14/01/2018 London News

That's it.

You can see more on all of today's

stories on the BBC News Channel,

news where you are.

Have a very good night.

Good evening and welcome

to BBC London News,

with me, Louisa Preston.

A gay man who was left

with permanent damage

after being punched in an attack

in east London,

has spoken about the assault.

Last year, more than 2,000

homophobic hate crimes were reported

to the Metropolitan Police.

Thomas Magill reports.

The moment Gordon Maxwell's

night out turned nasty -

attacked, he believes,

just for being gay.

I'm really certain it was a hate

crime because he just saw me.

I was just standing there

in a dress, a bit of make-up on,

dressed up for Christmas at a gay

club, hundreds of guys

who looked like me inside.

I was just unlucky, really.

Gordon needed reconstructive surgery

and may have permanent nerve damage

after the single punch outside

the Troxy nightclub

on the 3rd of December.

It's an ordeal that he says

has changed his life.

It's totally shattered

my confidence, really,

as well as my cheekbones.

Certainly couldn't go to bars

or clubs or continue my life

as it was at the moment.

It's going to take quite a long time

to rebuild that, I think.

There were barriers along here and

he was assaulted just outside here.

Officers are looking for two men

following the assault.

One's described as white and wearing

a hood, whilst the other is thought

to be a black or Asian man.

We're very keen to speak to members

of the public that think

they have any information,

anything that they may have that can

help us identify him,

we are very keen to speak to them.

So homophobic hate crime,

which includes the type of attack

Gordon went through at the Troxy

in December, is on

the rise in London.

Last year there were over 2200

incidents reported to the Met,

something they say they're keen

to do something about.

Gordon says that despite feeling

vulnerable now, he will get better

and has this message

for his attacker.

Why are you so threatened

by a guy in a dress?

What's so scary about that?

Why do you feel that

you have to attack that,

and why are you so insecure

about your own masculinity

to have to do that?

Thomas Magill, BBC London News.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan,

has condemned the Parole Board's

decision to release the black cab

rapist John Worboys.

On Twitter, the Mayor said:

"I'm astonished by the decision

to release John Worboys.

The Parole Board must listen

to his victims and he should not be

allowed to set foot in London."

Residents living near a compost

waste site in Hertfordshire have

taken to the streets to protest over

what they call a toxic

and unhealthy recycling company.

People living near to

the site in Elstree say

the stench from the site has plagued

them for years.

Tolu Adeoye reports.

CHANTING:

What do we want?

Cleaner air!

When do we want it?

Now!

For years, residents living

near Reviva Composting have

complained about an unbearable smell

coming from the site.

It's sickening, it

really is sickening.

We have to shut our windows.

Really, really suffocating and just

makes you feel really

unwell.

From above, you can see

the scale of the site.

There's capacity to recycle 78,000

tonnes of organic material.

The Environment Agency has told us

that Reviva hold a bespoke permit,

which means they can operate

within 250 metres of

residential properties.

Now, as part of that permit,

all composting activities must take

place inside a building,

but they can store material that's

waiting to be composted outside,

as well as the finished product.

In a statement, the

Environment Agency also said:

If you're asking me

about the authorities,

I'm really, really angry,

because they haven't shown me

If you're asking me

about the authorities,

I'm really, really angry,

because they haven't shown me

that they really care.

We approached Reviva for comment

but nobody has yet come back to us.

The Environment Agency says it's

meeting with the area's local

MP later this month,

to discuss the issues

raised by residents.

Tolu Adeoye, BBC London News.

Let's find out what the weather's

got in store for us

with Sara Thornton.

Good evening.

A change to our weather

across London in the coming days.

The gloom we've had been replaced

by some wet and windy

weather to start us off.

Behind that, much brighter but it

will feel significantly

colder from Tuesday.

Not a great Monday morning

commute, wet and windy.

The rain itself clearing

away in the afternoon

but followed by some sharp showers.

These temperatures are

earlier on in the day,

by the end of the day,

feeling quite a bit colder,

a feel that will persist

into the middle part of the week,

although there will

be some sunshine.

That's it - we'll back tomorrow

morning, but from all of us

on the team, goodnight.