27/01/2012 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

Welcome to Friday's BBC Look North. In the headlines: Jail for the

young driver who knocked down and killed a nine-year-old boy as he

played on a housing estate. Council cuts planned which will

affect some of the most vulnerable in our community. People will be

isolated and lonely. There is a lack of understanding all round.

Shock and disgust as vandals target a memorial to a soldier who helped

victims of the Holocaust. And we investigate sightings of the

world's largest owl on the loose in South Tyneside.

In sport, the region hosts three big derby matches this weekend but

only one of them will see the winner reach the fifth round of the

FA Cup. Will it be Middlesbrough or the Black Cats in Sunday's draw?

A pizza delivery driver is starting a prison sentence tonight after he

knocked down and killed a nine- year-old boy as he played on a

Teesside housing estate. James Burns, who is 19, was driving at

more than 50 mph when he drove into Brandon Maggs, who was crossing the

road on his scooter. The accident started at the start of the school

summer holidays and has led for calls for speed limits to be

reduced to 20 mph on our housing estates.

19-year-old James Burns was working as a pizza delivery driver when, on

15th July last year, he drove on to a housing estate. It was a late

summer's afternoon on a fine day at the start of the school holiday

season. He negotiated a bend at the same time as Brandon Maggs began to

cross the road on his scooter. He saw the boy and try to stop but

went into a skid. He could not avoid the collision. Brandon Maggs

suffered severe head injuries. Despite the help of paramedics and

the air ambulance, he was pronounced dead. The court was told

that James Burns must have been travelling at at least 51 mph, this

on a housing estate with a speed limit of 30 mph.

Sentencing him to three years of youth custody, the judge said that

this was an accident caused by excessive speed. He would have to

live with the fact that he had taken the life of a young boy with

great potential. Afterwards, Brandon's family had this to say

through a police liaison officer. Burns will now have time to reflect

on the consequences of his actions. I hope this sends a message out to

other young men of his age who think it is cool to drive in excess

of the speed limit, beyond their capabilities, and to treat built up

areas as a race track, with no thought for children playing in the

area. James Barnes says he does not know

why he was driving so fast. He has not been behind the wheel of a car

since. -- James Burns.

Local councils are cutting that their social care budget, which

pays for things like meals-on- wheels, day-care and home helps.

Darlington and Middlesbrough councils have already removed the

upper limits on some charges, while Northumbria and Cumbria --

Northumberland and Cumbria may follow suit. Charities say it

affects the most vulnerable people. Norma and Jean are on a regular

trip. They both live on their own in Darlington and can go days

without seeing anyone. But today is a good day because they are making

a trip to see friends at a day-care centre. Coming here is becoming

more expensive for both of them. A few months ago Jean was paying

nothing, now she has to stump up �60 a month.

Darlington, Middlesbrough and North Yorkshire have already scrapped

their weekly care charge limit. As budgets are squeezed, other

councils want to follow suit. Northumberland wants to scrap its

cap, and Cumbria council wants to remove the cap over the next three

years. I think it is a false economy. The councils will end up

paying more in the long run because people will be isolated and lonely.

There is a lack of understanding all round. At the local council,

they are facing nearly �11 million of cuts this year. They say they

have had no choice but to rip -- to increase charges because the

Government is not giving them enough money to cope with increased

demand. We have people with complex needs. We want people to remain in

the community in their own homes and, as far as possible, prevent

them from going into a hospital. There is a cost to that.

The Department of Health said that councils had a share of �7.2

billion, which means they have enough to maintain the current

levels of access and eligibility. You can see more on that on Sunday

Politics this Sunday at midday on BBC One.

A County Durham man has been charged with killing his baby son.

Charlie Cameron Clark lived in Gainford near Darlington with his

parents. He was five months old when he was admitted a hospital

with serious head injuries last year. He later died from his

injuries. Lee Clark, who is 27, was charged with manslaughter and is

due before Peterlee magistrates tomorrow.

A new drug treatment for children with leukaemia is being trialled at

a Newcastle hospital. 15 children will receive the treatment at the

Great North Children's Hospital. The trial will also run at four

other hospitals around the country. Specialists say that, while they

are hopeful of success, there is a long way to go. It has been years

in development. We had the first trials in adults. It takes years

for a drug to develop and I think we really have to see and learn how

to use them to see whether they make a difference. If we really see

that they make a difference, that is the time when I get excited

about it. Middlesbrough's Gallery of Modern

Art, MIMA, is celebrating its fifth anniversary this weekend. Another

reason for celebration - it has attracted more than 700,000

visitors since it opened. Currently about 125,000 people a year come to

see its exhibitions, around 15,000 more than the annual target. It is

also claimed that the gallery helps to maintain Teesside's economy.

Five years ago there was something of a debate over a MIMA - was it

too expensive? Was Middlesbrough the right place? Would people come?

Well, it seems that they have, more than 700,000 visitors. As a bonus,

MIMA is helping out the local economy, bringing in �1.3 million a

year. We do bring in a lot of money to the local economy, not just

Middlesbrough but the surrounding area. People visit as during the

day and sometimes stay overnight, combining as with other attractions

in the area. It has brought in a significant additional spend.

Perhaps the only argument that remains is that sometimes the

exhibitions are a little too obscure, not populist enough.

would love people to give us comments about what they want to

see. We are still evolving as an organisation and understanding what

people expect to see and want to see. This group seems to have no

problem. A weekly meeting for young children, getting them used to the

gallery experience. It is a fund group and it is always very

creative and enjoyable. You can hear, it is a lovely group to be

part of. It is gritting domestic -- getting the message out that we do

this, come along and enjoy it. children are encouraged to come

into the art gallery. They look at things and they know they have not

to touch. But they just really have a good time and thoroughly enjoy

themselves. After all the debate over MIMA, the building, the art,

the grants, that endorsement is surely something that cannot be

quibbled over. North Yorkshire police say they are

not ruling out the possibility that the vandalism of a sculpture in

Scarborough was an anti-Semitic attack. The artwork, known locally

as Freddie, is in the town's North Bay. Yellow paint was thrown over

it last night. It was named after Freddie Gilroy, a soldier who

helped to liberate Jews from Belsen concentration camp in World War Two.

Today is Holocaust Memorial Day. This is the scene that greeted

council cleaners this morning - a yellow gloss paint. As the Queen

has got to work, the residents reacted with outrage on Facebook

and Twitter. A local woman cash in her life savings to keep Freddie by

the sea. The attack has left her dismayed. I cannot believe it. I

just felt my heart dropping to my shoes. I said to my husband, we

will have to go down and see what has happened, although I did not

wish to see it at all. I felt too upset about it.

Freddie Gilroy was a coal miner turned soldier. He was one of the

first Allied troops to liberate the Belsen concentration camp. Marching

across northern Germany, he had little inkling of the horsey was to

uncover there. -- the horrors. There has been a lot of speculation

about why this has happened. Today is corrupt -- Holocaust Memorial

Day and yellow his a colour associated with the persecution of

the Jews. It is the colour of the start they were made to wear.

is disappointing but we will get past that. -- the colour of the

star they were made to wear. The police are keeping an open mind

as to the motive. They have certainly not ruled out an anti-

Semitic motivation. The clean-up took several theres but was

successful. -- several hours. Over 100 running enthusiast had

braved icy showers and wins to take part in the filming of a television

advert for Cumbrian sports manufacturer New Balance. It is

hoping to capitalise on the 22 of Olympics.

For what seemed like a hours today, scores of runners shivered they're

both good -- shivered their way through the filming of a television

advert for local company New Balance. We have to look at

everything that we do. We have to constantly keep pushing our

wonderful work forced for increased performance all the time. We swim

against the tide as a company but we make it work. It is possible to

do it what we do here in West Cumbria. We have proved that of the

last 30 years. They are hoping that the advert in

the run-up to the Olympics will pay dividends. On a bitterly cold might

be, you have to admire the determination of these runners,

many of whom are local. They are all standing around in freezing

cold winds. We wanted to employ people locally. It is freezing and

I am thinking, that 60 quid, maybe it is not worth it. If you are used

to running on the fells, you get used to the wind and the rain.

New Balance sponsor a number of Olympic hopefuls. Some people tend

-- some of them came to see how the factory is making their dreams are

possibilities. It is nice to see you're equipment made locally.

-- your equipment. Still to come - the pen friend --

pen friend, the cartoonist... I will be back with a full weekend

The party is trying to save Darlington Football Club have spent

the day in talks as a deadline nears. A consortium which wants to

put houses and a leisure facility on the stadium site and wants to

put the team on a smaller ground is thought to have held talks with

Darlington Council. Meanwhile, businessman Paul Wildes said he

would be meeting the chairman Reg Singh over a separate bid. A deal

must be reached by next week or Quakers will be liquidated.

A huge owl is on the loose in South Tyneside. It has attacked one local

birdwatcher and swooped at another group of people out on the Cleadon

Hills. It is an eagle owl, the world's largest owl, which is the

size of an eagle, with a 6ft wingspan. They are native to

northern Europe but are commonly kept in captivity in the UK. Our

reporter is at Boldon Flats nature reserve tonight. You would not miss

it, which you? No, and I have been nervously looking over my shoulder

but the story is that two weeks ago a local bird watcher was out here

at Boldon Flats. He had noticed that the wild fowl have started

going down in number. He was checking on the ducks and he felt a

bump on his back. He thought somebody was attacking him. He

turned around and there was a huge owl coming at him. Who has

apparently been in the area for a year, it escaped from captivity. We

have some pictures to tell you what eagle owls are all about. They are

a magnificent predator at the very top of the food chain. Powerful

enough to prey on foxes, small deer and other birds of prey. Eagle owls

are found across northern Europe and Asia. They are not native to

the UK but captive birds owned by falconers who all bird collections

have escaped and bred in the British countryside. This pair

nested in North Yorkshire for almost a decade where they fed

their young are largely on rabbits. But those in urban areas have more

limited food choices. Cats are potential victims, or the ducks on

the Boldon Flats nature reserve. Towns mean people and the potential

for conflict. A large and powerful bird with a

very distinctive ear tufts and that is important because these four

young people actually saw the bird on Cleadon Hills on Sunday night.

What happened next? We went to see the male and on the way through the

field, it was fairly dark and I noticed something appear on the

horizon. We saw the distinctive beers. We thought it was a dog. One

of us thought it was a wall. I will not tell you who! When we were

about ten feet away we realised just that it was a large bird of

prey. Its wingspan was as large as my arm span. It flew off. It

swooped over and landed next to the mill. We followed it and managed to

get a shot a bit from about six feet away. Then it flew off and

stripped back at us. We hit the floor as fast as we could! It came

out again. Might research on the internet... De owl has been on the

loose ball about a year. As yet, no attempts to recapture it.

The work of an award winning artist from Tyneside will soon be reaching

further afield. Paul Hutchinson works as a full-time illustrator,

captain some of the region's most famous faces. Now he has been asked

to help disadvantaged youngsters at the Ubuntu Education Project at

Port Elizabeth in South Africa. I just love people's faces. It is

nice to be able to focus in on some body. The digital world of artist

Paul Hutchinson in Whickham. It is a totally different world to be

very poor area of Port Elizabeth in South Africa. That is where Paul

has been asked to visit, to share his artistic talent. I love to see

kids enjoying themselves. The idea of going somewhere where kids

probably do not know what a caricatured years or do not know

much about art from other cultures, it would be great fun. And I am

encouraged to try it at. Certainly in South Africa it will be just pen

and paper and anything else that happens to be lying around, whether

it is stones or anything that happens to be lying around I am

happy to use. How will you help the children in Africa to draw? I am

interested to see what sort of things they like to draw. And

whether or not they are taught how to draw or whether they just have a

natural ability. That is the intriguing thing for me. Let's see

how you have done. Oh, wow! It is fantastic. It is really good.

Absolutely fantastic. Well done. so it is one he made earlier, but

the talent should shine through in South Africa.

There is lots, and I mean lots, of local interest in football this

weekend. This weekend is FA Cup weekend and

the biggest tie in our region is the Wear-Tees derby at the Stadium

of Light on Sunday afternoon. To mark the occasion, which set up a

unique live three-way link between Look North and the BBC's local

radio stations, which cover Sunderland and Middlesbrough. First

let's look ahead to the fourth round tie.

Sunderland are at home but in the Premier League team and unlike the

bra they are on a pretty good run at the moment but this is the FA

Cup and the Derby as well. -- the Boro. It will not be easy. If

Middlesbrough will be really up for it. We have to be up for it

ourselves. We desperately want to try to get through. You have had a

decent start to the year. We have hit a sticky patch of form and yet

sometimes derby games can be a bit of vote leveller. We need to go in

there and ask questions of them. Lee Cattermole, if he was not

playing for Sunderland he would be cheering on the Boro. I would love

to see them come back up, be where they have turned things round.

Things are going well and they have a good manager in Tony Mowbray.

Pat Small's counterpart as captain on Sunday will be his best mate,

Matthew Bates. It is something about growing up as kids we never

thought would really happen. I wish him all the best all the time and

it will be a great occasion but as soon as the whistle goes week will

be challenging each other. But we will share a coffee after the game.

Our two radio stations, BBC Tees and BBC Newcastle are in the middle

of their evening sports shows. We are interrupting for just a couple

of minutes. In a moment we will have to Teesside but first, in the

BBC Newcastle studio, Simon Pryde has with him the one time

Sunderland sticker that -- skipper, Gary Bennett. Plenty of Cup talk

already? Yes, since 5:30pm. We're here every night. They know nails

his colours to the Sunderland mask but you also have a stake in the

Boro side? You s, my son. I think Sunderland will win. I think we are

going into the game with a lot of confidence and we have to look at

Middlesbrough the last two or three games have been struggling to put a

result together. But form goes out the window but I think we have got

too much quality for them. So a Sunderland victory, your

confidently predicting? Yes, maybe 2-0 or 3-1. That has been the

general consensus, it has to be said. Premier League quality, at

home advantage, current form line all point towards a Sunderland

victory. Thank you. I am sure they will see Devenney on Teesside. Week

joined Mark and Craig. What is the feeling and the Boro camp? Boro had

nothing to lose. They are going in as the underdogs and great he did,

they will have a right good go. what does he know? They will attack

them and get at them and if they score the first goal and quiet and

the crowd down it could be a frustrating afternoon for them.

3,000 Boro fans going. Could have been a lot more. Should have been a

lot more but I am sure there will be a fantastic atmosphere. I cannot

wait. And the new boy up front, he could make a difference? The yes,

we just expect the hat-trick of him and then everything will be rosy

again. So that is the way it looks here on Teesside. They might be

Premier League but it is a derby, it is a cup, I think we know what

is going to happen! Thank you to everyone at BBC Tees and BBC

Newcastle. Grit commentary on both Kick-off is at 1:30pm. And BBC

Newcastle will also have commentary on Newcastle versus Brighton

tomorrow at teatime. Magpies boss Alan Pardew knows all about the

Seagulls from his time at Crystal Palace and Southampton. He is aware

of the success in not get competition it's the season after

Brighton beat Sunderland in the League Cup before pushing Liverpool

very hard in the following round. They are a technical team. They are

not in your face. They pass it, they are patient, they try to work

at things. You have to admire that. It is hard to do that in the

Championship and get success. It would be nice to get as close as we

can to Europe in the league and have to have as big a Cup run as we

can have and this is a tough game. If we can get through this hurdle,

we will be looking for a home draw and see where it takes us.

second of this weekend's three regional football derbies sees the

newly reappointed Hartlepool boss Neale Cooper attempt to stop Greg

Abbott's Carlisle moving into the play-off positions at Victoria Park.

And the Conference Premier while sixth placed Gateshead entertain

Newport, many eyes will be on Darlington versus York City at the

Darlington arena, where hopes of saving their home club have risen

this week. There have been a couple of occasions where we have thought

this could be the last game so that sort of predicament has tended to

drift away now and we hope we will now concentrate on looking a bit

towards the future but we will not get too carried away until we know

exactly where we are. And away from football, can basketball's Durham

Wildcats hold themselves of the bottom of the BBL table after

giving Newcastle Eagles a scare last weekend? The Wildcats a rebate

tonight before entertaining Cheshire Jets tomorrow. On a Sunday

afternoon Newcastle Falcons' director of rugby Gary Gold takes

charge of his first home game against Sale in the LV= Cup.

I liked the radio link-up! Nice to see our colleagues!

It is the end of January, so we should not be too surprised. A cold

Tonight it is a widespread frost right across the North East and

Cumbria. A Met Office warning out for icy roads because we have had

some showers today and the ground might be damp or wet and make

freeze over fairly readily. As we had through the evening and

overnight, the last remnants of today's showers clear away and it

is dry and clear through the night. Since the reformers places. Fairly

icy in places. One or two mist or fog patches forming. Temperatures

down to minus one or minus two Celsius. One or two coastal areas

across the North Yorkshire coast for instance escaping a frost maybe

with an onshore breeze. A gold stock for most of us tomorrow, a

frosty start for many but a dry bright one. Any mist clearing by

the afternoon and then they rarely a cloud in the sky. -- barely a

cloud in the sky. Sunny but not warm. Temperatures struggle up to

five, maybe six Celsius at best, low forties Fahrenheit. As we head

through the weekend, a bit of a tug-of-war going on. These weather

fronts trying to bring it milder, windy and wetter weather in from

the West, a cold easterly wind coming in from the Continent trying

to keep that lot at bay. Where they meet up they could well be some

snow. At some places it made well be in to the working week. Saturday

is dry, bright but cold, more cloud around for Sunday, still on the