09/02/2018 London News

That's all from the BBC News at Six,

so it's goodbye from me -

Coming up on the programme

this Friday night:

There's a surge in young Londoners

buying tranquilisers and drugs

online to deal with anxiety,

stress and panic disorders.

She went from being a normally

behave to teenager to just being a

completely different person. I

didn't recognise the person I was

living with.

So an NHS clinic has now

opened in west London

to help those addicted.

Also tonight...

The men who carried out

the London Bridge terror

attack claiming eight lives

are all found to have had

steroids in their systems.

The one on the left is no

longer legal tender

but Londoners are still being forced

to use the old one pound coin

in an area of west London

if they want to park.

And how London's last herd of shire

horses are ploughing

the way for preserving a rare type

of wheat in Lambeth.

Good evening.

I'm Asad Ahmad.

There has been a surge in the number

of young people buying

tranquillisers and other drugs

online to deal with anxiety and

stress. So many that it has led to

the NHS opening its first dedicated

clinic in west London to deal with

the problem. Just this week, we

reported how six schoolgirls from

south London were taken to hospital

after apparently taking prescription

drugs. But other drugs, including

one known as Xanax, which are not

readily available in the UK, are

being bought on the web. Caroline

Davies has spoken to a mother who

witnessed a radical change in her

teenage daughter after she ordered

Xanax online.

She was really intelligent, good

grades, never got into trouble,

ever. She went from a normally

behave to teenager to being a

completely different person. I

didn't recognise the person I was

living with.

This woman found out

last year that her daughter was

taking Xanax, a medicine prescribed

by anxiety. Like a worrying number

of teenagers and young people, her

daughter took it without a

prescription. She was 14.

It was

like she was really drunk. When the

effects were wearing off, she would

get angry, aggressive, violent. She

said it was good fun. And then she

said she was doing it because it

made her feel better.

Highly

addictive, Xanax is also known by

another name, and is a

tranquilliser, up to 20 times

stronger than Valium. In America it

is well-known and sang about in rap

songs. But its dangers are also well

documented. It is illegal in the UK

unless you have a prescription, but

there are worries more Londoners are

buying it and other prescription

medicine online, which is why the

NHS have funded a clinic in Earls

Court to tackle the problem.

They

are prescription medicines for a

reason, because they do have arms if

they are taken inappropriately.

Secondly, when people buy medicine

online, they assume they are getting

pharmaceutically pure medication but

there are lots of websites selling

counterfeit medicines.

One London MP

is campaigning to raise awareness

about the drug and why young people

take it.

Xanax, young people are

taking it to cope with the stress

and pressure of life.

The government

told us law enforcement agencies

continue to work to shut down

UK-based websites found to be

selling the drugs illegally, and

that they are taking strong action

to prevent the harm caused by drugs.

This woman's daughter was eventually

excluded from school and has now

stopped taking Xanax.

The drug

completely changes your personality.

Because she is not doing it now,

things are better, looking brighter.

If you asked her what she would do

now she would say, no, don't do it,

don't take it, it ruins your life.

That's our top story

this Friday evening,

but lots more still to come

on the programme, including this.

It was home to Britain's best-known

programmes and is now Television

Centre is set to become home to over

1000 residents.

The men who carried out last year's

terror attack on London Bridge

which claimed eight lives

were all found to have steroids

in their system when they died.

Khuram Butt, Rachid Redouane

and Youssef Zaghba, all from London,

drove into pedestrians and stabbed

others in June.

Tom Symonds is here now.

Tell us about this.

The police have

been carrying out a major

investigation even though the

attackers were all shot dead within

nine minutes of the police arriving.

The investigation continues, and

they have gathered witness evidence,

CCTV evidence, reconstructing the

way the van was driven into a crowd

on London Bridge. Firearms analysis.

And finally toxicology results from

the bodies of those three attackers.

We heard today at the inquest that a

substance which is a steroid hormone

was found in their systems. The

coroner will be looking more closely

at that and probably getting some

expert reports as well. He also said

that he will be looking at what the

intelligence services knew about

these three men, in particular

Khuram Butt, who had been under

investigation since 2015, for about

two years. That will be a key part

of being quests.

When did they take

place?

Because police are

investigating, the inquests have to

wait. There will be two inquests

starting in 2019, firstly looking at

the deaths of those eight people on

the bridge and in Borough market,

and secondly in a separate inquest

because the families want it that

way, looking at the death of the

attackers.

Thank you.

London's schools are facing

pressures when it comes to retaining

staff and rising costs. Today, we

were looking at how schools managed

to outperform the rest of the

country in London. Here is our

political correspondent Karl Mercer.

It was maths for these

nine-year-olds and the man who came

to see them this morning. Damian

Hines is the new Education

Secretary, out and about today to

find out why London schools perform

better than anywhere else in the

country. He has much to get to grips

with. Schools in the capital might

be performing well, but all are

facing challenges of recruiting and

keeping staff, and of funding, with

budgets not rising as fast as costs.

Every headteacher in London will

tell you they do not have enough

money and their budget is going to

be cut.

Schools funding is going up,

but I recognise what you say about

the cost pressures that schools have

been facing and continue to face.

That is why we are putting

additional focus on helping schools,

to see what we can do to help manage

those budgets, particularly in the

part of the budget which is not

staff costs. Most of the cost of

schools is employing people to teach

the children, which is the core

business. But there are other things

that may be more can be done to help

manage those costs.

Despite the

challenges it faces, this is a high

performing school with technology at

its heart, but it faces the money

and staffing problems faced by most

London schools.

We have lots of

training teachers in our school, and

one of the biggest issues for them

is the amount of money they earn and

how much they have left after they

have paid colossal rent and had to

pay their travel to get to work. The

amount of money they have left at

the end of the month will not get

them very far.

Would more money from

government help?

Everybody would

like more money.

Questions over

funding and staffing will loom large

for the new man in charge. So will

those over the future of grammar

schools but he would not be drawn on

that today, nor tempted to say the

word when I asked him if he wanted

more of them.

I'm a fan of good

schools, schools that parents want

to send children to, and I am a fan

of making sure that as many children

as possible can get to go to a good

or outstanding school and get as

much as they can out of their

education. We don't have a single

type of school in this country. We

have all sorts of different types of

schools and we need to make sure we

have good provision and places in

all those schools.

You gave that

whole answer without mentioning

grammar once.

Grammar is an

important part of the school

curriculum, as you know!

He would

not be drawn on that, but soon

enough he and the government will

have to be. A man from south-east

London who claimed his wife and son

were killed in the Grenfell Tower in

June has been jailed for 21 months.

Ahn Nhu Nguyen hoped that his lie

would profit him thousands of pounds

from the victim relief fund.

Describing his escape from the fire

at Grenfell Tower, Ahn Nhu Nguyen

went on national television to tell

his story.

The 53-year-old told police that he

and his family wrapped themselves in

sheets and towels as they tried to

escape from the 15th floor. None of

it was true. Meeting royalty in the

aftermath, he lived in hotels,

received laptops, a mobile phone and

around £11,500. But within weeks it

became clear that his story was

fabricated.

It was extremely

elaborate. It was to many news

outlets, and he elaborated each

time, getting more complex, saying

he had lost his wife and his son,

and describing the horror he faced

as he was leaving the tower, which

was completely untrue.

The court was

given a psychiatric report which

found Ahn Nhu Nguyen was suffering

from untreated mental health

problems, including post-traumatic

stress disorder and depression. The

judge said whatever the state of his

mental health, Ahn Nhu Nguyen knew

exactly what he was doing, not only

taking advantage of the public's

general city, but also those who

gave up their time to come and help

in the days following the fire.

It

is certainly appalling. I think

anybody that takes the opportunity

of the chaos and tragedy that took

place at Grenfell Tower in June last

year for their own gain is truly

appalling. I think those words are

appropriate.

Ahn Nhu Nguyen was

sentenced to 21 months in prison and

is expected to serve half of that.

As he has already served seven

months, it is likely he will be

released in May, one month before

the first anniversary of the

tragedy.

You're watching BBC

London News on BBC One.

Nice to have you with us.

This is what's coming up before 7pm.

There has been more ploughing than

playing at Ruskin Park in south

London. Find out why later in the

programme.

And we will be storing one of the

oldest rivalries in international

sport, as England and Wales meet

here in the capital, both looking to

build on their winning start to the

Six Nations.

For decades, BBC Television Centre

in west London was home

to some of the nations

best loved programmes.

But it all came to an end

and the site was sold

to make way for a housing

and leisure development.

It's now opening to the public

with around half of nearly

a thousand flats completed,

and some of the old magic is set

to return to the studios too.

In this building, over 4000 people

work to make television programmes.

For 50 years, Television Centre in

White city was the home of the BBC.

From Blue Peter to the record

breakers, and old Grey Whistle test,

many classic shows were recorded

here. It closed five years ago and

after years of redevelopment it is

reopening, now housing nearly 1000

flats, a gym, shops, restaurants and

an exclusive members club. But it is

still a Television Centre. Three

refurbished television studios will

be used to record shows, including

Graham Norton and daytime ITV

programmes.

We have done a lot of

upgrading of the wiring, the

technology, the flooring, the

seating. In actual box has remained

very similar.

For the architects,

working with an iconic existing

building presented challengers but

also opportunities.

We recreated the

original Windows, using the panels

inside of the black static ones. We

repositioned the original statue in

the middle of the fountain. One of

my favourite part is the stage door,

which will be the new entrance for

the apartments. How we have managed

to restore the original assets, it

has come together in a strong and

vibrant way.

But there is quite the

price tag to live in the building.

£650,000 for the cheapest

one-bedroom flat. Apartments are

limited to one per buyer.

Pricing

the local community out.

This is one

of the local people invited to look

around the development. What did she

make of it?

Nice to come in and see

it. It is lovely and makes the place

look better. White city was a bit

dreary before. You would not really

stop, apart from Westfield coming

in. But I would not say this is for

the community.

The developers say

140 of the flats will be affordable,

sold at 25% of the market rates to

those living or working in the area

for five years.

We try to keep the

prices at a sensible level, within

reach for as many Londoners as

possible.

You think 650,000 is that?

It is a big call for people. You

need at least two incomes to do that

and some equity at the start, in

London.

Despite the cost, the flats

are proving popular. Around 6000

people will eventually live and work

among these corridors. Many who have

bought them say they want to be" to

history, as the old Television

Centre gets a new lease of life.

The old round £1 coin went out of

circulation, but you have to use it

in one area if you want to pay for

parking in cash. The fact that it is

no longer legal tender means it's

causing confusion and local

businesses say they are the ones

losing out. Charlotte Franks has

more. This woman runs a dental

practice and many offer patients

rely on the nearby parking bays but

there is an issue with the parking

meters and it is all because of this

coin. Many metres near the dental

surgery only accept the old £1 coin,

which is out of circulation.

It is

resulting in stress for patients.

They will come in and ask if we can

help them, whether we had any old

pound coins and then obviously, if

they do have the treatment done and

they cannot pay

for their parking, they then stress

about a traffic warden giving them a

ticket.

The old £1 coins stopped

been legal tender on the 16th of

October last year but despite this,

many party machines in Hammersmith

and Fulham have not been converted.

I will put in the new £1 coin and

sure enough, it does not accept the

new £1 coin. It is extraordinary

incompetence from the Labour council

here, the large number of businesses

whose customers are complaining and

businesses themselves getting five,

it has caused huge disruption.

In

order to try and solve the issue,

the council installed additional

machines that only accept credit

cards but you can also pay via an

app or a phone or coins, as long as

you have the right ones. One local

resident said her sister has stopped

parking in the area altogether.

Because the machines have changed

and she cannot get the old coins in,

now they have done away with the

other Quins, she has not got the

bank then, she does not have a clue

with it, she is getting on and she

does not come down. They did not put

the new meters and quick enough and

the old £1 coins ran out and only

the old meters were still going and

people were getting tickets and they

do not have the old money to buy the

tickets.

The council told the BBC in

October that they would have the

machines converted later in the year

but today they said, 85% of all

parking payments are neither made by

our phone app, are party machines

take hard and contactless payments

and the few remaining machines

taking the old £1 coins will soon be

removed. When that will happen, we

do not know but if you're parking in

the borough it might be time to

check down the back of the sofa for

some old coins if that is the way

you plan to pay for it. If there is

a similar problem where you live, do

let us know.

Now for a rugby union rivalry

steeped in tradition.

Since they first played each other

in 1881, fixtures between England

and Wales have been full of drama.

Tomorrow the sides meet

again at Twickenham,

with Wales determined

to dent their host's chances of

winning the Six Nations yet again.

Chris Slegg has more.

It was England who came out on top

when the sides met in Cardiff last

year. Victory spurring them onto a

successful defence of their Six

Nations title. Before the battle,

the talk has been of bottle, with

Eddie Jones questioning whether Rhys

Patchell has enough of it.

He has

not played much test rugby at all,

he is a young guy who does not have

great experience players around him,

he will have rather shot at him and

feral -- Farrell, so the pressure on

him is going to be immense. It is

whether he has the bottle to handle

it.

At the world rugby Museum inside

Twickenham Stadium, the history of

the sport is celebrated like nowhere

else. It seems England and Wales

have always had the knack of getting

underneath each other's skin.

This

belong to a Gloucester player who

played for England in the 1920s

which was a successful period for

England. He was a flanker, he

relatives -- relish the competent

side of the game. He played with a

smile on his face. The Welsh, who

were not as successful called him

the Grinning Menace.

Also on

display, one of the 77 England

shirts previously worn by Danny

Care. Tomorrow the Harlequins man

pulls on his 78, making him Inglot's

was capped scrum-half of all time,

an achievement very much played down

by his captain.

They do not think he

is counting. He is not counting

games, the next game is the most

important. I am sure he wants to do

himself and the team proud and put

in a good performance for the team.

By this time tomorrow, whether it be

England or Wales reflecting on

victory? You will love this next

story. The rarest type of weight is

to be grown in a park in Lambeth

with the help of London's last heard

of Shire horses and they are

actually more rare than the giant

panda. I know this sounds made up

but it is true. If all that was not

enough, the weight will then be used

to make flour in London's only

working mill. I will leave it to

Thomas McGill to tell you more.

Arriving for a very different day at

work, meet knobby and he is. Two of

the capital's last work in Sharon

horses in south London today on a

very special mission.

They are

planting a selection of old British

weights and that includes such

things as red llamas, with the help

of these shire horses...

Andrew

Forbes loves wheat, so much so he is

keen to save some of our rarest

strains, many on the verge of

extinction.

It is a very rare

commodity at the moment and we think

it needs to be coming back into

cultivation for the benefit of

organic farming, for the benefit of

the bread that weird.

And so it is

after, this rare breed doing its

best to save some of our older

suite, an honour for the horses and

their operator Tom Nixon who says

using traditions -- but the

traditional farming methods, will

guarantee great results.

These

choruses, you will get a much better

crop of weight, a bigger wheat seed,

you will have less weed problems

because you will not have drainage

issues, so it is a natural thing to

do, is use the horses.

You see the

graves there are? That is what turns

into the new plan.

For some local

children today was also a chance for

them to do their bit and plant the

first of what is hoped will be a

bumper crop. All this ploughing can

be hungry work. As I was saying.

This rare Wheatsheaf and these

beautiful shire horses have more in

common than you think, both familiar

sights in London and the surrounding

areas, both on the cusp of

disappearing for good.

Another

familiar sight in any large town is

the great brewer strays who is four

tonne loads are John Barrowman Vasin

shire horses.

Once the backbone of

London, used to pull goods and

people around the city but these

days life is a bit more laid-back

for Italy's horses. But if Andrew's

wheat starts grow and grow, they

could be the verge of getting a lot

bigger. That could only happen in

London.

Pedestrians in west London had

a lucky escape this week

when a large block of ice fell

from the sky onto a street.

A security camera caught the moment

the block landed in Kew just

after 9am on Wednesday morning.

It narrowly missed a street cleaner.

The road is under the Heathrow

flight path, and it's thought

the ice fell from a plane.

Now the weather with Matt Taylor.

You may see the odd snowflake later,

but still there is ice coming

tonight, forming on the ground as

they go into a chilly night. Let us

look at what has been happening, you

can see the sun setting in Bromley,

clear skies on the way and here they

are on the satellite, clear skies

moving and across London tonight

which will lead to quite a chilly

night. The cloud across Essex and

Kent is continuing to thin and brake

and under clear skies, watch out

from the West have a twinkly frost

starts to appear on our weather map,

just about everyone will see frost

on the ground, by the time we hit

the morning, you could see

temperatures as low as -5 or -6 to

get your weekend

underway. A chilly start to the

Wigan but a lovely bright and sunny

one, quickly melting the frost,

enjoy the morning sunshine because

quite quickly, cloud will increase

and into the afternoon, there could

be some rain. Bear that in mind if

you're going to Twickenham. The

temperatures are lifting up by the

end of the afternoon, around nine or

10 degrees. As we go into Saturday

night, heavier and more persistent

rain, strong to gale-force winds,

that will clear way, the wettest

part of the weekend will be the

night-time, winds on Sunday, lots of

sunshine, some isolated showers

pushing down on the breeze, they

will be of sleet or snow but for

much of Sunday, dry and sunny day,

it will feel cold in the wind.

Sunday night into Monday, winds

coming in from the general

Northwest, could be a frosty start

to the new working with a local

pressure system starting to gather

in the West. For half term, we start

off on a cold note, we will see wet

and windy weather and temperature

slowly climbing up but at least it

will not be a wash-out. Thank you.

Before we go this evening,

a brief re-cap of the day's main

BBC news headlines.

There are calls for two

men from west London -

who've been captured in Syria

and are believed to be fighters

for IS - to be put on trial.

Alexanda Kotey and El Sha-fee

El-sheikh are believed to be behind

The EU's chief Brexit negotiator has

questioned the UK's plans

for a transition period after Brexit

- saying it's "not a given".

Michel Barnier also warned that

"substantial disagreements"

still exist between the EU

and the UK.

The opening ceremony

for the Winter Olympics has taken

place in South Korea.

Those attending - included the most

senior North Korean delegation

ever to visit the South.

A surge in young people

buying tranquillisers

and other drugs online -

has led the NHS to open its first

dedicated clinic in West London

to deal with the problem.

It's in response to concern from

medical professionals and parents.

The men who carried out the terror

attack on

The men who carried out the terror

attack on London Bridge for all

found to have steroids in the system

when they died. The men, all from

London, claimed eight lives.

That's it.

I hope you've enjoyed the programme.

Get it touch with us

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to tell us what you think -

OR if we missed something

happening in your area.

I'm back at 10.30.

Bye for now.