04/06/2014 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

Tonight: That is all from the

Just fourteen days old, Tiarna becomes the youngest baby in the

Guilty of murdering his wife because she'd become too westernised.

But Rania Alyed's body has never been found.

The schoolboy who led his fellow pupils to safety

The head of the North East Ambulance Service admits he doesn't

The latest in a series of special reports coming up.

And plans are announced for a new ?25 million hospital

In sport, the rain forces yet another draw

And with just over a week to the World Cup we go back to where it all

began for the Wearside footballer flying the flag for the North East!

Tiarna Middleton, just fourteen days old and from

Gateshead has become the youngest baby in the world to be supported

Her parents and doctors at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle

are now desperately hoping the device can keep her alive until

Let's go live now to the Freeman where a news conference

about Tiarna's progress finished a short time ago.

The next 48 hours are crucial for Tiarna, anything could happen.

She was delivered by caesarean section on May 22nd, weighing 5lbs

8oz with an extremely rare heart condition, after she born her

She was put on the urgent transplant list.

And yesterday at just 13 days old doctors here at the Freeman Hospital

fitted her with a small artificial heart, known as a Berlin heart.

Earlier, I spoke to her parents Sharney and Gary from Rowlands Gill

Tiarna just had an operation a couple of days and go, yesterday,

She has had a Berlin heart fitted to try to extend her life,

We are just hoping that she recovers well and she gets a heart

Just taking each day as it comes, just taking every hour by every

This operation to get the heart fitted means that...

Tiarna is the youngest baby in the world to be fitted with

The surgeon who carried out the operation said he had no option.

The operation is difficult for several reasons.

It is probably the smallest baby on the ward.

Also, you have to adapt the heart to receive the pipes for the Berlin

heart, so you have to do a lot of modification to make sure it fits.

Everyone is praying that the device will help Tiarna to live long enough

to get the heart transplant she so desperately needs. Her parents have

launched a petition to get more people to become organ donors.

A soldier has died and two others have been injured in an accident at

Details are still sketchy, but let's cross to Peter Harris

This happened at 11am this morning. We understand a vehicle has rolled

over, we don't know what type of vehicle that was. The Air Ambulance

was called in and confirmed that are a soldier died at the scene and we

believe a second casualties was airlifted out. There is a third

casualty that was treated at the scene. The army have confirmed that

a soldier has died in the incident and that it is now under

investigation. Thank you, Peter.

She fled from the violence in Syria, and headed for Teesside

Rania Alayed later moved to Greater Manchester with her three children.

Last June, she vanished and her body has never been found.

But today, after four days of deliberation,

a jury found her husband Ahmed Al`Khatib guilty of murder.

Police believe he dumped Rania's remains somewhere near the A19

Manchester Crown Court heard Al`Khatib killed the 25`year`old

mother of three, because she'd become "too westernised".

Her husband was jealous, violent and controlling. When she eventually

walked out, he lowered her and her children to his Salford flat where

he killed her. TRANSLATION: I told her elder son that his mother is in

heaven. He asked me for binoculars as he believed he could see his

mother between the stars. She had already endured years of domestic

abuse. She asks for help from police and a solicitor, but then moved to

Greater Manchester. She began taking English classes, making female and

male friends. It enraged her husband. After killing her at his

flat, he donned a headscarf to pass himself off as his wife and messaged

her friends and family to convince them he she was still alive. But his

brother admitted that they drove her body north and she was buried

somewhere here. Police still don't know where. It may sound silly, I

have added to this `` I have had dreams, it sounds stupid, but it

gets into your site, you are thinking about it. The jury...

He and another brother were found guilty of perverting the course of

justice. Ahmed Al`Khatib had claimed he was mentally ill when he killed

Rania Alayed, seeing her as an evil spirits, the jury did not believe

him. He picks and chooses when he wants to be saying. All three men

will be sentenced later, but Rania Alayed's family still have nobody to

lay to rest. We're getting reports that a flight

from Paphos to Newcastle has been diverted to severe airport because

of an unspecified emergency. The plane is a Boeing 757 and was due to

arrive at 2025 in Newcastle. There has been no comment from jet to or

Newcastle airport. It's emerged that a teenager

on one of the two school buses that crashed in Stanley yesterday played

a crucial part in getting Ryan Robson, a pupil at

St Bede's School in Lanchester, was also the first person to alert

the emergency services. Ryan Robson is

a reserved 14`year`old schoolboy. Yesterday, though,

he was anything but reserved. He was the first person to call 999

after two school buses collided He helped the injured, opened

the damaged doors of his bus and There was a lot of screaming and

crying and freaking out. That is when I thought, well, there has to

be something that leads them out, so I thought, well, I have to try and

do something. I led them out. 28 pupils were treated

after the crash. A 12`year`old boy remains

in hospital with serious facial Ryan was unscathed,

although a friend nearby was jolted I heard her scream and I looked

around, my friend was covered in blood. It was all down her top.

For Ryan's Dad, his son's behaviour came as no surprise.

I'm really proud of what he did. It really makes me think that he

achieved a lot by helping other people. Is it in his character to do

that? Yes, he has always been a lovable character and helps out when

he can. Yes, it is in character. Durham Constabulary are examining

the two buses, but have yet to interview the two drivers.

An open verdict has been recorded at the inquest into the death of

a County Durham teacher whose body was found washed up on a beach.

50`year`old Mark Bushnell, who was deputy head at Durham School,

His car was found at a cliff`top car park and his body was found

The inquest heard he died by drowning.

Coronor Andrew Tweddle said he could not be certain whether Mr Bushnell

had killed him self or had died accidentally.

Two brothers carried out a cowardly, shocking and brutal attack

on a well`known Hartlepool boxer, taking turns to strike him

That's what a jury's been told at the trial of two men accused of

He'd been out at a New Year's Eve Party in Hartlepool

when it's claimed he was the victim of the violent attack.

Half`brothers David Sowerby and Anthony Middleton deny murder.

Mark Denton was, the court heard, a successful amateur boxer who was

He was said to be in a good mood when he went out with his girlfriend

on New Year's Eve and there was no hint of trouble on the horizon.

When he arrived at this house in Hartlepool he walked

in shaking hands and saying hello to party goers.

But within minutes of going inside he'd suffered fatal injuries.

The victim, it was said, of a cowardly,

The prosecution said David Sowerby approached Mark Denton without

warning, produced an axe and struck him to the head in front

He then followed that up with repeated blows.

Despite his overwhelming injuries the court heard Mark Denton tried

But at that point they say Anthony Middleton took his turn, got the axe

Even when he collapsed to the floor, the attacks continued.

It was then said a witness claimed the pair left the

scene in triumphant mood and seemed happy with what they had done.

The prosecution believe David Sowerby had revenge

on his mind, after he'd argued with Mark Denton at another party in

Hartlepool some months earlier and had a burning sense of grievance.

Middleton they said ordered the axe of the internet,

During police interviews, he said he'd acted in self defence

after Mark Denton had attacked his half brother first.

Sowerby, they said, declined to answer any questions.

That, the prosecution says, was because there was nothing that

could be said to justify this unprovoked and deadly attack.

Both men deny murder and the trial continues tomorrow.

The head of the North East Ambulance Service has admitted he doesn't have

Simon Featherstone has told Look North he can't meet the demands

of every patient and difficult choices will have to be made

I'll be talking to Mr Featherstone live in the studio in a moment.

But first here's our health reporter Sharon Barbour

with the third of her special series of reports on what's going wrong

Each year, thousands of us remark to a parallax to save lives. ``

paramedics. The ambulance service is showing signs of a system out of

control and they are calling for help. This is a major issue, a major

failing in the NHS, the ambulance service is frankly hanging by a

thread. Tonight, the view from within, look North has learned that

the head of the North East Air Ambulance Service is losing his job.

Before he goes, he tells us what is going wrong. There are so many

pressures, one after another. From the control room, managers tell us

how pressures are getting to staff. Demand is astronomic. You don't know

how you will respond to all the patients. We hear about how making

decisions with the resources can lead to tears. We have to try to

respond to everybody, very difficult, very emotional. Often,

there are not enough ambulances and they are queued in a stack. I had 70

calls waiting to be dispatched. Among them, life`threatening

emergencies. When you hear the words, baby in crisis, you hang onto

that. The dispatcher burst into tears when they heard the baby had

gone into cardiac arrest. They don't get a chance to have any

respite. One job after another. What is going so wrong? The ambulance

service tells us there is not enough money to run the service. Maybe we

will have to face up to the fact that there is not sufficient

resource within the system and the politicians need to resolve the

issue. What if you don't get the cash? Well, ultimately, the end

product of that will be... If demand goes up by 5% every year, and I have

the same resources to deal with that, I will deal with the most

life`threatening people. I will save as many lives as I possibly can, and

others will not get the quality of service that they would like. In the

meantime, thoughts turn to radical new ways of working, telling those

who are not at risk of dying that any ambulance might take some time.

This vehicle will take 60 minutes to come to you. What do you say? We

will respond as soon as we can. And ambulance is on its way. It is not

acceptable. They need our help. It is disappointing when we cannot gets

to everybody. That is because they prioritise getting to those whose

lives are in danger. In real emergencies, the ambulance service

is the quickest in England, but the many patients kept waiting

paramedics and call centre staff are under such pressure and something

must be done urgently. What we are seeing is rising demand, following

resources, and the downside of all of is deteriorating response times,

that is why I once the debate in Parliament, the Government needs to

address the fundamental problems. David Cameron has promised an

investigation into the ambulance service's response times.

Well, we saw Simon Featherstone in Sharon's report,

Can a start by saying what admiration I have for the staff?

These people are highly dedicated professionals who very calmly go

about their business 24`hour was a day. The circumstances we are in is

not a crisis, I think that is an overstatement. The situation is that

in the year ending March, the North East ambulance service responded the

best time in life`threatening circumstances in England. I am proud

of that. But we often hear cases of being left for hours, sometimes in

the streets. It is true to say that there are limited resources

available. The NHS and the ambulance service are seeing is the man's rise

by about 5% per year and the NHS budget is protected by politicians

of whatever political hue they come from. But it is only protected in

real terms, not in terms of the activity which is constantly hitting

the NHS at large. Whether it is the ambulance service or the acute

hospital trusts or primary care whether practitioners are and other

community workers, they are all under increasing pressure and we're

trying to work as smoothly as possible. Everyone is working flat

out, but the Government said it gave ?40 million extra funding to the

service in December. Where did that go? It went to the services across

the country. Did you buy front line staff? We did some interesting

things with the money to try and alleviate the demands. Front line

staff is what is needed according to your staff. That would be helpful.

Did it go there? We need to prioritise... But is the money being

spent on management instead front line staff? No, it's been spent on

people that can help us manage demand differently. That is what it

was spent on. Thank you very much. People in the North East have the

lowest, but fastest growing, incomes Disposable household income,

that's money left after tax and benefits, have been taken

into account and was ?14,393 in the North East on average, almost ?3,000

less than England as a whole. But the region's disposable cash did

grow by 4% from 2011, Well, we stay on health now because

the trust that runs Northumberland's hospitals has announced it's

building a new hospital in Berwick. And the ?25 million it will cost to

build is being loaned to Northumbria Healthcare Trust

by Northumberland County Council. The new hospital will be built

on the site of the present Berwick Infirmary with healthcare

continuing to be delivered Queen Victoria had barely settled on

the throne when this infirmary first opened its doors. It provides a

patient services like physiotherapy and chemotherapy. There is a minor

injuries clinic and a maternity unit. All of these services will

continue in a modern, state`of`the`art hospital. I think

it is fantastic. If they make the hospital better, it will be good for

the community. Darren has physiotherapy once a week after a

knee replacement operation. Living in Northumberland, he wants to be

treated close to home. The service is fantastic. I had a major

operation and would have had to travel to Newcastle every day which

is about 120 mile round trip. The facilities here are good, the staff

are fantastic. I can come here instead of going to Newcastle. New

hospitals don't come cheap, but they can be cheaper if the money can be

borrowed at the cheapest rate and the County Council can do that and

then load the funds to the trust. Without us providing finance, it

would delay the opportunity. Couldn't you spend the money filling

potholes or adult social care? It is a good question, but we did not have

the money physically, we have borrowed the money in order to lend

it. We could borrow it at a lesser rate. The lead medic admitted that

continuing to provide services while rebuilding the hospital will be

eight challenge. `` a challenge. I don't know how we will do it, but

they feel confident that they can do it. The site is quite spread out,

there are a number of buildings that aren't being used and presumably we

can work through those. I agree, that is the challenge. This is a

phased rebuild. It will take a while, it should be completed by

2018. England's footballers play

a friendly against Ecuador tonight They're stopping off in the United

States en route to the World Cup, In the squad is Celtic goalkeeper

Fraser Forster, from Hexham in Northumberland,

who may well get game time tonight. But the player most likely to fly

the North East flag in Brazil is a Wearsider,

who's one of two internationals to come out of the same school team,

as Jeff Brown reports. He left the dream of playing and

scoring in the Premier League. Then he made a ?20 million move to

Liverpool and help take them to within sight of the title and now he

is off to the World Cup and it all began for Jordan Henderson at

Farringdon community school. He was in the school team for three years.

We are so proud of him. He was such a dedicated life. `` lad. Anything

is possible with him, why not someone from Farringdon? And Jordan

is not the only England international. Scott also excelled

at cricket and he made his Ashes debut last winter. We try and

encourage all students to develop their talents. All students are

given the opportunity to do that. Jordan and Scott are exceptional

talents. They have the desire and passion and they just want to

achieve. The driver came from within. When you're watching them,

how will you feel? I will be watching them with my daughters and

I will be very proud and I will say, he used to be in my school team.

Come on, Jordan act Cricket finally

and Durham have lost six and a half days of action to the weather

so far this season and rain put paid to their hopes of beating Middlesex

at Chester le Street today. The home side were in poll position

on the final day after forcing the visitors to follow on, but the game

was abandoned early this afternoon we start with this view. The good

news is if you are out and about, you probably have a better chance of

seeing some brightness. A slowly improving picture. Overnight, we

will hang on to all of this cloud. There is no rain to come. There are

some misty and murky conditions. Temperatures in most places hold`up

in double figures, one or two dry areas in the South might get 27

eight Celsius. Eight grey start for most of us. The rain becomes much

more intermittent and patchy, gradually things start to dry up and

brighten up in the South. North Yorkshire will see the best of any

brightness, North Northumberland holds onto the damp weather longus.

We could see 17 Celsius in Sunderland. That is is looking for

tomorrow. Low`pressure edging away, leaving a quiet spell. By the time

we get to the weekend, this weather front has some will bear head that

could lead to some thundery downpours by the weekend. If you are

out and about, make the most of tomorrow's slow improvements, they

could she improved temperatures in Cumbria, 20 Celsius should feel

warmer and it will be warm on Saturday. Very humid and the risk of

heavy showers, maybe even some thunderstorms. A similar picture is

of the Pennines. Temperatures edging up into the high teens as we head

into Friday. The easterly breeze keeping easterly areas at its

cooler, on Saturday a risk of some heavy and thundery outbreaks of

rain. If you think you have the perfect June weather picture, we

would love to see it. All of the rules and regulations are on the

website. Sorry, I sneeze during your forecasts. It must be the wonderful

weather When the first travellers crossed

America, they were faced with this - The very nature of

the American personality was defined. Ray Mears explores

the land behind the Hollywood legend and discovers the wild

that made the West.