09/09/2011 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

Welcome to Friday's Look North. In tonight's headlines: Fighting back.

The man called the laziest MP in Britain takes to the streets to

defend his reputation. Six women arrested in an inquiry

into two York nurseries. The last moments - a police

negotiator tells an inquest jury about the circumstances surrounding

Raoul Moat's death. And the moving story of the women

who all lost a child, but all gained a sister.

In sport, we'll be looking ahead to the best of the weekend action.

While Sunderland's latest signing prepares to make his debut, find

out what the manager thinks is He was knighted for services to

parliament but Middlesbrough's Sir Stuart Bell has been accused of

being the laziest MP in Britain. A local newspaper says his office

failed to answer 100 calls from a reporter over a three month-period.

That's led to painful headlines and awkward questions. But the Labour

MP insists he's not quitting, And today he was back on the streets.

Our Political Editor Richard Moss has spent the day with him and is

in Middlesbrough now. It has been a week to forget for

Stuart Bell. Some allegations have been thrown against him which are

true, that he pays �35,000 to be having his wife as constituency

secretary, or that he has not had a set -- constituency meeting for

four years, but what do we know about him? He was first elected in

Middlesbrough in 1983. He was knighted for services to Parliament

in 2004. He has paid -- been paid a basic salary of �65,000. But one

title someone to give him is Britain's laziest MP, something he

firmly rejects. And to prove his point, he allowed us to film him at

work in Middlesbrough this afternoon. If you read most papers

this week, you would think it was a rare sight, Sir Stuart Bell on the

streets he represents. He insists he is busy here every Friday. So

what does he make of been called Britain's laziest MP? It will not

look good on my tombstone or in my obituary, but it's totally untrue.

We work seven days a week and have done for 28 years, coming up to 30

soon. We have been re-elected seven times and had seven mandates from

the people of Middlesbrough and I live here and among them. The

people know what we do. We get on very well. And so begins a meeting

with a local charity. Sir Stuart doesn't hold surgeries after being

assaulted during one in 1997. This though is one of a series of

appointments he says have been arranged today, some with

constituents in their own homes. And he firmly denies this is a

stunt. I would be here today even if you weren't here. The next

meeting we have is a range, and this has been arranged for some

time. Every Friday I am on the housing estates. Come on down and

look around, I will see. Every Friday. We spend four days a week

in Middlesbrough. Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. As for the phone

calls from the local paper, Sir Stuart says his office has no

record of them. And Sir Stuart's constituents seem to be split on

his merits To his opponents this week, has made Sir Stuart look like

damaged goods, but the Middlesbrough MP insists he's still

a worthwhile investment for people in this town. The Evening Gazette

seem to be standing by their story. The Chief Whip had a stern

conversation with Sir Stuart Bell and has been asked to provide a

letter of explanation to the party leader, Ed Miliband. The

constituency in to beat split on his merits. I have heard people on

the radio having a go at him, but I think he has done all right. They

seem to vote him in every year, so he can't be that bad. A I don't

think it sounds very good. If he is representing the people he should

be available for them. We used to have a meeting where we lived, and

we try to get in touch with him, and we couldn't. You could never

get in touch with him. To his opponents, this week has made him

look like damaged goods. But the Middlesbrough MP insists he is a

worthwhile investment for people in this town. Stuart Bell told me this

afternoon he believes he has satisfied the Labour Party he is

doing his job properly. If that is the case, despite a horrible

headlines, he is likely to remain MP for Middlesbrough until at least

the next general election. A Durham Police officer and a staff

member have been accused of beating a man who was being held in police

custody. Sergeant Stephen Harvey, who's 50, and 60 year-old Detention

Officer Michael Mount have both been charged with two counts of

assault by beating. The alleged offence involves a 47-year-old man

at Peterlee Police Station last March. They're due before Teesside

Magistrates' Court next month. Six people who work at two

privately-owned children's nurseries in York have been

arrested by the police. The nurseries are Little Joes in

Fishergate and Heworth House in Melrosegate. It's part of a joint

investigation with the local council which has been on-going for

the last two weeks. A short time go, I spoke to John Cundy in York for

the latest. What we know it is that the six women who have been

arrested in the course of the last few days are all aged between 18

and 28. They have been arrested under the children and Young

Persons Act before been given police bail. The covers both of the

nurseries. The police are stressing that it is not an investigation

into any question of sexual or physical or mental abuse, but what

we understand is that the questions are connected with the possible

neglect of some children. We have already been previously told that

the investigation takes in the running of the nursery and the

quality and care and welfare of the 80 children affected by this

investigation. So nothing to specific at this stage? Other

police revealed any more details? - - have the police revealed? They

are stressing that in an investigation of this time it is

standard practice to make arrests where they believe that the fences

could have been committed, but they also stressed that should not be

taken as read that anything more sinister has been discovered in the

past fortnight of the investigation. Uppermost in everybody's minds are

the parents and the reaction of them today. There have not been too

many children at either of the nurseries today. They have remained

open throughout. The six people arrested, and originally suspended

by the employer, are not here. Nobody would speak on camera to us

today. Some said that they were being kept informed of Torpoint by

the city council who are in a joint investigation with the police. No

one is coming out in the open and saying anything specific about what

A Sunderland football fan who attacked Newcastle goalkeeper Steve

Harper during a derby match has been banned from games for three

years. Ross Miller, who's 17, pleaded guilty to going into the

playing area, a public order offence and common assault at the

Wear-Tyne match in January. He won't be allowed at any Sunderland

An elderly man and woman arrested in connection with the murder of

Hexham pensioner Judith Richardson have been eliminated from police

inquiries. Miss Richardson was found dead last month. The man,

who's 84, and the woman, who's 78, will no longer be required to

answer bail. 47-year-old Graeme Jarman from Consett's been charged

with her murder. For the first time, we've been told

about the moments surrounding the death of Raoul Moat. The account

came on the fifth day of the inquest into the death of the

gunman. It came from the police negotiator who spent more than six

hours trying to persuade Moat to give up his gun. Moat had shot and

injured his former partner Samantha Stobbart, shot dead her new

boyfriend Chris Brown - who Moat thought was a policeman - and shot

and blinded PC David Rathband. Our chief reporter Chris Stewart can

tell us more. Chris, we've never had a first-hand account before,

have we? No, we haven't. The officer was identified in code and

said he'd never come across anyone so determined to take his own life.

He said Raoul Moat was devastated when Samantha Stoppard had lied to

him. In the end, Raoul Moat took a few deep breaths, put the gun to

his temple and then came a pop. That was followed by a cry of pain

and the officer assumed he had missed but injured himself with the

first shot. Then came a second shot, and he fell backwards. Just before

he pulled the trigger he was asked if a call to Samantha would help,

and his last words were, "if I can believe her". We've heard tasers

were fired at Moat. What did the officer say about that? The officer

said he was, in the zone, as he described it. He did not hear or

see cases. The first knew about it was about 7 o'clock when he turned

on the television news in the morning.

Hundreds of people attended the funeral today of a union leader who

was instrumental in bringing steelmaking back to Teesside. Geoff

Waterfield died unexpectedly at the age of 43. He lobbied and pressured

politicians, companies, and even royalty over two and a half years

to try to save Corus's blast furnace in Redcar. Our Business

Correspondent Ian Reeve reports on his fight.

During the fight to save Teesside steel, there was one constant.

Union leader Jeff Waterfield, whose funeral took place this afternoon.

Hundreds came to say farewell. A passionate man who loved his

industry, who never thought the mothballing of his plant was the

end. I am not going to give up on one man, one family on this side.

We will fight to get what we need to get. And to get what he wanted,

a future for steel, he'd do anything. Ask for heavenly help and

even royal patronage. I asked him if he had a few quid or his mum had

a bit of cash. That didn't happen and mothballing went ahead. 1,600

people lost their jobs. We have got to look after the families and the

workforce over this weekend. It is a terrible time. But then the Thai

company SSI bought the plant and will create jobs, the relief was

palpable. It has been a long fight. We never stopped believing we would

get here and it is fantastic for everybody. It is a bit surreal,

really. It is sinking in now, I think. We did believe would get

here, we didn't know when, we were determined to get here.

terrible shame of course is that the great champion of Teesside

steel didn't live to see it coming out of his plant again. But when it

does it will in no small way be More than a month after a large

music festival was cancelled in the region and hundreds of people are

still waiting for thousands of pounds worth of refunds. Some have

even considered taking legal action to try and get their money back.

The Ignition festival was planned for 6th August at Newcastle

racecourse but at the 11th hour it was pulled. Adele Robinson reports.

Lisa bought two tickets for the Ignition Festival. She was promised

this and this, but instead, she got this. We are currently in

discussion with the remaining two websites. I don't care about the

talks, I want my money back. paid over �130 and is waiting for a

refund. I am really annoyed. It has taken far too long. If it is a

click of a button to pay them, why can't it be to get it back? Where

is the money? It is the same story for around 600 others, including

Jonathan from Barnard Castle who spent �70. The whole thing has been

very unprofessional and we wanted to get the money back. It is a

shame, because there is a demand in the north-east from music festival

that they were to one professional to organise it. The festival

organisers wanted it held on 6th August but low ticket sales and

critical cash flow issues meant it was cancelled two days before. The

racecourse say they did not profit from the festival. The racecourse

also told me they will continue to apply pressure to the festival

organisers to refund customers. However the organisers say they

cannot give a timescale on that but I still talking to two ticket

websites and can give further information after that. They also

want to reassure people that they are working very hard to resolve

this and are asking for patience and understanding in the process.

Lisa is climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in three weeks. After that, she

says, she will look into legal action. It would be good if one

person represented everybody. It will be harder getting the money

back of them than climbing Mount Now, an extraordinary story of

three women brought together by tragedy. They all lost a child, but

they all gained a sister. When charity worker Andrea Thompson

responded to Karine Atay's plea for help, she discovered that she was

actually her own sister and that she too had a terminally-ill child.

A third sister, Anne-Marie Parkinson, had suffered the same

tragedy. Adrian Pitches went to Sisters reunited, with photos of

the children they loved and lost. Andrea's teenage son Jordan had

leukaemia. Karine's two-year-old daughter Sophie had another cancer,

neuroblastoma. And Anne-Marie's three-year-old son Jack died from a

rare genetic disorder. Jordan Thompson was an inspirational

teenager, a talented footballer who helped other children with cancer.

His mother set up the Toma Fund to provide financial support for the

families of these children. And Karine Atay approached the fund for

help as she sought to raise the money for her daughter's treatment

in America. I found out that, in fact, Andrea was my sister, which

was amazing, because it was another sister for me, which is lovely, but

also Andrea had been through a loss of her own. Her child had had

cancer and she had lost person. was really so real and unbelievable.

Mixed emotions, wanting to wrap my arms around her and say it was all

right, but knowing I couldn't, because I didn't know if it would

be. The one thing I wanted was Andrea to meet Sophy. It was

emotional, because so she did not have long. Karine introduced Andrea

to her other sister, Anne-Marie, who had also suffered the loss of a

child. We have all grown up differently, in different families.

But we have come together and we have this link but I am sure hardly

anybody would have. All would would Dave -- or would they want to be in

this situation, but the least we have each other and we understand

what we will always go through. Toma Fund now has three champions,

all with intense personal experience. Their charity will help

families across the North East and Cumbria struggling to cope with a

child with a life-limiting illness. Sophie will be the face for the

north-east, and Jordan will be the face for the children within the

fund that won't have children and Thank goodness they found each

other. It's one of the finest music venues in the North and over the

years it's played host to the likes of the Beatles and Cliff Richard.

And this weekend, Newcastle City Hall is throwing open its doors as

part of a Heritage Open day event. A exhibition about its colourful

past will also be on show. Sharuna Sagar has been looking back for

It is more intimate than the arenas of today and is loved all the more

for it. From the time it opened in 1927, Newcastle City Hall has

continued to attract nearly all the greats to Tyneside. From the late

50s onwards, jazz was the big thing, with American stars such as Count

Basie, Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington performed here many times.

And jazz nut Ian Miller saw them all from his particular vantage

point. This is where I used to sit over 50 years ago and apart from it

being the cheapest seats, you work in the band. I saw everybody at the

time, in particular Dave Brubeck. I used to choose to sit here because

I was behind the piano. I felt as though I was playing along with

Dave Brubeck and no one else could see what he was doing. As the 60s

progressed, pop and rock ruled. Fans queued around the block to get

their chance to scream at their idols, in this case, the Rolling

Stones. And of course, the Beatles were huge. Lennon and McCartney

wrote She Loves You during one of their visits here. The tune could

have been written about Elaine Collins and her obsession with glam

rock. And 1972 was the first major time here. I saw Slade, David

Bailey, Roxy Music, Gary Glitter, all the glam rockers. -- David

Bowley. I counted all my concert tickets, and there was 272. I was

usually sitting in the same seat. Beating the attendance record is

Peter Brennan, and that is because he has been in charge here since

1981. You've been here 30 years, say you are basically married to

the city hall. That is what my wife says. What sticks in your mind?

Noddy Holder came on foreign on court dressed as Father Christmas,

started the song and the entire audience was bouncing up and down

and as they bounced, the balcony moved -- Noddy Holder came on for

an encore. Afterwards we had to have a structural survey done. But

My first concert was there, and I cannot remember if it was Big

Country or haircut 100. For me, it was Sparked in 1974. That takes me

back. With Newcastle not taking on Joey Barton's QPR until Monday

night, Sunderland will have centre- stage to themselves tomorrow. Both

the Black Cats, and last season's runners-up, Chelsea, will be

without key strikers. Asamoah Gyan and Didier Drogba are injured. That

may give Gyan, Sunderland's record- signing, a chance to clear his head.

Sunderland's record signing has been distinctly out of sorts this

season. His club boss blames added interest from agents in the

Ghanaian striker since his goal against England in a friendly at

Wembley. Time to silence the rumour-mill. We have got to try and

put into bed. The window he's shut. Let's get on with him,

rehabilitating, and let's play some football. We know he's a very

talented player, but for me, as I said, he has had his head turned

and that has affected him. With Gyan nursing a thigh injury, all

eyes will be on deadline day loan signing Nicklas Bendtner, who

played under Bruce as a teenager at Birmingham and makes his debut

tomorrow. He had a bad car crash about 12 months ago, which shook

him up a bit. He hasn't really played a lot since, but he reminded

everyone of his ability the other night playing for Denmark. He was

absolutely fantastic and my European chief scout came back and

said, Steve, you have a top player on your hands. The omens for

tomorrow aren't good. After taking the lead against Chelsea in

February, Sunderland were eventually out-classed in a 4-2

defeat. But it's their home form in general since the turn of the year

that's the biggest concern, just two wins. Also missing tomorrow

will be this ex-Manchester United defender who would have relished

taking on one of the Premier League's big guns again In the

Last season they were flying, but then they tailed away. Maybe they

need to start slowly to finish where they were, but they have got

a good squad and they will be challenging. Sunderland scored

twice against Chelsea last season at the Stadium of Light and that

was not enough. Fans will hope with the arrival of Nicklas Bendtner,

the goal drought will be open up -- over. In the Championship, fourth-

placed Middlesbrough are away at Burnley. And much of Boro's success

this season has been down to two players who looked to be on their

way out of the Riverside, for most of the summer. He scored seven in

seven games this season, and now Marvin Emnes has been named the

Championship play-off of the month. A year ago he was not anywhere near

being picked, but under new boss Tony Mowbray, he has found form.

Helping lay on the goals is the Argentinian Julio Acre, who put

loyalty to the manager head off finance, which doesn't happen often

these days. It was something that was going on for weeks and months,

but at the end of the day I skied - - decided to stay because I have a

good relationship with the manager. He showed me respect. I probably

didn't get the deal I wanted, but might playing was in the balance,

and I could play here and play for good staff like this and for my

team mates, so everything, I think, he made me make the decision to

stay. Elsewhere tomorrow, our two League

One clubs go head-to-head at Brunton Park. Unbeaten Hartlepool

are the team in form. Last weekend's win over Exeter pushed

Mick Wadsworth's team up to sixth and into a play-off place. But

Carlisle lost their grip on the Johnstone's Paint Trophy at

Accrington on Wednesday, and go into the match on the back of three

straight defeats. Commentary on all those games on your BBC local radio

stations. Now, Rugby Union's World Cup kicked off today, the host

nation, New Zealand, beating Tonga by 41-10. England take on Argentina

at 9:30am tomorrow morning, our time. A few hours before that,

Northumberland referee Dave Pearson takes charge of the group game

between Romania and Scotland. The tournament runs until late

October, and with so many top players missing from Premiership

action, Newcastle Falcons are hoping the World Cup might work in

their favour. Tomorrow, they're away at Exeter. A lot of teams are

very strong still, even Leicester will have nine or 10 players away

at the World Cup but they will still be difficult to beat. They

are not as strong as they could be, but they still have a lot of

players at Exeter who could make the running. In cricket, Yorkshire

have given themselves an outside chance of winning their crucial

relegation game with Somerset. They are 70 runs behind on the first

innings and have reduced the innings and have reduced the

visitors to 124-6. If they don't win tomorrow Yorkshire will be

relegated to the second division. And it is not cricket whether

either. The word Hurricane has been mentioned in connection with the

weather. Yes, he has. All the details about that at the end of

the forecast. Don't get too concerned. There will not be a

hurricane here. We have a great picture to start of the forecast

and thank you very much to Sean who snapped this sunrise in the heart

of the city. The headline to go with it tomorrow is that it is a

dull start but it gets pretty warm later in the day. Through the

evening, dry in the north-east, but showery in the West and it turns

showery later tonight and then the shower spread eastwards at times

overnight. It is a grey and gloomy dawn with the temperatures very

mild, no lower than 13 or 14. The kind of temperatures we have had

during much of the daytime during this week, so I really mild start

of the day with southerly air bumping up the temperatures. From

Saturday morning there will be spells of sunshine in the north-

east and a lot of showers in the West and everywhere should start to

dry out a little bit by teatime. Let's take a tour through Saturday

and you will notice that the temperatures are mild for the time

of year. Quite possible in southerly breezes and it will feel

really warm, warmer than much of July and August. As we go towards

the West, dry for many places with the temperatures between about 18

and 19 up to 21, and low seventies and Fahrenheit. Unseasonably mild

tomorrow and the reason, tropical air driving the weather systems.

Let's take a little look at the next couple of days. Sunday, the

winds are picking up, over 20 mph across the region and stronger

across the coast and over hills. He will blow in another spell of wet

weather for the West with sunshine and showers for much of the north-

east. Hartlepool possibly getting a dry day but not ruling out showers

or Teesside. Looking at the big picture, Sunday lunchtime, moving

out the way you can see this beast out to the south-west, this is what

is left of the hurricane. It will not be a hurricane by the time it

gets to us but it will bring a lot of wind and wet-weather, gale-force

winds potentially across the north- east and overnight Sunday, into

Monday, heavy rainfall, and look at the squeeze on the isobars,

separating areas of pressure, think of that as driving winds. We will

really experience some strong wins first thing Monday morning and it

could be a tricky rush-hour. As I say, the remnants of the hurricane,