25/11/2013 BBC London News

Tonight on BBC London News: Hundreds of police officers go on patrol to

keep cyclist safe and is up more fatalities. Lorries getting too

close to cyclists, cyclist taking chances, it is about general

awareness for safety for ourselves and other road users. We ask

London's cycling Commissioner whether the campaign will have any

long`term impact. Also tonight: The deported criminal who came back to

London to rape. We speak to the students who rescued his victim. We

could see this girl was in distress so I grabbed him and pulled them off

to the floor. Plus, it is all in the detail, the

parliamentary bill for HS2, the largest ever, is published today.

And... A blast from the past. Why dinosaurs

are walking the streets of London. Hello, good evening. Hundreds of

police officers were out patrolling dozens of London's busiest junctions

this morning in an operation designed to enforce the Highway Code

and keep cyclist safe. It follows the deaths of six cyclists within a

two`week period. Operation Safeway will run every morning and evening

and for the next few weeks. We can join Tom Edwards who has more

details. Yes, this operation, what they are

doing in particular is picked out cyclists who do not have the proper

lights. This type of operation also took place this morning.

At Bow roundabout, the Met had been trying to stop road users breaking

the law. A cyclist died on this notorious junction 12 days ago.

Here, police gave out tickets to car drivers using mobile phones, to

cyclist or jumping red lights, and a lorry driver for having no tax disc.

I have seen some pretty poor cycling and some poor driving by motorists.

It is good they are helping out a little bit. Operation Safeway

follows the deaths of six cyclists over a 14 day period. That has

increased the pressure on the Mayor to act. This morning, 750 officers

were at 70 junctions. This was Blackfriars Bridge. Again, tickets

for those breaking the law. But officers cannot be everywhere. In

Farringdon, Rhodes had to be closed as a pedestrian was hit by a bus. It

is not clear what happened. An investigation is underway but he is

in a serious condition. I am wary. You do get cyclists and motorbikes

and cars and buses, it is quite a lot to watch out for. I think for

the most part cycling in London is not as dangerous as people make out.

You have to have common sense. It is a bit of a free for all. Officers

were also encouraging cyclists to wear helmets and high visibility

jackets. Neither are legal requirements but the Highway Code

recommends both. They were not warning cyclists about wearing

headphones. These operations will go on until Christmas. Critics say it

is nothing more than a sticking plaster. What is really needed is

more infrastructure. The police have said they have to do something. At

Vauxhall, police were also pulling over more HGVs. Mobile phones, not

wearing a seat belt, driving without due care and attention, like

dashmack cyclists getting too close to lorry, motorists doing the same,

it is about general awareness. This operation is about changing

behaviour and raising safety awareness. The number of officers

involved will be increased. Tomorrow, there will be a

parliamentary debate. It is very difficult to gauge whether this is

having an impact. The Met cannot give us any figures

for the amount of tickets they have given out today. And totally, I

think people are behaving themselves at junctions, particularly when the

officers are out. Thank you. Our transport correspondent Tom

Edwards there. We can speak now to the Mayor's

cycling Commissioner Andrew Gilligan. Did you or the Mayor

advised police that they should carry out the safety operation? We

discussed it with the police. This was decided with the Assistant

Commissioner a week ago today on Monday. It is a short`term measure

as you pointed out, but it is not something, we cannot put in the

infrastructure overnight so we are doing this in the interim. I think

it will make people think twice, particularly if they are stopped.

That is an event in someone's life, if they are pulled over by the

police and told. We know the Met Commissioner does not like what he

sees on London's roads. Is this an initiative being driven by him. It

is being driven by us all collectively. We have all been

concerned about the spate of deaths. We have plans in place to make

London's roads safer. We are spending more money on a network of

quiet routes. That will take months, in some cases years, this is what we

can do in the short`term. On that note, I think the Mayor is

championing a cycling revolution, but does it show the failure of the

policy when it was first introduced? You are in a sense playing safety

catch up. Even two or three years ago the cycling community was not

demanding segregation. When I was a journalist in 2007 with a campaign

for segregation, there was no support from the cycling community.

Essentially, it was blue paint and recently a coroner said that

superhighways Lyle cyclists into a false sense of security. You

acknowledge more needs to be done but why is it taking so long?

Sheeted specifically unmarketable paint across junctions does that say

we are removing that `` she said. There will be semi`segregated,

segregated or run backstreets where there is no conflict with lorries.

We have changed dramatically over the last couple of years. I would

say what the cycling lobby is demanding has changed as well. They

were much more in favour of having site list is mixed with general

traffic in the past. In the end, the number of deaths is too high,

otherwise we would not be having this conversation. So initially, was

it a case that it was a grand vision of cycling but perhaps the

infrastructure like behind a little bit? I think what we have seen is a

massive explosion in the number of people cycling. I think it is fair

to say the destruction needs to catch up with that but it is doing

it now. We heard at the end of Tom's report that this is now a

parliamentary debate and next week there will be a House of Commons

transport committee asking whether the new cycling superhighways are

safe. What will you say? I will say that we are spending ?1 billion to

make sure they are safe and to make sure cyclists are properly catered

for. No amount of infrastructure can immunise you against all harm. I've

seen some people calling for the deaths to end. People will always be

killed. We can hope to reduce it. Even in Amsterdam, there are six or

seven deaths in a year. Do you accept 14 deaths is too high? It is.

It is a mistake to take a spate as typical of the whole. Thank you for

your time. Lots more to come tonight including:

The London housing crisis. The Mayor's misses two double the number

of homes being built in the capital. `` the Mayor's promises to double

the number of homes. It has emerged that a Romanian man

jailed today for rape at the deported from the UK eight years ago

for imprisoning a woman. Marius Trimbitas dragged his victim from a

bus stop to a stairwell in South London before attacking her. Alice

Bhandukravi reports. It was the early hours of the sixth of what to

do when the brutal rape took based on the new Kent Road.

The 24`year`old victim had been out celebrating a birthday with friends,

but soon found herself being dragged from the bus stop to this there

well. Marius Trimbitas, a Romanian national who had been living rough

tried to silence her by putting his hand down her throat. Thankfully,

passers`by heard her. These students had been walking home but soon

realised something was wrong. It was quite shocking really, to see

something like that in process. We could see the girl was in distress

and we needed to get this man. I'd grabbed him and pulled him off to

the floor. There was no time to think. As we were chasing him, it

was just that we were chasing him, strange as it sounds. That night he

got away but he left a shoe at the scene which provided a DNA sample.

With the help of the homeless community in southern, detectives

were able to identify Marius Trimbitas as the attacker.

Eventually, he handed himself in but it has emerged he had form. In 2004,

he was found guilty of falsely imprisoning a prostitute and

deported. In a statement, the Shadow Immigration Minister has raised

serious concerns. Detectives are not ruling out the

possibility that Marius Trimbitas could have attacked others. I would

encourage anyone who has been the victim of any such crime or if

anyone recognises him and they have been subjected to something similar,

please come forward. The judge said Marius Trimbitas posed a significant

risk of serious harm to women in the future. She sentenced him to eight

years in prison and will be recommending him for deportation

after he serves his sentence. We contacted the Home Office in

response to the questions raised in that report but they have been

unable to provide any comment. Tube workers could strike for an

entire working week over plans to lose 750 jobs and close ticket

offices. The leader of the RMT union, Bob Crow, said the proposed

five day walk`out could happen in January if members vote in favour

for industrial action. Transport for London is facing cuts of ?80 million

over the next few years. The Mark Duggan inquest has heard how a

police officer ran from the scene of the shooting holding what looked

like an object wrapped in cloth. A witness, who was 16 at the time,

said the action looked dodgy. The inquest has previously been told

that police found a gun several metres from where Mr Duggan was

shot. The details of the first phase of the edges to high`speed rail link

between London and Birmingham have been published today.

It shows exactly what the government would like to build, the

environmental impact as well as how people can make their views known

and claim compensation. We can get more now from Alex Bushell in

Westminster. Everything about HS2 is big.

Not least this bill. It runs to 50,000 pages, making it the largest

bill before Parliament. If it is approved the government can

compulsory purchase the land needed. It also allows critics to put their

case before a specially convened parliamentary committee. It ensures

the battle for ages to begin is now in earnest. If they just do a

state`of`the`art rail link that could rebalance Britain or rather a

giant white elephant which will spend `` we will spend years paying

for. Today, demonstrators gathered to

have their voices heard. Real problem and where the investment

needed is commuter journeys. They are a disaster. It comes through

Buckinghamshire and we could be accused of being NIMBYs which, to an

extent we are, because it is devastating. Huge swathes of

countryside. That is why the government is facing growing

opposition on its own backbenchers. MPs with constituents along the

route fear they could e`voting out if they vote HS2 in. There are many

communities, families and communities who will be disrupted

for years ahead, if not permanently, in some cases, by this railway. They

get all the pain and none of the gain and their voice must be heard.

HS2 comes with a price tag of ?42 billion. For that you get increased

capacity and significantly shorter journey times from London to

Birmingham and beyond. From this depot hard copies of the bill will

be dispatched to local libraries along the route. A symbol Rocco `` a

single report weighs a tonne, hence all these boxes. I think HS2 will

benefit London. The problem we have at the moment is a capacity problem

and at the moment, every day, 4000 people are standing when they arrive

in Euston Station. HS2 is about addressing the problems of our

future generations as well. There is still a long way left to travel. HS2

has been dogged over claims that the benefits have been overestimated and

the costs underplayed. The government needs cross`party support

from the opposition and enough of its own MPs. MPs will make the final

decision hopefully before the next general election, before 2015, and

many at Westminster believe that deadline will slip, but just because

of the size of the problem, but because of the size of the bill as

well. A man has been charged with

manslaughter 11 years after a body was found between the drama chassis

of a concrete mixer in Essex. The body of Lee Balkwell was exhumed for

a forensic examination this year. Simon Bromley has also been charged

with an offence under the Health And Safety At Work Act.

The Government has given extra environmental and two parts of the

Thames Estuary. It has agreed to make an area on one of the peninsula

is a site of special scientific interest. It means the area, which

is home to birds such as nightingales is now legally

protected. Critics of plans to build an airport yesterday say this is

further proof this is not the right location.

Still to come tonight, this may be scaring and thrilling people outside

the national portrait Gallery but find out how it will be entertaining

audiences at the phoenix theatre. The problem has become a crisis, the

words of the mayor today as he promised to double the amount of

homes being built in the capital. Boris Johnson also promised ?1

billion extra to boost housing for Londoners. Political correspondent

Karl Mercer has more. Looking to the skies for

inspiration, housing is a hard nut to crack. According to the mayor

insult, quite a lot has been when it comes to building homes for

Londoners. `` himself. We have probably built about half, less than

half of the homes that London needs, and the problem is now a

crisis. At the moment, London is only building around 21,000 homes

per year. Today the memory promised to double that to 42,000. He is

promising to spend ?1 billion on building before 2018 and to set up a

new housing bank to lend developers money kick`start building. Most

people have said that at least 40,000 has been the figure London

should have been building all the time. And indeed the previous one.

Do you not think you are failed in the last five years to build enough?

I certainly think collectively we have all got to look back at the

last 30 years and I admit that we basically have been building about

half as much as London needs. The new target is an ambitious one, and

it will need sites like this in Greenwich to spring up everywhere.

It will need pension funds to invest in house`building and potentially

changes in planning law, something is the mayor does not control. The

important point is that there has been a failure, and endemic failure

for over 30 years now, in terms of housing supply. That is a big

supertanker that needs turning around. The mayor's critics remain

unimpressed. His conservative estimate is that we need to build

40,000 homes a year, we are currently building about half that.

We need to be building at least 50 or 60,000 to keep up with population

growth. Rapid progress of the great five`year plan will abolish the

slums and rehouse 1,300,000 people... Not since the 1930s has

London build 40,000 homes per year, but the mayor has set a target by

which Londoners can now judge him. Football news now, and sports

reporter Sara Orchard joins us, we will talk about a new manager at

Crystal Palace in a moment, but first an incident at Leyton Orient

at the weekend. Yes, that is right, they were away,

they were away at Swindon, they won 3`1, but there was an incident

involving their goalkeeper, Jamie Jones. We will show you the pictures

in a moment, they do contain violence, so if you want to look

away, now is the time to do it. What happened was that the goalkeeper,

Jamie Jones, he stepped into what the goal to collect an item when a

man from the crowd appears to the left of the screen. He appears to

punish Jones more than once before he is restraint by officials. A

26`year`old was arrested and has been released on police bail. Jones

was unhurt, and the spectator could now face a lifetime ban. The FA have

said today they will be speaking to officials from both clubs before

they decide what further action they will be taking.

And on Saturday, Crystal Palace confirmed their new manager.

It has been a long wait, but they finally named Tony Pulis as the new

man at Selhurst Park, and he did watch from the stands as they were

away to Hull the weekend. And it was a great day for Crystal Palace, only

their second win of the season, they won 1`0, and one of the claims to

fame of Tony Pulis is that he has never been relegated in his

managerial career, but he admitted that with Crystal Palace still in

the relegation zone, the job is far from straightforward. It is a

smashing club with great history. You know, it is going to be a tough

job, I know it is going to be a tough job, and I'm not coming here

with any illusions that it is anything other than a tough job. I

like climbing hills, this is going to be a tough job, but one I will

relish. As you said, a long wait, but our

fans reacted? It has been over a month since Ian Holloway stepped

down from the role, so a bit of relief that they have finally got

someone, but also Tony Pulis does come with a good Premier League

pedigree, best known for his time at Stoke where he kept a very steady

ship, even led them to the FA Cup final in 2011. From the fans I have

been speaking to, most just want an assurance he will maintain the

standards and values of the club. They like to play a decent passing

game, and they like to bring through the youth, giving our travails in

terms of finances, we don't want to speak too much on players, and

unfortunately his reputation goes against all of those, but he has a

chance to re`establish himself, and I will be bite into the Alistair

Burt and the fans: With them on that. `` the Palace spirit and the

fans go along with him on that. Art lovers have been asked to help

the national portrait Gallery raise money to keep the last portrait of

Sir Anthony van Dyck in Britain. The current owner wants to take the

painting abroad. The gallery has three months to raise the money

needed to buy it. Meanwhile, 20,000 tickets for the

Monty Python reunion sold out in just 43 seconds this morning. Demand

for tickets has been so great that the team has added more dates to

their show, which is coming to London next July.

Now, they may have been extinct for millions of years, but if you were

in central London today there was a dinosaur roaming free. Easy with a

few friends for Christmas as Brenda Emmanus explains.

As a tourist hotspot, Trafalgar Square is used to spectacles of all

kinds, but the dinosaur roaming amongst passengers buys was nearly

enough to frighten the Cockrell of the plinth. `` among passers`by was

nearly enough to frighten the blue Cockrell off the plinth. We invite

children to, and feed them and give them water. If any of the children

misbehave, we feed them to the dinosaurs. Apart from eating your

kids, the new show will introduce audiences to a range of creatures

from cute baby dinosaurs to giants in a setting that may feel a little

unnatural for a dinosaur. The Phoenix is a beautiful theatre, and

it affords a beautiful intimacy that will allow the audience to feel

really close. Do you get this close with them? Some very lucky children

get to, and help us, and we try to stick their heads in his mouth. The

company have performed at international festivals the world

over, bringing their interactive live shows to family audiences.

People would associate as most with schools and museums, so we are a

bridge between those institutions that have very strong science based

and theatres, which are very much about conjuring magic and

transporting people to other realms. Do you love London?

There is an official meet and greet with dinosaurs after each show,

which could prove exhausting for the stars of the prehistoric experience,

which begins its run at the Phoenix Theatre this Sunday.

London is clearly never boring, is it? How is the weather shaping up

this week? That is boring this week, not much

to talk about, and we will be chasing bits of cloud that are

difficult to forecast, so very generally for the first part of the

week it is going to be cold and still, but not always. We know it

will not be raining the whole time, and it will not be too windy, not

attributes you normally get for a big area of high pressure, but there

is a fair amount of cloud drifting underneath this high and that will

foxes as we go through the week. Today is a good example, because

while some places have some glorious sunshine, other places are really

stuck underneath the cloud. We had hints of it here and there, the

cloud was fairly well broken. There is some clear sky, and that is going

to pivot towards us through the night, so towards the end of the

night we will have clear sky, and of course at this time of the year how

much clarity have in the sky at night depends then on how the

temperatures fall. It is going to be fairly chilly tonight, the winds

light, temperatures in urban areas close to freezing. When you get that

little bit of breakage in the cloud, well, temperatures will fall

back, minus four is a possibility in rural spots, and that will lead to a

frost in the early hours. A mixture of cloud, sunshine when you wake up

tomorrow morning, and it will drift around the cloud through the day. In

some sunshine for most of us on and off, and the wind will be late

again, temperatures not up to much, four or five Celsius. As we go

through the middle part of the week, it looks like the cloud will fill in

the again, mist and fog overnight may be hard to shift, but Wednesday

comes with a slightly milder feel to things, seven or eight Celsius.

Thursday is really going to be a very similar day, plenty of cloud,

some hints of brightness, temperatures hitting 10 degrees in

central London, for example, and then a slight change on Friday,

hopefully something brighter by the end of the day, but a nagging wind

will turn to the north, feeling cold again.

A quick recapture of the main headlines: Police investigating the

alleged slavery case are checking 13 addresses across London after claims

that three women were held for decades. The couple arrested are

thought to be former Communist Party to this.

Payday loan companies face a cap on the fees and interest they charge.

At the moment, rates can exceed 4000%. It is not clear when the

controls would kick in or how they would work.

The Royal Bank of Scotland says it is investigating claims that the

bank drove firms to close so that it could buy back their assets at rock

bottom prices. Two report out today have criticised the way the bank

treated small firms. And hundreds of police officers are

patrolling London's busiest junctions of the next few weeks in

an operation to help improve road safety after the recent death of six

cyclists in two weeks on London's roads. That is it for now, thank you

for joining us, I will be back with the latest during the ten o'clock

news on BBC One. Until then, do have a lovely evening. Bye for now.