COMMISSION REFERS INDECENT ASSAULT CONVICTIONS TO COURT OF APPEAL

THE Criminal Cases Review Commission has referred the convictions for indecent assault of Mr Peter Sheehan to the Court of Appeal. 

Mr Sheehan was convicted of two counts of indecent assault in April 23 1998 at Liverpool Crown Court - And sentenced to a total of four years' imprisonment. 

He applied for leave to appeal against sentence. A single judge refused the application in July 1998. Mr Sheehan applied to the Full Court and his sentence was reduced to three years in November 1998. 

Mr Sheehan applied to the Commission for a review of conviction on April 5 2004. The Commission has now reviewed the case. After considering developments in case law it has decided to refer the convictions to the Court of Appeal. 

FAMILY FUN AT EDGE HILL

A Bug Man is just one unusual attraction booked for Edge Hill's Family Learning weekend to be held at the Ormskirk Campus on the 16 and 17 of October 10.00am to 4.00pm. 

Families are invited to enjoy a range of free activities designed to put the fun into learning, aimed at children and students of all ages, as well as parents and grandparents. The Bug Man will bring to life the biological sciences, by showing and allowing people to examine at close quarters, a range of insects. 

Visitors are invited to discover the delights of taking a 'hands on' approach to other subjects including maths, science, drama, media, journalism and technology. 

The weekend forms part of the national initiative, Family Learning Week, organised by the Campaign for Learning, to raise awareness of the importance and scope of family learning. 

Diane McKone, Education Liaison Manager at Edge Hill said:- "The weekend is a great way for parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles to find out more about learning. We hope to inspire people of all ages to take up learning opportunities, so that families can support each other and discover the benefits of learning together." 

BT BLOCKS NUMBERS IN CRACKDOWN ON INTERNET DIALLER MENACE

BRITISH Telecom has blocked 1,000 numbers allegedly associated with rogue internet diallers in an effort to minimise the number of victims of the problem. The company announced positive action to tackle the dialler menace three months ago and has been taking action to block traffic to both suspected UK and international numbers. 

A second warning email to 1.8 million BT Retail narrowband internet customers will be sent in the next few weeks to reiterate how customers can avoid becoming victims of a dialler. 

This will remind customers, for example, of options such as free premium rate number barring. So far, 50,000 customers have taken advantage of BT's offer of free premium rate number barring since July, giving a total of 1.5 million customers who now take these services from BT. 

The company has now dealt with 45,000 cases where customers have fallen foul of a rogue dialler, with a further 9,500 cases waiting to be resolved. BT does not want to profit from the disputed call revenue generated when people install the dialler software on their computers either inadvertently or without realising how much it would cost them. BT's tiny share of the call revenue - around 3 pence of the £1.50 a minute charge - will be donated to the charity ChildLine. 

The company has previously emailed all BT narrowband internet customers to warn them about diallers. Advice on how to protect your computer was also included in the Update magazine which accompanies all BT bills sent to our 20million customers. 

Gavin Patterson, group-managing director, Consumer and Ventures, said:- "BT is doing everything in its power to stop this menace.   We have taken the decision to block numbers suspected of being associated with diallers as soon as we are alerted to a problem. We have offered free premium rate barring to all customers, and a removable bar for premium rate and international calls for £1.75 a month. We made it clear that we are not the ones profiteering from people's misfortune. In fact, we will continue to forego our share of the call revenue generated by these disputed calls."

The Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services (ICSTIS) is responsible for regulating premium rate services in the UK. It has also been cracking down on the operators of rogue diallers both in the UK and abroad. BT and ICSTIS have co-operated to identify and take down the 1,000 mainly international numbers suspected of being associated with diallers.