Human Rights

Crime

February 7, 2014 0

Attorney general takes ‘garage slave’ sentence to appeal court

The attorney general has agreed to ask the court of appeal to impose a tougher sentence on the owner of an ice-cream van business who carried out a series of violent attacks on a disabled man. Disabled activists have expressed frustration that the offences carried out against Craig Kinsella were not treated as disability

Crime

January 31, 2014 0

Kinsella hate crime farce ‘highlights need for new laws’

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The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has admitted that its own barrister failed to follow instructions to ask for a series of violent attacks on a disabled man to be treated as disability hate crime. The case has once again frustrated hate crime campaigners, who say it highlights the need for better training throughout the

Crime

January 31, 2014 0

Criminal justice system ‘is failing offenders with learning difficulties’

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The treatment of people with learning difficulties should be “significantly improved” right across the criminal justice system, from arrest to sentencing, according to a new report. The report concludes that the needs of offenders with learning difficulties are going unnoticed when they are arrested by police, appear at court, and during sentencing. And it

Education

January 24, 2014 0

Inclusion is only right for some disabled children, says EHRC

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The human rights watchdog has admitted that it is not in favour of a fully inclusive education system, a position that defies a key part of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) appears instead to back the UK government’s controversial position on special

Human Rights

January 24, 2014 0

Government’s ‘unwieldy’ plan for disability advice is ‘cynical effrontery’

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A government plan to replace its high-level committee of disabled advisors with three new advice bodies has been described by a veteran disabled activist as “unwieldy, complicated and probably inaccessible to grassroots disabled people’s organisations”. The government this week published details of two of the new bodies that will replace Equality 2025, which was

Crime

January 24, 2014 0

Doubts over police watchdog’s probe into ‘hate crime’ murder

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Doubts have been raised over the ability of the police complaints watchdog to carry out a proper investigation into the circumstances surrounding the brutal murder of a disabled man. The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has so far refused to say whether it is treating the murder of Bijan Ebrahimi last summer as a

Activism and Campaigning

January 24, 2014 0

Disabled peer battles on over care home human rights protection

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A disabled peer is refusing to concede defeat despite the coalition narrowly overturning his amendment to the care bill, which would have provided human rights protection for residents of private sector and charity-run homes. Lord [Colin] Low secured the amendment after a Lords vote in October, but this week the government managed to have

Human Rights

January 24, 2014 0

Shakespeare calls for focus on barriers, not headcounts

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International research on disability should focus on the barriers disabled people face, rather than endless headcounts of how many people there are in developing countries with different impairments, according to a leading disabled academic. Dr Tom Shakespeare, currently a senior lecturer at Norwich Medical School, and a co-author of The World Report on Disability

Benefits and Poverty

January 17, 2014 0

DWP declares ‘business as usual’, despite appeal court ruling

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The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has caused outrage after telling senior civil servants that it was “business as usual”, despite the court of appeal ruling that its “fitness for work” test discriminated against many disabled people. The court ruled last month that the work capability assessment (WCA) – which tests eligibility for

Benefits and Poverty

January 17, 2014 0

Disabled woman ‘left in coma by welfare reforms’

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A disabled woman has been left in a coma, apparently as a direct result of the government’s welfare reforms, MPs heard this week. Sheila Holt was among disabled people whose cases were used by Labour MPs to show the need for an inquiry into how those reforms have affected levels of poverty. Holt has

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