27/01/2014 BBC London News

colder. It could be short lived. That is all from the BBC's

contrasting fortunes of London and Sheffield. The streets 8

Tonight on BBC London News. A multi`million pound pay`out for

the family of a schoolgirl left brain damaged after glue was

mistakenly injected into an artery at Great Ormond Street Hospital. The

family are saddened and devastated by what happened to their daughter.

Her life is ruined. All her dreams have been broken.

Also tonight, the councils that could be investigated over the way

parking tickets are issued. Plus ` London's lure. The thousands

coming to the capital for work at the expense of the rest of the UK.

And celebrating architecture on an industrial scale. The latest

exhibition at the Royal Academy. Hello and good evening.

A 13`year`old girl who was left severely brain damaged during

treatment at Great Ormond Street Hospital has been awarded a

multi`million pound pay`out. Maisha Najeeb, who was ten at the time, was

being treated for a rare medical condition when glue, instead of dye,

was accidentally injected into an artery. Today, the hospital

apologised unreservedly. Her father said they're devastated because her

life is ruined, and hope it never happens to another family. Ayshea

Buksh reports. She was top of her class with the

love of dancing, and reamed as being a doctor. Ten`year`old Maisha Najeeb

also had a rare congenital condition, which meant her arteries

and veins could easily tangle and bleed. At the country's leading

children's hospital, she was operated on a five times. Back in

June 2010, Maisha was admitted for another operation. In the procedure,

glue is injected into the blood vessels to block the bleeding, but

Dyer is all so inserted to check the blood flow around the brain. The

syringes got mixed up, and instead of dye, glue was inserted into an

artery leading to Maisha's brain. Maisha was left with permanent brain

damage. She needs constant care and is in a wheelchair. Today, her

parents were awarded ?2.8 million up front in damages, with further money

to be given each year. If she lives to 64, the final sum could exceed

?24 million. The family are saddened and devastated by what happened to

their daughter. Her life is ruined. All her dreams have been broken. The

family hoped that by bringing this case, lessons will have been learned

to avoid this happening to other families. We are grateful that

agreement has been reached with Great Ormond Street Hospital to

ensure that Maisha's care needs are met. In court, the hospital

described what happened as a tragic set of circumstances, and apologise

to the family, adding there are now systems in place to make sure this

doesn't happen again. When asked whether anyone had been disciplined

over what had occurred, the Trust said they could not comment. The

judge said he hoped this compensation went some way to make

the rest of her life as bearable as possible.

Lots more to come, including: Will these lights make it safer for

cyclists at one of the capital's most notorious roundabouts?

London councils are to be investigated over their parking

enforcement contracts, which appear to show that wardens are

incentivised to issue tickets. Lambeth, Bromley and Hackney

Councils made millions of pounds in profit last year from parking, but

each council insists it doesn't set targets. Following the BBC

investigation, Local Government Minister Brandon Lewis said he'd

investigate the legality of the contracts. Keith Doyle reports.

These campaigners are patrolling London's streets, and urging drivers

to mobile enforcement cars. `` alerting drivers. Here, they found

one in Camden. We are assisting them in achieving their goal of 100%

compliance. They say ticket fines are written into the Camden

contract, and that means that traffic wardens are under pressure

to issue fines. There's nothing to suggest the traffic enforcers we saw

today were not playing by the rules, however others have said that they

will do anything to increase ticket numbers. This officer in a different

borough is so disgusted by the dirty tactics, he's agreed to show us

exactly how it's done. He does not want to be identified. He says some

officers manipulate their hand`held computers to issue fraudulent

tickets. When you have two press, you have to give five minutes

observation to the vehicle. He said the trick is to pretend you are

observing the vehicle, when you are not. You just issue an instant

ticket. You fool the computer. Some collect the cooking option. Can the

driver proves that they are right and you are wrong? No. He said it is

all down to targets, and the pressure to issue and after kits to

keep the bosses off your. It is unlawful to set targets, but last

year, we revealed what appeared to be targets by Lambeth Council and

others. We have now got information from other councils. There is an

annual baseline of 72,000 tickets, and for every ticket above that, the

company gets extra for each ticket. Lambeth employs a company which it

requires to issue over 200,000 tickets per and. The councils all

point out the number of tickets issued has been falling, and Lambeth

points out it is a figure for guidance so the company can plan the

amount of staff needed. Bromley Council said they never set targets

for revenue from parking enforcement income. This looks like the wrong

kind of contract to me. Motivating and in courage and staff to go out

and penalises people `` and encouraging staff. Our lawyers will

look at that, but it would be right to sue this tested in law. While

government lawyers scrutinise these contracts, these motorists continue

to try to avoid tickets. And you can see the full report on

Inside Out London tonight at 7:30pm on BBC One.

A second trade union has voted to join the upcoming Tube strikes.

Members of the TSSA will walk out from midday on the fourth and 11th

of February to protest the closure of ticket offices on the London

Underground. The RMT has already announced that its members will take

industrial action. A Christian charity has won its case

to have a decision made by Mayor Boris Johnson to ban a bus advert

about gay people, investigated by the High Court. The advert suggested

that gay people can be counselled to "get over it". During the case, it

was suggested that the Mayor's actions were intended to advance his

2012 re`election campaign. Emma North explains.

Did Boris ban a bus campaign to revel up his chances of

pre`election? We have to go back to the spring of 2012 to find out. The

gay campaign group Stonewall was running an advert on London's buses.

A Christian group applied for arrival at to run, to read Not Gay!

Ex`Gay, Post`Gay and Proud. Get over it! But TfL bandit, on the grounds

it might cause offence. Now the Court of Appeal wants to know

whether the ban came from Transport for London, or from Boris Johnson.

If Boris had ordered it to make himself popular with London's gay

voters, the ban would be unlawful. The Mayor of London is entitled to a

personal opinion, but there needs to be a clear division between his

political views and the fact that he carries an enormous amount of

political responsibility. The difficulty lies in a series of

e`mails shown to the court, written on the afternoon that the Christian

campaign was banned. An e`mail was sent to the Mayor's office about the

ad. It said, shall I get it pulled? The deputy mayor replied saying, I

wonder how TfL could accept them in the first place? TfL and announced

the ban a minute later. Three minutes later, Boris' publicity man

sent another e`mail. It said, or as has just instructed TfL to pull the

adverts. The next day, Boris appeared at a conference organised

by Stonewall. Today, we found him not so forthcoming about how the

decision was made. I think it is a good decision. The court has upheld

what we did, and I am happy about that. The court says it needs more

evidence to decide whether Boris Johnson has interfered in order to

exploit his political capital. As we've been hearing, London's

economic recovery has seen the capital create 80% of the country's

private sector jobs since 2010. The research by the Centre for Cities

also shows how London is attracting an unprecedented number of young

people into its booming economy. Our political correspondent, Karl

Mercer, reports. I'm Gary. I live in South Wales. I'm

about to head off of my journey of 181 miles to my work space. Two

sides of the story of London. A city of creatives, and a city that pulls

talents in from across the country. A quick stop at the service station.

1.5 hours after I set off. I expect another hour for the rest of my

journey. Gary spends more than five hours a day driving to his job at a

production firm. And here in Croydon, they are recruiting from

around the country and overseas. London has always been a strong

birth of video games. We've currently got one gentleman in from

France, a Spanish gentleman, and one from Sweden, have located in and

around the London area. Terry's firm isn't alone in recruiting. Since

2010, London has created 216,000 private`sector jobs, ten times more

than any other city. One third of all 22 to 30`year`olds leaving their

home towns head that the capital. When we look at how many businesses

we've got, how many new starts, and the skills of the workforce and the

residence, all of those puts London near the top, or at the top itself.

There were calls for other cities to up their game. We export huge sums

in tax and public spending to the rest of the country. You've got to

support that. I think that most sensible people can see that unless

you have a strong London economy, most of the rest of the country will

not function nearly as well. The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick

Clegg, has described as "unacceptable" death threats made

against a prospective London Lib Dem candidate who re`tweeted a link to a

cartoon, considered by some Muslims to be offensive. There are calls for

Maajid Nawaz to be de`selected from the party after he posted a link to

a picture of the Prophet Mohammed and Jesus greeting each other. He

sent the tweet after appearing on a BBC programme which was discussing

freedom of speech. I'm a Muslim. That T`shirt doesn't

threaten me whatsoever. It doesn't threaten my faith or any aspect of

my religion. Let's talk to a London based imam, and a representative

from an organisation which promotes freedom of speech. A 20,000 strong

petition to have him deselected. Have you signed it? Do you think you

should be deselected based on this? I was abroad and I have just come

back. Whoever selects has the right to deselect. Local people can

choose. But the issue is, why have 20,000 people expressed their dismay

and anger against what has been said? It's not just what has been

said we should concentrate on, it is the history of what Maajid Nawaz has

done in the past that has angered Muslims, and they are using this

opportunity to get their revenge. Rightly or wrongly, Rosset Mohammed

is considered to be a sacred person. `` Prophet Mohammed. He was

criticised all throughout history. It's not just about that. You can

let ignore the history and the context. So history and context.

Where do you stand on freedom of speech in this? All he said was, it

was not offensive to him. He has said it isn't offensive to him.

Religious tolerance is very important, but it is about the

freedom to practice your own religion. It isn't about the right

to tell other people that they are not allowed to say things, that they

can't put up pictures or cartoons. That's a good point. I agree that

freedom of speech is ingrained in all religions, including Islam. I

have the right to sneeze, but not in your face. Why does it upset you? I

think the sensibilities of the communities must be respected. You

can criticise the Prophet as much as you like. When you go out telling

everybody that Islam should be like this, and then your `` and then in

your own personal life you twist it... So what is this about? The

Muslim community's anger isn't to do with freedom of speech. It's to do

with what has been said. So you can say what you want, but Maajid Nawaz

can't? Criticism, death threats, being told you should be sacked? I

have received death threats myself. It's to do with the local

constituency. The principal point is, a group of people, Muslims who

have sensibilities, is not being respected. We cannot be homophobic

or anti`Semitic. Would it have made a difference if he wasn't a

Parliamentary candidate? Would there be the same reaction? No, it would

be bubbly in the background. I have spoken to the community and I have

said, freedom of speech is important in our community.

A criticism we often hear is there is no room for debate in Islamic

cause of reprisals. He said he was not offended by this. He said this

does not affect how I practice my faith and there are millions of

Muslims all over the world who get on with their lives without finding

these things offensive. London is a multicultural city. By shutting down

this kind of debate, excluding death threats, does it not create more

tension rather than understanding? The Muslim community is calling for

tolerance, respect and togetherness. But if you are constantly going to

get at that community, the community will react. There is a right to

speak at a right to react and both must be respected. Let him have the

final say. I do not think, and I agree with Nick Clegg, he has a

right to free speech and the Liberal Democrats should defend that right.

We could debate this further. Still to come to night: Minimal

surgery required, the pioneering procedure delivering pacemakers to

heart patients. And I am at the right academy where they have used

some dramatic installations like this one to exploit the power of

architecture to affect the way we think, feel and behave.

Low`level traffic lights have been installed at Bow roundabout to help

improve road safety. Three people have died at the junction. The

lights, which are being used in Holland and Denmark, will eventually

be installed at 11 locations across the capital, but cycling campaigners

say the junction is still confusing and dangerous.

It is a green light. It is for that there. But it is an independent

light system for this one here. Even with extra traffic lights there was

still confusion at the notorious Bow roundabout where three cyclists have

died. These eyelevel lights are meant to make it clearer when

cyclists can go. Nobody is pretending this is a magic answer,

but it is a start to making junction is all over London safer. It avoids

the confusion that some cyclists have reported here between which

light is buoyed them and which is for the traffic. In the future we

will use these small lights to create completely separate cycle

movements through junctions. Recently to stage lights were

installed here to give cyclists a head start on traffic. But

campaigners say even with the UK APPLAUSE

First eyelevel lights the junction is still dangerous and some cyclists

think ignoring the lights, even read, is the only way to stay safe.

When there is a safe gap, move off here. That sounds appalling, but I

have sat here and watched all this. So jump the red? Jump the red. You

know how controversial that will be, but you think that is the only

choice? Yes, that is my personal opinion and it is up to cyclists to

do what they feel safest to do. Later we saw the Mayor using Bow

roundabout he encourages cyclist to use this route, although many

prepared the flyover. A full upgrade of the route is planned. We have

done a lot to improve safety, but we have got work on going to look at

the future of this whole area and lots of aspirations to improve the

junction. Campaigners want the junction redesign. That is some way

off and in the short`term expect more officers. These lights will be

trialled at more junctions. A patient at Barts Hospital has

become the first in the world to receive a new pacemaker that

requires minimal surgery. The device is around a 10th of the size of

conventional pacemakers. The new procedure reduces the risk of site

infections and helps patients recover more quickly.

It is just over a week since Maureen had her pacemaker fitted at Barts

Hospital and the checkup shows she is doing well. The 77`year`old was

the first person in the world to be given this new kind of device, but

with her heart problems getting worse she was grateful to be asked.

I was so pleased to be getting it done. Although I am down for the

other pacemaker it was going to be another month and I was feeling so

awful I thought the quicker I get it done, the better. When I found out I

could get this done, I jumped at it. The reason there is no scar is

because the pacemaker is no bigger than a matchstick and is inserted

through the leg without the need for a general anaesthetic. The whole

procedure takes less than ten minutes and a professor leading the

pioneering trials says he believes this technique will eventually

become standard. The important difference is there is no wire

connecting it into the heart. That long wire can act as a source for

all sorts of problems, including infection or a development of the

clot on the wire. This is an amazing step forward in pacing technology.

After a quick recovery Maureen will be going back home with her husband

Rod and for the first time in years she is looking forward to doing some

gardening at her home in Chingford thanks to her pioneering pacemaker.

It is a departure from the right academy's usual exhibitions. The

latest looks at the way architecture has the ability to affect the way we

feel and interact with each other. Brenda Emmanus has been finding out

it uses dramatic installations to explore the power of design. This is

a fun installation. The idea is you take your straw and you make your

mark on his installation. However you want. As you can see, people

have been rather busy already. It is one of seven installations that

dominate the traditional space of the right academy for their new

exhibition. I think this is probably as close as architecture gets to

art. It evokes a response from an emotional connection and it is also

practical. It has to exist and operate and function for us and it

does that on a day to day basis. Seven international architects have

created these sculptures offering a culturally diverse view of how their

practice and stimulate our awareness of our environments. This was

created with nearly 22,000 hazel sticks. Architecture has been

reimagined for this show. This bamboo structure has been infused

with a wood sent. It invites us to look around us and see the

excitement London offers us from the old buildings, the corners and the

alleyways that make up this diverse and exciting city. The whole idea is

you can get up close and personal to the works, touch, C and even smell

these installations. This one allows you to climb all the way to the top.

And it is the first time visitors have been able to get this close to

the roof of the right academy. There are half a million straws to get

through for this installation. The exhibition runs until the 6th of

April. Over to Wendy for a check on the

weather. We will go forward in a second, but

first back to Saturday and the wild weather that we had. There was heavy

rain, some thunder, lightning and hail and some very strong and gusty

winds. It left a lot of damage in its wake and in an hour and a bit it

was all the way through the Home Counties and out again. We have got

heavy showers tonight and into tomorrow, and it will be turning

colder. This evening we have a yellow weather warning from nine

o'clock because we could have ten ` 15 millimetres of rain. It will go

through in bands and that means some places will get quite a lot of rain

in a short space of time. There will be large puddles first thing

tomorrow morning. In between there may be some clear enough sky for

temperatures to fall down to two or three Celsius. By the early hours

and into rush hour tomorrow the showers will be going through in

bands and there will be heavy rain associated with it. We are covered

tomorrow by that weather warning right throughout the day.

Temperatures are a little lower than today. They dropped off as we went

through the day to day. A bit of colder weather on the way and we

will notice that on Wednesday and Thursday because we are going to

have an easterly wind. Temperatures are nearer where they should be at

this time of year. The showers will fizzle out on Wednesday and we have

got a fair amount of cloud and gloom around and the easterly wind will

make it feel chilly. It will revert to type on Friday night with more

rain. We will be back later during the ten

o'clock news. Until then, have a lovely evening.