18/11/2013 Look East - West

Hello. In the programme tonight: Guilty of

triple murder, a Peterborough woman admits killing three men. Their

bodies were found dumped in ditches. That and the rest of today's biggest

stories. Rates in Northamptonshire, targeting drug dealers selling to

children. These people who are preying on our young people are

destroying their futures. It is game over for the British number one who

retires after 16 years of triumph and tears. And how to make a silver

birch shine. We are behind the seas `` scenes.

Good evening. A woman from Peterborough has

admitted murdering three men and attempting to kill two more. Joanna

Dennehy surprised her own legal team as she pleaded guilty in court. The

bodies of her victims were found in ditches in Cambridgeshire earlier

this year. 31`year`old Joanna Dennehy's seven

guilty plea to the whole court by surprise. Her barrister told the

judge that the course of the arrangement was not one they

anticipated. The bodies of her victims were found four days apart

in two locations. This year, the body of Kevin Lee was found in a

ditch near Peterborough. Four days later, the bodies of John Chapman

and Lucas Slaboszewski was `` were found in a ditch. All three had been

stabbed to death. Dennehy also pleaded guilty to the attempted

murders of another two`man, Robert Brett set and John Rogers. She also

pled guilty to preventing the decent burial of all three murder victims.

Sally joins me now. Joanna Dennehy wasn't the only one in the dock

today. There are three others accused of these murders. Alongside

her was her 47`year`old boyfriend Gary Richards, who is a security

guard. He stands at the seven foot, three inches. He denies three

charges of preventing the lawful burial of the bodies of the three

man and also denies attempting to murder two other men. Two other

defendants appeared at the hearing, but this was by video link, Leslie

Layton, who is 36, and he pledged at an earlier hearing, while Robert

Moore, who is 55, denied assisting an offender. What happens now? It is

not clear when that he will be sentenced following the police

today, because there are the coaccused in this case, but there

will be a further hearing next week. Drug dealers suspected of selling to

school children in Northamptonshire were the targets of dawn raids this

morning. 70 officers were involved, along with local teachers determined

to stop the supply of drugs like cannabis to teenagers.

These people who are preying on our young people are destroying their

futures. They are destroying their communities. That is intolerable.

For a headteacher to be briefing police officers before a raid is

unusual. It is happening not just because cannabis has been dealt to

students outside school gets, but because this classroom is the only

place big enough to brief the 7 strong team. They will be rating

houses believed to be connected to dealing cannabis. Open the door

Open the door, police! Eight man is arrested at this address for

breaching court bail. Officers also recover evidence of personal use of

cannabis and a replica handgun. Elsewhere, another two`man and a

woman are suspicious `` arrested on suspicion 's of drug dealing. I want

to weed this issue out. We have got to keep the school safe. I want to

get the message out to the low`level dealers that we are not tolerating

dealing to kids. Half of all 16 to 29`year`old kid in the UK have tried

cannabis. Children start using `` who start using by the age of 1 are

more likely to suffer a psychotic disorder by 26. What bothers me is

people who prey on younger people who find these things exciting and

are curious and can get sucked into a world and series of behaviours

that are damaging. Officers have been into local schools today,

warning of the dangers of cannabis. Research suggests it is a particular

risk to young people, because the brain is still developing.

The Parker E`Act Academy was one of those schools which had a police

visit during this morning's assembly. Earlier tonight I asked

the principal there how the students had reacted.

Some of them were shocked and very surprised, but I think others were

clearly pleased, the fact that police officers were actually

speaking to them about the matter, and treating them in a mature way I

discussing the matters with them. How are you or any of the other

teachers in the academies there noticed certain behaviour with the

peoples? `` had you or any of the other teachers. I think there have

been occasions when both academies have had to inform the police about

people who were involved in some illicit dealing with drugs at some

point outside of both of our academies, and we are able to report

back to the lease and they are able to gather the intelligence

accordingly. You and your colleague at the other Academy have also taken

very active involvement in all of this. Were you not worried that by

raising the issue so publicly it might damage the reputation of the

school? I believe the fact that the reaction would definitely be that

members of the local community as well as of course our parents who

are part of the community will be pleased that the police have mounted

the operation and also the fact that the two academies are supporting

that particular initiative. Next, to the trial of Anxiang Du,

the Chinese businessman accused of murdering a family of four from

Northamptonshire. He sobbed in court today as his defence team began

outlining their case. The Ding family was stabbed at home in

Northampton in April 2011, on the day of the Royal Wedding. The

prosecution claims it was in revenge for a business deal which had gone

sour. Our reporter has been following the case at Northampton

Crown Court. This is the first day that we have

heard his defence. That is right. The prosecution case concluded last

week. The jury had been told that Anxiang Du's defence is likely to be

one of the ministry sponsored bill that he or loss of control. 14

months after the family wasn't stabbed to death after their `` in

their home, Anxiang Du was arrested in his `` in Morocco. One of the

last people to see him was a Foreign Office official, and today that man

gave evidence, and he describes to the jury his first impressions of

Anxiang Du at that meeting to offer consular assistance. He said he was

very subdued and quiet and at times quiet and very emotional. He said

during the hour and a half meeting, they had to take regular breaks so

Anxiang Du could compose himself. He said that in broken English Anxiang

Du had try to explain some of the detailed about what happened in the

UK. He said he had been in a business deal with his friends that

have gone wrong, that he had lost a lot of money, that he had lost

everything, and he had made one final attempt to visit the Ding

family to sort things out, but he said that his friends laughed at his

face and he told the Foreign Office official that he used the words I

just went crazy and began to stipulating with his clenched fist

to make the shape of a knife, and that that point, Mister Williams

said he had to draw the meeting to a conclusion because in wasn't so

emotional, and as he left, he said, and on how me. `` because Anxiang Du

was so emotional. The jury were told he will not be taking the witness

box as part of his defence. That is of course his legal rights to do so.

The prosecution have to prove his guilt come and he does not have to

prove his innocence. He denies all four counts of murder. The case is

due to present tomorrow. An organisation `` An organisation in

Cambridge which tracks down and removes images of child abuse from

the internet is to almost treble in size. The announcement by the

Internet Watch Foundation was made at today's cyber summit in London.

In an office in a research Park four people are analyzing images

from the World Wide Web. So graphic is the content they are examining,

the staff have to have regular counselling and most of them want to

state anonymous. I see horrible things on a day to day basis. It can

be disheartening to know how much and it is out there. I can either be

part of the solution to get rid of the contents or I can pretend it is

not there, and I know it is fair. If they find a UK website hosting

illegal images, it can be closed down within the hour. If it is

overseas, they can block it in this country, but getting the image

removed will take much longer. Last year, we removed just under 10, 00

websites, of which only 35 are hosted in the UK, and that shows you

that the problem is elsewhere. Teeple say it is just a drop in the

ocean and `` people say it is just a drop in the ocean and I say that is

not good enough. But is also the attitudes of the Prime Minister who

today held a second fibre summit at Downing Street. One of the chakras

fibre summit `` fibre summit. People right across the globe will be safe

because of the actions that are betake `` are being taken today and

he wants to push this and make sure that children are safe. The money

will allow the foundation to take on several more analysts. Instead of

waiting for tip offs, they will be able to actively seek out illegal

images. If we can go out and seek it, we can actually remove loads

more content when the foundation was established in 1996, 18% were hosted

on websites in the UK. Today, that figure is just 0.3%. And ministers

say that proves the Internet Watch Foundation is making a real impact.

A mother of The roads are a bit busier than the

where in 1963. Still to come we talk to the Suffolk

tennis star Elaine about Thatcher about her decision to retire. And

Alex takes part in an unusual clean`up at the National trust.

Our special report tonight looks at the housing market and in particular

the lack of accommodation for people in the region.

Let's give you numbers. There are around 6 million people in the East

of England and that figure is going up by 1000 every week. Making is one

of the fastest`growing regions in the UK. The government estimates we

need to build about 25,000 new houses every year to cater for the

demand. But last year we only managed to build 12,000. What do we

do about it? At Medina Gardens, the tradesmen are

busy once more. Kitchen fitters, bricklayers and plasters. This

development on the outskirts of Rockhampton is one of 37 sites

currently being worked on by a person and across the East,

delivering more than 3000 new homes for which there is a ready demand.

There has been a demand, people are very nervous over the past few

years, obviously about where things were and with the availability of

different market products, the Help To Buy scheme, all it has done is

yesterday that confidence for people and maybe if people do not want to

move the four years ago, the oh no thinking there was the time to do

it. This region needs new homes because its population is rising. By

around half a million people every decade. Most of that is due to

immigration. Even now, we are not building. It is reckoned we need to

25,000 new homes per year, but last year we only got 12,000. However,

house`building is up 7% this year, the new homes are mostly going up

along the main commuter belts. The dark areas, close to the main

release and roads. Will the recovery in house`building last? This company

as a good indicator of where the market is heading will stop it puts

on the roads, drains and sewers before house builders move on and is

working on a tight in Norfolk and Suffolk. If we are busy, it would

suggest the rest of the housing industry will follow suit. It's a

good indicator that the residential market is buoyant, picking up, and

is said to have some good growth. But the pick`up has caused a

shortage of bricks and concrete blocks. This firm has doubled

production since last year. We are extremely busy and we can hardly

make enough blocks to keep up with the demand currently. People are,

regain, building homes, and ringing forward projects which were put on

hold for the last five years. In Northampton, these new homes are

being snapped up there is a long way to go before house`building back to

its prerecession peak. Let's talk to Richard. Some encouraging signs

there. But how sustainable is this recovery in house`building? I think

the recovery is pumped up by the help to buy scheme under which the

government provides loans to first`time buyers. That scheme will

have to come to an end sometime so it could all be a bit of a

short`term boost. Another concern is what is happening to the smaller

house builders. Most of the houses being built are being built by the

major house`building groups and the smaller people are finding it

difficult to get the bank lending they need but overall, it's good to

see house`building recovering at all after several years of being in the

doldrums. Richard, thank you. Every year in this country we spend ?1

billion on clearing up litter. In just one town, Wellingborough, the

bill is ?100,000. The local council decided to illustrate the scale of

the problem and took one street and cleaned just one side of it. The

other side was left unclean. So what happened? The details from Stuart

Ratcliffe. Britainmacro`poss battle with litter is nothing new. But

perhaps the tactics to get people to change their habits are. This

weekend in Wellingborough, litter pickers were picking up after

late`night drinkers but the clean`up was on just one side of the street,

and by Monday, it was clear this was a tale of two footpath. As expected,

there is litter on the floor. It is right next to where litter bins are

so they could have been used for the it's no surprise to myself. I

thought it could have been worse. The experiment is one which is being

monitored closely. Not just by the council but by shoppers in

neighbouring Northampton. I'd do wonder whether people actually drop

more letter on that street than they would normally would. Do you think

littering is getting worse in Britain? I think it is, getting very

bad. People don't care like they used to. Why'd you think that is? I

don't know. I don't think there's as much respect for where you live. I

think it quite disgusting, to be honest, no need for it, is there? At

a time when councils are tightening their belts, questions are being

asked about the true cost of litter. When you spend ?100,000 picking up

litter, at times when money is short, what could we do with that

money? There could be services we don't have to cut, and it's just

because people can't be bothered and throw it on the ground because we

will pick it up. This experiment is being repeated across the country

with similar results. But the question here is whether experiments

like this have any effect at all other than to remind us what litter

louts the British can be. Elena Baltacha announced today she was

retiring from the professional game. During his 16 year career, she

became one of our longest`running British number one players. She won

11 singles titles and was once ranked in the top 50 in the world.

She is now expected to go into coaching. We spoke to her, who told

us she made her decision because of injuries. I still love tennis. I

love competing. And I would have loved to have carried on. I still

think I could've achieved many more things, but whenever I put myself

into anything I've always given 100% and I just feel that I haven't been

able to practice. I haven't been able to push my body the way I

wanted to. And also, you know, I've only been training once a day, which

is not enough, especially if I want to improve and get better and take

on the big players. I just feel it's definitely the best time to retire

because I feel I won't be able to develop as a tennis player. Judy

Murray called to the most incredible ambassador for women's ten is in

Britain for the past 12 years. `` called you. I presume you will stay

as a great ambassador for tennis? Absolutely. It was so lovely of duty

four sub Judy is an amazing lady. She is so inspirational and one of

my major achievements that I'm always representing my country. And

also playing for Judy Murray was such an experience. She's such an

inspirational lady. Of course, everything I have banked over the

years, I want to get back to the next generation. Obviously, my

academy has to do come first, based in Ipswich, and I would dedicate

myself to that fully. But also, I want to get back to British tennis

and give children the opportunity that tennis has given me to

hopefully, you know, pastime my knowledge and hopefully leave them

alone and it is in it. Do you have any regrets or disappointments from

your years at the top? You are always going to get disappointments

along the way and I always think, if you don't, either you're not going

to be successful or you are just unbelievably lucky. I think, through

the disappointments, that's where it makes you stronger. I wouldn't

change anything if I had to do it again. I wouldn't change anything at

all. It does make you who you are and I'm glad I had those obstacles

and I managed to fulfil my potential. Great to talk to you and

we wish you the best for the future. Thanks for coming on the programme.

Thank you very much. Gardeners can do lots of things with trees,

plants, prune them and chop down but today in Cambridgeshire, they were

actually washing them. These are silver birches and innovative

Christmas they are used to provide a stunning backdrop to The National

Trust centre. Alex has been to see how they do it four sub as the

winter weather sets in, the gardens at Anglesey Abbey near Cambridge are

being brought back to life. The team is hard giving the silver birch

trees a bit of a face`lift. Over time they build up a green algae and

were just trying to get them cleaned up with fresh washers, get them

looking nice and back to their stunning white. It was established

here in Anglesey Abbey 16 years ago and these are Himalayan silver

birches and they have been specially selected for the brilliant white

bark. And according to head gardener, Richard Todd, they will be

the centrepiece of the winter light Festival. It opens next week. These

will be lit. This is the climax of the whole event. We are lighting up

over one mile of the whole garden with colouring themes, and all sorts

of amazing features for the every tree will be lit up and away you

have never seen before. Last, 7500 people turned up to see the winter

lights including photographer Alistair Grant.

Tickets are selling out fast. See spectacular scenes like this. I came

around the corner and I saw a wall of the good pink light, really

nothing I've seen. Hard to describe unless you were there. The colours

were just vivid, fantastic, really, really bright and, of course, it

really showed off the bark of the silver birches to its fullest

extent. With over 100 trees to clean and only one day to do it, an extra

pair of hands is needed. But we will have to wait until next week before

we see their full transformation. They look great, don't they? Time

now for a look at the weather. A rather gloomy day and through the

afternoon, cold air advancing towards us from the north`west. It

is actually behind this band of rain. It's a very narrow band, as

you can see, but it's moving pretty quickly, so over the next few hours,

well, it's going to race across our region and I think by about

midnight, the last of it will clear the Essex coast. Then you can see

dryer skies following behind. Along with much colder air. These are the

low temperatures we're expecting in built`up areas and the coast but

rural spots could top down to `3. A widespread frost. A very cold night.

I the end of outcome of the wind will be light moderate,

north`westerly. `` by the end of the night. Wet and windy weather on

Wednesday. Tomorrow, high`pressure means cold, frosty but a sunny start

the day four sub much cloud tomorrow. We could see a few

showers, mainly affecting the north`east corner and they could

have a bit of sleet or hail mixed in. Temperatures, well, despite the

sunshine, struggling to around five Celsius at the very best. I have to

say, those modern north`westerly winds certainly not make me feel any

warmer. Through the afternoon into the evening, a few showers around

but eventually they will fade away so, for many of us, it is a dry and

to the day. As we head into Wednesday, I mentioned that weather

system on the pressure chart, it will bring longer spells of rain

during Wednesday morning. But, by the afternoon, to the south`east we

will see sunny skies following behind. And then, on Thursday,

decent spells for many of us, another chilly day in the northerly

wind, but it could dry in the summer showers. And again, some sleet or

hail mixed in. But, by Friday, those showers will be few and far between

and, for most of us, another chilly day. The wind easing down a touch.

And some cold nights on the cards. Tonight and tomorrow night.

Particularly cold. Thank you very much. A big thank you

to all of you who supported children in need over the weekend. We always

do very well in this region and we can confirm we raised ?2.2 million

and that is a record. We will leave you with some highlights. Bye bye.

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