Animal abusers could face far more severe sentences if a Private Member’s Bill presented by Redcar Labour Co-operative MP Anna Turley is successful.

Campaigners say the current maximum prison term of six months is too lenient when fly-tippers can get up to five years, the maximum term they say animal abusers should face. Apparently nine out of ten offenders avoid jail altogether, despite strong evidence that those who hurt defenceless animals will do, or have done the same to defenceless humans. Continue reading →

Following a two year investigation the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has now fined some of Britain’s largest and best-regarded charities for illegal collection of information on their donors without their knowledge to establish their total wealth, the better to extract further donations. Details of fines for breaching the Data Protection Act follow. Continue reading →

Public awareness of mental health issues has been increased by the admission by Prince Harry to anti-suicide charity CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) that he didn’t come to terms with his mother’s death when he was 12 years old, but bottled it up for 20 years, coming close to a breakdown as a result. His brother Prince William, who persuaded him to accept counselling, said that the “stiff upper lip” mindset was dangerous when it affected health.

Men especially hold to the view that it is unacceptable and a sign of weakness to talk about emotions and feelings, leading to the fact that suicide is the biggest killer of men aged under 45 in the UK. Continue reading →

The Safer Living Foundation, which works to rehabilitate paedophiles, has been criticised for organising a Family Fun Day to raise funds and not making it clear to parents attending what their money was going to be used for.

Some parents have since stated that they would never have supported the event, held on Easter Saturday at the Keyworth United football ground in Nottinghamshire, had they had realised.

However the charity has said that its aims are prevention of paedophile offences as well as psychological help for those who have already offended and has apologised if some who supported them were not aware of this.

The Insolvency Service has warned all former directors of the collapsed Kids Company charity that they could face disqualification.

Those facing bans from boardrooms are former chairman and creative director of the BBC Alan Yentob, founder Camila Batmanghelldjh, Rowan Atkinson’s ex-wife Sunetra Atkinson and former WH Smith boss Richard Handover. The public accounts committee branded the directors “negligent” for the way they let the charity run, with much of the £46 million of taxpayer’s money over 13 years being given to children, including those of staff, “willy-nilly”.

Following the 2015 collapse Yentob was forced to resign from his £330,000 BBC job after trying to intervene in the BBC’s news coverage of the shambles. Batmanghelldjh told the press “I’ll be back”.

A Bedfordshire charity, Preen, has been the target of mindless and disgusting vandalism over the Easter holiday.

Persons unknown broke into the Biggleswade offices of the charity, which helps disadvantaged local people with low-cost re-used furniture, and smashed electrical items, scattered the contents of first-aid boxes and defecated on the floor. Nothing was taken.

Earlier this year the shop of the Penine Pen Animal Rescue Charity in Oldham was attacked in three separate raids in a week, which caused £1,500 worth of damage, again with nothing taken.

JustGiving, the charity donations website that makes £20 million a year from donor’s generosity has been criticised for refusing to waive its 5% fee for donations to the family of PC Keith Palmer, who was knifed to death by terrorist Khalid Massood.

The page for Keith Palmer was set up by the Metropolitan Police Federation, which is now understood to be regretting using JustGiving.