24/02/2014 BBC London News

Good evening. Latest figures from Heathrow show the airport is

operating at 98% capacity ` after record passenger numbers in 2013. It

once again raises the question of where new runways should be built in

the South East ` something the Government's Airports Commission is

currently looking at. Chris Rogers is at Heathrow with more details.

Today alone, 191,000 passengers would have passed through this

airport. Heathrow Limited has long argued the need for a third runway

to meet increasing demand, saying the facts speak for themselves. Like

all recommendations, politicians remain undecided, certain sectors of

the public disapprove. Finding a solution that will keep everyone

happy is all but impossible. It's the third biggest airport in

the world and it's getting busier. So many passengers now use Heathrow

it's simply running out of space. 72 million people used Heathrow last

year, that is two million more than the year before. There were 470,000

flights, just 10,000 short of its maximum capacity. Demand for air

travel increases year on year on year. People are moving an awful lot

more than they used to, moving abroad. The demand for London

Heathrow has gone through the roof. So, the demand for air travel is

there. The question is where should extra capacity be built. The Chief

Executive of Heathrow wants expansion. He says the airport is

good for business. It will create more jobs and boost the economy.

Campaigners say the figures simply don't add up and the cost to the

quality of life in London is just too great. There may well be some

economic gain if a third runway is built at Heathrow. But the

environmental and social costs are far too high. 125,000 people live

under the Heathrow flight paths. That alone we believe should rule

out any further expansion. The Government's advisers on air

strategy have shortlisted proposals for new runways at Heathrow and

Gatwick. But they haven't ruled out plans for a completely new airport

on the so`called Boris Island. Gatwick is not the right answer. The

right place for it to go, from a social and economic point of view,

will be to the eastern side of the capital. Building an airport there

would have a huge impact on this internationally protected marshland.

The idea that all of this would need to be destroyed, would need to be

removed to make it safe to fly aircraft, let alone to build an

airport on top of all of this, it would be environmental vandalism. If

the marshland is built on, developers would have to relocate

the birds. A decision on whether Boris Island would be a

fully`fledged contender will be made in September. In the second half of

next year, after the general election, the Airports Commission is

due to issue its final recommendations on where a new

runway should be built. It is perhaps no coincidence that that

final recommendation from the Airports Commission comes a long

time after next year's general election. Whoever wins it still

faces one of the most contentious issues in London today ` which

environment do you potentially destroy? Which community do you

flatten to make way for more planes? STUDIO: Thank you.

There's criticism tonight of a mental health unit in the capital

after it emerged that more than 200 patients, including a convicted

killer, absconded. Figures from a hospital trust revealed they went

"absent without leave" from the medium`secure unit in Homerton over

a 13`year period. Jean Mackenzie has the story.

This man, Lerone Boye, was jailed for life for stabbing a 17`year`old

boy to death at a party three years ago. He was sent here to the John

Howard Centre in Homerton. But in October last year, he escaped and

was on the run for more than three months before being caught. Now,

figures obtained through a Freedom of Information Request so this case

doesn't stand`alone. Over 13 years, 211 prisoners have gone absent

without leave. Broken down, between 2001 and 2004, so over a three`year

period, 48 patients absconded. In the five years between 2004 and

2009, it was 68. In the last five years, 95 patients have gone absent

without leave. A big part of the care is focussed on reintegrating

them back into their communities, and that includes sending them on

unaccompanied days out. If a prisoner is 30 minutes late back

from one of these trips, they are recorded as an absconder. The Trust

which runs this unit is keen to point out that not all these cases

are of people who have chosen not to return. It says it is very careful

about who is granted leave. The decision to release the patient out

for the day is made after very careful consideration of risk

assessment by the treating clinical teams. That is also discussed with

the Ministry of Justice to make sure they agree to it and they grant the

patient a number of leaves and we assess it carefully. But a leading

mental health charity says it's concerned about the increasing

pressure on mental health services and the impact that's having. This

is the result of what has been happening over the years. The

relentless closure of hospitals, the idea that people don't need to be in

hospital. Some of that is right. The end result is that there are people

who may not be able to live in the community or go out into the

community unescorted quite as quickly as is being demanded. The

concern is that these patients may not only be a risk to themselves,

but also to others. That's all from me, so I'll wish you

a very goodnight and hand you over to Wendy for a look at the weather.

We have a mild and sometimes quite unsettled week ahead of us. There

will be some decent weather. Today was a good example. We have some

more rain to come tonight. A couple of hours of heavy stuff in the early

hours of the morning. All of that meaning a mild night. If you wake up

in the east tomorrow, you might still see a bit of cloud. Some

showers dotted around elsewhere that could be a bit on the heavy side.

Largely dry through the afternoon, with some sunshine, just the risk of

a shower. A little bit on the breezy side, too. So mild again. Here is

the outlook for you. A bit of a chilly start on Wednesday and there

will be more rain overnight into Thursday.

will be more rain overnight into Thursday.

Good evening. We have a spell of wet and windy weather working across the

British Isles. Today brought many of us some decent spells of sunshine

and it brought us some decent temperatures. In fact, our warmest

day of the year so far. At the moment,