01/03/2014 BBC London News

East Anglia, a great start, that area of low I

Good evening. The parents of a five`year`old boy from Surrey who

was mauled by a dog are backing calls from a judge to have longer

prison sentences for owners. Currently the maximum term is just

two years. A warning that Emilia Papadopoulos's report contains

images of injuries that some viewers may find disturbing.

From a distance, Alex looks like any other five`year`old. But look a

little closer, and you can still see the scars. It was just over a year

ago that he was attacked in a park in Ashford by a dog that wasn't on a

lead. The dog just ran up behind us and immediately jumped up. I

physically couldn't get the dog off him, I was still holding on to Alex

and he pulled me over. I tried to stick my hands in, hoping that he'd

bite me instead. And then immediately afterwards, Alex's face

was literally ripped from mouth to ear.

The owner of the dog that attacked Alex went to prison for four months.

This week, another man whose dog seriously injured a four`year`old in

Camden was given the maximum jail term of two years. Inside court, the

judge said the current law prevented him from handing out a more severe

punishment. The maximum sentence for owners of

dogs who cause injury is just two years, but the Government is making

amendments to the Dangerous Dogs Act, and by the spring owners of

dogs who attack or even kill members of the public could face up to 14

years in prison. One man who's been instrumental in

changing the current legislation is Bedford MP Richard Fuller. Unless we

move the penalty forward and give the police the right power to enable

people to be given the right sentence, we will not be tackling

the problem early enough. It is getting too serious to ignore. Last

year in London, 604 people received hospital treatment for injuries from

dogs. That is a 5% increase on the year before. Alex's parents say

there is a need for harsher sentencing. If these people are

going to have these kind of dogs, and they're going to treat them like

they do, they've got to take the consequences.

This April, Alex's dad will be running the London Marathon to raise

money for St George's Hospital, who treated his son. No doubt Alex will

be there to cheer him on. A double murder investigation has

been launched after two men were found dead in a car in east London.

They're both thought to be aged in their 20s and were discovered on

Montague Road in Leytonstone early this morning. Detectives are

appealing for witnesses and are conducting inquiries into the

identity of the victims. Work to remove the barriers from the

Dartford Crossing is due to begin in Autumn. But the tolls on the the

free`flowing system are due to go up from ?2 to ?2.50 for cars and will

be paid on the internet or over the phone.

The Olympic pool in Stratford has opened its doors to the public. From

today, Londoners will be able to use the pool where so many records were

broken during the 2012 Games. Anjana Gadgil has been down there.

When London held the Olympic Games, this cull hadn't been born. Now 18

months old, the parent plan to bring her every week. Even if we come on

the Tube, it is easy to get to. And it is a much better facility than

our local one. It is really an impressive place to come. The space

is really good for a family, it is easy to bring a child, parking and

like that. As well as the family pool, there is a 50 metres pool,

much appreciated by serious swimmers. It is light and airy, it

is warm as well, I think there is a bit of peer pressure, people

swimming, you want to be the best we can. We will come, get fit and

healthier. Someone who might make it to Rio, Tom Daley, where else can

you look up from your lengths to see an Olympic medallist in training? As

well as bathing in Olympic glory, you can also bathe in natural

light. They have installed 3000 square metres of windows since the

Latics ended, giving inspirational views like this one. `` the

Olympics. Knowing the Libyans and Paralympians Swamy, but more than

that, it is a tremendous setting. `` knowing the Olympians and

Paralympians swam here. Whether you swim or just splash is up to you.

After Amy Lea dry night, tomorrow will have rain in the afternoon.

Join me again at roughly the same time tomorrow on BBC One.

Hello. For some of us, it was quite a decent state, some sunshine

around, but not the case right now in Northern Ireland and parts of

Scotland, chilly with some rain as well, you will have to warm yourself

up a bit this evening. Rain on the way for tomorrow, this is the cloud

streaming out of the Atlantic, this will be in place over our

neighbourhood for most of tomorrow, you will need the umbrella. Here and

now first of all, this cloud is bringing wet weather into Northern

Ireland and western parts of Scotland, quite a chilly night, cold

enough for hill snow across parts of Scotland. To the south of that,

mainly rain and