29/05/2014 BBC London News

News at 6.00pm. For this evening, it's goodbye are from me, on BBC One

we join the BBC's news teams where ever you are. Goodbye.

Tonight on BBC London News: The overseas investors buying up,

but not moving in to London's sky`high properties. We need to be

thinking about ways to tax empty property. Punitive taxing on empty

flats in order to make some return to the community from the damage

done. sky`high properties.

A planning expert says the mayor needs to do more to help

the capital's communities. The man who robbed a building

society while on the run is giving another lifetime.

the capital's communities. Plus, taking off in South London `

the latest hospital helipad reducing transfer times

for the most critically ill. Our ability to get the emergency

department to the scene in a matter of minutes means they care they get

is of a higher quality, and can save lives.

for the most critically ill. And repeated online

for a new generation ` the films giving us a glimpse

of life in London 80 years ago. Londoners are being priced out of

the housing market because of "dirty Russian money and Chinese gamblers".

Those are the claims today of one of the country's most respected

planners, as further evidence emerged

of the pressures in the capital. Peter Wynne Rees has just retired

as head of planning at the City of London after 30 years.

He says the mayor ` as strategic planning authority `

should be imposing height restrictions on developments

and creating real communities. Let's get more from

our political editor, Tim Donovan. Yes, more signals today about the

housing situation in London. A report by the National Housing

Federation saying how on affordable housing is becoming here, and saying

it threatens economic growth because it means wages are lagging behind at

the cost of housing. The latest Help to Buy figures show that less than

1% of mortgages have happened in London. Less than 1% of the ones in

London are through Help to Buy. It has not contributed to the housing

bubble. Then we have Peter Wynne Rees, who is regarded as perhaps the

most influential public planner in the capital over the last couple of

decades. He has supervised the gherkin etc, and he says we are

building the wrong things and it could cost us dearly. We met across

the Thames from where he said one mistake has already been made. The

St George 's towering Vauxhall. And where another is about to happen. A

skyscraper even taller containing mainly apartments and a luxury hotel

given the green light by the mayor last week. He says it typifies what

is going wrong. I think it is last week. He says it typifies what

is going wrong. I think homogenised international architecture, out of

scale with the surroundings, damaging the London skyline and

giving a very bad impression to people who visit London. And for

what purpose? giving a very bad impression to

people who visit London. And Simply to provide safety deposit boxes for

international investors. It is not creating the right homes or the

right communities, he says. People are buying them for a financial

security. They are furnishing the man locking the door. Maybe they,

location. The rest of the time they are empty. All that is missing is

the tumbleweed blowing in between the buildings. He shows me what he

the tumbleweed blowing in between the buildings. He shows me thinks

are the homes we should be building. A 1970s estate in Pimlico. Seven or

eight floors high, enclosed, plenty of greenery. Any reason why this

could not be replicated? He claims the mayor should be getting more

money out of developers and imposing height restrictions. Only the mayor

can say it is not appropriate. He can set a height limit if he wants.

If the market says in that case it cannot build here, what do we lose?

Nothing. The international market will lose. What you to the claim

that they won't invest your? People in London will be able to buy a

home. It seems to me to be a win, win situation. We are getting dirty

Russian money being laundered here and Chinese gambling. The Chinese

pay a 10% deposit when they buy these places. Then they take a

financial futures contract. It is a combination. The mayor says foreign

investment in places like Vauxhall and Battersea will boost the economy

considerably. He says he is delivering a record number of homes

and tackling the issue of properties left empty. I want to see the

councils using their powers to impose purity of `` punitive council

taxes on people who buy a flat and leave them empty. We are providing

for absolutely everybody in London. The difficulty is we are trying to

cope with a shortfall that goes back 30 years. The rate of acceleration

is starting to take off now. After 30 years constrained by his planning

role in the Square mile, he now feels it is time to speak out. He

clearly sees this problem as critical? Yes. And in the next week

or so, he will be giving evidence at a London assembly inquiry into tall

buildings and what we are getting out of them. He does see the

situation is pretty critical. He looks at an area like this, an

industrial wasteland, and he thinks the mayor needs to be giving a much

clearer signal. If the mayor is saying he wants to build real

communities here, the price of the land comes down and the developers

are less interested. The mayor and City Hall say this money from

Chinese investors is absolutely crucial. It establishes London is a

big economic centre. Millions are going to be going into paying for

the extension to the Northern line, and important infrastructure. Thank

you. our political editor, Tim Donovan.

Plenty more ahead tonight, including:

The moving story of a suicidal man reunited with the stranger who saved

him, now captured in a documentary. tonight, including:

There are calls for the Met Commissioner to withdraw

his acceptance of the resignation of an officer involved

in the case of a man who died while in police custody.

40`year`old Sean Rigg, a paranoid schizophrenic,

died after being restrained at Brixton police station in 1987.

`` 2008. An inquest into his death found five

officers had used unsuitable force. His family are urging Sir Bernard

Hogan`Howe not to accept one of the officer's resignation before

a new investigation is conducted. Marc Ashdown reports.

In inquest jury described it as unsuitable force. 40`year`old Sean

Rigg, known to have mental health problems by police, was restrained

for eight minutes by police officers. A short time later he died

of heart problems. That was 2008. Now the IPCC is reinvestigating and

was about to summon the officers involved, only to find that PC

Andrew Birks is allowed to be re``` is to be allowed to be resign.

Offices of always played the get out of jail card to resign or retire

before any proceedings have been brought against them. The

opportunity for them is that they literally get away with it. So I and

my family are absolutely livid that the Commissioner has accepted his

resignation. The IPCC has expressed extreme disappointment that they

were not even told the officer was about to leave. They have written to

the Metropolitan police are urging them to revise the decision. The

pressure will be mounting here, too. The Home Secretary, in her

hard`hitting speech last week to the police Federation, promised to end

this practice of officers retiring or resigning before facing

disciplinary measures. Sean Rigg's family want to see action. This is

not an isolated case. It is part of a systemic problem we see around the

country. It sends a clear message out that the police are above the

law. The Met are considering the request to block the resignation. If

not, PC Andrew Birks will officially reserve `` resign on Sunday, in

which case Sean Rigg's family will launch legal action on Monday.

Marc Ashdown reports. Detectives have launched a murder

investigation ` after the body of a 38`year`old woman was found

at a house in Northolt on Tuesday. The woman ` who's not been formally

identified yet ` was discovered after officers were called to

a disturbance at Merton Avenue. A 41`year`old man has been

arrested on suspicion of murder. An armed robber known

as the 'Skull Cracker' has been jailed to life ` with a minimum

of ten years ` after admitting to robbing a building society while

on the run from open prison. Michael Wheatley, 55,

stole more than ?18,000 in a raid in Surrey, four days after he

absconded from prison in Kent. Let's get more from Gareth Furby,

who's outside the building society in Sunbury on Thames.

Michael Wheatley was recaptured in East London some five days after the

events here in Sunbury. Today, for the first time in court, we heard

precisely what happened inside this building society. The court was

shown CCTV footage, which revealed that Michael Wheatley had turned up,

told the story that he was from Island, had money to deposit. As he

was leaving the building society, he suddenly produced, to the horror of

the staff, a handgun, pointed it at the deputy manager, forced him into

the back of the shop into the safe, open it and produce ?18,000. Today

we have had political condemnation of this decision to allow him day

release from that prison in Kent. I don't want to see this man run rings

around the justice system and receive a derisory sentence again. I

could not believe that for a 13 life sentences he had only got a minimum

tariff of eight years last time in an open prison, and then he escaped.

I think it has been an embarrassment. We need to sort it

out. Passing sentence today, a 10`year sentence, the judge told

Michael Wheatley that he went to the same brand here in Sunbury that he'd

robbed in 2001. He therefore deliberately targeted the branch and

planned the raid. People here and elsewhere will be hoping that never

again is he given day release. The air ambulance service has officially

opened its second hospital helipad. Those running it say the new base at

St George 's Hospital in tooting could mean the difference between

life and death for some patients. A landing which will save minutes and

lives. This is the impressive addition to St George 's Hospital,

providing another lifeline to London and beyond. How often do you get

called out? Between three and four times a day. This is the first

helipad to open south of the River Thames. People will be flying into

here as patients from across London, Surrey, Sussex and Kent. It has

brought 30 patients here since April. The key to their survival is

speed. The air and villains makes a massive difference. Our ability to

get the emergency department to the scene in a matter of minutes means

the care they get is of a much higher quality, much quicker, and

can save lives. Harvey was one of their first customers. After

sustaining critical head injuries in a playground incident, it would have

taken 35 minute by road to getting here. To they sedated Harvey on the

scene and brought him here within 11 minutes. All of the medical team

have said he is a little miracle, really. Officially opened today by

Boris Johnson, it cost ?5 million to construct and would not have been

possible without huge donations from the helicopter landing pad appeal

and the county air and villains trust. With around 1600 major trauma

accidents in London each year, this helipad will mean that when time is

of the essence, many more lives like Harvey's will be saved. Thank you

for saving my life. A great `` a grateful eight`year`old.

in Sunbury on Thames. says it will ask the

High Court to rule on whether technology used by cab hire company

Uber complies with licensing laws. The Licensed Taxi Drivers

Association has complained that Uber's drivers are using

a smartphone app to calculate fares, despite it being illegal

for private vehicles to be fitted with taximeters.

TfL says its own investigations have found

Uber is not in breach of the rules. Workers on the Heathrow Express rail

service are to stage a fresh strike next month.

Governors at an independent Islamic primary School in Luton have hit

back at Ofsted after a report criticised it. It says the school

library has books with fundamentalist views. Today the

chairman of the governors threatened to take Ofsted to court if it did

not withdraw the claims. When Ofsted inspectors called at his school

earlier this month, their findings left staff here railing. The

emergency inspection rated the school as inadequate. In a draft

report, Ofsted inspectors say the school fails to prepare pupils from

life in modern`day Britain. It also says books in the library contain

few is apparent in British society. And that books in the children's

library contained fundamentalist Islamic views. Today the school's

chair of governors told me they reject the entire report. He says

inspectors came with an agenda. Now we don't staech teach sex education

in our school. When the parents found out they were upset that the

children were questioned without their consent. The Ofsted inspection

was triggered after the school's head teacher expressed views on a

local radio programme about Islam and homosexuality. One local

councillor is concerned Ofsted's handling of the case has been

unfair. My concerns are how they went about conducting the

inspection, were they under specific orders? Did they treat this

inspection any differently from a regular mainstream or other

independent schools. The school is urging Ofsted to withdraw its

findings. We challenge the entire report. We said to Ofsteded in a

letter to them, unless they do a reinspection we will seek a judicial

Ofsted have review. Yet to comment, they have shared a copy of the draft

report with the school in confidence. It's expected to be

published in the next few weeks. Still to come: The businesses hoping

to cash in on the Tour de France when it comes to the capital this

summer. Plus NEWS REEL:

The pch C on the beat doesn't lose much time in a case like this. The

curious case of stolen tea in London in the 40s. The online archive of

films showing life in Britain. Next, his story touched the hearts of

millions of people across the world. Jonny Benjamin was talked down off

Waterloo Bridge six years ago by a passer`by and launched and online

campaign to find the man who saved him. Now, their journey has been

captured in a documentary film to help raise awareness of mental

illness. It is being screened at the British Film Institute tonight. Our

arts correspondent, Brenda Emmanus, has the story. The first time they

meet in six years. Jonny Benjamin is reunited with the man who stopped

him from taking his own life on Waterloo Bridge. His search for Neil

Laybourn has been captured in a moving documentary of their journey.

Fantastic to see you. Fantastic to see you. Really good, really good.

It was difficult to relive everything that I went through six

years ago. I had to go back to that place in order to find it, to be

honest. I had no recollection of that day. I had absolutely no

recollection. I didn't remember Neil's name, I called him mike. I

had to go back into that really dark place to be able to trace him. It's

all coming back. Through those six years, it was a life`changing time

for me. I'd gone through meeting new kinds of people and starting a

career in fitness, that I hadn't done before. I was only in my first

sort of couple of months in London, that day when I saw Jonny on the

bridge. Jonny has a schizoaffective disorder through his search to find

his Good Samaritan he smashed an awareness and debate on the web. His

campaign, #findmike, many shared his story. We know living in a city is a

risk factor for mental illness. London is the schizophrenia capital

of the world. It's partly to do with the frenetic way of life. The stress

of living in a big city. This is one of the most beautiful views of

London. What are your views when you come across here now? I dreaded

walking on this bridge. It brought back so many bad memories. I can

walk across it and I feel positive. I feel like I've really turned a

corner. Looking for a man who changed my life. It's nice to know

that through saving Jonny's life that day that he's gone on to help

other people. To save their life. The film Finding Mike can be viewed

from 7.00pm this evening. It's the biggest annual sporting event in the

world. This summer the Tour de France will come to the capital

passing by London landmarks like the Olympic Park, the Houses of

Parliament and finishing at Buckingham Palace. With thousands

wanting to catch a glimpse of the race, transport bosses are urging

spectators to plan ahead. The 2012 Olympics. The marathon. London's

roads are used to hosting huge sporting events and it doesn't get

much bigger than this. On the 7th July, the world's greatest cyclists

will arrive in the capital for the third stage of the Tour de France.

The race starts in Cambridge and enters London via Epping Forest. It

will zoom past the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and head from the East

End to the West End before finishing on the Mall. Many roads along the

route will be shut for most of the day. There will be travel

disruption. It will be very important that people plan ahead.

All the information is available online. We are delivering it to

people's homes. Just like at the Olympics for people to plan ahead.

It will be an ordinary day for him, but an exciting day with this going

on. In over a month it will be a completely different scene here at

the Mall, both sides of the road will be filled with thousands of

spectators waiting to watch the 200 riders come past here on their final

sprint to the end of Stage Three. Tour de France is good for business.

Anything that brings cycling back into the public eye sees a spike in

business. Yes, people are coming in and asking if we are doing special

events. Asking if we have the team recipe Mr Kit and bikes. Some

businesses aren't so optimistic. The trade deter rates. People stick

where the events are going on. They do suffer, like with the Olympics it

went down 25%. The souvenirs are on sale. Many hotels and restaurants

are fully booked. It seems London would like the Tour to come back

more often. He helped shape the way the country was viewed by other

nations for decades. Now, an online archive of films depicting life in

Britain during the 1930s and 1940s has been completed. Among them films

showing London's preparation for war and more, curiously, Scotland Yard

officers investigating the case of some stolen tea.

NEWS REEL: It's the eve of... The 30s and 40s

were dark decades. While the world was being torn apart by war, Britain

wanted to show how well it was holding together. The British

Council made this collection of short films to highlight the best of

Britain. These films were made at a time when we had a particular

version of Britain and Britishness that we wanted to give. We wanted to

say our personality. Our national identity was a particular type. And

I think what we did is gloss over the kind of ` there was poverty in

those days, food queues. There was crime and problems. We didn't talk

about those. NEWS REEL:

Most of the youngsters... This film shows Londoners making their final

preparations before entering the war. The message ` they were keeping

calm and carrying on. It was then sent to embassies and consulates

around the world. Britain was desperate at the time to get the

United States into the war. They needed to prove it was a very solid,

reliable country who was pulling together to defeat Hitler. So they

had really a quite strong propaganda.

NEWS REEL: A few brief particulars is all he

wants. After the war the Council was keen to show off a strong, reliable

police force. Take this film of Scotland Yard Flying Squad officers

investigating stolen tea. NEWS REEL:

This paper man you say they saw him drive off. Is it a little fella with

a cap? That's right. Auto I know him. The last of the collection has

been digitised and put online. The British Council is encouraging

people to watch them and go out and make their own modern`day versions

to help bring Britain's image up`to`date. Great stuff. What about

the British weather? Let us ask Jay, how is it looking for the next few

days, getting better? That is the message. It will be improving. Today

was a mixed bag. We saw things brighten up for a time There was

sunshine to be found. We saw this line of cloud developing which

brought some pretty sharp showers over London and to the west of

London. To the west of London we saw the thunder and the lightning. There

were heavy downpours in and around the London area. Still a risk of one

or two over the next few hours. The trend is for all the showers to fade

away. It's a dry night. We will keep the breeze. The breeze will ease

fair bit of cloud over night fair bit of cloud over night

tonight. That cloud will keep temperatures up. It's mild over

night, 10, 11, 12 degrees. The cloud over night. That takes us into

tomorrow morning. It will be quite a cloudy start to the day. All in all

a useable day, dry, pretty much everywhere. Inspite of a lot of

cloud, it will brighten into the afternoon. A lot of cloud around. It

will be dry. If you have plans for the morning get out and about. The

weather won't bother you at all. The breeze not too strong tomorrow. The

cloud will brighten up a bit. Temperatures around 15 or 16

degrees. Inland 18, 19. Into the evening, if you have plans for

getting out and about, leave the umbrellas at home, fine and dry.

There will be breaks in the cloud. The start of the weekend, high

pressure dominates. The weather is looking good through the start of

the weekend. It will be dry, bright, there will be spells of sunshine.

The outside chance of the odd spot of rain. Most places will be fine

and dry. The winds are not particularly strong. All in all

pretty good on Saturday. With a bit of sunshine temperatures should get

up into the low 20s. Similar temperatures on Sunday. The Outside

chance of a shower. Good weekend. Thank you very much. The national

headlines: Private letters between Tony Blair and George Bush written

in the run`up to the Iraq war will not be published in full. The Iraq

inquiry Chairman has said that only quotes or suggestions of the notes'

content will be made public. Nick Clegg says he doesn't believe "for a

second" that the Business Secretary was involved in a plot to oust him.

Vince Cable has faced questions about what's been described as an

attempted coup organised by his longstanding friend, Lord Oakeshott.

The Government says new Help to Buy figures show the scheme isn't

causing a house price bubble. The Treasury says 27,000 householders

have used the scheme to get mortgages and almost all were

outside London where prices are rising less quickly. From me and the

team here, thank you for watching and do enjoy your evening. Goodbye.