27/02/2012 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

Welcome to Monday's Look North. Tonight: Heartbreak for the family

who thought they had found their missing daughter after 30 years. A

suspended jail sentence for the man who racially abused footballers on

Twitter. I am staying put says the

campaigner who is staging a sit-in on the wreck of an historic ship.

And how London 2012 has hit Cumbria's summer tourist trade.

In sport not much to celebrate unless you are a Carlisle fan. The

Blues are back in the play-off It is a heartbreaking story with a

cruel twist. Katrice Lee was just two years old when she disappeared

from a supermarket in Germany 30 years ago. Her family never gave up

hope of finding her, so you can imagine how they felt when just two

weeks ago a woman came forward claiming to be Katrice. But it

turned out to be a false alarm. Katrice disappeared on her second

birthday. Her family were in a shop buying things for her party when

she vanished. For the last 30 years her father remained convinced she

was still alive, then they were contacted by a woman claiming to be

Katrice. You get a tingle at the back of your neck. You are hoping,

is this it? But you have learnt to control those emotions and you are

frightened to let yourself go and believe 100% this is it. That is

how you feel. There were a number of similarities and the woman said

she never felt right in her own family, but she was not Katrice.

The claim comes after the Royal Military Police promised to re-

examine the case. Katrice's mother returned to Paderborn in Germany

and went to the place where her daughter went missing. Standing

there I am back in November 1981 and I have a small child in my arms.

That small child is my daughter. I know she will be a grown woman now.

But to me and my memory she is still that small two-year-old child.

Sorry. The German police had claimed Katrice had left the busy

supermarket without being noticed, then walked 250 yards down the road

and despite being terrified of water headed for the river and

drowned, but nobody was ever found. Our belief is as strong as it was

on day one. We have always believed she was taken as a substitute child,

somebody took her, stole her, she is now living another life.

Computer technology has been used to show how she may look now, but

30 years after their daughter's disappearance the family are still

fighting the authorities. They have been denied the files from the

original investigation because the MoD says it would have a

prejudicial effect on any subsequent trial.

A Sunderland football fan who racially abused Newcastle United

players on Twitter has been given a suspended jail sentence. Peter

Copeland, 29, from West Rainton, pleaded guilty to two offences

under the Malicious Communications Act. He was ordered to do 150 hours

of community service as well. Newcastle United's success this

season has sparked rival reek from Sunderland fans, but banter on

forums can turn abusive and when Sunderland fan Peter Copeland

posted racist comments on the social network Twitter he was

reported to the police. He admitted the offences under the

Malicious Communications Act. Since then, Newcastle United has

commented and said they were appalled by the comments. The

magistrate presiding said they were grossly offensive and justified a

prison sentence and he sentenced him to four months in prison,

suspended for 18 months. This is not an isolated case.

Newcastle striker Sammy Ameobi has been subjected to racist tweets and

Sunderland striker Fraizer Campbell has also been racially abused on

Twitter. Meanwhile, I Newcastle student is back in court on April

charged with racist comments directed at Stan Collymore.

Some breaking news and Hartlepool's mayor, Stuart Drummond, has sacked

six Labour members of his own Cabinet because they did not attend

a full council meeting to support the budget proposals. Richard

Thomas is in our Teesside newsroom now. What has gone on? This is all

about money and what is a difficult time for local authorities. Last

Thursday was that time to rubber- stamp the Budget, but these six

councillors did not turn up to that meeting. That meant amendments put

forward by the Labour Party, which these six party members belong to,

they were pushed through instead, and the mayor Stuart Drummond, who

is independent, and he was left with a budget he did not want.

has been the reaction from the councillors who have been sacked?

They are entitled to an opinion. course and that is why they are

elected to the council, but they are members of the Cabinet as well

and are bound by collective responsibility to act on important

decisions. Stewart Drummond said he did what he did with a heavy heart

and he was disappointed. He said all the Cabinet members were

extremely good at their jobs, but when they join the Cabinet he asks

for loyalty and to put party politics at arm's length and he

said he had no choice. We have spoken to one of the six

councillors, Chris Simmons, and he says he is sad at what happened.

What happens to those six vacant positions now? Some things do not

move very fast and it will be a few months before anything is decided.

There are local elections in May and none of these positions will be

filled until after these elections and the slack has been left and it

will be filled by the existing Cabinet members and the mayor

himself. A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a woman's

body was found in Brough in Cumbria this morning. Police were called to

Black Bull Lane just before 8 o'clock. Police are questioning a

local man on suspicion of murder. We are trying to establish the

movements of this lady and this gentleman was taken into custody

last night and this morning we are trying to piece together the

movements of the individuals and to sort them. The Independent Police

Complaints Commission is investigating after a woman was

stabbed to death in Newcastle. Sarah Gosling, 41, was found

stabbed to death inside the house in Tewkesbury Road on Saturday. Ian

Hope, 52, has been charged with her murder.

At campaigner from Sunderland has once again occupied the wreck of an

historic ship and this time Peter Maddison says he is prepared for a

lengthy sit-in to stop HMAS Adelaide being transported to

Australia. He has spent years fighting to have the world's oldest

surviving clipper returned to Sunderland.

At first glance it is hard to see why this is worth fighting for.

HMAS Adelaide may have been rotting in a Scottish yard for 20 years,

but now she is the centre for a tug of war. Sport by the Australians,

she is due to be transported, but last night Sunderland campaigner

Peter manners and staged a last ditch bid to have her returned to

the Weir instead. He has occupied the ship and says he will stay

there. Peter Maddison has been fighting for 20 years to have HMAS

Adelaide brought back to Sunderland and there are good reasons to do so.

It was built here in 1864, it is older than the Cutty Sark and there

could be tourism potential from having the ship back on the Weir.

am sorry to say I think what he has done is too little and too late,

but I have sympathy for him. Money will count, the Australians have

got the money to take this and I can understand why they want it.

Perhaps it is a sad reflection on what will be seen as a lack of

vision on the part of Wearside. Peter Maddison has staged a sit-in

on the ship before. She is due to leave port Australia in around one

month. He says he will stay put to make sure that never happens.

More on that tomorrow. It was always hoped the Olympic Games

would be a welcome boost for every part of the UK, not just London.

But that one not be the case for parts of Cumbria. Businesses in the

Lake District have said tens of thousands of pounds of bookings

have already been lost because of the Games this summer is because

some of its biggest fans are staying away.

Hill Top Farm near Hawkshead, the home of Beatrix Potter. It is a

must-see destination for some of the 15,000 Japanese tourists who

come to the Lakes to see Peter Rabbit and Friends. But this year

it could be different. It is an unintended consequence of the

Olympics. It has direct impact on other parts of the country.

Japanese tourists come on organised tours of the UK, ending their trip

in London, but hotel prices there this summer are six times the

normal price, so it tour operators are cancelling and that means a

knock-on for the Lakes. So since the start of 2012, I would say it

is in excess of �10,000. We can always fill the weekends with

weddings, but when you start getting cancellations in the week,

it is more difficult to fill the empty rooms. On the lake it is the

same story. The slots that clash with the Olympics have been

cancelled. At the moment it is in the small number of thousands of

bookings, but it is a bit difficult to quantify. It is OK to measure

the bookings that have been cancelled, but it is harder to

estimate the bookings that never materialised. One operator who

normally brings 5000 Japanese to the Lakes told me they have no

tours planned during the Games. Next month a �4 million TV

advertising campaign begins to fill some of the gaps left by the

Japanese and the Government believes that the exposure of the

Olympics will have positive benefits everywhere. The kinds of

people coming here will be different and the reasons they are

coming here will be different, but that has huge opportunity in it, as

well as some risks. Nobody should be thinking they have got to take a

hit. There are big opportunities out there. It will be a nervous few

months as the clock ticks down to the opening ceremony. It will be

after the Games are over that we will truly know whether there will

be celebrations or commiserations in the Lakes. You can see more on

that tonight at 7:30pm. Still to come: Dornock joins me for

a team talk and temperatures in the teens. We have another mild week

Why it there are high hopes for Catterick Garrison.

There is something satisfying about making bread. Foreign next

infantryman, it represents a significant career change. It is

different to what I am used to. I enjoy cooking and Peking. I want to

do a professional cookery course. This has been set up in Catterick

to give veterans vocational training for a catering career.

addition to the vocational training, we give them accredited training.

They get customer service training. The professionals have a long

bakery tradition, producing law this and the most demanding

conditions. It is a challenging environment. It is hot and not very

nice to work in. Artisan baking, that is posh bread to me and you.

Selling these and an army camp? He looked delicious, but not being of

sufficient rank, that is all I can tell you.

Paddington Bear has long been a fan but his passion for marmalade is

spreading. 1,700 preserve makers made the annual marmalade

competition this weekend. Marmalade, as far as I can see.

They were sent for the annual celebration and contest. In seven

years, their entries have grown from 60 to almost 2000.

festival started a renaissance. I do not think people concentrate on

it. It used to be a spread but now it it is a key thing in breakfast.

The self-sufficiency is a good thing. This is a celebration of

self-sufficiency. To take a basic ingredient and turn them into

something extraordinary makes you feel in control of life. Entry fees

from every category -- category quarter charity. The winner came

from across the region and even as far as Singapore. These are

national preserve judges and have spent four days judging the entries.

I will see what they make of mind. It has not got a label on. It is

not too bad. The jar should be filled to the top. Congratulations.

Who's to say whether the unsung heroines of the festival were just

being nice? It was one of those weekends. We

found a silver lining at Brunton Park.

We nearly did not have a single winner.

The Blues came to the rescue. It is 366 miles from your bill to

Carlisle. They were a goal down just past the

that one. Top marks to Paddy Madden.

Back came the Oval. This was true- There was a reality check for

Newcastle fans. The reality is that the Magpies' home ground will be

changed to another name. A coffin was carried to the game.

When they kicked off, it look like out.

This was Wolves' first came under the caretaker manager. It was spot-

on. The Magpies still have Europe The most important period is now.

We let it slip in the second half. The point could be very important

this season. We might get lucky. Elsewhere, possibly dreaming of the

not lost a game all season. They were pulverised.

This one finished it off. Not the best preparation for Sunday's Derby.

Darren Bent and Wayne Rainey and Frazier Campbell could make his

international debut. It was nothing really. I changed direction. I

remember trying to walk and my knee was going backwards. I thought,

Part three, a reality check. Middlesbrough up were beaten up

We are just outside the play-offs in goal difference.

Some good news for Boro, the Mr Nicky Bailey.

Hartlepool were hammered 5 - 0. Manager Neale Cooper called it

embarrassing. He said every goal was a gift.

What about this one? You are the referee, should this

has did? -- look at this. Anthony Sweeny top-scored with five

Yorke made it to the semis. They will now meet Luton. In rugby

union, congratulations to Katy McLean.

Not too surprising, really. The Balkans were completely outplayed

by the Tigers. The Balkans lost two players.

In Rugby League, there were two derbies yesterday.

There will be some bright spells. If you're in the West, you will

have to rely on the spring flowers for brightness. We have some idea

which is mild coming up from the West. Not much rain getting through

this sky. It will be the weekend before this rain makes its way on

Saturday. It will be mild night tonight. Tomorrow will be a dry day.

The clouds thickening up in the West. Those temperatures will rise