31/01/2014 BBC London News

Good evening and welcome. Five men who stabbed a teenager to death with

swords and knives have been jailed for life. Hani Abou El Heir was

attacked by up to ten people as he walked through an estate in Pimlico

in January last year. The judge said earlier Hani must have been utterly

terrified as the blows rained down on him. Alex Bushill reports.

It's a Sunday evening in January. 16 pro Hani Abou El Kheir is walking

home. His friend is beside him, his girlfriend behind. Without warning,

a gang of men descend upon him. Glinting in the twilight you can see

the weapons they used to butcher him just a few moments later. It's not

clear why they chose Hani. He wasn't a gang member and he didn't have a

criminal record. The attack on Hani was a sustained and frenzied. He was

stamped with long knives and meat cleaver is over 20 times. It was

here that Hani Abou El Kheir realised what was about to happen to

him. He turned to see the ten strong gang coming for him, armed to the

teeth wearing balaclavas and hooded tops. He only got as far as Lupus

Street around the corner before he was set upon. Local residents store

it `` saw it all unfold, just a stone's throw from Pimlico station.

The public gave Hani `` gave Hani first aid, but to no avail. He died

in hospital. Today, the men were sentenced to life imprisonment. One

cannot be named, but the others can. They were sentenced to a minimum of

26 years in prison each. Boyce, as the oldest, will serve 27. Outside

court, Hani's asked a priest to speak on behalf `` on her behalf

about her loss. I cannot get over the devastating image of my son

lying dead in the hospital. The thought of a future without him

leaves me brokenhearted. Five gang members out of a possible ten were

jailed today. There remains a reward for information leading to the

arrest of the others. The judge today said Hani must have been

utterly terrified as the blows rained down on him.

The Mayor has said he will negotiate with the RMT union if it calls off a

two`day strike planned for next week. But the union's leader Bob

Crow says he'll only come to the table if Boris Johnson axes plans to

close almost all of the underground's ticket offices. Tube

workers will walk out on Tuesday night in a strike that's likely to

cause major disruption. Both sides seem as far apart as ever. Here's

our political correspondent, Karl Mercer.

This afternoon it was only the wind and rain that Londoners had to

contend with as they made their way around. But things are about to get

a whole lot worse ` With unions threatening to walk out in four

days' time over plans to shut every ticket office on the tube. Prospects

for the strike being called off don't look great, and weren't helped

today as Transport for London released details of a survey it said

showed the public supported its closure plans. The unions called it

a bogus survey. We made ourselves available to talk to the unions

whenever they want about any subject. We are there talking to

them in order to help get this nonsense called off. The union have

said they think it's time for the mayor to step in. Do you think his

influence might be helpful? We have been talking to the unions about our

proposals. There are changes in the things got we want to do. This is

what the Mayor has done. Words are unlikely to end their him to the RMT

union leader Bob Crow. Then, the first meeting between the pair in

six years. The Mayor says: What chance of that? We have been

waiting to meet Boris Johnson for years. All of a sudden, he appears,

just like that. That's not what it's about. We need the senior managers

to get round the table to try and listen to us. They've got to suspend

this implementation of 1000 job cuts and the ticket office closure

programme. The RMT and Transport for London have been meeting here at

this Central London hotel, trying to find a way out of this dispute.

Though the sides publicly say they want the strike called off.

Privately, the two sides are as far apart as ever. The Londoners, this

may be the best way of getting to work next week.

Mark Ashdown is that great Portland Street Station. What does this

development mean? It has been an interesting day. Everyone realises

how high the stakes are. We ended the day with the Mayor taking the

unprecedented step of offering to get involved himself. Some posturing

and brinkmanship on both sides, but perhaps a softening too. How likely

is it that the strikes will go ahead? Highly likely at this stage.

The negotiating table is set, but the chairs are very much empty. Both

sides have set up their position. One saying, call off the strike and

we will talk. The other saying, call of the threat of closing the ticket

offices and we will talk. My advice is to make some different travel

arrangements for the next two Tuesdays, just to be safe. Let's

find out what a weekend weather has in store.

Wet for many at the moment, but lots of dry weather at the weekend. It

will stay quite windy throughout. There will be some showers,

particularly on Saturday, but there will be some showers and bright

patches too. A nice dry slot perhaps, just a chance for

temperatures to tumble away, and some icy stretches into tomorrow

morning. A chilly start, but some brightness, mostly dry through the

morning. The chance of some heavy showers through the afternoon, and

very windy throughout. The showers will be fewer and further between on

Sunday, and there will be some lovely spells of early February

sunshine. Thank you. We are back tomorrow at

1:10pm. Good night. Good evening. Today's heavy and

persistent rain is disappearing over the horizon. Sadly, the other

problems are not. Problems to come tonight include snow over Scotland

and Northern Ireland, and tomorrow, strong winds and high tides bringing

the potential for flooding. This area of low pressure is moving

towards us. The first weather front brought today's rain, and there is

another one tucking in behind. As