Metro NEWS REPORTER - 3rd May, 2012 Misfits star Lauren Socha guilty of racist attack on cab driver Bafta-winning actress Lauren Socha left a taxi driver 'distraught' after she racially abused and assaulted him as he drove her home, a court has heard. Bafta-winning actress Lauren Socha arrives at Derby Crown Court (Picture: RPP) Misfits star Socha, 21, attacked Sakander Iqbal, 52, after she had gone on a nine-hour drinking session. She pleaded guilty to racially aggravated assault on Mr Iqbal, who said he had never experienced such abuse in his 22 years as a cabbie. Taxi driver Sakander Iqbal was left 'distraught' after the attack (Picture: RPP) He told Derby crown court yesterday: ‘She called me a P***, a dirty b****** and said “You’re Asian, f*** off back to where you came from”. She said “Do you know who I am? I’ll have your family lifted”. It’s left me really distraught.’ After Socha, of Littleover, Derby, was jailed for four months, suspended for 12, Mr Iqbal played reporters the phone recording he made of her eight-minute rant. The victim told the court that Socha became angry when she thought they were going the wrong way home. Mr Iqbal, who has lived in Britain since 1970, said she then punched him in the face, although Socha said she poked him. Judge Hilary Watson told Socha: ‘Your conduct on that night was despicable. ‘Society simply cannot accept and tolerate such racist comments even if they are said while heavily intoxicated.’ She ordered the actress to carry out 80 hours of community service, pay £450 compensation and £750 court costs. Telegraph 'Racist' woman filmed ranting on London Underground admits guilt Jacquiline Woodhouse has admitted hurling racist abuse at passengers on the Central Line between St Paul's and Mile End. 01 May 2012 In a hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court, Jacqueline Woodhouse, 42, admitted causing harassment alarm and distress to a fellow passenger. Woodhouse of Romford, Essex, directed an expletive-ridden rant to a man on the Central Line between St Paul's and Mile End stations on January 23. Police launched an investigation after a seven minute long video of the verbal assault was uploaded to YouTube. It has since been viewed more than 200,000 times Telegraph Racist Chelsea fan Stephen Fitzwater banned for abusing Didier Drogba A Chelsea fan has been banned from football matches for three years after he racially abused his team’s striker Didier Drogba. Chelsea's Didier Drogba was racially abused by a fan (Picture: AFP) Stephen Fitzwater was watching the FA Cup semi-final against Tottenham on April 15 when he was heard aiming a racist slur at the player. Other supporters took offence and reported him to a steward and Mr Fitzwater was subsequently arrested by Scotland Yard's football intelligence unit. The 55-year-old from Isleworth, west London, admitted racially aggravated abuse at Hendon magistrates' court. He was given a three-year football banning order preventing him from attending any regulated football match in the UK or abroad and was also banned for life by Chelsea. A Chelsea Football Club spokesman said: 'Chelsea Football Club and the overwhelming majority of our fans abhor all forms of discrimination and believe they have no place in our club or our communities. 'We will be taking the strongest possible action against this individual, who has received a football banning order along with a lifetime ban from Chelsea Football Club. 'We would like to thank Chelsea fans for reporting this incident and others which occurred during the semi-final, as a result of which a number of persons have been banned for using racial and abusive language.' Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/898045-racist-chelsea-fan-banned-for-abusing-didier-drogba#ixzz1tpBzU1NI Criticised: Jessica Leandra Dos Santos, 20, was removed from FHM's pages photoshoots after she caused outrage by tweeting a taboo term for black people Controversy: The public and FHM editor Brendan Cooper today condemned Leandra's use of the 'k-word', which is still considered one of the country's most racially-charged terms Shocking comments: The tweet sparked outrage across South Africa, where race relations remain a key issue just 18 years after the end of apartheid Telegraph Letting the witch out of the bottle Sacred Mysteries: the double standards applied to belief in witchcraft. The mysterious glass bottle at the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford: does it really contain a witch? Photo: Pitt Rivers Museum By Christopher Howse 7:01PM BST 27 Apr 2012 How should social workers “engage with faith communities where particular beliefs, such as witchcraft and possession, cause emotional trauma and physical harm to children”? That was a question posed at a conference on child abuse reported by the Church Times. On page 4, the paper also ran a report about children in Cornwall being offered paganism in their religious education syllabus. “The syllabus allows teachers to respond to – and celebrate – local diversity,” said the director of education for the Truro diocese of the Church of England. On page 7, the paper reported: “Concern about accusations of witchcraft and possession within black and minority ethnic communities was heightened this year by the case of Kristy Bamu, aged 15, who was murdered by his sister and her partner.” His killers had thought he was using the harmful power of witchcraft. So it seems there are now two kinds of witchcraft: the bad kind that black people believe in, and the kind that should be celebrated because it is believed in by Cornish people. It’s not just Cornwall. The Pagan Federation has just been allowed to join the Religious Education Council, which aims to foster religious education in schools. A spokesman said, smugly, that diversity was its strength. In response, the Catholic Education Service is considering its membership. Why shouldn’t children learn about paganism? There are two immediate problems. Just as French lessons and maths lessons do not merely teach about French and maths but train children to speak the language and add up, so religious education has its practical application. The other problem is that if paganism is taught alongside the religion that children’s parents practise at home, it implies that paganism is a religion just as well-founded as Presbyterianism or Islam. It’s like teaching Esperanto alongside French. In Cornwall, the Rev Stephen Wild, a Methodist defender of the syllabus that includes paganism, said: “This area has preserved much of its ancient culture, and if a school is within sight of some standing stones it is helpful if children understand what they represent.” But nobody knows what standing stones represent. The astronomical, social, ritual, pacific or bloody uses they might have had are lost in prehistory. They might have been linked with spring flowers or with human sacrifice. No one knows. What we do know is that there is no continuity between pre-Christian religions in Britain and the various branches of modern paganism. An underground survival of paganism was claimed by the Egyptologist and folklorist Margaret Murray in The Witch-Cult in Western Europe (1921). It was she who donated to the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford a small glass bottle, the accession label to which says: “This is reputed to contain a witch, and the late owner, an old lady living in a village near Hove, Sussex, remarked, 'They do say there be a witch in it, and if you let un out there’ll be a peck o’trouble.’” “No British folklorist can remember Dr Margaret Murray without embarrassment,” Prof Jacqueline Simpson wrote in the journal Folklore in 1994. “Her theory that witches were members of a huge secret society preserving a prehistoric fertility cult through the centuries is now seen to be based on deeply flawed methods and illogical arguments.” But it was too late. The belief became a cornerstone of the religion of Wicca, which was elaborated by Gerald Gardner in the Forties. It was no more an ancient religion than Jedi, to which 404,179 people claimed affiliation at the 2001 census. In the Fifties, Gardner and his initiate Doreen Valiente invented a series of Wiccan rituals. On Valiente’s death in 1999 her books and magical artefacts went to the Centre for Pagan Studies. They might come in handy for GCSE Paganism. 48 hours before polls open, council's Tory leader calls for urgent measures to protect voters 01 May 2012 Police officers are to be stationed at every polling station in Tower Hamlets after the Met launched an official investigation into allegations of electoral fraud. Police officers are to be stationed at every polling station in Tower Hamlets after the Met launched an official investigation into allegations of electoral fraud. Officers will man all 70 polling locations in the borough on Thursday alongside borough enforcement officers to prevent voter intimidation. The measures come as the Met launched an investigation into “unprecedented” evidence of voter fraud in the key London borough less than 48 hours before the mayoral polls open. Police sources today admitted the measures were unusual. Concerned councillors have called for election security to be tightened to prevent a repeat of alleged irregularities said to have contributed to the shock by-election defeat of a Labour candidate in a previously safe seat earlier this month. The Met said it would investigate claims the poll in the Banglatown and Spitalfields ward had been rigged — giving victory to Gulam Robbani, an independent candidate backed by the borough’s mayor Lutfur Rahman. He won by just 43 votes. One-in-seven of the postal votes cast in the by-election was rejected. The Met investigation comes 24 hours after local government minister Grant Shapps launched an attack on the Electoral Commission, saying: “We cannot afford to be complacent.” Councillor Peter Golds, the borough’s Tory leader, said: “The mayoral election could be close. The issue of postal vote fraud and intimidation could be make-or-break.” He added: “These allegations have flown around Tower Hamlets for many years yet previous police inquiries have amounted to little more than perfunctory checks before saying everything is okay. "At last it feels like we might be getting somewhere.” Joshua Peck, leader of the council’s Labour group, said: “The issue goes deeper — having police at a polling station is not going to prevent some of the things that have been going on — about whether people are legitimately on the register.” The police investigation comes after the borough’s returning officer ordered a probe following a dramatic rise in postal votes at some addresses in the borough. Residents in the Spitalfields ward of Tower Hamlets said campaigners had been knocking on doors and collecting ballot papers, offering to post the votes on their behalf. There is also allegations of apparent “ghost voting”, with as many as eight voters — all with postal votes — registered in some flats. Witnesses reported that one vote was cast by a man who had emigrated to Bangladesh and later died. There were also reports of a vote being cast by somebody in prison. Both those claims have been investigated and refuted by the council. A Tower Hamlets spokesman said: “As with previous elections, Tower Hamlets uses a mixture of police and enforcement officers to ensure free and fair elections. The strategy in Tower Hamlets has been reviewed again to ensure we have adequate police and enforcement officer cover for every polling place as needed.” Peter Dominiczak A senior official at Tower Hamlets has rejected allegations of postal vote fraud — claiming Muslim voters simply forgot how they signed registration forms. Isabella Freeman, borough legal chief, spoke in a bid to explain a spike in rejected ballots following a by-election. The Met has launched an investigation into claims of voter fraud. Today the £120,000-a-year monitoring officer was accused of failing to “face up to reality” and accept voter fraud is on her doorstep — ahead of tomorrow’s London-wide elections for the next Mayor and the 25-seat London Assembly. Asked about an increase in rejected postal votes from 10 per cent to 14 per cent, Ms Freeman said this was because “voters have forgotten how they signed the registered application in the first place ... this is not unusual in relation to Muslim voters.” The council would not comment on whether she was referring to language problems, or the use of different surnames within the local community. Police are probing claims that the Banglatown and Spitalfields ward poll was rigged. It was won by independent Gulam Robbani, who was backed by Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman.Of 956 postal votes cast, 135 were rejected. Mr Robbani won by just 43 votes. There is no suggestion he was involved in voter fraud. Tory co-chairman Sayeeda Warsi today said: “We know serious allegations of voter fraud in Tower Hamlets are being investigated by police, yet the councils seem to want to cover it up. “Rather than shamelessly characterising voters, the council should be facing up to the reality that electoral fraud seems to be happening on their doorstep. I urge Londoners to go out tomorrow and use their vote. Don’t leave this election to chance.” The Labour MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, Rushanara Ali, said: “We want the council to take this issue very seriously so the public in Tower Hamlets can have confidence that they will be able to vote in a free and fair way.” Fears have been voiced that voter fraud in Tower Hamlets could affect the London Mayor result. The Spitalfields turnout last month was nearly double that of the previous election in the ward — 31 per cent to 17 per cent. Residents said campaigners collected ballot papers, offering to post the votes on their behalf. There are also claims of apparent “ghost voting” in one block, with up to eight postal voters registered in some flats. Police will be stationed at polling stations across the borough tomorrow to prevent voter intimidation. A Tower Hamlets spokesman refused to comment on Ms Freeman’s statement but said: “The relatively high rejection rate at our recent by-election is testament to the rigorous checks we have in place to ensure a fair election. “Unlike many other authorities we electronically scan 100 per cent of postal votes, and if the signatures do not match those that we have on our records then these votes are rejected in accordance with electoral law.” Stephen Hammond, parliamentary aide to Communities Secretary Eric Pickles, has called for Tower Hamlets to be made to do a detailed check to stop postal voting fraud, including a full audit of every property where more than four voters are registered. Monitoring officer Isabella Freeman is employed to ensure that Tower Hamlets acts and operates within the law. As the council’s Assistant Chief Executive of legal services she is paid in excess of £121,000 to defend its reputation. Council sources today condemned her comments about Muslim voters. One said: “What she has said shows a complete lack of care about voter fraud in Tower Hamlets. There have been allegations about this for years. To ignore it like this is shocking.” The monitoring officer has a duty to report to the whole council if it has broken the law. Peter Dominiczak Allegations of vote fraud in Tower Hamlets have dogged the borough for years. But it was only after an investigation by this newspaper and repeated claims by local Conservative councillor Peter Golds that the authorities took note. Experts say that potential voter fraud could have a serious impact on this week’s tightly fought mayoral and Assembly elections. Following this paper’s investigation in February, Bernard Jenkin, chairman of the Commons Public Administration Select Committee, said the battle between Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone for the London mayoralty could even end in the courts because of the allegations. He said: “If it’s very tight, the poll could finish up being contested in the courts.” Tory co-chairman Sayeeda Warsi has said “supposedly independent activists who are backing the Livingstone campaign” were linked to alleged ballot-rigging in Tower Hamlets. A spokesman for Labour’s mayoral candidate Mr Livingstone said: “Voter fraud is an extremely serious offence — evidence of any illegal activity should be passed immediately to the police to investigate.” A spokesman for Mr Johnson said today: “What is happening in Tower Hamlets sends a message to everyone across London that if they don’t get out and vote for Boris Johnson, who knows what the result could be?” 9:09PM BST 27 Apr 2012 7:39PM BST 30 Apr 2012 9:03PM BST 27 Apr 2012 "I think these days people do get along better with each other. They should get along, and as time goes by I hope that happens more." Elvira Evers, now 59, moved her family out of their home in Compton to another neighbourhood as soon as she could. "I saw so many people die, so many people shot, or robbed," she said. "But we have to go forward. I pray to God that people can live their lives together. I see it getting better, and they have cleaned things up, but it's going to take some time." The riots exploded, on the day before Miss Evers was shot, in reaction to the acquittal of four Los Angeles police officers who had been accused of using excessive force against the motorist Rodney King a year earlier. Ground zero for the violence was the innocuous road junction of Florence Avenue and Normandie Avenue in the impoverished South Central district. There, a white lorry driver called Reginald Denny was dragged from his vehicle and beaten nearly to death, with the drama unfolding live on television. In the ensuing days the National Guard was called in, 54 people died, more than 2,000 were injured and damage estimated at $1 billion was caused to property. The Denny beating took place just outside Tom's Liquor Store, a notorious haven for drunks, which became the first of 200 liquor stores in the city to be looted. For the past three years the shop has been owned by James Oh, 62, a Korean-American. It is now clean, tidy and brightly lit. Mr Oh knows all his customers and greets many of them by name or with a cheerful "How you doing my brother?" An off-duty police officer buying whiskey is hailed with "Bring it on, my man!" Mr Oh said: "I've put my energy into trying to have a community for people here. I hope for the best in this country and to get on. I just make sure I respect people, treat them right, and I have had no problems here." Despite Mr Oh's optimism, a security guard is still stationed permanently at his door and he is forced to shut at 10pm, conditions that were imposed after the riots. He is not happy about it. "That was 20 years ago, it should be changed. There isn't going to be another riot if we open later," he said. In the blocks surrounding his shop, though, deprivation lingers. There is graffiti marking the turf of the violent street gang Florencia 13. Thrift stores, coin laundries and crumbling churches predominate, and the doors and windows of homes are protected by an array of prison-like bars. In one side street, two young men were being handcuffed and placed in a police car. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, times have changed. In 1992, officers from the 77th Street Division, which includes the Florence and Normandie junction, were ordered to abandon their patch, 12 square miles at the heart of South Central, to the mob. That year there were 143 murders. Last year it dropped to 32. According to Dennis Kato, the 77th's commander, who was a patrol officer during the riots, the streets used to be thick with tension. "You could almost cut it with a knife," he said. "The style of policing was really just suppress, suppress, suppress." Unlike in 1992, the department now has a communty relations officer and patrols report going for hours without seeing any suspicious activity. In 2006, South Central was renamed South Los Angeles in an attempt to expunge the memory of the riots. The racial make-up of the LAPD has also changed significantly. In 1992, it was 59 per cent white. It is now down to 37 per cent. Since its nadir in 1992, the force has reached a favourability rating of 70 per cent in city polls. The make-up of South Central itself has also changed with an influx of Hispanics, who comprise 48 per cent of the population of Los Angeles. Academics now talk of a "post-racial Los Angeles" where unrest is driven not by race relations and fears of gangs, but by the economy and housing market. For many, though, the case of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teenager shot and killed by a white neighborhood watch volunteer in Florida, is evidence that the same problems that caused the riots still exist in America. Rodney King, now 47, said: "It's about bullying a black man. This time, a young man was bullied to death. "I'm still alive, Trayvon Martin is not here." She also cries in panic that she doesn't know the location of her son, seven-year-old Julian. "I don't know where Julian is or nothing and I'm here by myself," she says. She tells the dispatcher she "just got home from work" and "there's a bullet hole in our front door." Balfour has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges in the October 2008 killings. Source: agencies The UK Employment Minister, Chris Grayling has put contact centers on the spotlight by encouraging them to move their services back to the UK. According to Grayling, this will not only create jobs but also result in better customer service. Grayling said that overseas call center operators work on a set script which does not usually get a problem resolved. However, Datapoint’s Managing Director, Jim Close, mentioned that what should be looked at more is what causes poor customer service and less at its geography. Datapoint offers call center infrastructure and application solutions to enterprise customers. Speaking at the Policy Exchange, Close said that, “Scripted customer service is dated, inefficient and generally pretty unsatisfying for the customer.” This lack of understanding usually gives the impression that service is not important. He also argued that when they are well-trained and knowledgeable, expert advisors turn from being ‘script jockeys’ and become better at resolving issues on first contact with a customer. By reducing language problems and training them well, customer grievances are alleviated. Call queuing and avoiding dragging callers which involves using an inflexible troubleshooting flowchart, contact centers are able to put customer service as priority which is what the customer needs. Close banked on the idea that technology has changed customer service. Voice recognition can now allow for accurate and secure identification and contact optimization tools help accurately plan for call volume peaks and troughs regardless of the contact center location. According to Close, “The contact center experience should be effortless and stress-free as possible for the customer, and there is a raft of new technologies helping to make this a reality.” With over 550 clients located in 41 countries, Datapoint helps increase and improve customer satisfaction for businesses, boost revenues and grow relationships. It offers consultation services as well as helping implement technology and system architecture solutions that meet business requirements.Stabbed to death in her hair salon: Former detective questioned over high street attack on wife who had walked out on him Ivan Esack questioned by Kent Police over brutal stabbing He is said to have resigned from the force two or three years ago after a drugs-related incident The 38-year-old is now a football agent and co-owns the salon where his wife was killed By COLIN FERNANDEZ and JOHN STEVENS PUBLISHED: 15:13, 30 April 2012 | UPDATED: 10:58, 1 May 2012 Share A former detective was arrested yesterday for allegedly stabbing his hairdresser wife to death in her salon. Natalie Esack, in her 30s, is thought to have left her husband of eight years Ivan Esack around a month ago, taking her pets with her as she moved out. Staff at neighbouring businesses said they heard a terrifying scream ring out from her shop yesterday morning and saw two other hairdressers running into the street. Dramatic tale: Natalie Esack, left, was found covered in stab wounds at her salon this morning, an hour before police arrested her estranged husband Ivan, right A knife was recovered from the scene in the High Street in Ashford, Kent, and her ex-partner, now a football agent, was later arrested at the couple’s former three-bedroomed home a few miles away. Neighbours there said Mrs Esack had last been seen around a month ago, and had taken her pet cats and dog with her when she left. Last night her 38-year-old husband was in custody and being questioned by detectives from Kent Police – the force he left two years ago to set himself up as a football agent. A neighbour of the couple, who would not give her name, said: ‘I met them both at a Neighbourhood Watch street party last summer. She was quiet but he was more outgoing and talkative. ‘They seemed a pleasant couple. He told me he wanted to be more involved in politics and become a councillor.’ Charles Goodwin, 49, a mortgage broker who runs a business in an office three doors along from Esack Hair and Beauty, said he had waved to Mrs Esack earlier on the morning of her death – and had known the couple since arranging their joint mortgage eight years ago. He said: ‘I heard a scream, a loud scream, this morning. I thought it was just kids messing about. ‘It was only when I saw three police cars and an ambulance pull up here that I knew something was wrong. Shocking violence: Police launched an investigation after finding the seriously injured woman at the salon at 9.40am ‘The police put a cordon up around the shop and then all the girls who work there came out of the shop. The only person who didn’t come out was Natalie. It’s just so, so sad.’ He said Mrs Esack was a ‘really lovely bubbly character’. Mrs Esack had several high-profile clients. They included Vic Reeves’ wife Nancy Sorrell, who lives with the comedian nearby in Charing, Kent, and Lesley Hogben, wife of television antique expert Michael Hogben. Mrs Hogben said at the opening of Esack Hair and Beauty in 2008, in a local paper interview: ‘I have been a customer of Natalie’s in her previous salons so, no doubt, I will use this one too.’ Mrs Sorrell, who appeared in I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here in 2004, attended the opening of the salon in 2008. Tragic: The hairdresser, who was in her 30s, died from her stab wounds after ambulances waited outside the salon throughout the morning Mr Esack is the owner and director of IAE Football Ltd which, according to its website, ‘is an agency representing professional footballers and coaches throughout the United Kingdom’. Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha, who has been linked to a move to Premier League clubs including Manchester United, is pictured on IAE’s website – although Mr Esack is not the official agent for the player. Popular shop: A man working near the hairdressers said he heard 'shouting and screaming' before police arrived on the busy street In a profile of himself, Mr Esack says he ‘spent several years working as a criminal investigator for one of the country’s largest police forces’. It adds: ‘During my time as a police officer I encountered many different people from a whole range of interesting and diverse backgrounds. ‘However, my first love has always been football and it has been my ultimate dream to be involved in the football industry. 'In January 2010 I left the police force and embarked on the tough process of obtaining my players’ agent licence. 'I’m pleased to say that I was successful in passing the agents exam at the first attempt and obtained the necessary insurance and signed the code of conduct, which resulted in the Football Association issuing my licence.’ Mr Esack, originally from Middlesbrough, added: ‘Honesty and integrity is a vital ingredient in any working relationship and I can personally guarantee that I am a person that people can trust and confide in with confidentiality assured at all times.’ A Kent Police spokesman confirmed: ‘A 38-year-old Ashford man was arrested an hour later at an address in the town on suspicion of murder and is currently in custody.’ A post-mortem examination is due to take place today. MOST READ NEWS 3:58PM BST 01 May 2012 May warned over police shooting 02 May 2012 Residents are furious at proposals by Russia to put up a 1,800-seater ice skating arena and two-storey “cultural pavilion” for five months in Kensington Gardens opposite the Royal Albert Hall and Albert Memorial. The site measures 10,000 square metres and is aimed at promoting the 2014 Winter Olympics which are to be held at Sochi in Russia. Russian officials hope Sochi World will be visited by 9,000 people a day. It will also coincide with the 2012 Games when hundreds of thousands of visitors will be in London. Plans for Sochi World lodged with Westminster council have already brought objections. Jacqueline Hyer, co-chairwoman of the Friends of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, said: “It goes against all the reasons for having a park: peace, tranquillity and open to everyone. We are all upset about it.” Anthony Lorenz, chairman of the Residents’ Society of Mayfair and St James’s, said he was opposed to the commercialisation of the royal parks. He added: “It is virtually a semi-permanent facility, and it will be like having a concert there every single night. “Residents will not want an invasion of ice skaters and ice skating fans. This is not what the parks should be used for. The parks are one of the most wonderful features of London and should not be a location for non-stop commercial activities.” Seraphima Onofrei, a spokeswoman for Eventica, the firm designing Sochi World, said: “The idea is to bring Russian winter to London in the middle of summer.” The team was planning to spend £10 million installing Sochi World at Marble Arch but Westminster council vetoed it amid concerns about security and road safety. Russian Olympic leaders are hosting a 17-day festival in Perks Field next to Kensington Palace. 04 May 2012 A teenager who organised the gang rape of a vulnerable 11-year-old girl was unmasked by a judge today and sentenced to five years’ detention. Ibraheem Giwa, 15, was 13 when he and fellow gang members took turns to sexually assault the child on three occasions including once in a McDonald’s lavatory. He was convicted of two charges of rape. Judge Patricia Lees ordered that Giwa, who had denied the charges and shown “no remorse”, lose the anonymity usually afforded to an offender of his age. She said the girl was subjected to a “high degree of degradation and sexual violation”. Inner London crown court heard that the first attack on the girl was carried out by Giwa and another boy in Central Park, East Ham, in September 2009. The second was at Giwa’s east London home and involved up to eight friends he had summoned by phone and text. On the final occasion in March 2010, the girl was cornered in the lavatory of McDonald’s in East Ham. A second youth, now aged 16, who cannot be named, was ordered to be detained at a young offender institution for a year after admitting raping the girl at the restaurant. The judge said: “The victim was vulnerable, and to a degree lonely, when the offences were committed which was why she was an easy target.” Giwa had previous convictions for carrying a knife and taking part in a gang attack. He and several accomplices were said to be members of the Say No More gang from Custom House. Telegraph Inner London crown court heard that the first attack on the girl was carried out by Giwa and another boy in Central Park, East Ham, in September 2009. The second was at Giwa’s east London home and involved up to eight friends he had summoned by phone and text. On the final occasion in March 2010, the girl was cornered in the lavatory of McDonald’s in East Ham. A second youth, now aged 16, who cannot be named, was ordered to be detained at a young offender institution for a year after admitting raping the girl at the restaurant. The judge said: “The victim was vulnerable, and to a degree lonely, when the offences were committed which was why she was an easy target.” Giwa had previous convictions for carrying a knife and taking part in a gang attack. He and several accomplices were said to be members of the Say No More gang from Custom House.The claustrophobia of diversity
Model axed from South African FHM after sparking outrage with racist tweet about 'disrespectful kaffir'
Police to guard voting booths at Tower Hamlets
Tower Hamlets: Muslim voters in fraud row 'forgot how they signed registration forms'
Law chief shows 'lack of care'
Poll could be decided in the courts
Police call for reinforcements at Tower Hamlets polling station fracas
Telegraph
When did Britain become the kind of country that tolerates voting fraud?
Labour's massive expansion of postal voting opened the door to electoral fraud.
Police open probe into alleged voter fraud in East London
Scotland Yard today launched a formal investigation into allegations of electoral fraud in the London borough of Tower Hamlets.
Labour and Conservative councillors had both written to the Electoral Commission detailing instances where they believe postal fraud may have occurred.
Mislaid ballot boxes delay mayoral election results
As London's mayoral candidates waited late into the night for their result, organisers London Elects blamed the delay on the need to reprocess two mislaid batches of ballot papers in the Brent and Harrow constituency.
"We will declare as soon as possible but it is obviously important that every vote is counted."
Telegraph
20 years on from the Rodney King riots, hope rises amid the deprivation of LA
Elvira Evers was seven months pregnant when, on April 30, 1992, she stepped out of her front door to see what was going on as chaos and rage engulfed the streets of Los Angeles.
"hen I was about five I started understanding what had happened, and now I have read a lot about the riots," she said. "I feel bad for all the victims, for people who didn't survive like me. I'm innocent, but there are other innocent people that got hurt too and died.
Telegraph
911 tape of Jennifer Hudson's sister released
Moments after finding her mother's body, the sister of Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson pleaded for help in a disturbing recording of her emergency call released to the media on Monday.
Datapoint Says 'Scripted Customer Service Inefficient' - Location is Not to Blame
By David Gitonga, TMCnet Contributing WriterRobber convicted after pants disguise fails
A would-be burglar was arrested after being caught on CCTV wearing a pair of boxer shorts over his face during an attempted robbery, it emerged today.
‘Hold Duggan inquest or risk more riots’
Religious butchering now commonplace in Britain, leading vet claims
Non-Muslim Britons are being forced to eat animals slaughtered in "appalling" pain because religious butchering is becoming so common, a former chief vet has claimed.
Telegraph
GPs 'threatened with legal action' for taking failed asylum seekers off surgery lists
GPs have been threatened with legal action after removing failed asylum seekers from their surgery lists, research has revealed.
Judge unmasks teenager who organised gang rape of girl, 11
Mother sent school letter in Hindi despite not speaking language
A school sent a letter written in Hindi to a pupil’s mother even though she did not speak the language.
“It is insulting to send me a letter in another language,” said Mrs Ahmed, who moved to Britain 15 years ago.
Sunday, 6 May 2012
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In November a 34-old woman Emma West was recorded on a tram in Croydon (near to London) expressing her very no-pc views of the effects of immigration on England even though she was surrounded by ethnic minorities. Since her public complaints were recorded by a passenger and put on YouTube other instances of such behaviour have come to light, the most recent to hit the national media being another youngish white woman (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2097142/Woman-filmed-hurling-racist-abuse-Tube-passengers-ANOTHER-video-rant-London-transport.html#ixzz1lgvuUjuO). I put a few URLs for videos of such behaviour from England at the end of the article. The examples are all of people who are under the age of 40. Nor does it take long for instances of such behaviour in the USA to be found on media hosting sites. This goes against the oft made claims by liberals that what they term racial prejudice is restricted to the older generation, who it is implied “don’t know any better”, while the young are race-blind.
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A popular model was today axed from the South African edition of lads' mag FHM after she was accused of making racist comments on Twitter.
The publication confirmed Jessica Leandra Dos Santos, 20, would no longer appear in its photoshoots after she caused outrage by using a taboo term for black people in a tweet.
The attractive model, known as Jessica Leandra, was widely condemned after she yesterday tweeted details of a confrontation with a black man in her local supermarket.
She wrote: 'Just, well took on an arrogant and disrespectful kaffir [an offensive term for a black person in Afrikaans] inside Spar. Should have punched him, should have.'
The tweet immediately sparked outrage across South Africa, where race relations remain a key issue just 18 years after the end of apartheid.
FHM editor Brendan Cooper today condemned Leandra's use of the 'k-word', which is still considered one of the country's most racially-charged terms.
He added that she had been stripped with immediate effect of her title as winner of one of the magazine's model competitions.
In a statement he said: 'FHM was appalled by Jessica Leandra Dos Santos' racist tweets and would like to formally announce that she has been stripped of her title as winner of the FHM Modelbook 2011 competition with immediate effect.
'It's important to us that it is noted that she in no way represents the magazine; she was merely the winner of an online poll we ran, and that we totally distance ourselves from her blatantly racist comments.
'We have removed all pictures of her from our website and will have nothing to do with her in future. FHM is a proudly South African magazine and say "No" to racism.'
Leandra's axing from FHM came months after the aspiring glamour model found stardom as the winner of one of the magazine's talent-spotting competitions.
She beat a string of would-be models to win the competition last year and has since appeared several times on the pages and website of the magazine alongside other work in advertising campaigns and fashion shoots.
However Leandra's career today appeared to have crashed and burned after her remarks sparked outrage across South Africa.
The model has deleted her offensive tweet amid the controversy alongside another angry posting in which she wrote: 'Highlight of my weekend? Almost punching an #Engen petrol assistant. No tolerance for rude African monkeys whatsoever!'
The former cover girl today faced furious attacks on the social networking site, where she was the top trending topic in South Africa.
Thousands of furious members of the public posted comments condemning the model, who also reportedly faces an investigation by South Africa's Human Rights Council.
Meanwhile one Leandra's main sponsors also confirmed on Twitter it had stripped her of a contract.
Weightloss firm Quick Trim tweeted: 'Due to the severity of the remarks by #JessicaLeandra #QuickTrimSA herewith ends our sponsorship to her with immediate effect!'
Leandra today apologised for her outburst and claimed she had posted her tweet only after being sexually harassed.
The model, who describes herself on her website as 'a woman of clear visions', admitted her comment had been irresponsible.
She wrote: 'I tweeted rather irresponsibly about an incident I encountered last night, using a harsh and unkind word about the gentleman who had confronted me with sexual remarks and sounds.
'Many of you don't necessarily know the details of the incident, and I also don't intend on going into them but I do wish you knew where my anger originally boiled from.
'I strongly believe that no lady should brush off any kind of sexual harassment or arrogance from anyone be it a man or woman of any colour.
'It is no surprise that my comment has offended many people and for this I am apologetic.
'There is no excuse to act out loudly over my social networking accounts and I do apologise to those that have taken offence to my language.
'Whilst most of you would enjoy the opportunity to throw a few vicious words at me, please do understand that I was acting in pure anger and frustration at the time and although we know this is no excuse, it is a lesson learned and again, I am sincerely apologetic.'
The 'K-word' remains one of the most explosive and offensive terms in South Africa.
Derived from the Islamic term 'kafir', meaning non-believer or liar, it entered common usage as a derogatory term for blacks.
The word was used widely during the apartheid period but is now considered taboo.
The use of racist language has been illegal in South Africa since the country's new constitution was enacted following the advent of democracy.
Voting probe: Tower Hamlets and Mayor Lutfur Rahman
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Condemned: Isabella Freeman
02 May 2012
Polls apart: police move in as candidates clash at St Matthias Primary School, Tower Hamlets
03 May 2012
Police outside a Tower Hamlets polling station called reinforcements today after a candidate alleged that he had been threatened by activists from rival parties.
Chris Smith, standing for the Greens in the London Assembly elections, claimed that one activist threatened to “punch his lights out” when he complained about the crowd handing out Respect and Labour leaflets outside St Matthias Primary, off Brick Lane.
Officers were today guarding polling stations across Tower Hamlets after the Met launched a formal investigation into allegations of electoral fraud in the borough. Police were called in after reports of voter intimidation outside polling stations at previous elections.
It was feared today that activists were “harassing” potential voters. Mr Smith said: “I came down here at about 10am and there were at least 20 Labour and Respect activists handing out leaflets just outside. Election rules state very clearly that each party is only allowed one teller outside each polling station, the rest must be a safe distance away.
“I complained to the official inside and when I came back out the Respect guy started mouthing off to me. When I told him what they were doing is not allowed, he threatened to punch my lights out.
“It’s amazing that this is still going on around here. The groups that gather outside are very intimidating. With all the problems we’ve had in Tower Hamlets this is the last thing we need.”
Mr Smith said he was too frightened to stay at the polling station. “It’s not right that people are being harassed,” he added.
Caroline Kerswell, the Tory candidate in the Weaver ward’s by-election, witnessed the altercation. She said: “We were standing here discussing electoral rules with them, then one guy threatened to punch his lights out.
“They’ve been here since early in the morning and they’re very intimidating. People coming to vote are nervous. We want a clean election in Tower Hamlets because of the reports of corruption.”
A Tower Hamlets spokesman said: “We understand that the police have dealt with an issue outside a polling station in Brick Lane this morning. The police deal with public order offences, including issues outside polling stations, and we are pleased that this incident has been resolved quickly and peacefully.”
It came as the chair of the Electoral Commission today called for photo ID to be demanded at all polling stations in a bid to stop voter fraud. Jenny Watson urged the Government to change the law to “help us all be sure our voting system is safe”.
She said: “There is more the Government can do to help us all be sure our voting system is safe. The Electoral Commission wants to see our registration system tightened up and it’s good that the Government plans to introduce new laws to do this which will apply to any of us who want to vote by post before the 2015 General Election.
We think it is also time to have a proper debate about whether we all need to show photo ID at polling stations.”
There were fears that voter fraud in Tower Hamlets could influence the result of today’s mayoral election. The Met is investigating claims that a by-election earlier this month in the Banglatown and Spitalfields ward was rigged — giving victory to Gulam Robbani, an independent candidate backed by the borough’s mayor Lutfur Rahman. Turnout in the by-election was nearly double that of the previous election in the ward — 31 per cent to 17 per cent.
Residents said campaigners had been knocking on doors and collecting ballot papers, offering to post the vote. Mr Robbani won the election by just 43 votes. There is no suggestion he was involved in fraud.
Voters today expressed shock at the presence of police outside stations. Jason Caffrey, 41, said: “I was surprised when I came out to see a van full of officers outside. Corrupt practice in elections damages trust and while there’s no smoke without fire it’s hard to know exactly how high the flames are.”
Law and disorder: a judge has likened our postal vote system to that of a banana republic
By Graeme Archer
The old woman was pleased to see me, though undoubtedly confused as to why a 16-year-old boy she’d not previously met was crouched by her chair. I’d never been in a sheltered housing day-room before, but it doesn’t take more than a moment to register the residents’ tangible desire for company – any company – and it unsettled me. Because it was this desire that we were there to abuse.
“Hello. I’m here on behalf of the local Conservatives. It’s to remind you about the elections next week. Have you sent in your postal vote, yet?”
I’d accepted the canvassing mission because “We have to get there before the Labour Party does; they’ll vote for whoever comes first”; and of course, as a new Young Conservative, I wanted our party to win. But even a teenager’s conscience is sufficiently developed to tell right from wrong, and I knew, from the elderly woman’s trusting smile, that this was wrong. Twenty-odd years before the Electoral Commission got round to suggesting that maybe party activists should stop asking voters for their postal votes (PVs), I resolved that I’d never ask for one again.
My decades-old embarrassment seems almost quaintly innocent now: I was only asking for completed and sealed PVs, in order to ensure they reached the returning officer on time; no one in Ayrshire Conservatives would have dreamt of interfering with the actual vote itself.
For there was once a sanctity to the act of voting; your vote was between you and your conscience. Even Presbyterians like me understood something inviolable to take place in the instant between the pencil being gripped and the cross being marked; the act was so secular-holy that it would have been an obscenity for a third party to witness it, let alone interfere with it. That’s why we had curtains on polling booths. And that’s why only the bedridden (and servicemen) were excused the walk to the polling station: it was your civic duty to make the effort to vote.
No more. Since those days, of course, we’ve had a Labour government, and were it still in power, I suspect by now we’d be voting on X Factor-style 0898 numbers (“Hello! You’ve got through to Harriet Harman’s Vote-Line! Votes cast after polling day may not be counted, though you’ll still pay a heavy price”) or by scraping at petrol station scratch-cards (“They’re All The Same! So Why Not Vote By Lucky Dip?”).
What Labour did achieve was a deliberate, massive expansion in voting by envelope. Since nearly every government minister started off as a party activist, they must have known the potential for abuse that such a switch entailed, but they pressed on regardless; we reap what they sowed.
In the London borough of Tower Hamlets, where a Ken Livingstone supporter is mayor, the number of registered voters increased by a “surprising” 7,023, in a single month, between April and May 2010. Likewise, in a borough with a large Bangladeshi community – not a society to which the concept of communal voting is unknown, or one famous for its liberated women – the proportion of postal votes has inexorably grown.
Some of the worst frauds have made their way to the courts. In a case in Birmingham, in 2005, Judge Richard Mawrey likened our postal vote-heavy system to that of a banana republic. The same judge is reported this week as saying that postal voting fraud remains rife.
It’s not the cases that get to court that matter, though. It is sufficient for us all to be aware of the ongoing violation of the secret ballot’s sanctity, for a mockery to be made of our entire democratic process. Postal vote fraud is widespread; we all know this; the effect is corrosive.
But it’s OK. A report by the Electoral Commission – which rates electoral registration in Tower Hamlets as “good” – tells us to chill. The key finding in its review of 2010 general election fraud was to declare itself not “aware of any case reported to the police that affected the outcome of the election to which it related nor of any election that has had to be re-run as a result of electoral malpractice”. It’s bad enough we pay for this quango at all, worse that it prefers to be “not aware” of the widespread voting malpractice in such boroughs as Tower Hamlets.
The Electoral Commission is still led by Jenny Watson, even after the 2010 polling day debacle. She’s on a hundred grand a year, and is described on her Wikipedia page as a “long-term campaigner for women’s rights”. Were I a “long-term campaigner for women’s rights”, let alone in charge of the state outfit that regulates elections, I’d have something to say about patriarch-driven postal vote farming in communities where many women remain culturally and linguistically excluded from the mainstream.
Jenny Watson’s quango may be blithely unconcerned about the potential of postal vote fraud to affect next week’s London mayoral election. I wonder if Ken Livingstone’s supporters in Tower Hamlets take a similarly indifferent view of its potential?
Telegraph
Polling station in Tower Hamlets Photo: REX
It was claimed that postal vote harvesting had taken place in a council byelection narrowly won by Gulam Robbani, who was backed by Ken Livingstone supporters.
The returning officer ordered a probe following a dramatic rise in postal votes at some addresses in the borough.
Residents in the Spitalfields ward of Tower Hamlets said campaigners had been knocking on doors and collecting up postal ballot papers, offering to post the votes on their behalf for a by-election earlier this month.
There is also evidence of apparent “ghost voting” in one the block, with as many as eight voters - all with postal votes - registered in some flats.
It emerged that one man shown on official records as having cast a postal vote in the by-election, had died in Bangladesh, where he’d lived for several years, the previous week.
An allegation relating to potential fraudulent registration of voters in Tower Hamlets was passed to the police last week and Scotland Yard confirmed that it will formally investigate both that and a further allegation of offences linked to the by-election received on Saturday.
There is no suggestion that his campaign or the Labour Party knew of the alleged vote-harvesting.
Telegraph
Empty ballot boxes lie in a corner at the Alexandra Palace vote counting centre Photo: GETTY
11:18PM BST 04 May 2012
As details on the organisers' website appeared to show the number of verified votes going backwards, a spokesman insisted that the problem was not down to the electronic scanners used to count papers.
Explaining what happened at Brent and Harrow, the London Elects spokesman said: "All batches of ballot papers were registered and scanned. Two batches went to storage without some ballot papers being manually entered as required.
"Manual entry is required when a scanner cannot read a ballot paper - for example if a ballot paper is damaged. It is not an issue with the scanners.
"The issue was identified during the verification stage. These two batches are being re-processed.
"To make this happen as quickly as possible we have separated out into several smaller batches. This is why the progress screens appear to show a changing number of verified ballot papers.
Elvira Evers holds her new-born daughter Jessica Evers-Jones who is now 20, and was in her mother's womb when shot during the Los Angeles riots of 1992 Photo: AP
By Nick Allen, Los Angeles
The next thing she felt was a burning sensation in her stomach. She had been shot with a 9mm handgun by an assailant she did not even see. She was rushed to hospital for an operation.
"When I woke up five days later I assumed the baby was gone," she said. "I just couldn't believe it when they showed me her alive.
"The doctors did an X-ray of me but they couldn't find the bullet. Then they found it lodged in my daughter's elbow. They took it out and put a little cast on her arm. It was a miracle. She saved my life. We saved each other."
Her daughter Jessica, the youngest victim of the riots, is today a typical girl about to turn 20. She works as a sales assistant at a Macy's department store and is thinking about becoming a probation officer.
She still has the scar on her elbow where the bullet was removed and her birthday is always bittersweet, a time when she remembers how lucky she is.
Julia Hudson (left), sister of singer and actress Jennifer Hudson (right) and William Balfour Photo: AP
7:12AM BST 01 May 2012
"Oh my God ... Somebody's killed my mother," Julia Hudson says, while a dispatcher tries to get her to calm down and repeat her address. "She's on the floor and I see blood coming from her head."
A judge in Chicago released the tape after a request by the Chicago Tribune, Sun-Times Media and The Associated Press. The tape was played in open court last week during the trial of William Balfour, who is accused of killing the actress' mother, brother and seven-year-old nephew.
Prosecutors tried to bar the tape's release because of the sensitive nature of the case and because the jury has not begun deliberating.
But Cook County Judge Charles Burns noted in his ruling that the jury has been warned not to watch or read news reports about the case. Burns said there's no evidence Balfour's due process rights would be harmed.
On the tape, Julia Hudson begs a dispatcher for help after finding her mother shot dead inside the family's home on Chicago's South Side.
Hudson's horror and confusion are apparent on the tape as she wonders aloud, "Where my brother at? What happened?"
http://call-center-services. tmcnet.com/topics/call-center- services/articles/287235- datapoint-says-scripted- customer-service-inefficient- location-not.htm
April 23, 2012
Telegraph
Image 1 of 3
Tazviona Maluge Bhebe enters in his boxer shorts disguise Photo: CASCADE NEWS
Image 1 of 3
Shop worker Harry Mahalingham jumped over the counter... Photo: CASCADE NEWS
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...and beat Bhebe over the head with a display sign Photo: CASCADE NEWS
Tazviona Maluge Bhebe, 40, stormed into an off licence in Sutton, South London, armed with a kitchen knife.
He was wearing a pair of light blue boxer shorts over his face, peering through one of the leg holes as he threatened 34-year-old shop worker Harry Mahalingham.
A court heard that Bhebe, who lived near The Broadway off licence, demanded cash from Mr Mahalingham and tried to open the till to steal cash after reaching behind the counter.
He told Mr Mahalingham: "Give me your money or I will use the knife", it was claimed.
But the burglary was foiled when Mr Mahalingham jumped over the counter and beat Bhebe over the head with A-frame display sign, causing the boxer shorts to slip down and expose his face on CCTV.
Bhebe chased the shop worker around the store brandishing the knife but eventually ran off, throwing away the knife and ripping the failed disguise from his face.
Police arrived at the scene within minutes and arrested Bhebe after watching the CCTV footage and extracting DNA evidence from the knife and underwear.
Detective Constable Andy Thornton, who revealed a string of CCTV images of the bungled January 21 raid, said: "The CCTV shows his boxer shorts shifting to reveal his face during the robbery."
Bhebe pleaded guilty to robbery and possession of a knife and was jailed for three years two weeks ago at Croydon Crown Court.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "The man walked up to the counter and peered out through a leg hole in his plain light blue shorts and demanded: 'Give me your money or I will use the knife.'
"The CCTV shows his boxer shorts shifting to reveal his face during the robbery"
"As Bhebe walked around the counter to take £100 from the till, the sales assistant quickly jumped over the counter and went outside the shop to pick up a large, A-frame display sign.
"The assistant then returned to the front of the counter where he swung the green sign at Bhebe who was still behind the counter. Bhebe was hit with the sign.
"Bhebe chased the sales assistant outside the shop to the nearby roundabout before running off discarding the kitchen knife and removing and discarding his boxer shorts as he went in full view of a number of pedestrians.
"Officers were quickly on scene and seized the shop's CCTV, secured forensic evidence and took witness statements from the sales assistant and pedestrians nearby.
Mr Mahalingham's boss Ruba Kumar, 46, said: "I've always told my workers not to react in a robbery but he told me he did not want to see any of the shop's £5,000 stock taken so fought back.
"I'm really grateful for what he did."
Spark for violence: Mark Duggan, 29, was killed in Tottenham last August
Telegraph
A quarter of all meat on the British market is now killed according to the non-stun Halal principle Photo: Richard Watt
11:30PM BST 04 May 2012
Prof Bill Reilly, ex-president of the British Veterinary Association, said cutting the throats of lambs, chickens and other animals without stunning them breaches legal requirements because it causes significant pain, fear and distress.
British and EU law permits the method of religious slaughter to account for Muslim and Jewish dietary practices, but stipulates that the animals must not be caused "unnecessary suffering."
Prof Reilly called for the practice to be dramatically curbed, suggesting that some slaughterhouses are refusing to stun animals simply to cut costs, rather than for religious reasons.
Writing in the Veterinary Record, he said the number of animals having their throats slit while still fully conscious – a practice known as non-stun slaughter – was "unacceptable".
Referring to a report by the former Animal Welfare Council he claimed that "such a massive injury could result in very significant pain and distress", particularly because the throat has a large number of nerve endings.
As a veterinary student in the 1970s he confessed to being "appalled" after witnessing orthodox Jewish Schecita slaughter for the first time, writing that "the distress, fear and pain were there for all to see (and hear) in the abattoir".
A quarter of all meat on the British market is now killed according to the non-stun Halal principle despite the fact the Muslim community makes up only three to four per cent of the British population.
An estimated two million animals, mainly chickens, are slaughtered in the Schecita method each year, and anecdotal evidence indicates that half of all lambs slaughtered in Britain are not stunned beforehand.
The figures mean that much of the meat from non-stunned animals is being consumed outside the religious communities which require it, and most secular people would avoid eating the meat if they knew the circumstances under which the animals died, Prof Teilly said.
The disparity between the amount of non-stun meat and the number of people who actually require it could be down to commercial factors, he added, because of the reduced cost of running an abattoir without stunning facilities.
He wrote: "In my view, the current situation is not acceptable and, if we cannot eliminate non-stunning, we need to keep it to the minimum.
“This means restricting the use of Halal and Kosher meat to those communities that require it for their religious beliefs, and where possible, convincing them of the acceptability of the stunned alternatives."
Discussing approaches to slaughter with religious communities has been successful in New Zealand, which exports large quantities of Halal meat despite requiring that all animals be stunned before slaughter, he said.
The Freedom of Information requests showed St George's Healthcare Trust in South London had the largest outstanding debts, totalling £2 million from £3.55 million invoiced to foreign nationals for health treatment from April 2009. Photo: GETTY
6:00AM BST 03 May 2012
It emerged in an investigation which revealed that more than £40 million is owed to NHS hospitals by foreign patients who were not eligible for free care, research indicates.
The report by Pulse, a magazine for doctors, found that one surgery in Essex had been threatened with legal action after removing a Nigerian couple from their list after their asylum application had been turned down.
After receiving a letter from a firm of solicitors the doctors backed down and reinstated them. The manager of the surgery said they had been urged to do so by their local primary care trust.
The unnamed staff member said: "Someone at the PCT read the letter and panicked. Do we just register everyone who is illegal?"
Another practice in Leeds was also told not to remove illegal immigrants from its list when faced with a similar threats.
Freedom of Information requests by Pulse revealed the average unpaid debt for the provision of care to foreign nationals was £230,000 in the 35 trusts which responded.
If this figure was the same across all 168 English acute trusts, the total debt would be almost £40 million, the magazine claimed.
The FoI requests showed St George's Healthcare Trust in South London had the largest outstanding debts, totalling £2 million from £3.55 million invoiced to foreign nationals for health treatment from April 2009.
Barnet and Chase Farm was next, with £488,000 outstanding from invoices worth £934,000.
The Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals Trust collected 24% of the £419,000 owed to it, the figures showed.
In response to the figures Dr Richard Vautrey, deputy chairman of the British Medical Association's GP committee, said trusts must put in place arrangements ''that ensure people cannot exploit the system''.
A spokesperson for St George's told Pulse: ''A high percentage of our patients require life-saving trauma, neuroscience, cardiovascular or paediatric care.
''We're working hard to improve the way we record overseas patients and the debt recovery rate.''
Foreign nationals residing in the UK are entitled to free treatment on the NHS, but visitors from outside are expected to either have health insurance or the bill is sent to their country of origin.
Dr Vautrey told the magazine: ''Hospital trusts must put in place arrangements that ensure people cannot exploit the system.
''However, we need to be careful that we are not putting barriers in place that prevent people from getting access to healthcare. It can be quite challenging.
''It is too simplistic to call it health tourism. The reality is a lot more complex.''
The investigation comes days after campaigners warned GPs had too much freedom to register sick foreigners who may not be entitled to expensive British healthcare.
Migration Watch UK claimed family doctors could decide whether to take on patients without identity documents and give them free treatment which should not be available to them.
The group's chairman Sir Andrew Green said: ''To allow such easy and potentially hugely-expensive access without any entitlement must be stopped at once, otherwise the NHS risks becoming the World Health Service.''
Last year, FoI requests from Tory MP Chris Skidmore showed £42 million in unpaid debts for treatment of foreign patients had been written off by primary care and foundation trusts.
Health minister Simon Burns said: "We won't tolerate abuse of our National Health Service. The NHS has a duty to anyone whose life or long-term health is at immediate risk but it is not there to serve the health needs of the globe."
Paul Chesteron
Raheela Ahmed with her children Aysha (front), Jan (back left) and Amer (back right) Photo: North News
3:00PM BST 04 May 2012
Raheela Ahmed, who speaks English and Punjabi, claims she was sent the letter from the Archibald First School in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, because of her Asian surname.
Mrs Ahmed, from Seaton Burn, North Tyneside, claimed she was a victim of racism.
The letter, sent last week, outlined the times their daughter Ayshe, eight, could be dropped off at school because the family had been too early on previous occasions.
While school officials denied the mother of three’s claims of racism, they apologised for the “translation error”.
But Mrs Ahmed, a qualified classroom assistant who operates a newsagent business with her husband Mohammed, said she was “really offended” by the letter.
“They’ve just assumed because of my surname that I speak one of those languages.
“You’re trying to be racist to me – this is how I felt when I got the letter.”
She added: “We get all our letters sent out in English – I’ve never had anything sent to me other than in English because I understand it.”
Julia Bayes, the school’s head teacher, apologised for the “translation error in the note we sent”.
She added: “We take communicating with all our parents very seriously, however, we accept that a mistake was made on this occasion.
“It was never our intention to cause Mrs Ahmed any offence and we will take greater care in future when communicating with all of our parents.”
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