0:00:00 > 0:00:00in March.
0:00:00 > 0:00:02I'll be back with the late news at 10.
0:00:02 > 0:00:03Bye for now.
0:00:14 > 0:00:16Good evening and welcome to BBC London News,
0:00:16 > 0:00:20with me, Louisa Preston.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22A gay man who was left with permanent damage
0:00:22 > 0:00:25after being punched in an attack outside a club in east London has
0:00:25 > 0:00:29spoken about the homophobic assault.
0:00:29 > 0:00:31Last year there were more than 2000 reported incidents.
0:00:31 > 0:00:36Thomas Magill has the details.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40The moment Gordon Maxwell's night out turned nasty, attacked, he
0:00:40 > 0:00:42believes, just for being gay.
0:00:42 > 0:00:44I'm really certain it was a hate crime,
0:00:44 > 0:00:46because he just saw me...
0:00:46 > 0:00:49I was just standing there in a dress with
0:00:49 > 0:00:51make up on, dressed up for Christmas at a gay
0:00:51 > 0:00:53club, hundreds of guys who
0:00:53 > 0:00:54look like me inside.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57I was just unlucky, really.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59Gordon needed reconstructive surgery and may have
0:00:59 > 0:01:02permanent nerve damage after the single punch outside the Troxy
0:01:02 > 0:01:06nightclub on the 3rd of December.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09It's an ordeal that he says has changed his life.
0:01:09 > 0:01:10It's totally shattered my confidence, really, as
0:01:10 > 0:01:12well as my cheekbone.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15I find it very difficult to go out, and I find it
0:01:15 > 0:01:17very difficult to stay in the house as well.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20I certainly couldn't go to bars or clubs or, you know, continue
0:01:20 > 0:01:22my life as it was at the moment.
0:01:22 > 0:01:27It's going to take quite a long time to rebuild it, I think.
0:01:27 > 0:01:29There were barriers along here, and he was
0:01:29 > 0:01:30assaulted just outside here.
0:01:30 > 0:01:32Officers are looking for two men following the assault, one described
0:01:32 > 0:01:36as white and wearing a hood, whilst the other is thought to be a black
0:01:36 > 0:01:38or Asian man, aged between 19 and 28.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41We are very keen to speak to members of the public who think they
0:01:41 > 0:01:45have any information.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49Anything that they may have that can help identify him,
0:01:49 > 0:01:51we are very keen to speak to them.
0:01:51 > 0:01:53So, homophobic hate crime, which includes the type of attack
0:01:53 > 0:01:56Gordon went through at the Troxy in December,
0:01:56 > 0:01:58is on the rise in London.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01Last year, there were over 2200 incidents reported to the
0:02:01 > 0:02:02Metropolitan Police, something they say they are keen
0:02:02 > 0:02:04to do something about.
0:02:04 > 0:02:06Gordon says that despite feeling vulnerable now, he will get
0:02:06 > 0:02:09better, and has this message for his attacker:
0:02:09 > 0:02:11Why are you so threatened by a guy in a dress?
0:02:12 > 0:02:13What's so scary about that?
0:02:13 > 0:02:16Why do you feel that you have to attack that?
0:02:16 > 0:02:18And why are you so insecure about your own
0:02:18 > 0:02:25masculinity to have to do that?
0:02:25 > 0:02:29Thomas McGill, BBC London News.
0:02:29 > 0:02:34The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has condemned the Parole Board's
0:02:34 > 0:02:36decision to release the black cab rapist John Worboys,
0:02:36 > 0:02:41who was jailed indefinitely for offences against 12 victims.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44On Twitter the Mayor said: "I'm astonished by the decision
0:02:44 > 0:02:45to release John Worboys.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48The Parole Board must listen to his victims and he should not be
0:02:48 > 0:02:51allowed to set foot in London."
0:02:51 > 0:02:53Residents living near a compost waste site in Hertfordshire have
0:02:53 > 0:02:56taken to the streets to protest over, what they call a toxic
0:02:56 > 0:02:57and unhealthy recycling company.
0:02:57 > 0:03:00People living near to Reviva Composting in Elstree say
0:03:00 > 0:03:09the stench from the site has plagued them for years.
0:03:12 > 0:03:21From above, you can see the scale of the Reviva site, which has provoked
0:03:21 > 0:03:24complaints from residents for years about the bad smell. Those marching
0:03:24 > 0:03:32today say the stench can be unbearable. There is capacity to
0:03:32 > 0:03:34recycle 78,000 tonnes of organic material that the site. Can you tell
0:03:34 > 0:03:40me what it smells like?Sickening, it really is sickening. We have to
0:03:40 > 0:03:44shut our windows. Really supplicating and makes you feel
0:03:44 > 0:03:49nauseous and unwell.It is a proper stench.The Environment Agency has
0:03:49 > 0:03:53told us that Reviva Composting hold a bespoke permit, meaning they can
0:03:53 > 0:03:58operate within 250 metres of residential properties. As part of
0:03:58 > 0:04:02that, all composting must take place inside a building, but they can
0:04:02 > 0:04:05store material waiting to be composting outside, as well as the
0:04:05 > 0:04:14finished product. In a statement, the Environment Agency also said:
0:04:22 > 0:04:26If you are asking me about the authorities, I'm really very angry
0:04:26 > 0:04:30because they haven't shown me that they really care. How can they let
0:04:30 > 0:04:35this to happen for over six years? We approached Reviva Composting for
0:04:35 > 0:04:39comment, but nobody has come back to us. The Environment Agency says it
0:04:39 > 0:04:42is meeting with the local MP next month to discuss the issues raised
0:04:42 > 0:04:45by residents.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48Let's find out what's the weather got in store for us,
0:04:48 > 0:04:48with Sara Thornton.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55If you were asked to sum up the weather for the last couple of days,
0:04:55 > 0:05:00I'm sure you would point to how gloomy it has been. Our weather
0:05:00 > 0:05:02watchers certainly capturing the picture of all the cloud we have
0:05:02 > 0:05:07seen. Occasional breaks in that cloud, but it will be much brighter
0:05:07 > 0:05:12this week. However, that is after some wet and windy weather to start
0:05:12 > 0:05:15as of tomorrow morning. Initially fine through this evening,
0:05:15 > 0:05:18temperatures dipping away close to freezing for a time, but as the
0:05:18 > 0:05:22night wears on, temperatures lifting. With that, some wet and
0:05:22 > 0:05:25windy weather arriving for your breakfast commute. It will be pretty
0:05:25 > 0:05:29unpleasant first thing. The rain won't clear until lunchtime or the
0:05:29 > 0:05:34early part of the afternoon, and behind that, yes, brighter, but some
0:05:34 > 0:05:38sharp, potentially thundery, showers. 11 Celsius in the morning,
0:05:38 > 0:05:43but it will feel much colder by the end of the day. Much brighter, some
0:05:43 > 0:05:46sunshine for Tuesday and Wednesday, but the strength of this wind will
0:05:46 > 0:05:50take the edge of the temperatures and it will feel pretty cool, and
0:05:50 > 0:05:53then wet and windy for Thursday morning.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56That's it for now, but I'll be back at twenty past ten.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58Until then, have a lovely evening.
0:05:58 > 0:05:59Goodbye.