:00:00. > :00:10.George. Thank you. That's all so it's goodbye from me and on BBC One
:00:11. > :00:15.Hello, welcome to Look North. In the programme tonight...
:00:16. > :00:21.She was found dead in the stairwell of an American hospital. Now her
:00:22. > :00:24.twin brother tells us about his battle to discover the truth.
:00:25. > :00:27.Also tonight, more than 400 Northumbria Police posts to go, but
:00:28. > :00:37.the force says it will not affect its ability to do its job.
:00:38. > :00:38.another accolade for North East another accolade for North East
:00:39. > :00:42.car`maker Nissan. And find out why this Teesside woman
:00:43. > :00:45.will be voting for Scottish independence, while this Scotswoman
:00:46. > :00:49.will not be allowed a vote at all. In sport, the latest comings and
:00:50. > :00:51.goings at our clubs in the January transfer window.
:00:52. > :01:06.And meet our latest Sportskid hoping to become the next big thing in
:01:07. > :01:10.cyclo`cross. Three months ago, she was found dead
:01:11. > :01:17.in a stairwell at a hospital in San Francisco. Then, say her family,
:01:18. > :01:20.came an attempt by the US authorities to smear her name and
:01:21. > :01:23.shift the blame. Today, in his first interview, the twin brother of Lynne
:01:24. > :01:27.Spalding, from Haswell in County Durham, says the way he's been
:01:28. > :01:44.treated in his search for the truth has been "a disgrace". And he says
:01:45. > :01:48.UK authorities are also at fault. I remember the first time we got a
:01:49. > :01:54.pair of jeans, the first time we drank Coca`Cola, got a piece of
:01:55. > :01:59.pizza. Although she lived thousands of miles away, we had a very real
:02:00. > :02:02.relationship. Lynne Spalding was 57.
:02:03. > :02:05.She ended up in San Francisco after marrying an American serviceman.
:02:06. > :02:08.In September last year, she was taken into San Francisco General
:02:09. > :02:08.with an infection of the urinary tract.
:02:09. > :02:15.Friends say her medication was making her confused ` and then she
:02:16. > :02:18.disappeared. 17 days later, she was found dead in a stairwell, a matter
:02:19. > :02:24.of metres from her bed. So how was she missed? As well as
:02:25. > :02:36.being told sorry, her twin has been told something else. The hospital
:02:37. > :02:45.have said that they had one third less than the required security at
:02:46. > :02:48.the hospital. That search of the steers was stopped because they ran
:02:49. > :02:52.out of overtime to do that. A medical report said she was a
:02:53. > :02:55.chronic alcoholic, based, it seems, on her having a fatty liver. Her
:02:56. > :02:59.friends and family say she was not an alcoholic and Bill thinks the
:03:00. > :03:01.report was a cynical attempt to shift the blame.
:03:02. > :03:05.And when he went to San Francisco after her death, it got worse. He
:03:06. > :03:08.says the British Consulate virtually blanked him and then told him he was
:03:09. > :03:21.suspected of being a prying journalist. She is dead and that is
:03:22. > :03:28.the end of it. I would like to know how she personally was in the
:03:29. > :03:34.hospital in the last days. I think it is possible to get a better
:03:35. > :03:41.result than what was in the report. I think the foreign office should be
:03:42. > :03:45.doing that. The British consulate in San Francisco should be doing that.
:03:46. > :03:50.Believe you me, the actor The Foreign Office will not comment
:03:51. > :03:53.on what he says, but San Francisco General says Lynne's death should
:03:54. > :04:00.never have happened and a big security review is already underway.
:04:01. > :04:02.Chris is with me now. Chris, as soon as this phrase "chronic alcoholism"
:04:03. > :04:16.was used, people jumped to conclusions about Lynne Spalding, it
:04:17. > :04:21.seems. That is exactly what you see, it conjures up the prospect of
:04:22. > :04:26.someone maybe be coming in after lying on a park bench. That she had
:04:27. > :04:31.a very good job, was very well connected and all of her friends say
:04:32. > :04:36.she was not an alcoholic. She had a very good job in corporate
:04:37. > :04:42.hospitality. The hospital has said it was a horrible event which should
:04:43. > :04:46.not happened and detailed a number of improvements and investments to
:04:47. > :04:51.prevent this happening in the future. It also says the enquiry may
:04:52. > :05:03.not be enough to discover exactly what happened to her.
:05:04. > :05:06.More than 400 jobs are to go at Northumbria Police and police
:05:07. > :05:09.stations will close, after the force announced it needs to save an
:05:10. > :05:12.additional ?46 million pounds, on top of the original ?58 million, by
:05:13. > :05:15.March, 2017. The force says its priority is to protect front line
:05:16. > :05:28.and neighbourhood policing and the cuts will not affect that. This is a
:05:29. > :05:34.police force which has already had to save ?50 million. Now read
:05:35. > :05:41.further ?46 million must be saved. That means job losses. 200 senior
:05:42. > :05:45.management and advisory jobs and 200 other police jobs will go. They say
:05:46. > :05:51.it will come through natural turnover. We are not overstaffed,
:05:52. > :06:00.but information technology has changed so much, it has all moved on
:06:01. > :06:05.so much since I joined, and because we can do things differently,
:06:06. > :06:11.without using performance, we do not need as many people as we did in the
:06:12. > :06:17.past. A new operational structure will mean reducing the area commands
:06:18. > :06:26.from six to three. Proposals include closing outdated police stations. We
:06:27. > :06:32.will not be closing any police station before we have a new
:06:33. > :06:40.neighbourhood Alyce team base open and operational. Within that
:06:41. > :06:48.community and operating. The commitment is to front`line
:06:49. > :06:53.policing. All the police officers on the community police teams and the
:06:54. > :06:56.neighbourhood the patents will not be affected by
:06:57. > :07:00.about delivering what the public values most, the fuelling of public
:07:01. > :07:13.safety. The search for a missing Cumbrian
:07:14. > :07:16.man has been continuing today. Tom McMorrow, who is 26 and from
:07:17. > :07:20.Penrith, went missing after a works party at The Inn On The Lake at
:07:21. > :07:24.Glenridding, on the shores of Ullswater, on Sunday night. Mountain
:07:25. > :07:35.rescue and underwater search teams have been looking for him. Mr
:07:36. > :07:38.McMorrow's family has appealed for anyone who may have seen him to get
:07:39. > :07:41.in touch. The government is putting the Lake
:07:42. > :07:44.District forward for designation as a World Heritage Site. The proposal
:07:45. > :07:47.will go before the international organisation UNESCO in 2016. Experts
:07:48. > :07:50.will visit the Lake District and scrutinise the bid, with a decision
:07:51. > :07:52.expected in June, 2017. The UK currently has 28 World Heritage
:07:53. > :07:55.sites. A fire which began at a wood
:07:56. > :08:03.recycling plant on Teesside two weeks ago has finally been put out.
:08:04. > :08:06.It began at the UK Wood recycling facility at Wilton just before
:08:07. > :08:13.Christmas, when 16,000 tonnes of recycled wood caught fire. Residents
:08:14. > :08:16.of Grangetown and Redcar were asked to keep windows and doors closed.
:08:17. > :08:19.Cleveland Fire Brigade said the safest strategy was to let the fire
:08:20. > :08:22.gradually burn itself out. Five years ago, the story was of
:08:23. > :08:27.mass redundancies and talk of a devastating blow to the region. On
:08:28. > :08:28.January nine, 2009, the Nissan plant at Sunderland announced 1,200 job
:08:29. > :08:34.losses and the media turnaround is complete, as it
:08:35. > :08:50.announced 500,000 cars made in a single year. Yes, five years ago,
:08:51. > :08:53.there was a meeting held to go and with the company looking at the
:08:54. > :08:58.sales projections, they believe they were unrealistic. The plan for
:08:59. > :09:04.redundancies to try and safeguard the future of the plant. Things are
:09:05. > :09:07.looking very different nowadays. This report does contain some flash
:09:08. > :09:21.photography. January, 2009 ` the banks had
:09:22. > :09:25.crashed and the news was grim. Nissan is axing 1200 jobs.
:09:26. > :09:30.One quarter of Nissan's Sunderland workforce was heading for the dole
:09:31. > :09:32.queue. Car sales had plunged. January, 2014 ` things look very
:09:33. > :09:36.different. Record production. For the second
:09:37. > :09:48.year in a row, the plant has made 500,000 cars. And memories of the
:09:49. > :09:52.bad times fast fading. They were really liked days when the market
:09:53. > :10:01.where levels we had never seen before. It was purely product
:10:02. > :10:14.driven. It was just having such a good car, the demand has come back
:10:15. > :10:18.very quickly. And that Dante, there was talk of a government task force
:10:19. > :10:25.to help the redundant workers. Later this month, once this reduction Lane
:10:26. > :10:28.goes 24 hours seven days a week, the production lines will be working
:10:29. > :10:30.round`the`clock for the very first time.
:10:31. > :10:33.Optimism for the future is fuelled by Sunderland's new Qashqai,
:10:34. > :10:45.launched in London in November. It has just been named What Car?
:10:46. > :10:50.Magazine's car of the year. If one fight beers out that optimism, back
:10:51. > :11:01.in 2009, the Iraq already less than 5000 people working here. Today, it
:11:02. > :11:04.has already gone up to 6500. Engineers are still battling to
:11:05. > :11:07.repair a railway line in Cumbria, which was damaged by last Friday's
:11:08. > :11:13.high tides and strong wind. Network Rail has to replace tracks on the
:11:14. > :11:16.coastal link just south of Maryport. In the meantime, the line remains
:11:17. > :11:18.closed between Maryport and Carlisle. Trains should be running
:11:19. > :11:21.again by Monday. The waves sent sea defences tumbling
:11:22. > :11:26.and washed ballast from beneath the tracks. The force was so destructive
:11:27. > :11:29.that, almost a week on from the high tides and strong winds, the train
:11:30. > :11:40.line between Carlisle and Maryport is still shut, while repairs take
:11:41. > :11:46.place. We have not seen the EC surging in this way for many years.
:11:47. > :11:53.The main and a half metre tide, the onshore wind and the rain all coming
:11:54. > :11:59.together at one time. As you can see, it's smashed the sea wall. It
:12:00. > :12:02.will be a good job to get it back. The tracks were washed away on two
:12:03. > :12:06.stretches of about 200 metres. As well as putting in new rails, the
:12:07. > :12:10.wall which was meant to protect the line from the sea is being replaced
:12:11. > :12:13.with so`called "rock armour". One of the biggest challenges of
:12:14. > :12:17.this project is bringing 4,000 tonnes of stone from the quarry at
:12:18. > :12:27.Shap along the beach here at Flimby, so that it can then be put in place
:12:28. > :12:31.as part of the new sea defences. Thousands of people use the line
:12:32. > :12:35.every day. It is an essential service, so our first priority is to
:12:36. > :12:41.get this up and running as quickly as possible. There is a lot of work
:12:42. > :12:43.to do, but we are doing it as quickly as possible.
:12:44. > :12:49.In the meantime, buses have been used to transport passengers.The
:12:50. > :12:52.line is due to reopen on Monday. Coming up later, we meet a sports
:12:53. > :12:56.kid who takes his bike where others might fear to tread.
:12:57. > :13:00.And bridging 180 years of history, as the old and the new meet on the
:13:01. > :13:09.river that gave birth to the lifeboat. And with the Reg of high
:13:10. > :13:17.pressure bringing a quiet spell, which could be a good news.
:13:18. > :13:22.Now this week on Look North, we are asking whether an independent
:13:23. > :13:27.Scotland would be a friend or foe for our region. The Scottish public
:13:28. > :13:31.will choose in September whether they want to breakaway, but it will
:13:32. > :13:34.not just be Scots who will decide. People originally from the North
:13:35. > :13:37.East and Cumbria, but now living north of the Border, will also be
:13:38. > :13:41.given a vote, while thousand of Scots now living in our region will
:13:42. > :13:46.not. Meet Mrs Campbell and Mrs Moffat.
:13:47. > :13:52.They live just a couple of miles apart. Between them, though, a
:13:53. > :13:55.river. This one, the Tweed, separating, in a rather attractive
:13:56. > :13:58.style, England from Scotland. And with people in Scotland voting on
:13:59. > :14:01.whether they want independence this year, this rather pretty bit of
:14:02. > :14:05.water is starting to divide people in new ways.
:14:06. > :14:08.Let us start with the Moffats. Marie's from Teesside, Donald from
:14:09. > :14:11.Scotland and, when they first met over 30 years ago in Norton, near
:14:12. > :14:20.Stockton, there were some translation problems. It took me
:14:21. > :14:25.about three months to understand some of what he was seeing. I then
:14:26. > :14:31.realised some of the stuff he was seeing was swear words.
:14:32. > :14:34.These days, the happy couple live just over the Scottish border in
:14:35. > :14:43.Cornhill. So, Marie's from the North East, but she will help decide
:14:44. > :14:46.Scotland's future. I am going to vote yes, because I believe is a
:14:47. > :14:54.country B cannot we are now. I think we would be
:14:55. > :15:00.better off. From our point of view, it is free prescriptions for my
:15:01. > :15:06.asthma, free eye checkups and Scotland and for me, it is
:15:07. > :15:17.beneficial. I think we cannot lose. We have to be better off. It would
:15:18. > :15:21.be embarrassing for the rest of the United Kingdom if Scotland was doing
:15:22. > :15:26.well and independence. I think the North East has been begot neglected
:15:27. > :15:28.for decades and this would highlight it more if Scotland got
:15:29. > :15:31.independence. Perhaps not a surprising view, as Mr
:15:32. > :15:42.Moffat is an SNP councillor. Both the happy couple want independence.
:15:43. > :15:45.But there are thousands of Scots on this part of the border who will not
:15:46. > :15:48.get a vote. At the last census, over 43,000
:15:49. > :15:51.people in our region described themselves as "Scottish".
:15:52. > :15:54.Over 10,000 of them are in Cumbria, over 5,000 in County Durhan, over
:15:55. > :15:56.2,000 in Stockton and over 8,000 in Northumberland.
:15:57. > :15:59.Karen Campbell is a proud Scot living in Cornhill, Northumberland,
:16:00. > :16:02.just a mile into England. She would like to vote no in the referendum,
:16:03. > :16:15.but because she lives in England, she can not. I have not got a
:16:16. > :16:28.voice. That is what upsets me the Scottish heritage and relay come
:16:29. > :16:37.from. As I say, I do not have a voice. I do not think Scotland could
:16:38. > :16:41.survive on its own. I think it needs England.
:16:42. > :16:44.So, Karen and Marie remained divided. Two miles apart and two
:16:45. > :16:51.sides of the independence debate. And eight months to go.
:16:52. > :16:55.And on tomorrow night's Look North, we will look at whether an
:16:56. > :17:08.independent Scotland could kick`start transport projects in our
:17:09. > :17:16.region. Time for the sport know. And some movement at Sunderland? Yes,
:17:17. > :17:20.the manager tends to not like to talk about anything until things are
:17:21. > :17:23.signs, sealed and delivered. Sunderland boss Gus Poyet has
:17:24. > :17:26.confirmed the club is hoping to sign defender Santiago Vergini from
:17:27. > :17:29.Argentinian club Estudiantes in the January transfer window. It is
:17:30. > :17:32.thought the deal could be done over the weekend. He also confirmed that
:17:33. > :17:36.Cabral has joined Italian side Genoa on loan until the end of the season.
:17:37. > :17:39.The midfielder failed to impress Poyet, having been signed by Paolo
:17:40. > :17:42.Di Canio on a free transfer from Basel in the summer.
:17:43. > :17:45.Meanwhile, Middlesbrough head coach Aitor Karanka today hinted there may
:17:46. > :17:48.be some more comings and goings at the Riverside this month. Nigeria
:17:49. > :17:51.international Kenneth Omeruo, who is 20, joined Boro on loan from Chelsea
:17:52. > :17:54.yesterday, following stints in Holland and Belgium. Karanka, who
:17:55. > :18:00.has recalled midfielder Matty Dolan from a loan
:18:01. > :18:10.revival will continue at Blackpool on Saturday and is predicting a busy
:18:11. > :18:18.January transfer window. I like to try and bring in some players to the
:18:19. > :18:31.squad. We will be working to keep the squad apart 23`24 players, if
:18:32. > :18:33.possible. Will new players arrive? Yes.
:18:34. > :18:36.Hartlepool's Tony Eccles celebrated his 44th birthday by reaching the
:18:37. > :18:39.last eight at the BDO World Darts Championships in Surrey. Eccles, who
:18:40. > :18:42.beat the fifth seed in the opening round, knocked out Dutch 12th seed
:18:43. > :18:45.Wesley Harms 4`3. This evening's quarterfinal against Robbie Green at
:18:46. > :18:51.the Lakeside Country Club is already underway. Coverage continues on the
:18:52. > :18:54.BBC red button. Newcastle Falcons have made nine
:18:55. > :18:57.changes for tonight's European Challenge Cup game against Brive at
:18:58. > :19:02.Kingston Park. The teams are tied at the top of Pool C with two games to
:19:03. > :19:07.go. Will Welch is back in the squad as Newcastle look to avenge the
:19:08. > :19:11.defeat they suffered in France. But the Falcons are still struggling to
:19:12. > :19:14.score tries and are the lowest points scorers in the Premiership `
:19:15. > :19:25.a cause of frustration for the players. Absolutely. You can feel
:19:26. > :19:29.it. We have been so close to scoring, but it is just that led
:19:30. > :19:34.final pass, or concentration or focus which has let us down. We try
:19:35. > :19:38.not to dwell on it or think about it, but we should have scored if you
:19:39. > :19:42.more tries. Now, it is time to meet another of
:19:43. > :19:45.our Sportskids. This time, a youngster who lives near Penrith in
:19:46. > :19:48.Cumbria, whose sport is growing in popularity. In fact, throughout
:19:49. > :19:52.winter, it is probably taking place in a park near you, but as Stephanie
:19:53. > :20:01.Cleasby found out, you have to be prepared to get muddy! I, I am Mark
:20:02. > :20:21.and I erase cyclo`ross. Might, hurdles and fast and furious
:20:22. > :20:29.racing. This is cyclo`ross. Tell me a bit about your bike. It is pretty
:20:30. > :20:40.much like a road bike, although the tyres are a bit thicker. The sport
:20:41. > :20:48.is ultra competitive. Every lap of the traffic gets harder as it gets
:20:49. > :20:57.my dear. The trades on the tyres were clogging up with mud. When I
:20:58. > :21:01.put the power down, it just slipped. What is your biggest achievement so
:21:02. > :21:08.far in the sport? I came second in the over 14`year`old Championships
:21:09. > :21:16.and got the North of England Trophy. His family spend a lot of the year
:21:17. > :21:23.on the road. He is young for his age group, so it is quite hard this
:21:24. > :21:31.year. But he is coming in the top ten in the country. You are out on
:21:32. > :21:35.courses like this in all weather during the winter. What do you enjoy
:21:36. > :21:42.about it? I find it very exhilarating. It started as a winter
:21:43. > :21:47.sport years ago. Now it is growing in popularity, particularly in the
:21:48. > :21:55.North East. As many features as possible. The odd hurdle, gas bank.
:21:56. > :22:00.It has grown into its own as a new sport. It has been one of the
:22:01. > :22:08.biggest growing sports, next to cycling itself. Mark is determined
:22:09. > :22:13.to race to the top of his sport. I would love to become part of a
:22:14. > :22:21.professional team. I would hope to do well internationally. At the
:22:22. > :22:27.moment, it is the Belgians who are really good at it. I think you
:22:28. > :22:41.missed a bit! I would have given him a squat of
:22:42. > :22:44.that if he had said that to me! The second`oldest lifeboat in
:22:45. > :22:47.world has been lovingly restored by volunteers in South Shields. And
:22:48. > :22:50."The Tyne" , as it's called, is a familiar landmark, which will soon
:22:51. > :22:54.be returning to its prominent place in the town. Well this morning the
:22:55. > :22:58.Tynemouth lifeboat ` one of the most modern in the world ` crossed the
:22:59. > :23:01.river to pay its respects to one of the oldest. Restored to her former
:23:02. > :23:11.glory, beside the river that gave her her name. This is really very
:23:12. > :23:16.first lifeboat is well built and now, one of the oldest is meeting
:23:17. > :23:23.one of the newest. 180 years between them. It is an ideal chance to get
:23:24. > :23:29.the two of them together. It will never happen again. Heritage skills
:23:30. > :23:40.rules and was given the important job of repairing the boat name. You
:23:41. > :23:47.happy your handiwork? People see it is wonky, but I am saying it is the
:23:48. > :23:54.boat which is a bit wonky! It is extremely important that this is
:23:55. > :23:59.renovated for South Shields. It has brought together so many people
:24:00. > :24:05.here, visitors and everything with wonderful stories, it has just been
:24:06. > :24:11.wonderful for the North East maritime trust. After 50 years
:24:12. > :24:14.service at sea, The Tyne has been a landmark on the South Shields
:24:15. > :24:24.seafront since Victorian times. And she will return when building work
:24:25. > :24:30.is complete in the spring. Now, if you watched the new series of
:24:31. > :24:32.stargazing, it was hard to see anything, but is there a chance to
:24:33. > :24:38.see the Northern lights this evening?
:24:39. > :24:45.Yes yes, people are surprised that you can see them from here, but it
:24:46. > :24:51.may well be possible. The weather should be better than last night. It
:24:52. > :24:56.will not be completely plain sailing. There are some shot was
:24:57. > :25:03.pushing across from the West. There was plenty of clear sky through the
:25:04. > :25:08.day. Look at this lovely photograph from Tracey. There will be some gaps
:25:09. > :25:19.in the code in most places remaining drive. This ridge of high pressure
:25:20. > :25:28.is bringing the clear sky tonight and the best of those will be in
:25:29. > :25:35.eastern areas. They will be the favourite sport sports to see if you
:25:36. > :25:42.are stargazing stargazing and hoping to see the Northern lights tonight.
:25:43. > :25:46.As I said, the odd shower pushing down from the Scottish Borders. In
:25:47. > :25:56.the towns and temperatures still seeing above
:25:57. > :26:03.freezing. But out in the countryside, there could be a hint
:26:04. > :26:11.of Frost. Check out for pace patches tomorrow morning. Tomorrow, a dry
:26:12. > :26:17.stout and decent spells in the East. Into the afternoon, the cloud
:26:18. > :26:21.will thicken and we have this band of rain coming in across from
:26:22. > :26:29.Cumbria in the second half of the day. The rain will not be especially
:26:30. > :26:35.heavy, but it will be a nuisance if you are out and about. But the wind
:26:36. > :26:40.will not be as strong as it has been in the last couple of weeks. I
:26:41. > :26:46.temperatures of eight Celsius tomorrow. That is the picture for
:26:47. > :26:53.tomorrow. As the weather front clears, we pick up this cold here
:26:54. > :26:57.which originated from the other side of the Atlantic, but nowhere near as
:26:58. > :27:01.cold for hours as it has been for those people in America. If the
:27:02. > :27:13.amount of dry weather over the weekend. Saturday is tight and
:27:14. > :27:16.bright and again, Sunday will be not quite sunny, shouldn't drive.
:27:17. > :27:27.Thanks Paul. Now for a last look at tonight's headlines. The
:27:28. > :27:30.Mmetropolitan police say they need to do better with black communities
:27:31. > :27:33.in the wake of the Mark Duggan inquest. And the brother of a County
:27:34. > :27:37.Durham woman found dead in a stairwell at an American Hospital
:27:38. > :27:45.has spoken of his fight to find out the truth about what happened to
:27:46. > :27:48.her. I am back after the BBC ten o'clock news. Goodbye for now.