November 2010 Archives

The four-year battle over the inheritance of a 287-acre parcel of farming land in North Yorkshire moved to the Court of Appeal this week. The land comprises Potto Carr Farm near Northallerton and is valued at £2.35m.

The former owner of the farm, Joyce Gill, died in August 2006, aged 82. Thirteen years before her death, she and husband John Gill -- who died in 1999 -- signed "mirror wills", which stated that if one of them died the farm and all their savings would pass to the other; and upon the death of the last surviving spouse, the farm would go to the RSPCA.

As a consequence of this arrangement, the couple's daughter Dr Christine Gill received nothing.

Dr Gill challenged her mother's will, however, and last autumn Leeds High Court ruled in her favour. The court said her "bullying" and "domineering" father had coerced her mother into changing her will to leave the farm to the RSPCA.

A giddy young banker who was dismissed for gross misconduct after she boasted on Facebook about the size of her severance payout launched a legal challenge for unfair dismissal this week.

23-year-old Katie Furlong used to work as a debt officer for Royal Bank of Scotland in Telford in Staffordshire. On September 2, following the bank's takeover by Santander Group, she received a call from her manager informing her that she was being laid off and would receive a severance payment of around £6,000 ($9,500/Ä7,000)

Moments later, at 5.58pm, Ms Furlong posted the following comments on Facebook:

Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose has launched a $20m lawsuit against Activision, the makers of the Guitar Hero video games, according to NME.

He claims the company "spun a web of lies and deception" to persuade him to licence the Roses' tune 'Welcome to the Jungle' in Guitar Hero III.

The focus of his ire centres on Activision's alleged breach of a promise to exclude all references to the band's former guitarist Slash and his new band, Velvet Revolver, in the game.

According to a report in the Daily Express newspaper, Ray Wilkins was sacked by Chelsea because of bust-ups with billionaire owner Roman Abramovich and chief executive Ron Gourlay -- and not, as previously reported in the Guardian, because first-team players were 'unconvinced by his ability'.

A former night porter at the college of Lady Margaret Hall at Oxford University appeared before an employment tribunal this week claiming he was unfairly dismissed because he 'knew too much' about student indiscretions at the college.

In a story evoking Tom Sharpe's novel Porterhouse Blue, Terence Greenwood, 65, said he enjoyed a close relationship with students at Lady Margaret Hall and made many friends during his time working at the college.

The popular porter fell out with his supervisor Lawrence Le Carre, however, for covering up student misdemeanours. In one incident, for example, a student got so drunk one night he soiled his own bed. Mr Greenwood refused to reveal the identity of the student to Mr Le Carre, which led to an argument in which he was told he was wrong to keep quiet.

A Glasgow employment tribunal has ruled that managers at Stirling University who laid off 100 workers on fixed-term contractors without consulting union representatives broke the law. The university now faces having to pay around £500,000 in compensation to the workers affected.

Paul Chambers, the 27-year-old accountant from Doncaster convicted under the Communications Act for tweeting a joke about bombing Robin Hood Airport after it closed during heavy snow, has decided to appeal to the high court.

Chambers has already lost one appeal to the crown court against the conviction and incurred around £3,000 in fines and legal costs. The expense of a further appeal initially seemed to put him off pursuing a further challenge.

Tens of thousands of people have rallied to his cause on Twitter, however, using the hashtags #IAmSpartacus and #TwitterJokeTrial -- including celebs such as Davina McCall, David Mitchell, Dave Gorman, Graham Linehan and Marcus Brigstocke. And Stephen Fry even offered to pay his fine ("Whatever they fine you, I'll pay", he tweeted).

A dance teacher has won his employment tribunal claim for race discrimination against Bristol City Council after he was wrongly accused of assaulting two pupils.

The case against traditional Caribbean dance instructor Ripton Lindsay went all the way to magistrates' court before he was exonerated last December.

The government announced new immigration rules yesterday to limit the flow of migrants into the UK from outside Europe.

The most important of the rule changes, which will take affect from April 2011, include:

An Aer Lingus cabin steward who suffered a bout of in-flight paranoia after accidentally eating a cannabis cookie the night before working on a transatlantic flight launched a claim for unfair dismissal this week.

The University of Salford is reportedly trying to press blog platform Wordpress, and its parent company Automatic Inc, based in San Francisco, California to reveal the personal details of contributors to a blog called The Rat Catchers Of The Sewers.

Material posted on the blog criticised senior management at the university -- including Vice-Chancellors Martin Hall and Michael Harloe, and Deputy Vice-Chancellor Adrian Graves -- and is now the subject of a libel case against a former lecturer and PhD student at Salford called Gary Duke, who the university believe is connected to the website.

Citizens Advice Bureaux Chief Executive Gillian Guy has delivered a hard-hitting and emotional plea to the government to "pause for breath" and rethink its plans for legal aid cuts.

Cuts to the legal aid budget announced in last month's Comprehensive Spending Review are set to top £350m by 2014-15, and could yet increase if the government takes social welfare law 'out of scope' for civil legal aid.

It would seem Alan Sugar's a little tired of the "You're Fired!" catchphrase on The Apprentice, but the recent Supreme Court decision in Gisda Cyf v. Barratt shows there's a lot to be said for being direct when dismissing someone.

A Ukrainian investment banker has won over half a million pounds in compensation for unfair dismissal and sex discrimination after she was made redundant following maternity leave.

Oksana Denysenko lost her job at Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Ltd in December 2007, nine months after returning to work after giving birth to a daughter.

Before going on maternity leave, Ms Denysenko had been solely responsible for the emerging market in Ukraine. When she returned to work in March 2007, however, she was forced to share her job with the man appointed as her cover, Yuri Kostrobi.

Carlo Ancelotti may soon be following Ray Wilkins out of Stamford Bridge if weekend press reports are to be believed. The Chelsea Football Club manger is evidently considering his future at the club after his former assistant was abruptly fired last week.

The Pensioners have lost two games and squandered a six point lead over their premiership rivals Manchester United since Wilkins's departure. Following the 1-0 loss against Birmingham City on Saturday, Ancelotti conceded he does not have "total control of the team" and that it was "not my decision" to dismiss Wilkins.

According to a Chelsea source quoted in the Telegraph and Guardian, the Italian now believes "something is broken" at the club. The same source describes him as being at his "lowest ebb" and "concerned that he let Wilkins down".

In June, shortly after taking office, Conservative minister Theresa May sent a tightly-scripted question to the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), a body sponsored by the UK Border Agency of the Home Office. It read as follows:

'At what level should limits on Tier 1 and Tier 2 of the points-based system be set for their first full year of operation in 2011/12, in order to contribute to achieving the government's aim of reducing net migration to an annual level of tens of thousands by the end of this Parliament, and taking into account social and public service impacts as well as economic impacts?'

A dental nurse is facing disciplinary action from the General Dental Council (GDC) after she sold her story about having an affair with her boss to a weekly magazine.

Closer magazine published the story about Paula Jackson, 46, under the headline 'My randy dentist offered me £100k to divorce my hubby'.

In the story, Ms Jackson revealed details of a nine year affair with her former boss, dentist Tariq Drabu.

A Glasgow employment tribunal has awarded a customer service assistant over £13,000 for harassment and unfair dismissal after it found co-workers 'bullied and ridiculed' him because he is gay.

Colleagues at The Lighthouse in Glasgow humiliated Steven Bain by asking him whether he had ever dressed as a woman and if he found the words "poof" and "queer" offensive.

Initially he'd had no problems with co-workers, but told the tribunal that following a "change of culture" in the workplace in 2007 people seemed increasingly "uncomfortable" with him being gay.

A senior executive at the Automobile Association (AA) has been forced to apologise to a co-worker in open court for claiming she sent him a pornographic email.

Gordon Cartwright sent an email to union officials and HR representatives at AA in April 2007 accusing a "female colleague on the Hotel Services senior team" of sending him "an unsolicited and deeply offensive email containing graphic, hardcore pornography".

In context, the reference to the "female colleague" could only have been understood to refer to his co-worker Jayne Wyatt, a person with whom he had a "strained" personal and professional relationship.

The battle to reign in the excesses of international corporate tax avoidance moved to New Delhi this week as the Indian government demanded Vodafone cough up £344m as a down-payment to settle a long-running tax dispute.

Manmohan Singh's government has given Vodafone three weeks to lodge the money with the Indian Supreme Court as it bids to wrestle £1.6bn from the company.

Yesterday, following months of "will they/won't they" speculation, and a day after selectively leaking the story to the Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph, Home Secretary Theresa May announced the government will not enforce the socio-economic duty created by the Equality Act.

The duty was originally scheduled to be implemented in April 2011 and would have imposed a new legal obligation on public bodies, including central government and local authorities, to consider what impact their strategic decisions would have on narrowing socio-economic inequalities, such as in healthcare and education.

A professional gardener who alleges he was sacked because he strongly opposes blood sports has commenced employment tribunal action for unlawful discrimination.

Joe Hashman, 42, claims the owners of Orchard Park Garden Centre in Gillingham, Dorset -- fox hunters Sheila and Ron Clarke -- sacked him after they found out he secretly filmed celebrity chef Clarissa Dickson-Wright at an illegal hare coursing event in North Yorkshire in March 2007. Apparently the footage was used to successfully convict Dickson-Wright, 63, of an offence under the Hunting Act last year in a private prosecution brought by the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

The former manager of Darlington Football Club has won an employment tribunal claim for breach of contract over unpaid holidays and unauthorised deductions from his wages.

Simon Davey, 40, managed Blue Square Bet Conference Premier side Darlington for barely two months between April and June this year before he quit citing 'personal reasons'.

Former Labour immigration minister Phil Woolas appeared at the Royal Courts of Justice (RCJ) in London yesterday to commence judicial review action against a decision to bar him from public office.

Earlier this month, a specially convened election court found that Woolas contravened section 106 of the Representation of the People Act during the 2010 Oldham East and Saddleworth general election contest by unreasonably making untrue statements about his Lib Dem opponent Elwyn Watkins.

A teacher who developed nodules on her vocal chords as a result of having to constantly shout during lessons will receive £156,000 in compensation following an out-of-court settlement of her personal injury and disability discrimination claims.

Major engineering and construction firm CB&I has lost the first case brought under new legislation outlawing trade union blacklists.

Ashford Employment Tribunal ruled that CB&I unlawfully refused employment to Phil Willis because he is a member of Unite trade union.

The tribunal heard that Mr Willis submitted an application to CB&I to work on a major engineering and construction project on the Isle of Grain, Kent in 2007.

A former counsellor at relationship support charity Relate has been awarded £8,000 in damages following an employment tribunal in Leeds.

Sandra Goad claimed the charity forced her to resign in 2009 after she was falsely accused of breaching a client's confidentiality.

An American paramedic sacked for ridiculing her boss on Facebook has launched a first-of-its-kind case for unfair dismissal this month.

Dawnmarie Souza worked for private ambulance company American Medical Response of Connecticut Inc (AMR).

Late last year, the company received a complaint from a customer about her work, so her supervisor asked her to prepare a report on the incident.

Souza wasn't best pleased so when she got home she decided to log in to her personal computer and vent her spleen on social networking site Facebook.

"Looks like I'm getting some time off," she wrote. "Love how the company allows a 17 to be a supervisor."

"17" refers to a code used within AMR to describe psychiatric patients. Apparently Souza also used two expletives to describe her supervisor. A number of colleagues noticed the comments and expressed their agreement.

Tweeters of the world unite, you have nothing to lose but your computer... and (if you insist on quibbling) maybe your smartphone, a thousand quid or so, and your job. But come on, you must have seen Spartacus -- power to the people!

That was the message swirling around on Twitter over the weekend -- or at least words to that effect -- as tens of thousands of tweeters around the world expressed solidarity for Paul Chambers, a 27-year-old accountant from Doncaster convicted under the Communications Act for tweeting a joke about bombing Robin Hood Airport.

The very public falling out between chef Gordon Ramsay and his father-in-law and former business partner Chris Hutcheson appears to be heading to the courts, according to the Daily Mail.

Hutcheson, 62, worked as CEO for Gordon Ramsay Holdings (GRH), the corporate entity that oversees Ramsay's world-renowned restaurants in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Australia and North America, for 12 years before he was unceremoniously sacked on October 16.

Ramsay initially refused to comment publicly on what he described as a "private family matter". But, after being sacked, Hutcheson described his son-in-law as "a monster' and was reported as saying that 'I know where Gordon's bodies are buried".

This prompted the former Rangers footballer to issue a scathing open letter to the Evening Standard in which he called Hutcheson "a dictator" and claimed that when he told staff his father-in-law was going, "you could see the relief and joy in their faces".

In a significant decision impacting free speech, a district court judge has upheld the conviction of a 27-year-old trainee accountant for joking on Twitter about blowing up Robin Hood Airport.

As previously documented on this blog, Paul Chambers was arrested in January for sending a tweet deemed 'grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character' contrary to the Communications Act 2003.

The tweet read: "Crap! Robin Hood Airport is closed. You've got a week and a bit to get your shit together, otherwise I'm blowing the airport sky high!!"

Unite, Britain's biggest trade union, has abandoned plans to ballot its British Airways cabin crew members over a settlement deal following fierce opposition from its constituent British Airlines Stewards and Stewardesses Association (BASSA).

Last month, Unite joint general secretary Tony Woodley described the offer from BA chairman Willie Walsh as the "best" that could be achieved in the current climate.

Yesterday, however, he said it made no sense to offer the deal to members "over the heads of unwilling representatives". He added: "I have suspended the ballot on the offer and will meet with all of our cabin crew representatives as a matter of urgency to consider the next steps."

MSPs have voted unanimously in favour of a new law covering the sale of alcohol in Scotland.

The Alcohol Bill contains a number of provisions, including a ban on discount drinks promotions, such as 'buy one, get one free', discounted cases of beer, and promotional material in alcohol display areas.

Italy's Supreme Court -- the Corte Suprema di Cassazione -- has ruled that a woman should be denied spousal support because she once discussed the possibility of having an open marriage with her husband.

Although the conversation occurred before the couple married and the idea was never put into practice, the husband cited his wife's "views on faithfulness" in his application to the Catholic Church for an annulment.

Apparently, during the discussion, she "theorised" that sexual fidelity was no longer a prerequisite for a successful marriage.

Jamaican-born Juliette Giscombe, the mother of comedian and radio DJ Richard Blackwood, appeared before an employment tribunal in London this week claiming constructive dismissal and discrimination on the grounds of age and race against the Hilton hotel group.

Ms Giscombe, 57, of Streatham, south London, worked as a telephonist claims manager at Hilton's flagship Park Lane hotel in Mayfair. She alleges managers "bullied and patronised" her, treated her like a "skivvy", and repeatedly overlooked her for promotion in favour of younger, less experienced white workers.

Giving evidence to Central London Employment Tribunal, the mother-of-two said she repeatedly complained to the hotel's human resources department about essentially working under a "glass ceiling" but to no avail.

The UK Border Agency announced the monthly limit on "tier 1" highly skilled non-EU migrants was reached three weeks early this month.

In October, you may remember, the limit was reached 10 days before month-end.

If the trend continues, as seems likely, the limit for December could be reached before the month even begins!

A BBC1 presenter for the rural affairs programme Countryfile was told she was "not young and pretty enough" to pass the "primetime test", an employment tribunal in London heard yesterday.

Appearing as a witness in the sex and age discrimination case brought by co-presenter Miriam O'Reilly, 46-year old Charlotte Smith was only 44 when the comments were made by Sam Bailey, an assistant producer and director on the show.

Ms Smith presented Countryfile for ten years before being axed in 2008, along with three other female presenters -- including O'Reilly (51), Michaela Strachan (42) and Juliet Morris (45) -- as part of a widely publicised 'revamp' of the show.

The Irish greenkeeper hired by Donald Trump to take care of the links course at the billionaire's £750m resort at the Menie Estate in Aberdeenshire is considering a claim for wrongful dismissal according to his solicitor.

Paul O'Connor, 43, was headhunted by Trump after winning plaudits for his work at the 2007 Open Championship at Carnoustie.

Before hiring him, Trump said O'Connor's "years of training and experience at Carnoustie made him an obvious choice" to become the links superintendent at Menie.

Less than a year into the job, however, and O'Connor is now considering tribunal action for compensation after he was sacked last week.

Contrary to several media reports last night, it appears that Pakistan wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider has not applied for asylum in the UK.

Speaking to Reuters news agency last night, Mr Haider said:

"The UK Border Agency has taken my fingerprints and issued me a temporary stay.

"I had no intentions of applying for political asylum at this stage and, if the Pakistan government is ready to give me assurance of security for me and my family, I am ready to return to Pakistan.

"I have no issues playing for Pakistan again provided the Pakistan Cricket Board wants me to play."

A former sales executive for marine supplies firm Cathelco appeared before an employment tribunal in Sheffield yesterday and alleged her boss put female staff across his knee and spanked them, encouraged women to grab his genitals at work and viewed sex toys and blow-up dolls on the internet in full view of colleagues.

Angelina Ashby, 40, from Chesterfield joined Cathelco in June 2003 and told the tribunal that Peter Smith was appointed her line manager in September 2006.

She said: "I was subjected to a continuous course of mistreatment...

Just over a year ago, Tom Freeman and Katherine Doyle applied for a civil partnership at Islington Town Hall. Islington council refused their application, however, as it's only allowed to process civil partnerships for same-sex couples.

As discussed in this blog, the couple weren't interested in getting married because they consider marriage to be a form of institutionalised "apartheid" that segregates straight and gay people.

They're now planning on returning to Islington Town Hall for a second time to ask for the partnership, as part of the Equal Love campaign against the twin bans on gay marriages and heterosexual civil partnerships.

The campaign is being organised by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender human rights organisation OutRage!, and will see eight couples filing applications at register offices and then, when they are refused, bringing a joint legal action in the European Court of Human Rights to secure a change in the law.

An aggrieved library assistant from Slough who burst into an employment tribunal and threatened a judge with a meat cleaver has been sentenced to two years, following proceedings at Reading Crown Court.

Apparently before the incident Judge Russell Hardwick, 66, had ruled against 33-year-old Mohammed Choudhury in an unfair dismissal case brought against Slough Library.

Still seething about the decision, economics graduate Choudhury burst into Reading tribunal centre on June 18.

Barrister Andrew Burns said: 'He just walked up to the judge and said something like, "You threw out my case." Then he raised this meat cleaver before the judge's head.

Last week, David Cameron set out an ambitious plan to transform East London into ;a hi-tech hub to rival Silicon Valley in California.

He revealed that Google, Facebook and a number of other cutting-edge companies have committed to invest in the Olympic Park area in Stratford, apparently enticed by the prospective of generous tax breaks.

UK video game developers have slated the 'Silicon Marshes' plan, however, because the high-tech tax incentives are restricted to London and won't be rolled out nationally.

A lesbian MEP for Meriden in the West Midlands has commenced legal action against the UK Independence Party (UKIP) over alleged sexual orientation discrimination, according to Pink News.

Nikki Sinclaire was elected an MEP for UKIP in 2009, but was forced to leave the party earlier this year. It seems she first fell out with party leader Nigel Farage over the decision to join the extremist 'Europe of Freedom and Democracy' group in the European Parliament.

Farage then expelled her from the party after she refused to sit alongside EFD members in Strasbourg.

She has now commenced employment tribunal proceedings claiming that her treatment breached UKIP's constitution and was motivated by sexual orientation discrimination.

A special election court convened under section 106 of the Representation of the People Act has ruled that former immigration minister Phil Woolas, the Labour MP for the constituency of Oldham East and Saddleworth, unreasonably made untrue statements about his Liberal Democrat opponent Elwyn Watkins during the 2010 general election campaign.

Speaking on behalf of the court, Mr Justice Teare said: "The consequence of our finding that the respondent is guilty of an illegal practice with regard to the statements we have referred to is that, pursuant to section 159(1) of the Act, his election as Member of Parliament for the constituency of Oldham East and Saddleworth is void."

The Labour Party immediately suspended Mr Woolas following the ruling and Speaker of the House John Bercow will likely call a by-election in the constituency later today.

Mr Watkins described the judgement as a "historic victory" for democracy. Mr Woolas meanwhile announced that he intends to launch judicial review proceedings against the court's decision.

Do you own property jointly with someone else -- your girlfriend/boyfriend, say, or your wife/husband or domestic partner? Are you concerned about what could happen to your interest in the property if you split up and your ex- is declared bankrupt? Read on...

Invariably when someone enters bankruptcy the only thing in their estate worth anything of real value is the home they live in.

In adjudicating the disposition of property in this instance, the courts have to balance two competing interests: (1) the interests of the bankrupt's ex- or still current living partner (who may wish to remain in the property); and (2) the bankrupt's creditors (who probably want the property sold to claw back the money they're owed).

Anti-tax avoidance campaigners are planning to ramp up their fight against Vodafone another notch this weekend by blockading more stores across the UK.

The activists claim that Vodafone evaded around £6bn in UK tax by using Luxembourg as a routing location for their £112bn (Ä180bn / $183bn) acquisition of German mobile phone company Mannesmann in 2000 and subsequent "profit stashing".

They also allege that the government settled the £6bn claim against Vodafone for just £1.2bn recently. The settlement has been criticised as rather "cosy" in some quarters, particularly since Vodafone's financial director, Andy Halford, is a key adviser to chancellor George Osborne on corporate tax.

Former BBC1 presenter Miriam O'Reilly appeared before an employment tribunal in London yesterday on the first day of a hearing on her claims for sexual discrimination and age discrimination.

Ms O'Reilly, 53, worked at the BBC for over 25 years and presented the rural affairs programme Countryfile until she was axed in November 2008 as part of a widely publicised 'revamp' of the show.

On the first day of the tribunal hearing, Ms O'Reilly submitted a witness statement in which she alleges that nine months before she was sacked Countryfile's director Dean Jones warned her "to be careful with those wrinkles when high definition comes in".

'He said that would be "crunch time" for my BBC career,' added Ms Reilly, who wrote the comments 'sent a shiver down my spine'.

Shortly afterward, Louise Pyne, another director of the programme, told her "it's time for Botox".

You might think people at law firms would know better. Apparently not...

In a recent case before the Employment Appeal Tribunal in London, a female employee of a law firm in Suffolk claimed that gossip about her pregnancy following the firm's Christmas party in 2007 constituted sex discrimination.

The claimant, Sarah Nixon, worked at the Ipswich branch of Ross Coates Solicitors. In early December 2007 she was 33 and in a relationship with Wayne Perrin, a solicitor at the firm. She was pregnant by him, leading to the birth of their son on 7 September 2008.

By the time of the firm's Christmas party on 22 December, however, she did not know this.

She got very drunk at the party and people noticed her "flirtatiously kissing" the firm's IT manager, Ben Wright. The couple left the party together and secured a hotel room (paid for by the firm) where, according to Mr Wright, they retired and had "unprotected sex".

A special election court convened at Uppermill Civic Hall by two high court judges under the Representation of the People Act will deliver its verdict tomorrow on a case brought against former immigration minister Phil Woolas, the Labour MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, by his defeated Lib Dem 2010 general election opponent Elwyn Watkins.

Woolas won the election by 103 votes, but Watkins says the result was swayed by 'dirty tricks'. He alleges Woolas 'doctored photographs', 'misrepresented facts', and 'stooped to fomenting racial and religious divisions' to guarantee his victory.

Resolution, the family lawyers group, has hailed the recent landmark Supreme Court decision on pre-nuptial agreements as "a victory for fairness and common sense".

The decision to enforce the pre-nuptial agreement in Radmacher v. Granatino in favour of a German heiress worth a reputed £100m marked a radical shift in English law. Previously the courts deemed such agreements contrary to public policy on the grounds that they encouraged couples to split up, and could result in the exploitation of vulnerable and financially weaker parties -- historically women who might be left with children to care for.

Responding to the judgement, Resolution chairman and deputy district judge Andrew Greensmith said:

A bus driver accused of handing out tickets to customers and pocketing the cash has launched an employment tribunal claim for constructive dismissal against the company after a court threw out a criminal case against her.

Catherine Bates, 39, worked for Mike de Courcey Travel Ltd in Coventry until the company found a £21.60 discrepancy in her takings and reported the matter to the police.

The company said she had stolen the cash, but as it turned out someone had added up the totals from a spreadsheet incorrectly and she had actually overpaid her employer.

Prosecutors did not spot the error until the day she was due to stand trial at Coventry Crown Court last month, whereupon the judge immediately threw out the case against her.

To mark the beginning of National Adoption Week, Children's Minister Tim Loughton has called on local authorities and voluntary adoption agencies to do more to facilitate interracial adoption and make it easier for couples to adopt children from different ethnic or cultural backgrounds.

He also described the 15% decrease in the number of children placed for adoption last year and increase in the time it takes to complete an adoption as "unacceptable".

Way back in March 2004, in the case of Hirst v. United Kingdom, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the 140-year-old blanket ban on prisoners voting was a breach of their fundamental right to participate in free and fair elections.

Seven years on and the UK government has still not complied with the ruling. Why so?

A former primary school dinner lady from Essex appeared before an employment tribunal in Bury St Edmunds yesterday claiming unfair dismissal.

Carol Hill, 61, was sacked by C of E Great Tey Primary School, near Colchester, in September 2009 for 'breach of confidentiality' after she told a little girl's parents their daughter was being bullied.

Ms Hill says she dragged four boys away from Chloe David after discovering they had tied her to a chain-link fence and whipped her with a skipping rope.

Deborah Crabb, headmistress at the school, wrote to Chloe's parents Claire and Scott informing them their daughter had been 'hurt in a skipping rope incident', but did not say the injuries had been deliberately inflicted.

The psychiatrist and lawyer/boyfriend of the deceased Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith were found guilty of fraudulently supplying her with controlled substances last week.

Anna Nicole Smith died on 8 February 2007 as a result of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs.

Investigators discovered she'd taken over 600 different types of painkillers, antidepressants, and muscle relaxants in the weeks leading up to her death.

Of the 11 drugs in Smith's system when she died, eight were prescribed to her former boyfriend and attorney Howard K. Stern. Two were written out to someone called 'Alex Katz' (believed to be an alias). And one was written for Ms Smith's psychiatrist Khristine Eroshevich.

Dr Eroshevich also wrote all 11 of the prescriptions.

A former council executive from the northwest of England claimed she was forced to resign as a result of bullying and harassment by councillors last week.

Jill Hunter worked as the executive and financial officer of Broughton Community Council (now Parish Council) for three years before she resigned in April.

Appearing before an employment tribunal in Carlisle, she said the main instigators of the bullying were councillors Brian Beck and Brian Lancaster, who wanted to replace her with a former parish clerk called Peter Wilson.

The Daily Mirror reports that the government is planning to double the qualifying period that staff must work before they can claim unfair dismissal.

As things stand, most employees must have a year's continuity of service at the date their employment comes to an end, or else have been dismissed without notice within a week of gaining a year's continuity of service, to claim unfair dismissal.

According to the Mirror, leaked papers show that David Cameron wants to increase the qualifying period for unfair dismissal from one year to two years.

Claims made by a West Midlands recruitment professional that her boss subjected her to a persistent campaign of sexual harassment, discrimination and victimisation have been rubbished by a male colleague at a Birmingham employment tribunal this week.

Earlier this month, 49-year-old mother-of-three Debbie Smith said she was forced to leave Pertemps recruitment group following a series of "humiliating" sexist remarks by the company's 61-year-old chairman Tim Watts -- including one comment when he said she looked like a "sexy nurse".

Last week, however, colleague John Smith (no relation) told the tribunal that allegations of a degrading environment for women were nonsense.