17/04/2012 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

tonight's headlines: Claims that children's lives may be

at risk because the nearest emergency help is barred from

treating them. We've an exclusive report.

Case closed. Despair for the family of the toddler from Hartlepool who

went missing in Germany 30 years ago. I am absolutely gutted. I am

horrified. Things are happening even now that just added to the

areas that were in the very beginning when Katrice was not

given that fair chance. And Bought for the nation. And St

Cuthbert's 1300 year old Gospels will return to Durham.

And the story of Leo who's leading a campaign to challenge people's

attitudes to disfigurement. In Sport a big night for two of our

promotion play-off hopefuls. And edging closer to Champions

League football but did the Magpies It's a situation no one likes to

think of, a medical emergency involving a child. A desperate need

for trained medical help. But that's at the heart of concern in

the North East and Cumbria tonight. The age of the child might mean

they aren't allowed help from the nearest source - a so-called

ambulance first responder. There are fears the policy is risking

lives. Our Health Reporter Sharon Barbour has this exclusive report.

When 999 is dialled time is critical. First responders like

David can arrive quickly and give vital life saving help to

critically ill patients - until an ambulance arrives. But in Cumbria

if the patient in danger is a child, first responders can't be sent. A

policy David thinks may be putting children's lives at risk. Sometimes

the ambulances can't get to our area for 30 minutes. There is not

one available at Penrith, or they have to come from Keswick or

Carlisle. That could make a substantial difference if it was a

really life threatening incident. What would be the worst case

scenario of this policy? A child will die summer. There are no

national guidelines on first responders treating children.

Ambulance services themselves can decide what is best. In Cumbria

that policy states first responders cannot treat children under 12.

Those working in the North East Ambulance Service can't treat

anyone under 16. The ambulance services say this is because the

first responders are not paramedics. They don't have the specialist

equipment and are not trained to treat children, which can be also

be very traumatic. David has contacted MP and he is hopeful of

changing the rules in Cumbria and possibly the country. This is a

very important issue because the ambulance service, especially in a

remote area like Cumbria, has to rely more on volunteers. I have

like to see a situation where the training and equipment is there,

and then maybe we can share that with the rest of the country.

the meantime, David remains on call, ready to save lives. If it is a

child's life in danger, as he can't go, he hopes that an ambulance will

not be too far away. She disappeared from a supermarket

in Germany on her second birthday. Katrice Lee from Hartlepool went

missing on an army base in Paderborn where her father was

stationed in 1981. For three decades her family have campaigned

and staged numerous appeals to find their missing daughter. But now

they have been told the police in Germany have closed the case and

given up any chance of ever finding her. Stuart Whincup reports.

Katrice's parents have always believed she was abducted from the

supermarket and brought up by another family. They say the police

search was incompetent and investigation filled with the

stakes. 31 years on, her family have been told that police in Jo

May have closed the case. The search for their daughter is over.

-- in Germany. I am gutted. I am horrified. Things are happening

even now that just add to the areas that were in the very beginning,

where Katrice was not given that fair chance. It has become a

catalogue of errors. The police always believed Katrice drowned in

the nearby river but the data was terrified of water and would have

had to walk 250 yards down a busy road to get to the river. No body

was ever found but within hours of her disappearance, police were

telling reporters it had been a tragic accident. Border patrols

were not warned about a missing child for the first 24 hours and it

was six weeks before staff at the shop where she went missing were

actually questioned. At the end of the day, what we are after is my

daughter, getting Katrice back. I am totting up the faults that the

Royal Military Police are guilty off. They have asked Richard to

give investigators time. He says he has waited 30 years and is no

nearer to finding his daughter. Stuart joins us from the BBC TV's

newsroom. We know that the Royal Military Police are reinvestigating

this case. What have they had to say? They have told Richard that if

they find any fault with the original investigation, they will

be open and honest about what has happened. In terms of the police in

Germany closing the case, they say that if they find any new evidence,

then they will pass it on to the authorities, and encourage them to

A man is in hospital in Newcastle after he was shot in the arm

yesterday evening. The 24-year-old, who hasn't been named, was injured

with what's thought to be a handgun in the Monkchester Road area of

Walker. Several roads were closed as police carried out house to

house enquiries. Police say it's not thought to have been a random

attack, and they don't believe there's a threat to the wider

public. The man's injuries are not life-threatening.

Two York nurseries which were being investigated over the care and

supervision they give to children have been given the all clear from

Ofsted. At one point during the eight-month investigation, six

members of staff were arrested after complaints about Little Joe's

and Heworth House nurseries. The police action was later dropped.

In a big vote of confidence for the North, one of the world's oldest

books will be displayed for half the year in Durham. The Saint

Cuthbert Gospel is 1300 years old and was bought by the British

Library for �9 million. It'll be exhibited in Durham alongside the

famous Lindisfarne Gospels next summer. Our News Correspondent

Adrian Pitches is on Palace Green in Durham now.

It was at Durham Cathedral that St Cuthbert was finally laid to rest,

400 years after his death. His coffin was opened when he was laid

to rest in 1104, and various relics were taken out, including this copy

of St John's Gospel. It was stored here, but then following the

dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VII, it was stolen and

fell into private hands. It has finally been brought by the British

Library for �9 million. It is a great cause for celebration This

simple leather-bound volume is a hand-written copy of St John's

Gospel, transcribed by a Northumbrian monk 1300 years ago.

That it has survived intact down the centuries is a miracle. But

then it was placed in the coffin of a saint.

It is of unparalleled significance. It is the oldest surviving intact

Western book. Both the contents and the binding, which is particularly

beautiful. It is an intrinsic link to the establishment of

Christianity in the North East through St Cuthbert and the other

northern saints. It took 400 years for Cuthbert to reach his final

resting place. He died in 687 and his tomb on Lindisfarne became a

place of pilgrimage. But Viking attacks forced the monks to flee

and they wandered the North with Cuthbert's coffin, settling at

Chester-le-Street for a century or more. They then moved to Durham to

build the cathedral where Cuthbert was finally laid to rest in 1104.

900 years on, the tomb of St Cuthbert's remains the focal point

of Durham Cathedral. 900 years after he was laid to rest, the

Gospel of St Cuthbert, placed in his coffin, has been reunited with

his spiritual home. It is so good to think that a manuscript with

such strong Durham connections can come back to the region regularly.

We are particularly excited about its first outing, which is proposed

to be next summer, 2013, when it will sit alongside the Lindisfarne

Gospels. Two Gospels that have their origin in the North East will

come back and be sitting The richly illustrated Lindisfarne Gospels are

only rarely allowed out of the British Library in London. Their

three-month loan to Durham University next summer, alongside

St Cuthbert's Gospel, will be their first appearance in their native

region since the beginning of the Millennium.

That is great news, but I am going to ask you the question. Is there

any chance of the Lindisfarne Gospels coming back permanently?

That is the great hope, but sadly I think the answer is no. The

Lindisfarne Gospels are richly illustrated, painted and they fade

in daylight and a committee at the British Library has decided that

they cannot be safely stored anywhere other than at the British

Library. They will be loaned to Durham University next July, 2013,

but then they will go back to the British Library. Thank you. Dashing

hopes across the region. You can see what people are saying about

this story on our Facebook page. The extent of drug problems in

Durham prison has been revealed in an official report. More than a

third of inmates say it's easy to get drugs inside. Some said they'd

developed an addiction while being there and one in five failed random

tests. The report by the Chief Inspector of Prisons says the

problem needs to be tackled. A prison spokesperson said robust

supply reduction measures have been introduced.

A remote Cumbrian village which has been without mains electricity

since Christmas looks set to be running on generators for the

forseeable future. Drilling to lay a new cable began last month on the

road to Wasdale Head but it's been halted because of dense underground

rock. Electricity North West says it's now trying to find another

solution. The UK Independence Party has

launched its manifesto for next month's local elections. The party

launched its campaign in Carlisle but it's contesting 29 seats across

the North East and Cumbria. UKIP say they'd withdraw from the EU and

cut down on council waste. We are not just a one-trick pony.

We have a whole raft of policies that we want to put forward, both

locally and nationally. Yes, we believe that our following is

increasing all the time because people can save and read more and

more exactly what we are doing. -- can see.

He suffered severe burns as a child and was so badly disfigured he

would cry himself to sleep. Leo Gormley was 14 when an accident

with a can of petrol changed his life. But now Leo, from County

Durham, is heading a campaign urging a change in attitudes to

people with facial injuries. He spoke to Peter Harris. The worst

thing that happened around that time was the woman in a doctor's

surgery, who asked me after I had sat down, if I wouldn't mind moving

because I was upsetting her young daughter. In the early days I spent

a lot of time sitting in the house because I was afraid to go out. I

was afraid of the Commons, the staring, the name-calling. -- the

comments. I used to cry myself to sleep. You ask yourself if you are

going to spend the rest of your days sitting in a chair, whether I

am going to throw myself off the nearest bridge, whether I am going

to go out and face the world and get on with it. Before the accident,

Leo had had a normal childhood. That was in 1965. Even now people

stare, and sometimes there is abuse. You still see people who will stare

and stare and forget to stop. Occasionally I will comment, say

something, stare back. The most disarming thing is to smile at

somebody staring at you. Now Leo is using his experiences in a film

being shown at hundreds of cinemas for the Changing Faces Industry.

The film industry, if they want their villain, will give him a

scarf. You are early. A sorry! It portrays anybody with a

disfigurement or visible difference, for that matter, as evil, a recluse,

morally bankrupt. The longer that Hollywood image is portrayed, and

then the worst it gets. Raising awareness is vital for me.

You're watching Look North. Coming up next: Whitehaven's plans to host

World Cup rugby hang in the balance. We've an exclusive report. And

later: It's billed as the British comedy of the year. Meet the

Northumberland novelist who penned Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.

great surprises in the forecast, but will you get the sunshine all

the showers? -- or the showers? The future of Whitehaven's new

Rugby League stadium and its role in next year's World Cup are

understood to be once again hanging in the balance. In October it was

announced that Whitehaven would play host to Rugby League World Cup

games. But last month's problems negotiating the price to be paid

for using the access land owned by the Whitehaven Miners Social

Welfare club almost caused the plan to collapse. An agreement was

however made. Now it's feared problems negotiating the lease

could stop the project in its tracks. Alison Freeman has this

exclusive report. It has a strong tradition across

all ages in West Cumbria, but once again, plans for Whitehaven's new

rugby league stadium are on shaky ground. If this venue does not go

ahead soon, the town will not play host to two rugby league World Cup

games next year or the Scottish national team. It will cause some

problems and the foundation because we take rugby league into the

schools. That is our job, what we do, and we have lots of things

planned for the World Cup. If the stadium is not going to be there

than we have some problems because there will be no teams. It will not

do rugby league in the area much good. The problem lies with the

access land to the stadium, owned by the Whitehaven miners Social

Welfare Club. Last month, problems agreeing a price for using it

nearly halted the project. Despite financial terms being sorted out,

we have been told they are now problems agreeing the terms of the

Easement. The White Haven miners told us they fully support the

stadium and were not aware of any problems. They also say they

submitted a document containing 40 points on which they were seeking

clarification only, and were not making demands. The council, which

is part of the partnership behind the build, would not comment on

what was causing a hold up. In a statement, they said the stadium

partners were meeting tonight to discuss the legal document. The

reality is that time is running out. If an agreement cannot be reached

quickly between both sides, then the stadium will not be built in

time for next year's World Cup. That means Whitehaven will lose out

on the prestige and the economic benefits being part of a world

event would have given them. It's been billed as the British

comedy of the year and it stars Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt.

Salmon Fishing In The Yemen opens at cinemas this week. It's based on

the best-selling novel of the same name by Paul Torday, who's from

Northumberland. Sharuna Sagar went to meet him near his home in the

Tyne Valley for tonight's Look North Report.

Dear Dr Jones. I act on behalf of a client was substantial funds who

has her desire to introduce salmon into the Yemen. If you want to pour

money down the drain, buy yourself a football club! I never expected

the film to be exactly like the book. The film is the film and the

book is the book, but actually I really enjoyed what I saw of it

when I watched the Cup. I also found it fascinating watching the

actors working on the set on the day when I went to see them. She is

expecting me. Call me Harriet. is a great cast and I think we were

very lucky to get them. Yes, in my opinion, they did do justice to the

characters. As I say, they made them their own. When you went to

see the film, the rough cut, was there anything that surprised or

delighted you about what you were seeing on the screen? One of the

major differences was that in my book, I had written about a spin-

doctor in Downing Street, who was a man. They turn that around and made

it a woman, played by Kristin Scott Thomas, who is hilarious in that

part. She really brings it to life. I'm working on it right now. I may

have come up with something that you will like. We need a good news

story from the Middle East. Get on with it. That was a surprise and it

was so different to what I had written but it fitted in and it

worked. Her hair is impressive, isn't it? It is! Everything about

her is impressive. There are 2 billion fishermen in the UK.

billion? Waving little rods around? This book was written in 2007 and

since then I have written a number of books, so I am not really

expecting any of the others to be made into films, but one has been

optioned. Bill on the Landing, which Julian Fellowes has written

the screenplay for. Whether that will make it to the screen, I don't

know. You must be happy with this. I am delighted. One book becoming a

film is all you can ever expect and I am thrilled.

I intended to create a small miracle. Something to glorify God,

and bring our tribes together. Sometimes I wonder if we haven't

created something that glorify his man. Will you be sneaking into

cinemas, sitting at the back, watching people's reactions?

don't think so. I am definitely going to go and see it. It will

come to my local cinema in Hexham and I will be there. I look forward

to seeing the proper finished film, but once I have seen it once, that

will probably do me. If people clap at the end, I guess you can say

that she wrote it! I might do that but I probably won't. -- at that

you wrote it! That other one must be a hit if the

screenplay is by Julian Fellowes. If the screenplay is as good as the

book, then it must be great. really enjoyed it. Now focus on the

day job and get on with the sport! We will tell you about the big

challenge in a moment. A big night for Carlisle United and also

Middlesbrough. When Middlesbrough won at Doncaster

in the reverse fixture at the beginning of November, Tony

Mowbray's men were third in the table and looking good for

automatic promotion. Now five and a half months later, a top six finish

would be considered a major achievement. I hope Teesside turns

out on Tuesday night to drive us on to another three points. That will

lead us across to Saturday and Southampton will be coming to the

Riverside, looking to secure their promotion probably. It will be some

occasion, I think, with a striving to get into the top six. I am

looking forward to it but we have got Doncaster first on Tuesday and

we have to get three points. Mowbray will lose one of his

guiding lights in the summer. That Boro are still in with a chance of

the play-offs owes much to the sweet left foot of midfielder Barry

Robson. Unfortunately Barry Robson is leaving for Vancouver. We are

all hoping that we can finish the season strongly for him and see if

we can extend the season. It will be great for Barry Robson to leave

British football on a high and help us to get into the Premier League.

Meanwhile, the tough fixtures just keep on coming for Carlisle, who

are just one point off a play-off place in League One. After losing

to leaders Charlton, they have visits to promotion hopefuls

Stevenage tonight and Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend. Mark

Tulip, BBC Look North. Good luck to York city and Cambridge United

tonight as well. Newcastle United, of course, didn't

have a match at the weekend. But to keep things on track for a top four

finish, Alan Pardew has enlisted a group of winners to help the first

team's preparations. After all, having the right winning mentality

is so important, as Keith Akehurst's been finding out.

A different ball, a different net. Not so much a game of two halves,

but a game of two sports. Magpies versus Eagles. Football versus

basketball. A challenge match like no other. The unusual competition

was the idea of United manager Alan Pardew. A bonding session with a

difference for his team who are unexpectedly challenging for

Champions League football. And after Arsenal's defeat to Wigan

last night things might just be falling into place. The Eagles are

the region's most successful sports team. Regularly winning trophies.

This season so far, the League and two domestic cups. A winning

mentality that Pardew would like his players to copy. I thought it

was important for my players to understand what it means to be the

best and we have the best basketball team in a city round the

corner, then invited them in to take us on and we finished second

best, which I expected. Well done to them, another trophy. This will

go up among all the other trophies that we have. It is our city coming

together and all the sports coming together and paying homage to each

other and what we do. And the big things of bringing the city

together. It is fantastic. I am delighted to be here. Alan is being

humble. He allowed more players on the pitch! The camaraderie was

evident, the smiles almost ever present. The feel-good factor and

relaxation an unusual build-up to relieve some of the pressure ahead

of the final few games of the season. It was fun. The guys were

great and the coach was grateful to we had a good time. It is bigger

than our pitch and I was tired out there. We ran around with their

guides and had fun with the team mates. It was fun with the team.

Now one and has finished we have to refocus on the season again.

I'm sure we could put the Look North team together. Will you be

centre-forward? I will be the Yes, you could be caught out by

showers. This picture is one with a difference, it is seasonal. We

think lambs have a spring in their step, but this one is on the

trampoline! They are pet lambs. Thank you for that shot. Now our

more traditional photograph. It sums up the skies at the moment,

flatters of blue sky, but plenty of cloud. Thank you for that one.

There will be showers over the next few days. Feeling cool but to do

not have to rely on the flowers for bright as because there will be

sunny spells on the way. Where have they been this evening? Mostly in

the North East. Some showers in Cumbria, fading out overnight and

ending up mostly dry. With clear skies, temperatures will drop away

to two. It will be sheltered from the breeze in some places so there

will be grass frost. In some places, we start the day dry and bright in

the North and the rule of thumb is that the further North you are, the

more likely you are to avoid the showers. They will push into North

Yorkshire and work up to Northumberland by the end of the

day. Rain on the eastern side could be heavy, persistent and pretty

much in use since right the way through tomorrow afternoon. --

pretty much a nuisance. Temperatures no great shakes.

Breezes coming in of the sea tomorrow as well. In Cumbria,

temperatures will get between 10 and 11. What about the rest of the

week? We are stuck with low pressure through the day tomorrow.

You can see this secluded weather front is feeding into the rain and

it will take a liking to us on Thursday and Friday. It girls back

in, feeding in the showers continually, and the low pressure

is centred across us through the week. It will be pretty unsubtle.

Confirmation of that for the North East. Rain working through the

North East tomorrow. More showers on Thursday and Friday. They could

be heavy with a touch of thunder and hailing as well. Temperatures

will stay in double figures by the end of the week. In Cumbria, a

similar pattern. Showers all the time, but some writers in between,

right the way through to the end of the week. -- some brightness.

Thank you. Abu Qatada is heading back to jail

as the Government prepares to deport him.

And there are claims that children's lives could be at risk