:00:00. > :00:13.That is all from BBC News At Six, I will be back with more
:00:14. > :00:23.Welcome to look East. Tonight, long jail terms for a drugs and money
:00:24. > :00:31.laundering gang based in Luton which spread across the world. That and
:00:32. > :00:34.the rest of today's top stories The jury considers its verdict in the
:00:35. > :00:41.case of a man accused of murdering a family of four. New plans for the
:00:42. > :00:46.old hospital, a multi`million`pound proposal, homes and a school.
:00:47. > :00:49.And 28 days until Christmas. What are we bang and where? `` are
:00:50. > :00:59.we buying? First tonight, a criminal gang based
:01:00. > :01:03.in Bedfordshire has been sentenced to a total of 67 years in prison for
:01:04. > :01:07.drug running and money laundering. They would smuggle in drugs like
:01:08. > :01:16.heroin and cannabis from Holland and Pakistan before laundering the
:01:17. > :01:18.proceeds through Dubai. When they were arrested, more than ?140,0 0
:01:19. > :01:25.was seized from one of the defendant's houses. They arrived at
:01:26. > :01:32.court with their cases packed. A look on going, drug dealers, money
:01:33. > :01:37.laundress. One of their number sentenced while still on the run.
:01:38. > :01:42.Four members of the same family smuggled in huge quantities of
:01:43. > :01:48.drugs, heroin, ecstasy, said in the cement blocks is cannabis shipped in
:01:49. > :01:54.from Holland. Investigators say these criminals were one of the most
:01:55. > :01:58.sophisticated in the UK. It is taken a number of years for us to fully
:01:59. > :02:04.understand their activities and the results we see today are the
:02:05. > :02:09.culmination of years of effort. The five are part of a larger crime
:02:10. > :02:15.ring. The men, secretly filmed in this drug ring in Luton, are already
:02:16. > :02:20.behind bars. More than eight kilos of heroin is handed over. Undercover
:02:21. > :02:24.officers moved in. One dealer is pursued down the street and rugby
:02:25. > :02:30.tackled. A van driver tries to escape but is blocked. Trapped
:02:31. > :02:37.industry, the man is surrounded by police. They move in and make the
:02:38. > :02:42.arrest. That drugs bust took days in this Luton cul`de`sac and over five
:02:43. > :02:46.years they gang dealt very successfully, swapping drugs for
:02:47. > :02:53.cash in numerous locations, laundering millions of pounds. Along
:02:54. > :03:00.with bags of drugs, officers seized ?900,000 in cash. This tendency
:03:01. > :03:01.today brings to an end one of the biggest drugs investigations in
:03:02. > :03:05.recent years `` the sentencing today.
:03:06. > :03:08.The jury has retired to consider its verdict in the case of the man
:03:09. > :03:11.accused of murdering a family of four in Northampton. Anxiang Du has
:03:12. > :03:15.denied murder, though he has admitted killing the Ding family in
:03:16. > :03:28.April 2011. Today, the judge summed up the evidence for the jury. Yes,
:03:29. > :03:33.the jury retired to consider its verdict around 3:45pm. It will
:03:34. > :03:40.continue deliberations in the morning. The judge in this case
:03:41. > :03:43.summed up in some detail the evidence they have heard throughout
:03:44. > :03:48.this trial, which began on November the 12th, especially over the
:03:49. > :03:55.psychiatric evidence the jury have heard. Anxiang Du's defence was that
:03:56. > :03:58.he was suffering from a depressive illness which one parental
:03:59. > :04:04.psychiatrist said could have been a significant contributory factor to
:04:05. > :04:10.the killings. The prosecution say this was a premeditated, preplanned
:04:11. > :04:15.murder, and that is the question the jury have to consider on all four
:04:16. > :04:20.counts of murder. Was this premeditated or was it simply a case
:04:21. > :04:23.of manslaughter on the grounds of loss of control or diminished
:04:24. > :04:29.responsibility? Throughout the trial, Anxiang Du, surrounded by
:04:30. > :04:33.security officers, sat in the dock listening to proceedings from his
:04:34. > :04:39.interpreter, often with his head bowed off his face in his hands
:04:40. > :04:44.Just a few feet away in the public guarantee `` gallery, Helen Ding's
:04:45. > :04:51.brother and father who have flown from finer also followed proceedings
:04:52. > :04:56.through a translator. It has been a packed public gallery, members of
:04:57. > :05:00.the small community in which were the family lived sat in that gallery
:05:01. > :05:05.at various points during the trial. The jury will continue its
:05:06. > :05:07.deliberations in the morning. Next tonight, the
:05:08. > :05:10.multi`million`pound redevelopment of a huge part of central Peterborough.
:05:11. > :05:14.The 23`acre former District Hospital site has finally been sold for more
:05:15. > :05:18.than ?7 million to a major developer. The move's being seen as
:05:19. > :05:29.a sign that the city is coming out of recession. Prime city centre real
:05:30. > :05:33.estate, some of the best in the country. After three idle years a
:05:34. > :05:41.deal is finally done. The site has been bought by a company called
:05:42. > :05:44.Lands Improvement Holdings, which specialises in developing Brownfield
:05:45. > :05:50.sites. They have released little detail of what will be all clear but
:05:51. > :05:53.it will include new homes, the memorial hospital wing behind me
:05:54. > :06:00.will be kept, and there will be a new primary school. But with almost
:06:01. > :06:04.30,000 people moving here in ten years, is the city growing too
:06:05. > :06:11.fast? It is part of the city centre living policy and good news for the
:06:12. > :06:13.city. Our plan is for it to grow, we have a plan registered with the
:06:14. > :06:18.planning department, our local development plan of its for the
:06:19. > :06:25.growth of the city so Peterborough is growing well. The ?7.7 million
:06:26. > :06:29.sale of the new hospital `` the old hospital will help the new one,
:06:30. > :06:34.which notches up debts every year. Managers came under attack from
:06:35. > :06:41.unions for the time it has taken to sell. The property market collapsed
:06:42. > :06:48.before the old hospital had closed but the plans for the new hospital
:06:49. > :06:52.as in funding from selling the old hospital in a buoyant housing market
:06:53. > :06:57.and that has not transpired, so we have a lot less but we got a fair
:06:58. > :07:04.market price. The regeneration of the area is seen as a sign of more
:07:05. > :07:08.to come. The west of the city is the main thoroughfare into
:07:09. > :07:13.Peterborough. If we replaced the drab derelict building with new
:07:14. > :07:16.quality housing and the school, add to that the renaissance of the city
:07:17. > :07:22.centre and the railway station, new stores in the station quarter, it is
:07:23. > :07:25.a positive sign that Peterborough is emerging from recession and is
:07:26. > :07:30.confident about the future. More detailed plans will be revealed in
:07:31. > :07:34.the New Year that bulldozers won't move in until the summer.
:07:35. > :07:37.Research carried out by the University of Bedfordshire suggests
:07:38. > :07:40.that a significant level of sexual violence is being carried on
:07:41. > :07:42.children by other children. The university was commissioned by the
:07:43. > :07:45.Children's Commissioner, who's investigating child exploitation and
:07:46. > :07:48.gangs. Its report says sexual violence in gang`affected areas is
:07:49. > :07:51.often seen as normal and inevitable, and can be used as a form of
:07:52. > :07:56.punishment retribution and initiation. Earlier, I spoke to
:07:57. > :07:59.Professor Jenny Pearce of the University of Bedfordshire, and put
:08:00. > :08:07.it to her that the report revealed shocking evidence.
:08:08. > :08:12.They are very shocking and they are worrying. They sent a message to all
:08:13. > :08:18.of us that we really need to start to listen to young people more. We
:08:19. > :08:25.interviewed 188 young people from sites across the UK and 65% of them
:08:26. > :08:29.were talking about serious levels of sexual explication and violence that
:08:30. > :08:34.they experienced, not necessarily from adults but within their own
:08:35. > :08:38.communities. We're talking sexual violence being used to humiliate
:08:39. > :08:43.young people who have maybe failed on a deal or to punish a young
:08:44. > :08:48.person or maybe to use young women as a means of initiating other young
:08:49. > :08:52.men into a gang, so four or five young men might rape a young woman
:08:53. > :08:59.as a means of wanting them to gather as a gang. Clearly a very difficult
:09:00. > :09:04.and sensitive subject, so how difficult was it to put this survey
:09:05. > :09:09.together? It was really difficult. We had to think about the safety of
:09:10. > :09:13.the young people but also the safety of the practitioners engaged in the
:09:14. > :09:17.research. We are pleased we did do the research. We worked with young
:09:18. > :09:21.people to produce films so they themselves gave visual imagery of
:09:22. > :09:27.what sort of things they thought what the happen. One key message to
:09:28. > :09:31.young people said was that they needed space to start to talk, so
:09:32. > :09:37.some young women who experienced sexual violence, 46% of those
:09:38. > :09:40.surveyed said they thought young women deserved their sexual violence
:09:41. > :09:44.they received, that they were asking for it, but those jungle in
:09:45. > :09:50.themselves said once they get a label, once they are called a
:09:51. > :09:54.sketch, they are available for any young man to rape or abuse. What do
:09:55. > :10:01.you hope by the solutions from this? We have a number of
:10:02. > :10:06.recommendations from the young people. They say that they had young
:10:07. > :10:11.people to talk to who have maybe been through the experience, been
:10:12. > :10:14.trained up to become mentors, working alongside the police to
:10:15. > :10:18.bring the police into the neighbourhoods so young people feel
:10:19. > :10:24.they have someone they can trust, they said they might start to talk.
:10:25. > :10:28.The other thing we are arguing is that we need a comprehensive whole
:10:29. > :10:34.school approach that will provide spaces for young people to talk not
:10:35. > :10:39.just a one hour sex and relationship education class, however important
:10:40. > :10:41.that is. The last thing we are arguing is that when local
:10:42. > :10:45.authorities or a law enforcement agencies look at gun and knife
:10:46. > :10:51.crime, they also think about sex crime. The sexual offences committed
:10:52. > :10:56.against young women, so when we look at gang nominal is, young men
:10:57. > :10:59.involved in gangs, think about his sister, his girlfriend and
:11:00. > :11:06.understand that those young women will BBC links sexual violence. The
:11:07. > :11:10.balance is used as a means of humiliation and control, so we need
:11:11. > :11:12.to look at the ways that can be experienced by young people.
:11:13. > :11:15.The former leader of the English Defence League has today pleaded
:11:16. > :11:18.guilty to conspiracy to commit mortgage fraud. Tommy Robinson,
:11:19. > :11:20.whose real name is Stephen Yaxley`Lennon from Luton, admitted
:11:21. > :11:23.two counts of conspiring to commit fraud by misrepresentation against
:11:24. > :11:29.the Abbey and the Halifax building societies. Lennon, who left the EDL
:11:30. > :11:33.last month, will be sentenced in the New Year.
:11:34. > :11:37.There are some fixtures involving some of our football teams this
:11:38. > :11:39.evening to tell you about. In League One, Peterborough travel to
:11:40. > :11:46.Brentford, while Colchester entertain MK Dons. Stevenage are at
:11:47. > :11:52.Gillingham. In League Two, bottom of the table, Northampton travel up to
:11:53. > :11:56.Chesterfield. Full coverage is on your local radio stations.
:11:57. > :11:59.Residents in the South Cambridgshire village of Sawston are being asked
:12:00. > :12:02.for their views about a proposed new football stadium. Cambridge City
:12:03. > :12:05.want to build a new 3,000`capacity stadium with floodlit grass pitch
:12:06. > :12:07.and a full`sized training pitch The club submitted the planning
:12:08. > :12:09.application last month, despite South Cambridgeshire District
:12:10. > :12:17.Council already ruling the scheme out of the local plan. Time to hand
:12:18. > :12:34.risk is very low because it's a non`human strain of the bug.
:12:35. > :12:39.There are now 29 shopping days till Christmas and already the battle on
:12:40. > :12:43.the High Street ` and on your laptop ` is starting to hot up. So tonight,
:12:44. > :12:47.we're taking a look at three very different shopping venues to try to
:12:48. > :12:50.work out what the trends might be in this region. In a moment, an
:12:51. > :12:54.out`of`town shopping village in Essex, an independent book shop in
:12:55. > :12:57.Suffolk and a city centre mall in Peterborough. But first, how much
:12:58. > :12:59.are we spending this year? Here's Jenny Kirk.
:13:00. > :13:01.It's a month until Christmas and market analysts have started
:13:02. > :13:05.predicting what kind of a season it'll be for retailers. This year,
:13:06. > :13:09.for the first time, 20% of goods are expected to be bought online. That's
:13:10. > :13:12.a market worth around ?15 billion. But while the economy is improving,
:13:13. > :13:15.we're still being cautious with our money, only expecting to spend
:13:16. > :13:21.around ?30 more on food, travel and gifts than last year. But things are
:13:22. > :13:23.looking up. It's expected to be the strongest growth since 2007 and
:13:24. > :13:27.retail researchers are anticipating ?2`3 billion more will be spent in
:13:28. > :13:34.Britain this December compared to last. The big change this year is in
:13:35. > :13:38.how we shop. We're not just online, we're on the move. There's expected
:13:39. > :13:42.to be a 337% increase in the number of people using their tablets and
:13:43. > :13:46.mobiles to buy gifts and we're not just using them ` we're buying them
:13:47. > :13:58.for presents. Sales are set to increase by 538% this Christmas. But
:13:59. > :14:01.what about the impact on the High Street? Well, while it can offer
:14:02. > :14:05.Christmas lights and Santa's grottos to tempt people in, and shoppers can
:14:06. > :14:09.touch the items and talk to an assistant about them, it is at the
:14:10. > :14:13.mercy of the weather, and it seems that comfort of buying and ease of
:14:14. > :14:17.delivery is appealing to many of us. 34% of shoppers say they will buy
:14:18. > :14:22.most of their presents online this year. Some councils are trying to
:14:23. > :14:25.buck the trend. This morning, free parking was announced for Great
:14:26. > :14:28.Yarmouth on Sundays, and in Bedford, it's now free on Saturdays.
:14:29. > :14:30.Regionally, the CBI business lobbying organisation in Newmarket
:14:31. > :14:33.reports consumer confidence and spending is growing, and a sign that
:14:34. > :14:39.consumers are feeling more confident is the change in shops expecting a
:14:40. > :14:44.profitable Christmas. Last year, the budget ones did particularly well,
:14:45. > :14:46.like QD stores, Argos and Primark. This year, online retailers, like
:14:47. > :14:50.Amazon and the department stores, are expecting to see a 16% rise in
:14:51. > :14:55.sales, and the children's sector is also expecting to do well. There's
:14:56. > :15:03.been a baby boom during the recession as fewer of us go out.
:15:04. > :15:07.So, for our first report tonight, we're off to Freeport in Braintree.
:15:08. > :15:14.It's an out`of`town shopping centre with a difference. The details from
:15:15. > :15:20.Richard Daniel. Freeport Braintree, they call it a
:15:21. > :15:31.designer Village. What it means is national chains sending end of line
:15:32. > :15:36.products. This is M, but not as you might know it. It's MNS outlet.
:15:37. > :15:41.No familiar signs but plenty of shoppers on the hunt for a bargain.
:15:42. > :15:49.I have seen a couple of bits over there I like, tops and things like
:15:50. > :15:59.that. Definitely up for a bargain. My wife likes MNS. So are things
:16:00. > :16:05.finally looking up? Here, shops won't tell us precise figures. But
:16:06. > :16:11.having asked around, it seems that sales are up by 10% on the same week
:16:12. > :16:18.last year. A step away, Molton Brown. Plenty of seasonal smelly is
:16:19. > :16:28.for the stocking. People are in the spirit. People want to buy. But this
:16:29. > :16:35.is not a spending boom. The number of people shopping here may be up by
:16:36. > :16:40.5%, but with household budgets shrinking, people are very cautious
:16:41. > :16:46.about what they buy. We see an uplift of 4`5%. People will come to
:16:47. > :16:50.the centre once or twice a year but come to the centre once or twice a
:16:51. > :16:54.year but comeback at Christmas. The Christmas rush still lies ahead.
:16:55. > :16:59.They are not talking record sales here but things are finally on the
:17:00. > :17:02.up it seems. OK, something very different now `
:17:03. > :17:06.an independent book shop. For the last few years, life for them has
:17:07. > :17:11.been pretty tough. Many have already gone. From Suffolk, this report from
:17:12. > :17:23.Kevin Burch. The high Street, most of the shops
:17:24. > :17:29.here are independent. The book shop has been in business since 1949 and
:17:30. > :17:37.been voted independent book shop of the year. Its present owners are
:17:38. > :17:41.John and Mary Janes. We bought the shopping 2000 and a lot of people
:17:42. > :17:49.said, you are very unwise. Everyone will buy everything on the Internet.
:17:50. > :17:56.But we did by the book shop and we have had 13.5 very happy years. They
:17:57. > :18:01.stock 12,000 titles. They can't compete on price with the Giants but
:18:02. > :18:04.can offer a wide range and advice. As for digital reading, they say
:18:05. > :18:09.there's nothing like getting your hands on the real thing. You can see
:18:10. > :18:14.where you are in a book and can see how far where you have got. If you
:18:15. > :18:20.are using an electronic device, you have no idea where you are! It's a
:18:21. > :18:26.beautiful thing, on the whole, and a very well evolved object. In small
:18:27. > :18:38.towns, book shops definitely have a place. You feel as if you are part
:18:39. > :18:42.of the whole creation of the book and you can just enjoy feeling the
:18:43. > :18:52.book and looking at it, and without book, it becomes impersonal. East
:18:53. > :19:00.Anglia might be a place where book shops will remain. It is a part of
:19:01. > :19:04.England were maybe people value the independent sector. The reality,
:19:05. > :19:14.though, is that other book shops in the area have already shot.
:19:15. > :19:17.Finally, the Queensgate Centre in the centre of Peterborough. The
:19:18. > :19:28.message here ` Christmas shopping is happening earlier every year. Louise
:19:29. > :19:33.Hubball spent the morning there. As the Christmas rush gets underway,
:19:34. > :19:40.look around here. Here is something new. There is not a vacant store
:19:41. > :19:44.inside. What we have seen this year is great retailer demand. We fully
:19:45. > :19:50.let for the first time in a few years. That is transpiring in
:19:51. > :19:54.improving foot fall and sales for retailers. It feels busy here and
:19:55. > :20:00.people are buying. The centre says they have had an extra 250,000
:20:01. > :20:04.shoppers compare to this time last year, so it seems the race has
:20:05. > :20:10.started earlier to grab that perfect gift. Last November, the big news
:20:11. > :20:14.here was the launch of prime arc. Now that manage `` now that magic
:20:15. > :20:23.seems to have rubbed off on other retailers. Have you started early? I
:20:24. > :20:34.certainly have. I started in January! Hit the sales. Are you
:20:35. > :20:42.feeling more confident this year? Yes, because now I am working, so
:20:43. > :20:56.it's easier for me. I see advertising and early decorations.
:20:57. > :21:05.For me, some clothes. I've got five grandchildren and two
:21:06. > :21:09.great`grandchildren. Mad! This has a potential catchment area of 1
:21:10. > :21:12.million visitors. People are shopping for bargains but they are
:21:13. > :21:16.buying and seem to be doing it earlier.
:21:17. > :21:25.James Brown is an accountant from Grant Thornton based in Suffolk.
:21:26. > :21:28.From your point of view, what are you hearing about how well
:21:29. > :21:35.businesses are doing this year? Things are on the up. All evidence
:21:36. > :21:42.points to that. We recently ran our annual report and growth in Suffolk
:21:43. > :21:47.alone was up 6%. It's more about what profit people are making on the
:21:48. > :21:51.back of that growth but confidence is returning. We hear a lot in the
:21:52. > :21:55.news about government figures being more positive and the economy being
:21:56. > :22:01.on the up, but what it boils down to for retail is how much people feel
:22:02. > :22:07.they have in their pockets. You have got to competing forces: Good news
:22:08. > :22:12.about the economy, people are buoyed about house prices going up, people
:22:13. > :22:17.are hearing good things about employment, therefore thinking,
:22:18. > :22:23.shall we make that purchase? But the end of the day, inflation is still
:22:24. > :22:29.rising quicker than earnings growth and therefore, in real terms, you
:22:30. > :22:33.are probably a little worse off. You put that together with the
:22:34. > :22:36.high`profile energy price increases, and psychologically,
:22:37. > :22:49.that's not good place the consumer to be. Makes them feel insecure. As
:22:50. > :22:54.far as the online versus high Street, we've heard how online sales
:22:55. > :23:02.are going up year`on`year. How bad is that getting for the high street?
:23:03. > :23:11.Online retail is 20% of the market and it's growing. The high street is
:23:12. > :23:17.actually been pretty good. Over the last few years, they have had to
:23:18. > :23:20.fight. It has been innovative and `` in its offering and pricing. It has
:23:21. > :23:26.tried to make the shopping experience more entertaining. Local
:23:27. > :23:33.authorities are trying to help by making sure that roadworks were
:23:34. > :23:36.closed before the onset of the Christmas shopping season because
:23:37. > :23:40.you don't want people waking up on a Saturday, thinking, I don't want to
:23:41. > :23:45.go into town because I can't face the traffic. And so, that's all good
:23:46. > :23:52.stuff. The big test will be the weather. We heard in one of those
:23:53. > :23:55.reports that may be in this region we value the independent sector
:23:56. > :24:03.more, but how does this region compared to other regions? I'm a big
:24:04. > :24:11.advocate of East Anglia, but there is evidence to show we're doing all
:24:12. > :24:19.right. Last week, the British retail Consortium released figures saying
:24:20. > :24:22.that in October, footfall fell year`on`year by 3%. In East Anglia,
:24:23. > :24:30.it was the only region which went up.
:24:31. > :24:49.Let's start with a beautiful sunset. We have been in a fairly static
:24:50. > :24:54.weather pattern for the last few days. There are subtle changes
:24:55. > :24:58.underway, and already, we have got this warm front heading southwards.
:24:59. > :25:04.It doesn't mean it will turn warm but there will be milder air behind
:25:05. > :25:08.it. Having said that, we have had a lot of cloud around tonight. There
:25:09. > :25:14.are gaps in the cloud, allowing temperatures to drop. Certainly
:25:15. > :25:19.possible we may get a touch of ground frost. The general trend will
:25:20. > :25:31.be for increasing amounts of cloud to move in. Also, patchy, light rain
:25:32. > :25:35.expected. Quite damp conditions. This will take its time to clear,
:25:36. > :25:43.but across the northern half, it will clear away, leaving cloud. The
:25:44. > :25:47.northern half may be seeing something brighter into the
:25:48. > :25:53.afternoon, but across the south eastern half, a lot of cloud. The
:25:54. > :25:59.numbers tomorrow will be slightly higher: Eight or nine Celsius, that
:26:00. > :26:05.if you are stuck in the cloud, it will not necessarily make it feel
:26:06. > :26:09.warmer. The winds will be light, and as you see that brightness starting
:26:10. > :26:13.to break through. Then we are into one next change in pressure pattern
:26:14. > :26:19.because the high pressure that has stood firm is showing signs of
:26:20. > :26:24.moving. It's moving westwards and you can see this area of low
:26:25. > :26:30.pressure. That will move southwards and push this cold front down. It
:26:31. > :26:34.will introduce cooler air but the sauce is mid`Atlantic air so it is
:26:35. > :26:40.not particularly cold. What will make it feel cold is the strength of
:26:41. > :26:45.the wind. Certainly, by the end of the week, it will feel colder.
:26:46. > :26:50.Thursday brings us a fairly cloudy day. There will be some breaks
:26:51. > :26:54.appearing. Temperatures still holding up to eight degrees, and
:26:55. > :27:03.then we start afresh and wind. Maybe a few spots of rain, but not
:27:04. > :27:08.particularly active. A little cooler for Saturday. Still quite windy and
:27:09. > :27:13.we see the return of cold nights Friday and Saturday night.