20/12/2016 London News

News at Six. It's goodbye from me. On BBC One we

The schoolboy who disappeared 30 years ago in Croydon,

His sister appeals for a key witness to come forward.

The biggest part is hope that he's still out there.

Does investing more in "meals on wheels" help improve

In its 150th year, I'm at the London Fire Brigade's annual

Christmas carol concert at St Paul's Cathedral.

# This comes to pass when a child is born.

And soul singers Gregory Porter and Beverly Knight go

Welcome to BBC London News with me, Riz Lateef.

We start tonight with a ?20,000 reward being offered

by police to help solve the mystery of the disappearance

of a 16-year-old boy 30 years ago - who's now believed to

It was in March 1986 that Kevin Hicks from Croydon went out

to buy some eggs for a school project and was never seen again.

The case was reviewed earlier this year and detectives are now

appealing for an unnamed woman, who called a local

newspaper ten years after he disappeared,

His disappearance in 1986 prompted a huge search effort from police and

the local community. He has run away, maybe, and we looking, but

maybe something more serious has happened. 30 years on, for those

still missing him, it is as painful as ever. It doesn't seem like 30

years. It only seems like yesterday. He was only going down the road to

buy some eggs. He had a pound on him and that was it. The rest is

history. Kevin disappeared in March 19 86. In October 1996, the Croydon

Advertiser newspaper took an anonymous phone call about his case.

Now, following a review, police have announced a murder investigation.

When police reviewed the case earlier this year they were

concerned by three things. First, the night Kevin disappeared, D had

told his parents he was going to a local shop to buy eggs. An hour and

a half later, he was senior on Shelley wrote for the last time,

leading police to believe he may have been meeting someone. Secondly,

he received some speakers from an anonymous person days before his

disappearance. Something he tries to hide from his parents. Thirdly,

there was the anonymous call to the Croydon Advertiser newspaper ten

years after his disappearance, suggesting that that person knew the

location his body was buried. Police now believe he had been groomed and

perhaps been killed for it. When a disappearance is viewed with a

grooming aspect, it raises suspicions that he met with foul

play that night. Why wasn't that seem at the time? There was a huge

police response of the time, a massive area searched around South

Croydon. Now we are being more intelligence led and evidence lead,

which is why we are basing the appeal on that now. Investigators

believe whoever called the newspaper may know who killed Kevin. I want

that person who made the call to contact us. I believe they may have

some specific information about what happened to Kevin that night and I

urge them to come forward. Make that phone call. You can't tell anyone

else because it's your secret, that you know what happened that night.

The best person to phone is ring the police. Get that secret told. Just

come forward. Let me have closure. That's all I'm asking. I just need

closure. Alexandra Hicks ending that

report by Dan Freedman. London is still one of the safest

cities in the world. That was the Mayor's message today

to reassure Londoners and tourists following yesterday's attack

on a Christmas market in Berlin. Let's get more from Emilia

Papadopoulos who's been This is a very busy time of year all

over London with tourists and London is doing their Christmas shopping

and visiting markets like the one just behind me here on the South

bank. Naturally, people are worried after seeing events in Berlin

yesterday, seeing that lorry plough through the cloud killing 12 people

and injuring almost 50 people. Earlier today, I spoke with the

mayor Sadiq Khan, use that London was standing shoulder to shoulder

with Bellerin and he wanted to urge people here to carry on as normal.

I want to reassure Londoners and those visiting London

that the Met Police service and others are doing

The Met Police are currently reviewing safety and security around

events like Winter Wonderland, around events like the New Year's

Eve fireworks, around markets taking place across London.

We are always making sure we're as safe as we possibly can be.

But also, it's worth bearing in mind, what the terrorists

want to do is to terrorise us - for us to change the way

At the same time, we can never be complacent and must

As he mentioned there, the Metropolitan Police are reviewing

their plans for the festive period just as a precaution, but especially

for big events like the New Year's Eve fireworks display. They have

confirmed they will be extra security as well as armed officers.

The threat level here in London remains the same. It is severe,

meaning an attack is highly likely, but the police and the mayor today

wanted to reassure people that London was still one of the safest

cities in the world and their priority here and now is to keep the

people here safe. Thanks very much. As Charlton fans continue to protest

against their owner - we speak to the new manager

of the south London club The charity Age UK is warning that

cuts to councils' budgets mean that fewer elderly people are getting

meals on wheels delivered But Hertfordshire is increasing

the number of meals it delivers which the county council claims

is saving taxpayers money 83-year-old Margaret waits for

what she calls her daily lifeline. Margaret has very painful

osteoarthritis and bowel problems. A hot, balanced meal delivered

to her home in Harpenden in Hertfordshire every day helps

the former secretary stay well I don't have to worry working

in the kitchen because I can't And, B, someone is checking on me

every day to make sure that I'm perfectly all right,

which means an awful lot to me because I have no family

to check on me at all. How has your appetite been

since I last saw you? Regular health checks

are included in the service. It's run by Hertfordshire

County Council and Hils - Staff have found that more

than a third of the people referred to them are at serious

risk of malnutrition. In a recent survey of more than 800

clients like Margaret, 87% said 76% visit their GPs less

and about 93% feel happier Despite budget cuts,

Hertfordshire's now providing more of them than anywhere else

in the UK. The health checks

included are a unique. The health checks

included are unique. If the people that we serve meals

on wheels to were to go into care, It's estimated we could spend

?40 million more per year on residential care if we didn't pay

for the meals on wheels service, Elsewhere, meals on wheels have

been drastically cut. Some fear it's leading

to an increase in malnutrition. In 2014, 67% of councils in the

Southeast provided meals on wheels. This year, that's

fallen to just 17%. It's estimated that more

than 1 million people over 65 in the UK are now suffering

malnutrition or are at risk of doing so - that's 10%

of the elderly population. I think it's a very,

very sad state of affairs for our country because it didn't

used to be like this. With the number of over-65s

predicted to rise by nearly 50% in the next 20 years,

the need to ensure basic nourishment and care will continue to challenge

hard-pressed council budgets. Well, joining me now from Age

UK is Gordon Deuchars. Thank you for coming in. We saw

there an extra health checkup with meals on wheels. What do you make of

that? I think that is very positive and it is one of the ways in which

meals on wheels are a really valuable way of reaching older

people who need some help and making sure that their health is looked

after over the piece. Is there any evidence to suggest that's taking

away meals on wheels as an impact on the health of the elderly? There is.

There is evidence that malnourished people are twice as likely to visit

their GP, three times as likely to be admitted to hospital and are

likely to stay in hospital longer when they are there. There are

obvious knock-on effects of that. In fact, quite a lot of older people

who are admitted to hospital have got some signs of malnutrition. You

believe it is a false economy, taking away meals on wheels, because

in the long term there is in effect a benefit. Absolutely. If people

need to use the health service identifiably much more because

they've taken away meals on wheels and other similar services, indeed

in the long run the NHS will spend more on looking after them. We've

talked about it many times on this programme and we know the pressure

on budgets of councils. At this time of year, it focuses the mind on the

collective responsibility of people in our communities. What do you

suggest? I think it is a very good idea to look out for older

neighbours and friends that you have, talk to them, check they are

all right. Especially around Christmas and when the weather is

cold. I don't think it should be, for example, a neighbour's

responsibility to check that their older neighbour has enough to eat.

There are social responsibilities for that. I would suggest that, if

you are worried about an older person, then it is a good idea to

get in touch with your local Age UK. Thank you very much indeed for

coming in. Essex detectives said today

they are continuing to search for the killer of notorious criminal

John Goldfinger Palmer. The pledge came as a coroner

concluded that the 65-year-old was unlawfully killed

at his home last year. He was shot six times

at close range. Gareth George was at today's

inquest in Chelmsford. John Palmer, AKA Goldfinger. He got

the nickname amidst rumours he had melted down gold bullion from the

heist in 1983. Speaking to reporters at the time in Tenerife, where he

was operating a time-share scam commie denied having anything to do

with it. I'm completely innocent of anything to do with this so-called

bullion raid. I know nothing of it. In June last year, shortly after

these CCTV pictures were taken, Palmer was shot six times at his

home near Brentwood in Essex. The days, please didn't realise he had

been murdered, thinking he had died as a result of gall bladder surgery

has recently undergone. They have recently apologised for that

mistake. Today an inquest into his death was held in Chelmsford. The

coroner concluded he'd been unlawfully killed. There was only

one member of John Palmer's family present at the inquest, and that was

a man called Ashley Phil thought. He is the partner of John Palmer's

daughter. He is seen on the right, leaving the hearing with DCI Stephen

Jennings. DCI Jennings gave evidence and said the murder investigation is

ongoing. One problem detectives have is the sheer number of people who

might have had a motive to kill Palmer. In relation to his

conviction in 2001, there were listed anything up to or above

16,000 victims. There could be 16,000 motives for why he was killed

in relation to that. Then there is criminality involving the bullion

heist. We know a number of people involved and that is, subsequent to

the crime, have been either killed or have died. That was very much a

consideration. Hatton Gardens, possibly involvement. Possible. It

was a line of enquiry we took. He associated the passwords of the

people associate with that crime who are now in prison. Police say

someone involved in the criminal underworld knows who killed John

Palmer and after today's inquest, officers renewed their appeal for

anyone with information to come forward.

The stars come out for the festive season.

I'll be talking to jazz singer songwriter Gregory Porter

and Shaun Escoffery as they prepare for a very gospel Christmas

This year, the London Fire Brigade has marked its 150th anniversary.

It's why the Service's annual Christmas Carol concert

at St Paul's Cathedral has added significance - a chance to recognise

the bravery of the firefighters who risk their lives everyday

where we can also join Asad Ahmad who's there for us.

Making yourself at home, I see. The London Fire Brigade, one of the

largest in the world, made up of some of the bravest men and women

here in London. Why? When there is a fire in a building and everyone is

trying to get to safety, it's the firefighters doing the opposite and

getting into the building, trying to make the rest of us safer. It would

begrudge them coming here to save all's Cathedral for the annual

Christmas carol concert? 2000 firefighters from across London eye

coming here tonight. They have these fire engines parked outside. You are

from east London, born and raised. You have been better what is so

special? This is the latest engine we have in London and should be

rolled out across the city in the next year. We will be getting out of

the way for one of these. Merry Christmas. It is 150 years of the

London Fire Brigade, I am joined by Mike, who can tell us about these

vintage machines. This is a 1937 Leyland. It served until 1964 at

Soho fire station. I must do this. I've always wanted to do that. What

a great machine. This would have seen servers around Saint Pauls?

Churchill ordered that Saint Pauls be saved at all costs. The London

Fire Brigade concentrated resources around here, including this vehicle,

in December 19 40. Some don't have engines. This would have been pulled

by horses. You'll anachronisms operated by the Metropolitan

waterboard, fired by coal and wood. That fired the engine to put out

fires. Thank you. Earlier I spoke to Ron Dobson, the outgoing London Fire

Brigade commissioner, leaving within a couple of weeks.

A 20-year-old from New Cross joining the London Fire Brigade in 1979.

Back then, could he have ever envisaged that one day he'd lead

the service through a terrorist attack, the Olympic

When I first joined, I wanted to be a really good firefighter.

Then I wanted to be a really good watch officer in charge

of my own watch, then I wanted to run my own station.

I didn't actually look at that time in terms of,

"I want to run the London Fire Brigade."

As the opportunity came along, I more and more realised that

I wanted to do that job, and I've been so proud to do it

Now, one of the most significant days, let's say,

has probably been 7/7, and you were the lead

It was an incredible day and I think it's a day that's

I'm a different person now to what I was before then.

My overriding memory, I think, was how pleased I was that

all of our training, all the training we'd done prior

to 7/7, for that type of incident - the training the firefighters had

done, the training that I'd done, many weekends and things training

with the police and the other emergency services and also local

authorities to make sure we were ready to respond.

You said that that day - understandably - changed you.

Just generally, I think I'm more humane and humble

about some of the things that I do, really.

It changed my outlook on life, really.

The most recent attack, yesterday, in Berlin -

a lorry killing a number of people at a Christmas market yesterday.

Let's hope something like that never happens in London, but if it did,

London Fire Brigade - ready for action?

That's a very, very difficult event to plan for, the type of attack that

But I'm confident that any sort of attack that happened in London,

we've got the skills - London firefighters have got

I've no doubt that London Fire Brigade is the best Fire

We respond more quickly than anybody else, we're open to change,

we are much more inclusive workforce - although we need to do

more in that area - and I'm very confident that

London Fire Brigade will continue to be the best

Fire and Rescue Service in the whole world.

So, looking into the future now, what does the future hold

I'm really pleased that we've appointed the first woman

Dany Cotton is going to be my replacement.

I think Dany, hopefully, will prove to be a role model

for women and people and other groups in our authority to actually

So the challenges will continue to change, I'm sure,

and what I'd like to see - and I'm sure I will see -

is that London Fire Brigade continues to grow and adapt

and change to meet the threats that London faces because, actually,

London's Fire Commissioner Ron Dobson who retires at the end

of this month speaking to Asad Ahmad.

It was once viewed by many as the model

Several Charlton matches have been disrupted by fans protesting

against an unpopular owner under whose watch they were relegated.

So a tough challenge for their new manger -

the seventh in less than three years.

Here's our sports reporter Chris Slegg.

One of the many protests aimed at Belgian businessmen

Roland Duchatelet, Charlton supporters unhappy with

They say they'll keep protesting until he sells up.

Stepping into the civil war between fans and owner,

new manager Karl Robinson, who recently lost his job at fellow

Karl Robinson was MK Dons' manager for six and a half years.

Only Arsene Wenger at Arsenal and Paul Tisdale at Exeter have

served in their current jobs for longer than that.

Here at Charlton, though, these days, the players barely get

a chance to know the new man in charge before he's on his way -

there's been seven managerial changes in less than three years.

Can Karl Robinson fare any better than his predecessors?

To an outsider, it looks fairly chaotic.

Has it felt like you're walking into a chaotic place?

My first reaction has been, it's brilliant, you know?

I think certain people here have maybe used the problem

to maybe cut corners, rather than focus on themselves.

When it comes to the fans, a sizeable section of the fans have

been very vocal and very creative, actually, in some of their protests

I just hope I can do them proud, I hope I can make them proud.

The festive fixture list pits Charlton against Millwall

in the south London derby tomorrow and against MK Dons on Boxing Day.

The players, though, won't be required to train on Christmas Day.

I believe the psychological gain of seeing your kids open Christmas

presents far outweighs any physical aspects we can give

So my message to them is, if I show you the respect

and your family respect, you show your football club respect

It may take more than an upturn in results under Karl Robinson

for Charlton's owner to regain the respect of many fans.

Now, if you fancy something a little bit different to traditional

Christmas carols this year - how about joining these two

Beverly Knight and American soul singer Gregory Porter

are hosting their very own festive fun in Hackney.

Our entertainment correspondent Brenda Emmanus caught up

# I really am sorry, but it just couldn't wait.

The Grammy award-winning singer songwriter Gregory Porter,

whose musical roots are steeped in jazz and gospel music.

A London regular, the man with the booming baritone has teamed

up with a host of talent to record a special gospel show for Christmas.

How much has music always been a part of your Christmas experience?

My mother, she'd put on Nat King Cole and Mahalia Jackson.

They would be spinning on the record player.

At the point at which you're opening your gifts or first coming

into the room and you see the tree, it's - in a way, it's the backdrop.

Together with singer and musical star Beverley Knight,

Gregory introduces a feast of festive music from the cream

This has already turned into a musical family,

I don't think this will be the last time that I work with so many people

that I've met during the course of putting the show together.

The Lion King star Shaun Escoffery performs his hero Donny Hathaway's

How I look at gospel music - it's expressing the un-expressible.

It also allows you to let yourself go.

It allows you to celebrate, it allows you to kind

I'm going to let myself go and sing and there's no-one that's

That's where the beauty of it comes, really.

This show, recorded at the Church of Saint John-at-Hackney,

promises to be an uplifting experience with popular songs

I think we've done a really good job to matching the artists with songs

that they will really get stuck into and really give

Well, you can join in this big spiritual singalong on Christmas Day

Let's get a check on the weather now with Wendy Hurrell.

You just need to walk out of a concert like that into some crisp

snow. Don't think you'll get it. It would be quite different. It will be

windy. In the meantime, we are going to flip between a mild, great

weather and the crisp sunny weather. It was the turn of sunny weather

today. Wherever you wear across London and the home counties, it was

a really lovely day. Beautifully captured by our Weather Watchers as

usual. The sunshine and blue sky will return on Thursday, but before

we get there, we have something a bit different. Outside at the moment

it is clear and the temperature is falling. Three to 5 degrees at the

moment and as we go through the night, it stars to cloud over. You

can see what that does to the temperature, they are starting to go

up. You can also see we have bits and pieces of rain around and that

will take us through the rush hour tomorrow morning. Then, we will get

some heavier rain later. It is the light stuff first. You will notice

the wind picking up. The blustery morning, a blustery day. The best

chance of any brightness will be in the middle, around lunchtime. This

is what you will go home in during the evening rush hour. Not nice. It

will be blustery. Ten or 11 degrees make it looked mild, but under that

persistent and heavy rain, it will feel quite unpleasant. There is your

blue sky for Thursday once again. Another crisp day. As we approach

the Christmas weekend, it gets interesting. We lose the

high-pressure which brought the sunshine on Thursday and instead we

have low pressure. Storm Barbara is coming through on Friday into

Christmas Eve. That will create some windy conditions that will continue

through to Christmas Day. All sorts of things happening this week, but

the key thing to note is the strength the winds later and into

the weekend. We will keep you posted.

The only suspect held after yesterday's deadly lorry

attack on a Berlin Christmas market has been released.

Here in the capital, Mayor Sadiq Khan has reassured

Londoners and tourists that the capital is still safe.

I'll be back later during the ten o'clock, plenty more though

From all of us here - thanks for watching

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