:00:17. > :00:22.Hello. Our top story: One of Europe's leading chemical companies
:00:22. > :00:27.is fined up to one of the worst cases of river pollution in our
:00:27. > :00:32.region. This was one of the biggest incidents we have had in this
:00:32. > :00:42.region. It had quite a big impact on the ecology and the aquatic life
:00:42. > :00:47.
:00:47. > :00:53.in the river. That story and the A judge hits out as an interpreter
:00:53. > :00:58.of players to turn up for this man's court hearing. And the
:00:58. > :01:08.Canaries face up to their day of destiny, knowing the cost of
:01:08. > :01:12.
:01:12. > :01:17.A leading chemical company was ordered to pay �92,000 in fines and
:01:17. > :01:20.costs today following a major pollution incident in our region.
:01:20. > :01:24.It happened when vandals broke into the Safapac site outside
:01:24. > :01:27.Peterborough last summer and opened the taps. 5,000 litres of chemicals
:01:27. > :01:31.were released on to the floor, down a storm drain and out into the
:01:31. > :01:36.River Nene. Two days later, the chemicals had reached Wisbech and
:01:36. > :01:46.The Wash. In King's Lynn, it meant a 24-hour ban for Shellfish
:01:46. > :01:50.fishermen, while the water was checked for contamination. Dead and
:01:50. > :01:57.distressed fish. Plant and animal life bleached white after a
:01:57. > :02:03.devastating release of chemicals from here. An insecticide,
:02:03. > :02:09.pesticide, detergent. Around 5000 litres poured from taps by vandals.
:02:09. > :02:19.The company MD's still pleaded guilty. Outside court, no comment.
:02:19. > :02:20.
:02:20. > :02:24.The judge said there is a heavy burden on firms not to cause
:02:24. > :02:27.pollution. It is their responsibility to ensure premises
:02:27. > :02:33.are not vulnerable to vandals, especially when there have been
:02:33. > :02:42.previous incidents. On 18th June last year, workers saw that hangs
:02:42. > :02:47.have been empty. The next year the chemicals had plain as far as the
:02:47. > :02:51.speech. -- flown. Fishing stopped for the next two days. It cost the
:02:51. > :02:58.industry �200,000. Recreational fishing in came the chair and
:02:58. > :03:03.commercial fishing in Norfolk where bears badly affected. -- in
:03:03. > :03:08.Cambridgeshire. It was devastating news. Particularly bad for the life
:03:08. > :03:13.of the River Neva. I cannot see it coming back. It needs restocking
:03:13. > :03:17.heavily to restore the confidence of the local fishermen and the
:03:17. > :03:27.confidence of people coming back to Peter Barrar. It has affected the
:03:27. > :03:35.
:03:36. > :03:40.fishing industry drastically. -- Peter Barrett. -- Peterborough.
:03:40. > :03:50.was the worst case of contaminated waterways this region has ever seen.
:03:50. > :03:50.
:03:50. > :03:57.A fine for this man's company and a warning to others. Mansir Tang is
:03:57. > :04:04.from the Environment Agency. Hundreds of fish were seen on the
:04:04. > :04:09.day dead. Thousands of fish were seen struggling and in distress. It
:04:09. > :04:14.affected 50 kilometres of the river. It had a sick and begin to impact
:04:14. > :04:24.on the ecology and life of a river. How should these chemicals have
:04:24. > :04:25.
:04:25. > :04:32.been stored? they should be safe, secure of and in a locked area.
:04:32. > :04:36.They should not have any access to outside bodies. In this case,
:04:36. > :04:42.vandalism. The company has said in all of this there was no risk to
:04:42. > :04:48.human health and a pub there was no need to stop fishing in the Wash. -
:04:48. > :04:52.- and they felt. The decision was taken by another partner
:04:52. > :04:58.organisation as a precautionary measure. The Environment Agency
:04:59. > :05:04.provided information to the palm of organisation and they acted
:05:04. > :05:11.accordingly. -- ate part that organisation. The incident was
:05:11. > :05:15.reported. They co-operated fully. The company itself was a victim of
:05:15. > :05:19.crime. Vandals attacked their premises. We do not like to see
:05:19. > :05:24.companies in this position. They need to make sure promises are safe
:05:24. > :05:28.and secure and not accessible to any acts of vandalism. Although the
:05:28. > :05:38.company has come forward and Dermot it can, they could have done much
:05:38. > :05:40.
:05:40. > :05:45.more before this incident occurred. -- done all it can. What are the
:05:45. > :05:51.long-term effects? There was a fungus side, an insecticide and the
:05:51. > :05:59.disinfectant. This has killed a lot of the insect life, which the fish
:05:59. > :06:03.feed upon. They are affected by a drop in insect population. We do
:06:03. > :06:13.not know how long these chemicals may persist within the environment.
:06:13. > :06:16.The need to take a precaution reproach in this matter. -- we need.
:06:16. > :06:20.A High Court judge hit out today after an interpreter failed to turn
:06:20. > :06:23.up for a plea hearing in the case of a man accused of a quadruple
:06:23. > :06:25.murder. Mr Justice Flaux said it was a complete disgrace that the
:06:26. > :06:34.interpreter failed to turn up for the hearing of Chinese businessman
:06:34. > :06:42.Anxiang Du. Jo Black was in court. To use a little bit of legal jargon,
:06:43. > :06:48.today was a plea and case management hearing. He walked into
:06:48. > :06:54.the court and was asked his name. He nodded. The case can go no
:06:54. > :06:58.further. The judge said a Mandarin speaking interpreter was not coming
:06:58. > :07:03.because the people who provided the service and it was not worth their
:07:03. > :07:09.while. The judge was really unhappy about at and ordered one to turn up
:07:10. > :07:17.at 2pm. The company said they could get one there for to 30 pm but the
:07:17. > :07:22.judge said that was not good enough and it was an absolute disgrace. --
:07:22. > :07:28.2:30pm. Has there been a response from capita? They said the original
:07:28. > :07:33.interpreter was not able to attend so they booked a replacement. They
:07:33. > :07:38.communicated this to be caught up in good time. They could not get
:07:38. > :07:42.back until 2:30pm. At no time did they refuse to attend court on the
:07:42. > :07:46.grounds of cost. The judge now wants a written explanation about
:07:46. > :07:50.this and the plea and case management hearing has been
:07:50. > :07:53.adjourned until July. Peterborough City Council is having to borrow
:07:53. > :07:56.�86 million to keep up with an unprecedented demand for new school
:07:56. > :08:01.places. Over the next five years, it will have to cope with 8,000 new
:08:01. > :08:11.pupils. The news comes just a day after we revealed that the city
:08:11. > :08:16.
:08:16. > :08:21.hospital's maternity services have It is clear Kneen Park academy has
:08:21. > :08:25.seen better days. The school is showing its age. It should have
:08:25. > :08:31.been rebuilt under the building schools for the future programme,
:08:32. > :08:37.which the coalition axed at a stroke in 2010. We have one of the
:08:37. > :08:42.two that got cancelled at the end of the chain. The school and the
:08:42. > :08:47.community - I understand how long we have been waiting. It was a
:08:47. > :08:50.massive frustration. Here, a new building is due to open in
:08:50. > :08:56.September and existing buildings had been refurbished since the
:08:56. > :09:01.school became an academy. They said they have got a lot of new
:09:01. > :09:08.utilities for science, especially. I am really looking forward to that.
:09:08. > :09:13.The arts department will be a big studio with massive windows.
:09:13. > :09:18.new technology can help it you learn and achieve better grades.
:09:18. > :09:22.The council has had to pick up the tab for the developments. We have
:09:22. > :09:28.just been offered 22 million over the next couple of years. That is
:09:28. > :09:33.very helpful. I need 108 million over the next five years.
:09:33. > :09:37.Peterborough City Council is having to borrow it. It is as simple as
:09:37. > :09:43.that. There is a cost to that. If you borrow 1 million, you need to
:09:43. > :09:48.find money out of the rates to do it. It is very much focused on
:09:48. > :09:51.those areas that need the most resources. What we have done in
:09:51. > :09:56.Peterborough in particular is, the new figures coming through a much
:09:56. > :10:00.more accurate about the growth in population. Peterborough will get
:10:00. > :10:09.the funding it deserves. It's boring to build schools looks set
:10:09. > :10:13.to continue. -- its borrowing. In the next five years, another 8000
:10:13. > :10:16.are needed. A task force has been set up in Luton to investigate why
:10:17. > :10:21.the number of babies who die there is so high. These the latest
:10:21. > :10:23.figures. Across the whole of England, out of every 1,000
:10:23. > :10:33.children born alive, 4.4 will die before they reach their first
:10:33. > :10:34.
:10:34. > :10:38.birthday. In Luton, that figure is higher. Five children in every
:10:38. > :10:43.1,000 die under the age of one. The difference may seem small at just
:10:43. > :10:48.0.6%. But it has worried the council and the NHS. What they want
:10:48. > :10:54.to do is to look at what are the issues around infant mortality in
:10:54. > :10:58.Luton, what can we be doing to try and tackle areas? Are we doing the
:10:58. > :11:01.right things in the council - working with partners in the Luton
:11:01. > :11:07.and Dunstable Hospital and the Luton clinical commissioning group
:11:07. > :11:12.in order to try to tackle those things? What the council wants to
:11:12. > :11:22.do is to identify all the issues and do we have the right actions
:11:22. > :11:27.and services in place? Is there more we can be done to tackle this
:11:27. > :11:30.issue. -- be doing. So, what could be causing this infant mortality?
:11:30. > :11:33.Research has shown that there are a number of contributing factors,
:11:33. > :11:36.including smoking, poverty, obesity and genetics. And it is this last
:11:36. > :11:38.point that Dr Nasreen Ali from the University of Bedfordshire says is
:11:38. > :11:41.particularly relevant to areas with a large Asian population, where
:11:41. > :11:44.marriages between cousins are traditional. It is something the
:11:44. > :11:50.task force wants to address. We are hoping to do this more formally
:11:50. > :11:54.with Luton Borough Council. This is to find or what our local community
:11:54. > :11:59.in Luton feels about cousin marriage - how much they understand
:11:59. > :12:03.about the link between cousin marriage and genetic risk and what
:12:03. > :12:10.sort of interventions they would like putting into place to support
:12:10. > :12:13.them. Is it a case of the existing interventions being improved or is
:12:13. > :12:19.there something else that we can do to support the community to make
:12:19. > :12:22.informed decisions? A Peterborough woman has appeared in court charged
:12:22. > :12:26.with the murders of three men, whose bodies were found in ditches
:12:26. > :12:28.in the city. The body of Kevin Lee was discovered on 30th March. Four
:12:28. > :12:30.days later, the bodies Lukas Slaboeski and John Chapman were
:12:30. > :12:34.found at Thorney Dyke. 30-year-old Joanna Dennehey appeared at
:12:34. > :12:37.Cambridge Crown court via video- link. She has been remanded in
:12:37. > :12:41.custody. The loss of hundreds of jobs at a Tesco distribution centre
:12:41. > :12:45.in Harlow has been raised in the House of Commons today. The town's
:12:45. > :12:48.MP, Robert Halfon, secured a debate over the rights of workers. Many