating introducing a similar programme
Catch-up campaign It is estimated that, in England alone, around 800,000 people will be eligible for the vaccine in the first year.
Continue reading the main story WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR THE VACCINE?
- From September 2013, year one of the catch-up campaign, people aged 70 and 79 in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland
- In years two, three, four and five onwards more of the 70-79 age group will be offered the vaccine until, ultimately, only people aged 70 need to be targeted
Targeting of people aged 70-79 will be staggered in the next few years that follow until the age group is fully covered.
Thereafter, the jab should only need to be offered to people as they reach their 70th birthday.
Shingles is caused by the same virus as chickenpox, herpes varicella zoster.
The illness affects the nerves and the skin causing a painful rash.
In severe cases it can cause complications such as hearing loss or brain swelling.
Flare up Shingles happens when an old chickenpox infection is reactivated.
The virus can remain inactive in the nervous system for decades, with the body's immune system keeping it in check, but later in life it can flare up again and emerge this time as shingles.
If you have not had chickenpox before, you can catch it from someone with shingles, but it is not possible to catch shingles itself from someone with the condition.
A Department of Health spokesman said: "Shingles can be a nasty disease for older people and can lead to long-term health problems for around 14,000 people each year.
"This new vaccine can prevent some of the most serious cases, giving people the chance to live without the discomfort and pain that shingles causes."
Read in browser » US acts over Guantanamo strike
By Anonymous on Apr 29, 2013 07:48 pm 29 April 2013 Last updated at 19:48 ET 
The hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay began in February
The US has reinforced medical staff at Guantanamo Bay to try to handle a spreading hunger strike by prisoners at the detention facility.
About 40 nurses and other specialists arrived at the weekend, camp spokesman Lt Col Samuel House said.
He said that 100 of 166 detainees were now on hunger strike, with 21 of them being force-fed through a tube.
The inmates are protesting against their indefinite detention. Most are being held without charge.
The hunger strike started at the US facility in Cuba in February and has grown rapidly in recent weeks.
Although such actions are frequent at Guantanamo, the current protest is one of the longest and most widespread.
Guantanamo officials deny claims that the strike began after copies of the Koran were mishandled during searches of prisoners' cells.
Violence erupted at the prison on 13 April as the authorities moved inmates out of communal cellblocks where they had covered surveillance cameras and windows.
Some prisoners used "improvised weapons" and were met with "less-than-lethal rounds", camp officials said, but no serious injuries were reported.
Nearly 100 of the detainees have reportedly been cleared for release but remain at the facility because of restrictions imposed by Congress and also concerns of possible mistreatment if they are sent back to their home countries.
The military detention centre opened in 2002 to hold suspects captured in counter-terrorism operations after the 11 September 2001 attacks in the US.
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