Daily roundup 27 September: Working mothers, messy food, and cybercrime

The number of mothers with dependent children employed in England has surged by more than a million over the past two decades, according to official figures. The Guardian reports that Office for National Statistics figures showed there were 4.9 million mothers with dependent children in work in 2017, up from 3.7 million in 1996.


Parents should allow their children to be messy with their food in order to help them enjoy the experience and avoid problems with appetite and feeding, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence has advised. The organisations has issued guidelines aimed at improving diagnosis, assessment and monitoring of children with faltering growth.


The number of sexual cybercrimes in Scotland has increased significantly in the past three years, with mainly young people being both the victims and perpetrators, research has found. The Times reports that sexual crimes, including those on the internet, rose by about 50 per cent from 2,901 in 2013/14 to 4,360 in 2016/17, with new technology blamed for fueling offending.
 

Newmarket Racecourse will no longer sell children's tickets for evening music events due to complaints about aggression and drunkenness at a Little Mix gig. The BBC reports that more than 20,000 people went to see Little Mix at the racecourse in June, including many young people. But after the event a number of people complained that it was unsafe for children.


A pharmacist "brainwashed'" two primary school children and showed them beheading videos by so-called Islamic State, a court has heard. The Metro reports that Zameer Ghumra is on trial accused of disseminating "terrorist propaganda" in the form of a graphic Twitter video on his mobile phone between January 2013 and September 2014. He denies the charge.


Northern Ireland has not received any of the money it was due to be provided in order to educate Syrian refugee children for more than a year, it has been claimed. The BBC reports that, as part of the UK government's Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme, £4,500 was to be provided towards each Syrian child's education costs for one year, but the Northern Ireland government's Department of Education said no money has been received since August 2016.