22/01/2014 Look East - East

Sunday. Make the most of Saturday because Sunday looks pretty

The mother from Lowestoft who killed her three children before jumping to

her death. An official investigation says there was nothing the experts

could have done to save them. In this particular case, no

professional could have predicted this happening. It was completely

unexpected. Unfortunately, unexpected things could happen

again. Hello and welcome to Look East with

Amelia and me. Also on that story, we report from

Lowestoft to find out what has changed since the tragedy of nine

months ago. The jobless total in this region

falls again. This is one of the best places in the UK to find a new job.

And the 21st`century tractors helping farmers to boost their

crops. Hello.

An official report into the death of a young mother from Lowestoft and

her three children says the deaths could not have been prevented. Child

protection agencies were aware that Fiona Anderson was struggling to

cope with her young family, but nobody expected the tragedy which

followed. It was a sequence of events that

shook the whole country. This CCTV picture shows Fiona Anderson walking

around the town, early in the morning of 15th April last year. A

number of people saw her, but not one of them could have possibly

imagined what would follow. At around 8.30am, she plunged from this

multistorey car park, heavily pregnant with her fourth child. She

died from head injuries. Soon after 11am, police discovered the bodies

of her three children at their home. Tests showed that three`year`old

Levina, Addy aged two and 11`month`old Kyden died from

drowning. This is the Serious Case Review published this morning by the

Suffolk Safeguarding Children Board. It runs to almost 50 pages. Social

services had been working with Miss Anderson and her partner Craig

McLelland for three years. There were concerns about their parenting.

In May, 2011, there was an investigation after an anonymous

claim that the children had been sleeping in a double pushchair for

13 nights and had only been fed biscuits. Then three months later,

in August, Levina and Addy were made the subject of child protection

plans under the category of neglect. The author of today's report, Ron

Lock, says, "There was no success in effectively engaging with the

family. As a result, the implementation of the child

protection plans was significantly compromised." This was one of the

most challenging families I have come across in terms of getting them

to accept they had Rob Lummis and sometimes to accept help, like

attending the nursery `` getting them to accept they had problems.

There was no evidence we had that she would harm herself. Concerns

were about neglect. It was not that she would harm the children in this

way. It was completely unpredictable that she took those dreadful

actions. The report identifies more than a dozen points where lessons

could be learned and there is criticism that the agencies involved

with the family had allowed the situation to drift.

So, what lessons have been learned and has anything changed in

Lowestoft? Richard Daniel has spent the day in the town where memories

of the tragedy last year are still fresh.

Social workers Carol and Jean visiting a family today. Chris lost

his job before Christmas. The family was homeless. Then social services

stepped in, arranging bed`and`breakfast accommodation and

providing support. The twin boys were never at risk but even so the

family hesitated to ask for help. I know they wanted to help the boys

but I was worried they would tear the family apart. They have brought

us together and they have been able to make us stay in Lowestoft and

give us a chance, really. The anguish of a young mother...

Sadly, last April and attempt to help another family ended very

differently. The shocking news that Fiona Anderson had killed herself,

her unborn child and her three children left a sense of disbelief.

A pledge by the leader of Suffolk county council to do more to help

vulnerable families. We need to work with partners and other agencies,

particularly in health, to alleviate these problems. Andrew White led the

funeral service for the children. It is a day that still affects him

deeply. There are funerals that you do inevitably and there are funerals

that you live and this will always be etched on my heart. The most

difficult funeral in my entire career. What has changed since those

dark days? Social services tried to take the children into care but they

were not granted a court order because they could not produce

sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the children were facing

emotional abuse and neglect. It was very difficult for all the

professionals to engage with the family because they were worried and

fearful. What we have done is developed further training for front

line staff to improve their ability to in gauge families on the front

line, where they are really reluctant to work with us. Today's

report states there were no warning signs to suggest the children were

in immediate danger. The official site lessons from this tragedy have

been learnt. `` officials say that lessons have been learned.

The chairman of the Local Safeguarding Children Board for

Suffolk is Peter Worobec. When I went to see him earlier today, he

accepted the report does highlight some failings. The report clearly

identifies that management intervention was not at the level

that it should have been. There were challenging times in the Lowestoft

area around that period with resource issues. Why is it the

different agencies do not seem time and again... We hear they do not

talk and share information? It is a cultural issue. Cultural issues cost

lives. Yes, they do. It is important people understand they are all

involved in the production process and are prepared to challenge their

peers when things are not working and when they see things are not

developing and moving the right direction. What I don't understand

in reading some of the detail in the report is that these are

professionals who are supposed to be able to interpret a situation and

come to a conclusion and yet different professionals from

different agencies saw a different picture, how can that happen? I

think you are right that they saw a different picture. I have read the

report and I have listened to staff involved in the case and I think on

different days they saw a different Fiona, her approach to the children

and the way the children were being looked after. Just so that we can

get an idea about what it was like for the agency is going into the

house, what was it like? How did she react to those people on the bad

days? Some days, Fiona would let people in and be fine and have

discussions. Other days, she would be avoiding them and not want to

have those discussions. Sometimes, she would go and disappear within

the house when people were there. It was a very mixed reaction to staff.

But never a violent reaction. It was more an avoidant type of reaction.

She would go and consulting the toilet? On occasions, I understand

that is the case. And leave the children wear? With the workers that

were there. Did that not bring an alarm bell? I have not been deeply

involved enough in the case to be able to say too much about that.

Clearly, the staff involved in the case were concerned otherwise the

children would not have been under a child traction plan. There were

concerns. `` child protection plan. The issue is whether sufficient

action was taken to try and improve the lives of the children. The

answer to that is that it was not. Could this happen again? Yes,

unfortunately, we live in a world where there is unpredictable

behaviour by adults. In this particular case, as we now know, no

professional could have predicted this happening. It was completely

unexpected. Unfortunately, unexpected things could happen

again. Thank you very much. Peter Worobec, speaking to me

earlier today. If you have any concerns about the welfare of a

child you know, you can ring the NSPCC. They have a free adult

helpline. The number and website are on your screen.

Five men are still being questioned in connection with the murder of

Roger Pratt the tourist who was killed last week when robbers

boarded his yacht in the Caribbean. Mr Pratt and his wife Margaret left

Lowestoft last year to sail around the world. They had recently arrived

in St Lucia. Michelle Fleury has sent this report from the island.

This is the bay where the boat was moored, on the southern tip of the

Caribbean island. The calm was brutally shattered. For Roger Pratt

and his wife Margaret, it should have been the trip of a lifetime.

But late on Friday, thieves burst onto the boat. They attacked them

and fled. Speaking for the first time since her husband's death,

Margaret told the government in St Lucia that the couple felt safe

there. We have enjoyed Saint Lucia. We have not felt unsafe here until

the events of those final tragic minutes and we have had considerable

kindness from very many people. For the last six months, Roger and

Margaret have called this boat home. Now it is a crime scene. Police have

gathered all of the evidence and it is just waiting further Margaret

Pratt to come and collect it. On Tuesday, police released the results

of the postmortem. The six`year set into a blunt force trauma. Waste on

the postmortem examination, we have no reason to think any weapon was

used. Physical force by the suspects involved. `` based on the

postmortem. Five men have been arrested. They are cooperating with

police. The couple had been planning the trip for a long time but they ``

but it finished abruptly. Their voyage to celebrate a birthday

ending in heartbreak. In football, 31`year`old Wes

Hoolahan says he still wants to leave Norwich City despite having a

transfer request rejected. He asked to leave after a bid by Aston Villa

was turned down. The club says Hoolahan is under contract until

June next year. He joined Norwich City in the summer of 2008 from

Blackpool and helped them get promotion to the Premier League.

Dementia services in Norfolk have been given a boost after a mystery

benefactor donated several thousand pounds. The money has been given to

the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and is being used to pay

for three support workers for five years.

John is 85 and he has been diagnosed with the early stages of the mensch

and is at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital following a full `` of

dementia. He was diagnosed following a fall. She is one of three new

dementia supporters taken on after the charitable donation. We find out

about things that will help with person centred care. We use that as

a basis for one`to`one activities. It could be reminiscence work,

looking at photos, talking through what they have done in their lives.

The alliance says the number of people with dementia in Norfolk and

Suffolk is expected to rise by 60% by 2025. It equates to one in three

of our inpatients at any one time. There is a demand for the sort of

service. John's daughter has also received help from the support

workers who have given her strategies to jog her dad's memory.

It is fantastic because it gives support to so many people and the

patient pupils themselves. Until you are put in that situation, nobody

knows what it is like `` the patients themselves. The donation

will pave the three support workers for the next five years.

`` will pay for three support workers.

Still to come: 21st`century tractors.

Plus, they call it the sport of kings, but what about everybody

else? A special report from Newmarket coming up.

New figures out today show the number of people out of work in this

region has fallen to its lowest level for five years. The regional

unemployment total now stands at 178,000.

It makes the East one of the best places in the UK to find a new job.

So, where are they being created? Our business correspondent Richard

Bond has been finding out. What with booms and busts, we've had

our ups and downs over the years when it comes to jobs. In the early

'90s, unemployment in this region hit a peak of 253,000. Then came a

long period of growth which brought the total down to 93,000 in 2003.

The last recession took it back up to 221,000. That was in 2011.

However, in the last year, there's been an appreciable drop. There are

now 56,000 more jobs in the region's economy than there were a year ago.

So, where are those jobs coming from? Well, interestingly, given the

constraints on public spending, quite a lot of them are in the

public sector. Employment in health and social work across the East is

up 40,000. Suffolk County Council employs 220 social workers at

several offices, including this one in Bury St Edmunds. We had a very

successful year in 2013 and we are able to recruit 45 vacant social

work posts. Our service remains very busy and there will be further

recruitment that we are needing to do in 2014. Moving on to other

sectors, there are 32,000 more jobs in professional, scientific and

technical roles and 29,000 more in administrative and support roles.

The insurance broker Hastings Direct employs 250 people at its call

centre in Newmarket. It wants to take on 100 new staff this year and

is currently recruiting about half that number. We have 250 people here

in Newmarket. We are looking to grow by 44 new roles in various

departments, customer service, sales, back office. We need to do

that in the near future. One other trend ` women in the region have

benefited more from the drop in unemployment over the past year than

men. Well, one place where there has been

plenty of employment over the years has been Newmarket. Today, economic

experts worked out what the racing industry generates in terms of cash

and jobs for the town. Here are the numbers: Racing turns over ?208

million a year, an average of ?4 million every week. And it employs

8,500 workers. The independent report published today says the

money benefits the whole local economy.

It is the sport of kings and this is its factory. From farriers and

that's to the sales and scientific laboratories, not to mention two

world`class racecourses, the equine sector in and around Newmarket is

enormous. What we have had here in the last 15 years is an incredible

influx in investment from the Middle East, the Far East and into the

Newmarket area, into the stud farms, the stallions, as well as the horse

racing industry. You market has now become number one in the northern

hemisphere. Today we find out the financial importance of the equine

world. It generates ?208 million a year and is responsible for 8500

jobs, with trainers and stud farms the leading contributors. This that

is living proof of how the sport has expanded in the town. `` this vet.

We have been trying to build a big cost little for years. `` a big

hospital. We moved out in 2009 from our old premises to a large 15 acre

site on the edge of town. This report emphasises how important the

horse racing industry is to this part of the region. Its image and

reputation is crucial to its existence will stop of all the money

invested, how much is spent here? `` crucial to its existence. Some

businesses benefit. The subtle red shops, things like that. And

probably some of the town centre eateries and pubs. But retail as a

whole, we do not see the benefit. The racing industry and the yards

and trainers and studs have a moral obligation to support their town and

I feel as far as retail is concerned they do not support their town.

Until now, Newmarket's status as an equestrian powerhouse was assumed.

Now it has hard facts. Its financial value to those not associated with

the support is `` with the sport is still difficult to judge.

William Gittus is from the Newmarket Horseman's group which together with

the district council commissioned the report... He's in Cambridge now

There's been heavy traffic round the East of England Showground near

Peterborough today. How evenly is the money being shared

around? The claim that it is not contributing to the high street is

rather strange. The industry as you said earlier supports 8500 jobs.

Only about 3500 of those are direct employment. The rest of those at

indirect lament from expenditure from those people employed within

the industry and non`industry businesses `` indirect employment.

Whatever is generated by the industry stays within the industry,

that is the accusation. Where do people think those people paid in

the industry by their food, clothing? It is a wealthy industry.

You have got wealthy people at the top and it is supported by people

who are not played so well at the bottom, the stable hands. `` not

paid so well. That is an obvious point to make. But I think the

wealthy people at the top, as you call them, I would rather plan them

as benefactors. These people poured huge amounts of money into the

industry and the local economy. Newmarket would be a very different

place without the industry. I think without it Newmarket would become a

fairly boring unknown market town. Whereas as it is today, it is

unique, very special and has a fantastic environment and is known

worldwide for being a world leader in the sport. Thank you very much

indeed. There has been heavy traffic around the trade show today.

Visitors from around the world have descended on the venue to see the

latest in agricultural technology. The star exhibits include hi`tech

tractors and flying drones. Claire Marshall has been for a look round.

Farming does not get more glamorous than this. This show is the giant

sweet shop for tens of thousands of farmers from all over the world is

full of first up, designed and made in the UK. `` all over the world.

All I've our products utilise digital video cameras that look down

at the crop in front of the machine. The images are analysed by

a computer that finds at exactly the position of the plants. This is a

weedy field of brassicas. The camera comes down and if there are

weeds... It will cut the weeds between the rows of plants and

between the individual plants. Take a look at this crop sprayer. It will

set you back quite a lot. Its computer can tell you if you have

missed a bit. Its designers based in Lincolnshire. Do you think Britain

is leading the way? If people see that, they will buy it because it

goes a long way around the world. Everything we export we put a union

Jack on. Here is the latest machine to help the farmers, and amazing

tractor, so simple to drive, it is easy enough for an eight`year`old

boy... How things have changed.

Now farmers are even taking to the skies. This drone can get you any

information you need. We turn up to the farm and they tell us where they

want to fly, what information they want. Do they want to know where the

weeds are in their fields? We send these into the air and they have

specialist sensors on`board. We capture the imagery, extract the

formation and turn it back to them as data they can use to target their

application and improve their yields. Yield is what it is all

about. These machines have evolved from one thing, wanting to get more

and better from the land. Some lovely things there!

Letters take a look at the weather. A mixture of weather today. For this

evening, a few showers. Tracking east. For most of us, are largely

dry night. Clear spells developing. Mist and fog. Cold enough that the

`` that the touch of frost. It will stay quite cold. A band of early

rain will move across the region. Later on, it looks as though it will

get a bit brighter. This weather front quickly rattles across the

country. If you are up early, it might well be dry and bright first

thing. Quite quickly turning cloudy. A band of showery rain. There could

be heavy bursts. It clears quickly. A brisk north`westerly wind making

it feel cold. The sunshine is likely to come out, maybe making it feel a

little better. Certainly feeling colder than it did today. It looks

largely dry and bright in the afternoon. The skies will be

responsible for quite a sharp frost tomorrow night. The pressure pattern

is staying pretty unsettled. This is the pattern for Friday. The next

weather front bringing us a band of rain. Brisk westerly winds. Behind

me on the chart, that is the low coming Sunday. We are certainly not

having any respite from the rain. For Friday, looking like it has sped

up slightly. It might just be dry to start with. Quite quickly cloudy

with rain spreading in. Much of it out the way on Saturday. Saturday

looks like a better day. Gradually improving. A lot of cloud around but

not quite so cold. The sharp frost follows on Saturday. The next

weather front coming on Sunday. Whether staying very unsettled.

Thank you very much. We think. We will see you tomorrow

night. We all have hopes and fears

for the future