24/06/2014 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

from the News at Six. Goodbye from me. On

He was the victim of a shocking and brutal murder ` today

You cannot explain how you feel inside. It is devastating. H would

rather that he had lived on. A stark warning

about weight`loss pills ` experts say some contain poisons th`t can

cause serious illness or de`th. Of all of the poisons, this has some

of the most unpleasant side`effects that we've seen.

A man dies after a late`night pursuit

And the former RAF officer living a 1940s lifestyle for four lonths `

In sport, we'll meet another of our Commonwealth Games contdnders.

He was a model pupil ` but while his school was in England, next month

It was the most shocking and brutal murder detectives say

And it happened in front of a roomful of people.

Two brothers savagely attacked a boxer with a camping axe during a

This afternoon a judge described the attack as a massacre, as David

Sowerby and Anthony Middleton were given life sentences for killing

Tonight his family said their lives had been broken.

Stuart Whincup has been following the case and joins us now

During the trial, the jury listened to 14 days of evidence. Thex take

just over 14 hours to reach unanimous guilty verdicts. Lark s

mother broke down in tears whilst his friends in the public g`llery

cheered. The judge described the attack as a massacre. It lasted

around six minutes and it continued while Mark was lying on the floor

dying. Chatting with relatives drinking

energy drinks, the brothers have just hacked a man to death.

Now, unbelievably, they're preparing to tell ddtectives

But Mark suffered 55 separate injuries.

A much`loved son savagely attacked and killed at a party.

It is so painful. I just want him back. You cannot explain how you

feel inside. You feel dead. I wish that they had killed me and not him.

I have had my life and they had killed me and not him. I have had my

life and I would everybody hs so full of grief over it. I do not know

how his brother is walking, he misses and so much.

David Sowerby and his half`brother Anthony Middleton killed Mark out of

revenge after being humiliated by the boxer in public months darlier.

They planned their attack, searching the internet before buying

The night before the murder Sowerby posted a message on his Facdbook

page saying he was going to crack someone's skull open.

Weight back as Mark walked `long here, he was said to be in ` good

mood. But after walking through that front door, he was attacked.

Behind these windows partygoers watched in horror.

Many guests said they froze, too terrified to move or stop what

In my career, I have never known such a horrific and brutal lurder.

It was one that was played out in front of so many innocent whtnesses.

The witnesses have highlighted how both of them took part in this

brutal murder, swapping the axe halfway through to continue the

brutal attack even though M`rk was already down.

Mark had been one of the country's best amateur boxers.

He was well known in Hartlepool and enjoyed the acclaim

You was a lovely person, he paid as much effort and as any other boxer.

A lot of the other boxers fdd offers energy. It is just tragic, what has

happened. He was the heart `nd soul of the party, he would get on with

everybody. Brothers David Sowerby and

Anthony Middleton will servd Their violent attack, the Jtdge

said, has deprived a family of a It is not just Mark's familx and

friends left devastated. As you heard, there were number of people

in the room at the time he saw what happened. They had come to celebrate

New Year's Eve and had to whtness the violent murder. They ard still

receiving help and support to help them overcome what happened that

night. The police are tonight

at a waste station on Wearshde Details are still sketchy,

but our Chief Reporter Chris Stewart joins us from our newsroom

and can tell us more. What we can tell you is that the

police were called this aftdrnoon to waste station which is owned by a

company called Impetus. We know that a body was spotted in amongst the

waste, the only way that thd body could have got the was to h`ve come

as part of the delivery. Thd police out there at the moment, along with

forensic scientist 's, but they say that there is little that they can

see now. They will not say whether it is adult, child, female, but

there is a suggestion that death might not have been very recent

Where did the body come frol? The vast majority of waste which comes

through that plant comes from counsel household bins or from

skips. All the company will say is that the bosses there are

cooperating with the police. More of the day's news now,

and a man accused of murderhng his father and grandmother has

pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter on the grounds

of diminished responsibilitx. Ray Patterson, who was 61, `nd Clara

Patterson, who was 82, were found dead at their home in Front Street,

in the Benton area of Newcastle Glenn Patterson was detained

indefinitely under the A court in India has again postponed

a decision on whether or not to release from

its jurisdiction six former soldiers who were arrested on suspichon

of illegally possessing guns. They'd been working

on an anti`piracy patrol shhp for an American company

which was impounded in October. The men are on bail in the city

of Chennai but are unable to fly home until given permission to do

so by a judge. It was hoped that would

happen today, but the judge Lisa Dunn, the sister of ond

of the men, Nick Dunn from @shington in Northumberland, said tod`y that

the wait for the decision is agony. As the second anniversary approaches

of the discovery of a young woman's remains,

Cleveland police have issued Rachel Wilson was 19

when she disappeared Her remains were found at

Newham Hall Farm on the outskirts Police say they're following new

lines of enquiry and they'rd urging anyone with information abott what

happened to Rachel to come forward. It's used to make dyes,

wood preservatives, But a banned and dangerous substance

is increasingly being bought Research by Scientists in Ndwcastle

reveal the number of calls to the National Poisons Inform`tion

Service about the fat`burning agent DNP has risen sharply, with three

more deaths recorded last ydar. Our health reporter Sharon Barbour

has tonight's special report. It is a little yellow pill, sold as

a fat buster. But experts s`y that it is dangerous. Scientists in

Newcastle are now deeply concerned about the sharp rise in people

taking it, the number of extreme adverse reactions and deaths

associated with it. A wall of the poisons that we get enquirids about,

this has caused some of the most unpleasant and rapid effects that we

have ever seen. Potentially fatal but freely available, it sedms, on

the Internet. And in just a few clicks, I can find old rangd of

sites `` I can find a whole range of sites that sell DNP. One sttdent

died after taking it for wehght loss. She was passionate about

medicine, she would have made an exceptional doctor. We found out

after she died. The police found a brand envelope of pills in her room.

It was only about three months later that we found out that they were DNP

Capshaw 's. Once you have t`ken it, there is an adverse reaction, once

it starts working there is nowhere to go. Weight back her family has

been fighting to see sales of the drug made illegal. They told me

today of their sadness that this has not happened. But those most in two

DNP, it seems, are young body`builders. Some of the website

point out the dangers. We know that people can develop high fevdrs,

abdominal pain, nausea, vomhting. They can get yellowing of the skin

or yellow secretions. It kills cells in the body and that can le`d to

multi`organ failure. In the last year three of those cases h`ve been

fatal and we know that over the period of study in total five of the

cases that we have dealt with have ended in death. So what exactly is

DNP? It is a synthetic chemhcal It was originally used in the

manufacture of which reservd a tense, photographic developdrs,

insert the Saints `` insecthcide and even explosives. In the USA it was

banned in 1938 first team in consumption. But supplements are big

business and the heavily marketed to body`builders. A quick fix. Health

warnings should put people off dangerous substances like DNP, but

the fitness coaches are worried that the message is not getting through.

It is like buying drugs off the drug dealer in the estate, you do not

know what you are getting. Xoung men and young women will continte to buy

into using supplements to change their body. The Food Standards

Agency and the police have hssued warnings to try to crack down on the

sales of DNP. The Newcastle research teams see that as more people use

this potentially fatal fat buster, more action could be needed.

It just seems incredible th`t anybody would take these pills. It

is absolutely extraordinary. The police, Food Standards Agency, the

NHS, they all cannot warn strongly enough against taking these pills.

We have heard of five deaths already. Worldwide it is believed to

have been 60 deaths. They are illegal to be sold as a diet pill,

as a foodstuff, but it is dhfficult to regulate all of these online

sites, many of which are set up overseas. So if someone watching

tonight happens to be taking these, what are the warning signs that

something is going wrong? There are a lot of signs. The NHS says that

one of them is hot, dry skin, excessive thirst, excessive

sweating, rapid heart `` rapid heartbeat, heavy breathing. Experts

say that even if someone is feeling all right from taking the drug, you

know, there is a little bit of macho either, but if you think th`t you

are suffering, then you shotld dial the emergency umber immediately ``

emergency number immediatelx. You're watching

Tuesday's Look North. Jeff Brown's here with

tonight's sports news shortly. Tomorrow looks brighter, a drier day

for many of us, but it could still feel on the cool side.

A former professional darts player has been found guilty of raping and

Teesside Crown Court had he`rd that Tony Eccles from Hartlepool attacked

the young girl a number of years ago when she was 10 or 11.

Tony Eccles was a professional darts player of some

Nicknamed The Viper, he won competitions in Sweddn,

His appearance at Teesside Crown Court though was as one

of defendant, accused of raping and sexually assaulting a young girl.

And today the 45`year`old of Northgate, Hartlepool,

was found guilty of five cotnts of rape and five of indecent assault.

The jury convicted him unanhmously, after almost five hours

of consideration spread across three days.

The offences were committed a number of years ago when Dccles

Tonight he is in custody and will be sentenced on Thtrsday.

The Bridges Shopping Centre in Sunderland has been sold.

The centre, which covers 550,000 square feet

and houses more than 100 shops has changed hands for ?152 millhon.

Land Securities, which bought The Bridges 21 years

ago, said strong market conditions made it a good time to sell.

More than 400 parking spaces could be created at a Cumbrian hospital,

to stop patients missing appointments

The North Cumbria Universitx Hospitals NHS Trust says thd lack

of parking spaces at the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle

causes problems with large numbers of complaints from patients.

A man has died in a car crash after a police pursuit in County Durham.

The car was tracked from Tesco on Genesis Way in Consett.

A patrol car then gave chasd before the car hit a lamppost on Ebchester

The driver suffered minor injuries but his passenger was killed.

He's been named as 49`year`old Adam Parker Wilkinson,

The pursuit ended just after midnight. The car crashed into this

very solid lamp post here. The road works and traffic lights were in

place last night and indeed may have been a distraction to the driver

being pursued by the police car The passenger died at the scene, he was

a man in his 40s. The driver, in his early 30s, was taking doors but all

in Newcastle and is currently under observation. Police said bedn

alerted after two men in a black BMW were seen acting suspiciously near

the Tesco store. The inform`tion was circulated to officers. Aftdr a very

short pursuit, the car crashed. The front seat passenger sadly was

confirmed to have died at the scene, and the driver was taken to

hospital, where he is suffering from relatively minor injuries. @s a

matter of routine, Durham Police have reported the incident to the

Independent Police Complaints Comission. They are appealing for

witnesses. I would like to `ppeal to the public for anyone who c`n offer

help. If anyone was near Tesco, or in the area, or if anybody saw that

black VW at any point in thd evening, if they can come forward

and help us, if they can contact us under 101 nonemergency numbdr,

anything that they have seen may be very valuable to us.

A North MP has hit out over young people with eating disorders being

sent hundreds of miles away for treatment when there ard beds

The Richardson Unit at the city's Royal Victoria Infirmary

But speaking in the Commons, Labour's Chi Onwurah said it was

completely unacceptable that when beds are full at a specialist

unit in Darlington, patients are sent as far away as London.

The Health Minister Daniel Poulter has promised to take up

Mr Speaker, that is how we come to the ridiculous and tragic shtuation

of our National Health Servhce sending vulnerable Tyneside patients

to Glasgow, to Norwich, to London, when there are empty beds in the

centre of Newcastle at the Richardson unit. It is completely

unacceptable for patients to the travelling long distances for

specialist care. That is not good health care and we know that part of

recovery for people with eating disorders is having a

community`based package put in place where there is a strong link to

family support. Olympic gold medallist Kat Copeland

has continued her impressivd return to rowing after a year out with

another gold medal, this tile Copeland,

from the Tees Rowing Club in Yarm, produced a magnificent drivd

in the second half of the fhnal of the women's lightweight double

sculls with new partner Imogen Walsh The pair have only been togdther

since last month's European And we'll be catching up with Kat to

talk about her return to thd sport One of the Commonwealth Gamds poster

boys, Guy Learmonth from Berwick, He's hoping to inspire future young

athletes as he prepares to represent The 22`year`old, whose fathdr also

ran for Scotland as a youngster will compete in the 800 metres

and 4 x 400m relay in Glasgow. Whatever happens

at this summer's Commonwealth Games, Guy Learmonth is already a hero

at Longridge Towers, the school he Rugby was his first love

and he longed to follow his brother Max into the gale when,

almost by accident, he realised he might be better

off following a different route I won the national 400 metrds

title. I realised then that I had some raw talent. I was 16 then. I

still carries on to play rugby for another year, but when I was 17 I

made the decision to offer ht full`time. I have to make a decision

and I think it has been a good one anyway.

A string of national titles has followed since then.

He ran a personal best in the 8 0m in Beijing last month and is now

looking forward to the biggdst day in his athletics career in Glasgow.

I'm going to have an immensd set of pride `` sense of trade. I `m ready

for it and I got a little t`ste in January, running for Scotland

against Team GB in America. I ended up winning the and won the national

record over 600 metres. The crowd there were electrifying. Haldan

Stadium is an even bigger c`pacity, so hopefully I can replicatd it

there. Guy is a face of Team Scotl`nd on

the Commonwealth Games webshte,but with a month to go it?s all about

hard work and staying fit now. The 22`year`old will be up

against some of the world's best, including world record holddr

and Olympic champion David Rudisha. And he might not want to le`ve his

sprint`finish quite as late as this. But his former PE teacher thinks

he's got the perfect combin`tion He does not take themselves too

seriously. He is light`hearted. He trains hard when it is appropriate.

He keeps the balance. That has helped him. I will everything to my

mum and dad. I have always run for them. I will always be like that,

regardless of how fast I get or how good I get in the future. I will

absolutely everything to thdm. What will it be like on that day in

Glasgow? It will be overwhelming. I will try to contain myself. I will

be so proud but very nervous. I am just going to enjoy every sdcond. He

deserves this, he has worked so hard.

And at a school with a healthy Anglo`Scottish rivalry,

Guy's roots put the headmaster in a bit of a predicament!

You will have to cheer for Scotland! I will for Guy Le`rmonth.

I hope that Scotland win th`t one, but otherwise I will be chedring for

England. In cricket, even without

their England stars Yorkshire have strengthened their grip at the top

of the County Championship table. Second time around, they bowled out

Warwickshire for 186, winning And Durham are in a strong position

going into the final day Keaton Jennings' century left the

visitors chasing a target of 49 . It's hard for most

of us to imagine what life was like in the Second World War when

food and other goods were r`tioned. But a former RAF officer

from Cumbria has decided to live life as it was in the 1940s,

for the next four months, Sally Barber admits she has

a passion for the era, Former RAF officer Sally Barber is

most definitely a modern wolan, but for the next four months shd will be

living like it is the 1940s. She will be forgoing 21st`century

luxuries to raise money for the Royal British Legion. I left the

force in 2013 after 16 years. It is a case of giving something back I

wanted to raise money for the Royal British Legion and thought that this

was something that I could do, I would learn something from ht and

other people would as well. She will eat the 1940s food and we'rd in

1940s clothes, including stockings. I am not used to wearing solething

which finish halfway up my legs I think I will be a lot fitter and

healthier for doing this. Mx favourites are garlic bread, pizza,

pasta, the high`carbohydratd things, I will not be able to have those. It

will be going back to basics. Sally says that she has been insphred by

her grandmother. It is in mdmory of her, but also of everybody dlse who

had to go through the suffering that they did during the war. Shd starts

the challenge on Saturday. Time for the weather.

A lot of cloud around today for most of us. But a lot of cloud does not

necessarily mean that you c`nnot take a good weather picture. A

lovely view the from one of our viewers. Cloud certainly pl`yed its

part in this light and shadd short. That is that he dreams wall. What do

you do if you have got our shy subject? You wait until he pokes his

head out from behind the rock. Tomorrow, most of us will h`ve a dry

day. The cloud will be more broken, especially through the mornhng.

There will still be an eastdrly breeze, when you are exposed to that

it will feel on the cool side. The showers will die away, leavhng most

of us are dry night. There will be a few clear spells, with that light,

easterly breeze we will see temperatures dipped to single

figures. Towns and cities whll probably go into double figtres

Into tomorrow and it is a dry start to the day. Any early mistiness that

has formed overnight will clear quickly. Sunny spells in thd morning

for most of us. Still a few sunny intervals here and there. The East

Coast looks like it could stay quite bright through the afternoon. Where

the sun comes out temperatures will be up to 19 Celsius. Like sda breeze

for the afternoon. East the Pennines keeping characters on the E`st Coast

in the low teens. But a bit further inland, 16 or 17 degrees will be

possible. We are in between weather systems in this slack area for a day

or two. We have to areas of low pressure which will pivoting this

frontal pression up towards us `` frontal pressure. It does not

because if we will escape that rain. As we had through Wednesday

and Thursday it will be a l`rgely dry picture. There will be some gaps

in cloud and dry spells and temperatures for many places will be

in the mid`to high teens. The further south you argue are more

likely to see the thicker cloud producing some rain at and remember

to keep your weather picturds coming in. Check out the website.

That is all from us. We will be back and error later tonight with late

news, 11:35pm. Join us. Catch the late-afternoon games

on the go.