12/03/2018 London News

That's all from the BBC News at One,

so it's goodbye from me -

Welcome to BBC London News.

I'm Victoria Hollins.

A teenager who carried

out six acid attacks

across east London, has been

sentenced to 10 years in detention.

Derryck John from Croydon

was 16 at the time of the attacks.

His accomplice has

never been caught.

Chris Rogers has been

at Wood Green Crown Court.

This is a particularly horrific

example of a crime that is on the

rise in London, particularly in the

East End. In the space of 90

minutes, Derryck John, who was 16

and three quarters at the time,

attack six careers on their mopeds

with the intent of stealing their

vehicle, spraying a highly corrosive

acid towards their helmets in an

attempt to injure their face. Many

of them did sustain injuries. One

victim told the court, he has been

left partially blind. They have

recovered from their scars,

emotionally all victims told the

court they may never recover. Some

are receiving counselling. All have

been unable to return to work. The

judge said he wanted to send out a

strong message to other people

intent on causing harm with acid, by

giving Derryck John a very long

sentence behind bars. They had to

take into account his troubled

childhood, he was in care at the

time and his age. He warned Derryck

John that if you what an adult he

could have been put behind bars

today for 22 years. He received a

ten and a half year sentence with

the possibility of being released

early on licence. Earlier I asked

the police officer in charge of the

investigation what his reaction was

to a sentence that many victims have

told me was too short.

I think we have to look at the

judge' remarks in sentencing.

Obviously Derryck John was an adult

offenders it would've been a

different sentence. Overall we are

pleased with the sentence. We think

it does send a strong message that

even as youth offender, a ten year

plus sentence struck -- sends a

strong message this will not be

tolerated.

So far Derryck John has refused to

tell the police who his accomplice

was and help them in their ongoing

investigation in finding him. The

police have said today they hope

that Derryck John will be reflecting

on his custodial sentence and may

now cooperate with the

investigation. Chris Rogers.

A group of homeless people

who have taken over

a building in central London,

are preparing to go to court

to fight a possession order

from the landlord in a bid to stay.

The group, which calls the

four-storey building in the West End

the Sofia Solidarity Centre,

says anyone without

a home is welcome.

The Victoria Derbyshire programme

spoke to a volunteer there.

OK, so when we have

somebody new come in,

they come in the front door.

They will be greeted here.

We will ask them what they need,

how they are, the priority...

Whether they need to go

straight to sleep, or eat.

We have a kitchen

down the end there.

We can provide, and we

are providing, hot,

nutritious food all the time.

There's tea and coffee.

We have some medical supplies,

and we have people who know how

to look after people,

so if somebody needs some

attention to wounds

or infections, we can do that.

We've got sleeping areas

on the ground floor here,

and on the first floor.

We have qualified

electricians helping us.

I'm a plumber-builder as well, so...

We do safety checks every day,

make sure there's nothing dangerous,

no cables to trip over,

everything's lit properly,

so that people don't...

Yeah, we're keeping people safe.

If any person comes

in with a particular issue,

there is someone here who already

been through that issue.

We can actually guide people

through our own experiences,

empathy, and listening,

so were actually better qualified

than most people who are qualified.

We've 100 people here, eating,

sleeping comfortably.

We're saving lives here,

and the building's been empty

15 years, and we can

save lives with it.

It's our moral duty

to save those lives.

Westminster Council told us

they have "well-established routes

to help people who may be sleeping

rough or homeless via Streetlink.

Over 400 bed spaces are available

each night to help people."

An advertising campaign urging

London's businesses to escape

Brexit by moving to France has been

banned from underground stations.

Transport for London says

the ads don't comply

with its guidelines

because they relate

to matters of public

controversy or sensitivity.

The Normandy Development Agency,

which commissioned the images, says

the campaign was meant to be

a humorous way of offering

a "plan B" to entrepreneurs.

Thousands of students

across the capital could be affected

by strike action during their exams.

The universities union has warned

of another 14 days of action

between April and June.

It's over discussions around

a change to lecturers' pensions.

With most London property

developers adopting

a "pile 'em high" policy,

the humble bungalow has rather

fallen out of fashion.

But with the UK's elderly population

predicted to double over

the next three decades,

a recent House of Commons report

concluded that bungalows

could be just what's needed.

Sean Fletcher reports.

This peaceful street,

tucked away from the hustle

and bustle of Acton,

comes as a great surprise to anyone

who stumbles across it,

because it consists

only of bungalows.

It's very unusual to find

a whole street of them this

close to the city centre,

but since the early 1950s,

they've been the dream home for many

people in retirement.

Building bungalows en masse

in suburbia became very

popular for many years.

In 1987 alone, there

were over 28,000 built.

Last year, though, there

were just over 2000,

so there's been a steep decline.

It is a lot harder

for you to get planning

permission to build a bungalow

than it is to build

a terraced house.

London itself hasn't tried to get

more people to build bungalows.

It hasn't tried to

stimulate that market.

But with more and more

over 65s living longer,

their housing needs

will need to be met.

The answer - start

building bungalows again.

This award-winning estate is one

of several being built

or planned in Barking.

These bungalows provide

social housing for elderly

and disabled residents,

and were built on land

that was just lying dormant.

One of the residents

here lost his leg in an industrial

accident, so climbing

stairs became impossible.

Moving here was ideal.

Sometimes you can't get your leg

on, your leg swells up

and you can't wear your leg.

So you have to sort of go

around on your bum,

or on your hands and knees,

or in a wheelchair or crutches.

Going upstairs, if you haven't got

a stairlift, it's awkward.

So a bungalow is ideal.

It's ideal, yeah.

Tom, like most of the residents

here, moved from a much bigger

house, freeing up other properties

that could house larger families,

so building these new bungalows

actually made economic sense.

This actual site, one of eight now,

we have managed to get 76

of these types properties,

which has freed up 66

homes for families.

And that's really important.

There's a waiting list,

and that's why we're still building.

We will have over 100 units

by the end of the summer,

which is fantastic.

Bungalows have faced economic

cutbacks and lack of space,

but they are still places that many

elderly see as a dream home.

So, with support from the Commons,

bungalows could be a thing

of the future as well as the past.

And you can see the full

story on Inside Out

tonight on BBC 1 at 7.30pm.

Now the weather with Kate Kinsella.

Good afternoon.

It's been rather grey

and dull Monday so far.

We've had outbreaks of rain

in the form of showers.

Skies have looked a little bit

like that across the board.

We've had one or two

brighter spells out there,

but on the whole it's rather grey,

and rather wet as well.

These showers are going to continue

through the afternoon,

and we could hear a rumble or two

of thunder mixed

in to those as well.

Fairly breezy out there.

Nothing too strong,

but you will notice it

if you are caught underneath

one of those showers.

Not going to be too pleasant.

The temperature is not bad,

around 11 Celsius as a maximum.

Overnight tonight, those showers

continue to blow through,

gradually becoming a little bit

fewer and further between.

Drier as we head towards dawn,

and we may even get clearance

of the cloud the further

west you are.

Minimum temperature above 0,

between 3 and 7 Celsius.

Tomorrow morning, some of us could

get a bright start in the West.

Some brighter spells, at least.

It's a dry day, less showers around.

Still, though, some patchy cloud.

Temperatures getting

up to around 11 again,

but by the end of the afternoon,

that cloud moving away

eastwards, and we may get

a little bit of sunshine.

As we head through midweek,

things start to change a little bit.

We pick up a south-easterly wind.

Low pressure again

heading towards the UK.

Outbreaks of rain.

That wind is going to end up quite

cold, especially as we head

towards the end of the week

and into the weekend.

Quite an unsettled week.

Temperatures particularly mild

as we head through Wednesday.

After that, they start to get

a little bit lower, and could turn

a little bit wintry again as we head

towards Saturday and Sunday.

That's about it from me.

Riz Lateef will be here

with our 6:30 evening programme.

But for now, from us all,

a very good afternoon.