It is a scandal that older people have been left in the lurch precisely at the time when they most need help.”Simon Wright, who chairs the Coalition on Charging and is Mencap’s campaigns officer, urged the Government to take immediate action. “It is a disgrace that people have to make desperate choices between food, heating or care such as a weekly bath or help getting up in the morning,” he said.John Hutton, a Health minister, said the Government was committed to making the system of home charging fairer and more consistent, and called an urgent meeting with the main organisations.”This report makes clear the way in which councils charges for social services needs to be improved,” he said. “This report gives us the information we need to overhaul the system. We shall set out full proposals as part of the White Paper this summer.”. A man was tonight charged with the murder of 12-year-old Diego Pineiro-Villar in Covent Garden, London on Sunday. According to police, Edward Alexander Crowley, 52, unemployed and of no fixed address, was also charged with the attempted murder of a 15-year-old in Covent Garden. A man was tonight charged with the murder of 12-year-old Diego Pineiro-Villar in Covent Garden, London on Sunday.

According to police, Edward Alexander Crowley, 52, unemployed and of no fixed address, was also charged with the attempted murder of a 15-year-old in Covent Garden.
Crowley, who remains in custody, is due to appear at Highbury Magistrates Court tomorrow.Thousands of people were out enjoying the balmy weather conditions in central London when the attack took place at about 8.10 on Sunday evening. People nearby, including shopkeepers and restaurant owners, intervened to help the boys.Diego, who lived with his Spanish mother in nearby Charing Cross Road, died from multiple stab wounds despite frantic efforts to save him by paramedics. He and his elder step-brother were taken to a south London hospital, but the younger boy was declared dead 40 minutes later. The 15-year-old boy’s injuries were said not to be life-threatening.Floral tributes were placed below a sign reading “Rest In Peace” which was nailed to a tree in the location of the incident.Two messages attached to bouquets read: “You didn’t deserve to die like this, we hope you are at peace now” and “Our sympathy”.A two minutes’ silence was held at Diego’s Spanish school, Canada Blanch in Ladbroke Grove, west London, this afternoon.

Tomorrow will be an official day of mourning with lessons cancelled and a religious service instead.end. The house where Fred and Rose West started their killing spree was sold at auction yesterday for more than £57,000 – well above its guide price. The house where Fred and Rose West started their killing spree was sold at auction yesterday for more than £57,000 – well above its guide price.
Peter Radley, a property investor, bid fiercely with two other interested buyers for the semi-detached house in Gloucester. The property, 25 Midland Road, was where eight-year-old Charmaine West was murdered and buried.The body of Charmaine, the daughter of Fred and his first wife Catherine Costello, was discovered in 1994.

Her remains were found under the kitchen window and small pieces of coal were found with the body, showing she had been kept in the cellar before she was buried in the spring of 1971.The house, which had been leased by its current owners for four years, went under the hammer at the Hilton Hotel in Bristol. Buyers were recommended to bid between £40,000 and £50,000 but the house – which has three self-contained flats – fetched £57,750. Mr Radley, of Westbury-onSevern, said he would continue to rent out the flats, two of which are currently occupied.He added: “It is a sound investment and the history did not put me off. It made me think it might go cheaper but as it turned out I reached my limit It has a history but it is entitled to .. a future and we will give it a better future. I have been to see it twice and there was nothing eerie about it.”.