31/07/2017 London News

Coming up on the programme tonight...

A grandmother from Streatham tells us how she fought for her life

after being strangled with a dog lead on her own doorstep.

I felt myself, I can't breathe, you know. I thought no, I'm not having

this, I'm not going to die. Police are appealing

for any witnesses. Jail for the businessman who passed

off horsemeat as pure beef - which ended up in burgers

and ready meals. Plus find out why worn out traffic

wardens are sleeping as the stage show of David Walliams'

best selling children's book Good evening, welcome to BBC

London News with me Riz Lateef. An 82-year-old grandmother has

described how she fought for her life after she was attacked by a

stranger on her own doorstep. Catherine Smith was found covered

in blood after being brutally assaulted by a stranger in south

London last week. A warning that some viewers may find

images in Tolu Adeoye's Pushed the door and as I pushed

the door she pushed it back on me. Then she knocked me

down on the floor. And she grabbed me and she said,

give me your money, Catherine Smith was attacked

on her own doorstep last week in what has been described by police

as a vicious and unprovoked attack. She is now recovering at home

and believes she could have lost her life that day if she had

not have fought back. I really had a go at

her as best I could. I was surprised how strong

I was in my left hand because I have But I grabbed hold of her,

anything I could get hold of. Police believe the suspect spotted

Catherine here in Palace Road nature gardens while she was out

on her mobility scooter She then followed her home,

repeatedly asking her for money. When Catherine tried

to go inside her home, When that was refused

she became aggressive, pushed the front door open causing

Catherine to fall and bang her head. She then grabbed Catherine's dog

lead and started to strangle her. She put it round my neck

and she started pulling at it. And I sort of felt myself, oh,

I can't breathe, you know. And I thought no, I'm not

having this, I'm not So I got hold of the lead

and I pulled it down quick. The suspect has been

described as a black female of about five tall,

of slim build with slick She was wearing a khaki coloured

zip coat, multicoloured I got here and open the door

and it was blood all Catherine's son says it is important

his mother's attackers caught She left my mum black

and blue for ?60. It is disgusting,

absolutely disgusting. She has done this to my mum,

she could do it to anyone else. God forbid it ever happened again,

press the green button for about five seconds

and they will be here. Catherine now has a panic alarm

and worries for those She is urging anyone

with information to come forward. I mean, people that are worse

than I am you know, that will not fight back and that,

you know, if I had not done that, would she have

strangled me to death? On the day the Battle

of Passchendaele is remembered, we look at the Hertfordshire

regiment wiped out in a day. Prison staff specially trained

in dealing with riots have been sent to the Mount Prison in Hertfordshire

following a serious disturbance. Lets get more on this

from Emma North, who joins me now. What more do we know question mark

earlier this afternoon ride trained police were sent to the Mount Prison

in Hemel Hempstead. The Ministry of Justice issued a statement saying

they have specially trained staff working to resolve an incident

involving a number of prisoners at the Mount Prison. The prison is

completely secure and there was no risk to the public. A bit of

background about the prison, 30 years old and houses 1000 inmates.

It is semiopen, a hybrid training and resettlement prison. The Prison

Reform Trust said the Mount Prison is somewhere where staff think they

will not escape but they cannot trust the inmates not to escape.

Lots of speculation tonight about what caused this violence. Some

people say it was a disaster waiting to happen because violence can be

blamed of staff shortages. But in an inspection of yours about the prison

was described as said that, although there was room for improvement.

A machete-wielding teenager on a moped has been found guilty

of killing a former celebrity bodyguard in Romford

Ricky Hayden was stabbed to death as he tried to stop thieves stealing

Tommy Roome was found guilty for manslaughter,

whilst a second defendant, Tarrell Hinds, was found not guilty

Two more victims of the Grenfell Tower fire have been named.

Her family says she was their "little angel" and they won t rest

35-year-old Nura Jemal was discovered on the 23rd floor.

Her family says she was a devout and courageous

A total of 46 victims have now been identified.

EU countries have until midnight tonight to enter the competition

to host two agencies, which are to relocate

The European Medicines Agency and the European Banking Authority

are based in Canary Wharf in London; between them, they employ just

A decision is expected in the Autumn.

Well lets get more from Sonja Jessup who is overlooking Canary Wharf.

Currently in London these agencies will be on the move but exactly

where to go is going to be the focus of a frenzied bidding process

between EU countries. Their printing glossy brochures, producing

promotional videos and the actual voting process itself is so

complicated it has been likened to the Eurovision Song contest. So why

are they so excited, well Diame monitors the safety of medicines

across the EU, the EBA deals with European banking rules and between

them they employ around 1000 highly skilled staff. That is 890 at the

MA, 189 at the EBA. Of course they come with their families and plenty

of business. 36,000 visitors came to the MA in one year. So plenty to

gain for the winning bidder. But of course where does that leave London?

Of course this is a huge loss for London. But also it has not come as

a great surprise, as the Centre for London think tank told us earlier.

It was inevitable when we voted to leave the EU that these agencies

would leave the city. They remind us of the huge contribution that high

skilled organisation businesses like these make to London and the UK

economy. London represents a quarter of economic activities so we cannot

afford to lose these important and high school businesses. So what

happens next, it is thought there are around 20 countries involved in

the bidding process. They have until midnight tonight to submit their

bids. It is thought Frankfurt is currently the favourite to get the

EBA. Of course it is already a major financial centre and home to the

European Central Bank. We will have to wait to November to find out who

the winners are. Offering routine HIV tests to people

when they register with a new GP in high risk areas is cost effective

and could save lives - according to a study by two

London Universities. The researchers are calling

for screening to be rolled The charity, Terrence Higgins Trust,

has called on healthcare commissioners to act

on the findings. Tom was diagnosed with HIV six years

ago after a routine screening They kept calling me and calling me

and I didn't want to pick up because I was on holiday having

a good time. And I finally gave in and picked up

and they told me I had It wasn't really the best way

to find out, I don't think. He would have preferred to have

been told by his GP. I think I would've preferred have

found out about my HIV diagnosis from a doctor,

a doctor that is just round the corner from my house,

rather than having to go into the city to an HIV

or sexual health clinic. I think if we are doing HIV

tests in GP surgeries, it normalises HIV testing as well,

it puts it in the same bracket A simple finger prick test

which costs the NHS around ?25 is all that is needed to find out

whether you are HIV positive or not. But despite this, it is thought more

than 13,000 people in the UK are living with the virus that

causes aids and don't yet know it. A trial by two London universities

involving nearly 90,000 people from 40 GP surgeries tested how

effective it would be to offer finger prick testing

when registering with the GP. They found it led to a fourfold

increase in the HIV diagnosis rate. Now they are calling for HIV tests

to be offered to everyone registering with a new GP living

in a high-risk area. And here in London that would mean

making them available to people Having an HIV test at your surgery

will allow you to have access But then also prevent

you from passing on the But with estimated roll-out costs

of around ?4 million and huge pressures on NHS budgets already,

health bosses will have to decide whether this is an area much needed

cash should be spent. So you said it would

cost 4 millions pounds. How likely is it that these tests

will be rolled out more widely? HIV funding has come into the

spotlight on many occasions, routine testing has already been recommended

by Public Health England especially in cities with high rates of the

virus. So here in London. The Terrence Higgins trust which provide

services for people with HIV has called for action following this

latest study. They say we urgently need a new approach to HIV testing

with opportunities to diagnose people being missed as many people

visit their GP but do not go to the specialist screening services. GPs

and budgets as we know are under pressure

already so the Royal College of GPs has reflected this in a statement

saying it is difficult to see how these hard-pressed GPs and their

teams are going to be able to carry out this extra work without extra

funding. It was a scandal which shocked

the nation and cast a light Horsemeat - being

passed off as beef. Well today a London businessman

was jailed for his part in a conspiracy to sell 30 tonnes

of horsemeat for that very purpose. This was the gruesome discovery that

confirmed it. Microchips from racehorses that had been passed off

as beef from supermarket shelves. Before Smith's gamble was headline

news for weeks and led to the mass withdrawal of economy burgers and

ready meal. Today the only prosecution so far saw two men

jailed. Following a tip-off in Ireland, City of London Police fraud

unit tracked the Trail of dodgy meat and examined records relating to 83

tonnes of adulterated meat. Horse and beef which have been mixed. The

brains behind the plot was Danish businessman Ulrik Nielsen, based in

hell. With his administrator Alex Beech Babel horse meat from traders

across Europe and venerable ship from Ireland to Tottenham. It was

stored at a place run by the brains of the operation, Andronicos

Sideras. At the time horse meat was much cheaper than beef. Andronicos

Sideras mixed force with cheap Polish beef and relabelled it is

100% beef to sell on. Supermarkets like Iceland, Tesco, Asda and Aldi

then removed economy beef products when the scandal broke. But the jury

heard it could have netted building. Andronicos Sideras denied all

knowledge. During his three weeks trial prosecutors showed e-mails and

paperwork as evidence of the conspiracy. The fingerprints of

Andronicos Sideras were found on fake labels attached to pallets of

meat found here at his warehouse. The labels claimed that the meat was

100% beef but in truth some batches were as much as 30% horse meat. An

excellent result and sent a strong message that it will not be

tolerated. For the officers that had to wait through the meat we had

tonnes and tonnes and it was rotten and putrid meat, a mixture of beef

and horse meat. For them it was a hands-on experience. Andronicos

Sideras was jailed for four now appears for what the judge said was

his leading role in the serious fraud. The public must have

confidence he said with precisely what is in the food chain.

A Union is calling for traffic wardens in central London

to be given more places to take their breaks -

after members have resorted to sleeping in museums and galleries.

Some staff have told BBC London, they're prepared to 'turn a blind

eye' to the tired wardens - instead of telling them to move on.

VOICEOVER: Fast asleep in the middle of an afternoon at work, a warden

taking 40 winks, we have covered part of his face to spare his

blushes, his bosses say that they encourage staff to take

Security workers tell us it is not a one off.

Nobody at the Wallace Collection wanted to comment about this

but a number of staff told me traffic wardens are using benches

and chairs inside to sleep on, and at closing time, as

many as three or four at a time are having

to be woken up and asked to

There are several other tourist attractions in central

London who say the same things about sleeping

wardens, Unite union say

their members need more places to take breaks as it can

take too long to walk to the ones available now.

They are sleeping in museums because they have absolutely no other

choice, people need a rest, especially when you are doing a

physical job that involves a lot of walking.

Rest breaks are a big issue, people do not have anywhere

to go to to sit down and have a proper rest.

Not within the time they are supposed to be working

If your shift was worked so that you can stop at lunchtime and

sit down somewhere and have a break, fine, but our members are

improvising and finding somewhere to sit down

and take a rest and have a break.

It can be stressful work, this motorist successfully appealed

against her ticket, Westminster Council say most

of their wardens work a nine and a half hour day with

a lunch and 20 minutes tea break, and they are not confined to depots.

I'm at Ascot racecourse finding out how Frankie Dettori feels about his

12-year-old son following in his footsteps. I'm David Walliams, join

me on BBC London News when I talk about the stage show of Gangsta

Granny. It's nearly a hundred years

since one of the bloodiest battles of the first world war,

the Battle of Passchendaele, on the Among the casualties

was the Hertfordshire Regiment, which was wiped out

on the very first morning. 620 officers and men

of the Hertfordshire At 1010 they left the Steenbeek

River at Saint Julien heading east towards the enemy

600 yards away. Most of them didn't

make it to lunch. Opening day of the third Battle

of Ypres, this is where these guys from the Hertfordshire

Regiment lined up and were they had a bit of breakfast

here, bacon and cheese. And they were really preparing

for what was to come. Military historian Dan Hill says

that in one morning, 75% of the battalion

were killed or wounded. They disappeared up the hill

and they came under very serious, very heavy sustained machine-gun

fire from German strong points

in positions on both of their flanks And in the minutes that followed

they were cut to pieces. One of those who lost his life

was 26-year-old Percy Buck from Hitchen, his body was found

in No Man's Land by a German Percy was holding a photograph

of his wife and child with the address on the back

and the words, if found, In an act of kindness, the German

soldier took the photograph I think it was very brave

of the young man to do that because I don't even know if any

of his comrades knew Because I would not have thought

it was allowed, really. But yes, it was a very

kind thing he did. Because Wilczek took

the photograph, he knowingly took away the only means of identifying

Percy. Because of that,

he has no known grave. So his name appears

with the missing on the Menin Gate See the windmill behind me,

that is where the German line was. This is where the Hertfordshire

Regiment got to that morning, In the field many of them fell

including Percy Buck was found As Saint Julien today only

the ghosts of men remain. And the bunker stands on the river

bank where the Hertfordshire staged their last act on the first

day of the Battle of Passchendaele. At that very spot that

the quartermaster sergeant of the Hertfordshire Regiment turns

up in the evening of the battle with 620 lots of food,

the rations for the evening. He looks around and is unable

to find the battalion. He speaks to the general

in that command post, and says, Sir, I'm looking

for the Hertfordshire Regiment, The response, quite simply,

I'm sorry, Quartermaster, It's not unusual for children to

follow in their father's footsteps. But when your dad is famous horse

racing jockey Frankie Dettori - Well, his son could already be

following in his footsteps... An impressive training ground

and an equally impressive teacher Today Frankie Dettori

was giving his 12-year-old son Rocco a little taste of just what it's

like to race at Ascot. The statue is a permanent reminder

of what Frankie Dettori achieved here in 1996 when he rode all seven

winners in one day. So how does he feel about his son

following in his famous footsteps? It is a lifetime of

sacrifice, not eating, So I wasn't too pleased

with he first told me But he seems very determined

so I tried to guide him as best I can and now I have seen him ride,

he rides quite well. Rocco is currently taking a slightly

different path to his dad. He recently qualified to compete

in the Shetland Pony Grand National which will form part

of the London International horse So just like Frankie,

he is getting used to the dangers Rocco, I understand your dad maybe

doesn't want you to be a jockey because it is too dangerous,

is that right? Yeah, he has said

that multiple times. So how are you going

to persuade him? I don't really know how,

but I will keep on asking. And if Rocco does make it,

he has already perfected From 'Little Britain'

to 'Britain's Got Talent', David Walliams is one

of the country's best known entertainers -

and also one of our most His Gansta Granny series has brought

joy to thousands of youngsters. The book has already been

turned into a stage show - and it opens for the first time

in London tomorrow. Today he came face-to-face with some

of his biggest fans, and youngest critics -

as Alice Bhandhukravi reports. Mr Parker, do you mind, she said in

mock horror. That he had seen her in a state of undress. It was his

fourth book and his most accessible by far. From TV comedy to children's

fiction, David Walliams has got talent and also illegal of young

fans keen to put on the spot. What is the best book you ever wrote? I

would say Harry Potter and the philosopher 's Stone. I let this

other lady get the credit but we all know I wrote it. He definitely did

write this one. Now live on stage in the West End. I thought you said

Ronnie was boring. She is my Gangsta Granny! I was arriving at the

theatre and seeing the hoardings outside and I thought this is

amazing. And this is the icing on the cake coming into the West End.

If Gangsta Granny went in front of the panel of judges would it be the

bread butter? I think more likely the Golden Buddha because a really

entertaining old lady tends to do well on Britain's got talent. We do

not like buzzing of old people. It is a bit cruel. I have been more

successful than I ever dream so... You really have been successful and

overtaken JK Rowling in some of the books sold. She may have a different

take on that! She sold 500 million books. But yes, I'm delighted. I

pinch myself every day. I'm very lucky that my work has been enjoyed

by other people. Who are you, he barked. He had very

big nose which made him seem even rosier than he was. David Walliams

said this show is so much better than the book. So the Garrick

Theatre can expect stellar performances.

Now lets check on the weather with Wendy.

The unsettled weather playing havoc with your voice as well.

I think it is the damp in the air, lots of showers over the weekend.

But the unsettled weather goes into a second week. But not always bad

for London as you can see from the picture behind me. And the showers

we had today were few and far between. The lines of showers going

through today largely missed London so we had some distance above the

sunshine and feeling quite pleasant. We're going into the evening the

same way, some showers around but mostly largely dry tonight and

temperatures falling back to around 10 degrees. So quite cool. And we

start tomorrow with some fine weather once again. The cloud

bubbling up a little as it did today and a similar kind of area,

north-west London, up into hot features well, one or two on the

heavy side. But London and further south east, we hold onto dry weather

tomorrow with plenty of sunshine and feeling pleasant reaching 24

degrees. We have another Atlantic low-pressure system coming in in the

middle part of the week. We have a dry and bright start to Wednesday

and then the breeze picks up. Not much of the rain until the evening

and then overnight. Then it clears through to pretty much what we have

at the moment, a good spell of sunshine and some showers. Always

the risk and you still need your umbrella with you through the rest

of the week. Through Friday also the risk of some showers and that takes

us into the weekend. But a hint of some or several weather late next

week. So perhaps less use of the umbrella then. Fingers crossed for

that. Prince Charles has led a service

at Tyne Cot cemetery near Ypres in Belgium,

to honour those who fell at the battle of Passchendaele

during the First World War. Downing Street has stepped

in after days of public disagreement between cabinet ministers over

migration rules post Brexit. The prime minister's office insists

freedom of movement will end, We'll be back with the latest

for you during the ten o'clock news. From all of us on the team -

thanks for watching Bolt is a shining example

of the best that we can be. A man like him

is not born very often. There's just so much work

to get to that one moment, Ahead of his final race,

the inside story of the fastest man. God put me on this Earth to run

and that's what I'm going to do.