01/02/2018 London News

south-east and the best of the

sunshine across Scotland and

Northern Ireland.

That's all from the BBC News at Six

so it's goodbye from me -

Coming up on BBC London News:

After a man is found guilty

of a terror attack on Muslim

worshippers in Finsbury Park,

we look at how the attack led

to security fears in London mosques.

The attack was a realisation of

people's fears and worries, and

confirmed that they were not

irrational fears.

I'm in Finsbury Park to gauge how

people are reacting to today's

verdict.

Also on the programme:

The family of a man stabbed

to death at Wormwood Scrubs

yesterday say he'd raised

concerns about safety.

He rang us and he was in a really

bad situation, which he had certain

times fights with people inside. He

was feeling very bad and he was

afraid for his life.

Plus a drop in the number of

EU citizens coming to London.

But is Brexit really to blame?

And celebrating the golden

era of ocean liners,

which began 160 years ago

on the Thames.

Good evening, thanks for joining us

and welcome to the programme.

We start tonight with more

reaction to today's verdict

in the Finsbury Park terror attack.

It was on a night in June

when Muslim worshippers

were deliberately targeted

by Darren Osborne.

The 48-year-old, who'd been

radicalised by far-right

material, killed one person

and injured nine others.

A jury took just one hour

to find him guilty of murder

and attempted murder.

The attack prompted mosques

in the capital to look at security.

Asad is in Finsbury

Park for us tonight.

That white, almost nondescript

building behind me is the Muslim

welfare house, where Makram Ali

walked out of in the early hours of

that morning and started to make his

way home down this road, and that's

when he collapsed due to ill-health.

A number of Muslims came his aid is

Darren Osborne started to drive past

in his van. He saw the Muslims

congregated and went for them to try

and claim as many lives as possible.

If his intention was also to try and

spread this community apart, he

failed, because following his act of

hatred, people stood united, whether

they be Muslims, Christians, Jews or

people of note religion at all, they

wanted to stand up to the act that

has taken place. We have been

looking at how mosques have reacted.

Six months ago, a man who hated

Muslims attacked this community,

murdering one of their own. Now,

they are welcoming a man who helped

set up neo-Nazi groups. Nigel

Bromwich is now a changed man and

fight against extremism in nine

London boroughs. He also helps

mosques to understand the threat

from the far right, a threat he says

is rising.

Increased use of the

Internet and social media, the fact

that people are more open about

their racist abuse, and I think

because it's more mainstream and

people are open about it, it's

encouraging more people to get

involved.

Does it worry you?

It

always worries me. All extremism is

wrong and if far right extremism is

growing with got to try and stop

that. -- we've got to try and build

buffers.

And angry imam stops the

crowd from assaulting the killer,

the man not repentant. The imam,

Mohammed Mahmoud, told us why he

intervened.

It was a normal human

response to... To defend somebody

who is defenceless, even though he

didn't extent that same courtesy to

the people whom, just moments

earlier, he rammed into with his

van, killing one of them, and

inflicting life changing injuries on

others.

He says he didn't want

worshippers to hand out their own

justice.

To reciprocate his rage and

anger and hatred with an equal

response, rather to show him the

humanity that can be demonstrated,

even in these extreme circumstances.

The attack in Finsbury Park last

summer clearly had a profound impact

on many Muslim worshippers as well

as the wider community, but it's

also had an effect on many mosques

and Islamic centres across London.

This week, more than 100 Muslim

leaders gathered together. One

conversation was how best to combat

the resurgence of the far right.

From a situation where we were

getting two or three calls a month,

it's two or three calls a week, of

how to protect those institutions.

Finsbury Park is definitely woken up

the leadership of mosques, and they

are preparing their congregation, if

there is an attack, how to deal with

it.

The attack came at the height of

a rise in Islamophobic incidents

last year, a trend that has now

fallen, but it seems many in

London's Muslim communities feel

that they must remain alert, while

not being alarmed. I was in Finsbury

Park mosque about an hour after the

verdict was announced, and there was

a real sense of calm, no hatred, no

jubilation as to the verdict, just a

sense of calm. I'm joined by

Mohammed Mahmoud, who we saw in that

report, who called for that calm

during the heat of the moment of

that night. How do you feel tonight

and now you know the man has been

found guilty?

I think it was an

expected result. There was

sufficient evidence to prove his

guilt. Most importantly, we

celebrate the fact that he wasn't

tried on the street, and no verdict

was passed on the street, rather, he

stood trial, and this verdict was

delivered in a court of law.

The

community, the sense I got from

speaking to people was that they are

just getting on with their lives,

they are not really mulling over

what happened. Is that the case?

The

community has showed a strong sense

of resilience, and have restored

normality to their lives as much as

possible. Those most affected are

the family of Makram Ali, who have

conducted themselves with the utmost

dignity. The injured, those who

sustained life changing injuries,

they have, their patience and

perseverance has been awe-inspiring

throughout this ordeal.

When it

comes to a message to Londoners,

regardless of their faith or no

faith, the feeling of hatred which

many people might have towards

others, whether their sexuality or

religion, what is your message to

them?

London is a metropolitan,

multicultural, multiethnic city. Its

strength is in its diversity, in its

variety, and that variety and

diversity can only exist through

understanding and acceptance of the

other without fear and without

rancour towards one another.

Thank

you for that. A clear message being

sent from this part of London.

Thank you, with reaction from

Finsbury Park, Assad Ahmad.

Plenty more to come

on the programme, including:

Taking a religious

approach to knife crime -

we take you inside the south London

church, reforming gang

members and drug dealers.

The mother of a man stabbed

to death in Wormwood Scrubs

prison says she thought

he was in a "safe place".

Khader Saleh died from his injuries

after being attacked yesterday.

Speaking exclusively to BBC London,

the brother of the 25-year-old said

he'd spoken about

fearing for his life.

Four inmates have been arrested

on suspicion of murder.

Charlotte Franks reports.

Wormwood Scrubs prison has had a

poor history of violence over the

last few years. Yesterday,

25-year-old Khader Saleh was stabbed

to death while on remand. His mother

received the news yesterday evening.

She is really in very bad feeling

for her loss. And our loss as well.

She felt he would be in a safe

place, which is prison.

Khader Saleh

had recently married and had a

one-year-old son. He'd been at

Wormwood Scrubs for nine months

awaiting trial. Last night, his

family were told he was moved to a

cell and stabbed seven times.

We

spoke to him four days ago, before

he got killed. He was feeling very

bad and he was afraid for his life.

Today families visiting loved ones

at Wormwood Scrubs were concerned by

the news.

I'm terrified what's going

to happen next. For everybody

visiting today, they are shocked.

It's threatening, I feel sorry for

the family, because your loved one

has been taken away but you don't

expect them to be killed in prison.

In 2017 a report by the independent

monitoring board found the prison

was dangerous for inmates and

officers. It identified 30 to 40

violent incidents per month, with

25% gang-related, and it highlighted

how prisoners were only allowed to

be released from their cells for one

hour per day. The fatal stabbing

yesterday follows the recent

decision to introduce CCTV, body

worn cameras and extra dog patrols

because the level of violence here

has been so high. The MOD say, since

the last inspection, Wormwood Scrubs

has taken decisive action to reduce

violence. Despite this, Khader

Saleh's family say they fear there

could be more victims in future if

security in the present isn't

increased. Four inmates in their 20s

have been arrested.

Next, from gangs to God.

And how, at a time of rising knife

crime, a self-appointed church

leader in south London is working

with ex-gang members and drug

dealers to turn their lives around.

While some may find

the 37-year-old unconventional,

the Met and politicians have

given his approach their blessing.

Noel Phillips has

been investigating.

We're inside Spac Nation Ministries,

a church based in south London,

where preachings are tailored

to a different kind of congregation.

Former armed robbers,

drug dealers and gang members.

This is a place where the word

of God is being used to reform

some of the capital's

most notorious criminals.

26-year-old Kevin was recently

in prison for attempted murder.

Last year and this year,

actually the first time that I've

ever been into prison,

so it's something that's working.

Tobi Adegoyega is the man

responsible for transforming

the lives of these young men.

He is basically like our prophet.

He is our teacher who teaches

us about the word.

We don't idolise him,

we come to him because he knows more

about it than we do.

The 37-year-old pastor

is from Nigeria.

He arrived in the UK 12 years ago

and has built a business network

which has enabled him to help some

of London's most troubled young men.

Some of them are now

going to top elite universities.

An entrepreneur and lawyer,

Pastor Tobi Adegoyega says he has

helped hundreds of youths find

jobs and opportunities.

On his podium, he preaches a gospel

of prosperity and wealth in order

to attract gang members.

I understand that our approach

is different from the traditional

Church, so I've got to look

like them, I've got to connect,

and that's really out

of my way, to be honest.

I would never have dreamt of wearing

ripped jeans, as a pastor.

I mean, that's quite extraordinary.

Your jeans are ripped,

you are not in a suit,

you are very casual.

For a lot of people,

that would be...

That's not pastoral, is it?

Yeah.

But the generations are changing.

I've got to look like the people

I'm trying to talk to.

And I've got access and I speak in

court, the worst of the worst.

A far cry from his past life.

22-year-old Daniel from Brixton

joined a gang when he was just 12.

Do you remember the first time

you carried a knife?

I do, yes.

Aged 13.

I took it to school.

You live in the minute,

so you get the knife,

you put it in your pocket,

you don't think about,

there's police down the road

or what if I get into a problem

and actually have to use it?

This is now Daniel's life.

He is one of 14 ex-offenders who

lives with Pastor Tobi at his home.

And the Metropolitan Police has

welcomed the Church's approach,

and say they want more denominations

to help reduce knife crime.

But, for these young men and women,

who have been given a second chance,

this is an opportunity to prevent

others from making the same

mistakes that they did.

Noel Phillips with that report.

West Ham Football Club have

suspended director of player

recruitment Tony Henry over claims

he said the club would not sign any

more African players.

The Daily Mail alleged he sent

an email saying the players had

a "bad attitude" and they caused

"mayhem" when they

weren't in the team.

West Ham have suspended him pending

a full investigation,

saying they don't tolerate any

type of discrimination.

The latest row between

the Government and the EU over

citizens' rights after Brexit has

been making headlines today,

but is it discouraging young

Europeans from making

the capital their home?

Number-crunching by a London

think-tank suggests the number of EU

migrants coming to London at the end

of last year fell by a quarter

compared to the year before.

Here's our Brexit reporter,

Katharine Carpenter.

We like to think of hours as a

global city, but official figures

show there's been a drop in the

number of foreign nationals coming

to London, especially young people

and those from the EU.

Hello...

Not

that you'd know it at this

recruitment company in Blackfriars.

I'm 20 and I'm from Belgium.

In

Josephine and I'm from Germany.

I'm

half French, half Northern Irish.

Their professional success lies in

encouraging skilled workers from the

EU to come to London, so it got

harder?

Where do you see yourself in

five years' time? When people don't

know, whether they will be able to

continue in the role in their

location, it gets a difficult

question.

I had a couple of

candidates who have left saying they

are not staying here after Brexit,

but also candidates who said, OK,

I'm coming now before Brexit which

worked out well in my favour.

National insurance number

registrations were down over 20% in

the third quarter of 2017 compared

to the same period in 2016, and the

sharpest fall was in the number of

EU nationals coming here, a drop of

25%. Particularly younger Europeans.

The number 18 to 24-year-olds coming

to the capital down 16.1%.

It's a

long-term trend since 2014, and

ticks accelerated since the

referendum and it suggests we don't

know how many people from the EU are

leaving London but it suggests

people are having second thoughts

before moving over.

He acknowledges

that Brexit will not be the only

reason, and European citizens' those

countries economies are performing

well may feel less owed to leave.

Some people will welcome the drop in

migration is one factor they voted

to leave the European Union.

We're

not seeing big changes in

unemployment job numbers. Ten more

immigrants coming over doesn't mean

ten more jobs are unavailable for

local people will cause immigrants

create as taking jobs.

Sectors like

construction, which rely heavily on

EU migrants, may find little comfort

in the capital's resilience.

And Katharine's here.

An interesting snapshot there,

but concern over the future of EU

citizens already in the capital has

been raised at the European

Parliament today?

Yes, there's around a million of

those EU citizens living in London,

some have been here for decades and

they are worried now that the Brexit

negotiations are moving onto the

next phase, people will forget about

the concerns they have about their

future. So today they went to the

European Parliament to lobby MEPs.

Of course this was very timely,

especially given Theresa May's

comments last night that those who

come after March 2019 during a

transition period should not have

full residency rights. That is what

the citizens have been worried about

all along, that they will become

bargaining chips in the next stage

of negotiations, something they are

adamant should not happen.

Thank

you.

You're watching BBC London.

Still to come tonight:

This was London's contribution to

the golden age of ocean travel.

If you are regular beer drinker, you

will know the price of a pint, so

perhaps no wonder the punters may

want to every last drop.

Well, now a campaign has been

launched in the City

to ensure Londoners

aren't being short-changed.

Louisa Preston is in

the City for us now.

Louisa.

That's right and that's why trading

standards in the City of London have

produced these beer mat so punters

can check whether their pint

measures up. Robbie the barman is

here with a nice pint so if we turn

this beer mats around and hold it to

the top of the class, you can see

this point is about 10% short. Let's

talk to trading standards now, we

have Steve player here. Why are you

doing this?

That should be a pint of

beer so we want to make sure

consumers get what they pay for.

That looks short measured so we want

to give consumers confidence to ask

the barman to top it up.

That beer

had quite a good head on it, that is

what punters expect, isn't it?

This

some do, some don't, we want to make

consumers aware they have every

right to ask for a top up and in

most cases bar staff will willingly

obliged.

And you think this is worth

it?

Yes, it is money out of your

pocket if you get too much head.

Let's speak to some punters and see

if they think it is worth it. So you

know about this, I have spoken to

you, do you think it is worthwhile?

Yes, because if I'm going to have a

pint, I would expect a large head on

it as a sign of quality. If the beer

is all the way to the top of the

class it will be quite flat.

What

about you, you are drinking

Guinness?

Yes, sometimes with

Guinness you get a ridiculously huge

head on it and as a paying customer

you should be able to ask for it

properly.

I will leave you to enjoy

your beer this evening. So there we

have it, as long as the beer is

good, the punters are happy.

Maybe

just don't spill it! Thank you,

Louisa.

Now, it's not unusual for some

of the top women footballers

to have another job

as well as playing the game.

But perhaps what is unusual is to be

a firefighter in Yorkshire

while also being a goalkeeper

for a London club.

That's the reality for Nicola Hobbs,

who'll be playing this weekend

after yet another almost

200-mile journey.

Emma Jones has the story.

Teaching youngsters

about the Fire Service.

This is Nicola Hobbs' day job

with South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue

but she also happens to be

a goalkeeper for the London Bees

who train and play in North London.

I sometimes take annual leave

on Friday and go down Thursday

to Sunday for my game,

and training between,

or I travel up the night before

making sure that I'm all set to go

for work on the Friday.

Both I love to do, I love my job

and I love football and I'll do

anything in my power

to make that work.

At least two times a week Nicola

makes the four-hour drive from one

of her jobs to the other.

Real proof of her determination

to succeed in both of her roles.

I was adamant to do what I wanted

to do, which is anything,

and I wanted to join

the Fire Service and be

a goalkeeper at the top-flight,

so I worked really hard

to make that happen.

It just makes you work harder

for what you want and I hope that

inspires younger girls

to do the same.

Having another job on top of playing

football is the reality for many

women who want to play the game.

But it doesn't stop Nicola's

team-mates and her manager

being impressed with her dedication.

All of that experience

of the clubs she has played

for at different tiers,

internationally, doing what she does

with the Fire Service and having

to travel down as frequently

as she does, I think it's

a testament to her hard

work and determination.

She's a really good role model

for everybody, really.

It just shows you can have a dual

career and you can be successful

in sport and in the Fire Service,

or any other role you can.

She has to manage her

time appropriately.

It is hard work and she does do

a lot of hours but she is reaping

the rewards, success on the pitch

and off the pitch.

This Sunday the London Bees play

host to one of the top

teams in the country,

Chelsea, in the FA Cup,

so a busy Nicola can expect to be

very busy in goal trying

to keep her team in the competition.

Emma Jones, BBC London News.

We're going to transport you now

to the golden age of ocean travel,

a time when cruise ships were

synonymous with luxury and romance.

It began 160 years ago,

when the biggest ship

the world had ever seen

was launched on the Thames.

Now, the history of ocean

liners and their cultural

impact is being explored

in a new exhibition at the V&A.

Here's Wendy Hurrell, who took

to the water to find out more.

Weather for the commute or allege a

novelty, there's a routine service

to travel along the River Thames,

and bow big cruise ships dock here

mainly in the summer, it is these

smaller vessels we are used to so it

might surprise you to know London

had a transformative role in the

history of ocean travel. Which

became fashionable during the

20th-century, as this luxurious V&A

exhibition shows. This was London's

contribution, the SS great eastern.

Built mostly out of metal, she

launched exactly 160 years ago. Part

of the slipway is still here on the

Isle of dogs. The great eastern was

shimmied awkwardly into the waters,

the biggest ship the world had ever

seen. She did make some

transatlantic crossings but was

never that successful as a passenger

ship. Not least because conditions

on board were more functional than

glamorous. If you wanted to sit on

deck, you had to bring some

furniture with you from the saloon.

But she was a pioneer, one of the

first giant passenger ships.

She

transported millions of people, but

they also became one of the

glamorous leisure activities of the

20th century.

And though the ships

were no longer built in the capital,

the interiors featured leading

London designers.

The panels showed

exotic scenes for 12 piano ships.

Edward Borden who designed a lot for

the Orient line, including wonderful

paintings but also textiles and

ceramics, China where for the ships.

While those lavish liners have

disappeared into the horizon, the

modern-day version is still

occasionally sail the same waters in

which one of the first great iron

hulls was launched.

I would like to go on a cruise!

Let's turn our attention

to February's weather now,

and Helen is here.

Just me or did January

seem like a long month?

Just me or did January

seem like a long month?

I know and quite wet. The start of

February is bringing cold weather.

We had beautiful sunshine this

morning but it clouded over. This

was the view sent in from Richmond

this morning and it felt cold

because of that biting northerly

wind. The cold weather is with us to

stay. There is the sunshine this

morning, here is this band of rain

with wintriness in its so if you are

out at the moment you will be

getting wet and it is cold rain as

well. There is some sleet and snow

over the Chilterns and over the

Downs for the next few hours. It

clears away as we head towards

midnight. The wind still brisk but

temperatures will dip low enough for

there to be a concern with ice

clearly after the evening's rain and

wintry mix, the roads and pavements

will be damp so watch out for frost

and ice. Tomorrow the winds don't

look strong but we have these wintry

showers, with the odd one further

west as well. By and large still a

lot of dry weather. The winds are

not as strong so seven or eight

won't feel quite as chilly as today

but not particularly pleasant under

the showers. Tomorrow almost the

same again, another cold night with

this frosty hue moving in. Then a

question over the weekend, we have

been watching the next Atlantic

weather system coming in. The

uncertainty is to how far east it

comes. It may well stall to the west

of our region, and we may see more

sunshine and light winds but the

jury is out. Sunday, biting

north-easterly wind. Of course it is

the start of the Six Nations this

weekend. It looks as if we should

avoid the nasty weather on Saturday

in Rome and it looks drier for

avoid the nasty weather on Saturday

in Rome and it looks drier for the

game on Sunday.

Thankfully! Thank you. And that is

all from us this evening. More from

the London newsroom at 10:30pm, and

on our website and the Facebook

page. Have a lovely evening,

goodbye.