National Post from Toronto, Ontario, Canada • 9

CANADA A9 NATIONAL POST, THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2002 MANITOBA ALBERTA ONTARIO Prison guard accused of extorting $10,000 from inmate EDMONTON A 28-year-old prison guard has been charged with extortion and theft after a six-month police probe into his interaction with an inmate at the Edmonton Institution, a federal maximum security penitentiary. Edmonton police allege $10,000 was extorted from the inmate. Protective vests made mandatory for Mounties WINNIPEG Protective vests are now mandatory for RCMP across Canada. The farce issued the national order on Jan. 16 less than a month after Constable Dennis Strongquill was gunned down in Manitoba.

Const. StrongquiU's widow, Ramanda Delaronde, applauded the policy change. "They should wear them at all times," she said. Bar found guilty under Ottawa's anti-smoking by-law OTTAWA A bar was found guilty under Ottawa's new public smoking ban yesterday and fined $350 for openly keeping ashtrays and for continuing to serve customers as they puffed away. Puzzles Sports Bar was the first defendant to be tried in a courtroom since the by-law came into effect last Aug.

1. The bar's lawyer said he would appeal. MAN WHOSE DAUGHTER WAS MAULED BY DOG SURRENDERS TO POLICE Propecia pill halts hair loss in 90 of men FIVE-YEAR STUDY A little bit even grew back, test results show Father maybe able to answer questions about girls death By Mary Vallis A man who disappeared after two dogs killed his four-year-old daughter has turned himself in to police, fuelling hope that questions about Kyra-Lee Sibthorpe's last moments alive will soon be answered. Andrew Sibthorpe, 29, surfaced at the police station in Barrie yesterday morning. He had been missing since Sunday, the day his daughter was mauled to death outside his rundown farmhouse in Woodland Beach, a resort community about 100 kilometres from Toronto.

Police said Mr. Sibthorpe called his neighbours around 4 p.m. Sunday, after the incident, and asked them to come over. He told the neighbours he would meet the police at the hospital and left. But Mr.

Sibthorpe never turned up; it was a neighbour who called 911. Mr. Sibthorpe may have fled the scene because he was already wanted on outstanding warrants for breaching his probation. He was jailed overnight and is to ap greater and greater as the years went on," Dr. Shapiro said.

"If somebody has this problem, then the earlier they get started probably the better the result" By the fifth year, Propecia-treat-ed men had a net improvement of 277 hairs. None in the placebo treated group reported any improvement. Known as Finasteride, the drug has also been used to treat enlarged prostates. Both Finasteride, the first pill to treat baldness, and Minoxidil (Rogaine) have been believed to help stop hair loss from progressing. They are considered "lifestyle drugs," medicines such as the anti-impotence treatment Viagra and Xenical, a diet pill, that are meant to enhance quality of life as opposed to curing disease.

About 2 of the men participating in the trials experienced a lack of desire for sex or difficulty in achieving an erection and reduced production of semen. If patients end treatment of Propecia hair loss returns to previous levels, the study reports. Propecia was a pill many analysts believed would rack up as much as $300-million in sales in its first year. But in 1998, sales totalled about $83-million worldwide, despite a $91-million advertising campaign. Still, the drug's manufacturer noted more than 400,000 men in the United States were using it after it was on the market for only one year.

The study was funded by the drug's manufacturer, Merck Frosst Canada. One of the Canadian partici PI -if 4 By Tom Arnold Propecia, a prescription drug that treats male pattern hair loss, can halt the progression of baldness in 90 of patients, concludes the first long-term international clinical study. Newly released five-year data a placebo-controlled trial al-30 show the drug fostered growth of new hair in 65 of participants. The results are published in the current issue of the European Journal of Dermatology. About 358 Canadian men, aged 18-41, from Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax, were among almost 1,600 participants from 16 countries.

Male-pattern baldness, medically known as an-drogenetic alopecia, can hit as early as age 20. "There has never been a study of that length of time for male pattern hair loss," said Dr. Jerry Shapiro, clinical professor in dermatology at the University of British Columbia. "Most studies are one or two years. "Patients always ask about long term and now we can say yes we can retard further hair loss or stabilize hair loss in 90 of individuals for at least five years.

And we can say that 65 of individuals can regrow some hair within that period. "But we're not talking luxuriant regrowth, said Dr. Shapiro, director of UBC's hair research and treatment centre. "It is minimal to moderate regrowth. It's not going to cause a dramatic increase, as hair surgery would do." Taking a daily dose of Propecia costs Canadians about $50 monthly, said Dr.

Shapiro, who is also president of the Canadian Hair Research Foundation. "What is significant about the results is that the difference between those that stayed on placebo for five years and those that were on the actual treatment, got THE VANCOUVER SUN Dr. Jerry Shapiro says a study showing male pattern baldness can be halted by the drug Propecia is promising. Probe into E. coli death inadequate, parents say pants in the study was 36-year-old Jim Tsatsos of Toronto.

"My hair was starting to fall out and that's why I went for a consultation. It was progressing quite quickly. But ever since I have been taking the medication I haven't had any hair loss. I may have had some minor growth as well. But certainly no hair loss." Mr.

Tsatsos said he is happy with his Propecia treatments but cautions it is not a "wonder drug. "But now I know I won't lose my hair or at least I'm pretty confident I won't. And it's important because I would rather have hair than not have hair." National Post tarnoldnationalpost.com 23-month-old son died after outbreak in New Brunswick pear at a bail hearing this morning. After his arrest, Ontario Provincial Police officers interviewed Mr. Sibthorpe about Kyra-Lee's death.

He may have been the only witness to the dog attack. Kyra-Lee's mother, Azure- Dee Todd-Cassell, hopes the information he gives police will provide the answers she needs, said Perry Jolie, her uncle. "That's the only request I've bad from the mother," he said. "She just needs to know what happened. We need to know what happened." Autopsy results released yesterday show two dogs were involved in the incident: a Rottweiler and a Labrador cross in Mr.

Sibthorpe's care. The Rottweiler is still in quarantine for rabies; the Labrador has since been put down at the owner's request. The coroner's office is working with an expert in dog behaviour on the case. It is believed the Rottweiler was the first to attack, said Dr. Jim Cairns, Ontario's deputy chief coroner.

"We normally classify the cause of death as due to the multiple bites, but the more significant, more serious bites were in the region of the neck," he said. "I just hope that the significant ones were the first ones, for she would have died quickly." Ms. Cassell and Mr. Sibthorpe are separated. Kyra-Lee lived with her mother and brother in Phelpston, just north of Barrie, but was visiting her father when she was attacked.

Mr. Jolie said Kyra-Lee would not have been afraid of the dogs because her mother also owns a Rottweiler. "The kids bounce off that dog. They use him for a springboard." Kyra-Lee's funeral will be held in Elmvale tomorrow. The family does not want Mr.

Sibthorpe to attend. Mr. Jolie said they want him prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law if the police determine he was responsible for the dogs' actions. National Post mvallisnationalpost.com Break expected soon in case of Canadian held in Saudi Arabia parents' specific complaints. "We feel we did a very thorough investigation," he said yesterday.

"We really don't want to start rehashing this investigation through the media." Jeffrey Bates died on Dec. 8 in a Halifax hospital after developing complications from E. coli 0157 the same strain that killed seven people in Walkerton, Ont two years ago. On Dec. 10, the infant daycare program at the' Saint John was briefly shut down after two more children there tested positive for the infection.

In total, six people with ties to the centre were diagnosed with E. coli last month. All but Jeffrey survived. A government investigation concluded that the infection was brought into the YMYWCA, likely by one of the sick children, and was spread through person-to-person contact, not by a common food source. Mr.

and Mrs. Bates talked with public health officials this month, raising questions about the inquiry. Their published letter alleges a series of flaws in the investigation, including the following: I Health officials never examined the daily records kept at the daycare, which held information about every child's eating and diapering activity, and health status. Although generic menus were examined, the food consumption charts of individual children, including Jeffrey By Richard Foot The parents of a New Brunswick boy who died during an E. coli bacteria outbreak in December say the public health investigation into the tragedy was "inadequate, incomplete and should be reopened." That inquiry never discovered the source of E.

coli that killed 23-month-old Jeffrey Bates and made at least five others sick in Saint John last month. Peter and Dawn Bates, the boy's parents, say provincial health officials were too quick to rule out the Saint John YMYWCA daycare centre, which their son attended, as a possible source of the infection. "What have the authorities learned from this tragedy?" asked the parents in a critical letter published yesterday in the New Brunswick Telegraph Journal. "What if any actions will be taken in the future to try to prevent the possible reoccurrence of E. coli at a daycare? It appears to us after speaking with the district and chief medical officers very little." Dr.

David Assaf, the public health officer who led the investigation, is refusing to discuss the Released foreigners tell of torture Bates, were not. I Health inspectors discovered only one suspect meal at the daycare a meatball dish. Undercooked hamburger is a common source of E. coli infections. Yet inspectors failed to report that two other suspect meals, lasagna and spaghetti, were served on the days immediately before Jeffrey became ill.

His parents say an inspector told them the lasagna and spaghetti meals were missed by investigators. I Although the daycare's managers and its cook were interviewed by inspectors, the caregivers of the sick children were not I Swabs of the daycare kitchen showed no signs of E. coli, yet these swabs were taken at least a week after suspect meals containing hamburger were served. The Bates parents also ask why Ann Ralph, the Y's executive director, was so quick to claim two days after their son's death, that the daycare was not the source of the outbreak. "Where did she get that understanding," the parents ask.

"From health officials? If she did, we are not sure how the health officials concluded this on what would have been the second day of their investigation. Ms. Ralph was reluctant to defend the government's investigation yesterday, but did say the co-operated fully with the provincial Health Department and made all its staff and records available. She also said if the Y's meals were the source of E. coli, dozens more children would have tested positive than the few that did.

For his part, Dr. Assaf said the government properly examined all the information it collected, and its conclusion that the infection did not originate in a meal at the daycare "stands." He agreed with the Bates family on one point that if Jeffrey had not been hospitalized and tested for E. coli, no one may have known that an outbreak was underway in Saint John. Sick children may simply have recovered from flu-like symptoms. "I have little doubt that there is a lot of undiagnosed E.

coli that happens," Dr. Assaf said. "Have there been other outbreaks in the past at day cares in our province that have gone undetected," ask Mr. and Mrs. Bates.

"There is no doubt this is entirely possible." National Post rfootnationalpost.com Those fears were given greater grounds yesterday by a report in The Guardian, quoting three released Britons who said they were tortured during their imprisonment Paul Moss, who now lives in Australia, told The Guardian, "They put me in an isolation cell and wouldn't let me I had no sleep at all for seven days and I collapsed, hallucinating." David Mornin, from Scotland, said he was punched in the gut and kicked in the rib cage. "I was in the punishment cell for eight weeks solitary with the light burning all the time. They kept me awake for about 10 days," he said. "They hung me from bars above the door by my handcuffs so I was just on the balls of my feet for 24 hours at a time. They did that on four occasions." James Sampson said he was horrified to read the accounts of torture.

"I suspected sleep deprivation and white lights," he said. "I should have been told about this." Saudi officials have repeatedly denied allegations of torture, saying it is anti-Islamic. Crown Prince Abdullah cancelled a visit to Ottawa last summer over reports that Bill Sampson had been beaten by his captors. Canadian officials meanwhile, say they have received assurances that Mr. Sampson has not been tortured.

Bill Graham, Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, travelled to Riyadh in September and met with Crown Prince Abdullah. "He has given us assurances that torture will not take place in the case of Mr. Sampson," said Mr. Graham during a media scrum yesterday in London, where he is attending a round of Commonwealth talks. National Post By Francine Dub "The father of Bill Sampson, the Canadian jailed in Saudi Arabia for more than a year on suspicion of planting a car bomb, said yesterday that he believes a break in the case is imminent "I think there's a feeling in the Department of Foreign Affairs 'that something is about to hap-'pen.

I think the Saudis want to get the whole affair over and done with," said James Sampson, 70, of Surrey, B.C. Bill Sampson, 42, has been in Jail in Riyadh since December, 2000, after two car bombs were detonated in the capital that November, one of them killing Christopher Rod way, a Briton. Fourteen Westerners were rounded up in the wake of the bombings. Five confessed to minor alcohol offences and were 'sentenced to terms of up to four J' 'ears in jail. They were released ast month in the amnesty that marks the end of Ramadan.

Seven men, including Mr. Sampson, are still being held in connection with the bombings. No charges have been laid, and Mr. Sampson's family fear he has been tortured. j1 are I Childd Infant GLOBAL NEW8 CINDY W1LSO-I NEW BRUNSWICK TELEGRAPH JOUXNU.

A government investigation says E. was brought into this Saint John daycare likely by an infected child. fdubenationalpost.com Kyra-Lee Sibthorpe I ft r-.