23/01/2014 Look North (Yorkshire)

shaking your head. That is horrible. That is all from the

Good evening and welcome to Look North.

On the programme tonight ` crash for cash ` the organiser behind the

Sheffield insurance scam in which a bus full of bogus passengers was

deliberately crashed into a car. To organise a bus driver to crush his

bus deliberately and to butcher friends that is to make claims is

audacious. We'll be speaking to an expert in the field of insurance.

Also tonight... Back at Doncaster Rovers ` Billy Sharp on loan until

the end of the season is still thankful to the club after the death

of his son. Jubilation for Educating Yorkshire

as the Thornhill Academy triumphs at the National Television Awards.

There is a lot of showers around tonight. Join me for a detailed

forecast later. Tonight, the story of how a gang of

ten people faked road crashes to claim half a million pounds in false

insurance claims. One bold scam in Sheffield involved the gang packing

a bus mainly with their stooges as passengers and then getting the

driver to deliberately crash into the back of a car. It triggered a

host of fraudulent claims. Our Crime Correspondent John Cundy explains

how the Sheffield crash was staged. This BBC reconstruction shows how

the scam was carried out. In this area of Sheffield a first boss

driven by this man who was part of a fraud drove into the back of a

Vauxhall car in a seemingly minor collision. What was suspicious about

this? Normally the first bus service would only have in carrying about

six passengers or so but on that occasion there were between 30 and

40 people on board and clearly they gang had recruited many of them. The

incident happened in June. We were told by the police that they were

certain the driver was involved in it. He had admitted his part in it

when he was arrested. He resigned from the company. It was shocking to

think that a driver could be involved in this. Jerry Higginbotham

was an innocent passenger on the bus that day. The guy beside me on the

boss told me it was a setup and as me if I would claim. He said they do

it all the time. All these people on the bus were involved. The organiser

of the bus was this man. 26 almost identical personal whiplash

insurance claims were filed through the company he ran. As well as

Sheffield, the gang had operated in Rotherham and Halifax but police

regarded this incident in Sheffield is particularly outrageous. It was

audacious. It spread across the country and is happening all across

the country but to organise a bus driver to crash as boss deliberately

and put your friends are not ours to make claims and defraud insurance

companies is audacious. Detect it is believed they broke up a gang who

had been operating crash or cash for big money. Sentencing is due

tomorrow. To talk more about the problem of

insurance fraud we're joined from our London studio by Ian Crowder

from the AA. A bus crash for cash but how unusual is something like

this? Unfortunately it is not. It is increasingly common in the insurance

market. People make money from this. But we are the innocent people who

pay our premiums because ultimately what happens is that claims of this

sort, if they do not go detected, end up finding their way through to

the premiums that you pay. It seems that the public has a lot to offer

in telling about these scams. If they have knowledge they should

report them? That is correct. In this particular case it is shocking

because there have been some cases for their help in serious injuries

in attempts to organise cash or crash. Whiplash injuries which these

people claim for is very difficult to detect because it cannot be

picked up on scams or x`rays. If they go to the insurance companies

it is incumbent upon the companies to prove that those people did not

suffer it that injury. That is impossible. Sorry to interrupt. What

is the warning signs that insurance companies are looking for? Is it a

number of complaints or patterns that emerge? The insurance industry

is working with the Insurance Fraud Bureau and the police to detect

crime of this sort. They are looking to look at pattern is of claims or

claims management companies that appear to be repeatedly making

injury claims. The detection is coming much better than it used to

be. As a result, many of these crimes have been detected and I

applaud what they are doing. The police have a big part to play in

identifying this as well. It is a great step forward. Moves like this

are helping to bring premiums down along with new legislation which is

making it more difficult for organised criminals to make claims

like this. Thank you for joining us. And we'll be developing that story

on our late bulletin when we'll be talking to the Insurance Fraud

Bureau. Next, a same`sex couple from

Barnsley are today beginning legal action after being told they can't

get married because they're already in a civil partnership. Paul and

Michael Atwal`Brice from Thurnscoe were hoping to tie the knot on March

29th, when gay marriage becomes legal. But, due to technicalities,

they and others across the country would first need to dissolve their

civil partnership. Kate Bradbrook has been to meet them. Family time

for Paul and Michael Atwal`Brice and their two sons. Like many same`sex

couples they were planning to get married from the law changes in

March but they have hit a stumbling block. To be told that you cant

marry because you already have a civil partnership, it seemed very

upsetting for us and also very difficult to understand. We are

quite sure that across the UK, there are a lot of couples like us.

Despite same`sex marriage becoming legal in March, it will not at first

be possible to allow couples to convert from a civil partnership and

at the moment the only way around it is to effectively divorce first.

They would have to say that the civil partnership had irretrievably

broken down which is not correct because clearly they want to get

married. They would have to tell a lie to achieve what they want which

is to be in an ongoing, loving relationship.

Paul and Michael have already written to the government giving

notice of legal action but for now, their wedding plans are on hold. We

are doing what we feel is right. The government has made a mistake. They

need to rectify it as soon as possible to make it fair and equal

for everybody. In a statement, the government said it is working hard

to ensure that couples who want to convert from a civil partnership

marriage will be able to buy the end of the year. It says this is because

it needs to introduce completely new procedures and processes. With this

couple it is too late. `` it is too little too late.

Coming up... As HS2 heads for Yorkshire we look back at Britain's

first high speed railway built 20 years ago.

In other news, crime in Yorkshire has fallen, according to the latest

official statistics from the Home Office. Figures for the year ending

September 2013 show a six percent fall in North Yorkshire compared to

the previous year. Nearly 35,000 crimes were recorded there. In West

Yorkshire there was a drop of four percent to nearly 164,000 crimes.

And in South Yorkshire there was a three percent fall, to just over

93,000 crimes. There was a three percent fall across England and

Wales as a whole. Plans to create a one billion pound

tourism industry in York have been announced today. The tourism agency

Visit York and the City Council want to attract more overseas visitors.

Seven million people visit the city every year, contributing around ?443

million to the local economy. The Council says the plan will benefit

the whole city. It became very clear to me that this was not just about

tourism. It had to be about inward investment about the city as a halt.

We have an offer there that would bring in businesses and jobs.

Two men are due to appear in court next month following the death of a

woman in a dog attack in Leeds last year. Lee Horner from Middleton and

Nikki Cook from Beeston have been charged with two counts of

possessing a dangerous dog. Nikki Cook is also charged with breeding a

dangerous dog. 27`year`old Emma Bennett died after receiving serious

dog bite injuries in an incident at her home in East End Park in

December. The actor Sir David Jason is backing

a campaign to save Doncaster's Grand Theatre. The Open All Hours and Only

Fools and Horses star has donated money to the Friends of Doncaster

Grand group. He's also sent two letters showing his support for the

campaign to reopen it. The Grade Two listed building was nearly

demolished in 1995 and campaigners now want to reopen it.

There are fears for the future of a charity in West Yorkshire that

provides specialist oxygen therapy for people with multiple sclerosis.

The centre has struggled to find a home for its two six`tonne pressure

chambers after a fire at a neighbouring factory forced them to

find new premises. Our Health Correpondent Jamie Coulson reports.

This woman has multiple sclerosis and the last three years has been

coming to this unusual facility near Leeds where she is given oxygen

therapy inside a pressure chamber. It helps with so many problems that

we deal with on a day`to`day basis such as bladder problems, fatigue

problems, stress problems. It is EBA a lot of those.

By breathing pure oxygen in a pressurised environment many people

with multiple sclerosis say it relieves their symptoms and opened

the years this place had treated tens of thousands of people, not

only with multiple sclerosis but other conditions like sporting

injuries and cerebral palsy. But now the long`term future of this charity

is under threat. Last September a fire destroyed a neighbouring

building on the land for it they have been housed rent`free for

nearly 30 years. The entire site must be redeveloped and the centre

only has until next week to find new premises. It is also feared the move

could ultimately cost an extra ?30,000 every year.

If I thought about it I would cry but I cannot. I must keep going. I

must find somewhere. That is how I feel at the minute. I am really

upset. I am distraught. Are we going to have software that

will help us? `` somewhere. We might not have a place like this in a

week. The charity has been offered to help

with funding for the next two years but the immediate concern for those

who rely on the service here is whether it can secure a new home by

next Friday. Yesterday on Look North we brought

you the news that campaigners against the proposed HS2 railway

line have come up with an alternative route into Leeds. They

want to see more tunnelling so that residential areas don't feel the

impact. But if HS2 does come to Yorkshire what will it be like?

Spencer Stokes has been looking at the country's first high speed line

in Kent. HS1 is the railway that links London

St Pancras with the Channel Tunnel. The exact route was agreed upon in

January 1994, it fully opened in 2007 and trains run at speeds up to

180mph. We can't make a direct comparison with HS2 because Kent is

much closer to London but HS1 has reduced journey times. And like HS2

it faced opposition. I've been to two places on the line ` Detling and

Ashford ` to find out what residents and businesses think two decades on.

Snuggled up against the backdrop of the countryside this village did not

take kindly to the idea that Britain's first high speed rail link

was going to sliced past its community. It is 20 years since the

route for high`speed one was finalised. Detling provided strong

opposition. We felt that we did not know enough. We got a bit worried

about the effect it would happen it. It does not affect us. A train goes

past and it takes up to 20 seconds and then it is gone. This community

campaigned vigorously against the scheme. They marched in parliament

and were determined to see the railway re`routed. The news that

they had lost was greeted with dismay. In every 1990 four, the

village magazine shows what happened. We now know that the

railway `` link will sweep past us. It is a bitter blow to the area.

This man took part in the protests but his fears about the line have

melted away. It is more of a tourist attraction. The railway is a

nonentity. You do not notice it is there. It seems that most people in

this area except the railway. The trains sweep asked at 180 miles an

hour and like those on pretty much as it did before. But for a long

time, a huge shadow hung over this village. There were fears about what

the new railway would mean. That shadow meant that house`hunters gave

this desirable location a wide berth. For a time, Detling became a

byword for the destruction that high speed rail link would bring. There

was a doubt come off what would happen if I wanted to sell my house?

Is my house worthless? If you are young family and you want to move

for work purposes then hard luck. There is no high`speed station in

Detling but in Ashford 20 miles away. Journey times to the capital

fell from one hour 25 minutes to just 37 minutes so this engineering

firm relocated to the town. The speed of the connection means that

of someone phones up and says can you come to a meeting, you can do

that. I can walk out of my office and in less than an hour I can be in

the West End in London. I think that is enormously beneficial. 20 years

on from the route being agreed, Kent businesses say they cannot imagine

life without it. And for residents who protested, the rail link is not

as bad as they had imagined. That's the view from Kent 20 years

on, but where are we now with HS2? The consultation is continuing on

the section of line from Birmingham up to Leeds. We have seen people

come forward with new ideas. That consultation ends next Friday. After

that, the government will come forward and look at the ideas and

come back with a definitive route for High`Speed two. People will know

if they are on the line of the planned new railway line. They will

then begin to worry about the value of their homes just as they did in

Detling 20 years ago. This is still and we keep saying it, it is a long

way off and there are legal battles and the public inquiry. 2032 is the

planned opening date. See you then! Before 7pm... Beam him up ` a

thousand tickets up for grabs to the Red Planet ` we speak to one

Yorkshireman hoping to be on the one`way trip.

And top of the class as Educating Yorkshire triumphs at the National

Television Awards. Sport now and Billy Sharp says he's

buzzing to be back at Doncaster Rovers. The striker, who earned hero

status at the club in his two previous spells there, is back on

loan from Southampton until the end of the season. He says he wants to

repay Rovers and their fans for the support they gave him when his son

Luey died aged just two days old. He played, and scored, two days after

that, in a match against Middlesborough back in 2011. Looking

back now, I think it was selfish playing. I probably was not in the

right frame of mind. But I managed to score which is what I wanted to

do. We lost the game but the fans were brilliant. I will remember

that. I felt I owed something to the club. They supported me. Hopefully I

can repay them. The club is very special to me. For food hauling

reasons and obviously off the field as well. `` footballing reasons. I

will always remember that. They are a big part of me. Hopefully coming

back here will give me a lift and they can give me alert. `` a lift.

Training week in and week out, and getting everything out at the end of

the week, it is difficult. Hopefully I can come here and play games and

get the buzz back. I got that was back when I was driving here

yesterday. It was great to be back. It is good to have him back.

Sheffield's Curtis Woodhouse says he intends to bow out of boxing as

British Champion. The former footballer insists he'll quit after

his fight next month whatever the result. He faces Darren Hamilton in

Hull, and will be a huge underdog, but he's determined to go out with

the title. I realise that I had been a professional athlete for 17 years.

I have had the operations, I have opened my nose and broken my hands,

I have fractured my cheekbone, so my body is saying, let's get out. I

also have three young children and I want to spend time with them. But I

want to go out as champion. I'm not sure this is my kind of

thing, particularly as you don't get to come home, but Ryan Toal from

Barnsley is desperate to be one of those on a one way trip to Mars.

He's down to the last thousand, so there's still a way to go, but he's

hoping he'll succeed in becoming one of the astronauts on a privately

funded mission. He's going to tell us WHY in a moment, but first, what

will he find when he gets there? Over to Amy. The Red Planet is very

cold. Temperatures here can get as low as `150 Celsius. Good job I am

wearing thermals. It has very large dust storms and they can last up to

four months. 24 astronauts will be selected and they will live in pods

like these. What it will take at least seven months to get here.

There is no return ticket so once you are here, there is no going

back. Why? The opportunity of a lifetime for someone like me. I am a

working`class man. I am never going to get the chance to do anything

like this again. Been a a dream for you? Since I was a child. I love

anything to do with the universe. I have a curious mind. I want to see

what is out there. This is my chance. But we know that the red

janitors dead. There is nothing there. You are young man and you

have a lock to offer. `` a lot to offer. I would love to be a

scientist and that is what my role would be over there. But you are not

a scientist at the moment? What do you do? I am a mechanical fitter and

I work in Sheffield. Are you hoping to develop those skills if you were

selected? One of the requirements as an engineer to maintain the quip

that which is quite complex. I am hoping that my skills that I have so

far will help me. Have you thought about what life could be like? You

have to dig down and get to water, and you have to defrost it, you are

living in pods, you have to grow your own food. You cannot get out

because it is cold. Have you thought about that? You can go outside but

you need a space it! Of course. The training will be intense. Ten years

of training. You will study within the fields of engineering,

doctorates, physically do things that will be needed over there. You

will also have a psychological assessment work you were sent off to

certain locations that they have two give you a number of months, maybe

seven months, maybe eight months, but it is a long time isolated in

these pods. I have a quick question. This is in ten years time. What if

you meet someone, you get married and you have a baby? I am not sure.

I have told myself that this is my dream so I will not let anything

like that happen in the meantime. But you never know. Good luck. Let's

hope you make it. Need to. A great chat up line!

What could possibly go wrong by opening your school up to TV cameras

for a fly`on`the`wall documentary. You have got to admit a really brave

decision by the head of Thornhill Community Academy in Dewsbury. But

an inspired one! What a great watch it was. I'm sure you'll remember

Educating Yorkshire ` a documentary following the lives of staff and

students. Who could forget this? Do you like my eyebrows? I shake them

off! `` I shaved them. What is going on inside your head when the words

do not come out. It feels like... I have to say, I did cry are not.

What a moment that was. Well last night, their bravery was rewarded.

At a glittering ceremony in London, Educating Yorkshire was named Most

Popular Documentary Series at the National Television Awards. This was

moment found they out they had scooped the award!

And well done to them. Look at just how excited they are all. Their

decision to let the cameras in paid off. There were celebrations and

emotional scenes last night. It is amazing vintage is getting bashed

left right and centre. This is for the hard`working professionals. You

want to hear this man speak. Yes! Yes! Yes! He is a superstar in the

making. Well done. Last night we told you the tale of

the London MP who said Sheffield's Henderson's Relish was a Worcester

Sauce knock off. It got people quite annoyed in South Yorkshire and now

that Southern MP, Jim Dowd, has agreed to come up to the Henderson's

factory to see how it's made and more importantly, have a taste. I'll

bet he'll soon be switching to our northern speciality!

Time for a weather update. We had some snow today. There was a

hailstorm in Barnsley today. We have the pictures back and now we can see

what is happening. This is the one from Barnsley. The next one, this

was in Sheffield. This was another severe hailstorm. It only lasted

around 15 minutes. But look at this. A light covering of snow. Keep your

weather pictures coming in. I very unsettled outlook. Tomorrow, we get

off to a dry start. But throughout the morning the rain will come in

from the west. This Atlantic oppression is coming in. You can

pick out the heavy storms. `` this Atlantic depression. The next

problem will be road surface temperatures. There will be ice on

untreated surfaces as the skies clear. Cloud will gradually increase

from the West. A bright start in the East tomorrow and a dry stored

everywhere but that will not last. `` a dry start. Once it starts to

rain, the afternoon looks very miserable. A cold breeze comes in

from the south`east. Just reaching about five degrees. The weather may

turned wintry over the hills. But the picture is generally very wet. A

damp start on Saturday but gradually brightening up. A bright start on

Sunday with some heavy rain later. That's all for now.

How wonderful. That's all for now. Thanks for joining us. Good evening.