20/12/2017 London News

That's all from the BBC News at One

- so it's goodbye from me -

Good afternoon.

I'm Asad Ahmad.

Two women have been talking

about the psychological impact

of an acid attack at a nightclub

in Hackney earlier this year.

Sophie Hall and Lauren Trent

were among the victims

of the attack in April,

at the hands of Arthur Collins.

He's been jailed for 20 years.

Anjana Gadgil reports.

This was a moment Arthur Collins

threw acid at a London nightclub.

Police say he had been trying to

attack rival gang members but the

injured 22 people. They included two

young women from Poole in Dorset,

Sophie Hall and Lauren Trent who

spoke last night outside court after

Arthur Collins was given a 20 year

jail sentence.

I just remembered the

sheer panic. The fear, the pain.

The smell of the chemicals, my skin

blistering and there's nothing you

can do about it.

He was convicted

last month of five counts of GBH and

nine of assault. But for his

victims, the scars are more than

physical.

When you are out, just a

splash of somebody's drink on your

arm rings the worst things through

your head and I know I'm never going

to be the same girl that walked into

the club that night but I'm trying

to get as close back to that is

possible.

Police said the long

sentence for Arthur Collins should

act as a deterrent.

He's been given

a lengthy sentence but what the

sentence does not show is the

trauma, the psychological distress,

for those people injured on that

night what they're going through.

The number of acid attacks committed

across the UK has doubled in five

years. In October the Home Secretary

Amber Rudd said she would introduce

prison sentences for anyone caught

twice carrying acid in public.

A teenager from north London

is calling on the Prime Minister

today to give free sanitary products

to all girls who already

receive free school meals.

It comes after Amika George

was taken aback at the number

of women who simply can't

afford menstrual products.

I spoke to 18-year-old,

Amika earlier and asked her why

she feels so strongly

about the issue.

The fact that something as basic

as menstrual products and the lack

of them is holding girls back

and stopping them from fulfilling

their educational needs and holding

them back in educational progress,

it just completely shocked me.

I just don't think it's fair

so to hear about girls in the UK

missing school or going to school

using loo roll, T-shirts, newspaper,

these kinds of horrible alternatives

that are hugely damaging

on their health, that

was what shocked me.

And you started this

campaign earlier this year.

Yes.

Did you expect it was going to

gather so much momentum and support?

Definitely not.

I started on the first April.

I think because it's

not a divisive issue,

it's something when people hear

about it, they're suddenly shocked

by it and everybody wants to help

and everybody wants to find out how

they can support the cause,

how they can help these girls

and get the government

to do something.

We have a female Prime Minister.

You're going to Downing

Street this afternoon.

She should understand the problem

you are talking about.

Are you confident she will act?

I really, really hope she will.

I think if there's enough

of us there, we've got

an amazing speakers coming,

and if we can get the kind

of pressure put on her where

she feels she just has no choice

to do something, that

would be the ideal.

She is a woman.

I'm sure she's had a period.

She knows what it's like.

So I think all women know what it's

like to have a period.

Imagine being in a situation

where you don't even have

menstrual products which just

makes your period so much worse.

I think she really needs to respond.

What is it you want to do

with your life now?

Has this sparked sort of movement

in you to try and change the world

or have you got mind set

on something else?

I think it would important

to do what you can.

I think with social media it's

really easy to just start a petition

from your bedroom like I did.

It's always been my dream to go

into human rights and I'm not sure

exactly how I'll do that,

what kind of route I'll go down,

but I'd love to go into human rights

and kind of continue doing something

about, do things where I can to make

the world slightly better.

I think she's got an extraordinary

future ahead of her.

And you can see how the demand

on Downing Street to act goes

on our programme tonight at 6.30

on BBC One.

Two men who died in a fire

at a luxury hotel on the banks

of Loch Lomond in Scotland on Monday

are believed to have

been from London.

Simon Midgley and Richard

Dyson were staying

at the Cameron House

Hotel near Glasgow when

the fire broke out.

Police Scotland have yet to formally

confirm their identities.

The cause of the fire

is being investigated.

Christmas comes but once

a year and sure enough,

it's guaranteed to bring with it

engineering works on the railways.

This year, Network Rail is drafting

in thousands of engineers to carry

out the work but it's of little

consolation to those making

the Christmas getaway.

Our transport correspondent

Tom Edwards can tell us more.

London Bridge station much

quieter than normal this

morning and next week,

along with some other major rail

stations in the capital,

it will be shut completely for ten

days while new signalling is fitted.

Traditionally the railway has always

carried out this sort of work

during the bank holidays

for these blockades.

We have to shut down during these

periods because they are

the quietest periods.

They are the times that

are traditionally less

busy on the railway.

So they are the most

appropriate time.

Many services will be amended

with nearly

all the major train stations shut

on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Also close to ten days

will be South-eastern

services at London Bridge,

Cannon Street and Charing Cross.

Paddington station will also

be shut for four days.

In the Thames Valley,

tracks are being replaced.

It's taking out the 1970's track

and installing it with faster,

more reliable equipment.

On the Great Western,

these electric trains will be able

to run after New Year as overhead

wires are turned on.

Right at the beginning of January

we will be running services

from Didcot through Reading,

Slough and up into West

London and Paddington.

Virtually everything on that route

in terms of local trains will be

a new electric train from 2nd

January.

Network Rail says all the work

is crucial to improving services.

It says it is confident

they will be finished on time.

And you can find out

more about the likely

transport disruption

over the Christmas

holidays on our website.

bbc.co.uk/london

and our Twitter page.

A lottery winner from Slough

who works as a care worker says

she'll still do her 12-hour shift

on Christmas Day because she loves

her job caring for the elderly.

Patricia Aldridge and her husband

Robert won £1 million in the Lotto

raffle but they won't give

up their day jobs.

I was already rotaed

to work Christmas Day,

so I'm just going to carry

on doing my shift and,

you know, so I've got no

plans to give up work.

I love what I do.

You never think you're

going to win it but, yeah,

we won it and it's going to be nice.

If you're wondering where you can

see cuts and USO -- cats and UFOs in

the same place, look at Kate's

dress. This is what we woke up

the same place, look at Kate's

dress. This is what we woke up to

this morning. Misty and make yet

there and all these fog patches as

well so that's gradually been

lifting very gradually. Still some

missed out there and if it lifted

will be lifting into low cloud.

Rather great, but it is feeling

mild. It will stay with us for the

next few days so the wind has got

something to do with why the missed

isn't lifting quickly and this

afternoon it stays grey. Temperature

up in double figures, 10 Celsius as

a maximum. Conditions don't change

too much overnight either. Yes, it's

going to get dark but the

temperatures will drop too much.

Mist and murk maybe develop, a spot

of light rain and drizzle especially

tomorrow morning. Becoming quite

damp but similar conditions to last

night. Temperature barely dropping

at all, nine Celsius, so I'll start

tomorrow. Not a very festive. The

rain with us first thing we'll away

eastward and becoming drier but not

brighter. The cloud staying with us

and the missed lifting and it's a

repeat performance. Temperatures

tomorrow, 12 Celsius. The mild

weather will stay with us right the

way through to Christmas Day. OK,

thanks very much for that.

Alex Bushill will be here

with our early evening news at 6.30.

Do join him for that,

and have a good afternoon.

Bye bye.