17/07/2017 London News

will temperatures, and we will see some more on settled conditions

pushing in across the Northwest. A reminder of the main story this

evening. The route for the second stage of the HS2 high-speed rail

network have been confirmed, linking Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool,

Leeds, Sheffield and East Midlands. That's all from the BBC News at Six

- so it's goodbye from me - A month on from the Finsbury

Park terror attack - one victim tells us it's brought

the community closer. My message to them is be united, we

have got one beautiful thing which is peace. Without peace, nobody can

live. There's now a call for tougher

penalties for religious hate crime. Is stress and exhaustion among bus

drivers contributing How this huge field could be turned

into London's biggest ever mega basement.

And on the hunt for the elusive urban hedgehog, the wildlife cameras

Good evening and a very warm welcome to the programme.

It was four weeks ago today that one man died and ten people

were injured in a terrorist attack near Finsbury Park mosque,

in what the head of the Met Police said "was quite clearly

Today, the mosque's chairman has called for stronger

He says that since the attack they've received a surge

All this, as the community there tries to heal and recover

Katharine Carpenter is there this evening.

This area was extremely busy on that night for weeks ago, it was Ramadan

and Muslims had spilled out onto the streets from the welfare centre down

the road and be mosque around the corner following evening prayers and

it was here on this quiet side street that a van careered into a

group of people and one man died. A man, 47-year-old Darren Osborne, has

been charged on terrorism related murder and attempted murder, but

there is still a great deal of healing to be done here. Our

colleague has spoken to two of those who were caught up in the events of

This man was among the worshippers leaving the mosque that night.

One of his friends had collapsed and they were treating him

When I found myself on the ground, I thought, I'm OK.

So I see one of the guys bleeding on his head,

the other one was lying down there, the people were making noise

I realised I hit, but I thought, I'm OK.

So as I was trying to stand up, I fell down, my legs

There was a lot of chaos, a lot of worry and a lot

Everybody was so scared at what happened.

Crazy, it was loud, it was unorganised, it was...

Everyone was emotional and it was tough for people,

Sadiq Yusuf saw it happen and did his best to help.

The late Makram Ali was literally on the floor.

There was a guy still underneath the van.

Luckily, there was a lot of people who came out the restaurants,

the houses nearby and lifted the van up so we could get one

Some people were conscious, some people were unconscious.

This tiny culdasac, just round the corner from the mosque,

And in the immediate aftermath, this whole area was closed down

as the emergency services tried to bring things under control.

It feels like life is kind of back to normal, but under the surface

this is still a community trying to come to terms with what happened.

This is one council at least which has risen to the challenge.

Islington council have done an amazing job for the victims,

from housing to counselling to mental health, to travel to social,

Our community, my advice to them, my message to them is - be united.

Because we've all got one beautiful thing, which is peace.

Powerful testimonies. Victim support workers are going to go into the

mosque for the first time next week. As well as the physical and mental

scars of this attack, the chairman of the mosque told me earlier today

he is also having to deal with the huge increase in Islamophobic hate

crime. According to official Met figures in the weeks before the

attack on Manchester there were 17 on average Islamophobic hate crimes

reported across London, but there was a spike following the London

Bridge attack, with 117 hate crimes reported that week alone. And

perhaps the most surprising thing is that figure has not decreased

dramatically, so in the weeks following the attack here, there

were an average 81 hate crimes reported. Earlier, the chairman of

the mosque told me enough is enough and he wants action taken.

It's a quite large file, yeah. Unfortunately it's not the only one.

A file full of poisonous words, vitriol against muslims

The chairman of Finsbury Park mosque says at least one a week

When people send us a letter saying that this is the beginning,

what's happening in Finsbury Park is the beginning,

you will have a river of blood, for example, and we'll make

sure you will get hurt and your community get hurt.

Expect bombs and other things in your centres, which is very

Out in the community, Miriam feels it, too.

Well, there's been incidents of people having their headscarves

They're having abuse shouted at them and all sorts of nasty things.

Do you think there's anything that can be done

to reassure people round here? Definitely.

I mean, I think there definitely has to be a stronger police presence,

The community has been so fantastic already anyway,

in terms of solidarity and just helping everyone come together.

She says there need to be stronger deterrants, too.

A subject the chairman of the mosque says he discussed

with the Prime Minister when she visited on the day of the attack.

His priorities are tougher penalties for those found guilty of hate crime

and more vigorous investigations by the police.

We are not asking to catch every perpetrator who sends a letter

or something like that, because we know it is impossible,

but we expect something to be done about some of these letters

and to get to the bottom of it and find out who is behind it.

We take Islamaphobic hate crime and all kinds of hate

We allocate cases to experienced detectives and they do

whatever they can, in terms of their investigative abilities,

to support the victim, to chase the suspect, and, again,

But amid the sadness during these last four weeks,

The small handprints of children offering messages of comfort

In the last few minutes, we have had a statement from the Home Office

will told us they have given ?1 million to help mosques improve

their security, that was two weeks ago. It sounds like they are moving

towards greater penalties for these hate crimes. They have asked her to

assess the police response, to make sure it is dealt with effectively

and efficiently and we are working with the CPS and the courts to

ensure all those who commit hate crimes receive heavier sentences. I

think tonight is going to be about reflection and remembrance here.

Indeed, for weeks on from that Finsbury Park terror attack,

Catherine, many thanks indeed. You're watching BBC London News,

coming up later in the programme: He's one of London's most famous

black entrepreneurs, We talk to Levi Roots about food,

music and inspiring others. And two fine days and

a thunderstorm, so the saying goes. Today's been fine, tomorrow will be

fine, so does that mean There are fears that stress

and exhaustion among bus drivers in the capital

is contributing to a rise in the number of crashes on our roads.

That's according to a new report. 25 people have been

killed either on or by Now there are calls

for new safety targets. Just to warn you, you might find

the pictures at the beginning Here's our Transport

Correspondent Tom Edwards. This man is just moments

away from the impact. The bus, in Beckton,

severely injured the pedestrian. Here, a bus mounted a pavement.

Again, people were injured. Today, reports said the capital's

buses could be made much safer. Ten years ago, Sarah Hope's mother

died after being hit by a bus. Her daughter lost her leg

in the same incident. She wants operators to reduce

the stress on drivers. We had a terrible incident

in our family and it was caused by a bus driver having road rage,

which is unforgivable and it must But since that happened

and since I've been working on my campaign to help bus drivers,

I have learnt quite a lot about the stresses

and strains they're under. And I think we need to really think

about them and what they actually physically do every day,

which is more than driving a bus. 25 people have been killed

on or by buses in the last two Today, a report found an emphasis

on punctuality over safety, with drivers facing long hours

which compromises their ability. One thing is making sure

that the contracts incentivise safety as well as punctuality,

but also we need to make sure Transport for London's

own management have in their bonus But we need to make sure the life

of drivers is better and that means making sure they can

have their meal breaks, it means making sure they don't

drive for 16 hours at a time, because if they're tired,

they may make mistakes. In extreme cases, this incident

shows the behaviour from passengers drivers also sometimes

have to deal with. And bus driving is one

of the most stressful transport Joanne Harris has been

a driver for ten years. Most drivers are doing 12 hour days

and then getting forced overtime You've got 13 and a half

hours of all that stress, It's not a good combination

for road safety. TFL welcomes the recommendations

and says it is taking It's aiming for no deaths

involving a bus by 2030. But campaigners are calling

for much quicker action. A zero-tolerance approach

to acid attacks. That's what the Mayor

of London is calling for after the recent

spate of assaults. The number in the capital has

doubled in the last two years. One victim, who had acid

squirted in face and eyes, has been speaking to BBC London

about his ordeal and what can be There are some flashing images in

this report. They started pushing me about and

giving the racial abuse. This father of five was attacked with acid in

November last year while in his car. Minutes after he thought he had

avoided a fight here with a large group of young men and boys. Minutes

later he ran into two of them again. I try to beat my window up but they

got to my car. One of them had a bottle of Lucozade on him. As I have

looked, he has literally just threw it onto my face, I could not see

anything straightaway. I was in pain. It was burning. This is how he

looked at the time, but he says his excellent physical recovery is

deceptive. It's not physical, it is mental. I can't get it out my head,

even now, it is still there. I get flashbacks, nightmares. Following

five acid attacks in less than an hour and a half last week, Sadiq

Khan called for a zero tolerance approach. We should be talking about

life sentences in appropriate circumstances. We should be looking

at sentences were people have used acid as a life threatening weapon.

But has not happened in this man's case. He says his attacker is still

on the streets. Staring at me, smiling at me. Simply, he is

laughing at me. Why is the laughing at me? Because he got away with it,

simple. I could have done something myself, but I've got kids. That's

the only thing that stops me. It should be classed as attempted

murder instead of GBH or GBH with intent. Sadly, an agonised increase

in cases like his means that debate is now taking place.

On that note, tonight MPs are going to debate exactly how to crack down

on those who carry out acid attacks. Victoria has more on this and joins

us. This debate has been called by the London MP Stephen Timms. Last

week balls attacks took place in his constituency of East Ham. There has

been significant movement on this over the weekend, we heard from the

Home Secretary Amber Rudd saying there would be a review into the

issue of acid attacks overall. It will look at things whether judges

have significant sentencing powers to deal with this sort of crime. New

guidance for police officers so they can better deal with potential

perpetrators and prevent this kind of thing happening. Stephen Timms

has tabled this for 10pm. There are several things he believes can be

done to stem the tide. Legislation is key. He wants to see somebody who

is card-carrying acid treated in the same way as somebody caught carrying

a knife. It is automatically regard as a crime, at the moment it has to

be with intent if you're card-carrying acid. At the moment,

somebody who is an acid attacker can be given a life sentence under GBH

with intent, but there is a huge variation in highly these sentences

handed down and Stephen Timms thinks that needs to change.

The Home Secretary, over the weekend, said

that she was going to review the sentences where people

I think we need tougher sentences and I think we need more

consistent sentencing, because although sometimes life

sentences have been used, other times really very small

I think we need some consistency and the guidelines

He also says there are other things that can be done to try and reduce

the number of attacks? This is very much a new supply side. Seals on the

most concentrated sulphuric acid would need a license to buy that.

Age restrictions for those wanting to buy sulphuric acid or products

with sulphuric acid in. This has the support of the British Retail

Consortium who said they would back licences for people. But one key

thing is there is not enough research at the moment into why

these attacks are being carried out, is it for robberies, is it a hate

crime? Who is carrying it out and white? And all that evidence comes

and it is hard to have a targeted approach to dealing with this

problem. Victoria, many thanks. People living near the Grenfell

Tower in North Kensington are to receive assurances

about the safety and stability Letters have been sent out today,

after a range of experts Scaffolding, including netting,

may go up around the tower in the future, but only

after consultations with survivors. Next: Could this be the mega

basement to end all mega basements? Developers are promising

a new public park next to Heathrow, if they're allowed to dig out

three million tonnes It promises to create a subterranean

space the size of two Let's find out more

from Gareth Furby, It sounds very bold. Yes, at the

moment this is a cornfield, but soon if things go according to plan this

could be the site of perhaps the biggest ever mega basement. We are

familiar with basement development across London but the ice more, even

though the cost millions of pounds. With this, we are talking about a

site of 40 football pitches and above ground while a new park,

that's going to be the size of Green Park combined with St James's Park.

Joining me now is the architect behind this. What are you planning

to put down there? Warehousing and distribution but also long-term

storage for art, museums, we have been talking to the local academy

about gymnasiums and swimming pools. Why so big? It is the consequence of

the mining strategy, we are secretly and silently removing the gravels

underneath the park. Instead of beating landfill back we're getting

basement is back. Could this set a precedent for other green belt

areas? Is this an idea to develop green belt land? The current

pressures on London are housing and many of the industrial site are now

been freed up for housing. There will be a point when the

infrastructure and the industrial site me to go somewhere and maybe

this is a precedent. What do local people think about this? We have

talked to some today. Parking is good,

warehouses are not good. At the moment, it's just

used to dump rubbish in. So I'd be glad if they done

something with it. It's good that it'll

come to some use. If you're going to park up there,

warehouse downstairs, Not the best things,

anyway, you know? Some people are unhappy about a

possible clash between lorries using the warehouse space and people using

the park. This is an enormous part, almost 1.2 kilometres from end to

end. It is combining recreation, ecology and connecting communities.

Those key infrastructural roots go into the basement underground,

making those key connections between committees. You want the gravel for

runway three, you want the warehouse for a bigger airport? This project

has been a revolution for almost eight years and are really be for

the top of runway three even made the recent press headlines. I think

we are talking about a long-term vision for London. Thank you. Will

it happen? It is all going to be planners and it will take about 15

years to complete. Gareth, thanks very much.

They're becoming more and more elusive in London.

Now, wildlife experts are trying to record their numbers.

So, you may have spotted something rather unusual in our parks -

secret camera-traps, hidden in the trees designed

And as Victoria Cook reports, it didn't turn out quite as planned!

In the depths of Highgate Woods, scientists from the Zoological

I've come out with them today to see what their hidden cameras have

Looking to see what sort of wildlife is living

These cameras are designed to photograph anything that

The scientists are really hoping to find hedgehogs here.

But, as we soon discover, it seems London's other animals have

Lots of squirrels and birds, no hedgehogs so far, sadly.

Maybe this one's captured the elusive hedgehog.

I'm not going to be disappointed yet.

I'm optimistic that we'll find some hedgehogs here.

If hedgehogs are really rare in the area, then you're not

Sadly, whilst I was filming, Chris and his team didn't find one

A real disappointment and very telling of their declining numbers.

But later that afternoon, a change in luck, and this -

The scientists say they're going to replicate their experiment

They say if you see a camera, feel free to join the wildlife

His face may be familiar, as the man from Brixton who charmed

Dragons Den with his singing and spicy Reggae Reggae sauce.

A decade on, Levi Roots is now worth worth millions.

Alice Bhandhukravi has been to meet him.

That's all I'm good for nowadays, making the sauce.

So this is where I would normally be, creating the sauces.

If you ask Levi Roots which came first, he will tell you his love of

food and music are one in the same. In the kitchen in his east London

restaurant he is making me his famous source.

It was me doing it in my kitchen in Brixton with my children

It would be me and the children, and I would be there,

Since that life changing appearance on Dragons Den, the reggae singer

has sought to share his success story with young people in schools.

I do believe young people, especially kids that have suffered

in their backgrounds, like I did when I was growing up, you tend to

think you are not going to make it and there are things against you and

do is closing that you cannot break down. I go in and I say to them,

look at me, I had all the doors locked in my face, but still I

believed in me. He hasn't forgotten his music either, creating a

compilation of reggae hits, including inspiration Bob Marley.

Whenever I hear Bob Marley, Sun Is Shining, it reminds me

of the man who has inspired me, that changed my life to be a Rasta

man and I think that's helped me to be the person I am.

Bringing Caribbean cookery to the masses. Voila, respect.

Lovely start to the week, how's it looking for the rest of the week?

The sun is shining for now, if you like it make the most of it. Things

through this week are going to change. There was blue sky around

today, sunshine beating down and temperatures heading up words, we

got to 27 degrees across parts of west London, widely into the mid-20s

but we saw McLeod in the afternoon. That cloud was fairly high, quite

innocuous but a sign of what's to come. Tomorrow there will be a south

easterly winds bringing warm air from any continent. The increasing

risk of thunderstorms late in the day. All quiet out there tonight,

dry with clear spells. We will see more of that high clade streaming

its way in from the south, maybe the odd Mr patch, minimum temperatures

of 15 to 17. Increasingly maguey. Muddy and humid tomorrow, spells of

hazy sunshine, a little bit of cloud in the sky at times, but it should

stay dry for the vast majority of the day. We will have a fairly

keenly easterly breeze, close to the coast of Essex and Kent. Further

west looking at highs of 28 or 29. Into tomorrow evening, the Met

office has issued a Yellow warning for rent in the form of some

thunderstorms which are likely to push up from the side. They look

quite dramatic and in places they could be, giving a lot of rain in

eight short space of time, localised flooding and frequent lightning.

Other spots may miss out completely and it will be very muddy. Those hit

and miss thunderstorms will tend to clear away during Wednesday, a lot

of dry weather but we cannot rule out the idea of some further storms

cropping up as the day goes on. It could be heavy if you do catch one,

even hail and gusty winds. Still warm and humid but as we head

towards the end of the week things will turn cooler and fresher. Some

changes are on the way, if you like the warmth and sunshine make the

most of tomorrow. The Government's confirmed

the routes for the second stage Trains will run from

Birmingham on two lines - one serving the north west,

the other up into Yorkshire. A terminally-ill man has begun

a legal challenge to overturn the ban on assisted dying

in England and Wales. Noel Conway has motor

neurone disease. Schools are to get a ?1.3 billion

bailout over two years, but the money will have to come

from savings elsewhere A month after the Finsbury Park

terror attack, in which one person died and ten others were injured,

the chairman of the mosque has called for tougher

penalties for hate crime. That's it for now,

thanks for joining us. Victoria Hollins will be

back with our late news.