13/11/2017 London News

Here on BBC One, it's time

for the news where you are.

Welcome to BBC London News

with me, Chris Rogers.

The former boyfriend of the reality

TV star Ferne McCann has been found

guilty of carrying out an acid

attack in a nightclub

in East London.

Arthur Collins was convicted of five

counts of grievous bodily harm

and nine of actual bodily harm

against 14 people.

And a warning - some

of you may find details

in Alpa Patel's report distressing.

It was the moment that left

people having a good night

out burned and scarred.

Here, Arthur Collins,

can be seen throwing acid.

He had gone to the Mangle E8

nightclub last April to celebrate

his girlfriend's pregnancy.

At the time, he was dating reality

TV star Ferne McCann.

She gave birth to their daughter

a few weeks ago, but the couple

are no longer together.

In court, Arthur Collins

admitted throwing liquid,

but he says he thought

it was a date-rape drug.

But the court saw a text

to his sister a week before

the attack warning his mum

that he had had acid in his car.

These are some of the injuries.

22 people were hurt.

16 of them suffered serious burns.

Including Lauren Trent,

who was celebrating her birthday.

I remember just hearing

the sound, you know

when you open a Coke bottle?

Just like the hissing sound.

And I can just remember steam

coming off the floor,

and then my friend just grabbing me.

And I just remember looking up

as quick as I could.

Because the sound just

shocked me and I was like,

what the hell is that?

It was like someone had let off

like a gas bomb or something

because of the steam.

I touched my neck and skin was just

coming off in my hands.

It blistered straightaway.

And this all happened in the space

of about 40 seconds.

The injuries caused by the acid have

had lifelong effects

on some of the victims.

Phoebe Georgiou's injuries

were so bad, she didn't

want to appear on camera.

Every time they had to change

the bandages, they had to scrape off

all the skin that had been damaged

and that was just so painful.

And every time that happened,

I had to be on morphine

and more drugs for the pain.

It was just the hardest thing I've

ever had to deal with.

And when I had to get my bandage

changed all the time,

I thought I didn't even

want to live,

I couldn't deal with it.

The victims say they live

with the actions of

Arthur Collins every day.

Mentally, it's just,

I've been suffering from sleep

paralysis constantly,

anxiety, panic attacks.

I can't go into busy spaces.

It's completely put a stop

on my life for seven months.

I don't think there's

a word to describe him.

I wouldn't describe

him as a normal...

You know, no normal human

being doessomething like that.

Arthur Collins will be sentenced.

In December.

Well, Alpa is with me now.

Alpa, the backdrop to this case,

of course, is the rise

in acid attacks recently.

That is absolutely right, acid

attacks in London have doubled in

the past four years and that is

causing serious alarm. The victims

we have spoken to in that report say

that they want to see tougher

sentencing for perpetrators. They

also want top restrictions on the

sale of these substances because at

the moment, anyone can walk onto the

High Street and they can buy these

acids. The Government is looking at

this, the Home Secretary has said

she wants to see repeat offenders

automatically jailed if they are

caught in possession of acid. She

also wants to see the banning of

these substances for sale to under

18 is. Some say this is not good

enough. As far as Arthur Collins is

concerned, the judge has told him he

can expect a substantial sentence.

Thank you.

Homeowners in tower blocks

in Wandsworth are facing a bill

of up to £4,000 to pay

for sprinklers being fitted

to prevent a repeat

of the Grenfell tragedy.

The leaseholders say there is no

need for the additional

safety measures and,

if the authorities want

them, they should pay.

Victoria Hollins reports.

Joe Cairns has lived in his flat

on the Alton Estate in Roehampton

for nearly 30 years.

He's been told he'll have to pay out

up to £4,000 to cover the cost

of fitting sprinklers to his tower

block, to make it safer

following the Grenfell tragedy.

Yeah, I don't think there's enough

evidence to justify it.

They don't share some

of the features of Grenfell,

such as the external cladding.

These are all solid

concrete on the outside.

It needs further consideration.

Wandsworth Council wants to fit

sprinklers in all its blocks

of at least ten stories.

of at least ten storeys.

Residents who rent from the council

won't be liable to pay,

but those who own their own

homes will have to.

It's around 2,000 leaseholders.

We have taken legal advice,

which confirms leaseholders

have a duty to pay towards it.

You think this will

save lives, then?

Of course.

I mean, there's absolutely every

evidence to say that

houses with sprinklers

do not result in fatalities.

Leaseholders will have up to four

years to pay their share

of the £30 million cost

of fitting the sprinklers.

Wandsworth Council is still

discussing with the Government

whether it will help pay.

Victoria Hollins, BBC London News.

Around 600,000 EU citizens work

in London, and many feel uncertain

about what will happen

to them after Brexit.

So what is the situation now?

Well, the Government is offering

migrants who've been living

here for at least five years settled

status after Brexit.

They'd have to apply for it,

but it would essentially give them

indefinite leave to remain,

and they'd be entitled to public

services and benefits.

They would also have the right

to appeal to the UK courts

if their application was rejected.

But campaigners say it leaves them

without any protection if there's no

deal on Brexit with the EU -

and, today, a group of them set off

to Brussels to appeal for help.

Our reporter, Katharine

Carpenter, joined them.

An early Eurostar to Brussels.

A journey becoming all too

familiar for members

of the 3 million campaign group.

Between them, they have lived

in London for nearly 60 years.

They don't want the settled status

the Government is offering

and presenting their alternative

to the EU's negotiators today.

We are hoping this is a solution

that can actually be

accepted by both parties.

Arriving in Brussels,

there's a sense of urgency

to changing the UK's position.

It's a move away from rights that

people have established,

rights that people have

enjoyed for many years,

and converting those

into a form of immigration status.

Academically, that sounds abstract

and odd, but the consequences

are seismic for people.

They will go, in some instances,

from living a normal life, enjoying

the rights they have,

to being illegal in the UK.

Just last week, the Government tried

to offer reassurance, saying

applications for set of status would

not be turned down on minor

technicalities and there will be an

appeals process and safeguarding the

rights of citizens is its top

priority. But no negotiators will

return here in the next few weeks

and the fear amongst these

campaigners is there is so much

pressure to make progress that the

details, the nitty-gritty about

their future will either be glossed

over and dealt with at some point in

the future, or rushed through.

Back-up has arrived from Germany,

France and Spain. London is now

living in mainland Europe who are

equally worried about their futures.

My name is Jane Goldings, I am a

lawyer and I live in Germany but I

am originally from Kingston.

What

are your main concerns?

As a working

person, keeping my rights of free

movement to work across the EU, I

have worked in four different

countries as a lawyer and I want to

be able to keep those rights.

We

have been here many times before and

we are hoping they will listen now

because it is crunch time in the

negotiations.

We really need to be heard. Finally,

it is time for the meeting. It is

with the Deputy of Michel Barnier.

We film a hello but she does not

give interviews.

They had been inside well over an

hour and this is the list of things

they have to discuss. They will be

asking for consideration of a

special EU UK treaty giving them the

same rights they have now with

access to a much simpler

registration process.

Meeting over, did she listen?

It is

good to keep going at it and I think

we agreed, they agree with us that

we are not within touching distance

of an agreement on citizens' rights.

The UK Government has just told us

again today when we rang for a

statement they think they are.

That

is not the view here and it is not

our view either.

Mixed messages from

the two sides, but there is hope

here that they have at least been

listened to.

That's it for now from me,

but let's find out what the weathers

up to with Chris Fawkes.

We had a chilly day today, but we

saw some sunshine. Over the next few

days, the weather is going to turn

cloudy. There could be foreground,

particularly Wednesday morning, and

it gets milder because the women's,

in a south-westerly direction.

Temperatures down at 2 degrees in

the countryside so it is a chilly

night. Beginning cloud should lift

the temperatures towards the end of

the night. Tomorrow, quite a grey

and cloudy day. The cloud is big

enough for occasional light rain or

drizzle. It will not be raining all

day but some dampness around from

time to time. Temperatures a little

higher than those of today, up to 10

Celsius, but in the Wednesday

morning, there is the potential of

seeing some fog. If we do get fog,

it might be dense and it could

linger for most of the morning so

there is the potential for

disruption to transport. Into

afternoon, most areas written up. It

will brighten, temperatures 11-13 so

things getting milder. Thursday,

also my old. Another great and drop

cloudy day. 11-13d and occasional

brighter spells. We should see

better breaks on the cloud on Friday

as the winds sweep round two in

northerly direction, at temperatures

as the sunshine comes out, 9-10d the

top temperature. Some sunshine

around on Saturday and Sunday

turning cloudy with the threat of

some rain.