:00:00. > :00:16.Good evening. The inquest into the deaths of three men, who were trying
:00:17. > :00:19.to kayak down the River Tyne, was told today all three were
:00:20. > :00:23."relatively inexperienced" at the sport. Two brothers and their cousin
:00:24. > :00:27.died as they tried to paddle through heavy flood water last Sunday. Their
:00:28. > :00:32.bodies were recovered the next day. The inquest was opened and adjourned
:00:33. > :00:39.for a full hearing at a later date. Here's our Chief Reporter, Chris
:00:40. > :00:43.Stewart. Three days after the emergency services pulled the bodies
:00:44. > :00:48.of the men from the water and now the formal enquiry into their deaths
:00:49. > :00:53.begins. Brothers Darren and Mark Thorpe were aged 41 and 39 and were
:00:54. > :00:58.phoned South Shields. They'd gone on the trip with their cousin Gavin
:00:59. > :01:05.Bradley, 36, also from South Shields. He is pictured here. The
:01:06. > :01:09.police say the men had planned to paddle from Hexham to Wylam along
:01:10. > :01:13.water is swollen by heavy rain. They were found on a stretch of the River
:01:14. > :01:19.Tyne between Corbridge and Riding Mill. The coroner 's court here in
:01:20. > :01:25.North Shields heard all three men had only recently taken up the
:01:26. > :01:28.sport. The British Canoe union says more than 1 million people take to
:01:29. > :01:33.the water in canoes and kayaks in this country every year. While it
:01:34. > :01:37.may seem inevitable that this hearing will eventually find that
:01:38. > :01:41.the men died as the result of an accident, that's not the sole
:01:42. > :01:44.purpose of the inquest. The coroner will want to examine all the
:01:45. > :01:49.evidence to see if there is something there that might present
:01:50. > :01:53.similar tragedies in the future. The full hearing is scheduled for July.
:01:54. > :01:55.Joan Lawrence, the mother of missing York chef, Claudia Lawrence, has
:01:56. > :01:59.spoken of the emotional turmoil she's been thrown into by this
:02:00. > :02:01.week's developments. Police investigating the case have been
:02:02. > :02:07.continuing their forensic examinations at two houses in York
:02:08. > :02:09.and North Shields. Both properties are linked to 59`year`old Michael
:02:10. > :02:19.Snelling, who was arrested on Tuesday and released on police bail
:02:20. > :02:23.last night. Cathy Killick reports. The house in then grow in York
:02:24. > :02:28.remains the focus of police activity in searches today. Three days after
:02:29. > :02:34.the arrest of a 59`year`old man on suspicion of murder. He has been
:02:35. > :02:39.released on conditional bail. The house is half a mile from Claudia
:02:40. > :02:45.Lawrence's. The 35`year`old chef disappeared without trace in March
:02:46. > :02:50.2009. Her family have campaigned tirelessly for the last five years
:02:51. > :02:54.to keep Claudia's disappearance in the public eye, hoping for a
:02:55. > :02:59.breakthrough in the case. This morning, her mother Jones said it
:03:00. > :03:03.has all taken an emotional toll. This is the first time there has
:03:04. > :03:10.been an arrest in five years. This has come totally out of the blue. I
:03:11. > :03:19.had absolutely no warning, not even an inkling that this was going to
:03:20. > :03:22.happen. It was like shell`shocked. When the police walked in and
:03:23. > :03:28.informed me quite early in the morning that this was going to take
:03:29. > :03:36.place and they did informally before it went out to the media. I just
:03:37. > :03:40.couldn't believe it. While the rest may feel like a break though it is
:03:41. > :03:45.worth stressing that no one has been charged and Mrs Lawrence is wary of
:03:46. > :03:49.people jumping to conclusions. I just need to sit and think about it,
:03:50. > :04:01.say my prayers and get through the day. At the bottom of all this, I am
:04:02. > :04:07.concerned about this person because this person might be totally
:04:08. > :04:23.innocent. I am concerned about, both my daughter and my ``. Meanwhile,
:04:24. > :04:28.And the search goes on for 19`year`old student Luke Pearce, who
:04:29. > :04:31.went missing at the weekend after a night out in Durham.
:04:32. > :04:34.Luke hasn't been seen since the early hours of Sunday morning, when
:04:35. > :04:37.he left his friends after visiting "Jimmy Allen's" nightclub. He was
:04:38. > :04:40.last seen heading in the direction of Maiden Castle.
:04:41. > :04:43.For the first time since the original left South Tyneside as a
:04:44. > :04:46.gift for the Pope in the Eighth Century, a copy of a bible written
:04:47. > :04:50.by Bede in his Monkwearmouth`Jarrow Monastery can be seen in our region.
:04:51. > :04:53.The only full`sized replica of Codex Amiatinus is being unveiled at
:04:54. > :05:02.Bede's World in Jarrow this Sunday. Julie Smith's been to have a look.
:05:03. > :05:08.The work and word of the need for the first time back home with this
:05:09. > :05:15.replica. He'd created the original Codex in 692 as a president for the
:05:16. > :05:19.Pope in Italy. 2060 pages show up calligraphy and binding from the
:05:20. > :05:25.period. It was a book used for celebration and once believed to be
:05:26. > :05:31.lost. You think of this is a replica it is a good chance for all that
:05:32. > :05:37.want to study medieval time. And calligraphy. They can come here and
:05:38. > :05:44.learn so it is a great event. The original was housed at a monastery
:05:45. > :05:50.in Italy for 1000 years. It is a place now twinned with South
:05:51. > :05:55.Shields. We are working together to promote cultural links. And to try
:05:56. > :06:04.and encourage tourism to the two areas. This is said to be one of the
:06:05. > :06:08.biggest bucks in the world and each page measures 70 centimetres by 52.
:06:09. > :06:14.It is twice the size of the Lindisfarne Gospels. It is the core
:06:15. > :06:24.of what we are about. Having it here give his as but extra gravitas. We
:06:25. > :06:30.are thrilled. The bug will be unveiled to the public this Sunday.
:06:31. > :06:34.And it's well worth a visit, if you can get along. That's all from me.
:06:35. > :06:40.Time, now, to look ahead to the weekend weather with Paul Mooney.
:06:41. > :06:45.A decent day today here in the North. Temperatures up to 18
:06:46. > :06:50.Celsius. Tonight it stays dry with broken spells cloud. Temperatures
:06:51. > :06:57.shouldn't drop below eight or nine degrees. Tomorrow looks like another
:06:58. > :07:00.decent day. Any early mist will lift and clear. We will see Sunny spells
:07:01. > :07:06.developing through the latter part of the morning and the early part of
:07:07. > :07:12.the afternoon. Temperatures through the afternoon in the mid teens. In
:07:13. > :07:20.the east we should easily be today's figures. 21 in Sunderland easily
:07:21. > :07:26.achievable. As we had through the weekend the high`pressure hangs on.
:07:27. > :07:32.Temperatures still nudge into the low 20s. As tomorrow's
:07:33. > :07:36.prospect for the weekend, which shows we keep it fine, dry and warm.
:07:37. > :07:41.And we can leave you with the national picture.
:07:42. > :07:46.More warm weather on the way, today almost felt like June across the
:07:47. > :07:48.country. Temperatures did hover around 22 degrees, the average for
:07:49. > :07:51.June.