A teenage mother whose newborn baby was taken from her by social workers has been banned from seeing her son after she threw him across the room during a fight with the boy’s father.

A 40-year-old woman who made nuisance “silent” phone calls to the nursing home where she once worked has been given a suspended prison sentence by Plymouth magistrates for the second time.

A pioneering hospital treating people with complex mental health problems is to close next week.

NHS bosses in charge of the Henderson Hospital in south west London said the closure was temporary and a public consultation will still take place.

But some staff believe it will be impossible to re-open the unit, which treats patients from across the Uk.

Only five people are there at the moment, and NHS managers are making alternative arrangements for them.

Staff at the hospital admitted the future was too uncertain for their residential treatment to continue. The hospital initially looked after soldiers with shell shock.

It evolved into offering unique treatment to people from many parts of the UK who had self-destructive tendencies, eating disorders or suicidal feelings.

An MP has called for a “full inquiry” into the death of a social worker who was killed when visiting a client.

Rates of self-harming in prisons are increasing, a charity has warned. The Howard League for Penal Reform said there were 22,459 self-harm incidents in jails in England and Wales last year, up from 16,393 in 2003.

Social workers were accused yesterday of “political correctness gone mad” after it was revealed that councils and agencies will not let foster parents smack children but don’t object if they have a criminal record.

Tributes have been paid to Lancashire dad Philip Ellison, the social worker stabbed to death while doing his job.

Married father-of-three Mr Ellison, of Leyland Road, Penwortham, was attacked with a knife at a supported housing block in Glebe Close, Fulwood, Preston on Monday.

The 47-year-old, a social worker in adult care at Lancashire County Council, suffered multiple stab wounds and later died of his injuries.

Social care bosses and community leaders described Mr Ellison as a “respected, dedicated social worker”.

One friend said: “Deepest sympathies to his wife, sons and extended family.

“I considered Phil one of those people who genuinely cared and went the extra mile for people. It’s a sad situation to find social workers put into danger to be killed trying to do their best.”

The Homelessness Action Team, the joint project between the Housing Corporation and Communities and Local Government, has been extended for another 12 months to the end of March 2009 due to the success of its first year’s work, the Housing Corporation announced.

New Specialist Domestic Violence Courts have been set up in Bristol, Bath and North Somerset Magistrates’ courts, following the success of SDVCs (Specialist Domestic Violence Courts) already established in Yate (North Avon Magistrates’ court), Bridgwater (Sedgemoor Magistrates’ court) and Yeovil (South Somerset Magistrates’ court).

A mental health unit in Worcestershire is to close, it has been announced. The news that the Lea Castle centre in Kidderminster is to shut follows a meeting of Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust earlier this week.