21/03/2018 London News

so it's goodbye from me -

and on BBC One we now join the BBC's

Welcome to BBC London News.

I'm Tolu Adeoye.

BBC London has learnt

an increasing number

of care homes are thought to be

"cherry-picking" their residents.

Some have blamed a lack of funding

and more demand for places -

leaving them unable to look

after those with the

highest care needs.

The Government says it

will publish plans this Summer

to reform social care.

Helen Mulroy reports.

Back to work for Alex Turner.

It's been a long time coming

for the graphic designer

after he was forced to take a career

break at just 26 when his

mum Sue was diagnosed

with early-onset dementia.

I'd get five or six phone calls

a day, members of the public

would find her or the police

would pick her up or she'd be

in different hospitals

around our area and I'd have to go

and collect her a lot of the time.

When she was living at home, there'd

be different carers everyday.

She wouldn't want to let them in.

They haven't been trained

as to how to do that.

So, full-time jobs were impossible.

Alex became his mum's main carer,

even living with her for a period

of time, but her condition worsened

and she went into hospital.

By then, it was clear that the only

option was a care home.

For the next year,

Alex looked at over 20 homes,

and applied for a place at more

than ten of them.

But, at each one, after assessing

Sue, who was still relatively young,

physically fit, and mobile,

none could offer her place.

It was a really depressing

and demoralising and I felt really

unsure about where she was going

to be going.

It wasn't a nice time.

Sadly, Alex and Sue's

story is far from unique.

Our helpline increasingly gets

calls of this nature.

We find that care homes

are picking and choosing people

that they accepted into their homes,

largely because they don't

have the funding to be able

to provide the specialist support

needed to help people with dementia.

With wages going up soon,

the property and the upkeep of that

property, particularly in London,

that can be extremely expensive.

In contacting the government,

we asked the Department of Health

and social care what they are doing

about the lack of appropriate

care home places.

They told us that they have invested

an extra £2 billion in social care

and that over the summer

they are publishing planned reforms

to make the system more

sustainable for the future.

But for Sue and Alex,

any such reform is too late.

I've missed a chunk of my career.

I just couldn't get a job.

My mum wouldn't have

been happy about that.

It would have been incredibly

upsetting for my mum to know

what I've gone through.

Helen Mulroy, BBC London News.

The last few people

who were squatting in a central

London building have been evicted.

Bailiffs and police arrived to find

the building on Great Portland

Street mostly empty.

Around 150 people had occupied it

since the start of March.

The majority left on Monday

after the owner won a court order.

Dog owners are being urged

to keep their pets on leads

in the countryside,

it's after two dogs killed 13 sheep

in Hertfordshire.

Across the country around

15,000 sheep were killed

after being attacked in 2016.

Some argue more bans on dogs

in parks around London could be

making the situation worse.

Sarah Harris reports.

Three times in as many years,

Tim's sheep kept in the countryside

close to Watford

have been attacked by dogs.

The scale of such incidents is huge.

POlice were called to a nearby farm

this week where to dogs took out

almost the entire flock.

Though was a total of 13 sheep,

being a mixture of fully grown ewes

and newly born lambs that have been

slaughtered and there are a further

six lambs that the farmer was able

to take back to the farm that had

been injured,

some of them quite severely.

Legal proceedings are ongoing

against the owner and the pictures

are too harrowing to broadcast

but the research shows there

are thousands of attacks

in the countryside around

London every year.

Tim doesn't just keep sheep,

he also advises the government

and the police on how to deal

with the problem of

livestock worrying.

He said it often boils down

to the owner's naivete.

People walking a dog

and it's not under control,

on a lead, and they see sheep,

the dogs see sheep,

the dogs run off and attack

and the owner can't recall it.

Because the dog is going back

into primitive hunting mode.

And this is all dogs.

This isn't particular types of dogs.

This is large, small, all breeds.

And it simply, in this case,

the owners just do not understand

that their dog will go back

to its hunting instincts.

Very seldom is it

the fault of the dog.

With Easter coming, the police

are keen to get the message

across for owners to keep their dogs

on a lead in the countryside.

If things do get out of hand,

they may face criminal charges.

Sarah Harris, BBC London News.

A boxer from Gravesend has

been selected to represent England

at the Commonwealth Games.

Chev Clarke learned

to box in his home town -

he now spends the week training

with the national

squad in Sheffield.

But most weekends,

he's back in Gravesend.

And that's where Ian Palmer

caught up with him.

He's won the heavyweight amateur

boxing title twice now,

Chev Clarke is aiming to become

the Commonwealth champion as well.

I feel very good.

Very confident.

I'm looking forward to it.

Looking forward to performing,

going doing business.

Chev Clarke was born

in Jamaica, he moved

to Gravesend when he was 14.

A talented footballer, he didn't

take up boxing until he was 18.

Chev's best friend Sanjay,

who he met at the beginning

of his boxing career ten years ago,

explains why his body is so good.

His mental strength,

more than anything.

I know he's in great

physical shape and people always

look at him and think,

you've got these muscles,

or whatever, but mentally

there's not many people like him.

He has got this resilience

to everything and he can

bounce back from anything.

That's mainly the reason

why he's so successful.

He represented Jamaica

in the Commonwealth

games four years ago.

In Glasgow, he roomed next door

but one to the sprinter Usain Bolt.

The 27-year-old says representing

England in Australia is an honour

and he's ready for the challenge.

I'm very confident

myself and my team.

Unbelievable amount

of talent up there.

I take that back, unbelievable

amount of hard work back there.

So, expect a whole lot of trophies.

This going to be great.

Yes.

His first bout in Brisbane

takes place on April 6th.

Ian Palmer reporting there.

That takes us to the weather.

Kate Kinsella is here with me now.

How's it looking?

Not too bad. Pretty good today. A

cold and frosty start today. Maybe a

little below in one or two places.

But we had blue sky and sunshine,

really quite pleasant. Yes, a bit

chilly but the sunshine makes

everyone feel a little better.

Further sunny spells. There may be a

little bit in the way of patchy

cloud as we had through but

hopefully we will see sunny spells.

Temperatures rising quite steadily.

Up to about 10 Celsius. Not

especially warm but feeling nice in

the sunshine. This evening, the high

cloud thickens and increases coming

down from the North. It's not going

to get quite as cold as it did last

night. It will also bring some

outbreaks of rain. A damp start

tomorrow. The minimum temperature

above zero. A reasonably mild start

tomorrow, if a little damp at first.

Gradually, that. The clear.

Temperatures are little bit milder

through Thursday. Looking up at a

maximum getting up to around 12

Celsius. Towards the end of the

week, various weather fronts coming

in from the E -- the Atlantic. Some

showers, a bit of a breeze.

Temperatures cooling off a little

bit into the weekend and next week.

Then temperatures start to rise

again.

Thanks, Kate.

That's it from me -

Asad Ahmad will be here

with our 6.30 programme.

But for now, from us all,

have a very good afternoon.