![Image]( "150,000 council jobs under threat")
The number of jobs axed or threatened by local authorities because of Government spending cuts has topped 150,000, a new study has revealed.
The GMB union said 260 councils in England, Wales and Scotland were gearing up to cut posts in the coming months after having their funding slashed.
Most of the authorities have issued a 90-day consultation and have given notice that they plan to axe vacant posts and seek volunteers for early retirement and redundancy, said the GMB.
Some of the jobs have already been cut and many councils are meeting in the next few weeks to finalise redundancy plans, according to the GMB.
General secretary Paul Kenny said: "Coupled with announcements of big job losses in the private sector these 150,059 jobs under threat at 260 councils is really bad news. The figure for jobs under threat in the public sector keeps going up. The Government cannot blame the snow for this bad news.
"The Government is deliberately creating unemployment on a scale that we have not seen before. The Government spending plans not only threaten these 150,059 council posts and job losses in the rest of the public sector but there are additional job losses in the voluntary sector funded by public sector grants and in the outsourced private sector.
"Frontline services for the most vulnerable people in our society are being affected by cuts of this scale. The impact for those who depend on these services will be devastating. Some services like meals on wheels in some authorities are now only available to those at death's door.
"In the current circumstances it is hard to see the private sector creating enough new jobs to make up for these job losses."
The GMB said jobs under threat across the regions were: North East, 9,214; North West, 29,125; Yorkshire & The Humber, 18,243; East Midlands, 11,609; West Midlands, 20,937; Eastern, 9,829; London, 14,590; South East, 13,413; South West, 11,408; Wales, 1,858; and Scotland, 9,833.
More than 50 councils, fire and police authorities have warned of job losses in the past week in areas including Surrey, Wigan, West Sussex, Wiltshire, Scottish Borders, Suffolk and South Wales, said the GMB.
Former Labour MP Jim Devine is set to go on trial on Wednesday accused of fiddling his parliamentary expenses.
The former MP for Livingston is accused of falsely claiming costs for parliamentary duties in March 2009.
The first count alleges that, between July 2008 and April 2009, Mr Devine dishonestly claimed £3,240 for cleaning services using false invoices.
The second count alleges that, in March 2009, Mr Devine dishonestly claimed £5,505 for stationery using false invoices.
Mr Devine, 57, of West Main Street, Bathgate, West Lothian, is on bail.
He will appear before Mr Justice Saunders at London's Southwark Crown Court.
Actress Brooke Kinsella is to launch her report on tackling knife crime on Wednesday, two and a half years after her brother Ben was stabbed to death.
The former EastEnders star - whose 16-year-old sibling was knifed in a north London street in 2008 - is expected to recommend that children are educated at school about the dangers of bladed weapons.
She is also likely to call for more action to combat the problem of girl gangs.
Early intervention must begin at primary school level, while knife crime education should be part of the secondary school curriculum, the report is expected to say.
Home Secretary Theresa May will introduce Ms Kinsella's report Tackling Knife Crime Together - a review of local anti-knife crime projects.
The actress told the Sunday Times: "There are many, many good kids out there but a small percentage of this generation has got lost in knife culture, and if we don't want to lose the next generation, starting at 14 or 15 is too late. By then they're in it and it's quite hard to change their minds.
"Early intervention is important because it's when kids go from being king of the castle at primary school to bottom of the food chain at secondary. That's when they have to start forming groups to protect themselves."
Ms Kinsella began working with the Tories on knife crime before the general election and spent July and August talking to project leaders and community workers about the issue.
Her brother died on June 29, 2008 after a fight in a bar spilled out on to the streets in Islington. He had been celebrating the end of his GCSEs.
Hospitals are wasting around £500 million a year due to wide variations in how they buy basic items, research has suggested.
Some trusts are paying 50% more than others for the same medical equipment and other supplies, while the whole process is not good value for money, according to the National Audit Office (NAO).
Even within individual hospitals, purchasing involves buying lots of different types of the same product.
Some 61 NHS trusts bought 21 types of A4 paper, 652 types of medical gloves and 1,751 cannulas, which are used for withdrawing or inserting fluid from a patient.
One trust bought 13 types of glove while another bought 177 types, the study found.
Overall, 61 trusts issued more than 1,000 orders each per year for A4 paper alone.
The NAO predicts that, for just four high-volume products, around £7 million in administration costs could be saved if the number of orders was reduced to the level achieved by the best 25% of trusts.
Most NHS trusts fall outside of the Government's control, and this will soon become all under new NHS reforms.
The report said: "There is therefore no mechanism to secure commitment by 165 separate hospital trusts to purchase a single item or class of supplies, much less the hundreds of thousands of separate consumable products which the NHS uses.
"Many trusts take part in collaborative purchasing arrangements to some extent, but nevertheless, trusts are often paying more than they need to, for basic supplies."
Protesters in Egypt have reacted angrily to President Hosni Mubarak's plan to transfer power after he announced he would not stand down until later this year.
Demonstrators maintained their presence in Cairo's main square after Mr Mubarak rejected intense pressure to stand aside immediately.
A Foreign Office spokesman said Britain would study the detail of Mr Mubarak's proposals but added that the "real test" would be whether the Egyptian people's aspirations were met.
He said: "We have been clear in public, and with President Mubarak and his government in private, about the need for a transition to a broader-based government that will produce real, visible and comprehensive change. President Mubarak has made some proposals to the Egyptian people. We will study the detail of these. But ultimately the real test will be whether the aspirations of the Egyptian people are met."
The developments came after the Foreign Office announced it was sending a charter plane to Egypt to allow further British nationals to leave the troubled country. The Boeing 757, with capacity for 220 passengers, will leave from Cairo for Gatwick on Thursday. The charter could be followed by further flights if necessary.
Prime Minister David Cameron's spokesman described it as part of a "belt and braces approach", adding: "We are simply ensuring there is significant capacity in place. "It's a sensible contingency plan given that we have a developing situation in the country."
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "The flight from Cairo to Gatwick is to supplement commercial flights already being provided by British airlines.
"This flight is not instead of commercial flights - those already booked on other commercial flights should not cancel their bookings."
The Foreign Office is advising against all but essential travel to Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor and Suez and recommends that British nationals without a pressing need to be in Cairo, Alexandria or Suez leave where it is safe to do so.
An estimated 30,000 British holidaymakers remain in Egypt, but the bulk of them are in Red Sea coastal resorts like Sharm el-Sheikh, where there has been little disturbance. Downing Street said the numbers waiting to leave Cairo airport had reduced considerably.
A bid by eurosceptic MPs to give the British people the right to have an in/out referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union has been overwhelmingly defeated in the Commons.
The call by veteran Tory Peter Bone was defeated by 295 votes to 26, Government majority 269.
Mr Bone called for people to be given the right to have their say on the UK's continued membership of the EU if the public voted "no" in a referendum held under the European Union Bill.
Under his proposal a victory for the "no" campaign in a referendum would trigger a second plebiscite which could see the UK break with Brussels.
Mr Bone, who was speaking during the Bill's fifth day of committee stage debate said: "If this new clause is passed there would have to be binding in/out referendum on our membership of the European Union if two hurdles are cleared.
"One: a referendum is triggered under the European Union Bill due to a proposed transfer of competency. Two: and the British people vote against such a transfer of power."
Labour former minister Kate Hoey, a supporter of Mr Bone's attempt to change the Bill, said the "establishment" parties "do not want the British people to have a say on whether to stay in or move out of the European Union".
Tory Philip Hollobone said people were "fed up" with a Europe which left "all and sundry" from EU member states free to come to the UK, but Labour MP John Mann said the Tories were split between the "little Britainers" and MPs who realised the demands of big business and supported further European integration.
Europe Minister David Liddington told MPs the Government did not support Mr Bone's call. He told him: "I do not think this new clause adds to the safeguards we have already provided."
The vote marked the end of the Bill's committee stage and it will come back to the Commons for report stage and third reading at a later date.
Asda has been reprimanded for its original price guarantee ads following complaints from rivals Morrisons and Tesco, a watchdog said.
The TV and national press ads promised to refund customers the difference off their next shop if they found their groceries cheaper elsewhere - namely at Tesco, Sainsbury's and Morrisons.
Morrisons and Tesco complained that the ads were misleading for suggesting that Asda was generally cheaper than themselves and Sainsbury's, arguing amongst other points that there were significant exclusions from the price comparison.
Asda said their processes for comparing prices between the retailers were robust, accurate and supported by Clearcast, which approves ads before broadcast.
The supermarket chain said the ads did not imply that all products sold at Asda were covered by the price guarantee offer. It believed the ads made it clear that the offer applied to comparable, grocery products.
The Advertising Standards Authority partly upheld or upheld four of the nine complaints against Asda, ruling that the retailer did not make it clear enough that the price guarantee did not apply to non-grocery products, such as books and football-related items that appeared prominently in the ads.
The ASA said: "We told Asda to ensure their ads did not suggest their price guarantee applied to all items, including non-grocery items and items that were specifically excluded, or that their savings claims referred to shopping generally rather than specific items, if that was not the case."
It ruled that the ads in question must not appear or be broadcast again in their current form.
Asda said in a statement: "The Asda Price Guarantee is one of the easiest and best ways for shoppers to compare the cost of their groceries. It covers nearly 15,000 different comparable products, including 2,900 fresh foods like fruit and vegetables, milk, bread, fresh meat and fish, plus big brands and own labels too.
"It even includes half price deals available at the other big stores. Which is why our customers love it and our rivals don't."
Britain is continuing to push for a change in how Egypt is governed after protesters in the country reacted angrily to president Hosni Mubarak's plan to transfer power after he announced he would not stand down until later this year.
Demonstrators maintained their presence in Cairo's main square after Mr Mubarak rejected intense pressure to stand aside immediately.
A Foreign Office spokesman said Britain would study the detail of Mr Mubarak's proposals but added that the "real test" would be whether the Egyptian people's aspirations were met.
He said: "We have been clear in public, and with President Mubarak and his government in private, about the need for a transition to a broader-based government that will produce real, visible and comprehensive change."
The developments came after the Foreign Office announced it was sending a charter plane to Egypt to allow further British nationals to leave the troubled country. The Boeing 757, with capacity for 220 passengers, will leave from Cairo for Gatwick on Thursday. The charter could be followed by further flights if necessary.
Prime Minister David Cameron's spokesman described it as part of a "belt and braces approach", adding: "We are simply ensuring there is significant capacity in place. "It's a sensible contingency plan given that we have a developing situation in the country."
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "The flight from Cairo to Gatwick is to supplement commercial flights already being provided by British airlines.
"This flight is not instead of commercial flights - those already booked on other commercial flights should not cancel their bookings."
The Foreign Office is advising against all but essential travel to Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor and Suez and recommends that British nationals without a pressing need to be in Cairo, Alexandria or Suez leave where it is safe to do so.
An estimated 30,000 British holidaymakers remain in Egypt, but the bulk of them are in Red Sea coastal resorts like Sharm el-Sheikh, where there has been little disturbance. Downing Street said the numbers waiting to leave Cairo airport had reduced considerably.
The Government is to plough an extra £400 million into mental health provision in a bid to put it on an equal footing with physical health, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has said.
Under its newly published mental health strategy, the coalition aims to treat mental health with the same priority and importance as physical health for the first time - and to combat the stigma attached to it. It will also stress the need for early intervention, to nip in the bud mental health problems in children.
Mr Clegg said: "For far too long we've allowed there to be a stigma attached to mental health. If you speak to people in the health service they say mental health has been treated as a Cinderella service."
But he acknowledged that unemployment and other economic stresses could cause a rise in such problems.
Speaking on Daybreak, Mr Clegg said: "Today we are announcing that we are repealing an old-fashioned outdated law which means that MPs at the moment are disqualified from being MPs if they have a mental health problem which goes on for more than six months. It is a relatively symbolic thing because it has never been used - but it nonetheless shows that we are determined to root out that stigma."
He said the Government was also providing more money to help veterans of conflicts such as Iraq and Afghanistan combat mental illness.
The cash being pumped into mental health provision under the new strategy will be extra money, he added, and would not just be shunted from another part of the health budget.
But Labour and some mental health charities cast doubt on the strategy, being launched as it is against a backdrop of cuts to other services. Shadow care minister Emily Thornberry accused the Government of being "far from clear" as to how it was going to achieve its aims.
Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the charity Sane, said: "Our concern...is that this 'therapy for the nation' strategy could be perceived as a panacea for the whole spectrum of mental health conditions, and is being launched against a background of serial closures of psychiatric beds, day centres, occupational therapy facilities and community services.
"We expect further cuts when health service savings start to bite. There are also worries that there will be confusion when GPs, some of whom may have limited specialist mental health knowledge, take the lead on commissioning services."
A couple who tried to conceive for a decade have been blessed with a "miracle" baby thanks to advanced genetic screening.
Andrew and Louise Riley, from Lancashire, welcomed baby Elliott into the world just after Christmas after opting for a relatively new technique, array comparative genomic hybridisation (CGH).
Embryos produced by the couple during fertility treatment were analysed to check for chromosomal abnormalities.
The embryos were grown for five or six days to blastocyst stage and then analysed in the laboratory to check all 46 chromosomes. Only those fully healthy embryos were considered suitable for IVF transfer.
Chromosomal abnormalities are a major cause of miscarriage and the chance of abnormality increases significantly with a woman's age.
In the latest technique, array CGH was used to test the embryos but then the cells were also cross-matched against DNA samples taken from the mouth cells of Mr and Mrs Riley.
Mark Sedler, consultant fertility specialist at the Care Fertility clinic in Manchester, said this is the first time such "parental support" has been used with array CGH, offering greater accuracy.
Stuart Lavery, consultant gynaecologist at Imperial College London, said: "This research is exciting and what these live births are doing is adding to the debate and the evidence base for this technique.
"But before this is widely transported, it needs to be confirmed in larger trials."
The European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (Eshre) is currently considering launching a pan-European trial into array CGH.
More than a quarter of people claim they have "no spare cash" as pressures on personal budgets mount, a consumer survey has found.
The proportion of people saying they have nothing to spare is up six percentage points on the same time last year at 27%, according to the latest Consumer Confidence Survey by the Nielsen Company and the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
The poll also showed that overall consumer confidence was lower at the end of 2010 than the beginning.
However, there was a two percentage point increase in the number of respondents who said they thought job prospects would be "excellent" or "good" in the coming 12 months, to 22%, and a one percentage point increase in the number of people who believed that their personal finances would be "excellent" or "good" in the coming year, to 35%.
There was also a six point drop in the number of people saying they thought now was a "bad" time to spend.
The survey was undertaken in the run up to Christmas and the uplift is likely to be a seasonal fluctuation rather than the start of a fundamental change of mood, said the BRC.
Furthermore, 82% of consumers still believe Britain is in recession while only 14% believe Britain will be out of recession within 12 months, the lowest figure of the year.
Increasing utility bills have become the main concern for the coming months, overtaking the economy. More people are also worried about rising fuel bills, and concerns over food prices, jobs and debt continue to feature highly.
Fewer people said they were spending disposable income on holidays, clothes, home improvements, new technologies and investments, while the number of people saying they were saving dropped from 34% to 31%.
More people claimed to be paying off debts and credit cards with spare money.
Police have ordered remaining residents to get off the streets as one of Australia's biggest-ever storms bore down on the north-east.
Officials issued dire warnings of potential devastation for cities and towns dotted along a stretch of coast more than 190 miles long in north Queensland state, in an area considered the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef.
The storm will compound misery in Queensland, which has already been hit by months of flooding that killed 35 people and inundated hundreds of communities.
Cyclone Yasi is due to hit north of the main waterlogged area, but emergency services are already stretched and the whole state is flood-weary.
"This is a cyclone of savagery and intensity," prime minister Julia Gillard said in a nationally televised news conference. "People are facing some really dreadful hours in front of them."
The first of Cyclone Yasi's winds began howling throughout Cairns as night fell. Winds at the centre of the storm were gusting up to 186mph, and the front was about 300 miles across.
The worst winds were expected to last up to four hours, though blustery conditions and heavy rain could last for 24 hours. The storm will lash the coast with up to 28 inches of rain and send tidal surges far deeper inland than usual, said the Bureau of Meteorology.
The bureau said most at risk was an area about 150 miles long between the tourist city of Cairns and the sugar cane-growing town of Ingham. It was unclear what the damage to the Great Barrier Reef would be, said experts.
Queensland officials had been warning people for days to stock up on bottled water and food, and to board or tape up their windows. People in low-lying or poorly protected areas were told to move in with family or friends on safer ground or move to evacuation centres.
"It's such a big storm - it's a monster, killer storm," said Queensland premier Anna Bligh, adding that the only previous storm measured in the state at such strength was in 1918.
More than £18 million will be spent on tackling crimes involving knives, guns and gangs over the next two years, Home Secretary Theresa May has said.
The funding announcement comes after former EastEnders star Brooke Kinsella, whose 16-year-old brother Ben was stabbed to death three years ago, highlighted the best ways to combat the issue.
The 27-year-old actress, who was appointed a Government adviser on the issue last year, called for anti-knife crime presentations for schools and more work with young children to stop them getting involved.
Mrs May said: "Brooke Kinsella has done a great job in highlighting what works and what could work better in trying to achieve that.
"Off the back of Brooke's recommendations, we will invest money into changing attitudes and behaviour, alongside being tough on those who persist in being involved in senseless crimes."
In her report, Ms Kinsella, who spent July and August talking to project leaders and community workers about the issue, called for more anti-knife projects in schools, more data-sharing between police, schools and other agencies and a scheme to deal with the "fear and fashion" factor of knives.
"I really believe the problem of knife crime has escalated in the past few years, and the impact it has on communities and families is devastating," she said.
Children as young as 10 should be given anti-knife crime awareness lessons in schools, Ms Kinsella said.
"Whilst seven may be deemed too young for some of the content I experienced in the projects I visited, it seems to be the majority opinion that education and awareness needs to start at primary school level, particularly in the last year before they move up to secondary school and become more susceptible to peer pressure and influence."
And she said more work is needed to turn prisons and young offenders institutions into "places of punishment" as they were often seen as "a holiday camp".
Anyone caught in possession of a knife should expect to be sent to jail, Home Secretary Theresa May has said.
Mrs May said the Government is "absolutely clear" that anybody convicted of possessing a knife should expect to be sent to prison after ex-EastEnders star Brooke Kinsella, whose 16-year-old brother Ben was stabbed to death three years ago, said prisons need to be tougher.
The 27-year-old actress, appointed as a Government adviser on the issue last year, also called for primary school children to be given anti-knife crime workshops in schools.
Many headteachers are reluctant to run such lessons out of a fear their school will be labelled as having a problem with knife crime, damaging its reputation, Ms Kinsella said.
Speaking after the launch of Ms Kinsella's report in central London, the Home Secretary said anyone found in possession of a knife should expect to spend time behind bars.
She said: "On sentencing we're absolutely clear that the sentence for somebody who is convicted of murder using a knife should be 25 years and we're absolutely clear that somebody found in possession, caught in possession and convicted of possession of a knife, should expect a custodial sentence."
Launching the sentencing green paper in December, Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke told MPs knife crime was "wholly unacceptable", saying: "Any adult who commits a crime using a knife can expect to be sent to prison and serious offenders can expect a long sentence."
But in her report Ms Kinsella said some young offenders still see prison and young offenders institutions as holiday camps.
"Many young offenders said they actually become accustomed to life in a young offenders institution, with some describing it as 'a holiday camp'," she said. "Just as the new Government is making it more beneficial to work than to be on benefits, so too must we turn prisons and institutions back into places of punishment, where people want to get out and ensure they don't go back."
Ms Kinsella said her "biggest concern" was schools and called for primary school children to be given anti-knife crime awareness lessons.
The number of jobs axed or threatened by local authorities because of Government spending cuts has topped 150,000, a new study has revealed.
The GMB union said 260 councils in England, Wales and Scotland were gearing up to cut posts in the coming months after having their funding slashed.
Most of the authorities have issued a 90-day consultation and have given notice that they plan to axe vacant posts and seek volunteers for early retirement and redundancy, said the GMB.
Some of the jobs have already been cut and many councils are meeting in the next few weeks to finalise redundancy plans, according to the GMB.
General secretary Paul Kenny said: "Coupled with announcements of big job losses in the private sector these 150,059 jobs under threat at 260 councils is really bad news. The figure for jobs under threat in the public sector keeps going up. The Government cannot blame the snow for this bad news.
"The Government is deliberately creating unemployment on a scale that we have not seen before. The Government spending plans not only threaten these 150,059 council posts and job losses in the rest of the public sector but there are additional job losses in the voluntary sector funded by public sector grants and in the outsourced private sector.
"Frontline services for the most vulnerable people in our society are being affected by cuts of this scale. The impact for those who depend on these services will be devastating. Some services like meals on wheels in some authorities are now only available to those at death's door.
"In the current circumstances it is hard to see the private sector creating enough new jobs to make up for these job losses."
The GMB said jobs under threat across the regions were: North East, 9,214; North West, 29,125; Yorkshire & The Humber, 18,243; East Midlands, 11,609; West Midlands, 20,937; Eastern, 9,829; London, 14,590; South East, 13,413; South West, 11,408; Wales, 1,858; and Scotland, 9,833.
More than 50 councils, fire and police authorities have warned of job losses in the past week in areas including Surrey, Wigan, West Sussex, Wiltshire, Scottish Borders, Suffolk and South Wales, said the GMB.
Jack Straw recommended that Tony Blair should read an MI6 paper setting out a "route map for regime change" in Iraq, the inquiry into the war has heard.
The former foreign secretary said the December 2001 briefing by a senior officer from Britain's overseas intelligence agency was "very perceptive" and sent a copy to 10 Downing Street.
Mr Straw was questioned about why he promoted this document despite his frequently stated position that regime change in Baghdad was not UK policy and could not be a legal justification for attacking Iraq.
He told the inquiry: "As secretary of state I would have read these papers late at night and scribbled on them, 'these are very perceptive, make sure Number 10 see them'.
"That would have been translated into an official note from my private secretary. That does not mean I've endorsed the policy within those papers."
The inquiry, led by Sir John Chilcot, has heard that the paper began: "At our meeting on 30 November we discussed how we could combine an objective of regime change in Baghdad with the need to protect important regional interests which would be a grave risk if a bombing campaign against Iraq were launched in the short term."
The document was the second of three MI6 briefing notes on how to deal with Iraq sent to 10 Downing Street and Mr Straw's office in early December 2001.
The foreign secretary's private secretary wrote back to the then-head of MI6, Sir Richard Dearlove: "Thank you for your letter of 3 December which the Secretary of State has read. He thought the two papers very perceptive and hopes that the Prime Minister reads them. I'm sending a copy to David Manning (Mr Blair's foreign policy adviser)."
Inquiry panel member Sir Roderic Lyne, a former senior diplomat, asked why Mr Straw commended a paper that suggested how Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq could be overthrown.
The former foreign secretary answered: "The view I have expressed publicly is the same as the views I expressed privately, that regime change was not a good idea for us to pursue as an objective, and in any event it was palpably illegal so it was not an option."
A former Scottish Labour MP accused of fiddling his parliamentary expenses used false invoices to claim for cleaning work that was not done, a court has heard.
Jim Devine, 57, who held a Commons seat for Livingston, is on trial at London's Southwark Crown Court for falsely claiming almost £9,000 from the public purse. He also claimed for the printing of leaflets that were never printed, the prosecution says.
Peter Wright QC, prosecuting, said: "These proceedings arose out of a series of allegedly false and dishonest claims submitted by him in his capacity as an MP in respect of claims for expenses that he asserted he had incurred."
Going through the charges against Devine, he said the former MP made the claims "with a view to gain for himself, or with an intent to cause loss to another - the public purse".
Mr Wright said he used five false invoices to claim for the cleaning work, and two false documents to claim for printing leaflets. "It's a false claim for expenses. That's what it amounts to," he said. "They are from a legitimate company but they are not in respect of work that was done."
The first count alleges that, between July 2008 and May 2009, Devine dishonestly claimed £3,240 for cleaning services from Tom O'Donnell Hygiene and Cleaning Services. This claim was made for his second home in south west London, near Westminster, where Devine sat in the Commons.
The second count alleges that between March 2009 and April 2009, Devine dishonestly claimed £5,505 for stationery from Armstrong Printing using false invoices.
Devine, of West Main Street, Bathgate, West Lothian, denies both charges of false accounting.
Before the jury was sworn, Mr Justice Saunders, the trial judge, asked the six men and six women selected to try Mr Devine if they had researched the expenses scandal on search engines or social network websites.
If they had, it was feared they may have come across inaccurate reports. He said reading newspaper websites did not count as research.
Shotgun killer Raoul Moat boasted "I'll be back inside by Friday" shortly before his murder rampage, a court has been told.
The former doorman, who had been released from Durham Prison just hours earlier, told a barber who was cutting his hair: "I have got a few things to do and I've got a few arses to kick. I'll probably be back inside by Friday."
Moat, 37, had become obsessed that his former girlfriend was seeing another man after ending their six-year relationship.
He was determined to track down her new boyfriend and was bent on revenge, prosecutor Robert Smith QC told Newcastle Crown Court.
He enlisted the help of his former business partner Karl Ness, 26, and Ness's friend Qhuram Awan, 23, during his rampage, the court heard.
The pair, who were arrested in Rothbury, Northumberland, days before Moat shot himself following a stand-off with police, are standing trial at Newcastle Crown Court.
Ness is charged with the murder of Chris Brown, who was shot dead on July 3. Ness and Awan are both charged with the attempted murder of Pc David Rathband, who was shot and blinded by the crazed fugitive.
Ness denies the murder of Mr Brown, attempting to murder Pc Rathband, one charge of conspiracy to murder, one charge of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, and one of robbing a fish shop.
Awan denies the attempted murder of Pc Rathband, one charge of conspiracy to murder, one charge of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, and one of robbing a fish shop.
Ness, of Brookside, Dudley, North Tyneside, and Awan, of Rowley Street, Blyth, North Tyneside, entered not guilty pleas at a hearing earlier this month.
The neglect of a 13-month-old boy whose charred body was found strapped in a buggy was both "predictable and preventable", an inquiry has found.
Tracey Sutherland, 39, was jailed for 27 months last April after her son, Alex, was found by police in front of a lit gas fire with apparent bruising to the torso and forehead at her home in Baguley, Manchester.
He was taken to hospital but pronounced dead later the same day on November 10, 2009.
A serious case review into his death by Manchester Safeguarding Children's Board found no single agency was to blame for failing to protect Alex but his case was "poorly managed throughout".
When he was just three weeks old police were called to the family home and found circumstances similar to the scene of his death, with Sutherland drunk and Alex in front of the gas fire surrounded by combustible material.
After a short period, social workers returned the youngster to Sutherland after they ruled the likelihood of significant harm was low.
A pathologist's report said no direct link could be found between the mother's neglect and the toddler's death.
Sentencing Sutherland, who pleaded guilty to child cruelty, Judge Clement Goldstone QC criticised social services for their "startling lack of urgency" in their dealings with Alex.
Following the initial incident where he was found in front of the gas fire, Alex was subject to a Child In Need plan until June 2009 when it was considered his mother was able to offer a "good enough" standard of care "despite a lack of evidence of progress", the serious case review reported.
The report noted that Sutherland missed a number of health appointments in that period, the child's weight had plummeted and there were ongoing concerns about her alcohol use.
The July 7 extremists received bomb-making instruction from a mystery figure in Pakistan, an inquest has been told.
Members of the group, who perpetrated the worst single terrorist atrocity on British soil, carefully constructed their home-made devices using a cocktail of concentrated hydrogen peroxide and pepper.
Lacking the expertise themselves, they are believed to have been guided by an unidentified individual in Rawalpindi.
Mobile phone records analysed in the wake of the bombings revealed a series of calls made from phone boxes in Pakistan to ringleader Mohammed Sidique Khan.
One of these, on July 2, 2005, five days before the devastating explosions, lasted for six minutes, Detective Sergeant Mark Stuart of the Metropolitan Police told the inquest at London's Royal Courts of Justice.
Hugo Keith QC, counsel to the inquests, asked him: "Did you asses that those calls therefore were probably connected to some guidance or some means of communicating information concerned with the manufacture of the bombs and then ultimately their detonation?"
"Yes, I think they had to be," he replied.
Many of the calls, though made from different phone boxes, were made within minutes of each other, suggesting whoever phoned Khan was intent on concealing their identity, the inquest was told.
