Welfare professionals missed a string of chances to raise concerns about a “sadistic” foster mother who subjected three children to physical and mental abuse over 20 years, it was claimed yesterday.

A sacked social worker had to be dragged screaming from a court after a foul mouthed tirade at a judge about gang culture today. Two members of an armed gang of hooded thugs that included the killers of Tom ap Rhys Price were been jailed for a minimum of five years each.

Hundreds of thousands of social care staff are working in settings with vulnerable adults before they have been given a full Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check. Employers are appointing individuals who have been checked against the Protection of Vulnerable Adults (POVA) list only, instead of an enhanced CRB check, to tackle high turnover and vacancy rates.

A leading pharmacologist today condemns science degree courses in alternative and complementary medicine as pseudo scientific or even “anti-scientific”. Prof David Colquhoun of University College London says the rapid growth in “science degrees without the science” shows a sharp contrast with the closure of physics and chemistry courses at universities.

The Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) has announced that as part of the ‘New Types of Worker’ programme, it is funding a range of innovative projects that will help encourage a strategic approach to workforce development.

Research into Ageing, which is the highly successful biomedical programme of Help the Aged, has been awarded for its excellence in writing clear and accessible publications that increase public support for vital biomedical research.

A foster mother who subjected children in her care to horrific acts of cruelty was allowed to continue her reign of terror for 20 years because of a catalogue of blunders by social services, it emerged. Eunice Spry, 62, beat the children with metal bars, made them drink bleach and forced them to eat their own vomit.

A judge has warned about the rising threat of dangerous elderly drivers after an 89-year-old motorist with dementia was blamed for a crash in which a motorcyclist died. Retired farmer Albert Bradley had ignored pleas from his family to stop driving amid concerns of his poor health, Hull Crown Court was told.

New gay equality laws which are opposed by the Roman Catholic Church are a “major step forward”, the Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly has said. Peers voted against an amendment to throw out the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations, brought by Tory peer Baroness O’Cathain.

Sir Elton John has marked his 60th birthday by urging the public to speak out against homophobia, in a strongly worded article that highlights the violence faced by gay people all over the world. In a piece published in the Guardian and New Statesman today, the singer asks people to “shout down” homophobia whether it happens “in the local pub or a thousand miles away”.