The failure to look at the potential dangers of a restraint method was one of the factors in the death of a boy at a detention centre, an inquest found. A jury ruled the death of 15-year-old Gareth Myatt, of Stoke-on-Trent, at the Rainsbrook Secure Training Centre in Northamptonshire, was accidental.

Neighbouring local authorities should pool their Supporting People cash to fund services for vulnerable people who move across borough boundaries, a senior government official has urged.

Plans to change the way disabled and elderly people in Lancashire are cared for has prompted angry criticism. The county council wants more voluntary and community groups to support people with lower level social care needs.

About 1,200 prisoners are to be freed later ahead of their scheduled release date as part of the government’s attempt to ease prison overcrowding. The offenders are being let out

A convicted child abuser and his girlfriend were being questioned by police in southern Spain last night over the kidnapping of Madeleine McCann. Danilo Chemello, 61, and Aurora Pereira Vaz were arrested in a dawn raid on a beachside villa in the exclusive Sotogrande resort in Algeciras. Reports said part of the villa’s garage had been converted into a child’s bedroom.

{mosimage}Mr Chemello has been on the run from France for his suspected links to criminal activities. The Italian national was previously jailed for 18 months for child abuse. His Portuguese girlfriend is reportedly being investigated over allegations that she is involved in illegal adoptions in Europe.

A police source said that the Mr Chemello had been under surveillance after claiming on June 8 that he knew what had happened to Madeleine following her abduction 57 days ago. He wanted to negotiate with her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, to claim the £2.5 million reward on offer for their daughter’s safe return.

Portuguese police said they had yet to establish a “direct link” with her disappearance from an Algarve resort. A Spanish police spokesman said last night:

“The police began to investigate them after finding out they attempted to get in contact with the parents of Madeleine to claim the reward offered. The facts suggest that this is some fraudsters although the police investigation is not closed. As the investigation progressed the agents found that that the male had a international arrest warrant issued by France for the crime of illicit association.

Many people with early dementia are capable of driving safely, say researchers in this week’s BMJ. Society’s perception of older drivers tends to be negative, write Professor Desmond O’Neill and colleagues. Yet surveys of drivers aged more than 80 consistently show prudent driving behaviours.

Rising rates of obesity will lead to dramatic increases in the number of people with Alzheimer’s disease, experts have predicted. In 50 years time, up to 2.5m people in the UK could have dementia unless steps are taken to stem the obesity epidemic, the Alzheimer’s Society warned.

Gordon Brown fulfilled his dream to become Prime Minister yesterday after more than a decade of waiting and pledged a decisive break with the Tony Blair era.
     
After spending almost an hour at Buckingham Palace with the Queen – twice as long as the departing prime minister – Mr Brown made a short stirring speech in Downing Street before entering the door of Number 10 for the first time as leader of the country.

Mr Brown, clutching the hand of his wife Sarah, finally stepped out from Mr Blair’s considerable shadow with a promise to heal the divisions within his party and the country over the Iraq war. He also signalled a new, more low key style of government in stark contrast to the flamboyance of his predecessor.

“This will be a new government with new priorities,” Mr Brown said. “I remember words that have stayed with me since my childhood and which matter a great deal today: my school motto, ‘I will try my utmost’.”

There was conspicuously no mention of Iraq, the issue that dogged the final years of Mr Blair’s premiership and he repeatedly emphasised that he could provide the country with the “change” it wanted.

He stressed that his domestic priorities were “change in our NHS, change in our schools, change with affordable housing, change to build trust in government, change to protect and extend the British way of life”.’

Two senior officials at the government agency meant to safeguard patient safety in the NHS have cost the taxpayer more than £640,000 in early retirement payments, ministers have admitted.

Playing chess, reading newspapers and engaging the brain in other tasks can significantly reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease in later life, according to a study.