Section:GDN 1N PaGe:18 Edition Date:190808 Edition:01 Zone:S Sent at 7/8/2019 20:36 cYanmaGentaYellowb
- The Guardian Thursday 8 August 2019
(^18) National
Convicted
Briton who
tried to fl ee
Australia by
jetski jailed
Tuition fee cut
‘could prove
disastrous for
universities’
Australian Associated Press
A British man who travelled 90 miles
on a jet ski trying to fl ee a charge of
supplying drugs in Australia has been
sentenced for his escape attempt.
Armed with a crossbow, David Jack-
son, 57, set off from Queensland and
made it to Papua New Guinean waters,
where he was arrested.
He had been extradited to Western
Australia and jailed in June for seven
years and fi ve months for possessing
Sally Weale
Education correspondent
Proposals to reduce tuition fees for
students in England would have severe
consequences for universities , which
are already struggling fi nancially, a
Lords committee has said.
The Augar review into post-18 edu-
cation and funding , recommend ed
that annual tuition fees should be cut
to a maximum of £7,500 a year, from
£9,250 at present. Ministers are con-
sidering the proposal.
But a report by the House of Lords
science and technology committee
said the recommendation should be
implemented only if the government
was prepared to fully compensate
universities with additional teach-
ing grants.
Otherwise, the report said, institu-
tions would have to take money away
from research to subsidise teaching,
with “devastating” consequences.
The report highlighted a defi cit
in research funding. It said quality-
related (QR) funding, which forms
the bedrock of research funding for
universities, had fallen 12.8% in real
terms since 2010 and said the govern-
ment should commit to increasing QR
funding each year by at least the rate
of infl ation.
The committee’s chair, Naren-
dra Patel, said “The Augar review
has completely missed the mark by
not considering research funding in
its review. By ignoring research and
cross-subsidies, it has made recom-
mendations which, if implemented,
could harm the already challenging
ecosystem of university funding.”
There has been growing concern
in recent months about the fi nancial
health of some higher education insti-
tutions. According to recent analy sis,
nearly one in four universities in
England were in defi cit last year. The
number of universities in England with
operating defi cits in 2017/18 increased
to 32, compared with 24 the year before
and 10 in 2015/16.
The Lords committee said any
further funding shortfall would
make the situation in universities
unmanageable.
Universities are bracing for the
impact of Brexit. The Lords report said
the government after Brexit should
match in full the level of funding that
Britain receives from the EU.
“We recommend that the govern-
ment ensures that its post-Brexit
immigration laws do not hinder the
ability of UK universities to recruit
and retain researchers ,” the report
concluded.
an illegal drug with intent to sell or
supply and possessing stolen property.
The charges dated to 2016, when police
found drugs 840 grams of methylam-
phetamine inside a speaker in his car.
The court heard he had accepted the
drugs as part payment for his work as
a tow truck driver. When his boss was
taken into custody, he was pressured
to take over the drug business, and
wanted to maintain his own supply.
Jackson was planning to go to trial
but entered late guilty pleas, then fl ed
the country while on bail and awaiting
sentencing. He intended to start a new
life in Bali but had no plan for when he
got there and little money.
He appeared at Perth magistrates
court via video link from the maxi-
mum security Casuarina prison and
was sentenced for breaching bail, pos-
sessing a prohibited weapon – a stun
gun – and possessing stolen property.
He was fi ned A$500 (£275) for the bail
breach and weapon charges, and given
a four-month prison sentence for the
stolen property charge, to be served
concurrently with his current jail term.
He is likely to face deportation to the
UK after serving his sentence.
▲ David Jackson on the jetski in an
Australian Border Force photograph
PA Media
The family of the British girl Nora Quoi-
rin who went missing in Malaysia have
said they remain hopeful after police
leading the investigation refused to
rule out a “criminal element”.
Nora, 15, from London, disappeared
from the Dusun eco-resort, in Negeri
Sembilan state, on Sunday.
Her family released a statement yes-
terday which expressed their “deepest
gratitude” to the Royal Malaysia Police
and others helping the search.
Deputy police chief Che Zakaria
Othman said a forensic team was ana-
lysing fi ngerprints found in a resort
cottage where Quoirin went missing,
despite previously saying there were
no signs of foul play. The prints were at
an open window in a downstairs hall,
not in the bedroom upstairs where the
girl was sleeping , he said.
The family’s statement said: “We
would like to thank our embassies, the
local community, and the staff here
at the hotel and anyone else who has
off ered help to fi nd Nora.
“We are completely overwhelmed
by the support we have received .”
Her parents, Meabh and Sebast-
ien, an Irish-French couple, were
“too upset to speak themselves at this
time”, said the statement released on
their behalf by the Lucie Blackman
Trust, which helps British nationals
in crisis overseas. “This is extremely
traumatic for the whole family,” it said.
The family, including Nora’s
younger brother and sister, arrived
at the resort about 40 miles south
of Kuala Lumpur on Saturday. They
believe Nora, who has learning and
developmental disabilities, was
abducted. Police said they were “not
ruling out any possibility” and they
believe Quoirin is still in the area.
Possible forensic
lead found in hunt
for girl in Malaysia
12.8%
Fall in real terms since 2010 in
quality-related funding, the bedrock
for university research funds
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