26/06/2017 London News

Claims from a whistle-blower about Rydon, the company

which refurbished Grenfell Tower and this evacuated block in Camden.

He says the firm ignored his safety warnings five years ago.

I am extremely worried for the residents' safety. We pointed this

out during refurbishment works, but it seemed to fall on deaf ears.

We'll have the latest as safety checks continue on high-rise

A minute's silence to remember those affected by the Finsbury Park Mosque

We're with the Essex air ambulance as it unveils its latest helicopter.

Appealing to your senses, the new exhibition at Somerset house

showcasing the centuries parred perfume pioneers.

Welcome to the programme this Monday evening.

We start tonight with claims that the company responsible

for carrying out refurbishments to Grenfell Tower

ignored fire safety warnings during the refurbishment of another

Hundreds of residents were evacuated from their homes

on the Chalcotts estate on Friday, after the London Fire Brigade said

they couldn't guarantee the safety of those living there.

But BBC London has heard from a contractor who claims

he warned Rydon, the company responsible

for the refurbishment works, about his fears in one

But, he says, those concerns fell on deaf ears.

Thousands of residents are still out of their home, wanting answers. They

were evacuated with little warning on Friday night from tall -- for

tower blocks here. Now we can reveal that we were the first highlight

safety concerns to the Council which led to these domestic scenes. They

have one or two gas rises on this floor landing. This is one of them.

My concern is that if there is a fire in this communal area, and a

fire breaches this pipe which is basically PVC gas pipe behind a

small bit of what feels like timber cladding, this residents would not

be able to escape. Meets Sebastian Stevenson, I met him a week ago when

we filmed here in sight though how is. If there is a fire in that

floor, it will be stacked I adore and end of the communal exit.

Revealed that he listed all of his concerns inside the tower block and

they where if you. A fire door should actually look like this. Come

positive set up a fire door should actually look like this. Come

positive set up by the solid core panel door, maybe there is a door

close on the internal side. This trap heat up? It steals the door and

prevent smoke inhalation into the actual space, where has this glass

is just simple Georgia wire safety glass, and with cracked under the

slightest application of any heat. He first saw this building and is

public image and refurbish the 17th floor after a fire in one of the

flat. You can see here the images of the fire damaged property from. That

was in 2012, she says he raised the concerns with Rydon, the company

responsible for making is. There is no rescues five years later for the

safety violations to be intrinsic in these buildings. When we raised his

concerns on Tuesday last week with the council, the days later a

dramatic development. Papaver house and the other towers where evacuated

precisely because of fears over the cladding and the interior fire

safeguards. What is more, partner house has had a fire inspection

which it passed as recently as the spring of last year. What went wrong

and work Camden Council told? In a statement, the Company have said

they have no record whatsoever of any concerns or warnings being

raised by capping diligent Carnegie development, whether that is fire

alarms are gas rises, the responsibility for them lies with

Camden Council. The statement also said that they pride themselves on

the quality of works study carried out and happy working with the local

authority for over 40 years and that safety is integral to everything

they do. As for Camden council, they said that they had been on front

foot to ensure that power blocks meet the required safety standards.

They will be asking serious questions about the management of

internal fire safety issues. where hundreds of residents

there are spending a fourth night That's right. Here an HR cuts in

state, the urgent fire safety improvement works are ongoing. We do

know that 103 flats here are still occupied. Residents refusing to

leave the council are very clear that they want them to go. They fear

that it could hold up the work. We also heard earlier today from the

Communities Secretary who explained to ours again is a much better

picture to my best traffic action was taken and what inspectors faced

here when they came here a couple of days ago. When the commissioners

went into those tower blocks in Camden, NFL and once they found the

multiple fire safety failures, failures which rightfully should not

have happened in power blocks of any type, certainly those tower blocks

in Camden, for example there were problems with gas pipe insulation,

stairways that were non-accessible, breaches of internal walls and most

astonishingly there while hundreds, literally hundreds of fire doors

missing. The estimate by the council itself is that they need 1000 fire

doors because they were missing from those five blocks. What is the

picture at tower block elsewhere? There are now eight borrowers who

said of cladding and have been told that is failed. The Lakers one who

we learned about today is Hackney. Housing association block on he

Woodbury Downs estate. There are others. Camden, Hounslow, Islington,

Barnett, Wandsworth, Lambert. All of these borrowers have had, blocks

which have had cladding feeling the fire safety test. None of these

others have had residents evacuated. The concerns here in Camden seem to

be very particular to these sets of blocks, but it is worth noting that

all of the other blocks in question have subsequently had fire safety

assessments done by the London Fire Brigade. They have told residents

that they are safe as long as certain precautions are taken,

namely 24-hour patrols. Later tonight, a debate is being

held in the commons to discuss the Grenfell Tower fire

and the subsequent response. It was called by the MP for Poplar

and Limehouse, Jim Fitzpatrick, who Chairs the Commons

group on Fire Safety. He joins us now. Let's just pick up

on Camden, because we heard from the Commons that it is not just a

cladding issue, it is gas pipes blocked. Astonishingly 1000 fire

doors lacking. How long are you from what appears to be systematic

failings? This is very scary, it was quite clear that Camden's reaction

to evacuate residents was based on some safety advice and it would

always be difficult to criticise a local authority for everyone the

side of safety. But the information which has emerged this evening about

the loss of fire doors within those blocks demonstrates that their

judgment was absolutely right. That is why Camden has taken its

decision, whereas other local authorities who are not facing the

multiple fire protection failures that they are have taken a different

decision. Do except that these feelings go back a number of years?

Including when you are fire minister, where you are happy with

regulations at the time? We change the regulations in 2006. We issued a

revised issue of the building regulations, and approved document

which was the guidance for architects and construction

companies, we had been longing as an all-party groups as 2013 after the

coroner 's enquiry recommended a review of approved document. The

Secretary of State this afternoon announced the creation of an

independent expert advisory panel to look at all fire safety matters and

that is welcome. We would say that this work to have been dancers 2013.

That it has been -- I can be done gradually, is good news but they

need to get on with it and we don't need to wait for the outcome of a

public enquiry, because fire regulations can be updated in hand

with that public enquiry which could take some time. Hammy tower blocks

in London do you think could enter having combustible cladding? We know

that it is 14 so far in London authorities. And sorry, I haven't

got an estimate as to how many. There are a significant number, 600

across the country, you take London's density of population, you

can probably arrive at an estimate. The bottom line is that the testing

has started, local authorities are carrying out inspections, the Fire

Brigade are advising the most important thing is to protect people

until such times as proper precautions and proper safety

measures are in place, and because we don't want a repeat of Grenfell

Tower, and we need to make sure that everything I possibly can be done in

the interim to be done and is being done. You think the people of

Grenfell Tower where murdered by political decisions, the Shadow

Chancellor has said? My colleague David Lambie has said that the

corporate manslaughter act of 2005 May be an appropriate vehicle. It

will be funded public enquiry to make a judgment as to the fire

started, why they were such a rapid spread, how there was a catastrophic

failure of all the precautions within the building, and who was

responsible. The public enquiry will make recommendations to the

prosecutor anti-government to the appropriate way forward.

The capital has observed a minute's silence to remember those affected

by the terrorist attack in Finsbury Park a week ago,

the third in London in as many months.

A father-of-six died and 11 others were injured as a van drove

Our religious affairs correspondent Martin Bashir reports.

The floral tribute in Finsbury Park, a reminder of events just a

week ago, the fourth terrorist attack in just three months.

The nation invited to pause and remember

those impacted by this latest attack.

And then gathered outside Islington town Hall, civic leaders,

the local Mayor, and members of staff, many working and living

locally, all gathered to show solidarity with the Muslim community

in this multiethnic part of north London.

A gesture greatly appreciated by the chair of Finsbury

We know that we are here in Islington a diverse

community, we live in harmony for a long time.

Most people who try to divide us, they failed.

We have proved it in the last few days.

This is why I am really glad that Islington and that the country have

come together to make sure that these people are failing.

With the end of Ramadan at the weekend, there

is normally a sense of joyous celebration amongst Muslims, but

following the attack last Monday, joy has been replaced by

14 police officers have been injured and five people arrested

in a protest over the death of a young father in east London.

Edson Frederico Da Costa died a week after being stopped in a car

His family said they had arranged a peaceful march,

but others had thrown bricks and lit fires.

Here's our home affairs correspondent Nick Beake.

Protesters and police face-to-face. This was the stand-off outside

Forest gate. Demonstrators had been met had questions to answer. A local

man had died after being stopped by officers. They need to tell us what

happened. What must have happened? 25-year-old Edson Frederico Da Costa

died last Wednesday. The police watchdog said it believed the metal

used CS gas and force. But not severe force. Campaigners claimed he

received significant injuries and anger spilled into disorder at this

latest protest. You imagine a war zone or something, you don't imagine

something happening in east London. The trouble happened on this man's

doorstep. He took this video. Ben is burning in the street where many

families were celebrating the Muslim festival. It was terrifying. I see

nothing like this in 50 years. Luckily they did not smash the cars

and didn't throw anything was the houses. They just vented their

frustration. Supporters the background to the story? On

Thursday, June 15, Met police officers stopped a car in new. Edson

Frederico Da Costa becomes unwell, according to the police watchdog. He

is taken to hospital in a critical condition. The following Wednesday,

he dies in hospital. The next day, as campaigners claim he is been

brutally beaten, the IP CC says a postmortem examination found he had

no broken neck, no spinal injuries, or bleeding to the brain. Still,

there is widespread distrust. Despite the flames and the obvious

fury, the protest at this police station last night was contained and

did not spell particularly far. The level of anger over the death of a

young black man after contact with the Metropolitan Police has a

worrying echoes of another case six years ago. The shooting of Mark

Duggan by armed police spotted the 2011 riots. This summer, feelings

are also running high. The authorities will want to try and

ease tensions as quickly as possible.

A young woman and her cousin have been left with life-changing

injuries after an acid attack in east London during

They were in a car in Beckton when it happened.

Sonja Jessup is here with more, and just worth mentioning at this

point, especially if anyone has young children in the room, that

some of the images we'll show could be upsetting.

She had been celebrating her 21st birthday, sitting in the car at

traffic lights with her cousin last Wednesday. A man came up and threw

acid through her window. He never wrote in the other side as to acid

over her companion. She has posted pictures of herself before and after

the attack as she has written, the pain was excruciating. I was

struggling to close the window, my cousin struggled to get as a way, I

saw my clothes burn away in front of me. She described trying to flag

down other drivers for help, she said it it around 45 minutes to stop

someone and beg them to take them both to hospital. Horrific injuries.

Do we know why they were targeted? That is not clear. It sounds as

though she did not know the man involved, how do he did have a

distinctive facial tad too. We know that sadly these kind of attacks on

the rise in the capital. BBC London has discovered that more than 450

people where victims last year, as it is easy to come by, there are no

penalties for carrying it, and it does leave victims with severe

emotional and physical disfigurements. She has had to skin

graft, and her cousin was induced into a coma for a time. Both

suffered damage to their eyesight. A fundraising page has been set up to

support them and she has written on Twitter that she is devastated,

keeps wondering if a life will ever be the same again.

A fund-raising campaign by air ambulance supporters has raised more

than ?5 million for a new helicopter.

The aircraft has been acquired by the Essex Herts air ambulance.

More than half the proceeds were raised by selling

Gleaming in its new red and yellow livery, today this helicopter

prepare for take-off. It is faster than our current helicopter, so it

means women go to the outer reaches of our area, we can be there

quicker, which has an impact. Pre-flight checks complete it was up

and away, skimming across the countryside to Hylands Park near

Chancellor. That like some of the thousands of people who raised the

?6 million needed for the aircraft. It is breathtaking. It cannot thank,

because we are volunteers, we cannot thank the people of Essex and have a

cheering. In 2012, and fabulous paramedics say this man public that

lack's. After the virus hit head-on. If there was blood everywhere, and

it was quite obvious that the air handlers had not been there. I

wouldn't have a little girl, it is as simple as that. Despite the

aircraft is not just more agile, for paramedics it has one overriding

advantage. Quite often the trainee, it is training space. What we had

most of our treatment on being able to access the patient, so we have

reduced the amount of banks that we have carried by looking at the kit

and condensing it. This the helicopter should last ten years,

operating alongside another that is least. You have a laser beam on this

one. We can fly through the night. Aircraft is equipped for that and

when the charity is ready our long-term goal is to be able to

provide a 24/7 service. Next month with starting training complete, it

goes into service. Doing what it is designed to do. Saving lives.

Imagine being on holiday on the beach when you see a shark swimming

in shallow waters. It happened on the penny a beach glue. It said

bathers running out of the sea, later captured and believed to have

a serious headway. One Londoner who was there I could not believe what

he was saying spoke to me a I began by asking Tim

Prottey-Jones how he reacted. It was unlike anything

we have seen before. I've never seen a shark

before in person. We go to Majorca every year

if we can, and to actually see a shark on this beach that we have

been to so many times We had been there

all morning, and my wife, it was about midday,

as she got out to go into the sea for the first time,

she just got too hot. She was heading into the sea whilst

most people seem to be heading out, and I made a joke with her that

because she was going in, The next thing I saw

was this fin swimming past Right up to where the

sand hit the water. It was just quite

a sight, so I literally threw my phone to my wife

and she started taking a few photos Then soon everyone had

got out of the water, you had Life Guards telling people

to get out, and everyone on the beach had run to the front

of the beach. No one could believe

what was happening. As far as sharks go,

I didn't really know what to expect, It was eerie, because there

was a lot of movement but actually no screaming

or anything like that. It was just a case of no one

wanting to alert the shark to panic or anything,

and likewise nobody wanted to alert other people to get

unnecessarily worked up. The main movement and activity

was from families getting The shark was in such shallow water,

obviously that is where all It was just like that,

but realistically, once the shark had gone, and it felt

safe to do so, people A bit tentatively, but people

were back in there within Argue for sharing that with us. You

have a great dinner party story. Thank you.

Turning now to something that will appeal to your sense of smell.

Scented installations at Somerset House are showcasing

the perfume pioneers of this century.

Of course, it's going to be difficult to convey the essence

of this exhibition - smell-o-vision hasn't

Easy at first because you probably know these

The rest of the exhibition is ten mysterious modern perfumes and

it's left to you to describe what they smell of.

I think maybe like my dad after he's been working on the

Yes, individual knows will come up with wildly

Making me think of orchards, something soapy as well.

Once you've had a good sniff you can write down your

thoughts on one of these cards and compare them to do.

Picking out the particular note is harder

I don't think I've got the nose that you are

Some throw you off the scent completely.

Kids toys, it actually smells like plastic toys.

Well actually this sent by a bad boy on the

Notes on a mill Julie, dirty, like the scent of

pyrotechnics in the air from like, fog machines, there is a bit of a

An unconventional concoction but connoisseurs are

impressed by his creations, not to mention his attire.

At the end of the exhibition is a place where you can find out her

perfume is made, the individual ingredients that go into it and the

ladies in lab coats are perfumers and they explain how you'd make a

Perfume is personal, not everything will be to your liking.

But you can have a sniff at Somerset house until

Well, will the weather be to our liking?

It depends what you like. If you like the hot weather last week,

grey, it is not going to be like that this week. What we had today

was a hint of things about to change. A lot of the weather

Watchers' pictures were showing these cirrus clouds, which always

builds a case to the weather, because for the rest of the week it

will be cooler and there will be spelt of rain. Much needed, of

course. Here is what is happening. Try pressure gone, and absoluteness

of low pressure, isobars front and rain. Don't try pick any detail out,

it is just an indication of just how unsettled it is going to be the go

to the next few days. If you can, make the most of the warm and sunny

weather we have out there the moment. Through the night, it will

stay fairly one, some clout that dress up into London and the Home

Counties and perhaps one or two show was breaking out by Don. 15 Celsius

overnight, pretty warm. We might just get to work in the drier

weather. One or two showers first thing, but keep the brolly with you

as the day goes on, more likely you will see rain working its way in

interspersed with drier and bright as bells. A bit higher than the 22

cells as you see here possibly, but they will be quite heavy burst of

rain. Continues in the evening and overnight, into Wednesday, and they

could be heavy burst, rumble of thunder, a really good watering for

the garden and a muggy night. Wednesday, rain moving away, leaving

us try and bright for Wednesday afternoon, but a massive drop in

temperature compared to last Wednesday when, don't forget, it was

35 Celsius. It will be most like -- more like 19 Celsius. End the week,

unsettled, one outbreaks of rain to Thursday and Friday, and a weekend

looks like it will be a little breezy. Hot weather they much gone

by then. After more than two weeks

of talks, the Conservatives and the Democratic Unionist Party

have reached a deal to give Theresa May a majority

in parliament. It'll mean an extra

?1 billion for health, education and infrastructure

in Northern Ireland. 75 high-rise buildings have

failed fire safety tests which have taken place

since the fire at Grenfell Tower. Schools and authorities responsible

for schools have been contacted across the country and ordered

to carry out checks Plenty more on our website and I'll

be back with our late From me and the team here,

thanks for watching As you know, Jenson was born

at 24 weeks weighing 710g. I was told whilst I was in labour

if there was no signs of life, then they wouldn't revive because

he was on the cut-off date with him being so early,

but we got through it. 18 weeks tomorrow and we're still

here, still going strong.