Baby Peter abusers sentenced

The mother of Baby P has been sentenced to an indefinite jail term for causing or allowing the death of her child.

The twenty seven year old must serve a minimum of five years in jail, including the twenty one months she has already been imprisoned following Peter’s death in August 2007.

Once her five year jail term has been served, she will only be released if she is no longer considered a risk to children – a point which was stressed by the judge in his summation when he said that both she and her boyfriend should be removed from children for a long time.

The judge also pointedly remarked that he did not believe that anyone in the small house in Haringey where Baby Peter was abused was unaware of what was happening to him, contradicting the mother’s argument that she did not know what was going on.

Her boyfriend, who Peter called “dad”, has also been jailed for twelve years for his part in the toddler’s death.

He has also been sentenced to a life sentence, minimum of ten years, after he was convicted on May 1 of raping a two-year-old girl.

Lodger Jason Owen, has also been jailed for a minimum of three years.

The reporting restrictions have still not been lifted from Baby Peter’s mother or her boyfriend.

Joanna gets the job done for the Gurkhas

All Gurkha veterans who retired before 1997 with at least four years’ service will be allowed to settle in the UK, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has said.

Ms Smith told MPs she was “proud to offer this country’s welcome to all who have served in the brigade of Gurkhas”.

Her announcement followed a high-profile campaign by actress Joanna Lumley and other supporters – and an embarrassing Commons defeat for the government.

Around 36,000 Gurkhas who left before 1997 were previously refused habitation in the United Kingdom.

Ms Lumley, who has become the public face of the Gurkhas’ campaign described Gordon Brown as a “brave man who has made today a brave decision on behalf of the bravest of the brave.”

Gurkhas, who are recruited from Nepal, have been part of the British Army for almost 200 years.

A Quacking Effort

A man who saved a mother duck and her ducklings made news across the world yesterday as people flocked to watch him catch falling ducklings, lead them through a parade and restore them to the safety of the waters.

Second largest economy suffering

Japan has announced that it is in the deepest economic crisis the country has experienced since World War II.
Japan’s economy shrank at the fastest rate ever recorded during the first three months of this year officials figures have shown.
This unprecedented  weakening of the world’s second largest economy is attributed to export problems during the recession.
Ryutaro Nagayama, marketing manager, Nagayama S.p.A (a fashion company which distribute clothes throughout South East Asia and the EU), said: “The last year has been very tough for us, and the financial situation has got even worse since the turn of the year.
“We have not been hit too badly  but the economy has been ravaged.”
The government says the slump is worse than the 1990s recession: a decade of economic stagnation and deflation for the country.
Japan’s economy contracted 3.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, official data reported.
Mr Nagayama said: “The government keep saying everything will be alright, but so far have offered no solution to help business owners.
“We are trying to focus on the positives, but there are no signs of it getting better yet.”
Japanese share prices have been impacted by the data, with the Nikkei-225 index ending down 0.38 percent.

Oil prices hit six month high

Oil prices have hit six-month highs, breaking through $60 a barrel as investors wait for vital US inventory figures.
US light crude rose to $60.70 a barrel, while London Brent reached $59.18.
US crude fell to under $60 on May 19, and was further lowered by official data indicating a record fall in the number of new homes built in the US.

Future of Scottish Mortgage lenders unclear

Continuously changing mortgage data is leading to unhelpful housing market predictions according to Scottish lenders.
The latest figures came from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), who said the total amount of mortgage lending fell back again in April.
A concerned spokesman for the Royal Bank of Scotland, who did not want to be named, said: “The way it stands currently, information on lending says it’s going up one month, and the next it’s going down.”
  CML said the amount lent by its members stood at £10.4bn, down from £11.4bn in March, and was 60% lower than in April 2008.
However, these are UK-wide figures, and are thought by many to be unreflective of the Scottish housing market.
Countrywide has posted agents reports saying that on the whole, West of Scotland housing stock is going up, as more people sell their houses.
A spokesman from Countrywide, who also did not wish to be named, said: “As more and more people are putting their houses on the market, an upward shift should naturally follow, but this has not been      adequately reported.”

Going for Gold

Demands for gold by investors have increased this year, but sales of gold jewellery by ordinary consumers have decreased.

 

Gold is seen as a secure purchase in times of recession, whilst gold jewellery is viewed as an unneccessary luxury.

Fashion trends which have favoured silver and costume jewellery in recent years may have accounted for some of this consumer trend, but careful customer purchases are thought to be the main reason.

Scottish pawnbrokers have been seen advertising for gold jewellery in a bid to take advantage of the increasing demand for solid gold as investment.

Scottish retail figures up from last year

Retail sales figures in Scotland are up significantly from last year.
According to the Scottish Retail Consortium, total sales in April were up by 8.2% from the same time last year.

Comparing shops that were counted last year and this, the rise was 4.3%.
The Consortium attributes this to the warmer weather this year, and the timing of Easter.
As a result of the contribution of these factors Fiona Moriarty, Director of the Retail Consortium, has been cautious in interpreting the long-term meaning of this sales increase – saying that it’s too soon to say a corner has been turned.
This careful statement is supported by the fact that the a large proportion of the sales increase has been attributed to summer  clothing, whilst more expensive items not    determined by season such as furniture are still experiencing poor sales.
Despite Scottish retailer concerns, consumer confidence is higher in Scotland than in Britain as a whole.

Style savoir faire at Cannes

 

 

However, it seems that some of the stars have been keeping themselves busy elsewhere too.  T4 eye-candy Steve Jones has been spotted out and about with new love interest Hayden Panettiere from Heroes.  Ah, it’s a hard life being famous…

 

 

 

 

 

DiMaggios Killer Jailed for Life

The man convicted of murdering Eleni Pachou has been given a life sentence.

Juan Carlos Suarez Crispin killed Ms Pachou, the trainee manager of DiMaggios in Glasgow’s West End, as he robbed the restaurant while she was closing up for the night.

His mistress Marion Hinshelwood has already pleaded guilty to culpable homicide, after admitting she bought the knife used to kill the victim.

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