Time to end kids’ suffering

Dec 9 2007 by Michael Kelly, Sunday Sun

TAKING a child away from its parents is one of the worst things the state can do to a family.

When a decision is made to do so, the authorities must be as sure as they can be that they are right. If they are not, the consequences are devastating.

That is why the case of paediatrican David Southall, highlighted in this week’s paper, is so concerning.

He was struck off last week after being found guilty of professional misconduct by the General Medical Council.

Southall and another discredited “expert”, Sir Roy Meadow, have over the years been frequently called in to give evidence at hearings relating to children, often with the result that they are removed from the family.

They have often used the so-called condition of Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy — where people harm kids in their care to get attention — as the basis of this evidence.

This theory has now been discredited — like its chief advocates, Southall and Meadow — which is good news for those families praying for a fair hearing when their cases come to court in the future.

Now it is time for those who have been on the wrong end of Southall’s words in the past to be given hope too. After the GMC decision, local MP and Human Rights lawyer Vera Baird is to call for a review of criminal cases in which Southall has played a part.

Not only should it happen, it should happen as soon as possible. And if any injustice has been done to a family it should be put right immediately, with no excuses.

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House that?

IT seems crazy that at a time when there is supposed to be a housing shortage there are so many homes lying empty, as the Sunday Sun reveals today.

Much blame has been put at the feet of property speculators who are content to sit on their investments and coin it in while those less fortunate suffer.

Yet councils have the power to take over homes that have been vacant for six months . . . but rarely make use of them. It doesn’t take much to work out that they should pull their finger out and start doing what they get paid millions of pounds of taxpayers money for.

They should use their powers properly to look after those in their community.

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Naked truths

FEMALE regulars at the Tynemouth Lodge Hotel in North Shields, North Tyneside, have bared all for a calendar to raise cash for charity.

However, the ladies have retained their modesty by not having their faces photographed.

The pub is to run a competition for punters to work out who is who in the calendar. If some guy gets all 12 correct, last orders may well be called on his time at the boozer.