The Guardian from London, Greater London, England • 3

THE GUARDIAN Wednesday May 5 1993 HOME NEWS 3 OUT NOW! "Theire's fflothnin) worse HMda a rtf uctauit In the spotlight Fiona Creese as Miss Taneo in rehearsal for the latest nroduction bv The Peoole Show. For One Nieht Onlv. The show, described as a celebration of the elitter davs of the ballroom, receives its world premiere at this year's Brighton Festival, which begins on Friday photograph, graham turner Judges ttiry to 'preserve public confidence' Bloodied but Ml. I Top earner (Take home pay unbowed, Terence 5 worn, Trent D'arby comes back with a sparkling i new album and reveals i everything for Q- the time he kissed Princeon4h mouth, the help1 1 C-ra Clara Dyer Legal Correspondent IV UDGES and magistrates 1 1 want changes to three all provisions in the Crimi-BT nal Justice Act 1991 which they believe endanger public confidence in the sentencing regime it introduced seven months ago. Magistrates feel the unit fine system, which fines offenders on a sliding scale according to their means, unfairly penalises the better off.

The disparities between fines imposed on different offenders foresame of-'fehcerisks bringing the sy'slerri into disrepute, they believe. Magistrates and judges, including the senior judiciary, 'arte 'dissatisfied with' section 29 Of the act, which limits the extent to which sentencers can take account of an offender's previous convictions in passing sentence. They also object to a provision in section one whereby sentencers can take account of only two offences in deciding whether to send an offender charged with a number of crimes to jaif. Section 29 puts into statutory form what was previously a well-established principle of sentencing that an offence should not be regarded as more serious simply because the offender has committed similar crimes before. But judges complain that the act's wording has removed their discretion, putting them into what Lord Taylor, the Lord Chief Justice, has described as "an ill-fitting he got from Springsteen, his inimitable way with women and the inspiration of Shakespeare, Socrates and Leonard Cohen.

FEATURES Donald Fagen, Janet Jackson, John Lennon, Marc Bolan and the mysterious figures peering put from classic album covers. REVIEWS Morrissey, Springsteen, Robert Plant, Lemonheads, P.J. Harvey and many more. Palace tours 'a fire trap' Gerald Ratner (left) was fined 160 for speeding. Dropping litter cost jobless Vaughan Watkins 1,200.

David Sharrock on disparities in unit fines income. Mr Ratner's case is just one of many apparently iniqui, tous fines passed during the last seven months of the 1991 Criminal Justice Act's controversial system of means-tested fines, which has lead to resignations of magistrates. Bury magistrate Stanley Rubin quit after he was obliged to impose a 320 fine for speeding on a woman pensioner who was rushing to see her husband in but a fine, of 78 on the 'previous defendant who was guilty of the same' offence but on a low income. "I belong to the school that says this is not justice," said Mr Rubin. Judge Willcock called the system unworkable when he had to cut a man's motoring fine from 792 to 96 after hearing he had lost his job.

Judge Gower, fining an unemployed man 16 at Hove crown court, said: "There is something News in brief School testing review inept, says Tory peer THE Conservative peer Lord Skidelsky yesterday accused the Department for Education of ineptitude as he announced' his resignation from the Schools Examination and Assessment Council in protest at the handling of the review of national curriculum testing. John Patten, the Education Secretary, responded to test boycotts by teachers by announcing a review of the curriculum and testing by Sir Ron Dearing, chairman of the new School Curriculum and Assessment Council. But Lord Skidelsky said: "Now the unique chance opened up by the teachers' boycott for a coherent, independent review of the main issues is being thrown away. I refuse to be implicated in a procedure so inept, and so ill-calculated to produce a reputable outcome." Lord Skidelsky was appointed by Mr Patten last September to SEAC, which is to be superseded by Sir Ron's new council. He said the main lines of the inquiry were decided "by Sir Ron and a few civil "The astonishingly cavalier approach to the constitution of the review suggests that the Department for Education is still hoping to stage-manage the crisis out of existence.

This will not work What is needed is thoughts in the head, not more mountains of paper." The Prime Minister, questioned by Labour leader John Smith in the Commons, said the Government thought it important to go ahead with the tests so Sir Ron would have their results to draw from. Courts considering a heavier sentence to protect the public from a violent or sexual offender may take account of a previous record. Apart from that, sentences may reflect earlier offences only if the circumstances make the present offence more serious for example, if they show a pattern of fraud against vulnerable people. Judges and magistrates point out that the information available to them on sentencing rarely discloses sufficient details of an offender's previous convictions to make the measure "They also want to be able to take into account all the offences a defendant is charged in deciding wnetner to pass a custodial sentence. Under the unit fines scheme, magistrates fix a number of units to reflect the seriousness of the crime, then multiply that by the defendant's disposable income to set the fine.

Magistrates and justices' clerks believe the mistake the act made was to depart too far from the scheme piloted in several magistrates' courts. Under the pilot scheme, the top disposable income was 25. The present band, from 4 to 100 is, they believe, too wide a point conceded yesterday by Kenneth Clarke, the Home Secretary. Bryan Gibson, the justices' clerk who pioneered the scheme, said clerks and magistrates had warned the Home Office in the run-up to the act that its variant on the scheme would cause problems. ers or blankets.

There were not enough staff to ensure safety; there were no official fire and safety inspections; and fire doors were not provided. "This move is cynical, it is farcical and it is downright danv gerous," Ms Hahn said. The council's director-general, James Tye, said the palace was "a potential death trap with serious fire and safety hazards. "We have had serious fires at Hampton Court, York Minster and Windsor Castle and still the Government refuses to learn from these lessons. It's my opinion that all crown palaces should be closed to the public until adequate fire and safety checks are carried out." A spokeswoman for the palace, however, said Mr Tye had barns into a luxury home but was then told by Solihull borough council that planning permission had been withdrawn because he had rebuilt them, rather than refurbished them, and the barns had to be demolished.

Brian McGarry, director of PBM Contractors, which had the contract to demolish the home, said: "I felt that it wasn't right to knock down a perfectly good house and my lads felt the same. We could do with the work but money's not everything." He refused to say how much his company stood to lose by not carrying out the two-week contract, worth an estimated 10,000. "We could lose even more if the council decides to sue us," he added. C40Q a week or more) Offence No of unite Fine Speeding 6 at 100 58mph in30mph limit. Drunk and 5 at 100 disorderly 600 500 Low earner (Take home pay BtOOaweekcrleie) Offence No of units Fine Speeding- 6 at 4 24 58mph in 30mph limit.

Drunk .5. at 4.. 20 Disorderly ty units for dropping litter. His fino waa-gnrpassfldn fawi. days later when a 20-year-old motorist was fined 2,500 for docu mentation offences.

John Mather, of Newbiggin-by-the- sea. Northumberland, was un employed when the offences of. driving without insurance, a licence or an MOT certificate were committed last October, but failed to complete the form detailing income and expenditure, obliging magistrates to impose the highest possible fine. Anthea Wiseman, the 48-year-old wife of a wealthy solicitor who is a vice-chairman of Southampton Football Club, was fined 12 for jumping a red light after telling magistrates she had no personal income. Meanwhile Jonathan Brick-wood, with a weekly disposable income of 100, was fined 500 for parking on double yellow lines for 20 minutes when his cat broke down.

accused of causing an explosion. He was arrested after a minicab was hijacked. Saviour for sick boy Harrods owner Mohammed al-Fayed has offered to pay for specialist treatment needed by two-year-old Rhys Daniel, who has an inherited condition which casues dementia and blindness, Sky News reported last night. Rhys's father' is mounting a 'legal challenge to the closure of a hospital unit which carries out the treatment. Tube closure plan London Underground wants to close its Epping to Ongar shuttle service on the Central Line, because passenger numbers do not justify an essential 4 million improvement programme.

Academics' pay rise Union leaders representing academic and related staff at the traditional universities have accepted a 1.5 per cent pay rise. Cheaper rate British Telecom is to cut by up to half the cost of cheap rate local phone calls throughout June provided they last longer than four minutes. BT is also bringing forward by two months a number of connection charge reductions agreed with Oftel, the industry watchdog. for rugby team kicking soccer balls around when we ran out wearing heavy rugby boots and carrying an oval ball," said St Peter's official Terry Thompson yesterday. The Welsh side lost 8-4 after deciding to take on the Spaniards at soccer, but is hoping to play another match against them next year.

WHEN Gerald Ratner was found guilty of speeding in January, magistrates may have been tempted to apply the jewellery entrepreneur's infamous verdict of "total crap" to the 160 fine they duly imposed. Mr Ratner, aged 43, earned more than 600,000 a year until he quit as chief executive of the family firm after making some unfortunate observations about the quality of his company's stock. He left with a 375,000 pay-off, but was surprised at the size of the fine for speeding on the M40 near his home. The penalty was roughly equal to the price of 150 Marks Spencer-prawn sandwiches, which Mr Ratner told the Institute of Directors cost more than a pair of his 99p gold earrings. After examining his means test form magistrates at Thame, Oxfordshire, concluded he only had 20 a week of disposable never officially inspected fire safety standards at the palace.

"We are applying for a fire certificate in respect of being open to the public and anything that needs to be done as a result of that application will be carried out" A report on the Windsor Castle fire leaked last night revealed that the risks were identified as long ago as 1980, when a working party recommended automatic alarms and fire barriers be installed, but no action was taken. The report, by the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service, said blunders allowed the blaze time to gain hold. Staff used the castle switchboard, not the alarms, to summon help, and a pump could not be started for an hour. Mr Gallagher, who lives with his wife and daughter, said: "I can't thank these builders enough. I have worked 35 years in the building trade in order to be able to build my own home." Mr Gallagher fought a five-year battle against the council decision to demolish his home, spending 30,000 on legal fees: He has also been ordered to pay for the demolition.

Richard Cobb, head of development control at Solihull borough council, said: "We are seeking another contractor and the demolition will go ahead in a few days. We are also consulting lawyers to see if we should take legal action against the original contractor." wrong with a system where a man spends 7 buying cannabis and is then fined just over twice what it cost him." The most celebrated example of the complex system of unit fines which promised "greater consistency and equality of punishment" was that of Vaughan Watkins, the unemployed litterbug who was fined 1,200 last month at Cwmbran, Gwent, for dropping a crisp packet Mr Vaughan's fine was reduced to. 48 on appeal. Magistrates.heard that an off-duty policeman saw Mr Watkins, aged 20, drop the packet from the window of his car. When asked to pick it up, he swore at the officer and refused, although a litter bin was 30ft away.

Because Mr Watkins failed to attend court or supply details of his finances, the magistrates estimated he could afford a top rate of 100 for each of 12 penal 900.000 for hospital error The family of a man who died after Charing Cross hospital in London failed to diagnose that he was suffering from malaria was awarded 900,000 agreed High Court damages yesterday against Riverside health authority. The hospital had diagnosed hepatitis in Peter Smyth, aged 45, an executive with Tourism International. House prices Inch up House prices rose by 0.1 per cent in April, the third monthly rise this year, according to the Nationwide Building Society. This compared with a 1 per cent rise in March. Right-of-way murder A driver was stabbed to death early yesterday after an argument with a group of men in Dalston, north London, over who should give way in a narrow street.

After Michael Ofo, aged 23, was stabbed, the men smashed his car windows with a baseball bat. Blast charge remand An unemployed former hospital porter, John Gerrard Matthews, aged 22, was remanded in custody yesterday by Arbour Square magistrates in London, Question of sports A WELSH rugby team found itself having to play soccer during an end-of-season tour in Spain after a language mix-up. The game between St Peter's youth team, from Cardiff, and Villa Daroja on the Costa Brava was arranged in a telephone call. "It was a bit embarrassing because the Spaniards were all UCKINGHAM Palace is a "death trap and opening 'the royal residence to 8- a-head tours is "cynical, farcical and downright the British Safety Council said yesterday. The Queen has announced plans to open the palace in August to raise funds towards the 40 million needed to refurbish Windsor Castle, which was damaged by fire last year.

But the pressure group said the palace, which bears crown immunity from the need to have a safety certificate, did not meet fire regulations and a fire could end in tragedy. A council spokeswoman, Marianne Harm, said the atmosphere was kept dry to preserve works of art and there were not enough sprinklers, extinguish it 11 lyl mo ARE IV A XL- aMhesepeopie? 1 "V1 ThOMimvMery cover jjj 1,11 At last, he's ready 1 JANET JACKSON I ThenewQuecnofpop? if-aWflf liuift imwS Bulldozers stall at luxury home Vhrek Chaudhary A TEAM of workers contracted to demolish a 300,000 retirement home had second thoughts yesterday minutes before they prepared to bulldoze it to the ground. The five-man team refused to demolish former builder Tom Gallagher's home, claiming that it was morally wrong and that they wanted nothing to do with council attempts to knock down the house. One worker drove a bulldozer to within 20 yards of the house in Knowle In the West Midlands before changing his mind. Mr Gallagher, aged 54, spent 18 months turning two 114.

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