hdhd

Sex-swap recruits are being deliberately signed up by police chiefs for the first time. London’s Metropolitan force has taken on a 39-year-old transsexual woman who had surgery to make her a man. He is now set to undergo training at the police college in Hendon, North London. It is thought to be the first time a transsexual has knowingly been hired as a UK cop.

But there have been several examples of officers switching sex AFTER joining the force.

A 25-year-old woman serving at Brixton nick in South London changed sex last summer.

But ironically, the law does not recognise gender changes.

So sex-swap cops will NOT be allowed to search suspects.

It would be illegal for a policeman born a woman to “frisk” a man.

And no male cop — whatever their original sex — would be allowed to search a woman.

The Met’s personnel bosses gave the go-ahead for their historic recruitment policy after key meetings with top brass.

And the force is now expected to place ads in the gay press welcoming job applications from transsexuals under the Met’s equal opportunities scheme.

But the move was last night branded “political correctness gone mad”.

And police chiefs will face revolt in the ranks over sex-swap cops sharing loos and showers with those of their new gender.

Former Flying Squad boss John O’ Connor stormed: “It’s outrageous. It makes Carry On Constable look like front-line policing.

“What the public want is an officer with a well-balanced normal life.”

And a Met source asked: “Where are we going to recruit transsexuals — Madame JoJo’s? Imagine The Sweeney’s Jack Regan as Jacqueline!”

But the Met insisted last night: “This new policy will help us make the organisation more representative of the communtities we serve.” - The Sun, London.

A BUS driver ran over and killed a courting couple as they romped in the middle of the road at midnight, a court heard yesterday. Paul Liversage mistook Kim Fontana, 32, and Paul Cowley, 40, for a bag of rubbish as he drove along in his single decker.

By the time he spotted it was two people it was too late to stop. The couple died from massive head and abdominal injuries. Minutes earlier, off-duty paramedic Robert Gorringe halted his car in front of the canoodling couple. They refused to move and he was forced to manoeuvre around them on the poorly-lit road. He told Sheffield magistrates: “They were right on the white line. I sounded my horn three times, but it had no effect on them.

“It was a male and a female and I could see the man was on top. I shouted ‘You want to get up or otherwise you’ll be run over.’ “The man simply said ‘Cheers mate’ and I heard a female voice laughing.” Another bus driver, Colin Carter, was behind Mr Gorringe and also had to swerve to avoid hitting the couple, who had been out on a date.

Mr Carter said: “They were both wearing very dark clothing. I was thankful someone had been in front of me otherwise it could have been me running them over because I’d never have seen them.”

Minutes later Mr Liversage, 56, did hit the couple.
Prosecutor Angela Wrottesley said Mr Liversage had been driving with his headlights dipped in Westfield, Sheffield, and had not braked until the last minute. She added: “His driving fell below the standard one would reasonably expect of a prudent, competent driver.”

Police accident investigator Michael Whittingham said Kim was lying on her back and Paul was either lying or kneeling between her legs. He said: “One can expect a pedestrian in the road walking or running, but to expect a driver to anticipate pedestrians lying in the road is out of the ordinary.” Mr Liversage denies careless driving. The case goes on.- The Sun, London.

Doctor struck off over penis surgery

A "dishonest" Harley Street cosmetic surgeon who carried out two botched penis enlargement operations has been struck off.

Dr Ravi Kang Agarwal, 54, of Stockport, Greater Manchester, was found guilty of serious professional misconduct by the General Medical Council (GMC).

The Manchester hearing was told one operation had left a patient with a shorter and disfigured penis.

He said he had passed out with shock after seeing his penis following the operation in Manchester.

The 47-year-old patient, referred to as Mr A throughout, said it was black, shorter and deformed, adding: "I was in severe pain".

He had seen an advert in the magazine Men's Health and underwent the £3,250 in May 1997.

Dr Agarwal had said the length of the organ was increased by dividing the suspensory ligament to make the penis hang lower.

The technique also aimed to increase the organ's girth by injecting fat taken from the stomach and thighs.

Garrie Dunk, a 42-year-old male stripper from Sheffield, told the GMC he underwent the same procedure in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, in May 1997 in order to help his career.

He said he could not go to the toilet for two days after the operation, adding: "There was tremendous swelling for about six or seven weeks."

Mr Dunk also claimed his marriage failed due to the operation and said he went back to Dr Agarwal on five occasions for more fat to be put in.

He told the hearing: "On the last occasion he injected it on the right hand side of the penis and I was in pain and ever since then it's been bent."

The GMC was also told of Dr Agarwal's adverts which claimed he had "unrivalled experience" in carrying out the operations.

It claimed to increase the length of the penis by up to three inches and the girth by between 30% and 90%.

Professor Denis McDevitt, chairman of the GMC's professional conduct committee, said Dr Agarwal had acted dishonestly.

He had failed to explain the possible complications of the procedure, was misleading as to the likely outcome of the operation and had failed to take an adequate history from the patient.

He also failed to obtain informed consent and failed to arrange for adequate anaesthetic back-up during the surgery.

Prof McDevitt told Dr Agarwal: "The committee are of the view that your behaviour is fundamentally incompatible with being a doctor because of your dishonesty and the abuses of trust which you have shown, particularly in relation to vulnerable patients."

Up to 50 more Britons are queuing to end their lives at a Swiss suicide clinic, The Sun can reveal. And the centre’s boss, Ludwig Minelli, boasts that he expects a surge of desperate people from this country to sign up for a one-way visit. Former journalist Mr Minelli believes the story of Reginald Crew’s suicide will bring extra numbers paying around £50 for an appointment with death. Motor neurone disease sufferer Reginald, 74, of Liverpool, died on Monday after drinking a lethal dose of barbiturates. He sought help from the Zurich-based organisation Dignitas because assisting a suicide is illegal in the UK. The nerve-centre of Dignitas is a bland fourth-floor apartment in the suburb of Wiedikon where clients go to die. It is in a dingy, Sixties block with chocolate-brown garage doors and beige outside walls. It is just across the road from a kindergarten.

A simple sign with the word Dignitas is the only clue that this is no normal flat. Neighbours in the block at 84 Gertrudstrasse are pensioners, young professionals and families plus some small businesses. Beside the 20 doorbells on the outside wall is a glass door leading to a dank, stark lobby. A bright-red lift whisks you up to the death flat. Like all the other apartments it has a solid wood, green and black front door and a labelled buzzer. Inside the flat is a kitchen stocked with utensils, crockery, tea towels, and kitchen rolls. There are beers in the fridge. There is a bathroom and a main room with two single beds, complete with sheets and pillows, tucked against the wall. The apartment is full of green plants and on one wall there is a landscape painting. On another is an impressionist oil painting of a naked woman.

A candle and a posy of fresh flowers sit on a table in the middle of the room. They are among the last things the suicides will see before they take their lethal drugs and fall asleep for ever. On Tuesday, Mr Minelli, 70, refused to say exactly how many Britons had already asked to die with his help. But he said in a phone call with The Sun: “I think the number of people joining the group will increase after these articles in the British papers.” It was in Mr Minelli’s apartment, in the wealthy Zurich suburb of Forch, that he explained to former docker Mr Crew how he was going to die. The paralysed pensioner was then taken by car on a half-hour drive to the flat in Wiedikon. He died within an hour of sipping a lethal overdose of sodium pentobarbitol prepared by nurse Erika Lulley. The drug, a barbiturate and sedative, slows down the central nervous system, leading to delirium, coma and death in less than an hour.

Barbiturates in general are extremely toxic and ten prescription tablets may be fatal. They are not used in medicine widely now because it is so easy to overdose on them. Mr Crew, who was confined to a wheelchair, had flown to Zurich with the help of his loyal wife Winifred, 71, and their daughter Jan Healey, 41. It means they could be charged with aiding and abetting a suicide — an offence in English law that carries a maximum 14 years in jail. Police are also looking into reports that ITV’s Tonight With Trevor McDonald programme bankrolled the trip. Mr Minelli compares himself with Thomas More, Henry VIII’s Lord Chancellor, who believed that voluntary death was honourable and merciful. His heroes include Winston Churchill.

His views on euthanasia probably grew out of the trauma of watching his grandmother die from kidney failure when he was a 14-year-old. He remembers that she asked the doctor not to give her any medication to keep her alive. He says: “It seemed right, the compassionate thing. I watched and learnt.” Minelli, who has two daughters and three grandchildren, says his family support his work. And even though he was raised as a Roman Catholic — a religion which regards suicide as a sin — he would have no hesitation in using his charity’s services if the need arose. He says he is an atheist now and does not believe in afterlife. He says: “I’m a human being. When I see someone who is in need I want to help. And I believe a person should have the right to take their own life if that is what they want.” Minelli defends his charity’s work and Mr Crew’s assisted suicide. He says: “I understand that euthanasia can be abused but this is very specific. “When cancer patients are terminally ill they are given diamorphine, and if they contract pneumonia they are not treated for it, because that is the kindest thing. Why is this different?”

He adds: “Death is inevitable in a case like Reg’s and all you are doing is bringing it forward slightly to spare the agony at the end. “Watching a man who was so fit and active fade away in front of your eyes is heartbreaking.” Dignitas charges a membership fee but does not charge for its services because making a profit from assisted suicide is illegal under Swiss law. However, assisted suicide itself has been legal since 1942 as long as the drugs are self-administered and the person is making a rational decision to die. Membership of the charity more than doubled last year to around 1,650 and more are joining every month. Membership is open to anyone, whether they are ill or not, with a registration fee of 100 Swiss Francs (£46) and a minimum annual membership fee of £10.

Ex-docker Mr Crew was the 147th person Dignitas has helped to die. Some people are rejected by the charity if their desire to end it all is not considered strong enough. Mr Minelli says: “We talk to them all about their problems. If it seems there really is no solution then we put them forward. But first we do everything we can to help.” Mr Minelli says there have been cases of people changing their minds at the last minute. An elderly Greek Orthodox woman from Beirut arrived in Zurich only to tell Mr Minelli she was afraid of going to hell because she had not said goodbye to her sisters. She went back to Beirut, said her farewells, then returned to Zurich a fortnight later and went ahead with the suicide. A woman from Munich got as far as the sitting room in the suicide apartment before telling Mr Minelli she could not go through with it. He says he gave her a hug and drove her all the way home to Munich. Dignitas members who convince the charity that they want to die must provide birth and marriage certificates and make advance burial or cremation arrangements.

They will be assessed at Mr Minelli’s home by doctors and be given the prescription for their drugs overdose which Mr Minelli or another charity worker will collect from a pharmacy. When the door to the death flat opens, the would-be suicide is greeted by Dignitas staff — usually Mr Minelli and at least two hospice-trained nurses. Mr Minelli says: “It is not hard for me to meet someone who is going to be dead in a few hours because it is what they want. “We will all die in the end. What I find hard is understanding why governments force their subjects to leave the country to seek help or make them so desperate that they throw themselves under trains or off buildings. “That is a cruelty. It is Nazism in reverse. The Nazis forced people to die miserable deaths. Governments force people to live miserable lives.” Neighbours of the apartment where Mr Crew died were divided yesterday over how the flat is used. Designer Hans Rudolf Ziegler said: “I know what happens at Dignitas but it is difficult to explain how I feel. “I can’t say it is a good thing to happen here — but what can I do about it.” Angela Gantenbein said: “Perhaps it would be better to be done away from people’s homes. It doesn’t seem OK.” But another neighbour, Daniel Vontobel, said: “There is no problem for me. It does not disturb me.” The producers of ITV’s Tonight with Trevor McDonald could be quizzed by police investigating the mercy killing of Mr Crew.

Police have already confirmed that they are to question the dead man’s widow about his death. A Merseyside Police spokeswoman said: “Under British law we are obliged to investigate this matter. “This decision is not a moral one, but a legal one. “We are putting files together and will be taking to Mrs Crew as part of our investigation. “Our completed file will be passed on to the Crown Prosecution Service and they will decide if any prosecutions are to be made. “Consultations have already taken place between ourselves, the CPS and the Liverpool Coroner.” It is understood that anyone who took part in making arrangements for Mr Crew’s death will be a subject of the investigation. A police source said: “It is likely that will include the Tonight with Trevor McDonald programme-makers, since they appear to have been closely involved.” The Sun on Tuesday visited the apartment where Mr Crew spent his final moments. When our reporter pushed the buzzer beside the door there was no reply. - The Sun, London.

Organ trade Doctor guilty

He even told them that it would cost £3,000 to secure an organ from a living donor.

A Coventry, UK, GP has been found guilty of involvement in the trade in human organs from live donors.

Dr Jarnail Singh had denied charges that he had encouraged and participated in the practice, which is banned in the UK.

However, a General Medical Council professional conduct committee hearing on Tuesday found him guilty of unprofessional and irresponsible behaviour.

The committee has retired to consider whether these offences amount to serious professional misconduct. If they do, Dr Singh faces being struck off the medical register.

The GMC hearing was told on Monday that Dr Singh agreed in principle to help out two undercover journalists, who approached him for advice about how to arrange a live donor transplant.

The hearing heard that Dr Singh told the men - who were working for the Sunday Times - that he had helped others in a similar situation.

He even told them that it would cost £3,000 to secure an organ from a living donor.

Failed trip

The journalists approached Dr Singh after being told that he had arranged for one of his own patients, Darshan Singh, to go to India for a similar procedure.

Mr Singh, 69, travelled to the sub-contintent for surgery, but died after contracting an infection.

The GMC hearing was told how the journalists, Paul Samrai and Neville Thurlbeck, approached Dr Singh claiming that Mr Thurlbeck's father was dying and needed a transplant.

They claimed his condition was deteriorating rapidly and his son was willing to pay up to £25,000 for him to travel to India for the operation, the committee heard.

After a short telephone call the pair met Dr Singh the following day and discussed the possibility of going abroad for a live donor transplant.

Dr Singh took them through how much they would need to pay, the advantages of having the surgery in England if possible and how they could avoid the authorities to do so.

Many cases

He then indicated that he was aware of dozens of other cases a year and that he had acted as a facilitator in the past.

Opening the case against Dr Singh, Jeremy Roussak, counsel for the GMC, said: "Dr Singh answered all their questions, expressed no reservations, gave them no indication that what they were doing was illegal, unethical and dangerous."

When offered £5,000 to help arrange the operation, Dr Singh refused the money but gave the pair the impression he was happy to help in whatever way he could, the committee was told.

Giving evidence, Mr Samrai said: "My view was that he had the full knowledge of what we were proposing to do and was happy to assist in whatever capacity that he could."

Doctor's evidence

Dr Singh told the hearing he had refused to take on Mr Thurlbeck's father as a patient, and so was in no position to "faciliate" any trip to India.

Although he knew of many cases of people who had travelled for transplants from living donors, he denied admitting to offering active assistance.

Instead, he said he had simply offered friendly advice to two men who seemed determined to seek out a live donor, regardless of whether it was legal or not.

Six weeks ago a London GP, Dr Bhagat Singh Makkar, was struck off the medical register after boasting to a reporter that he could organise a kidney transplant in the UK or abroad for a fee. - BBC, London.

A GIRL aged just 16 has been pregnant TEN TIMES, a shocked doctor revealed on Wednesday 2nd October, 2002. The youngster kept two of the babies, had three abortions and is believed to have lost the other five through miscarriages. Dr Sarah Creighton discovered the girl’s horrifying record while carrying out research in South East London. And she said: “My research hit me in the face. I was completely unprepared for the sexual cases I encountered.” Dr Creighton revealed that the girl had first fallen pregnant at the age of 12. But she said it was not known if the same man was responsible for all the pregnancies or whether the girl had a number of different partners.

The doctor said it was known that the girl had suffered abuse, and had been seeing a counsellor for some time.

Her case was unearthed when Dr Creighton studied the records of 144 girls aged between 12 and 16 who visited a sexual diseases clinic.

The research revealed that girls under 16 are THREE TIMES more likely to catch a sexually transmitted disease than older women.

More than three quarters of the girls also admitted they were not using contraception. Most had been pregnant at least once.

Dr Creighton said: “It was not just sexual ignorance. They knew that if they didn’t use a condom they were at risk of infection.”

The girls knew their partners were sleeping with other women, said the doctor. But she added: “They were unable to negotiate safe sex — to insist on a condom.

“What shocked me was the number of girls who came back time and again with another infection or pregnancy.

“The first time may have been through ignorance but by four times we’d hope the message had got through.”

Dr Creighton said her research — published in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections — showed keeping a sexual partner was more important to girls than looking after their health.

The youngsters studied by Dr Creighton attended a clinic at King’s College Hospital in Camberwell.

The area around the hospital has one of the highest abortion rates in Britain. - The Sun, London.

A beautiful girl before the accident	With her father, 1998
In her home-country Venezuela, on vacation	At a birthday party as a child
At a party with friends a couple of months before the accident	The car in which Jacqueline travelled when she was hit by a car driven by a 17-year old student on his way home after a couple of beers with his friends. This was in late 1999.
After the accident Jacqueline has needed over 40 operations	Jacqueline was caught in the burning car and her body was heavily burnt during around 45 seconds

Here with her father in 2000	Getting treatment
Three months after the accident	Without a left eyelid Jacqie needs eyedrops to keep her vision
Now 20 year old, he cannot forgive himself for driving on that night three years ago.He’s aware of devastating Jaqcueline Saburido’s life.	Not everyone who gets hit with a car dies. This picture was taken 4 years after the accident and the doctors are still working on Jacqueline, who’s body was covered with 60% severe burnings.