02/01/2018 London News

Here on BBC One, it's time

for the news where you are.

Good evening, I'm Asad Ahmad.

A special undercover investigation

into the illegal sale of steroids

has found dealers in London selling

muscle building substances

without any warning

of their dangerous side effects.

And a drugs counsellor has told us

that children as young as 14

are taking the substances.

He also warns that the true extent

of the problem, could be tantamount

to a hidden epidemic.

Colin Campbell has

this exclusive report.

Hey, Derek.

He's an amateur body-builder

who illegally sells steroids

from his living room in Greenford,

West London.

Using his partner to translate,

he says they'll transform my body.

These are the £200 worth

of pills that he said

would make me big and powerful.

This is the handwritten note I took,

a dictated prescription if you like,

detailing instructions on how

to use the steroids.

We showed our footage

to this drugs expert.

There are many risks

with taking the drugs,

but a simple way of putting it,

kidney, liver, heart.

You can have liver problems,

liver cysts, problems

with your kidneys and can lead

to heart attacks and strokes.

So you're playing with your life.

What age are the children

that you're speaking

to who have taken steroids?

As young as 14.

This drugs counsellor fears the true

picture of steroid abuse is much

worse than realised.

We could be looking at a hidden

epidemic, to be honest.

It's really, really hard

to gauge how big this is.

Everything anecdotally

that we are getting

is that it could be huge.

Whilst it's legal to take steroids,

it's against the law

to sell and import them.

But we found scores of websites

offering them online

and sending them by post.

The border force is battling to stop

them entering the UK.

These drugs aren't benign.

They aren't a soft option.

They can cause real,

profound, long lasting

harm to people's health.

Selling them can be lucrative,

but it's a trade dealers

don't want exposed.

You are a steroid

dealer, aren't you?

No.

How many people are you

supplying steroids to?

No.

Speaking through an interpreter,

he claims he had only ever

supplied me and no one else.

How many other people have

you supplied steroids too,

because you advertise widely.

The truth is, they are gambling

with people's health,

cashing in on Britain's

body image obsession.

Colin Campbell, BBC London News.

A serial killer from North London

has admitted killing a third victim.

Theodore Johnson attacked his

ex-girlfriend Angela Best

in Islington with a hammer

after she started a relationship

with someone else.

Frankie McCamley has the details

of what was a vicious attack.

Absolutely. Proceedings at the Old

Bailey this morning is only lasted a

few minutes. We were expecting a

much longer trial, to last for

weeks. Within minutes of the jury

taking their seats, Teodor Johnson,

in a wheelchair, pleaded guilty to

the murder of his former partner,

Angela Best. Today, it also emerged

that the 64-year-old had previous

convictions for killing two other

partners over a series of three

decades. Taking a look back to

November 1981, the garage worker was

convicted of killing his wife,

Yvonne Johnson, by pushing her over

the edge of the ninth floor flat. In

March 1993, he was convicted of the

manslaughter of his partner Yvonne

Bennett, by diminished

responsibility. He spent time in a

secure hospital. 23 years later, he

killed his most recent partner,

Angela best, using a hammer, before

strangling her. Just after that, he

appeared to kill himself by throwing

himself in front of a train. He

received severe injuries, and it was

only then, when police went round to

his house, that they found the body

of Angela Best. Now there are big

questions as to whether this murder

could have been prevented.

Over 100 women were killed last year

by partners or ex-partners.

That is a huge number of lives

lost and a huge number

of bereaved families.

In this specific case,

I think there's got to be

lots of questions asked

about what happened,

about how this was possible,

after two such serious convictions

in the past, which looked

so similar to this.

How was it possible that this

was allowed to happen again?

As you heard, big questions. Because

of the change in plea, the trial was

halted and Johnson is expected to be

sentenced on Friday.

Thank you.

An area of land in Surrey may be

stripped of its green belt status

as the council looks to build on it.

It's sparked anger among local

people in Guildford,

who feel the land should be

protected against any development.

Here's Katharine Carpenter.

Guildford - historic, growing,

and at the centre of a row

over the green belt,

after the council submitted

plans to the Government

to develop some of it.

To house its growing population,

the council estimates it needs

to build around 12,500 new homes

over the next 16 years.

Its preference is to

do that on previously

developed brown field sites.

But 89% of this borough

is green belt land,

so perhaps inevitably that,

too, is now being eyed

up for development.

2,000 houses are proposed for this

area, which will go down

to the railway down there.

Gosden Hill Farm is one of the sites

the council wants to strip of green

belt status to allow building.

But opposition is strong.

It's driven by the incentive

to provide land for development.

There's no interest in maximising

the number of affordable homes,

there's no interest

in urban regeneration.

It doesn't need to be an extension

of suburbia, but obviously

that's very profitable.

But the council claims

only 1.5% of its green

belt has been earmarked,

and the development

is vital to protecting jobs

and safeguarding the character

of existing communities.

We have to balance

the need of housing.

There are many young

people who can't get

onto the housing ladder at all.

We have put 40% as our affordability

in the local plan in terms

of percentage that needs to be built

that are affordable.

So for people to be able to live

and manage to live in Guildford,

we do need to have more development.

Challenged on the issue

by a Guildford MP last

month, Theresa May made

the Government's position clear.

A local authority may only alter

a green belt boundary

in exceptional circumstances.

In our housing white paper,

we were very clear that this means

when they've examined fully

all other reasonable options.

An independent planning inspector

will examine Guildford's case,

watched closely by other councils

in Surrey preparing to submit

similar plans to deal with housing

challenges of their own.

Katharine Carpenter,

BBC London News.

If your New Year's resolution

is to have more money in your pocket

and breath cleaner air by moving out

of London, then you're not alone.

Recent figures show the number

of Londoners moving away has

hit a ten-year high.

Nearly 300,000 people left in 2016,

which is a significant

rise from a decade ago.

So this week we're looking at why

so many of us are deciding to go.

And in the first of our series,

Caroline Davies speaks to a young

family doing just that.

Born and bred in London,

and an ex-Met Police officer.

You might have thought that Gemma

has London in her bones,

but now she wants out

of the capital.

I've had enough of the traffic,

the cars, the busyness of the area,

and then not being able

to have the childhood that I had.

The amount of people coming

here into this area for the schools,

it's an outstanding area

for schools, but there's

only so many places.

She plans to move her and her

family to the New Forest.

I remember me and my husband

standing there on the beach,

the kids were playing,

running in and out of the sea

and we were looking

across to the Needles,

the Isle of Wight.

I remember looking at him

and saying, "I could live here."

And that was literally it,

and ever since I can't

stop thinking about it!

She's not the only one with eyes

wandering beyond London.

This is the M25 -

traditionally considered

the boundary line of London,

if not entirely accurate.

Now according to the ONS,

more people are leaving this behind

in London and going to the rest

of the UK than vice versa.

One of the biggest demographic

groups making the move is people

in their 30s and 40s,

often with young children.

Belinda runs a service advising

people who want to make the move,

but why do they leave?

For a lot of people it's schools.

For others, it's financial.

Property prices in London

are putting people off staying.

There are some fantastic areas

outside of London that offer

amazing opportunities.

And not just from a property-buying

point of view, but to move and to be

part of the community and to create

a whole life, which I think is what

people are generally looking to do.

What's the biggest misconception

people have that are planning

to move out of London?

I think that it will solve all ills.

You know, I joke with people,

it doesn't mend broken marriages

and doesn't make children

automatically behave better.

Gemma can't wait

to try somewhere new.

I suppose you can't forget

where you've been brought up,

but I'm ready for the next chapter

of my life now, I think.

As the New Year starts, other

Londoners will have similar ideas.

Caroline Davies, BBC London News.

That's it for now from me,

but let's find out what the weather

has in store, with Elizabeth.

The Met Office have upgraded their

weather warning about Storm Eleanor.

Anything for us to worry about?

We are under that weather warning,

and we could be looking at gusts in

excess of 50 or 55 mph through the

small hours of tomorrow and into the

rush hour. There's quite a lot of

rain around as well. You can see

these are the mean wind speeds in

the white circles, but the gusts

will be much higher. Here they come,

in black circles. We could be

looking at gusts of up to 50 or 50

plus mph, squally showers around for

a time through the small hours. Not

many people up them, but there will

be lots of people up and about

through the morning rush hour

tomorrow. There may be some

transport disruption. Some strong

gusts of wind around, already plans

to close the Dartford Crossing.

Showers, but it will start to ease

down in the afternoon. A very windy

day tomorrow. There is more rain on

the way tomorrow. Then it will