20/08/2014 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

Hello and welcome to Wednesday's Look North.

Rape crisis workers welcome plans to re`investigate 11 alleged sdx

attacks previously discountdd by the police.

It's often a very positive experience to be

listened to again and think, at last I'm going to be belheved

Tributes to a Cumbrian man who fell to his death while working

It's obviously absolutely devastating for Eastbourne.

And I as the MP pass on the condolences of the whold town to

his friends and family in Ctmbria. It is a sad moment.

Three decades on ` we remember the siege of Easington,

one of the most bitter battles of the year`long miner?s strike

And a golden anniversary for the riding centre originally set

up to provide therapy for children living with polio.

In sport, we'll have the best of the `ction

And we'll catch up the gold medal`winning sprinter

who's passing on a few tips to the next generation.

Up to 11 alleged rape victils could have to undergo the trauma of

re`living what happened to them for a second time. It follows concerns

that their cases weren't properly dealt with by the police whdn their

attacks were first reported. An audit by Her Majesty's Inspdctorate

found Northumbria Police wrongly judged that "no crime" had been

committed after the allegathons were made. As we first reported late last

night a number of police officers involved in the cases have been

moved to other duties. Todax, Rape Crisis workers welcomed the news

that the investigations are to be re`opened. Alison Freeman rdports.

It's something we hope will never happen to us or our loved ones.

Being the victim of, and reporting a sex crime.

Here at Weardale Women in Need they provide support those

They say they welcome the re`examination of eleven

alleged rapes which were dedmed ?no crime? by Northumbria Policd.

It depends on the individual. It will be traumatic. But if there has

been a miscarriage of justice where the law has not been used to protect

them, it is often a positivd experience to be listen to `gain and

think, at last I am going to be believed and that last I will have

some justice. When a rape is reported to

police it's recorded as a crime It can then be ?no`crimed?

if the police judge that no crime This year 33 rapes that werd

reported to Northumbria Polhce After a review it has been found

that 11 of those have been incorrectly recorded

and need to be reinvestigatdd. The 15 officers who made

the original judgements havd been A number

of the alleged rapes happendd within existing relationships or where

the victim was drunk. There were a number of concdrned

women who reported rape who had had a great deal to drink. The following

day the police would intervhew the man and he would say she had

consented. When a female victim has had a huge amount to drink, they

don't have the capacity to consent or say no to sex. So each one of

them was a crime. They will look back at cases as far back as 20 1.

We will deal with their needs sympathetically, profession`lly and

support them through what troubles they have, and that includes the

investigations. We have also said, and have always done, investigations

to a high standard, everythhng done to a high level of detail and with

the utmost integrity. I will ensure these cases we have talked `bout fit

that bill. Alison Freeman joins me now. Alison,

how was it possible for the police to make what they admit could be

wrong decisions? They can be classed as no crime when

the alleged victim has their complaint or when the policd think

no crime has taken place. A lawyer we spoke to this afternoon wondering

if this is the thin end of the wedge when it comes to complaints that

need reinvestigating. We sotght the Rape Crisis worker who said some

victims will see this as a chance to get justice. But someone else said

these reinvestigation is will rely on the person who made the complaint

in the first place and some of them will have moved on and put ht behind

them. Police investigating the

disappearance of three brothers from Sunderland say all seven people

arrested in connection with the case have now been released on b`il. No

charges have been brought as inquiries continue. The boys were

found in Lancashire last Frhday The boys were found in Lanc`shire

last Friday. Tributes have been paid to

a Cumbrian man who's fallen to his death while working

on the fire`damaged pier 44`year`old Stephen Penrice

from Maryport fell from the main platform onto the beach

and suffered fatal head injtries. Fire swept through the peer in July

and within hours it was redtced to a skeleton. Stephen Penrice, `long

with others from Maryport w`s working on the restoration when he

felt late yesterday afternoon. A player with his local rug club, he

was hugely popular in his hometown. Never heard a wrong word ag`inst

anybody. He never did anythhng bad. It is a tragedy. The club is in

absolute shock. We cannot gdt over it. It has knocked everybodx

sideways. He was a great lad. I looked up to him all of my life

Great rugby player. He had ` lot of friends in Maryport and everybody

liked him. Stephen leaves a partner and two grown`up stepchildrdn. His

death has touched people in Eastbourne, touched by the work he

was doing. The work and the peer, everyone was trying to work on it.

It is very sad. When the fire happened it was lucky nobodx was

hurt and it is such a tragedy. That something like that had to happen.

Compounded with the tragedy yesterday evening, it has m`de

things difficult for people. The height of the season as well. The

tributes had not just come from his friends, given the fire has been

treated at the peer has been treated as arson, it is clear peopld in the

town say they hope Stephen Penrice and his fellow workers, a ddbt of

honour. The MP, Stephen Lloxd said he will assure the thoughts of

everyone with his family. Hd has been part of the team who h`s been

coming down and working herd for about seven or eight years. He will

have friends in the town as well has his colleagues. It is absolttely

devastating news for Eastbotrne and I as the MP pass on the condolences

of the whole town to his frhends and family. The police and Health and

Safety Executive are investhgating. Finding out how he fell to his

death, could take some time. Live now to our reporter, Claudia

Sirbayzis who's in Eastbourne for Claudia, this death has caused

quite a reaction there hasn't it? One tribute said, from southerners

to a northerner, rest in pe`ce. I spoke to somebody working in a shop

on the promenade this morning, who said lots of Stephen Penricd's

colleagues were coming down to the seafront. Then they felt

uncomfortable as a shock to be selling seaside memorabilia. So they

decided to close the shop, `nd they put up a sign saying they h`d closed

as a mark of respect but today the Stephen Penrice. Thanks verx much.

The people of Carlisle will tonight be able to see for themselvds the

detailed plans for redeveloping the city centre over the next 14 years.

The City Council says expansion of the shopping area is needed to fight

off competition from out of town centres and that could mean the

demolition of their own civhc centre, which has dominated the

skyline for more than 50 ye`rs. The plans will be available for scrutiny

by the public at the civic centre, the city's central library `nd

It's the UK's biggest indepdndent travel agent,

And now Sunderland`based Haxs Travel has taken

The company has become something of a Wearside success story with an

And that's projected to risd to ?1 billion by 2019.

Congratulations. Hays recruhts hundreds of the year and tr`ins them

in their own way. It is seen as a good, local employer. I havd always

loved trouble `` travel. I have always booked through Hays `nd it is

a fantastic 1p. It is local and not far from home. `` company. Ht is

really good because it is the largest independent travel `gency in

the UK and it is a local colpany. I did not want to sit in colldge all

of the time, I wanted to st`rt earning money and getting experience

as well. Hays is an accredited trainer, awarding NVQs and has to be

inspected by Ofsted. We had an Ofsted inspection last year and we

got a really good result. I was very proud of it. Hays goes from strength

to strength. Annual turnover last year was ?530 million. This year it

was excellent and ?50 million and within five years they hope to hit

?1 billion. What is this colpany doing right, when so many of the big

boys have been faltering? Wd are large so we can give good v`lue for

money. We have good buying power. But we are still personal and

independent. A lot of peopld realise if you go to the branch of ` big

tour operator, you are going to get something that is the tour

operator's products. When pdople come to us, we sell everyond. Three

quarters of a million peopld but the holidays with the company l`st year.

You could say the company h`s put Sunderland on the world map.

Still to come on Wednesday's Look North:

Mark Tulip with tonight's sports news.

Plus, celebrating a golden anniversary ` the riding centre

set up 50 years ago to provhde therapy for children with polio

I will be here where the we`ther forecast at the end of the news

30 years ago, a County Durham community w`s caught

up in one of the most bitter battles of the Miners' Strike.

One man's attempt to return to work in August 1984 sparked what some

It was a stand`off that went on for a fortnight

and left lasting scars in the community which still linger today.

Our Political Editor, Richard Moss, has been back to Easington Colliery

to hear from those who were involved for tonight's Look North report

High stakes, high tension hhgh feelings. Five months into the

strike, the scenes became common. But at this choleric, it had been

peaceful until a minor tried to return to work. Striking miners

gathered here under the impression police would bring the minor through

a back door. The pickets got angry and then anger turned to violence.

The atmosphere was electric, we knew there was going to be trouble. There

was a battle, it lasted a couple of hours, maybe a bit more. But the

police have their batons out and against that, once they werd raised,

the lads defended themselves. It was so unexpected, BBC crews only

arrived to film the aftermath and the injuries. But then what followed

was a fortnight of clashes `t the police sealed off the pit m`king it

hard for the NUM to bring in more pickets. The rights of movelent were

ignored. People were not allowed in or out of the village. We wdre not

allowed to get more pickets in an ordinary people going about their

business were turned back. For families of the miners, quidt

village became a battlefield. My friend opened her front door. She

lived on the front Road and although where was the police, shoulder to

shoulder outside her front door She just shut the door and brokd down.

The return to work of one m`n represented a symbolic victory for

the coal board and the government, even though it would take another

six months to defeat the NUL. The village closed in 1993. The village

has never recovered and divhsions persist. If you meet some of those

early strikebreakers, do yot talk to them? No, I wouldn't. Peopld don't,

they will pass them as if they were invisible. Once a, always a scab.

Some say those providing melories will not help the village c`rve out

a new future. It is important to respect and honour our heritage I

grew up here. But it is important not to dent morale when things are

starting to work in the north`east. We have hard`working, good`hearted,

community spirited people. Not just because of the industry, thdy were

like that before mining and after mining. But some don't want to

forget or forgive. Feeling ht the siege had turned out in a dhfferent

way, this community might still be mining and thriving.

It was set up to provide riding therapy

Now 50 years on the Washington Riding Centre is

These days, it provides horse riding lessons for both disabled

and able`bodied riders and ht's going from strength`to`strength

Mounting her horse, Fergus, Kirsty has been coming for the past 15

years. For four years of th`t as a disabled rider after being diagnosed

with MS. If I couldn't ride, I don't think how we would cope with my

illness. Being able to carrx on doing something I was always able to

do is fantastic. I need help to attack my horse up and I nedd help

getting on and off. There is always people around when I am ridhng in

case I have an accident. In 196 when the centre was first sdt up it

consisted of a field in South Shields. It moved here in 1877 and

now caters for over 100 dis`bled riders every week. This man has been

involved from the start and continues as the director. When we

got this place built, I project managed for 15 months. When we were

finished we had to have somdbody living on`site. I moved into the

bungalow. I have been here `ll of that time. I am getting to the time

when I should be retiring. The centre has been taking on

able`bodied riders since 2000 and has many more plans for the future

thanks to some funding. We `re going to take this area down and replace

it with purpose`built stablds. We will have a teaching area bdcause

what we find is when we are trying to teach people in wheelchahrs or

with limited mobility, if wd are teaching them grooming or t`cking

up, they are in a confined space in the stable, which could be

dangerous. But what will continue is the ethos is to enhance livds by

offering this unique form of therapy.

Time for the sport, what have you got?

Boro needed to bounce back from the disappointing defeat at Leeds but it

didn't look good when Seb Hhnes tripped Craig Davies in the area and

Davies got up to put Bolton ahead. Fortune favoured the Teessiders when

their former defender David Wheater's handball gifted them a

penalty just before half tile. Grant Leadbitter equalised from the spot

to his obvious delight. And it was three goals in four matches for

summer signing Kite in the second half ` a neat finish to hand Boro

in the second half ` a neat finish to hand Boro all three points.

at your best if promotion is to be a serious prospect. A rainbow at

Cheltenham had all sort of symbolism for Carlisle. Could this be a sign

of brighter things to come `fter three defeats in league and cup

Graham Kavanagh had his sidd fired up for the game and the Cambrians

could have won it. They even had the ball in the net but the offside flag

meant they had to settle for a goalless draw. According to the

papers this is the first tile Hartlepool have lost their first

three games of a Football Ldague season since 1950. Pools cotld have

that but Dagenham's second goal after the break was the classic

sucker punch. As for York Chty, rather than concede a stopp`ge time

goal they had to battle back from two goals down at home to C`mbridge.

Jake Hyde with the first and then eight minutes from time West

Fletcher equalised from the spot. 2`2 it finished.

But Berwick Rangers are out of the Scottish Challenge Ctp.

Lee Currie's last minute eqtaliser had taken the tie

However a Declan McManus hat`trick for

In other sport well done to Hartlepool swimmer Jemma Lowe who

helped Britain's mixed relax team to the gold medal

in the 4x100 metres event at the European Swimming Champhonships

One of the region's two medal whnners at

the European Athletics Championships has been on Tyneside today putting

Stockton sprinter Richard Khlty is gearing up for his appearance at

With the count down onto a great sporting weekend at the start of

September, Richard Kilty has returned to the region. He has had

an impressive season and became the six and good metres champion, won

Commonwealth games silver mddal for England and the gold medal last

weekend. He had plenty of thps for keen runners at a school holiday

club in Gateshead. With Rio coming up in 2016, we have the world

championships next year in Beijing and then the 2017 world

championships in London. Thhs will be the biggest three years of my

career. It has also been an emotional after his friend died in

the River Tees. This season is dedicated to him. I know he is

looking down and feeling happy. He will be competing alongside some of

the top athletes at the north city games, the day before the great

North run. I want it when I was 18 or 19 and I want it as a reserve. It

is going to be a massive ro`r from the crowd, so hopefully I c`n end my

season in style, run a quick time. He has run a lot of medals. Here

young athletes have been getting training from a champion sprinter

and on the 6th of September, 25 000 fans will get the opportunity to get

up close and purrs Sunil with some of the biggest names in athletics

when they take to the quayshde. `` personal.

Jade Jones has won a bronze medal at the IPC European athletics

Championships in Swansea. The feature race was won by

Australia with great Gatsby coming home at 12`1. Exciting finish.

A new season, a new squad, a new strip and a new pitch `

ready for anything the region's weather can hurl at it.

The mood was relaxed at this morning's photo call

but with the new Premiership rugby union campaign just over a fortnight

away Newcastle Falcons' plaxers know it's about to get serious.

Is I was in France over the last year. I spent the last two xears in

France. I was looking forward to getting experience in the

Premiership because I reckon right now is one of the most compdtitive

rugby clubs in Europe. I was keen to come over here and happy experience.

Much of the talk was about the new state of the art, artificial pitch.

A shrewd investment? Hopefully we will see more supporters through the

turnstiles because the pitch we had last year was an issue in cdrtain

games. It takes that out of the equation now, players can show off

their skills and we should see some better rugby. We can get thd

community more involved, Rugby club schools, universities playing here,

so there is an obvious commdrcial benefit. Next up, home friendlies

against Rotherham on Saturd`y and Edinburgh with the first le`gue

match at Leicester on set the sixth. `` September the 6th.

A cold night last night. Whdther from this morning. A double

rainbow. The headline for tomorrow, we are expecting patchy outbreaks of

rain so possibly the silver lining to the cloud will be more r`inbows.

This evening, just a few showers across the North East. Dry `nd clear

for most hard through the fhrst half of the night. Through the sdcond

half of the night, rain sprdads in through the North and West.

Widespread through dawn. Temperatures underneath the blanket

of rain will not be as low `s they were under clear skies last night.

Temperatures as low as around nine Celsius at their lowest at dawn

tomorrow. First thing tomorrow, more rain across much of the reghon.

Heavy at times across the Ctmbrian fells and the Yorkshire Dalds and

possibly thunder. Generally things will dry out as we head through the

afternoon. Dry spells and possibly sunshine, but breezy tomorrow from

the south`west. Temperatures still low for the time of year. They got

up to 1415 today, tomorrow ht is this the intending to be thd top

temperature in the East, maxbe 6 or 17 in Cumbria. If we pick up the

pressure sequence from tomorrow afternoon, low`pressure and another

week front slipping across the UK from the north and it stays cool but

Russia will rise from the South through Friday. `` pressure. The

Bank Holiday weekend starts off very well and with high`pressure sneaking

in, Sunday will be the best day of all three. Look to the West, rain

possibly coming in on bank holiday Monday.

A final look at the main stories. Militants have posted a viddo online

which appears to show the bdheading of your American journalist, Richard

Foley. And a Rape Crisis Ch`rity welcomes the news Northumbrhan

police will look into previous discounted allegations of r`pe.

We've got factory boys and butchers' apprentices and office clerks

Don't stop moving! If you go back you'll die!