12/01/2012 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

Welcome to Look North. In tonight's programme, no repeats - a hostel

that housed a brutal rapist will reopen but not to male residents.

The fight for survival on the high street. A special report on the

changing face of shopping as retailers face their toughest new

year. Labour's health team claimed the

biggest shake-up in the NHS in decades will take vital money away

from patient care. How could she say no? A marriage

proposal with a difference in the middle of New York's Central Park.

And in sport, the Falcons' head coach pays the price for his team

It has emerged that the controversial hostel in Carlisle

will not reopen it to male residents after one of the brutally

raped a teenage girl. Mark Jackson who had been living in the Denton

Holme was jailed for 12 years. Many people living nearby what the

owners, Impact Housing, to close it that at a meeting last night they

claim it could be used for single homeless women instead.

Mark Jackson was a calculating criminal whose full history of

violence was not disclosed to Impact Housing who gave him a run

to the hostel. It revolted locals and demanded the hostel closed and

met last night to see what Impact Housing would do. One person who

met was Frank Beattie. People in the key minute to work really wary.

Paul Atkinson was a local councillor. He shares concerns and

wants more guarantees from Impact Housing. A breakdown of confidence

and this was something that was acknowledged by a Impact Housing.

We met last night. And if they are to continue with a change of use,

then they have an enormous task to build up any confidence and trust.

Many local people clearly feel vulnerable but some former

residents turned up last night to see how this former hostel in St

James' Road turned their lives around. The local community is now

suspicious but we have got a wonderful resource. Eight self-

contained flats built for the use of single people. We cannot waste

that resource. We are looking to use it for single women. We should

reassure the university to some degree.

Properties on the North Northumberland coast were shaken

this afternoon by what some residents feared was an earthquake.

Vibrations were felled from Berwick to Alnwick. The British Geological

Survey which monitors all seismic activity ruled it out saying a

sonic boom was probably responsible. The Ministry of Defence has

confirmed that an RAF Tornado was responsible, making pre-planned

supersonic runs over the North Sea. The RAF has apologised for any

inconvenience. The funeral took place today of the

County Durham shotgun killer, Michael Atherton. The 42-year-old

shot his partner, Susan McGoldrick along with her sister Alison

Turnbull and Nice Tanya Turnbull on New Year's Day. He then turned the

gun on himself. Five people have been arrested on

suspicion of murder after a teenager was assaulted in North

Tyneside. Rikki Todd was attacked outside the Halfway House in

Camperdown. He suffered serious head injuries and died in Royal

Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle three days later. Police today

arrested five teenagers. Earlier this week, we heard the

sound of optimism among retailers. Some shopping centres said they had

had a good Christmas but on the high street, the picture is not as

good. Look at these household names. Latest figures for Next, HMV, Game

and even Tesco also sales down. For others like John Lewis and Greggs

have done better but now we are into the harsh reality of January

and some experts are predicting a much harder time, even suggesting

the start of this year could turn out to be the toughest quarter that

ATMOSPHERIC MUSIC PLAYS there's a new mood on the high street.

Among shoppers, a new caution. A For the retailers, a deepening

anxiety and fears over their survival. I think all the retailers

will tell you it is quite a hard climate, challenging at the moment.

They have all worked hard to pull in the punters and get them to buy

things. Some major names have collapsed and the last 12 months

but if things were bad last year, the first quarter of this year may

prove to be one of the worst of many retailers have seen. I think

it will be the toughest quarter they have had for quite some time.

Retailers have been in boom up until the last two years for some

time. Now they really are struggling. But as shops close up,

well we have -- where will that leave our High Street? I don't

think the high street will be gone but I think it will change. It has

always been changing. But as city centres face tough times, for rural

areas, the picture is even worse. There is a limit in terms of the

number of people who will go to those locations. Something like 20%

of households have seen a reduction of income and that will probably be

more affecting people outside the city centres. Places like Ashington

could so far more. Part of the problem seems to be that an

increasing number of people are choosing to stay at home and do

their shopping online. It is a lot cheaper than coming into town on

bus fares and things like that. I shop online all the time. I tend to

go online and compare prices before I go in and buy the product. I like

the experience. Neil Matthews says only around 10%

of shopping is done on the internet. So it is only a part of the problem.

The forecast that delight have indicated, they say that there will

probably be a reduction in physical presence in the shops. Internet

shopping will increase by another 5%. Yes, a large about but not a

significant about overall. So what can be done to save our High

Streets? In Newcastle, they hope night-time shopping experiences

will boost trade. Making it more convenient for shoppers so they can

shop at their Leisure up until 8 o'clock Monday-Friday. Monument

movies, we ran that before Christmas, trying to attract more

shoppers in. And for individual retailers who may be in trouble,

the advice is to get help quickly. The worst thing is to bury your

head in the sand and pretend there is not a problem because it will

not go away. You need to resolve issues as soon as possible.

picture may look bleak. But the experts we spoke to spoke of the

positive as well. Historically low mortgage rates for mortgage holders.

-- low interest rates. As one door The Government has accused of

wasting money in the health service. Labour say the biggest shake-up in

the health service for decades will take vital money away from patient

care. Ministers say change is vital but today, Labour's entire health

team descended on Newcastle to This year, the North will seek

tours from Bruce Springsteen, Coldplay and the Foo Fighters but

this group have gone in first with their national tour and not a hit

album or single between them. On tour in Newcastle, Labour's shadow

health ministers as part of a national campaign against the

Government health bill. You could take the end out of NHS because we

will see a random decision -- take the National out of National Health

Service. Patients may be paying for things that other patients are

getting for free. GPs will be responsible for commissioning

health care and take over the �80 billion budget to do it. Primary

Care Trust and Strategic Health Authority is would be abolished and

a new organisation would be set up to reduce health inequalities. But

Labour says bureaucracy needed to make those changes will cost

Primary Care Trusts in the region of an extra �224 million over two

years. That is just criminal. To spend that money on back office

reorganisation at a time when every single penny is needed to maintain

standards of patient care. But the coalition supporters say the

changes will cut red tape. If we reduce bureaucracy, then the money

saved from that can be reinvested in health care. We are taking out

the bureaucracy. We think we are slim lining that and improving the

ability to deliver good quality health care for patients. Labour's

to art moves on leaving the voters to decide on who they trust --

The new Bishop of Durham has taken his seat in the House of Lords in a

ceremony dating back hundreds of years. Right Reverend Justin Welby

became a bishop last October and his position gives him an automatic

right to sit and vote on the bishop's bench in the House of

We wish him well. Still to come, the latest on the big changes at

the top as Falcons fight for survival in the Premiership. And as

preparations are made to commemorate its 150 up anniversary,

a special report on the north's worst coal pit disaster.

And high pressure is set to bring in some of fine days but also cold

night. Join me for the full If your neighbourhood was on a bus

route and is not any more, you are certainly not any more but a group

of elderly North Tyneside residents are fighting plans to withdraw

service from their estate. They say it will leave many of them

completely isolated and the extra detail into the community was less

than one-third of a mile. This is West Monkseaton, not really

a place for placards and clamouring protest. But for residents here,

they were spoiling for it. I will lead Brenda tell you. I am

infuriated. Absolutely infuriated. While? The bus that has served this

community for 15 years is about to be stopped. Its routes took it off

the main A192 and through a route through many other people lived. It

takes less than five minutes and the extra distance, just over 500

yards. From Sunday, the bus will stay on the main road instead.

cannot carry the groceries from the other side of the road which has a

very busy road, up to our homes. I wonder went where they go to if

they carry their groceries. We had a choice between a bus service

along a side road and a bus service along a main road. Unfortunately,

we cannot afford to do both. They should be in my position. I have a

Walker and I have to use it. It is impossible, we need this bus.

Campaigners say this is also about social isolation. In fact, this is

one of the rich the local authority subsidises precisely because it is

away from the main road. The company running it says it has a

lot of sympathy with that point of view. We fear that as bust

companies withdraw services and funding is cut, this will happen

more cross the North East. What we want to do is look at the whole way

bus services are planned and delivered so they run as a public

service which is what people expect them to be.

Expect to hear more later in the year. Too late for this service

It was the worst pit disaster in the region's history. 204 men and

boys died when the single shaft to New Hartley Pit near Blyth was

blocked, trapping them below ground. In the coming days, the terrible

events of January 16th, 1862 will be remembered in a series of events.

And, as Chris Storey explains in tonight's Look North Report, the

loss of life shocked Victorian Britain, and changed - forever -

150 years after the tragedy, Earsdon churchyard is peaceful in

the winter sun. Here lie most of the 204 souls lost in a disaster

which wiped out most of working male population of the nearby

village of New Hartley. For Major pumping been! In two, and went down

the shaft, hitting the cages, the men were in the cages, 199 men and

boys were trapped underground. rescuers were skilled men, but

hopes faded as they were driven back by poisoned gas. Overman James

Armour rallied his men in prayer, as the log found on his body

records. They did what they could to survive. This was bound, and it

appears to be that instead of using the food for the ponies, it may be

that they were eating the grain to sustain themselves underground.

Both shifts were trapped. No-one was saved. Families of men and boys

lay down together to await their end. James Armour was found with

his 14 year-old son clutched to his breast. Queen Victoria sent a

telegraph expressing her grief. 60,000 people watched the funeral

procession. We have got reports in the London Illustrated News of the

first hearse arriving here, for the first burial, and the cortege is

stretching all the way back to New -- New Hartley, and the last one

had not left the village of New Hartley when the first one arrived

at. The relief effort was unprecedented. Hartley's 103 widows

and 257 fatherless children did not starve. The Queen gave �200, the

Duke of Northumberland gave �300. By the April following, there was

�75,000 accumulated, which would be many millions nowadays. The inquest

recorded that the miners from inhalation of gas. But it was

Hartley's single shaft that doomed its men. Action was demanded.

did change the whole history of mining. An Act was introduced, the

law said that from that point on, there had to be at least a two

shafts, separated by 10 ft at strata, at every mind. The disaster

will be remembered this weekend, with tributes, music and verse.

widows of Hartley, the men and boys are dead. Take away your stumbling

Such a powerful story. And the images in that report come from the

Northumberland Archives at the Woodhorn Museum.

Sport now, and in rugby union, the Newcastle Falcons' head coach, Alan

Tait, has been sacked after 18 months in charge. The team is

rooted to the foot of the Premiership table, nine points

adrift of their nearest rivals. Last weekend's home defeat to

Exeter pushed them ever closer to relegation. Keith Akehurst is

outside the Kingston Park ground now. Well, we have been lucky we

have been allowed in, and it was a bad defeat to Exeter, the 16-10

home defeat flattered the Falcons, who didn't get out of their own

half in the first 15 minutes. With nine games left to save this season,

the owner has brought in a management team that has real

pedigree. Gary gold is the former South Africa assistant coach, and

he will be supported by Mark Ford, who until last month was the

England defence courage. The Falcons were used to the

champagne times. Cup winners, celebrity players - the talk of

rugby union. But the last few seasons have been a world away.

Under Alan Tait there was a final day reprieve from relegation last

season. They're now so far adrift at the bottom, some fans feel it's

an impossible task to escape the drop. The coach has paid the price.

After the game, he was examining his own position as much as

criticising the team, he said he would consider his own role, meet

with the owners. It turns out that decision was ultimately taken out

of his hands, but it is not surprising. The Falcons have turned

to South African national team assistant coach Gary Gold. He

helped London Irish to their only trophy success, the Powergen Cup

ten years ago. He'll be assisted by England's defence coach for the

past five seasons, Mike Ford. He lost that job after the recent

World Cup disappointment Down Under. You want to send out a message to

the supporters that we are not going down with a whimper, he is

committed to us, and as always with us, there is never a dull moment.

The Falcons don't have a league match for a month. So the new

coaches have time to train the players, with cup competitions in

the intervening weeks. With me now is Ian Smith, rugby union

commentator. What is your reaction to this? I think it was inevitable.

I interviewed him after the match against Exeter, he looked really

down in the dumps. He is a good man, he wears his heart on his sleeve.

It is difficult to motivate the team, it must be difficult for him

to try and lift those players again. And this new coaching team, how

good are they? They have worked at the top level. At the moment,

everybody is buoyed by the fact we have something different. People

are going to challenge something, it isn't another internal

appointment, somebody brought in from outside with new ideas, and I

think that is a positive message from the owner, that he actually

wants to invest. The big question all the fans want to know is, can

they stay up? Because they are nine points adrift. You get four points

for a win, so it sounds like a lot, but there are nine games left.

have got two home games, which we will be targeting, and two away

games against the other two relegation candidates. The last

game could be a decider. Falcons's next match is here at

home, a European game. That is on Sunday.

On to football, and this month's Wear-Tees FA Cup derby has been put

back a day. The fourth round tie between Sunderland and

Middlesbrough will now take place on Sunday, January the 29th,

kicking off at 1.30 in the afternoon. The Black Cats' Premier

League game against Norwich will now take place the following

Wednesday. On the transfer front, Carlisle

have completed a permanent deal for Sunderland midfielder, Liam Noble.

The 21 year-old's been on loan at Brunton Park for most of the past

year. It's a free transfer, but there is a sell-on clause.

And Middlesbrough are hoping to sign Coventry City's top scorer,

Lukas Jukevic, within the next 24 hours. This is Jukevic, scoring

against Boro, back in August. Coventry have just taken, on-loan,

the Manchester City striker, Alex Nimely, who recently had a similar

loan spell at the Riverside. Meanwhile, there's no further

movement on the future of Darlington Football Club - who

could be out of existence by the weekend. But, in an interview with

the BBC's Late Kick Off, which returns next Monday night, Raj

Singh - the chairman who put the Quakers into administration - aimed

a parting shot at the local council, for having suggested pop concerts

could have been a way to save the club. I listened to the leader of

the Council on the radio, and he said to people, they have planning

permission for concerts, they can did well by year, and over four

years that his 48 concept. No, that really said it all to me, because

these are the people I have been trying to do a deal with. When are

you going to play football? When is the pitch going to have time to

recover? That is where we are. Now, when a young woman from West

Cumbria was given the Christmas present of a trip to New York, she

had no idea the break could lead to her becoming part of an interent

sensation. Siobhan Byrne from Seaton was proposed to in a rather

unconventional way in the middle of Central Park - with a bit of help

from the locals. Alison Freeman reports.

Siobhan Byrne thought she was just going for a walk with her boyfriend

to take in the sights of New York. So when Central Park erupted into a

performance, the 26 -year-old had no idea what was about to happen.

was like, There is a flashbulb. I really like that kind of thing, I

wanted to stop and watch. Halfway through, he jumped in. I said, you

cannot, you have to know the dance moves. But he had all the moves

down. Then towards the end, the crowd parted, and he walked down

the middle, and that is when the penny dropped. I was like, oh, he

is going to propose! Did you know what your answer was going to be?

have always said that I would say no, so it wasn't an easy ride for

him. So he had to actually work for it. But as soon as he asked me, I

said yes. I had to, I love him, he did such a good job. Despite Peter

O'Donnell's very public display of affection, which has been viewed

online around the world online - he's too shy to give an interview.

This made it even more special for me, him being able to do this, in

front of so many people, and did get a reaction that he did really

well. And still that wasn't the end.

Peter, from Seaton, had designed the engagement ring himself. Do you

think you have found the most romantic man in Cumbria? I am

pretty sure I have, yes! What is the wedding reception going

to be like?! Are we going to be Take a look at this earlier today

in South Shields. It was bright and breezy, the grass is blowing in the

breeze, and despite that sunshine, even at this time of year, the sun

doesn't get that high above the horizon. It might look almost

spring-like, the waves lapping on the shore, but it definitely felt

like winter. That wind was coming down from the north. We had this

cold front sinking down from the north, taking with it a lot of rain,

and all the thicker cloud. High pressure building in behind it, but

all the thicker cloud was seeking a way to the south, leaving it

clearer skies. That is the scene this evening, into the night,

essentially dry and clear. Temperatures will drop overnight, a

fairly widespread frost. The other thing to watch out for, a few

missed and that fog patches, especially in the West. Maybe one

or two further east, perhaps along the Tyne valley. But they will be

the exception rather than the will, worth bearing in mind. -- rather

than the rule. Those mist and fog patches may persist it through the

morning, but they are the exception, most places are fine, dry and sunny.

The temperatures will struggle after that frosty start. The two

saving graces are that there will be plenty of sunshine for most

places, and the winds will be very light, as well. The high pressure

sets over the top of us over the weekend, we will be well into the

next working week before it eventually slides away and let so

these Atlantic fronts in Bonn the West. -- from the West.

Temperatures will drop sub-zero overnight, watch out for the odd

Nistor bald patch. For Cumbria as well, it is essentially the same,

temperatures dipping sub-zero most nights. Thanks to that lovely

sunset picture from Astrid. Keep Now for a last look at tonight's

headlines. Shares in Tesco plummeted today after the

supermarket issued its first profit warning in living memory.

And a hostel for homeless people in Carlisle will not reopen to male