12/04/2012 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

Hello, welcome to Look North. In tonight's programme:

Jailed - the teenager who killed two of his friends after driving at

speeds of up to 90 mph in a 30 mph zone.

A victory... For some. Two of three Cumbrian care homes earmarked for

closure have been saved. Where's your party spirit? Just

over seven weeks to go to the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, but it's

quiet on the street party front. And learning the ropes - essential

safety training for the men and women working on offshore energy

installations. You've affected the lives of many. Arseng Rashid had

only just passed his driving test when he crashed his mother's car.

Joshua Stephenson and Josh Hopkins died when the Toyota people-carrier

overturned. Today, Arseng Rashid was sentenced to five years in

prison. Two promising lives, ended by their

friend's reckless stupidity. Joshua Stevenson was a student of

Electrical Installation, while Josh Hopkins studied advanced

engineering. But when -- but they were killed when the people-carrier

they were travelling in crashed. The driver had taken them, along

with four others, on what he called a mooch in the early hours of

September 11th last year. Today, the court heard how they turned

into a catalogue of fast and erratic driving. Arseng Rashid had

overtaken a taxi driver going between 85-90 miles an hour. He had

also taken a junction on the wrong side of the road, going at 68.

Eventually, the car overturned. Again, Arseng Rashid was driving

too fast. Today, the mother of one of the boys killed, Josh Hopkins,

Today, at Teesside Crown Court, the judge told Arseng Rashid he had

driven deliberately dangerously. Worst of all, he said, he did so

intentionally. The deep and extent of pain and consequence cannot be

disguised. You have affected the lives of many. He sentenced Arseng

Rashid to five years in prison, and banned him for driving for five

years or so. It is a decision that has taken

some people by surprise - two of the three care homes in West

Cumbria that were earmarked for closure have been saved. The

decision was made by county councillors at take meeting in

Kendal this morning. After six months of campaigning,

they got the result they wanted. Unexpectedly, Cumbria County

Council decided not to closed Richmond Park care home and Park

Lodge. At meetings organised by Kevin staff and the residents's

families, the council promised to listen to their concerns. Today, it

was apparent they had. But there was one casualty. We have decided

to close at Woodlands care home. We have decided that is not fit for

purpose. But we have also decided to put a huge investment into

improving our current facilities. Some tough decisions this morning.

Iris was delighted that Park Lodge would be kept open, and made part

of a hub of provision for the elderly. Her mother-in-law has

lived here all her life, and Barratts feared a move could have

made her lose the will to live. Fantastic! Are delighted! Relieved!

The residents were also delighted. Absolutely elated. We have been

given the opportunity to work with the county, who have proved

themselves to be a listening organisation, to take forward the

strengths of Richmond Park, and develop the future of adult social

care. Cumbria County Council says the way people are cared for will

change, with the ageing population, there will be more care at home.

That, they say, is what today's decision is all about.

Sunday politics will be reporting on the decision, this Sunday, at

Doctors and nurses are back up their day jobs after undertaking

extraordinary work in India. These patients can see again, but that

was not all - the team transformed and saved the lives of more than

150 patients in one of the poorest parts of the world. But doctors

filmed their work exclusively for Look North.

It is a long way from Tyneside. This part of India is one of the

poorest places in the world, end it was here when the team of doctors a

right to treat ill patients. They arrived from miles around, and

queued all day for surgery. first day we arrived, the patience

heard of us and arrived. We felt under enormous pressure to get

through so many operations. This is the doctor's seventh trip. In just

one week, the team of doctors and nurses performed to 150 operations

in India, and they did the work for free. The team was led by this man

- a consultant anaesthetist. They are very poor. If somebody gets ill,

they find it difficult to travel. We have had children who have had

worm infestation. The children have been quite ill and have needed

surgery. By the time they left, at 55 patients could see again. Each

one a huge success for the medics, who already planning to go again

next year. 's less than two months ago, and we

are all geared up our street parties for the Queen's Diamond

Jubilee, but Carlisle has not had a single application for a street

closure on the big day. If it is true, and we have our

reservations, then what is the reason? It could be the council.

Except, there are no rules. Their reality is they are paying us a

bigger and help them. We have got staff to make it easy for them to

have a celebration if that is what they wish to do. I you going to

have one in your street? I am not aware there is one. But did Jason

did want to organise a street party, at least they would know the dates

to go for, wouldn't they? Know like! It is not something I am

focused on. It is June at the V... No! 16? Give us a clue! June!

actually the fourth. Oh, well done! Looking back at the coverage of

royal celebrations in the seventies and eighties, the scale and numbers

involved could take you by surprise. As can the coverage. It is now 2pm,

and we're getting in the party spirit. You would not catch has

been that nowadays, wearing daft hats, that is. But many will be

wearing them. Is a charity shop is just about meeting demand. It is

flying out. Rarely? This is Alan fourth delivery. At the craft shop,

if it is royal, it is selling. online as well. Oh, get you!

buttons. We have got a lot of buttons and lace. So, party free

zone? Not likely! The story of the lift attendant who

went down with the Titanic. And which are beautiful weather

picture will be adorning your wall? Working in the offshore industry

can be dangerous work, and today, a specialised training centre was

officially opened on Tyneside. The centre, in North Shields, has been

developed because of major growth in the industry, particularly in

the renewable energy sector. Rescues, rigging and simulation -

this training could mean the difference between life and death.

You could be working 100 metres up on this side of the vessel,

suspended by ropes. We get across that safety comes first. It must be

terrifying! I haven't done that yet, but I thought it would be scary.

But it was OK in the end. And so, it recruits leave fully prepared to

work offshore and onshore. We are training at 2000 people. We have

tried to double that. The demand is there. And as this industry is no

longer the preserve of men,... Take one hand-off to start with.

There you go. Look, mum. No Hans! But, I still have to get down.

Well done! 100 years after the sinking of the Titanic, a family

has given Look North a showing of the heirlooms belonging to a

relative who died on the ship. Arthur was just 18 when he took a

They're worth 1,500 tragic stories on the Titanic, one for every death.

But Arthur is ours. The 18-year-old joined the Titanic as a lift

attendant. He died at his post, but some of his belongings came back to

Tyneside. Today, they are still held by the family. Since he died,

and his body was found and taken, and he was buried in Halifax. All

of these things were sent back to his mother. We have got his watch,

which is rather special, because it stopped at 2:20pm, the exact time

the Titanic sank. A purse, keys and pipe also returned in a bag marked

to create. But at first, his mother was told Alfred had lived. No lives

lost. It was sent on the day the Titanic sank. Great relief for her

and all of the family, but that was not true. It still smells of smoke.

Alfred's namesake has used his pipe, a collection with his long-dead

Alfred then may be at rest in Canada, but is still remembered 100

years on and 4000 miles away on Tyneside. In fact his great niece

Sandra's latest production - as principle of a theatre school -

makes Alfred flesh and blood again. Do you know in a place in Coney

Island in America... That ambition, to see America, lead to Alfred's

death. His application form for work on the White Star line is

heartbreaking. He applied, he said, to "better himself." I think he was

a very idealistic young man, and he wanted to be a writer, and write

stories. He wanted go and beat people. Being a first-class lift

attendant was a way of achieving that. Instead Alfred's ambition

ended in the cold Atlantic at his post. Listening to the strains of

the depleted ship's orchestra playing the hymn, Nearer My God To

Thee, and maybe family and Gateshead in his thoughts. Time for

sport now, and there was a fair bit of rain around the North East today

- perfect timing for Durham's first County Championship game of the new

cricket season. Dawn's at Chester- le-Street - well wrapped up, I

would hope! It is a very chilly Chester-le-

Street. It would be for the first county Championship meant each of

the season, but first been a start by saying congratulations to

basketball's Newcastle Eagles. They'd already won two trophies

this season and last night the Eagles won the British Basketball

League for the fifth time in seven years after closest rivals Plymouth

lost to Leicester. It'll be a clean sweep for Fab Flournoy's men if

they can add the play-off crown next month. The championship trophy

will be presented tomorrow night when Newcastle host deposed

champions Mersey Tigers. Well Durham's Director of Cricket

Geoff Cook is with me now - and a typical stop/start day for the

first day of this county championship game with Notts, Geoff.

We did pretty well to start with. It was a miserable day to start

with, not cricket weather at all, but the groundsman today fantastic

job. That was pretty soggy, and we started about an hour late on a

decent pitch. It has gone a little bit awry at the crease. Yes, I

thought we bowled really well. They had two partnerships, one of 60 and

one of 40. We kept patient, and we bowled pretty well, but since going

out with the bat, three wickets down, and hope to be would lose

another one tonight. K the believes that this will be the 20th

anniversary of Durham's first first-class county match when you

have the likes of Dean Jones in the team. It was a really romantic time.

The English game has changed so much. The preparation is different

and the team is highly professional, and all the cricketers aspire to

get to that standard. In the last few years, at Durham as being good

at producing first-class cricketers. You have come a long way. Well, if

you had said 20 years ago the be would be playing a one of the best

grounds in the world and would have won two or three trophies, people

would have laughed at that. Newcastle United could well be

hosting European football next season but tonight they're staging

an international match. The England Schools Under 18s are taking on

their Scottish counterparts as part of the Northumberland Schools FA's

centenary celebrations. In the England squad are three local

players as Keith Akehurst reports. Final training before the biggest

game of their lives. These under- 18s are representing England

against Scotland. The oldest international at any level. But

this is the Schools team, not the England under-18s we usually talk

about. All of those players will be connected to professional clubs.

Our side is a schoolboy's side, and a lot of them would have been

rejected at 15 or 16 and have continued on at college to continue

their education. Tonight's match gives the teenagers a second chance

of a professional career. As an organisation, we have a history of

being one or two through each year to get a contract. Among the 18-

strong squad are three local players, including two strikers.

Massive Newcastle fan. I have been since I have loved football, and it

is going to be a privilege to play at the Stadium tomorrow. Hopefully

I will grab a goal and walk away but my right hand up as Alan

Shearer would have done. Just the thought of even training on there

and warming up, it is brilliant. Especially in Scotland, and we have

a good rivalry with them. Kick off is at eight. There'll be top-class

tennis in the region tonight - and for the next four days. The

National Premier Tennis finals are being held in Sunderland, featuring

some of the best men's doubles partnerships in the country. But to

help launch the event, they had the help of one of our best women

players of all time. She once reached number five in the

world, and won the mixed doubles at Wimbledon. These days her knees

don't allow her to play as much tennis as she would like, but Jo

Durie still keeps a close eye on the British scene. They are always

up and coming juniors, and it is just a case of getting them on the

tour. The women are doing OK. We have a couple in the top 100, and a

couple of youngsters chasing them. The youngsters we hope can do

better, but not through lack of trying! Last night Jo was at the

Virgin Active club in Sunderland's Doxford Park. She was giving her

blessing to a national men's doubles team tournament, which is

the brainchild of Teessider Mike Dixon. It's brought the likes of

British Davis Cup star Dan Evans to Wearside - and the host club are

hoping to make it to Sunday's final. Everyone thinks tennis is Wimbledon

for two weeks of the year. There are lots of tournaments going on

throughout the world. We have a number of British tennis players

playing here, Dan Evans being one. They are travelling the world tried

to earn a living, so events like this help them. Not every one is

going to be a champion, but it would be good have better

participation in the sport, and this is a wonderful event will be

good currency and what is all about. In reply to not 164, Durham are 54-

Thanks Dawn, Time for the weather now, and time to unveil our latest

weather calendar winner too, Hannah? It's hard to believe we've

Hannah? It's hard to believe we've had snow since then! But the warm

spell of weather we had last month broke records for March at some of

our weather stations. It also got you out with your cameras, meaning

a bumper crop of weather pictures to judge. This month we asked

photographers from Ashington Co-op Camera Club to choose our winner. I

met them at their new exhibition. Woodhorn Colliery. A former pit in

Northumberland and now a museum of the region's industrial past. This

spring it's also hosting a photography show - The Spirit of

Northumberland. Pictures by local photographers celebrating a culture

of pipers, fell runners and pigeon fanciers. I just wanted to capture

this man's hard-working hands, the rough hands along with the fragile

rough hands along with the fragile pigeon in his hands, and how caring

hears with his offbeat. Plus, the fact that pigeon racing is dying

out in Northumberland. Today Ashington photographers are

choosing our best viewer's picture from March. Runner up is this

lambkin full of the joys of spring, taken by Rachel Foster at Danby

Wiske in North Yorkshire. Second prize goes to Alex Bell for his

chunky rainbow at Seaton Sluice on the North East coast. The rainbow

is really really powerful, and with the white buildings in the four

Grand, it is an absolutely beautiful image. And the winner is:

Graeme Robinson, with his red squirrel in the flowers in

Cockermouth. We were just setting the spring flowers, and we had a

shallow depth of field which made the squirrel stand out. We really

enjoyed that one. We will be seeing a lot of it. Graeme's shot will now

become the March page in next year's calendar, sold in aid of

year's calendar, sold in aid of Children in Need.

And a big well done to Graham Robinson. They have also said that

Graham's image will appear at their exhibition at Woodhorn Colliery.

Well worth a visit. Another great weather picture to start of this

evening's forecast. Thank you to Lawrence. A cow in Hexham.

Tomorrow's headline... It will be cold with a strong north wind.

Shell was 10 to die away -- showers tend to die away. In the north and

west, the map is tinged with blue. A touch of frost on the grass. It

is not a bad start to the day though, it will be chilly, but lots

of sunshine in North Yorkshire and the North East and parts of Cumbria

as well. The son of course will get stronger every day, and the showers

are not far behind. One or two of them will be snow wreaked on top of

the North Pennines and the Cumbrian fells. The winds will be over 20

mph, which will make it feel even colder. Temperatures between 8 and

ten Celsius. Just below the average for this time in mid-April. It is

the low 50s in Fahrenheit. But made to feel colder in the strong

northerly breeze. One or two showers around in the afternoon,

and it stays that way over the next few days as well. Cold air spilling

into these conference, and chilling things over the weekend. One or two

showers macro on Saturday. The showers could be wintry. Don't

switch your central heating on -- of just yet! A look at the

of just yet! A look at the headlines. A fragile ceasefire in

Syria seems to be holding. Eight Teesside teenager has been jailed