16/02/2018 London News

Now on BBC One, it's time

for the news where you are.

Good evening from BBC London News

with me Louisa Preston.

10 years on from the death

of a mentally ill man

in police custody, an officer

has been suspended.

Sean Rigg died in Brixton

police station in 2008.

Today his relatives have spoken out

about the length of time it's taking

to find out exactly how their loved

one died while in the care

of police officers.

Chris Rogers has the story.

Sean Rigg overcame his mental health

issues through music.

In August 2008 he was

arrested for threatening

behaviour.

He was restrained and later died

in police custody at

Brixton station.

This week would have been

Sean's 50th on the 11th,

so...

Reminiscing, basically.

And it's sad that

ten years later I'm

still having to fight on behalf

of my family to get some sort of

accountability.

The only hope is disciplinary

hearings for the

officers involved.

But the family accused the Met

police of sitting on

their hands as two officers

tried to retire or resign

which would prevent them facing

any further scrutiny.

I will challenge

and try anything for

some form of accountability.

Do you think you're going to get it?

I have no faith in

the judicial system

because I've had to challenge every

step of it and I shouldn't have had

to do that.

And not only me, but

other families, too.

Three officers involved

remain on duty but today

the family were forced for a second

time to threaten legal action to

stop an officer from

leaving the force.

The family of Sean Rigg only learned

of Sergeant Paul White's

plans to retire

in the last few days,

forcing them to appeal

to the

Met police to step in.

Next week the family

are at the High Court as PC

Mark Harriet appeals

against his suspension

to stop him retiring.

And we've also learned

both officers now

face allegations of

lying to the inquest

into Sean Rigg's death

and

Independent police

watchdog investigators.

It's not the first time

Sergeant White has faced such

allegations.

In a long legal battle

for the Rigg family.

In 2012 and inquest finds

police used unsuitable

force on Sean Rigg.

But in September 2016,

the Crown Prosecution Service

decides there is insufficient

evidence for criminal charges.

In November 2016

Sergeant Paul White is

found not guilty of lying

at the original inquest.

A charity which represents

families who've lost

loved ones in police custody

says its familiar territory for most

cases.

We have to have a system

that is a lot fairer and we need

a police complaints process

that is fit for

purpose.

Initially, the Met police refused

to comment on Sergeant

White's retirement.

Only tonight after calls

from the Rigg family and

the BBC was his

suspension announced.

It means the family now

still have hope of finding out

exactly how and why Sean died.

Chris Rogers, BBC London News.

The number of young londoners

who own their own home has

significantly dropped over

the past two decades.

A study has revealed that 20 years

ago around 47% of 20-

to 30-year-olds on middle incomes

had bought a property.

That dropped to just 20% in 2016.

Uber is to introduce

new measures to protect

its passengers and drivers.

They include a 24 hour telephone

help line and giving customers

the driver's licence number.

The company is currently appealing

against Transport for London's

decision to remove its licence,

partly on safety grounds.

Emma North has this report.

Uber's future is at stake.

For both customers

and drivers this means

seeing more of a personal touch.

Gareth's a typical Uber driver

who prices flexibility in his life.

He combines being

a stand-up comedian,

home-schooling his sun,

with an average eight

hours a day behind

the

wheel.

In the time that we've been working

for Uber, how has their

attitude towards their

drivers changed?

Well I did have an issue

with something and I had to send an

e-mail.

And there was no number

to call, so this...

It's really nice, it's always

nice to speak to a human

and not go through a series

of FAQs on a screen.

Serious worries about Uber's

safety and security led to

TfL taking away its

licence last year.

Uber says its new measures such

as a telephone hotline and more

of the drivers details being

available to customers are a sign it

has learned its lesson.

What is your relationship

like with TfL at the

moment?

We're in constructive

conversations with TfL.

Today, some of the announcements

that we've made

are responding to the

criticism we've had.

We've got a new approach

to reporting incidents to the police

and we hope this demonstrates we've

listened to the feedback and we're

making a positive change.

Uber's battle to stay

on our streets is

very much a public one.

When it lost its licence

more than half a million

people signed a petition

to get TfL to its mind.

But transport for London holds

all the cards here and

it's making sure its rules

will reflect the way

public transport

in

London has changed.

For example, it's looking

at capping the number

of hours drivers can work and

forcing companies to hand their data

to the government.

One suggestion from TfL

was a service for women

only.

Why?

Can you imagine if somebody said

Uber was going to be

men only, there would be outrage.

It's a good idea, I think.

I think people can

make use of the other

things they have, you can send your

tracking information to a friend.

It's a good idea especially if it

makes people feel more safe.

It's assuming that the men are,

like, have bad intentions, I guess,

but you never know who you are going

to be in a car with.

And this is all about intentions.

Uber wants to keep its 40,000

drivers and 3 million

customers here in London.

To do so it has to be

seen to be turning a

corner.

Emma North, BBC London News.

That's it for now from me, and I'll

leave you with Tomasz Schafernaker

for a look at the weekend weather.

Good evening to you. Good news on

the weather front this evening. Lots

of sunshine on the way. At least for

tomorrow, Saturday is going to dawn

on a crisp and frosty note. There is

some on the weight just like in the

last day or so. Blue skies today

with fluffy cumulus clouds. This

picture fills me with joy. We've got

some not crocuses... I've forgotten

what these are. Remind me. First

thing in the morning, little on the

frosty side, then a nice sunny day.

Lots of other around. Clouds coming

in from the West during the course

of the day. 11 Celsius. That's how

it's going to stay through the rest

of the day. Come Sunday the weather

is going to change a little bit,

we'll start to see cloud increasing

from the West. It looks as if things

might cloud over. Even rain on the

way, too, but it probably won't

reach us Sunday night into Monday,

so Monday looks pretty grey.