06/02/2014 Look North (Yorkshire)

Peter, thank you. That's all from the BBC News

Welcome to Thursday's Look North. Tonight: Cleared of all charges The

children's assistant found not guilty of manslaughter after a

little girl died on her very first day at nursery.

But York College is found guilty. We'll have reaction to the verdicts.

Also on the programme: Are Yorkshire's motorists being unfairly

targetted? The cars with cameras which make our

councils lots of money, but the government wants them banned.

The Bradford snowboarder who's given Britain a flying start at the Winter

Olympics. A rainy night in Yorkshire to come

but what about the rest? Join me for the details shortly.

Our top story: A children's assistant has been cleared of all

blame for the death of a three`year`old girl on her first day

at a nursery. Sophie Redhead was found not guilty of the manslaughter

of Lydia Bishop by gross negligence and not guilty of failing to take

care of her. But tonight police have strongly criticised York College,

where the incident happened. A jury found they had failed to ensure the

safety of children in their care. Our Crime Correspondent John Cundy

reports. Sophie Redhead, hurrying from court

with her parents this afternoon, after a jury had cleared her of

charges that she had faced for the last 18 months.

You must be very relieved? Still the tragedy of Lydia Bishop,

the little girl excited before her first day at nursery had said, love

you, money, see you later. Hours later the little girl was dead,

strangled by a rope on a slide. She should have been supervised. She was

not. It was 20 minutes before staff realised she was missing and today a

jury decided that York College had failed Lydia. Their health and

safety precautions had tragically fallen short and the rope should

never have been left on the slide. It took the jury here at less than

four hours to clear Sophie Redhead of any blame in connection with the

death of Lydia Bishop at the York College nursery. Sophie Redhead was

in tears on hearing the verdict. The college itself has been found guilty

of failing to ensure the health and is a of children at its nursery.

Tonight the senior North Yorkshire Police investigating officer in the

case said in a statement... York College will be sentenced next

Friday for their failings and they said in their statement...

Sophie Redhead made no comment as she left court and Lydia Bishop's

family hurried away as well. In everybody's minds, the memory of

what happened to little media on that terrible day. `` Lydia.

Next tonight: There's controversy over the tactics employed by some

councils to issue motorists with parking fines.

Penalty Charge Notices generate large amounts of money, in fact four

of Yorkshire's councils are in the top 20 nationally outside London for

the amount they made last year. Leeds Council made ?3.7 million from

Penalty Charge Notices handed to drivers. And Bradford council

recorded an income of ?2.1 million. Sheffield Council made ?1.7 million.

And North Yorkshire County Council made ?1.5 million. Some authorities

use cars fitted with CCTV to gather video evidence of offences, a

practice the government wants to ban. Now Bradford Council has had to

apologise after wrongly issuing a fine against an innocent motorist

who challenged its CCTV evidence. Anna Crossley reports.

Now, if you drive a car, there is a good chance you will have ended up

by a bus stop while waiting at traffic lights. In fact, it is the

only time drivers are permitted to enter bus stops, while they are in

stationary traffic. Not that Bradford Council appears to be aware

of this section of highway cord. Victor found this out when he was

issued with a penalty notice for parking at a bus stop, except he was

not parked anywhere, he was waiting at traffic lights in Bradford. I

said, this is an absolute joke, anyone can see I am in traffic. I

looked up the traffic act and under rule 243 of the Highway code you are

not allowed to park in a bus stop unless you are prohibited in going

forward by stationary traffic. Victor was eventually sent footage

of the alleged offence taken by a parking enforcement vehicle, and, as

you can see, he is in a queue of traffic, along with several other

cars. I contacted them and told them I would remove the appeal and I

would see them in court and I wanted the camera operative in court with

me and at that point they overturned everything and apologised and the

attitude could not have been more helpful and totally the opposite.

Nobody from the council wanted to be interviewed, preparing to give us

this statement... The council says that any other

motorists who were fined after being caught at lights by the same CCTV

vehicle will be reimbursed. Meanwhile it has just been announced

that York is going to be the next city to start using the

controversial enforcement cards. `` cars.

So what does the AA think about councils using CCTV cars like this?

Paul Watters is the motoring organisation's head of road policy.

Does he think they're a good idea? Not really, no. Sometimes the

evidence they collect can be misinterpreted. It really does

appear to be overzealous and they need to be very careful how they use

this equipment because it seems to be used in a fairly arbitrary

manner. Nobody likes getting a parking fine but are these not a

good thing because they keep children safe near schools and

monitor the flow of traffic so surely there is a good cause for

them? In some places perhaps where enforcement is difficult, that is

what the guidance says. But for this example, being fined for being in a

traffic jam seems a bit far`fetched so there needs to be greater

scrutiny as to how the equipment is used. It is fine for remote

locations like schools where there are problems but not for going along

traffic queue. Misinterpreting that was quite a serious mistake. Of

course it was an error, but it is a minority of cases where errors

happen but something like these cameras, surely there is a case for

using new technology rather than wardens on the street. The problem

with new technology is that it can be like a blunt instrument and

drivers feel it is going full volume rather than deterrence. We must get

these things in the right balance and you have to exert a stick in

some places where there are problems but it does not need to be massed

ticketing. A parking control officer near a school can also have a good

effect at deterring people. We should not just rely on technology.

What do you suggest it should happen? The government is consulting

on this at the moment and they are seeking to ban the use of CCTV. They

could be a small role for these vehicles to carry on using cameras

but it needs to be under strict guidance and at the moment that

guidance is being misinterpreted by the local authorities.

Later on Look North: A potential medical breakthrough?

The blood`thinning drugs which it's hoped could save thousands of lives.

Council tax in Leeds will go up by nearly 2% next year, the biggest

possible rise without needing a local referendum. As the council set

out its spending plans for the next year, it also announced another 200

jobs will go and council house rents will go up by nearly 6%. The council

says it's regrettable but necessary given the scale of funding cuts from

central government. We can assure people that the money that we raise

we will put to their priorities and looking after the vulnerable young,

the old, disabled and those people struggling with welfare changes in

our city. A traffic officer with South

Yorkshire Police is facing a misconduct hearing after he admitted

drink driving. PC Adam Walker was caught driving to work in Sheffield

in December while he was over the prescribed limit. He admitted the

offence today at Sheffield Magistrates' Court, where he was

banned from driving for a year and ordered to pay a fine. PC Walker is

currently suspended from work. A further ?10 million is to be spent

on flood defences in Yorkshire this year. Most of the money is being

used to improve defences in Whitby, where around 200 properties were

flooded during December's tidal surge. In the Calder Valley, more

than ?1 million is to be spent protecting homes which have been hit

by flash flooding in the past two years. Smaller flood defence schemes

in Elland and Doncaster have also been approved. Amongst the ?344

million worth of investment that will be coming in the programme next

year, the programme next year, then etch `` the next financial year has

a scheme in Todmorden and all of the schemes have been analysed and we

know they will make a real benefit for local residents economically and

in terms of the protection for local homes so we are putting extra money

into delivering these schemes. Meanwhile work got underway today on

a new flood defence scheme for Leeds. Embankments and walls are

being built in Woodlesford, to try to prevent the River Aire from

flooding. It's part of a bigger project in Leeds city centre, aimed

at protecting around 3,000 homes and 500 businesses. It's being funded by

Leeds council, DEFRA and the Environment Agency. We have had an

issue of nearly flooding several times in the last decade or so so

flood alleviation is a major issue for the city and we need to tackle

it now. We cannot think that we have not had that many floods over the

past 100 years because most of them have happened in the last ten years

so we have to do work to ensure that the city centre is safe.

South Yorkshire Police have applied to the government for a grant to

cover some of the costs of the Hillsborough inquests. The force's

commissioner is asking for special grant funding to meet legal,

insurance, compensation and other costs. The inquests are due to start

at the end of March. 96 Liverpool fans lost their lives

in the Hillsborough stadium disaster in 1989. Fresh inquests into their

deaths were ordered following a panel report which quoshed the

original verdicts. A public inquiry will take place in

April over the proposed trolleybus scheme in Leeds city centre. The

City Council claims the electric bus project will significantly improve

journey times and cut congestion. But concerns have been raised about

its value for money. The inquiry will give both sides a chance to

produce evidence to support their claims.

Doctors in Bradford believe thousands of people across the

country with a pre`existing heart condition could be saved from

potentially fatal strokes if they can be given the right medication. A

pilot study across the district saw 750 patients treated with blood

thinning drugs and experts believe it has already prevented two strokes

a month. Our health correspondent Jamie Coulson reports.

65`year`old Barbara Edward Snowden is that she is lucky to be alive

after suffering a stroke one year ago. I think it could have been

extremely serious and I could have died but I did not because of the

good treatment that I got, I am sure. Barbara's /was caused by an

underlying heart condition that means she is at a higher risk of

stroke or cardiac arrest because of abnormal heart conditions. When a

stroke strikes it spreads like a fire in the brain. When Barbara is

`` Barber is not alone and it is estimated in the area there are 5000

patients with the condition that are at an increased risk of stroke by

less than one half are taking the most effective form of preventative

medication. Last year a pilot study treated 750 of those patients with

blood being drugs and it found it prevented at least two strokes a

month. `` blood thinning drugs. Doctors believe the treatment could

result in 200 fewer strokes in the Bradford district and if it was

rolled out a further 800 across West Yorkshire and 10,000 across the UK.

I do not feel frightened that I am going to have another stroke in the

same way because the condition can be kept under control by the

medication and I think that is a very comforting factor. For Barbara

getting the right to treatment now means the chance of suffering

another stroke is dramatically reduced. By giving the right people

the right medication some patients can avoid potentially

life`threatening strokes or even death. One of the GPs behind the

study is here. It sounds obvious, why has it not been done before? The

real challenge is trying to persuade people that warfarin tablets, a

little bit of rat poison, can be more effective at presenting ``

preventing stroke than aspirin. They are as safe as each other but

warfarin is dramatically better at reducing the risk of stroke and we

need to get that message across to the GP and help them to get the

message across to the patient. How important is the study in terms of

how patients will be treated? We have made a real fee change. The

doctors here do not think about aspirin, they think about using

warfarin. I think that is going to make a big difference to the stroke

rates in Bradford now and in the years to come. A patient we spoke to

said that she had no idea that she had the underlying heart condition

so what can people do if they are worried or they do not know if they

have a problem? We know that one in three people with this heart problem

do not know they have it. They need to be aware of their own polls and

they should check it at home and if it is a regular they should see the

doctor. When they are at the doctor or the nurse they should get their

pulse checked and if it is that `` if it is bound to be a regular they

will have an ECG that will show the problem and we can counsel them

properly. Thank you very much. It is hoped that what has been learned

here in Bradford can now be used elsewhere.

I remember a couple of years ago having a similar test so I would

advise everyone to take that test. Before 7:00pm: I love the Winter

Olympics! A great start to the Olympics.

Bradford snow boarder Jamie Nicholls goes straight through to the

slopestyle finals with flying colours.

And how Sheffield's answer to Banksy turned his graffiti into an art

collection. The bones of Richard III are being

held to ransom and are being treated with a lack of respect, according to

campaigners. Both the group who commissioned the dig to find his

remains and the alliance of his living descendants want them

released by the University of Leicester. The university however

insists it has every right to keep them. Danny Carpenter reports.

Even framed by such a long history in has been an eventful year in the

life and death of Richard III. He was a warrior king, the last English

king to die in battle. Now his bones are being fought over almost since

the day they have been found. The greatest dispute is over where he

should be reburied, York or Leicester. There is also a great

deal of distress about where he is now. The woman who actually got the

dig to happen at all claims that she is the legal custodian. She also

claims there was an agreement that his remains would be placed

somewhere wholly sometime soon after they were found. It is 12 months and

nothing has happened. We feel that it is appropriate for him now to be

sent for an `` sent to a appropriate place to await reburial. Richard

remains at Leicester University under lock and key. They say they

can keep him until August and point to the Ministry of Justice license

which says his remains shall be kept safely, privately and decently by

the University of Leicester, not at the University of Leicester. It is

dreadful, they are cold in the King to ransom basically. It is finders

keepers and that is all they are bothered about. They are just

bothered about the world credit that they found him but that is not what

it is about, it is about what Richard once at the end of the day

and where he should be buried as a king. So the bones of Richard III,

instead of lying in dignified rest in a great cathedral, remain at the

mercy of archaeologists to examine at their leisure. An indignity never

suffered by Ed Tudor king. `` a Tudor king.

Nothing gets the people of York more riled up!

Tanya is here with the sport. We are doing well on the slopes!

What a great start for Team GB and our affiliates. `` athletes This was

Bradford snowboarder Jamie Nicholl's in his second run in qualifying this

morning. It was so good he's straight through

to the slopestyle final on Saturday. The Winter Olympics opening ceremony

isn't actually till tomorrow but this was the first event in Sochi.

It's been quite some journey for the 20`year`old who started out on the

dry slope in Halifax. A trip down memory lane for Jamie

Nicholls. It is a few years since he took on the dry slope in Halifax. I

have still got it! These days the mountains are his home but he has

never forgotten where it started. It has been crazy. I started here when

I was seven and I just did it for something to do and a hobby,

something different other than football and rugby and it is crazy

that it came this far. I did not even think about it, I just liked

going snowboarding. He was pretty good pretty quickly. I remember his

first time here, I remember a little kid with gloves down to his knees

walking around, I remember all of that and I remembered `` I remember

him taking his first ball and winning his first competition to win

every competition in England since and now he is going for the best at

the Olympics. It is crazy. Iowa him a lot, definitely. The sport is

getting more and more extreme. This is Jamie learning his big jump. You

go upside down and spend three times at the same time so it is pretty

impressive to watch. That is the first time he landed it. It makes

for tough viewing for his mum. I watch the reruns. His mum will ``

his dad will watch it and say it is all right, he has landed it so then

I come in and watch the rerun. Even live scoring! My mum does not want

to see me get hurt live. I can quite understand! It is scary. It is a

long way, I am here and he is there and there is nothing you can do.

Charlotte will have enjoyed the rerun this morning. Jamie landed

everything and next up is the final on Saturday. It was amazing and it

is about 8:45am on Saturday so set your alarm clock.

Could one of Rugby League's biggest names be about to switch codes? Sam

Burgess, who took the World Cup by storm is said to be in talks with

Bath Rugby union club. The Dewsbury born forward currently plays for

South Sydney who have denied there's been a formal approach. It would be

a tough ask for him to make England's squad for the 2015 World

Cup as he's never played Union before.

A couple of Yorkshire's stars have seemingly paid the price for

England's dreadful Ashes series down under. Gary Balance and Jonny

Bairstow have been left out of the squad for the limited overs series

in West Indies and the World 20`20 in Bangledesh. Joe Root and Tim

Bresnan have been included. England's first match will be in

Antigua at the end of the month. How can you blame them? They did

brilliantly and Gary Ballance was nearly decapitated body went in when

it mattered. Those two should be given a run in the Twenty20.

Between you adding you can sort it out.

Keep your BP calm. He was once described as the new

Banksy. Street artist Kid Acne became renowned for his graffiti

artwork on walls throughout his native Sheffield. The work brought

him to prominence not just here but around the world. It was always

controversial but Kid Acne's art has evolved over the years and tonight

there's a private viewing of a new exhibition of his work underway at

Sheffield's B gallery. Ian White's been to meet him.

If you have lived or worked around Sheffield over the past few years

the name and work of Kid Acne is probably quite familiar to you. This

new solo exhibition is something a little bit different. To tell us

more is the man himself. Nice to see you. Pleased to meet you. Great to

see you back in Sheffield, it is a place you are passionate about and

it is reflected in your art. Yes, there are some Sheffield related

pieces in the show and South York and some of the slogans that you

will see around. Alongside those pieces there are a lot of other

pieces from my studio practice in the last 15 years. You are

well`known for being a graffiti artist, a street artist but those

days are long gone. I would not consider myself a graffiti artist

any more, I've consider myself an artist. Graffiti did inform a lot of

the style of my work and as a teenager growing up I was interested

in comic books and screen printing and all of these things and graffiti

is a part of that but I do not consider myself a graffiti artist.

Is that just growing up or a change in your style? Alongside the work I

did in the street I have always done work in exhibitions and galleries

and in print so it is not that I went from one to the other, they are

just all parts of what I do and what has informed my work. A few of your

works have caught my eye, let us chat about a few of them. It would

not be Sheffield without Hendersons rallies `` Hendersons relish but

this looks like a punch`up. Yes, that is Open to interpretation. That

was my celebration piece for them in 2007. The exhibition starts on

Saturday. Yes it is from 12 to six on Saturdays and until March the

1st. You are a fan, and you? Yes, I couldn't some pictures on my

wall. I will give kid `` I will give Kid Acne call!

Right Time for Kate Hudson. The daffodils have been out. This is

Headingley at the University. This is magnificent. I think that

will be the picture of the week. Keep your pictures coming in.

The unsettled weather continues and it will be very wet tonight but an

improving picture tomorrow and the skies will prickly `` quickly

brightened from the West. Some showers are likely but we are in

between systems and the first one is bringing the rain into the North Sea

tomorrow. This system will bring more rain into the south`west on

Friday night but it should be clear of the coast by first light on

Saturday. Much of Saturday and Sunday will be bright with sunshine

and blustery showers. You can see the next system has been pumping the

cloud up through the course of the day and it is wet through the whole

of Yorkshire at the moment. Persistent rain showing on the radar

picture. That is really the way that this evening and overnight looks.

Cloudy with outbreaks of rain and heaviest in the southern half of our

region and patches to further north. Sleet over the highest ground of the

Pennines for a time. Later tonight the rain tends to ease off and we

still have some patchy outbreaks at times. Eventually there will be a

freshening northerly wind. It is a slow start to the day, it will be

cloudy and damp wood back to the day, it will be cloudy and damp wood

bat geranium places. A quick improvement coming in from the West

and by 8am the skies will the coast by late morning. Some showers will

follow from the West but not bad. Some places will stay dry and it

will be a fine afternoon with those spells of sunshine. It will be

breezy at first especially on the coast but no more than a moderate

west or north west wind. The temperatures are normal. More rain

to come on Friday night and some of it will be heavy. It will be clear

of the coast by first light on Saturday morning and a brief respite

on Saturday morning. The showers will pack in on Saturday afternoon

and the wind will train them. Sunday looks unsettled with showers and

longer outbreaks of rain. No let up next week. Low pressure is in

charge. One of these days I will have good news for you.

Today we did a bike ride and it stayed fine!

That was what I forecast! That is right, on this occasion.

We will update the forecast at 10:25pm. Good night.