Zardari grants Malik presidential pardon to save him from 3-yr jail term

Islamabad, May 18 (ANI): Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has come to the rescue of one of his most trusted aides, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, as barely hours after the Lahore High Court (LHC) rejected Malik’s plea in a corruption case, he pardoned the minister using his special power under the Article 45 of the Constitution.

The LHC had dismissed an appeal filed by Malik against punishments announced by the Accountability Court on Monday.

Hour’s after the court’s verdict, Presidential spokesperson Farhatullah Babar hastly announced that the ‘President using his constitutional power on the advice of the Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’ has granted remission to Malik.

Babar, however, refused to give any more details on the issue, The Dawn reports.

The spokesman said that the pardon has been granted under Article 45 of the Constitution which says: “The president shall have power to grant pardon, reprieve and respite, and to remit, suspend or commute any sentence passed by any court, tribunal or authority.”

Observers believe that Zardari’s move is likely to heighten tension between the Presidency and the higher judiciary at a time when the relationship between the two is already at its lowest ebb. (ANI)

Younis’ appeal against indefinite ban deferred, CRI

ISLAMABAD (AP) Pakistan batsman Younis Khan’s appeal against indefinite suspension from the national team has been deferred until May 29. Younis’ lawyer Mohammad Ahmed Qayyum said Saturday that arbitrator Irfan Qadir has adjourned his client’s appeal.

Younis is among six Pakistan cricketers appealing against punishments imposed for indiscipline or poor performance during a tour to Australia earlier this year. Only former captain Mohammad Yousuf, who has retired from international cricket, has not filed an appeal.

No intention of playing for Pakistan: Yousuf

Islamabad, May 12 (ANI): Angry over his ban by the Pakistan Cricket Board, former captain Mohammad Yousuf has turned his back on international cricket, saying he has no intention of playing for the country again.

Yousuf has represented Pakistan on 371 occasions and amassed 17,075 runs during a career spanning 12 years.

“Yousuf is still very disappointed about his treatment by the PCB and has not changed his mind about coming out of retirement,” Pakpassion.net quoted sources close to Yousuf, as saying.

The former skipper was one of seven players banned or fined by the board following the whitewash in Australia.

The PCB took the severe action on the advice of a report submitted by a six-member inquiry committee set up to investigate the reasons behind the Australia debacle.

The Pakistan Cricket Board barred former captains Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf from the national team for life as part of a major crackdown on player indiscipline.

The experienced duo was effectively banned from representing their country at international level as a result of alleged infighting.

While Shoaib Malik, Rana Naved ul Hasan, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal, Younus Khan and Shahid Afridi have appealed against their respective punishments, Yousuf decided not to appeal against his ban.

The source added: “Yousuf feels that there is too much dirt in the team. There has been so much going on behind the scenes. He (Yousuf) has had to take so much and he realised he could only take so much. The sad thing is that the whole truth is nowhere near being revealed.”

Yousuf is practising hard as he is keen to play county cricket in England. (ANI)

Banned, fined Pak players to appear before PCB appellate tribunal on Friday

Lahore, Apr.28 (ANI): Pakistani cricketers, who were banned and fined by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), have been summoned to appear before a one-man appellate tribunal on Friday for a hearing into the appeal filed by them against their respective punishments.

Last week, the PCB had appointed retired high court judge Irfan Qadir to hear the appeals of players who were punished for different accounts of violation of the board’s code of conduct.

“I have issued notices to the players to appear on Friday for a preliminary proceeding on their appeals and they will be given all basic rights under the law,” The Daily Times quoted Qadir, as saying.

“If some of the players demand specific reasons for their punishment, we will provide them with that as well, as this is their right,” he added.

Last month, the PCB had imposed an indefinite ban on former captains Younis Khan and Mohammed Yousuf after an enquiry commission found them responsible for infighting, which led the team down during the disastrous Australia tour.

All-rounders Shoaib Malik, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan were fined two million rupees each and banned for a year. Incumbent T20 skipper Shahid Afridi was also fined three million rupees for his shocking ball-chomping act during the last one-day international against the Kangaroos.

Brothers Kamran Akmal and Umar Akmal were fined Rs 3 and 2 million respectively for discipline breaches and were given six months’ probation.

Following the ban Yousuf retired from international cricket in protest. (ANI)

Rana Naved serves legal notice to PCB questioning reasons behind ban

Lahore, Apr.1 (ANI): Pakistani fast bowler Rana Naved-ul-Hasan has served a legal notice to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) asking the board to explain the reasons for imposing a year’s ban and a hefty fine on him.

“Naved has sent a legal notice to us in which he has inquired about the reasons of his punishment and we will soon respond to it,” a PCB spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said that the board has already given reasons for the punishments and now the cricketers were free to appeal against the decision.

“We have already issued charge sheets and now the players can appeal to an arbitrator through the PCB governing board, and if the arbitrator asks us to give detailed reasons of punishments we will comply,” The Daily Times quoted the spokesperson, as saying.

The players have 30 days from the date of receiving the charge sheets to appeal to a three-judge tribunal

The spokesperson also said that former captain Younis Khan has sent a letter demanding the reasons for banning him from all forms of cricket for a year.

“We have also advised Younis to appeal and if the arbitrator asks for detailed reasons of his punishment we will follow the process,” he said.

The PCB had banned and slapped hefty fines on seven senior cricketers, including former captain Mohammed Yousuf, and incumbent T20 skipper Shahid Afridi following an inquiry into the team’s poor show in Australia.

Pakistan suffered a complete white wash during the tour Down Under losing all three Tests, five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 match. (ANI)

Younis Khan’s reservations against ban will be removed: PCB

Lahore, Mar.31 (ANI): The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is ready to remove all the reservations of banned former captain Younis Khan, which he had raised in his letter to the board.

Sources in the PCB said that the board has advised Younis’s counsel to appeal against the indefinite ban imposed on him in accordance with the board’s law, The News reports.

Earlier, PCB’s legal advisor Tafazzul Rizvi had said that the board is considering the written communications from all rounder Shahid Afridi and former captain Younis Khan as ‘letters’ and not as appeals against the penalties slapped on them.

Rizvi, said none of the players have filed ‘proper’ appeals with the board against their punishments.

“What Younis and Afridi have sent are letters in which they have outlined their grievances over the penalties imposed on them and asked for the reasons behind the punishments,” Rizvi said.

He said that as per the PCB’s constitution if a player files a proper appeal against his ban or fine, it would be presented before an appellate tribunal formed by the board to hear the grievances.

“The PCB will at best act like a post office and the appellate tribunal will decide on the merit of the appeals,” Rizvi said.

The PCB has given 30 days time to players to appeal against the ban and fines imposed on them. (ANI)

PCB revokes three million rupees fine imposed on Afridi

Lahore, Mar.31 (ANI): The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has revoked the three million rupees fine slapped on T20 captain Shahid Afridi for his ‘shocking’ ball chomping act in Australia.

Earlier, Afridi, who was banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for two T20 matches for ball tampering, had asked the PCB to review the fine, saying one can not be punished twice for a offence.

“Two punishments can not be given for one offence. I met PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt and requested him for revoking the fine. I am just lodging a personal appeal with the PCB Chairman for revoking the fine. I am not challenging PCB authority,” Afridi had said.

Afridi said he was eagerly looking forward to the ICC World T20 Championship in the West Indies, and would give his best to help the team defend the title.

“Leading the team is a great challenge and I am looking forward to successfully defend the title in West Indies,” he said. (ANI)

Afridi asks PCB to revoke fine slapped on him for ball tampering

Karachi, Mar.31 (ANI): Newly appointed Pakistan T20 captain Shahid Afridi has asked the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to review the fine of three million rupees slapped on him for ball tampering during the last one-day international of the five match series in Australia.

Afridi was banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for two T20 matches for the ‘shocking’ ball chomping incident, and said one can not be punished twice for a offence.

“Two punishments can not be given for one offence. I met PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt and requested him for revoking the fine. I am just lodging a personal appeal with the PCB Chairman for revoking the fine,” he commented. I am not challenging PCB authority,” The Dawn quoted Afridi, as saying.

Afridi said he was eagerly looking forward to the ICC World T20 Championship in the West Indies, and would give his best to help the team defend the title.

“Leading the team is a great challenge and I am looking forward to successfully defend the title in West Indies,” he said. (ANI)

EU wants tougher action over child porn websites

The EU Commission wants member states to agree to block access to child pornography websites and impose tougher punishments on child abusers and human trafficking gangs, it said on Monday.

“Child pornography is not about freedom of expression. It is a horrendous crime. It is not about circulating an opinion,” EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said.

“Child pornography means images of children suffering sex abuse. Downloading or viewing child pornography on the internet leads to more children being raped to produce those images,” she told a news conference.

The Commission, the EU’s executive, is proposing a package of measures to strengthen the bloc’s fight against child pornography, including harmonising the prosecution of child abuse and human trafficking, and more severe punishments for both first-time and repeat offenders.

The Commission said some forms of sexual violence were on the rise and the number of websites devoted to child pornography was growing, with about 200 images containing child pornography put into circulation every day.

Malmstrom said the proposals would also cover new forms of abuse such as luring or ‘grooming’ children through the internet, viewing child pornography without downloading files, and making children pose sexually in front of webcams.

The plan would compel national governments to block access to child pornography websites, especially those hosted outside EU borders.

The Commission proposals will be debated by ministers and lawmakers before being adopted, possibly with amendments, by the 27 member governments.

(Reporting by Sangeeta Shastry, editing by Tim Pearce)

Pakistan sets cut-off for cricketers’ appeal

Pakistan cricket authorities said seven players banned or fined for indiscipline during a disastrous tour of Australia have 30 days to appeal.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) last week banned former captains Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan indefinitely, while suspending another former captain, Shoaib Malik, and fast bowler Rana Naved-ul Hasan for one year.

It handed heavy fines to wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal, his brother Umar and Twenty20 captain Shahid Afridi.

A six-member committee headed by PCB chief operating officer Wasim Bari was set up to investigate Pakistan’s dismal performance on the December-February tour, where Pakistan lost all three Tests, five one-day and a Twenty20 match.

Bari said: “We have sent all the seven players letters in which we have mentioned the reasons for their punishments and the players can now appeal under the PCB constitution.

“They can file appeals within 30 days.

“We held a thorough inquiry and took into consideration all the facts and background and made decisions to solve the problems in Pakistan cricket,” said Bari, who is also a former captain.

PCB legal adviser Taffazul Rizvi said three judges have been named to hear the appeals.

“The PCB governing board has appointed two retired Supreme court judges – Muneer Sheikh and Jamshed Ali Shah – and a former high court judge, Irfan Qadir, who will deal with appeals,” Rizvi said.

None of the players has spoken publicly about their punishment or indicated they will appeal.

Afridi is a strong contender to lead Pakistan in the next month’s World Twenty20 in the West Indies, while the Akmals were included in the 18-man squad announced last week.

Pakistan, due to defend the Twenty20 title it won in England last year, is due to announce a captain next week.

-AFP

PCB boss Butt appoints controversial ‘close friend’ Yawar Saeed as team manager

Lahore, Mar.19 (ANI): Notwithstanding previous controversies, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt has appointed his ‘close friend’ Yawar Saeed as the manager of the national squad for the upcoming ICC T20 World Championship, which would be held in the Caribbean from April 30 to May 16.

Announcing an eight-man support staff that would accompany the team during the tournament, Butt named Shafqat Rana as Saeed’s deputy, The Daily Times reports.

Saeed, 75, was in the limelight when former captain Younis Khan had complained against him for creating camps in the team and rifts among players during the ICC champions Trophy last year.

Saeed was also in the six-member inquiry committee that axed Younis from all formats of the game for an indefinite period and recommended heavy fines and punishments to six other senior Pakistan players, including the incumbent captain Mohammed Yousuf.

Pak team’s support staff for ICC T20 World Cup:

Yawar Saeed (manager), Shafqat Rana (associate manager), Waqar Younis (coach), Ijaz Ahmed (assistant coach), Faisal Hayat (physiotherapist), David Dwyer (trainer), Mohammad Talha Butt (analyst) and Khawaja Najam (security manager). (ANI)

PCB officials to be grilled by Standing Committee over action against cricketers

Lahore, Mar. 15 (ANI): The National Standing Assembly’s Committee on Sports will grill top PCB officials on Monday about their decision to take disciplinary action against seven national cricketers.

“We have invited the PCB chairman and other officials to attend the hearing because we want to know on what basis was this action taken. We have also heard complaints about the board announcing action against players without first taking approval of governing council of the board,” the Daily Times quoted Senate committee chairman Abdul Ghaffar Qureshi, as saying.

There is increasing pressure on the PCB to reveal the basis on which it enforced the punishments.

Acting on the recommendations of an inquiry committee set up after Pakistan’s dismal performance in Australia, the PCB dropped senior batsmen Muhammad Yousuf and Younus Khan for indefinite periods.

The board banned Shoaib Malik and Rana Navedul Hasan for one year besides fining them Rs 2 million each. It also fined Shahid Afridi and Kamran Akmal Rs 3 million each, besides imposing a fine of Rs 2 million on Umar Akmal.

“The issue here is that the senators want to know the charges against the players and also details of the management reports but will Ijaz Butt agree to reveal details,” one source close to the Senate committee said. (ANI)

Musharraf power theft scandal case: Low level workers punished

Islamabad, Sep 17 (ANI): The Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) has only punished 64 junior officers for their involvement in the power theft scandal involving former President Pervez Musharraf, Shaukat Aziz and others in the luxurious Chak Shahzad farmhouses.

The big guns in the electricity department have not even been touched, according to well-placed sources.

The list of punished employees includes 35-meter readers, 14 line superintendents and 15 sub-divisional officers, The News reports.

Sources said these personnel were those who had to implement the orders of the higher-ups and no high-ranking official has been touched in the order passed by Iesco on 10-9-2009.

The official spokesman for Iesco, Ameer Hussain Chaman, when asked about the punishment, said he was not aware of any such punishments.

“I have not been conveyed any such details, therefore, I cannot offer any comment over the issue,” he added.

Sources said Colonel Umer Hayat was conducting the inquiry and on 9-9-2009 his tenure was completed and on 10-09-2009 these personnel were punished.

They say that in this power-theft scandal the higher-ups passed all the orders and the junior officers had no option, but to obey the orders.

It is worth mentioning here that Musharraf had constructed a modern house on the farm obtained for breeding poultry and vegetables, but the ex-general has been enjoying the cheapest power tariff, D-2(1) connection, which is meant for agriculture tube wells and lift irrigation pumps. (ANI)

Now, radical British Islamic group planning “bloodless military coup” in Pak

London, July 5 (ANI): The writ of the Pakistan government is not only under threat from the ever expanding Taliban, but fears are also rife that British extremists may try to topple the democratic set-up of the country, as an Islamic fundamentalist group, Hizb- ut-Tahrir (HuT) is pushing for a “bloodless military coup” to establish an orthodox Islamic rule in the troubled nation .

A report in The Times has revealed that the members of the HuT, who call themselves as the Liberation party in Britain, is working overtime to establish a caliphate in Pakistan, under which strict Islamic laws would rigorously be enforced.

The group, which is banned in Pakistan, plans to make Islamabad its base, from where it could plan and spread Islamic rule across the globe.

There are several British activists of the HuT who are based in Lahore and Karachi, and are secretly working towards their objective.

Tayyib Muqeem, an English teacher from Stoke-on-Trent, has now stationed himself in Lahore, and has established a Hizb ut-Tahrir student group in Superior College here, the report said.

“The organisation’s aim was to subject Muslim and western countries to Islamic rule under sharia law, ‘by force’ if necessary,” said Muqueem.

The tenacity with which the organization is working can be gauged from the fact it aims to establish a state where stoning to death, and chopping of limbs would be common punishments for those who would defy the ‘caliphate’.

“In a caliphate, “every woman would have to cover up” and stoning to death for adultery and the chopping off of thieves’ hands would be the law,” Muqueem said.

Non-Muslim countries would be forced to accept the law by all means, the group aims.

“Islamic rule would be spread through “indoctrination” and by “military means” if non-Muslim countries refused to bow to it. “Waging war” would be part of the caliphate’s foreign policy,” Muqueem added.

The dangerous aims of the outfit also include influencing certain officers of the Pakistan Army to help it succeed in the nefarious goals, the report further revealed.

Terming the present Pakistan government as “worse than the Taliban”, spokesman of the group, Shahzad Sheikh said persuading the army to instigate a “bloodless coup” against the present government would be their prime motive.

“It is the military who hold the power in Pakistan and we are asking them to give their allegiance to Hizb ut-Tahrir,” said Sheikh, who is a Pakistani recruit of the HuT.

The group is believed to have been set up in Pakistan in the early 1990s by one Imtiaz Malik.

Malik is still believed to be in the country, and working as its commander from an undisclosed location, the report said. (ANI)

‘Barbaric’ Somalian Islamic radicals publicly chop off hands and legs of alleged thieves

London, June 26 (ANI): In an appalling incident in the Somalian capital, Mogadishu, pro-Al Queda insurgents on Thursday used a machete to slice off a hand and a foot from each of four men accused of stealing mobile phones and guns.

The men screamed in pain, as some 300 spectators were compelled to watch the slaughter by the al-Shabaab fighters. Some of the onlookers even vomited while the amputations were in progress.

An ad-hoc court set up by the hardline al-Shabaab movement had earlier this week found the men, aged 18 to 25, guilty of stealing mobile phones and guns from residents in several Mogadishu suburbs.

“We have carried out this sentence under the Islamic religion and we will punish like this everyone who carries out these acts,” The Scotsman quoted al-Shabaab official Sheikh Ali Mohamud Fidow, as saying.

The punishments, which leading international human rights groups pleaded unsuccessfully with al-Shabaab to forego, have sent tremors through western diplomatic and intelligence communities.

Al-Shabaab openly expresses its support for al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, although intelligence sources said it has proved hard to identify what its formal links are to al-Qaeda. (ANI)

Chinese province says will fine civil servants who don’t smoke local cigarettes

Beijing, May 4 (ANI): Believe it or not, Chinese civil servants who refuse or fail to consume a sufficient amount of locally made cigarettes, will be fined.

An order to this effect has been passed in Hubei Province. The regulation set standards for the number and brands of cigarettes to be bought and used by its officials.

All local government agencies and institutions should aim to consume 230,000 packs of Hubei Province-produced cigarettes a year, or about 4 million Yuan (588,235 dollars). Departments that fail to consume sufficient cigarettes or consumed non-local brand cigarettes would be fined, Hubei-based Chutian Metropolis Daily reported.
According to the Global Times, the regulation will boost the local economy via cigarette tax.

The regulation included punishments but no offenders have been fined, said an unnamed spokesman at the county public relations department. The regulation is just a general guideline and does not target specific tobacco brands, an official at the county finance bureau who refused to give his name told the Global Times yesterday.

The Hubei cigarette market is dominated by Hunan brands Furongwang, Baisha and the Yunan brand Ashima according to a NetEase.com Internet user allegedly from the same county. The measure will help the brand Huanghelou survive competition.

The measure seems intended to boost the local economy but it in fact boosts the political careers of government officials, argued another former county resident on the Netease forum. In the long run, it boosts corruption and hurts the public interest, he said. (ANI)

Pak SC rejects petition-challenging death as the only punishment for blasphemy

Islamabad, Apr 22 (ANI): Pakistan’s Supreme Court has rejected an appeal against a Federal Shariat Court (FSC) ruling that death is the only punishment that the Islamic law provides for blasphemy.

The Shariat Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court gave the decision on Tuesday, The Dawn reported.

Bishop Dani L. Tasleem filed the appeal 18 years ago after the FSC gave the judgment in exercise of its powers to determine if the existing laws conformed to Sharia.

Describing the lesser punishments provided for blasphemy in the prevalent law as un-Islamic, the FSC had caused consternation at home and criticism abroad.

In 1991, the FSC while deciding a petition of Mohammad Ismail Qureshi had held that the alternative punishment of life imprisonment provided in Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) was repugnant to the injunctions of Islam.

Authored by the then chief justice Gul Mohammad Khan, the FSC had also ordered to send the verdict to the then president to take steps and amend the law to bring it in conformity with injunctions of Islam. In case the action was not taken by April 30, 1991, the words ‘or imprisonment for life’ in Section 295-C should cease to have effect, the judgment had held.

The FSC had also directed the government to add a clause to make acts or things said about other prophets an offence with the same punishment.

Deputy Attorney-General Agha Tariq Mehmood, who represented the federal government, said that the petition was dismissed because the appellant did not pursue it. Reports suggest that the petitioner is not alive.

In compliance with the FSC judgment, a bill was introduced in the National Assembly during the government of Nawaz Sharif in 1991 to amend the law.

‘The issue is of horrendous importance for the people of Pakistan in the sense that the FSC judgment which remained suspended for quite some time will now be implemented,’ a constitutional expert said. (ANI)

Now, “barbaric” Taliban publicly execute man, woman over illicit relations in FATA

Islamabad, Apr.16 (ANI): In yet another incident of Taliban’s brutal ways of handing out punishments to people according to its own rules, the outlawed insurgents shot dead a man and a woman on charges of having illicit relations in Hangu district near the border of Orakzai Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

According to the Dawn, the masked Taliban insurgents first killed the woman aged 45 by pumping bullets in her chest, and then opened Kalashnikov fire at her and the man.

According to the sources, the women pleaded in front of the Taliban of not being guilty, but the insurgents did not pay heed to the call for mercy.

“Have mercy on me, please have mercy; the charges against me are false and no man has ever touched her,” she yelled.

Sources said the Taliban had asked the relatives of both the man and woman to appear before them for being quizzed, and later pumped bullets into them in the presence of their relatives. (ANI)

IPL II set to impose astronomic fines for slow play

Cape Town (South Africa), Apr.17 (ANI): Astronomic fines lie in wait for captains and teams that play their cricket at a snail’s pace in the second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in South Africa.

The organisers of the Twenty20 series have warned that they will dish out severe punishments to teams that don’t bowl their 20 overs inside the allotted time slot.

IPL chairperson Lalit Modi told a press conference on Thursday that teams may be fined in excess of R3.2-m if they go over the allotted time. He claimed that teams last year at times took up to 45 minutes longer than the allotted 80 minutes.

One of the big attractions of Twenty20 cricket is that matches finish inside three hours. Each team usually gets 80 minutes to bowl its 20 overs, with a break of 20 minutes between innings. This year, there will be a break of seven-and-a-half minutes after 10 overs for teams to discuss their strategies.

Modi believes that will put an end to any excuse that teams may have for not going through their overs quickly enough.

Matches will now last for three hours and 15 minutes.

According to Sports24, fines for teams that go over their allotted time are as follows:

20 000 dollars fine for the captain that transgresses first;

220 000 dollars fine for the entire team when a second transgression takes place; and

360 000 dollars fine for a third offence. The captain will then also be suspended for one game. (ANI)

Tory declares war on youth violence

Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling is to call for a clampdown on youth violence in the wake of the “grotesque” attack on two young boys in Doncaster. Skip related content
Related photos / videos
Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling is to urge a clampdown on youth violence
Related content

* Tories see bigger role for small banks
* Tories accuse Brown of ‘low carbon’ copying
* Tories see bigger role for small banks
* Related Hot Topic: Conservative Party

Have your say: Conservative Party

He will say the incident, which left a nine-year-old and 11-year-old with serious injuries, should serve as a “wake up call” for “Broken Britain”.

In a major speech to a think tank in central London, he will draw a link between minor yobbishness and the “brutality” of more serious violence.

He will pledge to “go to war” on anti-social behaviour in an effort to stop it escalating as youngsters get older.

And he will say it is time to “reclaim the streets” from groups of drunken yobs smashing windows and vandalising cars.

Speaking to the Policy Exchange think tank, he will say the Doncaster attacks provide a “stark snapshot” of Britain’s “Broken Society”.

He will say: “The incident in Doncaster this week should serve as a wake up call for our nation. Thankfully, events as grotesque as this one involving such young children remain pretty rare. But violence between children is becoming too much of a norm.

“The event in Doncaster is only the latest and probably the worst example of a whole series of incidents where children are killing or maiming other children.”

He will call for police to be given more discretion in dealing with young people and demand “instant community punishments” for serious anti-social behaviour.

Headteachers should be given powers to exclude pupils and not have their decisions overruled, he will say.