30/07/2014 BBC London News

a UN school and a crowded marketplace in Gaza. That is all

from the BBC News at Six. Goodbye from me, on BBC One we join the news

teams where you are. The British Airways pilot accused

of sexually abusing children Now victims say they'll sue

the airline. There are allegations of rape. For

the children, it is devastating, life changing.

HSBC Bank is criticised after it closed the accounts

London's on its way to a population of 11 million,

so the mayor sets out his vision of how to best manage the increase.

British Airways is to be sued over claims that one of

its pilots sexually abused children in African schools and orphanages.

It's alleged that First Officer Simon Wood molested children

after claiming he was carrying out charity work for the airline.

Wood was due to appear in court last August over further

allegations of indecently assaulting an eight year`old girl in the UK

But he was found dead after being hit by a train in Hertfordshire.

Today a coroner concluded the pilot took his own life.

Here's our home affairs correspondent, Guy Smith.

British Airways flies nearly 100,000 people every day of the year. That

is why we can also bring help to those who need it most... British

Airways is involved with charities around the world. Showing in

on`board video is some of the good work of its staff. But to its

embarrassment, one of its employees was using BA's charitable work as a

cover to allegedly abused children. 54`year`old Simon Wood was a first

officer on long haul flights. For more than a decade, he regularly

flew to East Africa, stopping over in Nairobi. It is claimed that

between 2003 and last year he abused at least 16 children in Kenya,

Tanzania and Uganda. The allegations range from inappropriate touching to

rape. One of his alleged victims was as young as five. This London lawyer

has been out to Kenya to talk to some of them. It is devastating,

life changing. They saw this person as someone that could help them, a

respected person at the airline that was able to assist them. They went

on to abuse that. The victims are suing BA for alleged negligence.

This is one of the orphanages Simon Wood visited. It is claimed he was

found with indecent photos ten years ago at a charity and was asked to

leave. The question is, did BA no? Simon Wood was found dead near

Potters bar station on August the 18th last year. He had been struck

by a train. 12 days later, he was due at Southwark Crown Court to face

further allegations including a charge of indecent assault on an

eight`year`old girl here in the UK. Today an inquest found he had

committed suicide. He felt it was his only way out according to the

coroner. British Airways said it could not going to detail because of

pending litigation. But in a statement, they said, we are shocked

and her fight to hear the allegations against Simon Wood which

appear to relate to his involvement in child related activities outside

the scope of his employment with British Airways. The case is

expected to go to the High Court later this year.

Do stay with us as there's lots more to come tonight

before 7pm, including protests as plans to shake up hospital services

Three Muslim organisations, including the Finsbury Park Mosque

in North London, are having their bank accounts closed by HSBC.

The mosque described the move as Islamophobic,

but the bank denies that the groups are being targeted because of

It just says that dealing with them is too risky.

This man runs a think tank on Islamic issues in west London. He

has been told by HSBC that his personal and business accounts and

those of his wife and children will close in two months. He says the

bank has not given him or the other organisations affected a proper

organisation. Organisations are mostly charities and the link is

that many of them if not all quite active on the case of Palestine. I

am left to speculate that this is why. That would be a great shame if

it was true. The Finsbury Park Mosque, a Bolton `based Muslim

charity also got letters from HSBC telling them their accounts would be

close. The reason given was that having them remain as a customer

fell outside of what the bank called their risk appetite. The mosque made

headlines in a decade ago due to its connections with the radical cleric

Abu Hamza. The mosque Spurs things have changed completely since. ``

the mosque says. The letters that we have received do not give an

absolute reason as to why it was closed in the first place. It could

lead us only to explain that we believe it is an Islamophobic

campaign. It is a nice facility, nice vibe about it and the local

community use the meeting room. They have been happy to take money from

Finsbury Park Mosque for ten years and they need to explain why it is

now not acceptable. Hey just be said, the bankers applying a

programme of strategic defenceman to all of its businesses `` HSBC said.

The Charity Commission has confirmed it is not investigating any of the

organisations involved and says if the charities do not have a

relationship with a bank it could harm public trust in their work.

Police have launched a fresh appeal for witnesses eight

years after a woman was murdered in Buckinghamshire.

The body of 23 year`old Beata Bryl was found in woods in Wooburn Green

She had serious injuries and her body had been set alight.

Police have released CCTV of Miss Beata at Leytonstone station

just hours before her death in a bid to trace her killer.

It defies belief how horrible it was. That gives us all added

determination to establish who has done it, who has killed her, who

knows about Beata Bryl's death. London's population is booming

and by 2050 we're expected to be It's estimated that 11 million

people will live here, Well, today Mayor Boris Johnson

outlined how he thinks Our environment correspondent,

Tom Edwards, can tell us the cost What are you missing? Shops. What

else? It did not take long for residents to pounce on the mayor and

developers. The developers should do more? Definitely. We need other

things. This is part of the challenge facing London. The mayor

wants to regenerate likeness to cope with the growing population. But

infrastructure costs by 2050 11 million people will live in the

capital. According to the mayor's estimates, the capital faces

significant challenges, demand for public transport will go up by 50%.

Demand for energy supplies also increasing by 20%. Eventually this

could be an overground station. Other ideas in the mayor's plan are

more river crossings and tunnelled roads. What the mayor wants is for

the capital to keep the taxes it generates. Should you not have done

it earlier? It has not happened before and it is the right thing to

do now. It is right for us. This follows from the 2020 vision

document which came out last year and I said then that we would be

doing this, coming forward with an infrastructure plan. It has been

surprisingly difficult to bring it to burst because there are so many

different ideas about how the city should develop and it is very

important to bring people with you. By 2050, the capital will need 600

more schools. Because of the population growth, there will need

to be 50,000 extra homes every year. In total, it is estimated the

capital would need an investment of ?1.3 trillion by 2050. Critics say

the mayor has not planned enough for the future. My concerns do not

address today's problems. Finding a job for young people, finding a

place to live, getting from home to work, these are real challenges

facing London is today, not in 2050. These are big ideas requiring big

budgets. Population growth will be a key issue that future mayors will

have to deal with. Tom is with me now. You spoke to the mayor today.

What do you make of this? I see it as a huge example of lobbying for

funding. You have to remember, the mayor scrapped a lot of his

predecessor's plans for infrastructure. The big sticking

point is cash and funding. A lot of talk in the document about what they

call fiscal devolution, how vital it is for London to keep their

revenues. Broadly this has been welcomed that the mayor is looking

ahead. Not everyone will stop environmentalists say his talk about

roads goes against his own plans for air quality. We will seem what

happens. Thank you. The cross`Channel train operator,

Eurostar, has announced plans for direct services

from London to the south of France. From next summer, trains will stop

at Lyon and Avignon before arriving The return journey will take an hour

longer due to immigration controls. Police are searching for a man who

broke a woman's arm during a violent CCTV footage shows the man watching

the victim across the street before putting on a wig and running across

the road to snatch the lady's bag. Police are asking for anyone who

saw the attack on Northumberland A motorist has walked away with

minor injuries after driving off the Elephant and Castle roundabout

and crashing into the subway. It happened last night just

after 8pm. Police are investigating

what happened. The way it jumped over our car, it

was like something unbelievable. Thank God everybody is not hurt.

Big changes to West London's hospitals came

a step closer today with the go`ahead given to plans which will

see around half of Charing Cross and St Mary's hospitals sold off.

Protestors say it will lead to the loss of two local A

But health bosses say care will improve.

Here's our political correspondent, Karl Mercer.

The chanting, the posters and the floods are familiar sight here. This

has been a long`running campaign against huge changes in West

London's hospitals. Health bosses met today to agree plans to close or

downgrade two A Jarring is saved my husband's life. `` Charing Cross.

He was there for ten days. He is recovering very well. First class

service. We have been supporting the campaign since it started. If you

stand outside Charing Cross Hospital with a petition, thousands of people

come up to you and say, this hospital saved my life. It is part

of a bigger reshaping of services. It is not just Hammersmith, but also

Charing Cross and Ealing as well. It is unprecedented. Biggest experiment

in the NHS's history, to take away this many. I think it is madness.

The board voted through the plans today. Money will be spent on new

services, but large parts of Charing Cross and St Mary's Hospital sites

will be sold off. Jared will have a whole range of King Unity facilities

`` Charing Cross will have a whole range of community facilities. This

is the sort of future health bosses are promising. At the centre,

patients can get everything done in one day. Change is hard. I am hoping

that if we can show what it could be like, that will enable people to see

that the future is better than now. Hammersmith A shots and a munch.

`` shuts in a month. The fiancees of two cyclists killed

by a drink`driver in Berkshire are calling for tougher

jail terms for motorists who kill. Alexander Walters was driving a

stolen car while disqualified, when He was jailed for ten years

for both deaths. A petition is now calling

for the maximum sentence of 14 years to be given to drivers

for each person they kill. We want the law changed so that

Chris was classed as one, and John was classed as one and he wouldn't

have got ten plus ten. We all know it will be half of that and he'll be

out in a few years. Is that all that Chris and John were?

Still to come before the end of the programme:

Another golden day at the Commonwealth Games for our athletes.

A police community support officer who stole from airport passengers is

facing the prospect of jail. Alexis Scott, who worked at Gatwick, was

found guilty of conning seven travellers. She took the money

moments before passengers boarded their flights, claiming they were

not allowed to take more than ?1000 out of the country. The disgraced to

Disgraced former police community support officer, pictured on CCTV

having just conned a passenger at Catterick out of ?1000. Alexis Scott

abused her position, targeting passengers about to board flights to

Turkey, Albania and Vietnam. Clearly, the victims have the right

to expect that police officers, a member of police staff, they are

people that they can trust. On this occasion, Scott was woefully below

that standard and as a result she has been found guilty today and will

be sentenced in the near future. She was found guilty of six counts of

theft at Gatwick Airport in April last year. She dishonestly told

passengers at the gate they could not take more than ?1000 of cash out

of the country. She took ?3000 from a woman travelling to Turkey, that

was intended to help pay for an operation and a wedding. Her crimes

came to light because she had told some of the passengers that they

could reclaim the money that she had taken from them when they returned

to the UK. Some of them tried to do this, approaching the airport

information desk, only to be told their money was not there and they

had been conned. The judge said it was inevitable that she will face a

custodial sentence. He said she had seriously undermined public trust in

a public service. It's been another Gold Medal Day

at the Commonwealth Games Chris Slegg has been following

every twist and turn very closely. Chris, Max Whitlock has made it

to the top of the podium again? He is a man that is twisting and

turning in style, emerging as a real star of the games. Yesterday he

helped England win the team event. Today there has been an individual

gold in the all`around event. The 21`year`old from Hemel Hempstead had

never before Will a gold medal at this event in the cabbage. He was

near faultless, top scored, that marks him as a serious medal

contender for the real Olympics. Hopefully I'm not at my best yet,

hopefully I'll keep improving. I've put a few skills in today and

yesterday, hopefully I can keep up with that. I'm looking to add some

more and keep training, and hopefully the up for the worlds.

Incredible, good for him. It's not over yet, a big night on the track?

Martyn Rooney, a real chance for him to shine. He shone last night in the

semifinals of the 400 metres. He ran 45.22. He was able to ease off.

Kirani James, the Olympic champion from grenade, would be favourite for

gold. Rooney should get amongst the medals. He's ditching the game plan

and concentrating on enjoying the race.

At the moment it was just go around and enjoy it.

Like I said, make sure I'm strong coming down the home straight.

If I'm involved in that last 80 metres, I'm going to win it.

That was the most important thing today, make sure I felt good

Yeah, I was quite impressed with myself.

A great day for the hockey players, they Will their crucial final group

match against Scotland 2`1. The goals were from Alex Danson and

Suzie Townsend. They did fight back towards the end. England were

hanging on a bit, but they were delighted to make it into the

semifinals. We always knew today was going to be

a battle, We know the girls quite well,

and we knew how much they wanted to We just had to sort of grit it

and fight it out to the end. I've got a real confidence

and momentum, just looking forward They won the bronze medal in Delhi

in 2010. They are looking to do better than that, in the semifinal

against New Zealand. Great games for our sportsmen and women.

Arsenal Football Club has lost its bid to double the number

of concerts allowed to be staged at the Emirates Stadium.

The club went to the High Court to argue that Islington Council was

wrong to reject its application for up to six concerts a year.

Opponents voiced concerns about noise and rowdy music fans.

London has the biggest and most vibrant theatre scene in the world.

Many of us might know that already, but now a new study agrees.

The National Theatre has found that between 2012 and 13 over 20 million

It meant box office takings topped ?600 million.

Our Entertainment Correspondent Brenda Emmanus has been finding out

what makes London a world beater on stage and she's in Theatreland now.

The London theatre report 2014 certainly fuelled optimism about the

theatre community. It's the most competence of study on the size,

shape, health and vibrancy of our theatre sector. The West End has

reported its 10th consecutive year of record takings. While ticket

prices might be a concern, a comprehensive new report reveals

more money was taken at the theatre box office than by London cinemas.

They were encouraged by the large range of productions on offer. It

shows the links between different kinds of theatres, the National

Theatre, The Yard, the theatres in the West End, they all share talent,

skills and expertise. They are part of one single industry. The report

gives the clearest victory to date of the size and state of the theatre

scene. Are we now bigger and better than Broadway? I don't think we said

it was better, we said we have thrown the gauntlet down. We think

that the London theatre attendance numbers are bigger than New York.

But there is no comparative number in New York. We're hoping there will

come up with a number. Key figures from the industry believe there are

multiple factors that make London theatre great. I think there is

probably a greater range of work, greater risk. I think there is a

diversity of artists and conversations. I think it is

beautiful, eccentric, brilliant. I think you can go and see

surprisingly. Surprises tend to come from new writing in our thriving

fringed immunity. The Bush Theatre has seen an increase in

performances, turnover and commissioning of new work. It's been

amazing, over the last two months we've had 92% capacity over new

shows and had 60% of audiences coming to the Bush Theatre. We live

in such a diverse community, seeing those communities responding to our

work gives us a real sense of self. The present picture is a positive

one, but report commissioners have some concerns. Shows are being

produced in smaller spaces, for which there is a large audience,

that would like to move to a commercial theatre and there are not

any available. We are restricted in that sense. There are clearly going

to be other threats about funding, threats about tourism. The overall

picture at the moment is rosy because people are creating great

shows. The great thing about the ecology of London theatre is that it

is changing. Theatre can and does take place everywhere, on rooftops,

hotels, open spaces, car parks and on stage. The report does not cover

audiences all about the long`term effects of arts class. But there are

a lot of things to look forward to, Back To The Future the musical, Made

in Dagenham, King Charles the third, and Electra. A few dates for your

diary. It's safe to say that the champagne and beer glasses of the

theatre community will be raised with optimism. We simply are the

best. I think that sums it up nicely! Now

let's get the weather forecast. We are in our summer outfits because

it's glorious up there. It's been a little hot for me, last

night it was glorious, did you notice the humidity had dropped?

That is going to continue. Not quite as hot, but that means if you don't

want the showery weather, it will turn increasingly showery to the

next couple of days. Many of us want the rain for the garden. Not as hot,

but some sunshine around. What about today? Again, 24`25. It was pretty

hot out there. Strong July sunshine still around. A lovely end to the

day if you are strolling through the parks. Plenty of sunshine to

continue with as we go through the night. Then we might see a bit

patchy mist through the Thames Valley. Could be for tee showers, ``

a few showers, humidity has dropped, so although 15 or 16 is quite warm

it will not feel as uncomfortable as it has in recent nights. Tomorrow, a

lovely day for many of us as you can see. Patchy cloud coming and going,

just a light breeze. You can see the risk is increasing showers. It looks

as if we will seek will miss the heaviest of the showers, at least,

during the day tomorrow. If you are in the Midlands, those will be

around. An increase in the cloud, perhaps bringing you some showers

for tea`time onwards as you can see. As we run through tomorrow night, a

greater risk of some showers and that will linger into Friday. Friday

sees light wind, patchy cloud. We could see some showers around. With

showers, they are hit and miss, but there is a greater risk.

Temperatures up to the low or mid`20s. You can see how they are

creeping down. This is what is coming in as we head towards the

weekend. The potential for more persistent rain around. We might be

on the periphery, all to play for, as ever, we will keep you updated.

Before we go this evening, let me remind you

The United Nations has accused Israel of launching a deadly attack

at one of its schools in Gaza where thousands of Palestinians had been

At least 15 people were killed and dozens were hurt.

A former police officer is to be charged with the murder of Azelle

Rodney, shot dead in north London in 2005. He was one of three men

travelling in a car that. By police. I'll be back during

the 10 o'clock news on BBC One. Until then, enjoy more coverage

of Day 7 of the Commonwealth games Cos the more he can't have you,

the more he'll want you.