28/02/2012 Look East - East

In Look East: Damning criticism for Northamptonshire Police after this

family was murdered. Would the killer have been caught if they had

handled a 999 call properly? The I PCC concluded the core handling in

relation to that call was below an acceptable standard.

Welcome to Look East. Also tonight: The most important road in the

region but what next for the A14? The market town losing their banks

and the campaign to save them. We are in training with the Norfolk

teenager who juggles exams and full-time training to get to this

year's Paralympic Games playing First, a damning report on

Northamptonshire Police and the way a 999 call from a teenager

desperately trying to help her family escape from a murderer was

handled. The Ding family were at home when the attack happened last

April. All four were stabbed to death. There was a 999 call we

think from 18-year-old Xing Ding. Today, the Independent Police

Complaints Commission found that officers were sent to the wrong

address, that the call was wrongly prioritised and that the force had

no procedure in place for so-called "abandoned calls". Few will need to

be reminded of the horror that unfolded at 10 Pioneer Close. The

Ding family, murdered, stabbed to death in their own home. It

happened ten months ago on the day of the Royal Wedding. This guy,

number one, Anxiang Du... The prime suspect, Anxiang Du, one of the

family's business associates, hasn't been seen since. An

abandoned 999 call where screams could be heard was made from this

house during the time of the attack. It is thought to have been made by

the Ding's eldest daughter. Today, the Independent Police Complaints

Commission said Northamptonshire Police mishandled that call. The

report's findings showed the location of the call was

incorrectly identified which led police to focus on the wrong

address. The call should have been graded as needing an immediate

response. The call was closed prematurely without sufficient

effort to establish the welfare of the caller. The standard by which

the police handled the call was unacceptable because there was no

clear force policy for handling abandoned 999 calls. In this

particular case, the valuable minutes of police time are wasted

in attending the incorrect address. Today's findings are just one part

of the story. The investigation has been hampered with other set-backs.

Anxiang Du's getaway car was not picked up by numberplate

recognition cameras. The dumped Vauxhall Corsa accrued nine parking

tickets before it was discovered. Today, the police said the tragic

outcome for the Ding family would have been the same. As to whether

they could have got to Anxiang Du quicker, we will never know.

So lots of questions for the police. Earlier, I spoke to Deputy Chief

Constable Suzette Davenport. I asked for her reaction to the

criticism. I want to start by saying that my thoughts are with

the wider Ding family for their tragic loss. Throughout, they have

been dignified and supportive of us in our investigation. The IPCC

rightly concluded that the core handling in relation to that call

was below an acceptable standard. We have taken significant steps

since then to address policy, training and standards to ensure

that those sorts of events will never happen in Northamptonshire

again. It is pretty shocking that these kind of policies weren't in

force already. In fact, it says there was no clear force policy for

handling these kind of calls? did have a range of procedures in

place. There is a document called the ACPO Core Handling Standards

Guidance. We had a range of procedures. That ACPO manual did

not provide procedures specifically in relation to abandoned or dropped

999 calls. We did have a procedure but we did not have a policy at

that time. We have been through a thorough investigation ourselves to

understand what happened on the day to ensure that this could never

happen again. We have clear policy, procedures and training to ensure

that this would not happen again. Surely it should be almost

instinctive if someone hears screaming on the end of the phone,

they should know that that call requires an immediate response and

it was not logged as needing that in this case? We had the call that

came through from the BT operator who reported to us that there was

screaming on the phone. The operator did undertake a range of

checks. There was a check that could have been undertaken that

wasn't, which meant we did not ask for the subscriber details. The

changes we have made mean that the procedures are very clear now and

the staff have all been trained to ensure that such calls will now

mean that we find the subscriber detail and or have ensured that we

make contact with the person that has made that call. I have a letter

here written by the families of the victims. They clearly feel the

outcome would have been different if the call had been handled

properly. Even if lives hadn't been saved, you might at least have been

able to catch the perpetrator? know that. Had the address been

identified from the subscriber details, that would not - and I

repeat - that would not have changed the tragic outcome for the

Ding family. It is possible - and I say possible because we do not know

how long the offender stayed at the premises - we may have located the

main suspect, Anxiang Du. Thank you very much.

Still to come: The 16-year-old juggling exams with a bid for the

Paralympics. A day in the life of the A14 on the

day business leaders discuss how Norfolk Police have launched a

murder inquiry two days after the discovery of a man's body. Barry

Reeve, 67, was found dead in his home in Corton Road in Norwich on

Sunday. His daughter called police after she went to visit him.

Through the bars of the gate, forensic officers can be seen. They

have been examining the sheltered housing where Barry Reeve lived.

His daughter found his back door unsecured and discovered blood.

When he didn't respond to her calls, she phoned police before venturing

any further inside. Obviously, the crime scene is very important to us.

We are going to spend some time doing a thorough examination to

capture evidence which may help us. At the moment, we don't know

whether the person who was responsible or the people

responsible forced entry, or whether they were invited in, or

the premises were insecure. Barry Reeve was retired. He had been a

conductor for Eastern Buses and was known as Titch. His body was found

on Sunday afternoon. He had been seriously assaulted. His death has

shocked local people. Sad. Very sorry for him. I have only met him

- had only met him a few times. He very much kept to himself. He

seemed a pleasant innocent sort of man. As yet, police don't know the

motive for his murder. They are appealing for witnesses, but want

to reassure locals they believe this is an isolated attack.

A fire at a recycling centre in Suffolk is still smouldering almost

a day-and-a-half after it started. Fire broke out at Holmefield

Business Park in Haverhill yesterday morning and crews were

still at the scene this afternoon. Water used to fight the fire has

been taken away in tankers to reduce the risk of pollution. A man

wanted over a burglary at a cannabis factory in Essex in which

a man's body was discovered has appeared in court. Tran Duy Hai was

found dead at the site in South Woodham Ferrers last December.

Stephen Morrison was arrested on Sunday. He is charged with burglary,

drugs offences and failing to surrender to police bail. Six men

were sentenced last week for their involvement.

About 40 firefighters are still at the scene of a major fire in Essex

making sure the site is completely safe. They have been at Tilbury

Power Station since yesterday morning when the fire broke out in

several thousand tonnes of wood pellets.

The calm waters of the River Thames mirrored the mood at the power

station. The fire officially under control, but the operation

surrounding it far from over. Today, the damage to the northern section

of the station was clear to see, the whole area blackened by the

intensity of the fire. At its height more than 120 firefighters

tackled the blaze. The Fire Service describing it as hugely challenging.

They had to establish the building was safe to enter before crews

wearing breathing apparatus went in armed with high expansion foam to

starve the fire of oxygen. Today more equipment was brought in. The

fire crews have been on watch overnight, some embers still

smouldering beneath the foam. fire was brought under control

yesterday afternoon. We are emptying the material from those

bunkers that were set alight. We have been assisted in doing that by

the brigade to ensure we don't get a flare up of any fire. The other

thing that is happening is Unit 8, the unit not affected, has been

generating since 9.00pm yesterday and we are running the wood in

those bunkers out of those bunkers so we have know fire risk. This

station has been burning coal since 1967. It only switched to biomass

material two months ago. The company says it's set up an

internal investigation. Too early to assess the extent of the damage,

though, and no clues yet as to the cause of the fire.

Two new cases of a disease which causes birth defects in livestock

have been discovered on sheep farms in Essex. There have been 83 cases

across the country with 16 in Norfolk and 14 in Suffolk. Humans

are not affected by the virus. A funeral has taken place at a

church in Essex despite the fact that the church yard is being

occupied by anti-capitalist protesters. The Occupy Southend

group has been at St Mary's in Prittlewell for the last ten days.

During the service, the protesters moved into a storage tent after

moving their own tents out of the way.

Over the years, we have done lots of stories about pubs and shops

closing. We haven't done as many about banks. New figures show they

are closing, too. Victoria Cook reports from Harleston where the

HSBC is planning to close soon. Janet Gibbs collects signatures to

support her campaign to keep her local bank open. Although the High

Street has other banks, she says people shouldn't have to switch or

be made to travel. They call themselves the world's local bank.

But it is not local. They are not concerned about the local area.

They have no idea where we are in the country. They have no idea that

Diss is ten miles away. Rural banks are in decline across the country.

In the East, nearly 80 towns and villages have one local bank left.

One MP's written to the Office of Fair Trading asking them to

consider access to financial services in rural areas. I like the

idea that's come across from the US where essentially you have one

building and you have a choice of banks within that. There's

competition there to provide services to customers. In Harleston,

shopkeepers think those with business accounts could struggle

the most. It is so sad because for a business you don't want to keep

running everywhere because you haven't got time. It so easy to pay

money in. It is devastating for the town. HSBC say decreasing numbers

of people are using this branch and they believe it is no longer fit

for purpose. They say people are opting to bank online or nearer to

where they work, so they say they You are watching Look East. Coming

up: The 16-year-old battling to get to the Paralympics but she still

doesn't know if her sport will be included.

The future of the A14 has been under the spotlight today at a

conference in Kettering. Business leaders and council officials claim

that one job in every four in Northamptonshire relies on road

transport and on the A14 in particular. If major improvements

aren't made, the economy of the region will suffer. A reminder now

of the history of the road. It came into existence in 1994, the

then Transport Secretary, John McGregor, doing the honours. The

stretches of new road were between the M1 and the A1. To the east, the

A14 replaced existing routes, the old A604 and A45. More than 20

years later, where are the pinch points? Mainly between Cambridge

and Huntingdon. It was going to be made into a four-lane carriageway

under Labour. The coalition scrapped that plan on cost grounds.

What next? Stuart Radcliffe was at the conference.

This is how the A14 in Cambridgeshire should now look.

After years of arguments and delays, costs almost doubled. When the

coalition came to power, a bill of �1.2 billion was seen as

unaffordable. With traffic projected to increase by 15% in the

next ten years, everyone here agrees something needs to be done.

As a priority for road investment, there is no argument, it has to be

number one in the UK. Therefore, when it was put on the sidelines,

really on the basis that it was too costly, this was a major blow to UK

plc and we believe the economic activity and future of the company.

Some improvements have been given the go-ahead. Widening of the A14

at Kettering and �20 million to improve the interchanges. These are

just purely stop-gap measures and Northamptonshire County Council

says it is vital new proposals are brought forward. It is a massive

part of our economy to get the thing right. Any delays on the A14

- it is the important route down to the south coast ports.

stumbling block to any new road is cash. As the A14 is officially

classed as a trance trans-European link, it is suggested money from

Brussels could be the answer. are possibilities in Europe to be

found so that there's more money, the main part - there is more money

than you think. You can take it. With plans for the new town near

Cambridge revealed yesterday, the Government accepts a solution is

needed. Amended proposals including the possibility of a controversial

toll road will be unveiled in the spring.

That is what's happened at the conference. What was life like on

the A14 today? We asked Richard Daniel to travel along the

Felixstowe to Cambridge stretch of the road. This is his story.

Felixstowe - where the A14 runs out, or begins, depends how you look at

it. Wherever you live, this is a road that shapes and affects all

our lives. Every year, two million containers head in-and-out of

Felixstowe via the A14. As trade routes go, they don't come bigger.

Where trade leads, people follow. People like Gillian Read. Her new

home is barely 100 yards from the A14. That is just how she likes it.

My work is in Bury St Edmunds. I still travel back to Birmingham

regularly. What a thing, the 14 is what made me come and live here.

the road, traffic is building. And trouble is brewing. It was all

going too well. I have ground to a halt after 36 miles. There is a

huge traffic jam, an accident or something up ahead. The A14 has

been blocked as a result of an accident... Thankfully, no-one is

seriously hurt. Four miles of tailbacks leads to hours of delays.

Delays which matter for the people who work at Century Logistics. If

you buy a baby buggy, chances are it's come through here. We have 50

deliveries a day. So that all has to be taken into account for

lorries being bucked in and lorries being booked out -- booked in and

lorries being booked out as well. 24 miles on, it is lunch time at

the Cambridge Quy Mill Hotel. When the A14 plays up, they know all

about it. When it is running well, things are great. When it's piled

up, it is running badly, people are late for conferences, people miss

their check-in and check-out dates. Out on the A14, the road is packed

with traffic. With no alternative major east-west route, motorists

have to grin and bear it. So, in 80 miles, I have encountered

one nasty accident and I have met some very nice people, too. People

who depend on this road, but people who very much have a love-hate

relationship with it, too. If you have a story about the A14,

we would love to hear from you. You can call us on 08457 630 630. Or

you can e-mail us at [email protected].

Of course, there's Facebook as well. I sat in a queue there a couple of

weeks ago on a Saturday. It took me hours!

Here is a sport you might not have heard of. It was thought up in

Europe in 1946 and the idea was to help war veterans who had lost

their sight during the Second World War. It is called goalball and it

is thriving in the 21st Century. It might make this year's Paralympics.

Forget fashion and gossip, Amy Ottaway is no ordinary teenager.

She's one of the UK's top goalball players. In a wreak, -- week, the

18-year-old juggled gym sessions with her exams. It is very similar

to basketball. It is 12 minutes a half. It is very quick. You have to

have more of a sprint endurance. You are getting up-and-down all the

time off the floor, which is very tiring. Amy qualifies for the sport

because she's partially-sighted. She's played for the last four

years. But what exactly is goalball? It's the only the

Paralympic team sport designed for female blind athletes and the aim

of goalball is to roll this rubber ball with a bell inside into a goal.

But the crowd must be in complete silence otherwise the athletes

can't hear the ball. Amy's hoping for success at this year's

Paralympic Games, but there is a snag - the sport is yet to be

included at London 2012. Her team has to make a presentation in a

fortnight to convince the powers- that-be to put them in. All we can

do is carry on working really hard and hope that we have done enough

to show that we are worth a chance, you though. Everyone's been

improving their fitness levels. We are taking every opportunity we can

to try and improve and that is all we can do. In two weeks' time, Amy

will know if her sport will be played at the Paralympic Games. It

is a nervy wait to see if her Paralympic dream comes true.

We thought that looked really exciting! It does look exhausting,

though. Imagine what it is like with no

sound from the audience. Let's hope it is there. Right. The

We are in the middle of a fairly mild spell of weather. For the rest

of this week, it looks like it will stay mild and dry. There will be a

fair bit of cloud around at times. We should see something of the

sunshine. What is going on? To set the scene, we have got an area of

high pressure. It is centred over Northern France and it has brought

this mild Atlantic air mass across us, but also as it moves across,

it's brought a lot of moisture with it. So conditions have been cloudy.

There is a gap here on the satellite chart across southern

Essex. So we got to 15 degrees this afternoon. It shows a bit of

sunshine can mean the temperature really shoots up. If you put that

in context, the average for this time of year is 7 Celsius. So

exceptionally mild conditions. It will stay mild tonight. A very

cloudy, misty, murky sort of night. One or two clear intervals possible.

Temperatures are expected to get no lower than 8 Celsius, which is 48

Fahrenheit. Tomorrow's weather brings similar sort of conditions

to today. There will be a lot of cloud around. In places, that cloud

could thin and break. Temperatures will climb to about 14 Celsius. The

winds will generally be a light south-westerly. So through the

afternoon, it stays really cloudy. You will see one or two thinner

bits of cloud on the chart. Looking ahead, we have the chance of some

rainfall really by Sunday. It's an area of low pressure that is

expected to bring us that rainfall. There could be more persistent rain

here. Before that, it is fairly dry. A lot of cloud around for tomorrow.

It does look like we will see more sunshine for Thursday. That cloud

thinning and breaking allowing some sunny spells. Looking ahead to

Friday, it gets cloudy and dull once more. With the wind turning

around to more of an easterly, it will have an impact on those

temperatures. They will still start to go further south - 11 or 12

Celsius at best. Some showers expected for Saturday. Into Sunday,

it looks as though it will be a dry start. As that low pressure comes

in, it will mean some quite persistent rain. Some mild nights

persistent rain. Some mild nights on the way, too.

Just before we go, a word about the programme tomorrow: We will be

looking at speeding on our roads. There was a time when anybody who

got caught speeding would get ticked off, fined or banned. Now

there is another choice. Some drivers can opt for a speed

awareness course. Thousands of people are sent on them every year.

This one was in Norfolk. The aim is to educate rather than punish.

Knock on the door, ask does so-and- so live here, if the answer is