:00:00. > 3:59:59stories on the BBC News Channel. That's all from me,
:00:00. > 3:59:59rid of this cloud across the East which is rather I Tha
:00:00. > :00:20.Good afternoon. The parents of a five`year`old boy from Surrey who
:00:21. > :00:23.was mauled by a dog are backing calls from a judge to have longer
:00:24. > :00:26.prison sentences for owners. Currently, the maximum term is just
:00:27. > :00:28.two years. A warning that Emilia Papadopoulos's report contains
:00:29. > :00:34.images of injuries that some viewers may find disturbing.
:00:35. > :00:38.From a distance, Alex looks like any other five`year`old. But look a
:00:39. > :00:43.little closer, and you can still see the scars. It was just over a year
:00:44. > :00:48.ago that he was attacked in a park in Ashford by a dog that wasn't on a
:00:49. > :00:52.lead. The dog just ran up behind us and immediately jumped up. I
:00:53. > :00:58.physically couldn't get the dog off him, I was still holding on to Alex
:00:59. > :01:01.and he pulled me over. I tried to stick my hands in, hoping that he'd
:01:02. > :01:03.bite me instead. And then immediately afterwards, Alex's face
:01:04. > :01:09.was literally ripped from mouth to ear.
:01:10. > :01:12.The owner of the dog that attacked Alex went to prison for four months.
:01:13. > :01:15.This week, another man whose dog seriously injured a four`year`old in
:01:16. > :01:21.Camden was given the maximum jail term of two years. Inside court, the
:01:22. > :01:25.judge said the current law prevented him from handing out a more severe
:01:26. > :01:28.punishment. The maximum sentence for owners of
:01:29. > :01:31.dogs who cause injury is just two years, but the Government is making
:01:32. > :01:35.amendments to the Dangerous Dogs Act, and by the spring owners of
:01:36. > :01:41.dogs who attack or even kill members of the public could face up to 14
:01:42. > :01:43.years in prison. One man who's been instrumental in
:01:44. > :01:48.changing the current legislation is Bedford MP Richard Fuller. Unless we
:01:49. > :01:52.move the penalty forward and give the police the right power to enable
:01:53. > :01:58.people to be given the right sentence, we will not be tackling
:01:59. > :02:02.the problem early on. It is getting too serious to ignore. Last year in
:02:03. > :02:06.London, 604 people received hospital treatment for injuries from dogs.
:02:07. > :02:11.That is a 5% increase on the year before. Alex's parents say there is
:02:12. > :02:15.a need for harsher sentencing. If these people are going to have these
:02:16. > :02:19.kind of dogs, and they're going to treat them like they do, they've got
:02:20. > :02:22.to take the consequences. This April, Alex's dad will be running
:02:23. > :02:25.the London Marathon to raise money for St George's Hospital, who
:02:26. > :02:32.treated his son. No doubt Alex will be there to cheer him on.
:02:33. > :02:35.The Olympic Pool in Stratford has opened its doors to the public. From
:02:36. > :02:39.today, Londoners will be able to use the pool where so many records were
:02:40. > :02:46.broken during the 2012 Games. Anjana Gadgil has been down there.
:02:47. > :02:49.It used to be screaming crowds of spectators here, but now it is
:02:50. > :03:00.splashing crowds of Londoners instead, some of whom were not even
:03:01. > :03:05.born when the Olympics were held. How often do you think you will
:03:06. > :03:08.come? Maybe every two weeks. How much difference does it make to have
:03:09. > :03:15.a facility like this on your doorstep? It is great, we live about
:03:16. > :03:20.five or six Tube stops away, so even if we come on the Tube, it is easy
:03:21. > :03:26.to get to. And it is a much better facility than our local one. It is
:03:27. > :03:29.really an impressive place to come. These spaces really good for a
:03:30. > :03:34.family, it is easy to bring a child, parking and like that. Thank you
:03:35. > :03:39.very much, guys. As well as the family pool, we have got lanes
:03:40. > :03:44.behind us and a diving board. As you can see, on the opening weekend, it
:03:45. > :03:48.is already proving very popular. A look at today's weather, mainly
:03:49. > :03:52.dry and bright. A small chance of an odd short shower as the temperature
:03:53. > :03:55.reaches a high of ten Celsius. That's it for now. Join me again
:03:56. > :03:57.just after six o'clock this evening on BBC One. Until then, have a very
:03:58. > :04:13.good afternoon. Hello there. The first day of
:04:14. > :04:17.March, and quite a wintry chill to the first thing, but conditions have
:04:18. > :04:23.improved a lot, a lot of sunshine have there, so the daffodils you can
:04:24. > :04:27.see behind me, a good sunny Saint David's day across Wales. We will
:04:28. > :04:29.hold onto the sunshine for