12/11/2012 Inside Out North East and Cumbria


12/11/2012

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In the next half an hour, We reveal the story of a Geordie Football

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agent, a Belgium club and some broken dreams. It sounded great, IQ

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money and cars and that was a clan. They've withstood siege and

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survived for centuries, but we uncover the latest threat to our

:00:23.:00:33.
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historic buildings. Best this says start at six -- complained to is

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about a problem of you're in dipping into the shops or false up

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And Terry Deary flies the flag for one of Wearside's forgotten heroes.

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A definite contender for his own blue plaque if ever there was one.

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That's what he needs, a blue plaque. Stories from the heart of the North

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Now, why would a well-known Geordie soccer agent help mastermind the

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takeover of a tiny Belgian football club, a deal which left a huge

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trail of debt and damaged the careers of promising young players?

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Well, I've uncovered a secret plan to establish a foothold in the

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highly lucrative international transfer market despite rules

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designed to stop just that. This Belgian Football club should be

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celebrating its centenary, but instead it's fighting for survival

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after being taken over by a company called Diamond Sports International.

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And it's the man behind the deal, Peter Harrison, that I'm interested

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in. Harrison spent most of his playing days in the lower leagues

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in England and then had a spell as manager at Blyth Spartans. So how

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come he turns up running a club in Belgium? Harrison had a knowledge

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of Belgian football and he spoke the local lingo. He played here in

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the 80's for Sporting, but it was the city's other much smaller club,

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Olympic Charleroi, which attracted Harrison in 2010. Here he is using

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his best Geordie French to talk up his grand plans for the Belgian

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third division side nicknamed the I cut about getting into the First

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Division. It might be two years' or three years or five years but I

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will stay here until they are in the first division. When he came

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back to Charleroi everybody was happy. We know a local hero that is

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coming back, it's a good thing. Dogues had certainly had their day

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and needed a white knight. But was Harrison motivated by a love of the

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game or did he see the potential of Olympic as a big earner? A feeder

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club where he could bring in players and sell them later for a

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tidy profit? As a well known agent, Harrison had the contacts to put

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together a team from across the globe, attracting 37 players from

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11 countries, a different nationality for every position on

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the pitch. Several were from the North East. One was Nathan Porrit

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from Middlesborough, another was Jonny Rowell. He's from Newcastle,

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I'm from Newcastle. To a young kid like me, it sounded great. We had

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good enough players, good money, all cars, apartments. That was the

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plan. Slowly that plan disintegrated. There was a Japanese

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Goalkeeper, an Australian, a Madagascan and two Ghanaians.

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came down and watched me play, and started talking about big teams.

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Said I've got all these players in my camp and I said that's good.

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reason behind the takeover of Olympic becomes clear when you read

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this. It's a business plan for Diamond Sports International. The

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document was aimed at investors. It reveals Harrison's master plan. He

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intends using Olympic as a feeder club to import and develop

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promising players to be sold on as the next generation of stars.

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Harrison values his team at �5.5 million and says the club can make

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between 2 and 3.5 million a year on player trading alone, but why do it

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in Belgium? You can be in Belgium between 700 and 1,000 days and

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after which - happy days - you can apply for EC citizenship, and then

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Europe's your oyster and you don't have to worry about work permits to

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go into the big football nations, be it France, Italy, Spain or

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England. So the bridgehead for players into Europe was established,

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but now Harrison had to make it work. Players were brought in from

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across the world. And for some it appeared to be the start of the

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high life. They were put up in this hotel with the club picking up the

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tab. We had Japanese guys, guys from Serbia, African players,

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Holland, France. Players from all over the world, all staying in this

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hotel. With a third of the hotel occupied by players, a massive bill

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began to rack up. When the debt topped 60,000 euros, it was time to

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show the players the door. So presumably you had to tell the

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players sorry but you'll have to go? Yes, we have to tell to the

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players tomorrow it is finished for you. We don't get any money from

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the club, it's not possible. I was very sad of it but the players

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understood but we were in a bad position. A very bad position.

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you ever been paid? No. The players went from three star comfort to

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downmarket digs and some even had to find a floor to bed down on.

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rent some apartments for us and there was nothing in them. No

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television, no chairs, nothing. He bought us a small mattress and we

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put it in a corner to sleep. players from Africa had nothing

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left. They would often come asking for a bottle of water, some coins

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to buy something from the shop. They couldn't afford their bills so

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they had no electricity, nothing. The supporters used to buy them

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food and do their shopping. One of those supporters owns this

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restaurant. He's a former player and club President. He offered to

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feed the team, but once again no- one picked up the tab. How much

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money? That's 46,500 euros owed to Mr Vejis which buys an awful lot of

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pizza. Meanwhile, others took their share of helping as the club

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spiralled into crisis. I heard about a player who was out at night

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and a friend came over and bring him back to his own for sleeping at

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night because he had nothing. We had a player we had to find shoes

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for him to get on the ground. It was terrible. Here in the dressing

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room, feelings were running high. The players had had enough. Without

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fresh kit or even transport to get to games, they went on strike. If

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that wasn't enough, damage to the roof of the main stand forced the

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closure of the bar and corporate hospitality area. With the

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supporters becoming restless, Harrison spoke to the local press.

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It's not my fault that the whole stadium is broken. I have had four

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or five investors walk away when they have seen the stadium in that

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state. Me, I stayed. I believe in the plan. We're still here. As the

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grand plan unraveled, the situation became desperate. We've seen e-

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mails to Harrison circulating in Belgium which spell out the

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financial crisis. Things are getting urgent. We have not

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fulfilled our duties to get the license. Players want to leave

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because no-one speaks to them. Despite everything, Harrison was

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still trying to attract investors to make the plan work. He produced

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this glossy prospectus for his new company, Ultra Sports Management.

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It sets out plans to sell Olympic for �10 million in 2015. But it

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ended in disaster and debt. 150,000 euros owed for the purchase of the

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club, and how much was more to people in Charleroi? It's 700,000

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euros. The club was declared bankrupt and the debts were written

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off. On the plus side, it has reformed with a new owner and a new

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team but that's little consolation to those players who were lured to

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Charleroi by Harrison. How much do you think you are owed by the club?

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Now it's almost 50,000 euros. makes you not want to play, not

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enjoy football. You're playing for some guy who wants to make money

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from you, And as a football agent, Peter Harrison has made a great

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deal of money - �1 million in a single deal back in 2000. But was

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:09:44.:09:44.

Harrison allowed to takeo ver a football club? -- take over.

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rules are clear cut. You can't have a position in a working capacity -

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anything official within a club, you simply can't be that - if you

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are a licenced agent. It's black and white. There is a huge conflict

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of interest if you become the buyer and the seller. Yet none of the

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football authorities tried to stop Harrison. Perhaps surprising when

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you consider the last time he made headlines. If you've got a good

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relationship with six or seven managers, you can make a lot of

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money but you'll have to pay the manager to get them on side. Back

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in 2006, the BBC filmed him boasting of paying bungs to

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managers. Harrison was also filmed trying to sell on young players he

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represented without the knowledge That's Nathan Porrit, then only 15

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and the same player he took five years later to Charleroi. At the

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time, Harrison denied being a corrupt agent and said he was just

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engaging in pub gossip and banter. An explanation the Football

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Association must have believed as he was allowed to keep his agent's

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licence. Only this year - back in June did the FA act - and revoke

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Harrison's agents licence. They've refused to reveal why - although a

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very well placed source told us it's because Harrison's financial

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background was deemed inappropriate. We contacted the FA with our

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information. They didn't want to record an interview but told us The

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FA was not made aware of Mr Harrison's involvement with Olympic

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but it is very disappointed to hear of any club that has experienced

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severe financial distress where players have not been paid sums

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that they are due. The Belgian FA told us they thought Peter Harrison

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was only an investor in Olympic Charleroi and not an official. And

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what about Peter Harrison? He told us that that although he'd spent

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300, 000 euros on Olympic, he'd earned nothing from the club. Well,

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we wrote to him two months ago asking for an interview. His

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lawyers sent us a letter describing him as an ambassador for the club

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who simply encouraged players to sign. Mr Harrison said he was not

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in breach of FIFA rules as he had no official role with Charleroi. Mr

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Harrison didn't answer our questions so we have come here to

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find out more. Can I have a word, Peter? Why did you mastermind the

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takeover of Charleroi? Well, I think Mr Harrison really doesn't

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want to speak to me. But he certainly seems to be living a

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footballer's dream. A shame that dream isnot shared with all the

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:12:27.:12:27.

players and supporters of the club he took over.

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Still too, to make. The next six hours fly past - at least they do

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for me! Now, we've a heritage to be proud

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of here in the north. Some beautiful ancient buildings and

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stunning cities. But as Jacey Normand has been finding out,

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criminals are no respecters of the past.

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If these streets could talk, what stories would they tell of

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Chester's past? It was invaded by the Romans in 79AD. It was besieged

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by the royalists during the English Civil War. But now it's facing its

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biggest challenge yet. Spending a penny, whatever you call it, when

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you get the call of nature, you have to answer, but surely you

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wouldn't do it here? Well, you and I wouldn't, but that's exactly what

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the town's late night revellers have been doing, turning Chester's

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historic rows into an open air toilet. We became really aware of

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the problems when businesses started complaining to us about the

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problem of urine dripping through from the rows into the shops below.

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Seriously? It was a horrendous situation. Getting through the wood,

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beneath to the shops? Dripping all the way through. They're an ancient

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structure. You can see there some of the damage that's been caused by

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people who have chosen to urinate on the rows. And that, that paint

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that's been worn away, that is from urine eroding it? That's right. So

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we started to have a look at what the extent of the problem was, and

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we had some of the cleanup teams reporting to us when they were

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finding pools of urine. We were horrified to find that there were

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up to 30 incidents on any night of the week of people urinating in the

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city centre. 30 people a night? to 30 people a night, and many of

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them on these ancient rows. Public urination's nothing new, cities the

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world over are plagued by it. It's a public order offence and carries

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a hefty fine of up to �400. But when it threatens somewhere like

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Chester, it's a heritage crime. Chester Council has come up with a

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unique way of dealing with it. It's Friday night. Chester's medieval

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past is forgotten, drowned out by boozy revellers and the clack of

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high heels. Everyone's out on the town. All except Paul Hunt and his

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team. We are able to zoom in on people and restore all that

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information for 21 days. It's 2am and the pubs and clubs are shutting

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up. If you're caught short, even at this hour, the public loos are

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still open, but this man's taken matters into his own hands. Can we

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just ask you just then, we just saw you weeing in the Chester Rows? We

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just saw you, why did you do that? Did you not want to go to a toilet

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instead? There's no public toilets around. But do you realise that

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because so many people are urinating in the rows in Chester

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that the medieval walkways are actually eroding and they wont ever

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be able to be saved. So shall I wee in a bin instead? Well, getting

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anyone to curb their ways after they've had a few isn't easy, but

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this is where the council's clamp down kicks in because this man is

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about to get a rude awakening. Is there any 5-1s who can attend The

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Cross? Go ahead, David. Just confirm for us that you've still

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got this man on camera and his location. Yes, yes. Carry on.

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Offenders usually face a court appearance, �400 fine and a

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criminal record. But Chester's pioneering a different approach.

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Instead, anyone caught can pay �75 to go on an awareness course, and

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if they do their slate is wiped clean. We bring them in at six

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o'clock in the morning and they get to hear video presentations on how

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it affects local businesses, how it affects schools, residents and then

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we bring them out on the rows. of course Chester's not alone in

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suffering from heritage crime. English Heritage say that

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nationally more than 70,000 listed buildings were damaged in the last

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year, but the greatest threat of all is to our churches.

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Howarth, a traditional Yorkshire village. It'd be little more than a

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footnote in a guidebook, except for one thing. This is the parsonage in

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Howarth, which was home to the 19th Century literary dynasty the

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Brontes. In fact, it was in this very room that Emily Bronte wrote

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the masterpiece Wuthering Heights. Howarth depends on tourists for its

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survival. Among the sights is the church where the Brontes' brother

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Branwell was parson, attracting over a million visitors a year. But

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now its gates lie closed, another victim of heritage crime. While

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I've been here, we've had three lead thefts and you can actually

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see where some of the lead has gone right up along there, and that's

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caused the water to come in which has exacerbated the problems we're

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suffering. How much is it costing to do all these repairs? Well,

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we've reached our insurance limit so it's probably cost us about

:17:46.:17:49.

�5,000 at least, and the gain of the value of the metal, probably

:17:49.:17:54.

�100 at the most. It looks bad from out here, but it's only when you

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step inside that the true cost of the lead theft is revealed. Well,

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have a look at the top there, you can see that quite a bit of the art

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work has disappeared. Just the way that the paint's chipping away.

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It's the parish church, it's the parish of Howarth. It belongs to

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the people of Howarth, so it's not protecting the church for the sake

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of the building, it's protecting it for the sake of our community and

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actually Britain generally because it's an income generator. There are

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many types of Heritage crime but many are fuelled by metal theft,

:18:29.:18:32.

and in the North East this takes on a sinister form. They enter

:18:32.:18:34.

illegally at night. They target historic sites. And they plunder

:18:34.:18:40.

and steal our national heritage. Welcome to the world of the

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Nighthawk. Nighthawking is unauthorised metal detecting.

:18:46.:18:49.

People that go on scheduled sites and dig the stuff up and you don't

:18:49.:18:56.

know what they're taking and you don't know where it's going. This

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is Low Chibburn in Northumberland, the ruins of a 14th Century

:18:59.:19:04.

monastery run by the Knights Templar. It's a protected site of

:19:04.:19:06.

archaeological significance, now under threat from illegal metal

:19:06.:19:14.

detecting. Some time ago, we had a couple of incidents reported which

:19:14.:19:17.

led to the site being visited by myself and English Heritage, and

:19:17.:19:20.

what we found was quite clearly some of the turf and grass had been

:19:21.:19:24.

cut and lifted back. My real concern is that they're actually

:19:24.:19:27.

going to damage the structure. If we had people digging around the

:19:27.:19:31.

foundations, as you can see it's been left in situ for people to

:19:31.:19:34.

come and enjoy but if they continue to dig there's a real issue with

:19:34.:19:42.

the integrity of the building. In your opinion, is ignorance ever a

:19:42.:19:45.

defence? My own personal opinion is no. It's not ignorance. You can

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have a look round, it is fenced off. It has signs here telling you what

:19:49.:19:52.

it is and now it has further signs saying that you can't disturb the

:19:52.:19:55.

site, so ignorance wouldn't be a defence in my opinion. Well, so far

:19:55.:19:58.

there haven't been any more disturbances at Low Chibburn, but

:19:58.:20:00.

Northumbria Police are still monitoring the site to ensure the

:20:00.:20:03.

nighthawks don't return. Since we filmed in Haworth the Summer we're

:20:03.:20:06.

happy to report that the church roof is now fixed and St Michael's

:20:06.:20:09.

is open again to be enjoyed by tourists and parishioners alike.

:20:09.:20:11.

And in Chester, their pioneering approach to anti-social behaviour

:20:11.:20:15.

crime is paying off. But until there's a wider understanding of

:20:15.:20:18.

heritage crimes across the north of England, our past remains under

:20:18.:20:22.

threat. And that means keeping an everwatchful eye, and protecting

:20:22.:20:32.
:20:32.:20:35.

our unique heritage for future Remember Harry Watts? No? Well,

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according to one horrible historian his name should be as familiar to

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us all here in the North East as Grace Darling or Lord Collingwood.

:20:43.:20:50.

Terry Deary has a mission to sort that out.

:20:50.:20:53.

The grave of a man the American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie

:20:53.:21:03.
:21:03.:21:06.

called "the bravest man I have ever met." Not that! This old and worn

:21:06.:21:10.

stone here. Carnegie also said, "Never let the memory of this

:21:10.:21:12.

Sunderland man die." Yet there he lies. Sunderland's forgotten hero,

:21:12.:21:21.

Harry Watts. Never heard of him. Exactly! Next April sees the 100th

:21:21.:21:23.

anniversary of his death. I'm going to Sunderland to commemorate the

:21:24.:21:26.

life of our hero, or my name isn't Terence Montmorency Deary. Actually,

:21:27.:21:33.

it isn't. It's just plain Terry Deary, but you know what I mean. So

:21:33.:21:36.

why Harry Watts you may ask? Because he was one of the greatest

:21:36.:21:41.

lifesavers this country has ever known. Born in 1826, by his mid-20s

:21:41.:21:48.

he'd saved 18 people from drowning. I think Sunderland Museum should

:21:48.:21:52.

recognize Harry Watts. Although, they do claim to have a Harry Watts

:21:52.:21:57.

exhibition! There's a wall of heroes, so where's the big display

:21:57.:22:03.

for Harry? That's it? One paragraph and a little case? Harry seems to

:22:03.:22:06.

attract this sort of treatment. In 1878, one of the good people of

:22:06.:22:11.

Sunderland pinched his bravery medals. And that display! It's

:22:11.:22:16.

daylight robbery. My training shoes came in a bigger box than that! I

:22:16.:22:19.

know he's forgotten but Sunderland Museum could do something to

:22:19.:22:27.

commemorate him. We have been looking at naming one of our rooms

:22:27.:22:31.

after him. We are also looking at doing a larger display about his

:22:31.:22:39.

life. That is a really good start! Here's a surprise - Harry didn't

:22:39.:22:45.

stop at saving 18 lives. From 1861, he worked as a diver on the Wear.

:22:45.:22:50.

In the next three decades Harry Watts saved another 26 lives. I

:22:50.:22:54.

need to use the RNLI to tell you the next bit. Harry was also a

:22:54.:22:57.

lifeboat and Life Brigade volunteer, and assisted in saving another 120

:22:57.:23:04.

people. That makes a grand total of 44 lives saved by himself, plus 120

:23:04.:23:10.

he assisted in saving. A definite contender for his own blue plaque

:23:10.:23:14.

if ever there was one. That's what he needs, a blue plaque. But

:23:14.:23:17.

there's a snag. I need the backing of Sunderland Antiquarian Society

:23:17.:23:27.
:23:27.:23:31.

to get a blue plaque. This is me trying to get it. That went well.

:23:32.:23:37.

I am afraid we have been negligent, he should be remembered. We would

:23:37.:23:41.

all throw our weight behind the petition for a blue plaque. They're

:23:41.:23:45.

going to back the plaque. And so is the City Council. Round two to

:23:45.:23:48.

Harry. In the 19th century, when Harry was fishing them out like

:23:48.:23:52.

trout, little value seemed to be placed on human life. Once he

:23:53.:23:56.

rescued a boy from near the South Pier. His mother said "Ah it's

:23:56.:23:59.

nowt! He's been in a few times!" And slammed the door in Harry's

:23:59.:24:09.
:24:09.:24:10.

face. So we pinch his medals, and then we slam the door in his face.

:24:10.:24:20.
:24:20.:24:22.

It's a scandal - that I'm going to put right! We need his name on

:24:22.:24:26.

something big, high profile with an impact. So I was thinking the Harry

:24:26.:24:35.

Watts Stand. No? The Harry Watts Box?That was a very long shot. What

:24:35.:24:39.

about the Harry Watts football shirt? They admire Harry, but

:24:39.:24:42.

they'd lose a fortune in sponsorship. I'm still a bit miffed,

:24:42.:24:46.

though! Right, the Sunderland Empire have to name a box after

:24:46.:24:56.
:24:56.:25:00.

Harry! That's a great idea. could not name the box but we could

:25:00.:25:03.

put a plaque in his memory which would encourage the theatre goers

:25:03.:25:08.

to see it and find out the bit more about him.

:25:08.:25:11.

Harry's heroism wasn't always appreciated. Once he dived into the

:25:11.:25:18.

Wear to save a drowning boy. When Harry asked a couple in a boat to

:25:18.:25:21.

help because he was nearly done in, the woman threatened him with a

:25:21.:25:31.
:25:31.:25:33.

shover for splashing her. -- shovel. 1910, the foundation stone of

:25:33.:25:36.

Monkwearmouth Library is laid. It was here that the millionaire

:25:36.:25:38.

philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, shook Harry's hand and said we

:25:38.:25:46.

should never let his memory die. used to come here and I had not

:25:46.:25:50.

idea of the connection between Andrew Carney, at Harry Watts and

:25:50.:26:00.
:26:00.:26:02.

Miss building. Will the sponsor a memorial? No. They said he sounds

:26:02.:26:06.

like an interesting and courageous man but they have no record of him.

:26:06.:26:09.

Grand Central Rail can't name a little thing like an engine after

:26:09.:26:12.

him either! But they did offer us some free tickets! So, that's:

:26:12.:26:15.

Threatened with a shovel, never heard of him, you can't have an

:26:15.:26:19.

engine. I'm not depressed. Oh no, not me! I'm a tryer. Everyone says

:26:19.:26:24.

I'm trying. After three disappointments, two nice pats on

:26:24.:26:30.

the head. Sunderland University is to theme glass blowing on Harry.

:26:30.:26:40.
:26:40.:26:40.

And the Sunderland Echo is to launch a "Recognise Harry" campaign.

:26:40.:26:45.

I am arranging a literary lunch. I've decided Harry needs a new

:26:45.:26:48.

biography. So, I'm going to use my "oeuvre" - that's my books to you

:26:49.:26:58.

and me - to impress the publisher. I have written one or two bits

:26:58.:27:08.
:27:08.:27:09.

myself. The next six hours fly past - well, at least they do for me!

:27:09.:27:14.

That was the result. They're going to write and publish Harry's

:27:14.:27:17.

biography. It should be on the bookstands next year. I reckon

:27:17.:27:27.
:27:27.:27:28.

that's a technical knock-out. When I set off on this campaign, I never

:27:28.:27:32.

imagined he would have any living relatives to help us. How wrong I

:27:32.:27:36.

was! After fighting my way through a man trap, I found his great

:27:36.:27:42.

nephew Jim in Chester le Street. think it's a good idea and it was

:27:42.:27:49.

about time it was done as well. One of the jocks was he used to push

:27:49.:27:57.

them into get them out! -- jokes. We stole his medals. We threatened

:27:57.:28:01.

him with a shovel. We forgot him. But on the centenary of his death

:28:01.:28:04.

next April, Harry Watts will have a new biography, a proper museum

:28:04.:28:07.

exhibition, possibly a blue plaque. And I'm going to get him a

:28:07.:28:14.

gravestone you can read. An injustice has been righted. So,

:28:14.:28:17.

Harry Watts - life saver, inspiration, hero. If you're

:28:17.:28:27.
:28:27.:28:29.

listening, Sunderland remembers That's it for tonight. You can read

:28:29.:28:32.

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