08/01/2018 London News

Newsnight is coming up on BBC two.

Here on BBC One, it's time

for the news where you are.

Good evening from BBC London News.

The mother of an 11-year-old girl

who has a life-limiting illness

has been warned her daughter may be

taken into foster care if she fails

to co-operate with doctors

at King's College Hospital.

Croydon Council says it's

taking the legal action

on the advice of the hospital,

which claims Melody Driscoll's

parents are "obstructing her care".

But they claim they're acting

in her best interests.

Here's Marc Ashdown.

It's fair to say she's up there

among his biggest fans so when

Melody Driscoll received a surprise

visit from Ed Sheeran last year, it

was a dream come true. But Mel owe

Di's day-to-day life is very

different. Her mother says these

bouts of intense pain happen daily

and can last up to two hours at a

time. In the past, Melody's been

administered strong painkillers but

King's College Hospital is trying to

wean her off them against her

parents' wishes.

She starts

attacking herself. She can't keep

her body still on the bed. She tries

to throw herself off, rip out every

single line possible. She looks at

you, sorry, she looks at you with

these eyes that say, help me.

There's nothing I can do because

they won't let me help her.

We

filmed in happier times last year

when Melody was living at home with

her family. She suffers from a range

the complex medical conditions and

could die at any point.

It was

decided four years ago at Great

Ormond Street, about her quality of

life rather than quantity of life.

If we didn't control her pain and

symptoms she was stuck in hospital,

she had no life. She was always in

pain. By giving her medications, it

got her home. She was happy. She was

going to school.

In July, she fell

ill and has been in hospital ever

since. Croydon Council's intervened

over her care. Over Christmas, it

wrote to Mrs Driscoll saying we are

concerned about your ability to look

after your child citing her medical

professionals. Consultants advised

of the harmful risks that continued

use of morphine could cause to

Melody's liver which could lead to

her death. They say they are

concerned if she was sent home Mrs

Driscoll wouldn't adhere toed at

vice of medical professionals and

she could suffer harm in her care.

The letter states the plan is to

place Melody in foster care. Croydon

told us these case ares difficult

where there are complex care needs

and differing medical opinions. They

say they always seek to work with

the family. The trust which runs

King's College Hospital says all the

decisions taken by their expert

medical team are done so in the

patient's best interests. Melody's

patients will battle on. These are

Med cal experts, do they not know

best?

If you've something working,

why take that away from her. They

say they're doing her to give her a

quantity of life. Is it fair to have

a quantity of life full of pain?

quantity of life. Is it fair to have

a quantity of life full of pain?

A 17-year-old from Croydon has

admitted carrying out a series

of acid attacks against moped riders

in the capital.

He targeted six in one night to try

and steal their vehicles.

A 17-year-old from Croydon has

admitted carrying out a series

of acid attacks against moped riders

in the capital.

He targeted six in one night to try

and steal their vehicles.

Raise

Acid's been thrown on the

man's face. His moped has been

stolen. A week before the attack,

the Hackney gazette reported

couriers in the area told police

they feared for their lives saying

an acid attack was going to happen

at any moment. Over the course of

the next 90 minutes that night,

another five couriers were attacked

in an attempt to steal their bikes.

The attacker, 17-year-old Derryck

John. Despite his age, a reporting

ban was lifted by the judge who felt

the public needed to know who was

responsible for leaving one of his

victims with life changinger Jess

and others with long-term mental and

physical scars. Many local couriers

still fear for their safety. Some

are only just returning to work.

Horrible, and really scary. I've

been off for three months. I didn't

work the whole time.

You were too

scared to go out to work?

I just

come back in new year now.

A number

of big name retailers have band the

sale of products containing

corrosive substances to

under-18-year-olds. But the move is

voluntary. Maniout lets are yet to

follow.

The government's announced

new powers to tackle the sale

of unsafe laser pens,

which can cause blindness.

It comes after an increase

in incidents targeting pilots

particularly at Heathrow.

Here's our transport

correspondent Tom Edwards.

The dangerous misuse of lasers has

been increasing. They're cheap and

easily available. Many are unaware

of the dangers. Angela is from

Hertfordshire. She wants to raise

awareness after her son damaged his

eye after looking into a laser he

bought at his school fair.

I shone

it in my eye to see what it looked

like. Suddenly, I saw this blur. It

was quite weird. I thought it would

go away. I left it. Eventually it

started blocking up my reading. It

was just this spot.

Lasers are an

issue. They are a weapon. People

don't realise how dangerous lasers

are. It is down to a lot of people

not understanding the full impact of

laser and its technology.

Transport's often been a target for

lasers. Two years ago, this plane

was forced to return to Heathrow

after one of the pilots was hit by a

laser shortly after take-off.

One of

the pilots after a laser incident.

We're going to return to Heathrow.

Since 2013, there have been 150

incidents of eye injuries from

lasers, most of them children. There

were nearly 1300 incidents at

airports in 2016. Heathrow is the

worst affected. On rail network,

there have been 578 incidents over

recent years. The Government's now

bringing in new measures to stop

high-powered lasers getting into the

UK.

A lot of these products are

imports from afraud. We're stepping

up cheques in our ports. More

training for officials there so they

can spot these items coming in. The

other thing we're doing is to make

sure they're properly labelled, if

it is a high-powered laser it has to

have proper labelling and safety

notices on it.

Johnny's eye has

improved. He was lucky. His mum

wants the Government to licence all

lasers.

They need to look at

lower-powered lasers as well. Our

view is all lasers should be

licensed.

New laws already mean

tougher sentences for those who

misuse lasers. Furthers changes,

it's hoped, will make it much harder

to get hold of the high-powered

lasers Thamesselves.

Next: the campaign to save the

historic India Club on the Strand.

It was set up in the '50s

historic India Club on the Strand.

and became a popular place

for south Asian ex-pats.

Now it's under threat

from developers.

They have

Lunch service at the India club.

They have been dishing up authentic

south Asian food here since 1951.

The bar and canteen has

barely changed since.

It has its loyal customers.

Will self has a table in the corner.

It is more like a genuine Indian

restaurant in India.

But as what it reminded

me off in the 1980s.

As the years have gone by,

and the world has grown faster

and shinier, the India Club

restaurant has remained exactly the

same.

Does not only the decor and cuisine

which has made this place of

It was set up by the first

High Commissioner to

England.

And it was a place to discuss

politics and India's new

independence.

I don't think there is another

place in the whole United

Kingdom which has this

particular platform

for both the community

is

to not only eat wonderful food,

but also to discuss

and debate issues of the day.

Next year, the lease runs out,

and there is a planning

application to turn

the building into a hotel.

Some people have told us why

can't you just move it to

another building, but it is really

the memories and events which are

soaked up in the walls of this place

which you cannot replicate.

What we have tried

to do is get in touch

with Historic England to get the

place listed and get heritage

status.

The owner of the buildings says no

decision has been made to

redevelop it, exploring planning

permissions is one option and it

is working with Historic England

to establish the heritage of this

place.

That's it from me.

Time to see how the weather's

shaping up with Stav Danaos.

How's it looking? Pretty typical

winter January weather to this

How's it looking? Pretty typical

winter January weather to this week.

There will be a lot of cloud around.

Maybe mist and fog too. It will feel

on the chilly side. We could see

sunshine around the middle part of

the week. Other than that, cloudy.

Tonight, low cloud which will give

rise to hill fog too. Temperatureses

around 3 Celsius. No lower. Into

tomorrow, a grey day. A lot of mist

and murk. Top temperatures around 6

or 7 degrees. Add on the

south-east/south-east breeze not

feeling pleasant out there. On

Tuesday night, a change. Weather

front moving from the south-west. It

will clear the air picking up

south-westerly winds. The rain will

clear during Wednesday morning. We

should see sunshine into Wednesday

afternoon. Pleasant, a little

milder, 9, maybe 10 degrees. Back to

the cloud on Thursday. Could see a

few glimmers of brightness here and

there. The odd spot of rain in

Northern areas. On Friday, in

between weather systems. This will

become a player into our weather

during the middle part of the week.

Friday, a chilly start, maybe frost.

Cloud around. Top temperatures 7

Celsius.