03/06/2014 BBC News at Six

A BBC investigation reveals new evidence of widespread sexual abuse

at a boys' school in Rochdale. A local official claims he blew

the whistle on alleged abuse 20 years ago at Knowl View but

the council covered up his report. I imagined it blowing

up any time soon. The fact that it didn't

has always amazed me. Tonight Rochdale Council say they

can't comment because of an ongoing legal inquiry.

Also on the programme. The man given months to live and the

medical breakthrough which means his cancer now appears to have vanished.

The British police begin digging in a search area of the Portugese

resort where Madeleine McCann went missing seven years ago.

House prices rise by over 11% in the past 12 months.

The fastest growth for seven years. And as England begin training

in Miami, it's so hot they need huge fans to cool them down.

The search for the missing backpacker. Malaysian police say

they have discovered new clues. And then you look at Tottenham Court

Road is unveiled with cars and taxis band.

Good evening and welcome to the BBC News at Six.

New evidence has emerged spelling out widespread sexual abuse

at a boy's school in Rochdale. Boys as young as eight were being

assaulted at Knowl View, according to a report seen by BBC news.

Now, the health official who alerted the authorities to

the abuse over 20 years ago says he believes his report was covered up.

He warned the local council the abuse could become a public

scandal if nothing was done. The former MP Cyril Smith,

who was previously a governor at the school, has also been accused of

abusing boys there years earlier. Richard Bilton's report contains

some distressing allegations. It was the school where vulnerable

boys were routinely abused. Tonight we reveal the full extent

of the scandal of Knowl View. The abuse the authorities knew

about, the documents that detailed forced sex and prostitution.

The boys who lived in fear and the parents who it's claimed

were never tell the truth. Knowl View was

a residential school and Peter was 11 when he was sent there.

He's never spoken on television before.

I was abused on the first night. Of arriving.

Who abused you? One of the members of staff

at the time. You'd hear a click click.

The door opening. And then you'd hear the footsteps.

You knew it was either you they were coming for or somebody

in your dormitory. It wasn't just staff.

Peter says the worst nights were when people

were brought from outside. We were raped.

There was a flat. We were taken there

and plied with drink and raped. The school is long gone, but its

legacy still sits across this town. Now people are looking for answers.

Do you want a man to represent you or do you want a party robot?

At various points, Cyril Smith was a governor at Knowl View.

A new police investigation is looking at allegations of abuse

and whether they were covered up. Perhaps they could start

with these three reports. Written, more than 20 years ago,

never published but obtained by our investigation.

The record in detail how boys were abused at Knowl View

and how the system let them down. The first was

by a health professional. His findings are shocking,

boys as young as ight working as prostitutes,

others forced to have sex. He wrote, "Parents of children

at the school would be horrified were the facts to be known.

Unless some incisive actions taken soon, it is more than likely that

this activity will become a public scandal."

23 years later, we tracked him down. He said he only went into

the school to help with training. It was a bombshell to us.

So I wrote a report. I imagined it blowing

up any time soon. The fact that it didn't

has always amazed me. The BBC has seen documents that seem

to show his report was passed on to other departments within

the Council and to the police. An investigation was recorded

requested a month after Mr Shepherd's report.

Despite the details of abuse and prostitution, six weeks later,

an investigation was ruled out. Phil Shepherd believes not enough

was done to help the children and will say as much to

the council's independent enquiry. People say cover up, don't they?

To be quite honest with you, I can't see any other reason that it

hasn't come out and it wasn't dealt with effectively at the time.

Do you think it was covered up? I have a feeling it properly was.

Rochdale Council says it can't comment until

an independent review is complete. In the early 90s, two further

reports were commissioned inside the council and documents suggest

changes were being made but some at the school say not enough was done.

Nobody's seen this report. Martin Deegan worked at Knowl View

as a social worker. He believes the reports were

ignored and parents were never told what happened to their boys.

Complete fabrication of the truth, complete cover-up by

Rochdale Council. Not one parent has seen the report.

Not one of the children has seen the report.

Do you think the children of that school have had justice yet?

No, not by no means. I feel very strongly they've

had no justice yet, none. It's 23 years since Phil Shepherd

came to the school. Why didn't he do more to raise

the alarm? I've looked back,

thought about it often. Certainly more recently.

And thought I possibly should have done.

I'm not sure what it would have been.

I still find it hard to believe that it could have been...

I'm looking for an alternative for cover-up.

It could've been repressed, it could have been hidden,

it could've been locked away. I just don't understand that.

But Phil Shepherd may still make a difference.

His belief that his report was suppressed is important for those

victims taking legal action. It is very significant Mr Shepherd

is of the opinion that his report was covered up.

There he was at the heart of the investigation and here we are

in 2014, with him saying he believes there was a cover-up.

All the evidence so far points to that report

remaining under the radar. And with it, the legitimate question

can be asked, was there a cover-up? Pressure is building.

Private legal action, a police investigation

and an independent enquiry. This town may at last have

to give up its secrets. In Rochdale this evening, no comment

from the council. They say the independent enquiry is not due to

report until the end of July so they say the independent enquiry is not

due to report until the end of July survey Chief Superintendent Jackson

in charge of CID for Greater Manchester who oversees the

investigation into Knowl View. He was aware of the documents in that

report and he said to me if those documents came to the police now,

they would be treated very differently and prompt a very

different response. It would be at the other end of the scale.

Richard, thank you. to give up its secrets.

Doctors are describing the results as astonishing, jaw-dropping.

They are talking about a possible breakthrough in the treatment of one

of the deadliest forms of cancer. An international trial

of two drugs which help the body target its own tumours saw hugely

improved survival rates in patients with advanced melanoma who had been

expected to survive only months. Now it could be applied to other

cancers, as our medical correspondent Fergus Walsh reports.

Another weapon in the war on Cancer. Not a cure-all, but two treatments

which harness the power of the immune system to target cancerous

cells like these. Eight months ago, this man could barely walk, advanced

melanoma, skin cancer had spread to his lungs. He was given Munster live

until he began a new treatment. Now I have a life, that's the

difference. Before, all I had to look forward to was weeks maybe

months of chemotherapy, radiotherapy. With this drug, it's

wonderful, Lifeline. This scan shows cancer growing in his lungs. After

just three drug infusions, it is completely cleared.

correspondent Fergus Walsh reports. Immunotherapy is one of the most

promising areas of cancer research. Specialist cells known

as T cells patrol our bodies to protect them from foreign invaders.

But some cancers, including melanoma, are able to

evade it by activating a biological switch called PD-1 on T cells.

This either destroys or deactivates them.

The new drugs block this mechanism. This allows the T cells to

recognise and attack the cancer. It's truly astonishing that such a

new drug at a very early stage of development is really showing us

really very tangible benefits at such an early stage. In a trial of

one of the drugs, 69% of patients survived at least one year. Average

survival used to be a few months. In a trial of another drug, survival

was even better. 85% after one year, and 79% after two years. The

experimental melanoma drugs may get a licence within two years and then

it will be a question of how much they cost. The same treatment might

also work against other cancers and are already being tested on patients

with lung, kidney and other tumours. recognise and attack the cancer.

Police officers have been digging in an area of scrubland near Praia

de Luz, the Portuguese resort where Madeleine McCann went missing seven

years ago. Today the British police brought

in specialised sniffer dogs on the second day of the search.

Our correspondent Jon Kay reports from there.

In the scorching heat, sniffer dogs from Britain hunt for clues. Two

years ago, these dogs from South Wales Police were searching for

April Jones. Now they are in Portugal looking for signs of

Madeleine McCann. The area the dogs are focusing on is right on the edge

of the 15 acres of scrubland currently being searched. Next to

hotel buildings and private villas. And they keep returning to this site

again and again. The search is taking place just a few minutes walk

from the holiday apartment where Madeleine vanished seven years ago.

Today, undergrowth was cleared in a few specific areas and then one

particular plot ten metres by six, became the focus of attention. Mark

Dowd and measured before digging began. That marked out. Officers

taking small samples of the rock and dried earth. They came with a

British police,. This man questioned whether they will get any clues.

Seven years later? No dog is going to pick a percent because it's long

gone after that time. There's going to be no evidence of disturbed

ground after seven years. These things get weathered. The Scotland

Yard detective who requested the surge has not spoken publicly about

why all this is happening now. But it's understood Portuguese police

have today agreed for two other sites to be searched in the resort

and that should happen before the end of this week.

Kay reports from there. Northern Ireland's Chief Constable,

Matt Baggott, is to be taken to court over claims

the force is deliberately withholding information about

the role of police in the alleged covering up of crimes committed

by informers during the Troubles. The police ombudsman,

Michael Maguire, claims he has been refused access to

information related to 60 murders. His team are conducting

investigations into past crimes as part of the continuing peace

process in the province. House prices have risen by more than

11% in the past 12 months, according to the Nationwide building society.

The increase marks the fastest annual growth for seven years.

But there are signs the market could be slowing.

The European Commission has warned of risks and offered advice to the

UK government on how to adjust the housing market to sustain growth.

Simon Gompertz reports. Terraced house, North, East, South,

West, how big this jump in house prices feels depends on where you

live, and what you own if anything. But the average rate of increase per

year has risen to its fastest at 11% since 2007. Nationwide says the raid

could now be slowing but in Altrincham near Manchester, that's

little consolation for potential buyers. Me and my partner have been

trying little consolation for potential

buyers. Me and to get on the property ladder for the last

little consolation for potential buyers. Me and to get on two years

and we found it a struggle. To me it seems ridiculous house prices can

increase that much when salaries aren't going up in comparison. The

big question is, will the house price increases really slow down or

will they rise into the stratosphere? If they carry on going

at the current pace, the pressure will build on the government and the

Bank of England to do something about it. Some housing experts say

don't panic. This is not a crisis yet. It's too early to be talking

about the UK boom. This is typical of market recovery. Prices rising.

When there are too many buyers and not enough sellers. That will start

to balance out in time and the risk is a long term lack of supply.

more building and more council tax on higher value properties. After

the crisis in 2009/2010 across the whole of the political spectrum

there was talk about how we needed to have a balanced economy which

wasn't depended on a credit-fuelled property boom. We are getting back

to the growth. At the core of that is a credit-fuelled property boom.

Banks have begun to take their own action on house prices. They have

banned the biggest borrowers, those wanting more than ?500,000, than

getting any more than four times their annual income.

A BBC investigation reveals new evidence of widespread sexual abuse

And, still to come, the row over freeing Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl,

The building of six houses at the bottom of a row of gardens.

There's a row over how the development got the go ahead.

The former Chelsea star has at least 16 offers on the table.

Syria is holding presidential elections today, despite

Only people in government-controlled areas can vote,

making it almost certain that Bashar Al-Assad will stay as leader.

Critics condemned the election as a sham.

Our Middle East editor, Jeremy Bowen, reports from Maloula,

just outside the capital Damascus, which government forces won back

There is some flash photography in his report.

Posters of President Assad decorated some of the buses the water company

used to bring its workers to this polling station in Damascus.

If any of them were opponents of the President, they kept quiet about it.

Everyone I spoke to said they'd be voting for the head

of the family that has run Syria for more than 40 years.

This man scratched his thumb so he could vote in blood.

For the first time, in more than 50 years, there was a

choice in the presidential election proof, according to officials,

She said how happy she was to be voting for President Assad.

But the election has been denounced as a sham by Assad's opponents

Britain called it a "parody of democracy."

Now, for all the savage criticism of this election, it's important to

remember that President Assad does have genuine support.

Some of them are starting to chant outside now.

He would not have got to where he has been in this war

So, as far as he's concerned, all this is good politics.

President Bashar al-Assad is certain to win the vote.

He cast his ballot, with his wife, who grew up in London.

In the parts of Syria controlled by rebels, the election has been

This artist in Aleppo painted rubbish skips to

There is no voting in rebel-held areas.

Back in Damascus, this is Hassan al-Nouri, a former Minister,

Before the vote he said his own family had found

the campaign was fair by Syrian standards, but not, as he put it,

One single person from this family who is 100% believing in me would

not have the guts to put the poster for me, signing his name under.

Even your own relatives and extended family might be scared

Because they never believed there would be an election in Syria.

They are suddenly having three candidates are competing with each

other for the President of the Syrian Arab Republic.

Thousands of President Assad's posters have been up in Damascus.

Questions about his future have always been parried with -

Whatever his opponents say about this controversial election,

once his victory is announced, he can tell them he has

Two women from Liverpool have been sent to prison for a year after

Hayley Sulley and Della Woods hadn't fed the dog for nearly two days

It attacked their 79-year-old next door neighbour as he cooked a meal.

This is the moment when armed police moved in to destroy a dog which had

itself just killed a pensioner. The animal was so aggressive that it bit

the rifle of the marksman and had to be shot twice. 9-year-old army

veteran, Clifford Clarke had been cooking dinner at his home. Next

door this presa canario had been left alone in the garden without

food for two-days. The fences were no obstacle. Driven by hunger and

smelling the food coming from the pensioner's kitchen the animal

managed to get into his garden. The dog was owned by Hayley Sulley and

Della woods, who were each jailed today for 12 months under the

Dangerous Dogs Act. Judge said he could not sentence under new law

which has been brought in since the attack, adding, "the situation has

changed recently, as owners of killer dogs now face up to 14 years

in jail. I am sure all responsibly minded people will agree this is a

welcome step forward." It's little comfort to Clifford Clarke's

brother, Kenny, who now wants all dangerous dogs to be muzzled. He

died horrifically. This is 2013 he died in, not the middle ages. It

wasn't in the Roman arena fighting animals. He was a normal guy.

Happy-go-lucky fell lachlt he didn't deserve this. No way at all.

Clifford Clarke had celebrated his birthday the day before the attack.

In court it was said his death, from multiple injuries, was entirely

avoidable. A 12-year-old boy and a bus driver,

who is 54, have suffered serious injuries after a head on crash

between two school buses during the morning rush-hour in County Durham.

More than 20 other children, aged between 11 and 18, and the second

driver, were he treated by paramedics at the scene in Stanley.

Barack Obama has been defending his decision to free five senior

Taliban militants in exchange for a US soldier, who was held captive

Some Republicans have accused the President of setting a dangerous

precedent with the prisoner swap for Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl,

Aleem Maqbool reports from Washington.

Release me, please. I'm begging you. Bring me Years of home. Captivity,

so many Taliban videos and now Sergeant Bergdahl is finally free.

At what cost? Please... Bring me home. To secure his release, the US

government negotiated with the Taliban and released five of the

group's militants from Guantanamo Bay. Seen here being welcomed in

Qatar. Some of those who served with Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl say he's a

traitor. He walked right out the base. He deserted us in the middle

of Afghanistan to go and find the Taliban. It appears he became

disillusion with America's role in Pakistan. Critics say others died in

the search to find him. People calling him a hero. People calling

him this great soldier. It's a spit in the face to the soldiers who died

as a direct result to him leaving. Family and friends and those who

worked to hard to beep his plight in the spotlight are waiting to welcome

him home. We are staying out of the politics. We will leave that to the

rest of the world. We will welcome Bowe home with open arms. We have

the boy back. We will let everyone else deal with the politics of it

all. There are questions about whether America endangered more of

its soldiers. The President says he has no doubts. Regardless of the

circumstances, whatever those circumstances may turn out to be, we

still get an American soldier back if he's held in captivity. Period.

Full stop. It was just a few days ago President Obama was appearing

here with the parents of Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl celebrating his

release. For many Americans this has become anything but a success story

for The White House. With just over a week to go

until the World Cup kicks off in Brazil, the England squad have

been continuing The team had a training session,

in the sweltering heat, ahead of The players needed huge fans

to help cool them down. Roy Hodgson said hi wouldn't name

the England line-up for the World Cup yet. I prefer to take one step

at a time. My problem is how we will play against Ecuador and how well we

will do against Ecuador. Then we will turn to Hondorus and then turn

to Italy. Dan Roan is in Miami for us. How useful is this preparation?

Many questioned the FA's wisdom in bringing the England squad here for

their final training sessions when their first training attempt was

wiped out yesterday because of a tropical storm, after all it's

hurricane season here in Florida. Today, here at the Sun Life Stadium

they got the conditions they were looking for. High humidity, similar

to those they will experience in the Amazon jungle where they play their

opening World Cup game against Italy. There are big decisions for

Roy Hodgson to make despite the 3-0 win on Friday night not least the

role of Wayne Rooney. The striker's role is being questioned as to

whether he should be an automatic starter. Big decisions in terms of

selection and tactics for Roy Hodgson. Now a look at the weather.

Peter Gibbs here. Dan talked about a tropical storm and it looks like

there will be rain. tropical storm and it looks like

there will be rain. The warm is not a word I would use for tomorrow.

Rain will spread in across many parts of the UK. It will stick

around for much of the day, particularly across a good part of

England and Wales. It will appear there at the bottom of the picture.

One or two sharp showers this evening and over night. Working

their way northwards. They will clear away from Scotland.

Temperatures will be into single figures, otherwise a mild night.

Tomorrow there will be sunshine around, largely dry story as well.

As we move further south you can see outbreaks of rain into the

north-east of England. Patchy across Wales. Some western parts of Wales

might end up with a reasonable sort of day. Across much of southern

England (inaudible) it's drab, outbreaks of rain hi where. Some

will be on the heavy side. It doesn't want to move away. The rain

will drift up into central and eastern Scotland through the

afternoon. Places won't get higher than 12 or 13 degrees, poor for the

early part of June. It will improve by Thursday. It will be a struggle

for north-east England and a good part of Scotland, the rain lingering

here. Dry and bright weather will come through. With light winds, get

the temperatures up to mid to high teens and it will feel pleasant.

Temperatures set to rise further for the end of the week thanks to winds

coming in from the south all the way from the Mediterranean. It's warm

air, it will be increasingly humid air. With low pressure nearby this

spinning area to the west we have a risk of thundery downpours on Friday

night into Saturday. That could cause one or two problems. Latest

details on the warnings for Saturday you will find on the website. A bit

up-and-down. Thank you very much. Our main story tonight. A BBC

investigation has revealed new evidence of widespread sexual abuse

at a boys' school in Rochdale. That's all from the BBC News at Six.

It's goodbye from me. On BBC One we