01/07/2011 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

tonight's headlines: "Please stay away," the plea from

the villagers of Rothbury as the anniversary of the Raoul Moat

shootings approaches. It was a sequence of tragic events. Let's

remember the victims. The policeman shot and blinded by the gunman says

he will be remembering the man who did not survive. Some days my wife

reminds me I have survived. My turning-point was when I was able

to come back from the car, realising that I had died in the

car. Also tonight:

Burning a hole - this fire control centre has never been used and it

is still costing the taxpayer millions of pounds.

And another joint operation for a husband and wife team with a

special bond. In sport, the French Revolution

continues at St James's Park. And golf's world number two joins

forces with a new course in It is a year since a former

nightclub bouncer from Newcastle decided on a terrible course of

revenge. And within a week the name of Raoul Moat would be known around

the world. It was a week in which he shot his former girlfriend,

killed her new partner and blinded a police officer. The country's

biggest manhunt began, ending with Moat's death in a picturesque

Northumberland village. Rothbury became the focus of the world's

media. Since then, it has worked hard to regain normality. But

throughout the past year, it has seen a host of day-trippers who

want to visit the riverside site when Moat met his end. Villagers

say they cannot stop it happening but they are pleading with anyone

who wants to mark the anniversary to stay away.

This is a village that prides itself on remembering, remembering

the good, the great and the glorious. But what it does not want

to remember is the grim. But are there are those who do. The site

where Raoul Moat died was visited by a number of people on what would

have been his birthday. The flowers they left were quickly removed. And

villagers are now expecting more of the same. It is something they are

treading. The villagers are sick of it. They really are. They cannot

see there is any need for it whatsoever. The world knows we had

an incident here last year that we as a community want to forget. We

want to put it behind us. We cannot change what happened. We can go on.

In the next few days, you will have people turning up there. Indeed.

They came last weekend, I think it was last Thursday or Friday evening,

to lay a floral tribute. But I would ask people, if they want to

do that, do it elsewhere. Why does anybody want to remember a

murderer? I think that is wrong. If anybody has to be remembered that

it was a sequence of tragic events. Let's remember the victims. Does

anyone ever say anything to the people when they bring flowers?

think a lot of the Times, people feel intimidated because usually it

can be a large group, as happened last year, in the aftermath. If you

are just on your own or a couple working -- and walking past, you do

not want to say anything because you do not know what is going to

happen. You feel threatened? would not say it threatened but it

is at the back of your mind. Peter and the rest of the people here had

hoped the Riverside could have been cordoned off on the anniversary of

Moat's death but the police and county councils say that will not

happen. While the events of July last year have filled acres and

acres of newsprint, there is still one question which remains

unanswered. Were the Taser guns the police officers fired responsible

for the death of Raoul Moat? We should have the answer soon, when

an inquest is held into Moat's death. At the time, the Tasers were

still being evaluated by Government scientists and had not been given a

Home Office approval. It is the only part of the story

still to be told, exactly what happened when hours of negotiations

went nowhere. Can everyone move back? Moat had shot himself dead

but was it his decision to pull the trigger or did his finger tighten

on the trigger as a result of a powerful electric Tasers shock?

This was a police demonstration of a Taser. It looks like a toy pistol

but the 50,000 volts it delivers disables a target with what is

known as muscular incapacitation. Tasers are used by every police

force in the country but there are big differences in how often each

force either fires them or threatens to fire them in ought to

subdue some body. The latest Home Office figures show that in the

cause of one year, North Yorkshire deployed Tasers 12 times. In

Cleveland, the figure was 32. In Cumbria it was 41 times. In Durham

it was 78. But then we have Northumbria, where the figure was

348. The highest in the country. Higher, even, than the Met in

London. But the Taser used on Moat was not like this one. This is the

website of the company in Arizona that manufactures the sort of

weapon used to that night. This is the Taser cartridge itself. It can

be fired up to 100ft. Soap Moat was well within range of the armed

officers facing him. The charge is deployed for 22nd, long enough for

officers to have got to note and disarmed him. This weapons system

had never been used in this country before and it was not actually

approved for use in this country. Peter boatman was a director of the

British company which supplied the Tasers in question. Three months

later he was found dead. His licence to supply Tasers had been

revoked by the Home Office and an inquest into his death was told he

had been ashamed at what had happened. Although -- although the

tapes that have been supplies too big Northumbria force, the two

officers that fired at Moat had been drafted in from the West

Yorkshire force. The inquest will concentrate on what happened here

from the moments Moat found himself confronted by police officers. The

coroner will want to hear about what draining those two officers

had been given in the use of the Taser guns. The evidence could

determine what part Tasers play in the future for police forces

throughout the UK. The inquest will begin in September and take four

weeks. It will finally provide the answers Moat's family and the

police themselves have been waiting for.

Meanwhile, PC David Rathband, the police officer shot and blinded by

Raoul Moat, said he would be remembering Moat's other victims as

the anniversary approached. He has been taking part in a golf

tournament for his charity, the Blue Lamp Foundation. His caddie,

millionaire businessman Duncan Bannatyne, said PC Rathband was an

inspiration. Teeing off for a round of golf in

aid off his Blue Lamp charity, David Rathband has clearly lost so

much. And yet has much he wants to give. Mike turning point was when I

was able to come back from the car, realising that I had died in the

car. Anything else is a bonus. -- my turning point. I am still alive,

unlike Chris Brown, which is absolutely dreadful. My thoughts go

out to his family. And among the celebrity guests was a TV Dragon

Duncan Bannatyne, a patron of the foundation, and David's caddie for

the day. He has done so much and has kept his sense of humour. He is

fantastic. PC Rathband was a keen golfer before he was blinded and an

invitation to the World Blind Golf Championships was a turning-point

in his year. I think you realise, meeting 60 Blind golfers, that life

does not end when you lose your eyesight. I am here to enjoy and

hopefully leave a footprint for my life that somebody can look back on

and think, that is the policeman who did that charity and played

golf and climbed mountains, instead of, that was the policeman that got

blinded by the camera Raoul Moat. So a year on from that terrible

tragedy, PC David Rathband is proving that life goes on and that

for him at least, his days in the Police are looking for two men

after shop assistants were sprayed with ammonia during an armed

robbery on a jewellery shop. The thieves are thought to have escaped

with a large amount of diamonds at the David Hall store on Newcastle's

Gosforth High Street. After smashing into a cabinet

containing diamonds, the robbers attacked the staff. Everybody was

frightened and shaking. The man went inside the jewellery shop with

a hammer and smashed one of the windows and took all of the

diamonds. The staff were too upset to appear on camera but they told

us of the robbers had come in, smashed a glass door to get access

to diamonds and had then thrown ammonia into the faces of some of

their colleagues, which caused the choking effect. They then left the

shop and escaped a Ben Ali to a car park at the back. -- escaped up an

alley. The two male staff are being treated as a precaution.

Northumbria Police have yet to confirm the quantity or value of

the diamonds. Eyewitnesses say the thieves left carrying a bag. A

daylight raid is a shock. Really shocked, Gosforth High Street. The

most you get is a bit off road rage. We see them every day. We are

A pensioner has been taken to hospital after what is thought to

be a gas explosion at a house in Sunderland this morning. Fire crews

were called to Craigshaw Square at Hylton Castle just before 10:30am.

The 84 year-old woman is said to have suffered serious injuries and

a neighbour was treated at the scene for slight smoke inhalation.

Early indications suggest it was a domestic gas build up which caused

a explosion. We are still going through the investigation. There

was some heroic acts undertaken by neighbours to get the elderly lady

out and to hospital. Police have identified a woman

whose body was found in Northumberland. She was 45 year-old

Valerie Brown from Guide Post, who had been missing since Saturday.

Her body was found near the A 196 in Morpeth yesterday evening.

Police are not looking for anyone else in connection with the death.

A Chinese company has said it wants to take over Northumbrian Water.

The company says it is prepared to make a cash offer for business but

has not revealed how much it is prepared to pay. Analysts think it

will have to pay shareholders have to �5 a share. Motorists in

Middlesbrough can forward to a smoother ride this summer. That is

because the council has declared a zero-tolerance policy on potholes.

A new hotline means residents can report potholes as soon as they see

them, and the council has pledged to have the work done within three

days. Potholes - we hate them. They can

damage your tyres, bend your suspension and at worst, cause an

accident. Well, at last, Middlesbrough Council has the means

to do something about them. We have has received external funding of

nearly �250,000, which is specifically to repair roads after

the weather. We have done a lot already and we have also got a

footpath and road replacement programme to supplement this.

Tarmacking crews like these should be a familiar sight on the town's

pitted roads this summer. All the public has to do is pick up the

phone. The council says the hotline will allow the public to establish

its own priorities as to which potholes are in the most urgent

need of filling. When they received a call, they are pledging to do the

work within three days. But in difficult times, should potholing

be one of the council's priorities? Yes, because potholes can be a

hazard. We have to save money but this council, for the local people

driving around in potholes, yes. The council's Zero Tolerance

campaign will last for three months. 0800 013 6001 is the hotline number

the public needed to call. Crews will report back when they find the

carriageway in need of more Nearly �470 million down the drain.

Another �27 million to follow. And it comes just when we are all being

told to tighten our belts. The fire control centre in Durham was set up

by the previous government, as part of a plan to centralise our local

fire services. But the coalition has scrapped it and the building

has never been used but the rent still has to be paid. Now a new

report has condemned the whole project.

This is one of nine fire control centres around the country. It was

built against the wishes of our local fire services and now it

looks like it will never be used unless someone else can be

persuaded to take it over. Now the Audit Office has spent three months

producing a report into the project and it does not make for happy

reading. It has been a comprehensive failure, costing the

taxpayer at least �469 million, which has been wasted. No new

information technology system has been delivered and eight out of the

nine regional control centres up and down the country, purpose-built,

are empty and very expensive to run in the meantime. Expensive indeed -

�27 million of your money, to be exact. Imagine what you could buy

with that. All four Fire and Rescue services in the North East as well

as in the rest of the country will be facing cuts. �27 million locally

would finance front line fire- fighting posts, allow it to be to

safety, all of which will be impacted adversely over the next

four to five years. One of the criticisms of the building was that

it was over specialised. Now it is here and we are stuck with it is

difficult to envisage any other organisation being able to make use

of such a structure. Plenty more to come tonight: Her

husband a kidney - now they are cooking up a fundraising recipe

together. And with high pressure in charge over the weekend, it looks

like a dry one for most of us. Three years ago, Claire Green

donated one of her healthy kidneys to her husband, Philip, who had

kidney disease. The operation saved his life. Today, things are going

so well for the couple they have now embarked on their next joint

operation. We went to Redcar to check on their

progress. This is the last time we saw Philip

and Claire on our TV screens. It was the day before their operation.

And of these is today. We would like to declare the cafe open!

couple are run in the cafe together. Claire is front of house and Philip

is in the kitchen. Today is about giving something back as well. This

has always been a lifelong dream for myself. When art was made

redundant, my wife encouraged me to follow my dream and I think has

been the family we are, that is why renamed the cafe after our

daughters. We can support a charity which is nice and it means

something to us as well. It is just amazing. Phil was made redundant

and it is just nice to give something back. Something for it --

family orientated where we can all be involved. The kids can come

after school and we can give a donation to the kidney research

charity. And 40 pence from every bowl of chilli will be donated to

kidney Research UK. Why gilet? Well, it has got kidney beans in it, of

course! Good luck to Claire and Philip.

Today is the final day of the consultation into children's heart

services. And Newcastle's Freeman Hospital could be under threat. The

NHS plans to reduce the number of centres from 11 to six or seven,

across England and Wales. The review has set out four possible

options, one of which closes the unit at the Freeman and which has

sparked strong opposition. Nearly 2000 people across the North have

submitted responses to the consultation process. It is rather

simple. We provide services and some of the best quality Akram's

internationally. We have the infrastructure and we can develop

our services further. Provided the decisions are made on the evidence

available, we are confident we can take our services forward here.

A York painter who scandalised society with paintings of female

nudes is the subject of a new exhibition that attempts to restore

his reputation. William Etty was ostracised by the 19th century art

world because of his explicit canvases. But a major exhibition of

his work at York Art Gallery makes the claim that the paintings were

more than mere smut. William Etty is York's most famous

painter, made so by his subject matter - voluptuous, fleshy female

nudes that shocked his 19th century viewers. "Nakedness without purity

is offensive and indecent, and Mr Eddie's canvas is mere dirty

flesh," said the Times in 1822. -- Mr Etty's. But now we are being

asked to reconsider Etty's reputation. York Art Gallery is

exhibiting more than 100 of his paintings. Today we think there is

so much more to betty than just his nudes. He was actually a fantastic

painter. When you see he's realistic depictions of flesh, they

are so wonderfully detailed and he used his incredible colour and

really imaginative compositions. are we persuaded? It is fairly

obvious, the sensuousness and the quality of the flesh and the colour

that he has got. It seems to me that there were a lot of people

around, particularly men at the time, of course, thinking, oh good,

another picture of his to have a look at, it might be a little bit

naughty! Certainly in this drawing of the artist, Etty looks rather

lascivious. And the exhibition notes that his models were from

life classes, which it says he enjoyed visiting even into his

advancing years. I bet he did! But then he was gone, dying in 1849

aged 62, watching the sunset over the River Ouse. "Wonderful!

Wonderful! This death." he said. And here he lies, in the grounds of

St Olave's church, perhaps waiting for our judgment to be passed on

Not the sort of thing we usually have on Look North but we are on

later than usual! Time for sport and good news for

the England women's team. They beat New Zealand 2-1. They will be

singing tonight. Talking of singing, some new songs at St James'. They

are going to have to brush up on their language skills. Newcastle

have signed the their fourth French player of the summer. 18 year-old

midfielder Mehdi Abeid from French side Lens had a trial with the club

last season and has signed a five- year deal at St James' Park. The

France under-18 international joins countryman Yohan Cabaye, Sylvain

Marveaux and Demba Ba in Alan Pardew's new-look team. The world's

number two golfer, Lee Westwood, has become the attached tour

professional at Close House in Northumberland. Westwood played at

the official opening of the course in the Tyne Valley in May alongside

his pal Alan Shearer. The charity event raised well over �100,000 for

the Freeman Hospital's children's heart unit. Westwood is now hoping

his partnership with Close House will put the new course firmly on

the golfing map. That is the idea. I play golf around the world. Close

House's name will be mentioned. Northern England and the North East

get neglected a bit with golf in this country. It is over ten years

since it won just down the road from their. There are a few good

North East and golfers. They could be more with facilities like this

helping. Durham County Cricket Club has recorded an operating loss of

�938,000 for the last financial year. They do not accept -- expect

to see a return to profit until 2013. It moves away from

international cricket as a source of revenue. The club sought a 17 %

rise on the corporate and sponsorship rise and there are

plans to build a hotel. Durham have lost their Twenty20 clash tonight

and Yorkshire have set Northants a target of 144 in their day-night

game. The Middlesbrough Tees Pride 10km

road race returns for a sixth time this September. It is one of the

biggest sporting events for raising money for charities in the North.

This year organisers hope the largest number of entrants ever

will take part. Among them, a group of footballers raising funds for a

charity set up by a Boro legend. Professional athletes, fun runners

and charity mascots launched this year's Middlesbrough Tees Pride 10K

Road Race. Organisers expect this year's event in September will be

the biggest ever, with 5000 taking part. Last year, BBC Tees' very own

Gladiator, Diane Youdale, provided the warm-up. Among those pounding

the streets was the event Boro manager, Gordon Strachan. This year,

football will be represented by a more popular figures. It is a great

event. I have not run anything like the Great North Run or London

Marathon or anything similar but I took part in it last year and

thoroughly enjoyed the occasion. 6.2 miles is just about enough for

me. I hope I can manage the distance. I did a marathon last

year so I know the distance is OK. It is just the speed.

Middlesbrough's only captain to have lifted a major trophy is a

running in aid of the Finlay Cooper Fund. It was set up by his friend

and former Boro colleague Colin Cooper after his son died

tragically nine years ago. Fantastic, the charity that they

have put in place and raised so much money already for so many

local good causes. Colin rang me and caught me at a moment of

weakness. From the day of the race, there are a lot of people raising

money for charity. We say good luck to all of them. And if 10km is too

much for you, there is a 3km fun A fine, dry weekend for most of us.

Not record-breaking temperatures but not a lot of rain around. This

evening through the night, just the odd shower. Clear skies combining

with polite winter to lower temperatures. In single figures in

a few spots. A fine, dry largely a sunny start to Saturday morning.

Good spells of sunshine through most places in the morning. Cloud

bubbling up in the afternoon but any showers will be light and few

and far between. Most places bone dry. The wind is light and variable.

A shade cooler across the coast but good sunny spells on both

coastlines tomorrow afternoon. High pressure in charge at the tail end

of the week and right through the weekend as well. It does not look

that can be seen but it does enough to keep all those weather fronts at

bay and by Sunday we will see more in the wake of sunshine. More

weekend events. If you're joining us at the Classic Car Show on

Sunday, bring the sun cream. Into the beginning of the next working

week, it looks like we stay fine and dry. Pretty warm form Monday.

Andy Murray's dream of winning Wimbledon is over for another year.

He was knocked out in the men's semi-final by Rafael Nadal. The

Duke of Duchess of Cambridge have bee taking part in celebrations for

Canada Day. And, nearly a year after he was

shot and blinded by gunman Raoul Moat, PC David Rathband has been