23/01/2012 Look East - East

Welcome to a new week on BBC Look East. Coming up: A juror who defied

a judge by researching a trial on the Internet is sent to prison for

six months. Young Mr Bartlett is quoted �2,400

to insure his car. If he was Miss Bartlett it would be �1,000 cheaper.

I pitted in, changed Mr Timmis and it dropped by 15%. -- Mr Tim is.

Cheers as Norwich keep Chelsea at bay. But it is another raspberry

for Ipswich. And I am at the Theatre Royal in

Norwich for the opening night of Hello Dolly.

Good evening. A college lecturer who served on a Crown Court jury

was jailed today after she used the internet to find out more about the

case. Theodora Dallas was a member of the jury in the trial of a man

at Luton Crown Court to was accused of causing grievous bodily harm,

but that night at home she did some research. The next day she talked

about what she discovered about the defendant to other members of the

jury. This was despite a request from the judge not to go online and

not to check out the background to the case. The details now from our

Home Affairs correspondent, Sally to do so. -- Sally Chidzoy.

I juror has been jailed. This will send shock waves through the courts

system. From now on, all jurors will have this case on their minds.

This is what happens when someone acting contempt of court. These

were to be the last moments of freedom for Theodora Dallas, seen

here in a black coat, as she entered the High Court. The

lecturer at Bedford University Pat ignored contempt of court rules and

shared information that she researched with fellow jurors. It

led to the collapse of the case. For that she was jailed for six

months. At the University today, staff made it clear they could not

talk about what had happened to their former colleague was up I am

not allowed to comment. Someone told you you could not commit?

Dallas said that her grasp of English was not that good. She has

now resigned from her job at the University. She said she had not

intended to prejudice the jury. The decision to jail her has drawn this

reaction in Luton. I think it was wrong what she did, but I do not

think it will send out a message. I do not think the punishment was

high enough. Personally, if I was on a jury and it was about someone,

I am going to look them up. I am going to find out about what they

did and what happened. Even though you are told not to? Yes. At the

end of the day, you're not supposed to but you're going to do it

because it is curiosity. probably deserves what she got, if

not a little more. She should not have done it. I do not know whether

she should have been jailed, perhaps a fine or something.

mixed reaction there. Theodora Dallas' Parker -- partner spoke to

me tonight and said he was very angry with the sentence and was

deciding what to do. He then mentioned as a European Court. The

couple have spent thousands of pounds on lawyers to try to keep

her out of jail. Clearly they did not succeed. They are now lodging

an appeal. Let us talk to the legal

commentator Joshua Rosenberg. Is this the law setting an example?

think the Lord Chief Justice was setting an example, even though the

jurors in which Theodora Dallas served were told that someone had

quite recently been sent to prison for contempt of court for a

comparable case involving Facebook, she said that the judge did not

warn her that she could face prison. Here is the Lord Chief Justice

sending out a very clear warning to everybody that, yes, if your

researcher case on the internet and tell other people about it, you

find out things about a defendant's you're not meant to know, then yes

you will go to prison. You cannot turn back the clock, can you? The

Internet is about there and people will want to look up the details.

It must be tempting but it is very dangerous. In her case, she found

out about the previous convictions of a defendant, something the jury

should not been told. If jurors research on the internet they may

find things that are inaccurate. They may know that some -- they may

not know that someone who has been convicted was subsequently cleared

on appeal. The courts are trying to hold back the tide of people who

are saying that they would do it. If everybody does that, the jury

system that we moved -- as we know it would end, and a lot of people

would think that was a very great loss because a lot of people depend

on trial by jury and have faith in it, but if you cannot trust juries

to judge on the face of it, then we may have to abandon the system. A

in the United States, jurors are simply told to pick things out of

their mind. They go to a lot of trouble to try to select jurors who

are apparently not prejudiced, who have not made up their mind. It can

take weeks and you have jury consultants advising on board saw

the jury to go for. I do not think people want to see that here.

Basically, you get the first 12 people out of the box, whether they

know about the case or not. Jurors are trusted to judge cases based on

the evidence they hear in court. thank you.

Later, on the difference between being a Mr or Mrs when it comes to

car insurance. We have goals action from the weekend's football. And it

is Hello Alex at Hello Dolly. I am at the Theatre Royal in Norwich as

they get a carton ready for the first night of Hello Dolly, an

amateur production that is taking place here. It has been a tricky

time for theatres across the region but many are managing to fill seats.

How are they doing it? Find out after more news from your part of

the region. 10 senior doctors have sent a

letter to a local newspaper saying that Ipswich Hospital has a strong

future. It comes at a time when it is losing vascular surgery to

Colchester hospital, and the bid to become a Foundation Trust has

stalled because of debt. It is a long way from balancing its books

but today 10 consultants wrote of their pride in Ipswich Hospital and

the quality of its care, and their increasing dismay at reports

seeming to predict its demise. In the can descend to this morning,

these staff are planning a radiotherapy treatment programme.

We may need to think about scanning him again. Dissenters sees some

6,000 patients a year, and the number is growing. Masks are used

to make sure that patients receive precisely targeted doses of

radiotherapy. This doctor is critical of some of the media

coverage. Some of the comments were unfair and misrepresented the

reality. We have financial challenges but I am clear that we

are committed to as clinicians -- committed as clinicians and we are

determined to see it through. cancer Information Centre was set

up eight years ago after a local fund-raising campaign. Jan is a

volunteer here. 15 years ago I had breast cancer myself and I felt I

wanted to put something back into the system. When you hear people in

a sense denigrating the hospital, how do you react? As far as the

cancer unit is concerned, very cross. I have not, in all the years

I have been here, spoken to a patient who is not happy with the

treatment and the support and the care that they do get from the

Oncology Unit. This week a hospital is unveiling its �2.5 million

Linear Accelerator, the latest in a major guided radiotherapy. No-one

doubts that the unit faces formidable problems, but the

message from staff to a growing local population is, we are here

for you and we are staying. There has been mixed news on jobs

in our region today. A buyer has been found for Hawkin's Bazaar. The

company, based near Beccles, went into administration last month. The

deal will save 150 jobs out of 480. They will keep eight stores open,

including those in Norwich and Braintree. In Norwich, 153 people

will lose their jobs at contractor Fountains. He had contracts for

street cleaning and managing parts, open spaces and cemeteries. People

have families. I am young, so why will be all right. The older boys

have nothing in front of them. Customs officers carried out a

number of raids on shops in Essex today in the hunt for counterfeit

alcohol. The target for teams from HM Revenue and Customs was a off-

licences in Colchester. They were looking for bottles of vodka which

could be poisonous. This is a raid, but not for drugs.

A what they are looking for our items, Ellis it goods including

alcohol and tobacco, also food products that may be out of date or

may have been stored or labelled in the incorrect way. Mainly it was

alcohol. Shelves were checked for anything that look suspicious was

up so far, in one job, we have found quite a few bottles of vodka

or which has not had any duty paid on it. There are no stamps on the

bottles. They may or may not be counterfeit. The year looks suspect.

-- they look suspect. These photographs show spirits taking in

previous raids, Hall warehouses full of them, some of them brewed

illegally. It has been found to contain anti-freeze or worse.

Screen wash is a common factor that we have fun. I opened a bottle a

couple of weeks ago and it smelt of acetone. That is very dangerous to

drink. If you're a boy in a bottle of alcohol and it really does look

too good to be true, it is. alcohol is being taken away by the

officers. If they suspect it is counter feet, it will be tested and

will also be destroyed. -- counterfeit.

The it has been revealed that Essex Police by nearly �2.4 million on

the operation to clear the illegal traveller has site at Dale Farm. It

was completed in November. -- a travellers' site.

None of our teams won at the weekend.

Norwich manager Paul Lambert said survival is still the main focus.

They drove -- they drew 0-0 with Chelsea on Saturday, their first

clean sheet of the season, keeping them in the top half of the Premier

League. Chelsea may have had more shots, more chances, more

possession, their players certainly cost more. Norwich were disciplined

and determined. They paid less than �500,000 for Grant Holt but he is

worth his weight in gold. Fernando Torres looks like less of a bargain

at the moment. He was taking off. Dizzier at 20 -- 0-0 draw was

priceless. It is Norwich's first clean sheet of the season. They are

unbeaten in 2012. It stretches the unbeaten run to five games. Any

Premier League point is not to be sniffed at, especially when it

comes against one of the big hitters. First clean sheet of the

season, I thought we were amazing. Really proud. Chelsea expected to

win 3-0. It is absolutely brilliant. Can you do leave how well they are

doing this season? A they have been fantastic. Lambert has done a

fantastic job on a shoestring. Chelsea must be wondering why they

spend all that money. Are you hoping just to survive on a bit

more? We have to keep our heads first. See what Lambert can do.

think we can look above us. We're trying to survive and build the

club up. We're not getting carried away. We will take each game as it

comes. Hopefully by the end of the season we will still be up there.

The fans left happy again. Norwich now break for the FA Cup in the

knowledge their Premier League Ipswich Town have now dropped to

4th in the table. The game turned on a bizarre incident. Their

goalkeeper was sent off. Ipswich fell apart. Robert Snodgrass could

hardly believe his luck. Leeds did not have to try to hard for a third.

It finished 3-1. The manager had no complaints about the red card.

should have stayed on his line. We were up against it with 10 men.

That goal was a catalogue of errors. They will never score three easier

goals. In League One Colchester fans vented their frustration at

John Ward after they lost at John Ward after they lost at

Chesterfield. Southend are still top of League Two despite losing at

Shrewsbury. Southend are level on points with Crawley. You can see

extended highlights of your team on late kick-off tonight. There is a

special report on Ipswich Town. Has special report on Ipswich Town. Has

progress been made over the last progress been made over the last

four years? The defence has been making these mistakes all season.

You are the manager. You have had the resources. More on that tonight

Men and women may be as different as Mars and Venus but in their eyes

of the law there are almost always equal.

They exception is car insurance. It is a fact that women are safer

drivers than men. That means insurance companies charge men more.

The gap between a premium for a young man and I young woman can be

huge. When this man wanted to ensure his

first car he was quoted �2,400. So for a laugh he reapplied and

there are women's name. The quote was �1,000 less.

This is not exactly the badge of a boy racer. I am sensible. I drive

carefully. All I want to do is drive. It is sex discrimination. It

is out of proportion. But an is cheap compared to some

courts. Young male drivers are seen as a

higher risk. I can understand the premium being slightly higher, but

you cannot justify charging double. This could be one solution. This

man agrees to have his car fitted with a monitoring device. It

transmits data to his insurance company. It looks at different

behaviours such as speed, and acceleration. It tracks the

individual behaviours. The insurance is priced more fairly

depending upon how he is driving. This is hundreds of pounds cheaper

than what my friends are paying. is part of the compensation culture.

While there is fair access to justice for those with genuine

claims there are those who make fraudulent claims. The rules will

soon change. Under European law men and women will soon paid similar

premiums. Small insurance for this man. -- small comfort.

Earlier I spoke to Rob Cummings from the Association of British

Insurers. Young male drivers have a high claims frequency. They have a

poor safety record on the road. One in three male drivers aged 17 or 18

will make a claim. For the equivalent female drivers it is one

in sex. In Europe you cannot discriminate between men and women.

Why has that rule not come into force here? That comes into force

next year. Insurers will no longer be able to use gender. It will have

a significant impact. The European Court decided that insurers need

time to adapt to the change. Does the insurance industry believe that

this ruling is wrong? You still make differentiation on the basis

of age? We like to look at as many aspects as possible when placing a

premium for customers. I do not want to be a cynic, but when the

ruling comes into force, will it be that the insurance of women goes up

and the insurers are men does not come down? It does mean that women

will see an increase in their premiums? That seems unfair.

should balance out. We need reform to a compensation

system. It is dysfunctional. We need to see significant reforms in

the way that young drivers learn to drive in this country. Thank you.

There is more on that issue on Inside Out tonight at 7:25pm.

Please get in touch if you have any views on that story.

2011 was a tough year for theatres. Ticket sales fell by one million.

Theatre managers blame a reduction in grants funding and the economic

downturn. But in our region there are signs that most theatres can

survive. Tonight in Norwich they are expecting an almost full house

for an amateur production of Hello Dolly.

I am backstage. It is opening night. I am good data onto the stage. It

is all set. One a two audience members are just turning up. It has

been a tough year. Some theatres up and well. Four other theatres it

They have had some big names at this theatre. But now the theatre

faces an uncertain future. It is owned by Suffolk coastal District

Council. With audiences falling the council is now saying enough is

enough. The theatre costs �250,000 per year. We are faced with falling

audience numbers. It is costing �7.60 per person to get somebody

through the door. The theatre started out as a spa. Then there

was a bandstand. Then there was a Floral Hall.

The theatre manager says finding the right show to be torn is

challenging. If a show does not do well it is disappointing. Sometimes

you feel that you have failed. It At the Cambridge Arts Theatre the

future is better. The chief executive knows how difficult it is

in places like Felixstowe. But here attendances are up by 20 %. If you

put a great Sean people will come and see it. -- put a good show on.

Back in Felixstowe the council is hoping to attract offers from

companies that might hope to take on the pavilion. In these difficult

times nobody wants to see this historic Theatre Co Down.

They are testing the smoke machine here at this theatre. Let us have a

chat with the press officer. Have you found that it is tough to get

audiences in the door? People are thinking very carefully about what

they spend their money on. We are working hard to get the message out

about our shows. Is it Taf because you do not get arts funding? -- is

it difficult? We have a loyalty from our patrons. If you would like

to come and see this production it is on all week. There are tickets

is on all week. There are tickets available every night this week.

Here is the weather: Sleet rather than snow.

More about that in a moment. Thank you for sending in this

photograph of the northern light. It was taken last night. It is

caused by a stream of particles from the San colliding in the upper

atmosphere. It is beautiful. You may get to see the Northern Lights

tonight in the northern parts of our region.

Over the next few hours the last of any showers will clear away. It

will be largely clear for much of the night.

Some cloud will push him from the West.

Temperatures stay above freezing on the coast. They will be a frost and

Tomorrow there is a weather front pushing in from the West. It is

bringing in rain. The rain will push eastwards. There will be some

sleet. It will not be the brightest and not the warmest either. Winds

will settle to light to moderate by the afternoon. The remit should

start to pull away to the east as the afternoon progresses. -- the