20/02/2018 London News

Tuesday next week, it will feel raw

with a biting wind.

Leaking pipes, damp and mould,

tenants accused the council landlord

of turning its back on them.

On the road with the residents

in east London patrolling

their streets after a spate

of violent burglaries.

If we don't have the police,

somebody's got to look

after the neighbourhood.

And we don't have enough

police in the area.

The Met says it understands

their concerns but warns people not

to take the law into their own hands

and work with them.

Also ahead this evening...

Plus, animal charities rescue

a number of birds following an oil

spill in the River Lea.

# The only one who

could ever reach me

# Was the son of a preacher man

And as Dusty Springfield's songs

return to the stage,

we hear about the star's west

London roots.

A very warm welcome

to BBC London News.

The families living in a block

in north London who say they've

endured months of awful living

conditions - mould, damp

and water running down walls.

And say it's now

affecting their health.

They feel the landlord -

Enfield council - has

turned its back on them.

It in turn has apologised

and rehoused some of the worst

affected residents.

Gareth Furby reports.

Cianne Lindo is a mother of two, but

she says she has had to move out of

their council flat because of

this... It's a water leak pouring

onto the electric fuse box.

You can

see it going over the plug sockets

and fuse box.

No one was

electrocuted but she says the

Council only took her complaints

about damp and mould seriously when

she showed them this recording.

I

just think it's absolutely awful.

When I phoned the council I was told

it was sewage water. But I don't

know where it's coming from.

Upstairs as well, there is mould in

the bedrooms.

All on the ceiling.

And with conditions like this, it's

no surprise in there have been some

visitors.

Yes, there are rats in

this property.

And she's not the

only one with problems at this block

in Edmonton.

I can't breathe in

here.

Husna Gurlek has also moved

out.

Really strong smell.

This was

her ten-year-old daughter's bedroom.

I have been living with these

conditions for exactly one year. The

leaks, a horrible feeling,

depression. Sad.

There are 45 flats

in this blog. We were shown poor

conditions in three. But some

residents say almost every fat is

affected by damp. -- in this block.

They believe their might be

something wrong with the block

structure.

Pointing at this crack.

I'm certain there is subsidence and

if the property is suffering with

subsidence then there is an issue

there and they need to decant all

the residents and have a thorough

investigation carried out.

Enfield

Council says it is working hard to

find out whether water is coming

from. And if it is a problem with

the whole block or just a few

properties. But it is proving

difficult because the pipes all run

internally. The council says, we

appreciate this is a distressing and

upsetting time for those residents

affected and apologise

wholeheartedly for the delay in

resolving this matter. For now, the

two mothers have been moved to

separate rooms in the same hotel. It

may be dry with no mould, but with

their children, it is very cramped

and they want a solution soon.

Coming up later in the programme...

Tickets, dinners and trips abroad -

the Tory councillor under fire

for perks he's been given as gifts.

A controversial move but once

residents in east London say they

have been forced to take. The group

then Redbridge have been patrolling

the streets after a spate of violent

burglaries and they say a lack of

action from police.

Hundreds of people have signed up

to the group in Redbridge -

but the police have warned them

against taking matters

into their own hands.

Anna O'Neill reports.

A violent attack on a family home in

Redbridge at 630 in the evening.

Last month a gang stole money,

jewellery and a car and left the

17-year-old son with a knife wound

to the head.

We are here with the

driver on patrol.

Residents say they

don't have enough police, so

hundreds of locals have got together

to set up their own unauthorised

patrols.

All we have is a group of

250 members. If we see anything

suspicious...

Sorry to interrupt.

I

spoke to those lads. There are three

of them.

There are a few of them

walking really strange in the

Avenue.

A few moments later they are

nowhere to be found.

They were seen

on the road looking at people's

houses. And taking photos.

Taking

photos?!

Is that what is meant by

walking suspiciously?

Yeah.

As soon

as they walked in, I had that

sinking feeling. I opened the

bedroom door, it was wide open, and

everything from my cupboard,

everything was on the floor, on the

bed.

This woman was also burgled

last month, as were a number of her

friends.

The police have come in,

and the effectively blamed me for

everything. Why did you turn the

lights out, why did you leave the

curtain open and the TV on?

Burglaries have doubled in the

borough in a last 16 months.

Two

days ago we were on a 999 call, and

it took two minutes to get through

to the police and two hours for you

to come out.

I can't personally see

as taking the law into our own

hands. But again, we don't want to

have to do this. We are all working

people. If there were enough police

officers on the road then I wouldn't

want to be on patrol, I would want

to be at home.

I think it's totally

justified because police numbers

have gone down. I think the last

statistics are they are down to 1985

level, and with Redbridge being the

second fastest growing borough, per

capita we do not have enough

policemen and residents have every

right to be unhappy.

I have been

sleeping with the telephone under my

pillow. Every now and then I get up

and I'm really scared and I check if

somebody is on patrol and I feel OK

about police are launching a street

watch scheme later month where local

patrols are trained under their

guidance.

Police say they admire the

community spirit in the area but

want to make sure the patrols remain

in the law.

They shouldn't have to

feel like this.

Let's pick up on with more

on what the police are saying.

Alpa Patel is Scotland Yard.

And it's not the first time we've

heard of people forming

neighbourhood safety groups?

We also know of similar groups in

Wickford and Romford. Those groups

say they were forced into organising

themselves in order to protect their

communities. The fear of crimes in

some of these neighbourhoods is very

real. Taking the London Borough of

Redbridge where the report was

filmed, burglary has doubled within

a six-month period. From 122

burglaries in July of 2017 to 256

burglaries in December of 2017.

Residents in Ilford say they believe

that rise is directly linked to cuts

in policing. They say they cannot

rely on the police to tackle

burglary in their area. The police

are saying that they don't want

people to take the law into their

own hands. They want people to work

with them. They say they have

launched these official schemes in

several areas which provide official

training, high visibility vests for

instance. And a specially dedicated

liaison officer. What those official

groups do is allow them to separate

the criminals to the people who can

help them. That helps them tackle

crime, they say.

Apologies for the

glitch on the sound, but we heard

what he was saying.

A woman from West London has been

spared jail after pushing

an off-duty police officer

onto a tube line after he told

her to "calm down".

30-year-old Paris Valeta Bregazzi

from Ealing was arguing

with a friend on the platform

at Hangar Lane station when

the officer intervened last July.

The officer pushed her in the chest

after fearing for public safety.

But Bregazzi, who'd recently

had breast surgery,

shoved him onto the track.

The judge at the Old Bailey told the

today that it was lucky the officer

was not seriously hurt.

Dozens of cases of so-called

"upskirting" were reported

in the capital last year.

The results of a Freedom

of Information request revealed

that the Metropolitan Police dealt

with 21 cases.

It's done when someone takes

a photo up the skirt

of an unsuspecting person -

usually on a tube, train

or even on the street.

Campaigners are calling for urgent

changes to make it a specific

criminal act alongside

other sexual offences.

The UK's highest court has begun

hearing an appeal that

could have a major impact

on the so-called "gig economy".

The London company Pimlico Plumbers

is trying to overturn a ruling that

had awarded one of its workers

employment rights such

as holiday and sick pay -

even though he was on

a "self-employed" contract.

The appeal is likely

to take two weeks.

Tickets, dinners and trips abroad -

just some of the 500 perks

a Westminster councillor has

received over three years.

They were all declared fully -

but he's now referred himself

to the borough's monitoring board

after he was criticised for the

gifts and hospitality he's received.

Here's our Political

editor Tim Donovan.

The application is

granted as advised.

Shame on you.

That was Robert Davis telling

an angry audience that his council

was backing the Garden Bridge.

For many years, he was

the councillor in charge

of planning in Westminster,

overseeing the look and feel

of the heart of the capital.

He is now deputy leader.

An analysis of council records shows

just how much entertainment,

hospitality and gifts he's received.

More than 500 occasions declared

on his register of interests

in the last three years.

It certainly proved to be a role

with the capacity for fine dining.

Councillor Davis has declared 296

meals over the three-year period,

including two here at the Ritz.

And four occasions at one

of London's most exclusive

restaurants, La Caprice.

While this has been his

most regular haunt.

He's been entertained 20 times

at this upmarket steak

restaurant just up the road

from the council offices.

Very clearly has an approach

we disagree with.

We think it needs to change.

And we want there to be higher

standards of transparency for anyone

that has responsibility

for making planning decisions.

Look, he's not broken the rules,

but the rules need to change.

Rarely a week goes

by without some perk.

Like 12 bottles of wine

received in 2015.

Or tickets to Wimbledon

in July 2016.

A few weeks later, lunch

with the theatre impresario

Andrew Lloyd Webber at his

home in Mallorca.

While more recently, last December,

he gets his hands on a much

sought-after ticket to the musical

Hamilton.

One industry body has entertained

Councillor Davis 15 times.

But says it's open and transparent,

just a forum for discussing

complex planning issues.

There is no exchange of money.

These are, every single event

that the Westminster Property

Association has hosted,

has been for a politician

or an officer both to actually speak

and engage and have a discussion

on emerging policy,

which impacts central London,

one of the most economically

productive parts of the UK.

Robert Davis hasn't been speaking

publicly about this today.

But this afternoon he said he had

referred himself to the town hall

official who monitors

the conduct of councillors.

He said in a statement,

"I'm absolutely clear I have

not broken any rules.

But given recent attention,

I believe this is the right step

to take so that can be

shown to be the case,

and to reassure residents."

In the meantime, the council

is saying that as the chair

of the country's biggest planning

authority, it's not surprising

Councillor Davis had

so many meetings.

Tim Donovan, BBC London news.

Next - our second special report

looking at the state

of London's prisons.

Tonight, it's the prisoners serving

sentences with no release dates set.

These tariffs were introduced 15

years ago to protect the public

from dangerous criminals whose

crimes didn't warrant

a life term behind bars.

But these sentences were scrapped

six years ago. Family say they are

affectively trapped behind bars with

no hope of release.

It's like a living hell.

When I'm out here trying

to keep him positive,

and I'm falling down myself,

you know, I would want to give up.

Anyone would want to.

Jackie's partner Martin has been

in prison for 13 years,

he has no release date.

He is one of thousands of people

given imprisonment for public

protection sentences, or IPPs,

after being involved

in an armed robbery.

IPPs are indeterminate

sentences for those who pose

a serious risk to society,

but don't warrant a life sentence.

Introduced in 2003,

they were abolished

by the government in 2012

for being inhumane, and some

claim mentally tortuous.

He's gone into a deep depression.

He doesn't eat.

He just sits there every day,

wishing to come out,

and then become, like,

really badly into mental health,

which is, like, so bad.

I just can't see...

Sorry...

How they're going to fix it.

Although there are no longer in use,

there are a number of people

serving IPP sentences,

all of them must prove

they're not a risk society

in order to walk free.

Figures obtained by BBC London show

that last year there were 114

prisoners in the capital

with IPP sentences.

And of those, 98 had already

served their minimum term.

Critics of the legislation say

although IPPs no longer exist,

the law changed six years ago didn't

go far enough.

It did half the job.

It meant that nobody else

was going to receive

that unjust sentence,

but what it didn't do was to deal

with the problem of people serving

the sentence at the moment.

And that means that,

for decades to come,

there will be people serving

a sentence which we have decided was

unjust and needed to be abolished.

Although abolished in 2003,

some say it has left

the government and prison service

with a difficult legacy.

I think the problem that remains

following the abolition

of the sentence is, in part,

the sense of injustice for

the prisoners and their families,

that if this was so wrong that it be

abolished, why are they remaining

on that sentence seems

unclear and unfair.

For the government, there is a real

problem with the labelling

that these are labelled as dangerous

offenders, and so the government

is very limited politically in terms

of what it can really seek to do.

Equally, it must be recognised that

some of these individuals

will be very dangerous.

The government says:

Despite fighting for Martin's

release for the last five years,

Jackie says she won't give

up on him, even if it

takes her a further five

to get her voice heard.

It's really hard, because you know,

I'm going to keep being there,

so I feel like I'm doing

the sentence with him.

Charlotte Franks, BBC under News.

Still to come before 7:00pm...

60s icon Dusty Springfield as her

songs returned to the stage, we hear

about her West London routes.

A large oil spill has

spread for miles along

a North London river.

It's believed to have started last

week in the River Lea,

but today environmental officers

confirmed they have

struggled to contain it.

Animal charities say

they have rescued a number

of birds from the waterway

after they were coated in oil.

Thomas Magill has more.

The latest rescue on the River Lea.

These are just some swans volunteers

are hoping to save after a big oil

slick was discovered ten days ago.

We're at Tottenham Hale...

It's not the first time

Steve Knight has been here,

he rescued these swans

from the same spot last Sunday.

He says, this latest news

doesn't surprise him.

It's been going on

for over 20 years.

This is probably the most

polluted a river in the country,

and it's in London.

And it's a disgrace,

to be quite honest with you.

The River Lea is actually a canal

managed by the Canal

and Rivers Trust.

They closed some of the locks

and installed booms to try

to contain the pollution once

it was discovered last week.

This in context is a large one.

We've actually had to close

the river, so boats can't move along

the course of the river,

to stop the spread of the oil.

So it's pretty massive for

the comparison of times before, yes.

The Environment Agency have launched

an investigation into how this

could have happened, and have begun

cleaning up what they can.

The workers here have spent

some time scooping up

black, thick oil into bags.

It's not just at this point,

Tottenham Lock 17, where this

exists, the oil slick runs

in both directions for five miles

along the River Lea.

All right darling.

For Steve and those that

rescue birds in danger,

they say it's unlikely this will be

the last visit they make

to the River Lea.

And as for those recovered

last Sunday, they're

getting 5-star treatment

at the Swan Sanctuary in Shepperton.

How bad was this bird when it first

came in?

He was black when he first

came in. They pretty much all were.

They were pretty badly covered in

oil, not wanting to go into the

water, because it makes them too

heavy.

The volunteers here say the

birds' recovery can take a long

time, but they are enjoying some

TLC.

Tonight, it's no ordinary

match at Stamford Bridge.

Because Chelsea are up against one

of the giants of European football -

Barcelona, who have one

of the greatest players of all time.

We can talk to Chris Slegg

ahead of the game,

so a walk in the park then Chris?

Yeah, the Chelsea manager, Antonio

Conte, says he has been getting

sleepless nights ahead of the

fixture, which shows the size of the

task ahead. What a night in

prospect, because Chelsea and

Barcelona have served up some of the

greatest nights in Champions League

history, albeit admittedly neither

at the heights they were at the turn

of the decade. But so much talent

causing through both these teams.

Barcelona, in particular, they have

the former Liverpool forward Luis

Suarez upfront, great players in

midfield like Andres Iniesta and

Sergio Busquets. And as you

mentioned there, one of the games

true greats, Leo Messi. He is 30

years old now, but he is still

banging goals in, 27 goals in all

competitions this season. He has

been voted world Player of the Year

on no fewer than five occasions, and

the Chelsea manager Antonio Conte

knows that his team are up against a

truly special player.

You are talking about the best

player in the world.

Messi has the capacity to create

a chance when you are not seeing

the chance to score.

This means that this player

we are talking about,

is a fantastic player.

Chris, what is the feeling about

Chelsea's chances, then?

Nervous

excitement, really. We have to

remember, Chelsea do have a very

good record against Barcelona, they

haven't lost any of the most recent

seven meetings against them, and

also, we talk about Leo Messi's

talents, but he has failed to score

against Chelsea in all eight games

he has played against them. He has

never played any team that often

without scoring a single goal.

Barcelona, though, are the team in

form, seven points clear at the top

of La Liga, unbeaten in their

domestic league. Chelsea have only

won four of their last 12. They have

picked up recently, beating West

Brom last week and Hull in the FA

Cup on Friday night. But this, of

course, is a step up from that.

Chelsea will have to be at their

best tonight, and again in the

second leg in three weeks' time when

they head out to Catalunya. If they

don't emit it through to the

quarterfinals of the Champions

League. But so much to look forward

to tonight. The last time Chelsea

met Barcelona, they got a famous win

in the semifinals in 2012, and went

on to actually win the competition.

So who knows Chris backpacks for

them and their fans, a good omen

there.

A big game and big hopes.

Thanks very much indeed.

Now to a legend.

Growing up in Ealing,

she was known as Mary O'Brien.

But to the rest of the world

she was Dusty Springfield -

international singing star

of the swinging 60s with hits

like 'Son of a Preacher Man'

and You Don't Have to Say You Love

Me'.

Now, an Eastender has the challenge

to bring the west Londoner's

songs back to life.

Helen Drew has more.

# Billy Ray was a preacher's Son

# When they gathered

round and started talking...#

The stunning voice that,

in the 1960s, took a girl born

in London and brought her

to the attention of the world.

# The only one who could

ever reach me

# Was the son of a preacher man

# The only one who could ever

# Was the son

of a preacher man

# Yes, he was

# He was

# Oh, yes, he was #

The year Dusty

recorded a son of a preacher man

she moved to this house here,

just around the corner

from Holland Park Station,

where she lived until the early 70s.

Rewind a fewyears,

and before she became famous,

she worked here on Ealing Broadway,

in what at the time was a record

shop called Squires.

And now there's a musical called

Son Of A Preacher Man featuring

Dusty's songs about to start

ex-EastEnder and singer Michelle

Gayle, she listened to

a lot of Dusty growing up.

I can definitely say

in this West Indian household,

she was very popular.

So she definitely crossed over

all cultures and creeds,

and of course, let's not forget

that LGBT, which is a big

movement now, but then,

you were very much in a cupboard,

you had to keep that in a closet.

And she was probably one

of the first people of her time

to speak what openly

about her sexuality.

The musical set in the swinging

60s used and is based

on a fictional preacher man

that owns a Soho club.

# When I said I needed you

# You said you would always stay...#

My mum is a huge Dusty fan,

so You Don't Have To Say

You Love Me is actually

one of her favourite songs,

so it brought a tear to her eye

when she heard me recording it.

# I only want to be with you

# I said no matter,

no matter what you do

# I only want to be with you.#

Son Of A Preacher Man is touring

and comes to Woking in April.

Helen Drew, BBC London News.

A lot of swaying in here.

Let's get a check on

the weather, shall we?

Wishing and hoping for a bit of

whether?

There is a lot of talk at the moment

about an impending big freeze. There

is colder weather, for sure, heading

our way, but it is not going to

happen in the next few days. The

next two, three, four days, it will

be a gradual drop in temperature,

but nothing too dramatic. The

weather will be decent, a lot of

bright weather. Tomorrow will be

even brighter than today, because

today wasn't that great. A fair

amount of cloud, sunshine thrown in,

and if anything, it got a little on

the wet side in the second half of

the day. You can see on the edge of

the map, a bit of blue over London,

which meant it was the only part of

the UK that got some decent rain at

least for a time. Let's see what is

happening in the next few hours. The

wind is starting to shift in

direction, coming out of the North

East, and will eventually come out

of the East. Once they set in, they

are here to stay. This time of the

year, when wind is possessed in the

blowing from the east Day after day,

after day after day, and they will

be blowing from the East for a long

time, it will gradually get colder.

But with that cold air comes a lot

of dry air, so no rain in the

forecast. The only thing we will

have tomorrow and the next few days

is cloud floating around. A look at

Thursday. Blowing like little

insects, white arrows if you can see

them, blowing straight out of the

East. That is a cold direction. On

Thursday, it will get much colder in

the continent as we start to see

cold air blowing out, first out of

Scandinavia, and next week it will

blow possibly straight out of

Siberia. It is too early to say we

will see very cold weather, but one

thing is for sure, those

temperatures will dip away, and

there is a risk of snow next week.

Recapping the main headlines:

Oxfam has revealed that 26 cases

of alleged sexual misconduct

are being investigated

as a result of claims being made

about its staff in Haiti.

Senior executives from the charity

have said 7000 people had

stopped their donations

in the past ten days.

Syrian activists say that more

than 100 people have been killed

after government forces

stepped up their bombardment

of Eastern Ghouta.

The UN have called for

an immediate ceasefire.

The Brexit Secretary has attempted

to play down concerns that Britain

will focus on a drive

for deregulation when it

leaves the European Union.

David Davis said Britain

wanted to lead a global race

to the top in standards,

not a "competitive

race to the bottom".

That's it for now,

thanks for joining us.

I'll be back with the latest

during the 10 o'clock news.

And you're welcome to get in touch

on our Facebook Page.

Do have a lovely evening.