12/03/2014 BBC London News

That's all from the BBC News At Six so it's goodbye from me and, on BBC

One, we now join the BBC's news teams where you are.

It works in Paris, but can it work here? The new electric car hire

scheme coming to the capital. It's economically viable. It's good. It

helps the environment as well. I think I would go for that. We will

hear from the French billionaire behind the scheme hoping to make

electric car travel affordable for us all. Also tonight: New figures

from the Met reveal how gangs commit more than 2,000 violent offences a

year. Also, I will look at the Olympic cycling facilities which

will open to Londoners from the end of the month. Are you listening, a

helicopter, and some chocolate digestives please. The award`winning

film inspired by the scriptwriter's work inside Wandsworth Prison.

Good evening. Electric cars, hired by the hour, is the latest idea to

get Londoners around the capital in an environmentally friendly way

whilst also reducing traffic. It's effectively the four`wheel

equivalent of the Boris Bike. It's being funded by a French billionaire

who wants to boost the number of charge points in London. He will

pick up from where the Mayor left off, which was a long way below the

targets he had pledged to meet himself. This is how they sell them

in France. Clean, fast and flexible, electric cars zipping around the

capital. Zero noise, zero odour. Trouble is, back in London there has

been zero uptake in many places for these greenest of cars. This French

billionaire says his new hire scheme can finally make us love electric.

Today's electric cars are only for VIPs, there are few because they are

an expensive car. We want to offer it to all the citizens a cheap

formula which is complimentary of the public transport. He promised

100 of these will be on our streets by this time next year. Like the

Boris Bike, you find your vehicle online and you are away. It, works

out about ?10 an hour. There is also a monthly subscription of ?5 to ?10

or an on the day fee, which has not been revealed. Lots of people might

like the idea of an electric car, many are put off by the cost and

also the way you are restricted by the battery life. Just how many

Londoners will go for this import. An hour's journey on a cab is more

than ?10. It's environmentally viable. The zip car in London you

can get those for ?6 an hour. If it was cheaper I'm sure it would catch

on. I think I would go for that. From this summer the French

investors will take over the running of the charging points London

already has and create thousands more. They hope they can succeed

where City Hall has stalled. In 2009. The Mayor pledged 25 charging

points in London. Following year that was dropped to 7,500. Today

just 1,400 have been installed. Latest figures show only 27% were

actually being used. The key question is, the current London

system good enough. Not enough charging points, not serving the

needs of the consumer. That is holding back the development of

electric cars on our streets. This initiative on paper looks promising.

100 of these may be zooming to London over the next year, there is

a long road to travel to arrive at Boris Johnson's vision of 100,000

electric cars in the capital. Stay with us this evening, there is a lot

more to come before the end of the programme, including: Ticked off by

Ofsted for its teachers looking too scruffy. The Camden school told to

smarten up its act. The full extent of gang crime in

London has been revealed by Scotland Yard. It shows that over 6,500

violent offences have been committed by gang ebbs members in just three

years, some by children as young as 13. The figures were released under

a Feedom of Information request with the crimes detailed, including

murder, stabbings and kidnapping. Brixton in January of this year and

a series of raids against the gang on part of the Met's clampdown on

gang`related crime. In all 6,600 violent crimes were committed by

suspected gang members in the last three years. They include 24

murders, 28 attempted killings and 170 firearms offences. Among those

responsible, two 13`year`olds and another 2 age 14. At the top end we

are looking to arrest those violent offenders who are a priority to us.

At the lower end we are trying to divert those individuals who may be

thinking about getting involved or starting to get involved in gang

crime. Once the raids are over the arrests made it's up to local youth

workers like Roz to do what they can to keep children out of trouble. Her

riding school plays its. Part. We lost two ever our members who were

murdered. A lot of people with special needs are targeted in this

area. They wear them down until they do succumb and they join the gangs.

Having something a hobby where you can improve and have a structure

really helps. Her pupils agree and appreciate what this school offers.

It keeps them off the streets. It keeps them entertained when they

don't have something to do. It fills up an empty space in my life. Others

question the Met's figures. It lies and statistics and more lies. Groups

of young people getting involved in disputes and problems become a gang.

If you live on the same street, go to a school or play in the football

with someone allegedly in a gang you are in a gang much we have to be

careful with these statistics. The Met denies it and say they are

compiled by them and partner agencies and it's a challenge they

continue to face. Police have named the Crossrail construction worker

who died after a piece of concrete fell on his head last week. Rene

Tkacik was a 43`year`old Slovakian national. He was spraying concrete

in a tunnel in Holborn in the early hours of Friday morning when the

accident happened. Teenage girls have been arrested at their school

in south`east London after allegedly spraying another pupil in the face

with an unknown substance. It happened at the Beaverwood School

yesterday morning in Chislehurst. Alice can tell us more. Police were

called to the school at 1.00pm yesterday afternoon to reports of a

pupil being sprayed in the face with what they have called an un "unknown

substance." There has been talk of it being pepper spray. Police have

not confirmed that. At the moment, that is pure speculation. We don't

know how badly the 14`year`old girl was injured. We do know that she

needed medical attention. Police have said that two girls, aged 13

and 14, were arrested on suspicion of possessing a prohibited weapon.

They have been galed until April. Thank you very much. The rapper

Professor Green, has been charged with drink`driving after being

arrested in Lewisham in November. The 30`year`old, whose real name is

Stephen Manderson was detained by officers who were called to

investigate a suspected Robbie. A further allegations of perverting

the course of justice has been dropped. A councillor in Tower

Hamlets has apologised after he likened some of his political

opponents to Oswald Moseley's 1930's Fascist Party. The comment was made

at a "heated" meeting which was supposed to be on the council's

budget, but ended up leading to more accusations of racism. There is not

much escape in a deem, this is what you call a salesman. Every where you

looked in Wipe chapel market this afternoon there was selling going

on. For now, it's all about the price in goods. Tower Hamlets will

go to the polls like the rest of London in local borough elections in

two months' time. History tells us that elections in Tower Hamlets can

get a little bit messy. This time it seems to have started early with

accusations of racism at a recent budget meeting. The white elite do

not want talented Bengalis to speak. The Labour Party hinders Bengalis

from speaking out. The bad tempered meeting got worse. Despite him

dismissing the people of Tower Hamlets as nothing more than curry

people in her email in 2010. The borough is not about curry, it's

about heritage, culture and diversity. There was more to follow.

Oswald Moseley in the 30s. ` That was more than offensive. Can you lot

shut... The councillor apologised for his remarks after it emerged

that councillor Jackson was wearing black was she was in mourning.

People want a debate. I think Labour, because of their might and

the numbers they have council they want to stifle debate which is

unpopular. People have elected you to speak. John Biggs is Labour's

candidate he is standing against the current Mayor who used to be a

Labour Party member. It will be hard`fought, possibly bitter if past

history is anything to go by. The way you can offer leadership in this

borough, regardless whether you are Labour or Tory, is by, working to

pull people together not by throwing allegations of a personal nature and

tearing people apart. Can despite that no`one expects this row to be

the last before election time. Next, teachers at a school in Camden have

been criticised in an Ofsted report for being too scruffy. Staff at the

Ackland Burghley Secondary School in Tuffnell Park are believed to be

among the first teachers in the country to be reprimanded for their

choice of clothes after inspectors said their dress was "too casual."

Today building work was underway. There was no comment from staff

about their latest Ofsted report which said some teachers there were

too casual in their dress, which does not promote high professional

standards. Francis Gilbert is a teacher at another London

comprehensive school. He doesn't believe the comments are emhadful. I

think it's totally unfair. I think Ofsted should be commenting on the

standard of teaching and not the dress code of particular teachers.

In my experience, some of the best teachers are really scruffy, they

are creative types. Ofsted said they wouldn't competent on individual

school reports. In a statement they said they weren't being prescriptive

about what teachers should or shouldn't wear, but from day one

they should dress in a way that befits their professional status. At

this school in Haringey, the pupils don't wear uniform there is a strict

dress code that teachers adhere to as well. It essay proppiate for me

to dress in a formal way. I joke with students it's my school

uniform. They have to wear their lap yards. I'm making patients and

agency staff it's important to be smart. I don't wear it when I get

home. Education unions say it was ridiculous that teachers dress was

becoming an issue when assessing their ability. I don't think the

evidence is there to suggest a that a business`like dress is what is

needed. Schools aren't businesses. We don't need business`like dress. I

think if I saw a primary teacher in a suit and heels I would be

wondering what exactly she was going to be doing. The idea behind the

school inspectorate's push to improve the dress is to improve on

discipline and standards. It seems they have a long way to go to win

over all school staff. You have been getting in touch with us on Facebook

and Twitter about what you think teachers should wear. Let me read

some of the comments out. Nigel Birmingham got in touch with us to

Thank you very much for all those say:

Thank you very much for all those comments much we always enjoy

hearing from you. Still to come: Cyclists are invited to try the

Olympic Velodrome and BMX track as it opens to the public, to schools

and to clubs. This is where you open up to me and build trust, is it? Is

Yeah. We will also hear from the former prison, worker who wrote

about his experience at Wandsworth and had a film made.

More tributes have been paid today to Bob Crow, the RMT leader who died

suddenly yesterday of a massive heart attack. At City Hall, union

members and transport bosses spoke of their admiration for Mr Crow and

as a, mark of respect, talks over ticket office closures on the under

ground have been put on hold. Bright sunshine at City Hall, a sombre

mood. We have always had civil words between us. Never a cross word on a

personal basis between us. Inside more tributes to the general

secretary Bob Crow. He spoke with passion, detailed knowledge and

understanding on the subject. Across the river in parliament the Deputy

Prime Minister also paid tribute. Whether you agreed with him or not,

he was someone with forthright views and worked tirelessly for what he

believed in and the people he represented. Bob Crow's last strike

was called over closing all Tube ticket offices. That action led to a

review to see if any offices could be saved. Back at City Hall today

that looked possible. Yes, of course there will be changes to our

proposal. I would be amazed if we have everything 100%. Talks over

ticket office closures will be paused as a mark of respect. What is

the likelihood of further industrial action over these matters? Well, you

know, you never know, is the simple answer. I don't know. It also

emerged there might be times when some stations are unstaffed for

short periods. We did receive evidence from the unions that

between October and November 2013 there were over 70 incidents at 29

Tube stations where stations were operational but had no staff, which

I think is rather worrying. The numbers you were talking about elude

very much to those types of scenarios that occasionally, from

time to time, in a massive network of over 270 stations do occasionally

emerge. It's not what we roster the place to be. While the future of the

Tube is put on hold for the moment, the concerns haven't changed.

Bosses at Heathrow Airport are issuing an early warning to

passengers who'll use the new Terminal 2 ` to expect teething

problems when it opens in less than three months' time. Travellers have

been told that the opening day in June cannot be guaranteed to go

perfectly, although they say they have learned lessons from the

opening of Terminal 5 a few years ago, when thousands of bags went

missing. Track, BMX and mountain bikers have

a new place to practise and compete from today ` and it's no ordinary

place. The world`class facilities at the Olympic Velodrome have reopened

to cater for cyclists of all abilities. Prices start from less

than ?5. Our sports news correspondent Adrian Warner has been

there. Your turn now to experience the ups

and downs of Olympic life. Don't tell the grown`ups but this has to

be the coolest sport going at the Games. Great for youngsters wanting

danger in a safe environment, like these London schoolchildren trying

out BMX for the first time today. It was amazing. I mean, this experience

is very new to me. I haven't had much experience of this before. But

doing it now is great. I think I'll definitely take up BMX in the

future. The action here was some of the most spectacular of the

Olympics. The course has been made easier for community use but you

still have to respect every bump in the road. When you're on this type

of terrain, you have to be thinking every single second about the

balance, the speed, the awareness. If you've done this sport before,

it's going to cost you ?6 per session as an adult, ?4 as a child.

If you're trying it for the first time, a training session will cost

you ?15 as an adult, ?12 as a child. Of course, you can do the same thing

inside the velodrome. A taster session in there will cost ?30 an

hour for adults. They plan to make money from corporate awaydays. The

banks are bit steep and scary but some would say businesspeople are

well used to that! That 45`degree gradient is scary and I had the

opportunity to have a go myself a few weeks ago and I was daunted to

start off with but within 20 minutes, I was flying round the top

of the bank and having a great time. And the goal of all this is also to

produce more Olympic champions. To have the only place in the world

where they have every single cycling discipline in London, I think it's

amazing. You're going to see a lot more people, by developing different

sports, as well. We had to go to Manchester and Newport to get an

indoor track so to have another one in the country, down south, is

great. That new era begins on April the 5th, when the whole of the

Olympic Park will be opened permanently.

A psychotherapist from north London who wrote a book based on his work

work with dangerous and violent inmates at Wandsworth Prison ` is

about to see the story released as a film. Starred Up has already won

Jonathan Asser a London Film Festival award, but he's more

interested in his film stirring`up a debate about violent offenders.

Starred Up is the powerful story of a young man prematurely transferred

from a young offenders' institution to an adult jail. Rising star Jack

O'Connell takes the lead in this film, adapted from the screenplay of

first`time script writer Jonathan Asser. The Camden resident has a

background in the prison system, having facilitated creative writing

workshops at Feltham Young Offenders' Institute, and as a

therapist at Wandsworth Orison. `` prison. Have you used the film as a

way of criticising the probation and prison service, as a way of bringing

the issue to debate? You bet I have. You bet I have because the wonderful

thing about Starred Up being made is that it's given me a platform where

people are interested in talking to me in finding out about my life and

what I was doing. So it's given me a superb platform to talk about the

way my work was stopped overnight. Tell you what I do want, guv. You

listening? A helicopter, two packs of burn and some chocolate

digestives, please. It is a wonderful opportunity for me to talk

about how prisons can create risk by concentrating these dangerous

people. Violence happens and then all they do is separate and

segregate and the problem the prison has created then passes down the

line. Who's that, then? My mum. Why? Jack O'Connell, who plays young

offender Eric Love, agrees the film highlights problems within prison

institutions. Jonathan ` his real`life experience, what he had to

endure, was battling the system, just so he could eventually speak to

these people. A conversation. And a lot of the times, you know, that

sort of thing, I guess, can go a lot further than solitary confinement.

`` that sort of therapy. He's suffered enormous emotional trauma.

Starred Up is released on the 21st of March.

That looks like a very interesting film.

Now the weather with Wendy. I'm enjoying this weather!

Don't we deserve it! More to come in the next few days but one addition

is that we are going to start having foggy mornings at the end of the

week. It will be followed by sunny afternoons, though. The fog is

enough tomorrow for the Met Office to give us a yellow weather warning

because, in places, visibility will be down below 200 metres. That

brings a risk of disruption to transport so into the rush`hour

tomorrow, stay tuned to our radio station, BBC London 94.9, because

that will tell you where we've got problems with the roads and maybe

the airports, as well, through the rush`hour. Why it's happening is

because we've had a nice warm day and it's all cooling down so we'll

have cloud at ground level, if you like, developing quite quickly after

midnight. Some will also drifting through the Thames Estuary. That's a

sea fog. It's not going to be so everyone but it won't be nice to hit

back fog as you're driving through tomorrow. Leave extra time if you

can and go carefully. Where the fog doesn't form, we will have a touch

of frost forming. As we start the day tomorrow, there will be dense

fog patches in a few places. As we go through the morning, we'll see it

lifting up and by lunchtime it will be breaking up and we'll see some

sunshine. For most of tomorrow afternoon, another beautiful day.

Blue sky, light winds and temperatures picking up pretty

quickly after the clearance of that fog. Highs of between 12 and 14.

There may be a few places that stay a bit foggy towards the Thames

Estuary and a spot like Southend might hang onto it for a bit longer.

It will readily reformat as we go through the night into Friday, so

another foggy start to the day. That will lift and we'll see still season

breaks. `` we'll still see some rakes. Temperatures will knock off

of it for Saturday but it could be in the high teens again on Sunday in

the sunshine. Before we go, a reminder of

tonight's main news headlines: Labour says an EU referendum is

unlikely if it's in government, unless there were plans to give more

powers to Brussels. Ed Miliband said he believes Britain's future lies at

the heart of Europe. The final communication from the

crew on board the missing Malaysia Airlines jet with Air Traffic

Control has been made public. The authorities say all seemed normal on

the flight just minutes before it vanished.

A forensics expert has re`enacted how Oscar Pistorius broke down the

toilet door with a cricket bat after he'd shot his girlfriend. The

athlete denies murdering Reeva Steenkamp, saying he thought she was

an intruder. Proposals to launch a fleet of

electric hire cars across London have been launched. A French company

which runs the equivalent scheme in Paris will run the project.

And thousands of violent offences carried out by gangs in London have

been detailed by the Metropolitan Police. Figures show that more than

2,000 violent crimes were committed in the last 12 months alone.

That's it for now. I hope you can join me again later during the ten

o'clock news on BBC One. But for now, from the BBC London team, have

a very good evening. 'Small businesses are very important

to the whole country.' Without small businesses

on the high street, it would close the heart

of the towns and villages. The first time for 100...

over 130 years since we've been here, we are expanding

and we've bought another shop, 'Whether you are

a small or a large business, 'things have been

extremely difficult.' due to the fact that people come in

more regularly. 'We'll hopefully be able

to employ some more stylists. 'We're feeling really optimistic

about the future.'