27/05/2014 BBC London News

European election results. 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. Tonight on BBC London News. The Electoral Commission sends

in observers to Tower Hamlets after allegations of mismanagement and

intimidation during the local elections. The account was

mismanaged. Miscounted. Went on far too long. 36`hour count is totally

unacceptable. The council's returning officer denies the

allegations. Also tonight: The former teacher jailed for sexually

assaulting children. We hear from one of his victims. Police say

they'll issue more fines to drivers and cyclists to make the streets

safer for those on two wheels. We are live as a second traffic

enforcement campaign hits the capital. Is plus, how Met and Essex

police officers are raising money for child cancer patients to be

treated in America. Good evening and welcome to the

programme. More than five days after the polls opened for the local

elections, they're still counting the votes in Tower Hamlets in East

London. Critics be have described the delay as shambolic and badly

organised. There are also claims that some voters were intimidated at

the polling Boots. Tonight, the Electoral Commission has confirmed

it's sending in observerses to oversee the recount, which has just

resumed this evening, with one ward still to declare. The council's

returning officer has denied claims of mismanagement and says there was

no evidence of "large scale intimidation." Gareth Furby joins us

tonight's from Tower Hamlets. I was at the start of this count back on

Friday. Yet, it's hard to believe, here we are, it's continuing in the

building you can see behind me. Now, one critic is quite outspoken on

this. He says it's, to quote him "an omnishambles, an embarrassment to

Tower Hamlets." The council had to do this, had this many recounts

because it wants to get it right. This was how the count started on

Friday. Still, on Tuesday evening it continues. The results for 18 wards

have been declared. But one is still outstanding. The council says it

prefers an accurate and transparent count to a fast one. The leader of

the Tory Group says it has been a shambles. It was inefficiently

organised. The accuracy was not there. In my own ward, I was told if

I ` we were given figures, we called an immediate recount. There was a

21% variation on the figures between the first count and the recount.

That appears one in five votes had gone wrong or been miss placed.

After the reelection of Tower Hamlets Mayor, Lutfur Rahman, there

were enuse thanksic scenes outside the count at 2.00am. It's alleged by

some there may have been a few too many people outside some polling

stations on election day. We saw groups of campaigners or activists

from various parties grouping together at the entrances to polling

stations. That is in contravention of the rules, that you are not

allowed to put leaflets in the hands of voters as they go in. Tower

Hamlets politics are a livelier affair than anywhere else in the

country. We had a pretty wild time. Lots of people hanging around

polling stations. Some people find that intimidating. The returning

officer says the election has been carried out correctly and the delays

are unavoidable. On the day we had a police officer at every polling

station. We had Electoral Commission observers touring the borough,

visiting many of the polling stations through the day. They

didn't report any large scale intimidation. You think it has been

a free and fair and proper election, not a shambles? I do think it has

been free and fair election. I don't think it has been a shambles. If

there is evidence of any intimidation, even at this stage,

that people are aware of, we want to hear about that. The police will

investigate any specific allegations where there is evidence that someone

was intimidated or not able to cast their vote in the way that they

wanted to. So, to confirm, we are being told by the Electoral

Commission that there were significant problems during this

election. So it is sending observers to tonight's count. So where will

this lead? The council is telling us it will investigate if it receives

an allegation, a specific allegation of electoral fraud. It says, at the

moment, it has not received any allegation. For now, thank you.

Coming up later in the programme. A new scheme to get teenagers into

jobs is launched in the capital, but will it help reduce youth

unemployment? A former primary school teacher has

been jailed for four years for sexual assaults against children

under the age of 13. Paul Cannon, from south London, admitted to

assaulting a number of children over a 10`year period. The judge

described him as "every parents nightmare." One of his victims spoke

to our Home Affairs Correspondent, Guy Smith. As I went to gshgs he

grabbed my elbow and kicked the back of my leg to kick me to the floor.

Pulled all my bottom half down and was pinning me down from my chest

and holding my legs down. I was screaming he was telling me, "don't

worry it will be OK." She was nine years old when he attacked her. He

went to pull my trousers down. My dog came, he heard me screaming. He

ran off. She is 22 and finds it hard to cope with what happened. I was

worried, nervous, unhappy. I would have good days, where I would

completely forget about it. Then I would have bad days. Paul Cannon is

a former primary school children. The court heard he abused one of his

pupils, but at least another 40 children, some as young as six, were

choosen at random. The sexual offences we know of started in 1999

and spanned a decade. He targeted both young girls and young boys in

south`West London. In Sutton, in Carshalton and in Merton. The

attacks usually taking place in parks during the day. Often near

this local river, mostly at weekends or the school holidays when many

children played outside alone. He carefully planned the assaults

getting to and from the scene on mountain bike. 13 years after the

the first attack, the police investigation had a breakthrough.

One of the victims came forward following huge publicity surround

Jimmy Savile and sexual abuse. That sent a clear message out to the

public as a whole, what position they are in society, these offences

will not be tolerated and such people will be investigated and

brought to justice. Detectives found 4,000 indecent images stored on Paul

Cannon's behaviour. The judge saying his behaviour was "every parents

nightmare" in sentencing he took into account that Cannon pleaded

guilty to more than 50 offences and jailed him for four years. I think

it's about time in our society that we ero zero`tolerance for these type

of crimes. Four years may seem like a substantial jail term, that man is

probably always going to be a danger to children. The police hope the

bravery shown by people like Shannon will encourage others to come

forward, detectives believing there could be more victims of this former

teacher. Two brothers from East London have pleaded guilty to

conspiracy to travel to a terrorist training camp in Syria. Last year,

24 people from Britain were arrested on suspicion of terrorist offences

in the country. Hamza Nawaz and Mohommod Nawaz from Stratford were

detained when ammunition was found in their carat Dover. They also

pleaded guilty to having rifle ammunition without a firearms

certificate. They will be sentenced in June. A man who strangled his

pregnant partner has been sentenced to 17 years for her murder. With

youth unemployment a big issue in London could a new Government pilot

scheme help? The trial gives 16 to 17`year`olds access to specially

trained work coaches to help them with things like CV writing and

interview techniques. It's been tried in Lewisham we have been

finding out what teenagers think of the idea. I want to go somewhere and

do something with my life. It's hard. I have nothing. Serena is 16.

She doesn't have qualifications and struggling to find a job. I feel

like this is the day where I can move on and do something with myself

and, I don't know, get somewhere. I don't feel so useless. If rolled out

nationally it's hoped it will help 42,000 people. At a cost of about

2,500 per person the Department of Work and Pensions says it is worth

it. If someone is unemployed for a lifetime, that will cost the

taxpayer about ?100,000. The Minister for Employment was here

today to lay out the plans which target harder to reach young people.

It was her Government that was heavily criticised for scrapping the

education maintenance allowance, introduced by Labour, to encourage

youngsters from the most deprived backgrounds to stay in education. We

have targeted the support at the people you are talking about in

council estates. They will still have premium, pupil premium, they

will still have that support so the right people are getting it. The

Government says youth unemployment is falling. Labour says not quickly

enough. Luke, Justin and Danny are looking for full`time work. I want

to do painting or something. I don't even mind much I will do cleaning. I

will do anything I can just to keep busy and active. I want to help

little kids develop football. I have to come to the jobseeker I'm not

working enough hours to earn enough money to substantially earn my rent.

Do you think having support at 16 might have changed things for you?

Yeah. They are over 18. This new scheme will be completely

voluntarily. If you didn't have to come here and sign on and get

benefit, would you come here voluntarily? No. No. I would not

come here voluntarily. The staff say this is a new way of working. They

will leave the building and find those young people that need their

help the most. Dangerous drivers and cyclists are once again being

targeted by police at London's busiest junctions in a bid to

improve road safety. Five cyclists have died so far this year. We can

join Emma North in central London. This is the second time for an

operation of this kind? It is. Last year we had Operation Safeway, when

clusters of police officers sprung up at the buzzer junctions at the

capital to stop the drivers and the cyclists who they believed weren't

following the rules of the road. The Met police believe it was a success.

The Mayor's office believes it directly contributed to a big drop

in the number of cyclists being seriously injured on the capital's

roads. So today a second wave was introduced. It is called Son of

Safeway. Instead of a steady presence there will be two`days a

month when officers appear at junctions. The Metropolitan Police

say it has a carrot`and`stick effect on motorists and cyclists. We get a

mixed reaction. Some people are... They are unhappy about being given a

fixed penalty notice. A natural reaction. It's a behavioural

pattern. If you get a notice this had mo, will you think about your

conduct tomorrow morning. What are cycling safety campaigners saying?

They are some of the most loud voices in the capital. One

commentator today said that cyclists will only be happen Iy when London

is effectively transformed into Amsterdam. Campaigners have given a

warmer reception to the second wave of operations. They say it's too

obvious and too temporary. You can't always measure the long`term effects

of campaigns like this simply by looking at the casualty figures. We

know the numbers fluctuates from year`to`year. They go up one year by

25% and down another year by 25%. The biggest reason last year is the

cold weather. Fewer people were cycling. They have to improve the

behaviour of people on the roads. It has to improve the infrastructure,

which the Mayor's office today conceded is not quite there yet. It

has a long way to go. Thirdly, it has to improve the perception of

Londoners about how safe these roads really are. Thank you very much. The

owners of a designer handbag shop in Knightsbridge, which was targeted by

thieves, have criticise the police response as "lacklustre." Masked men

broke in stealing more than ?150,000 worth of goods. Scotland Yard denies

the allegation and also says officers regularly patrol the area.

A customer at the counter tries to snatch back her own bag, but that is

stolen too. Her young son pulls her away. Staff bundle them both into a

back room for safety. The robbers load more than ?150,000 worth of

goods into holdalls. A security smoke cloud finally sends them

running. Staff were left shocked and frightened. I'm really angry they

were put through this. They shouldn't feel threatened during

their normal working day. It's high end handbags and will be a target

for thieves. It's nice to know that they feel that there is a police

presence outside that will give them comfort during their normal working

hours. Have been several attempted raids here recently. Security has

been stepped up with bulletproof windows and steel shutters. Since

Saturday's raid the main door is unlocked when staff checked who is

on the other side. The owner says several designer stores in

Knightsbridge have been raided by gangs over the past year. He

believes the police should increase patrols to deter thieves and should

investigate burglaries more thoroughly. I was a bit disappointed

when I met the police on site. They looked ` they looked a little

lacklustre to say the least. Resigned to the fact it was another

situation that they were like would be unlikely to be able to do

anything about. The Metropolitan Police strongly denies his

allegation that it isn't properly investigating the raid on its shop.

It says officers arrived here within six minutes of the emergency call.

Within two hours there was a full forensic investigation underway. It

denies the claim that the whole Knightsbridge area isn't policed

proper pressurely. It said officers patrol these streets and target

businesses where they have a tip`off there may be a raid. Stone owners ``

store owners are meeting police next week to discuss how security can be

improved. The designer Exchange is thinking of mroem Iing his own

guards. This man's mask slips and his identity is partly revealed.

Still to come: The family who lost their son to cancer now fundraising

in the hope of finding a cure for other children.

On Saturday night a record crowd is expected to pack into Wembley

Stadium ` not for football but for boxing. Nottingham fighter Karl

Froch will defend his two super`middleweight world titles

against Hammersmith boxer George Groves. Their last fight ended in

controversial circumstances. Sara Orchard's report contains some flash

photography. A crowd of 60,000 packed Wembley Stadium or the return

fight of Jack Petersen... Opting at Wembley is special. You only take a

fight there if you can guarantee a big crowd. Karl Froch against George

Groves is an 80,000 sell`out. It is one of those fights that people will

remember and say they were there. No tickets required for today's public

work`out at this shopping centre, but this fight is part two of the

saga. Their first encounter last November 's foal re`floor Karl Froch

in round one. The fight continued and George Groves was ahead on all

three scorecards. George Groves claimed the fight was stopped too

soon and implored Karl Froch for a rematch. I think he stopped to

early. I think he. Him in the first few rounds. He was ahead on points,

he was winning the fight, beating him from pillar to post so did not

deserve to be stopped early. I am the sort of fighter who has improved

fight on fight. The 26`year`old played to the crowd as he celebrated

his head `` hair colour. While today was fun, expect fireworks as the

fight closes in. What is your relationship with Karl Froch

question Matt and loveless marriage! Hopefully, this time... To football

` and Tottenham's search for a new head coach is over. Within the last

hour the north London club has announced Mauricio Pochettino has

been appointed. Our sports reporter, Chris Slegg, joins us. This was

widely expected, wasn't it? It was, since Tim Sherwood was sacked a

fortnight ago. Last night, we learned he was in advanced talks

with Tottenham Hotspur. Just before 6pm, they confirmed that he is the

new head coach and joins them from Southampton. A five`year contract

has been signed. What convinced Spurs that this man is the one? The

Tottenham chairman has said: In Mauricio Pochettino we have a coach

who will embrace the style of play we associate with our style. He has

a limited CV, years 44 years old. He moved to Southampton in January last

year and finished in eighth position. Very impressive at a club

with limited resources. That experience has convinced Tottenham

to give him the job. You talked about a limited CV, how will he be

received? A mixed reaction from fans on social media. Some wanted a

bigger name and some say he has a lot to offer. We have some opinions

here. He looks to be an educated person. He has done a good job with

Southampton. From what I know and what I have seen with the team, he

will be good for Tottenham. I do not want to see Mauricio Pochettino

walking into the job and saying, it will take one or two years. You need

to work for at least three or four years. He has managed an eighth

position finish, he has played great football, he looks like a great

prospect. They are alluding to what Brendan Rodgers has done at

Liverpool, taking them to second. A young up`and`coming manager.

Mauricio Pochettino is in that mould. If he overachieved at Spurs

then they will be pleased. What they need is stability as rabid Ginola

has said. This is the sixth manager in seven years for Tottenham. A Met

Police officer who lost his four`year`old son to a rare cancer

is using his experience to try and help save other young children. The

survival rates for neuroblastoma are low but a promising new vaccine has

been developed in America. So Sergeant Dick Brown, and 80 other

officers are raising money to bring the vaccine to the UK. Mark Jordan

has the story. Off the normal beat and in hot pursuit of a new

life`saving cancer treatment, 85 off`duty British bobbies gather for

a half marathon in New York, fundraising after Sergeant Dick

Brown lost his son to the disease. It reminds me of lots of the

experiences of my son and it reminds me of the tragedy of the disease.

Parents should not have to bury their children, and that is what we

are trying to do, we are trying to stop that. Children like Lily. For

two years, I followed the family after NHS doctors said they could do

no more when her cancer relapsed. We were then taken into an office and

told to take some pictures, make the best of her because it will be

lethal. Compare that to the pioneering trial treatment then

offered to Lily at New York's prestigious Memorial Sloan`Kettering

Hospital. It is about 75% of our children who grow up and move on. It

is no longer part of their issues any more. Before that? Before that,

unfortunately, we had no survivors. Lily is now back at school and in

full remission but the New York treatment cost the family and

charity over ?1 million. Other European countries like Greece, for

example, pay for their children to come and get treatment at

Sloan`Kettering but not the NHS. It leaves British cancer charities in

the awful position of picking which children they can pay to send here.

Lily is a real inspiration to us and as much as we would like to say we

can send them all abroad, it is too expensive. So today, charities

pledged over 250,000 for a promising cancer vaccine developed at

Sloan`Kettering to come to Bristol 's Royal Hospital for Children.

Tragically, like Jack, many do not survive a relapse. The new American

vaccine teaches the child's body to destroy cancer. It is early days but

12 out of the 15 given it two years ago remain cancer`free. It is a

great joy to see somebody who had a high risk disease and had a relapse,

and here they are, disease`free, enjoying life, growing up like they

ought to be doing. So, thanks to charity, the NHS will now be able to

offer this trial vaccine for cancer. It remains experimental but as the

story shows, research is turning no hope into real hope.

Good luck to them. What is happening with this weather? Hopefully Wendy

can shed some light on when it'll improve... Such a hopeful face! It

has been dismal but I have some good news. This week it will become dry

and warm wishes the opposite of today. `` which is. It would be

accompanied by cloud, though. The highest temperature today was 14

degrees in Southend and in terms of rainfall, over the last two or three

days, we have had 22 millimetres just south of London, near Gatwick

airport. That is about one inch of rain. Half an inch elsewhere. There

is more to come. It is raining out there again if you are north of

London, and it will get to the south over the next few hours. There will

be heavy rain mixed in with this, but I think it will lull a little

bit through the morning. We will stick with the cloud and it will be

mild with centres of eight to 11 degrees. Rain around south of London

in the morning. Then it. Raining, finally. We are left with cloud and

on higher ground it will be a misty and murky start. Some brightness in

the afternoon. Not much sunshine but it will be a tiny bit warmer with

centres of 16 or 17. Thursday, a great start but once the sunshine

breaks through, that will trigger of some and showers so the umbrella is

needed. Largely dry on Friday and by Saturday, more sunshine will break

through and it will feel warmer. Improving! Just in time for the

weekend! Yet. The main headlines... David Cameron has told European

leaders that it cannot be "business as usual" after Euro`sceptic parties

made sweeping gains in last week's elections. UK leaders are setting

out their response to the results. Rolf Harris has begun giving

evidence in his indecent assault trial. He's told jurors he's a

tactile person but denies claims he abused four girls between 1968 and

1986. Senior military leaders in Nigeria claim that they know where

more than 200 kidnapped schoolgirls are being held. But they won't

reveal the location and say they've ruled out using force to free them.

That's it for now. I'll be back with the latest for you during the Ten

O'clock News. From us here ` thanks for watching and have a lovely

evening.