22/12/2017 London News

Now on BBC One, it's time

for the news where you are.

Good evening - I'm Asad Ahmad.

Prison officers in Herfordshire have

confidentially spoken to this

programme, saying that working

conditions at The Mount prison -

are horrendous.

They warn that if things get

worse, it could result

in a full-scale riot -

and they're warning

in a full-scale riot -

and their warning

is being supported by

the Prison Officers Association -

as our reporter, Sarah

Harris can tell us.

Filmed from inside Mount prison,

grenades thrown by riot-trained

staff to restore order

after a wing was taken

over by prisoners in

the summer of 2016.

Despite an investigation

and promised

improvements, the union

representing wardens

on the ground says they

are

back at breaking point at

an institution that houses more than

1000 prisoners.

The problem is, we really need

another 60 officers.

It's compounded with

different issues.

You've got sickness

because of the working

environment, then you've

got temporary promotion because

people aren't promoted any more,

which leaves holes on the ground

floor, which is covered by overtime.

And then everybody's

just getting burnt out

and burnt out and burnt out.

Over recent months, neighbours

living close to the prison say they

can often hear disturbances

inside the main block at nightfall.

For some, it's an unsettling time.

When things go wrong,

we do hear the noise of them

shouting and presumably banging cups

on the

windows and things like that.

The kids get a little bit nervous.

They want to know

whether somebody is

going to escape, and we are

reassured that that's not the

case at all.

But it does prey on your

mind a little bit.

Staff at the prison are not

allowed to speak out

to the media, but off-camera,

we've been told it's difficult

to see how the situation can get

much worse,

short of another full-scale riot.

I've just spoken to

a prison officer just

finishing his shift

here at the Mount.

He described conditions

working here as horrendous.

He said the staff

shortages were so bad that

inmates here are being locked up

for hours and hours on end,

and any kind of relief they get

from agency staff

isn't much of a help because people

are so inexperienced, they are

unable to do anything other

than just menial tasks.

He said it was difficult

to see how long they can

carry on like this for before

something serious happens.

Prisoners will get locked

up for longer, which

feeds their anger and

feeds their frustration.

And then they take it out

on the fabric of the building

and the staff.

Prison officers have

told their union that they only have

two thirds of the staff

they need to run the unit

safely and efficiently.

The Ministry of Justice says they've

recruited more staff and are

continuing to bolster their numbers.

Sarah Harris, BBC London News,

the Mount Prison in Hertfordshire.

Well, the prison service has told

us, a targeted recruitment campaign

is under way to boost

front line staff.

There are also arrangements

to ensure all prisoners have

time

out of their cell over Christmas.

A moped smash-and-grab gang have

been jailed for a total of more

than 100 years for a

string of robberies from mobile

phone shops across London.

Over £1 million worth

of handsets and computers

were stolen after the gang targeted

stores armed with knives,

hammers and guns.

They were caught after

stealing dummy phones -

fitted with GPS trackers.

A man cleared of rape -

is calling for anonymity for those

accused of sex crimes -

unless a court finds them guilty.

Samuel Armstrong, who worked

as a Parliamentary Aide

Samuel Armstrong, who worked

as a Parliamentary aide

in Westminster, was cleared of any

wrongdoing following

a claim that he'd raped

a woman in an MP's office.

He says the the legal

system is ruining lives.

Here's Helen Catt.

It's the first time Sam Armstrong's

been back to Parliament in more

than a year, a year

in which he's been banned

from the estate, suspended

from his job as an aide to Kent MP.

He says he's lost everything.

There's nothing to get

up in the morning for.

There's nothing to put your suit on.

It's been hugely, hugely

upsetting and painful.

As I say, I really wouldn't

wish this on anybody.

Accused of raping a woman

in his boss's office at Westminster

he was quickly named in the media.

Yesterday, a jury cleared him.

He now believes

the rules must change.

I think we've now reached a stage

where anonymity for people charged

with these sorts of

offences is necessary.

We need to work out

whether what has been

said has any basis

in

truth, because sometimes the charge

screams louder than the facts.

There's something going wrong

with our system because it's ruining

young people's lives.

He's also added his

voice to the growing

concern over how evidence

is disclosed to defence teams.

It follows the high-profile

case of Liam Allan.

The last two years I've

just spent worrying.

A case against him collapsed

after text messages

emerged showing his alleged victim

had enjoyed having sex with him.

The Metropolitan Police

is now carrying

out a review into what

happened to Mr Allan.

The Crown Prosecution Service

told us that in Mr

Armstrong's case the disclosure

of evidence was undertaken properly,

that they'd disclosed additional

material to the defence on 30th

November only a day after the police

officer in charge and the CPS

had first examined it.

The case, they say,

was left for the jury to

decide and we respect

their decision.

As for Sam Armstrong,

after a highly public year he says

his first priority

is a quiet Christmas.

Helen Catt, BBC London

News, Westminster.

A Christmas party has been

held tonight at a church

in North Kensington for survivors

of June's Grenfell Tower fire.

The Tabernacle Christian Centre

in North Kensington opened its doors

to over 100 people -

many of whom are still living in

temporary accommodation and hotels.

They were given a christmas meal -

and the children got presents.

In the true spirit of Christmas,

people of all faiths were welcome.

And that's it from us for tonight.

We'll be back with the weekend

news - but if we miss

you for some reason,

let me now wish you a

very Merry Christmas.

After an extraordinary 2017,

I hope to see you in 2018.

Now let's get the weather

forecast from Chris.

It's been another cloudy day, a few

spots of light rain and drizzle to

start the day captured on this

weather watcher picture of the

Chiswick area in London. What the

centre, the next 24 hours. One thing

that is sort of interesting is

temperatures are barely changing

between day and night, the last 24

hours they have only changed less

than two deg, it smiled because the

wind is coming off the Atlantic,

lots of cloud upstream is coming our

way in the next few days. Overnight

tonight it stays Dolan cloudy,

temperatures belly bulging, lows of

around nine or 10 Celsius, a few

mist patches over the Downs and

Chilterns but not extensive and not

as much drizzle around as there was

this morning so for many of us it is

a dry start to the day. Dry but

cloudy again, a few limited bright

or sunny spells just about possible

and temperatures barely Reiziger in

the day but it will be mild, highs

of 10-12dC. More of the same on

Sunday which is Christmas Eve and

Monday which is Christmas day,