I have no words.

A disabled woman has been jailed for 12 years for the manslaughter of a mother and daughter in a fire.

Bola Ejifunmilayo, 29, and her daughter Fiyin, three, died at Fishermead Boulevard, Milton Keynes, in September.

Barbara Zhanje, 48, of Kettering, Northants, had denied two counts of manslaughter at St Albans Crown Court.

She started the fire to get back at an ex-boyfriend in a spiteful act that led to the deaths of two innocent people, said Judge Stephen Gullick.

Angry over ex-boyfriend

The court heard Zhanje set fire to a home in Fishermead where her ex-boyfriend lived.

Ms Ejifunmilayo and Fiyin lived in a flat upstairs and could not escape the flames.

Wheelchair-bound Zhanje was found guilty of manslaughter and arson with intent by a majority of 10-to-2.

The jury heard the fire ripped through the first and second floors of the house in the early hours of 5 September last year.

The two victims from Nigeria, who had lived in a second-floor room for less than a month, died from smoke inhalation.

Their bodies were not found until the following day because firefighters and investigators wrongly believed all the seven people who lived at the house were accounted for.

Zhanje, of Mill Road, came to the UK from Zimbabwe nine years ago and had worked with children with learning difficulties.

In March last year she was involved in a road accident in which she broke her pelvis, femur and elbow and was left wheelchair bound.

She was angry at not being able to contact her former boyfriend Ananias Jumbe who was with his new girlfriend in Leeds.

After drinking half a bottle of wine at a friend’s house in Milton Keynes she went to Mr Jumbe’s home.

Her banging on the door just after midnight woke a resident who was told by Zhanje, “I just want to break the door and get my things because he’s my partner and he’s cheating on me”.

Less than two hours later one of the other people in the house was woken by the smell of smoke and saw flames coming up the stairs from the first floor where Jumbe lived.

She dialled 999 and a resident on the ground floor got out after hearing someone shout fire.

No remorse expressed

Prosecutor Ann Evans said firefighters were at the scene in 10 minutes and the resident from the other second-floor room, Muni Elmi, was taken to safety by ladders.

Forensic evidence matched glass from Jumbe’s door to glass fragments found on Zhanje’s clothes.

Defence barrister Niall Quinn QC said Zhanje had been “self-absorbed” that night.

Judge Gullick said: “It is clear you were determined to find out what he was up to.

“When you failed, you decided to teach him a lesson. It was a spiteful act.

“You caused two innocent people, one a three year old child, to lose their lives.

“You took no steps to alert anyone to what you had done. This is not a case where you have expressed remorse.”

UK experts are predicting a steep rise in the rate of an eye condition that is already a leading cause of blindness.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) affects more than 600,000 Britons.

But an ageing population means this figure could rise by a quarter to nearly 756,000 by 2010, according to recent research in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.

Yet half of UK adults have never heard of AMD, a poll by the College of Optometrists suggests.

The survey of over 4,000 also found many people were unaware that a poor diet and smoking increases the risk of AMD.

AMD affects a tiny part of the retina at the back of the eye that controls central vision.

This makes it difficult for the individual to see fine detail, such as recognising people’s faces, reading or watching television.

There are two forms of AMD, wet and dry.

There is currently no cure for either forms but early diagnosis and treatment of wet AMD – which develops rapidly – is crucial in order to prevent vision loss.

Dry AMD, which is more common, develops gradually and is not treatable but there are services available to support people with this condition.

Dr Susan Blakeney, optometric adviser to the College of Optometrists said: “Age-related macular degeneration is the biggest single cause of sight loss in the UK so it is concerning that so few people are aware of it and its symptoms.

“By making people more aware of AMD and the impact that it can have, we hope to increase detection and people seeking access to support services.”

While AMD is a condition associated with older age, there are steps you can take earlier in life to minimise your risk.

Research suggests that a diet rich in leafy green vegetables, brightly coloured fruits and vegetables and oily fish may help prevent AMD.

Smoking also doubles your chances of developing the condition so quitting can also reduce your risk.

Dr Blakeney said: “I also recommend to patients that they regularly check the vision in each eye separately so that they can spot early changes.

“It is easy to do and only takes a couple of seconds, yet it could save your sight. You can do it by looking at a bit of graph paper and checking if you see any distortion or blank spots.”

Of course not being able to speak is frustrating. I don’t think that should be accepted as any excuse for committing crimes though, do you, readers?

A deaf woman has been given a 15-month sentence for stabbing a man while on bail for attacking a police officer with a knife.

Patricia Martin, 48, of Linwood, left Andrew Finnegan severely injured after the attack in her home in October 2010.

Martin, who is also unable to speak, was jailed for 32 months in November for the attack on the police officer.

Paisley Sheriff Court heard both crimes were committed out of her frustration at being unable to communicate.

The two sentences are to be be served consecutively.

Martin stabbed Mr Finnegan in the back and chest when he got involved in a fight with her partner during a drinking session at her house on Muirhead Drive.

Solicitor Jonathan Manson previously told the court the original offence was committed when police went to her door and she lashed out in frustration at not being able to communicate properly.

The police officer was not seriously injured.

Sheriff David Pender said: “None of us can really understand the frustrations of being unable to communicate with those with whom you come into contact on a daily basis.

“While there can be no doubt that in normal circumstances the sentence which would be appropriate for an offence such as this – particularly as it was committed while you were on bail for a similar offence – would be substantial, it seems to me that would not be in the public interest.”

The court heard she would have been sent to Cornton Vale prison if the latest jail term imposed had exceeded 16 months.

Mr Manson said Martin, who is currently serving her sentence in Greenock prison, felt isolated and vulnerable when she was on remand at Cornton Vale as no members of staff used sign language and she was unable to communicate with anyone.

Martin was also given a seven-month supervised release order.

Three members of staff at a special school in Kent have been reinstated after “serious allegations” against them were found to be unproven.

Two teachers and one teaching assistant were suspended from Wyvern School, Ashford, in November following claims by a parent of a pupil.

Kent County Council said the allegations were “thoroughly investigated” and found to be unproven.

It said the inquiry also found the school could improve its communication.

The investigation was carried out under the terms of the Kent and Medway Safeguarding Children Procedures.

‘Make further improvements’

A letter sent to parents stated: “In November 2010 you were advised that allegations had been made about the school and some members of its staff. This has also been reported by the local media.

“The allegations have been thoroughly investigated by agencies external to the school and found to be unproven.

“The investigation has identified some areas where the school can continue to make further improvements, such as communication with parents and other services that support children in the school.

“The school is committed to making these improvements.”

Scientists say they have discovered a “maintenance” protein that helps keep nerve fibres that transmit messages in the brain operating smoothly.

The University of Edinburgh team says the finding could improve understanding of disorders such as epilepsy, dementia, MS and stroke.

In such neurodegenerative disorders, electrical impulses from the brain are disrupted.

This leads to an inability to control movement, and muscles wasting away.

The brain works like an electrical circuit, sending impulses along nerve fibres in the same way that current is sent through wires.

These fibres can measure up to a metre, but the area covered by the segment of nerve that controls transmission of messages is no bigger than the width of a human hair.

Signal failure

The scientists discovered that the protein Nfasc186 is crucial for maintaining the health and function of the segment of nerve fibres – called the axon initial segment (AIS) – that controls transmission of messages within the brain.

They found that the AIS and the protein within it are important in ensuring the nerve impulse has the right properties to convey the message as it should.

Professor Peter Brophy, director of the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Neuroregeneration, said: “Knowing more about how signals in the brain work will help us better understand neurodegenerative disorders and why, when these illnesses strike, the brain can no longer send signals to parts of the body.”

Dr Matthew Nolan, of the university’s Centre for Integrative Physiology, said: “At any moment tens of thousands of electrical impulses are transmitting messages between nerve cells in our brains.

“Identifying proteins that are critical for the precise initiation of these impulses will help unravel the complexities of how brains work and may lead to new insights into how brains evolved.”

The work was funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council.

This week’s government proposals on special educational needs call for a simpler, less adversarial system to help parents secure support for their children. Education specialist Mike Baker hears one special school’s reaction to the proposals.

To understand the significance of getting it right on special needs education – particularly for children requiring the most intense support – you need only spend a day at Treloar’s school and college in Hampshire.

Providing for young people with cerebral palsy, spina bifida and muscular dystrophy, this independent residential institution offers highly specialist – but inevitably expensive – provision.

For the children who come here, Treloar’s is usually a life-changing experience.

But because the costs are so high, and the procedures are often so bureaucratic and complex, it’s not always a smooth process.

Like many specialist providers, Treloar’s is an independent charity funded from the fees paid by the state, as part of pupils’ special needs statements.

Graham Jowett, a former principal of Treloar College, who now acts as its consultant, believes the government’s Green Paper published this week shows the government is “moving broadly in the right direction”.

‘Bureaucratic and bewildering’

Treloar’s has welcomed the Green Paper’s view that the process of assessing children’s special needs is too “bureaucratic, bewildering and adversarial”.

The document proposes replacing the current system of statements – documents detailing what help a child requires – with new “Education, Health and Care Plans”.

Mr Jowett says the students who come to Treloar’s need intensive provision including, for many, full-time residential accommodation.

That makes this sort of special needs provision “very expensive”, he says, with the result that some local authorities “view us with suspicion” and families are often “at loggerheads” with the authorities over the cost.

Treloar School educates about 80 children aged nine to 16, while the adjoining Treloar College accommodates 167 students aged 16+.

About 90% of students at the college are in wheelchairs, which they steer around visitors with great speed and adroitness.

An impressive workshop provides a “pit-stop” for repairs to wheelchairs that have been driven too hard or which need to be ingeniously customised to students’ needs.

In the residential accommodation, the bedrooms are equipped with hoists and other specialist equipment designed to allow students to be as independent as possible.

Students’ needs vary, but fees can run to tens of thousands of pounds a year.

Inclusion debate

For Treloar’s, one of the frustrations of the current system is that many students arrive with statements of special needs that were made when the children were much younger.

This means the statements may either over-estimate or under-estimate a student’s needs.

The government is also seeking to link up different agencies better, acknowledging that families often have to “negotiate different elements of a child’s support separately”.

It is an issue that Mr Jowett also points to, saying statements often tend to look only at children’s educational needs while failing to take account of therapeutic and holistic needs.

But he is less certain about the Green Paper’s proposal that by 2014, parents will have a legal right to manage the funding for the support their children need.

Not all parents will want to take this up, he says, as experience shows many are “daunted by managing their own educational finances”.

Mr Jowett is, however, delighted that the Green Paper promises to end the “bias towards inclusion”.

Much of the debate over special needs has been over the policy of inclusion, which involves attempting to keep children in mainstream school wherever possible.

Its proponents believe it equips children with special needs better for mainstream society and helps improve their integration into it – also building understanding among the children who learn alongside them.

But special needs vary widely and there have been concerns over whether the policy is pushing some children into difficult environments where mainstream teachers are not able to provide effective support.

“The constant message is that inclusion is better, even though 80% of disabled children report being bullied in mainstream school – our pupils say how good it is to be in the same boat as others around them,” says Mr Jowett.

One former student told him: “It’s great to be in a place where you don’t have to explain your disability, or have a grown-up everyone thinks is your mum following you around carrying your laptop.”

Costs pressure

But as a non-mainstream provider, is Treloar’s simply defending its own interests by opposing inclusion?

Amanda Quincey, principal of Treloar College, insists that “where students do not need our services we are honest and don’t offer a placement” because they could stay in mainstream schools with the right support.

However, she says the real tensions arise because of the current assessment and funding system.

“The people we are dealing with are under pressure to reduce costs and are asking us to reduce what we do,” she says.

And concerns over funding are shared by local authorities.

While the Local Government Association says some councils have “made great strides” in improving provision, it too stresses that the government must ensure “sufficient funding” for future special educational needs provision in a climate of cuts.

The government says it plans to commit more money, but has not yet given details.

Mr Jowett too is worried about “whether the funding will be there” for the changes.

And the future of the system, he says, is particularly important because advances in medical care mean that the number of children with very complex special needs, like those at Treloar’s, is increasing.

Twin brothers will attempt three marathons in three days along the Dorset coast to raise money for their disabled friend.

Matt and Simon Phelps, from Poole, will undertake the Jurassic Coast Challenge in March, to help pay for “much needed” physio for Rob Ayres.

Mr Ayres, 27, from Leicester, suffered a brain injury in 2008 when he was hit by a car on a night out.

Matt said: “He couldn’t talk or move his limbs. Now he aims to walk again.”

Before he was injured Mr Ayres had served two tours in Iraq with the Royal Marines, before leaving to embark on a career as a nurse.

‘Absolutely gutted’

Matt said: “When Rob was initially taken to hospital his family and girlfriend were told the devastating news that it was unlikely he’d last the night.

“I was absolutely gutted, I didn’t think I’d get the chance to see him again.

“Of course being a fighter Rob survived, but then doctors said he would never talk again. A year later though and he uttered his first words.

“It was thought he would never be able to move his limbs properly again, but after dedication and hard graft he has function in them and is now learning to walk.”

Mr Ayres was discharged from hospital recently, after two years.

Matt added: “Unfortunately this now means that his family have to fund his neuro-physio appointments, which cost £90 an hour, and it’s likely he’ll need at least one a week for the foreseeable future.

“If Rob is ever to achieve his goal of walking again these appointments are imperative.”

Matt and Simon have been training for the 78.6-mile (126.49km) challenge, to help fund some of these costs, since December 2010.

‘Chafed nipples’

The brothers are currently running 40 to 50 miles (64 to 80km) a week in preparation, through Sandbanks, Lulworth and Swanage, and have so far raised about £700 for Mr Ayres.

Matt said: “The Jurassic Coast is such an inspiring landscape it almost makes running a pleasure.

“It’s nice to be able to get out in the fresh air instead of having to run in the streets.”

Although training is going well Matt admits to a few “minor drawbacks”.

He said: “I’m not a natural runner, I’ve got flat feet.

“And Simon has already got shin splints, and he had to go to the shop mid-run the other morning to buy plasters for his chafed nipples.”

The latest video from hip hop star Kanye West could cause epileptic seizures, experts have warned.

Those with photosensitive epilepsy should avoid the video for All of the Lights, which features singer Rihanna.

Epilepsy Action said the extensive use of flashing images could trigger seizures in some people, and there is no warning at the start of the video to alert them to the risks. The video has received almost five million hits on file sharing website YouTube.

In 2007, Epilepsy Action received calls from people who had suffered fits after seeing animated footage promoting the 2012 Olympics in London. It was removed from the organisers’ website and the video was re-edited.

The charity asked Cambridge Research Systems to run the All of the Lights video through a piece of kit called the Harding Flash and Pattern Analyser. Experts found it contained flashes at a rate high enough to trigger seizures in people with photosensitive epilepsy.

Around 5% of the 456,000 people in the UK with epilepsy have this form, making them vulnerable to flashing and flickering lights.

According to Ofcom regulations, the video should not be broadcast on UK television but there are no such rules governing online.

A spokeswoman for Epilepsy Action said the charity had contacted Kanye West’s agent, YouTube and other online sources to ask that they take the video down. Representatives have also written to Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt asking about any plans to regulate online videos.

Aimee Gee, PR and campaigns manager at Epilepsy Action, said: “We are deeply concerned that this video may be harmful to some people with photosensitive epilepsy.

“We are doing all we can to warn people who may be affected not to watch it. It has already received millions of hits on YouTube so we feel it is unfortunately very likely that people may have already been affected.”

A fire has raced through an orphanage for disabled children in western Estonia, killing 10 of them, a rescue service spokesman said.

There were 37 children and nine adults inside the wooden building when the fire started in the coastal town of Haapsalu, said Viktor Saaremets, a spokesman for the Western Estonia Rescue Services Centre.

“By the time rescue workers and firefighters arrived at the scene three or four minutes later the building was completely in flames,” he said.

Ten children were killed and one adult was injured, Saaremets said. The others were evacuated to a nearby building and were not hurt, he said.

The cause of the fire was not immediately clear.

“Fire safety inspectors went there in January and found that the building met all the necessary criteria,” Saaremets said.

The Estonian government met for an emergency meeting after the blaze and declared Monday a nationwide day of mourning.

Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves expressed his condolences.

“The tragic accident in the Haapsalu orphanage shocked the whole of Estonia today,” Ilves said in a brief statement.

The Haapsalu orphanage was opened as a home for disabled children in 1950, when Estonia was occupied by the Soviet Union, according to its website. In 1996 it moved into the current building, which was funded by the Estonian government as well as Swedish, Finnish and US donors.