24/04/2014 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

Good evening. First tonight ` an horrendous tale

of systematic sexual abuse carried out by a social worker and a care

worker at a school for troubled children. John Leslie Duncan, who's

now 61 and 58`year`old Kevin Brown, preyed on vulnerable boys for years.

They'd already been given jail sentences for their crimes. But as

more victims came forward the police began a new investigation and this

evening, a judge extended those sentences. Here's our Chief

Reporter, Chris Stewart. They trusted him, liked him, some of

them loved him like a father and they were repaid by being sexually

abused. Tonight, John Leslie Duncan is starting an extended prison

sentence. In court to see his abuser and supported today by his family,

one of Duncan's victims, who has waived his right to anonymity. It

was my big secret all these years. It blighted my life. My whole life

was just totally surrounded by this abuse case and it was such an

embarrassment, I was ashamed. Coming forward has been the best thing.

Trusting the police has been the big issue. This is Duncan's colleague,

care worker Kevin Brown. His string of offences, not as serious as

Duncan's but also involving what the judge said was a shocking breach of

trust. One of his victims has also spoken to us. The first time he told

me it was an accident and would never happen again. And I believed

him, because he had always been friendly. Was there ever a point

where you thought, "I need to tell somebody this"? I was scared to. He

told me if I said anything he knew where my family where and he would

go and see them. The majority of the offences happened at Feversham

School at Walbottle on the outskirts of Newcastle. The school's trustees

were the mental health charity Mind. The building which housed Feversham

still exists but there's no other link. Feversham closed in 1996. Only

one school brochure produced by the charity still exists and this is it.

These exclusive pictures show the children, the school's aims and it

also shows Duncan with children on his knee and a youthful Kevin Brown.

Two carers turned tormentors. The youngsters sent to Feversham were

often from very troubled family backgrounds. Tonight, the police had

this to say. We would always encourage victims to come forward

and report sexual offences regardless of when they happened. We

will always fully investigate any reports of sexual offences and with

our partners, make sure that the victims get all of the support they

need. A spokesman for Mind meanwhile, says the charity wasn't

involved in the governance or operation of the school and that it

applauds those who have spoken out. It's a crime that one in five women

and one in ten men will experience at some point in their life. Yet

stalking continues to be one of the most under`reported offences. Today

a South Tyneside woman who was stalked and raped by her ex partner,

is sharing her story to try and encourage other victims to get help.

Katie Cole has been to meet her. It started with texts and phone

calls. Then he would turn up unexpected at your door. He's follow

you to work. Erm, anywhere you went with friends, family... He'd turn

up. Catherine Cunningham has been through more than most in the last

two years. She was stalked for months by her ex`partner. At the

time, if I'd realised how it would have escalated, I should have phone

the police and reported it. Catherine did eventually contact the

police after her ex broke into her home and raped her. He's now serving

an eight`year jail sentence. There's probably hundreds, thousands of

girls, women going through the same thing and it's really important for

them to tell their family, friends, phone the police. Get help. If I can

help one person going through what I did, then it's worth it.

Katie joins me in the studio. The focus today is on stalking in

the workplace, what's being done to help victims? A quarter of victims

said they are stalked at work. We have been speaking to Northumbria

Police. At the end of the day, it's actually quite important, not only

from the victim's welfare point of view, but if you think about it from

a productivity point of view, if you've got victims on the sick

frequently or are underperforming at work, it has a performance issue

within the workplace. The message tonight is not to suffer alone. We

know 80% of victims will wait until there has been more than 100

incidents of stalking before telling anyone. It can ruin lives, so it is

important people come forward. Thanks very much. The Shadow

Chancellor, Ed Balls, says despite improving economic figures, our

region is still facing "a cost of living crisis". Mr Balls was

speaking during a visit to Redcar ahead of next month's European and

local elections. Our Political Correspondent, Mark Denten, caught

up with him on a trip to the supermarket. And he asked Mr Balls

what he thought of Nigel Farrage telling us on last night's Look

North how the UK Independence Party intends to steal the Labour vote in

the north. I think UKIP are a distraction from

the main question ` do you want a Tory government or a Labour

government? If you want a fair economy for the future, vote Labour,

or else you'll get the Tories. Wouldn't we have more money in our

wallets and purses if we left the EU? Look, the reality here in the

North East, Nissan, a big employer. Those are big jobs, good jobs here

in the North East because we are part of the European Union. To walk

away from our largest single market, where we know these international

companies like Nissan wouldn't be staying in Britain if we did that,

would be very dangerous. In addition to Labour and the

Liberal Democrats, six other parties are contesting the European

elections in the North East. They are An Independence in Europe, the

British National Party, the Conservatives, the English

Democrats, the Green Party, and the UK Independence Party. The former

Newcastle United football manager, Joe Harvey, was remembered today, in

a ceremony to mark the Magpies winning the European Fairs Cup. It

was 45 years ago and it was the club's last major trophy. Friends,

family and former players gathered outside St James' Park for the

unveiling, which was organised by a group of United Supporters.

That is it from me, now the weather. Already we have mist and fog rolling

in. Could be a few spots of drizzle later. In the West it stays dry and

clearer. Temperatures will be sick or seven overnight. Parts of Cumbria

where we will see the best of any brightness. The grey and misty

weather in the East will spread west and it will produce rain which will

become more widespread in the afternoon. Most places will

experience heavy bursts of rain. Temperatures tomorrow afternoon

struggling to make double figures. Could see 14 Celsius in Whitehaven.

We will have the National forecast shortly, in

weekend, you can see what is going on. Sunday might be brighter. Now

over to Louise Lear for the national weather.

Good evening. Today has been a day of sunny spells and a few scattered

showers, but where we see the sunshine, we have also seen some

warmth, with temperatures in the high teens. A slightly disappointing

story across the far north-east of Scotland. We keep that easterly feed

through the night to night, but looking out into the Atlantic, we

also start to pick up the south-westerly circulate in, and

area of low pressure bringing in some blustery winds for the start of

the weekend. Tonight it stays mostly dry, with some fog around. And we

pick up the risk of a few showers in the far south-east. Clearer skies at

the the South West, and cloudy,