02/11/2016 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

She was dubbed the "Angel of the North" after raising

for a disabled man who was attacked in the strdet.

But now, Katie Cutler says she's giving up her charity work.

Today she lost a court case over an unpaid bill to a PR firm

She was the angel, he was a victim of crime.

And she'd raised a fortune to help Alan Barnes.

Later she decided she'd set up a charity

and it would be called Acts of Kindness.

And she employed this woman, Claire Barber,

Ms Barber said a ?6,000 bill wasn't paid, and sued.

I'm happy that I've done some nice things.

But because of this, I will not do any more charhty work.

I won't take part in anything for anyone else because

I'm so disappointed how somdone can try and belittle someone

and take advantage like Clahre has done to me.

The origins of the dispute between Katie Cutler

to a meeting at this hotel last year.

In court, Katie Cutler suggdsted that Claire Barber had

virtually dictated an e-mail to her in which she would agree that

Claire Barber would act as her PR at a rate of ?550 per day.

She thought though, she says, that that only applied

if her proposed charity was a success and up and running.

A judge at Newcastle County Court ruled the e-mail was clear.

Miss Cutler was party to an agreement.

She had no defence against the claim.

Claire Barber says she put in a huge workload,

Katie could have sorted this out easily.

And at every point instead of contacting me,

she kept giving interviews to the media

and slandering and libelling our company.

Katie Cutler says she should be able to pay the bills

thanks to donations from the public.

The court heard two weeks ago that Claire Barber went

to Alan Barnes' house and he handed her

a check to settle up the amount that Katie owes.

Claire Barber said tonight she hasn't cashed the chequd.

I didn't know what to do, in all honesty,

because it's not Alan that owes me money.

So I held onto the cheque and waited to speak to the judges

But it's not Alan that owes the money, it is Katie.

As for Katie Cutler, she says

her days of fundraising are now at an end.

A firearms officer with Cleveland Police

who was a victim of racial `buse has received a compensation

payout of almost half a million pounds.

Nadeem Saddique has been on sick leave since 2014 after

he was victimised by colleagues and senior managers.

Nadine Siddique was a highlx skilled firearms officer

As part of his job he protected members of the Royal family.

But last year tribunal ruled he d been the victim of

At Middlesbrough magistrates today he was awarded a compensation

His barrister argued it was possibly one of the most serious casds

of discrimination the court had ever dealt with.

The money aspect is ancillary to what Nadeem has suffered.

You cannot compensate anyond who has won through this process.

The court heard how Nadeem Saddique had been

He is now seen as vulnerabld and was being treated for depression.

He's having to face the prospect of not completing his 30-ye`r career

and having to look into the unknown. His family life has been disrupted.

Cleveland Police say they'vd apologised to Nadeem Saddiqte

and are saddened he is unable to progress his career

They say many of their policies have been reviewed and training sessions

on diversity and equality have been delivered.

A 37-year-old woman who admhtted having sexual contact

with a 14-year-old Cumbrian boy has escaped jail.

Angela Gatt, who's from Ayrshire, was sentenced

at Carlisle Crown Court today after pleading guilty

which took place in North Cumbria in June last year.

The court was told that Gatt had no recollection of the incident

She was handed a 20-month sdntence, suspended for two years.

She must also sign the sex offenders' register for 10 xears.

Unions are considering industrial action over Newcastle City Council's

proposals to reduce some extra payments for shift workers.

The unions say staff could lose up to a third of their wage

The council says it'll prevdnt job losses

as it tries to save millions of pounds from its annual btdget.

For Sharon, the council's proposed pay cuts are extremely upsetting.

She's one of around 1,800 Newcastle City Council workdrs,

that's about one third of its workforce,

who looks set to see their wages cut by changes

The cuts are going to be absolutely massive.

For myself, I have a mortgage. I'm a single parent.

My pay is going to be cut which means I won't be able to make

Me and my daughter won't be able to eat.

I'm so upset. I feel deflated, undervalued.

The City Council says it is difficult to work out how each

But Sharon works as a parking warden covering a lot of shifts at weekends

and she says she believes she's going to lose around ?400 a month.

That's about a quarter of her take-home pay.

The unions say that some workers, like those in parking

and in care services, could lose up to one third of their pay.

The council says austerity means

it has no choice but to makd painful cuts, and the move

The equivalent number of st`ff to say that amount of money will be

something like 100 jobs lost across the council.

I think it's fair to say th`t it's a question of do you

have a job that pays, or do you not have a job at all

They're very distressed because today

is the first time that they've had formal confirmation

that this proposal is planned.

We hope to be able to persu`de the councillors not to go

ahead with this proposal, but we're not rolling

at industrial action if that's what we end up with.

The council says it is consulting with

workers, but the plans could be in place by the start

The sisters of two men being held in jail in India on weapons

smuggling charges have beggdd the British Prime Minister

Nick Dunn from Northumberland and John Armstrong from Cumbria -

were given five-year prison sentences earlier this year.

The Foreign Office says Theresa May will raise the issue

with India's leader Narendr` Modi during a visit next week.

What started as a routine job protecting ships from piratds

in the Indian Ocean has turned into

a three-year battle for freedom.

Four of the men are from our region, Mick Dunn from Ashington

in Northumberland, John Armstrong from Wigton, Nicholas Simpson

from Catterick and Paul Towdrs from just outside York.

Ex-soldiers, arrested with the rest of their crew on board

accused of illegal entry into Indian waters carrying illegal arms -

charges they have denied for three years.

On the Victoria Derbyshire Show the sisters of two of the mdn said

I'm begging Theresa May to raise this with

Prime Minister Narendra Modh on her visit next week.

We know she has the power to free these men.

Three years has been an endurance test for us all,

for the men especially but for the families as well.

The men have lodged an appe`l but the Indian legal system is slow

and a judge has ruled they can't be released on bail.

The international community said, we must arm our ships, so these men,

that is exactly what they wdre doing and they were one of hundreds

of ex-servicemen who did thhs, and weapons move in and out

of the east coastal states all the time

and for some reason, this case has ended up wherd it is.

The Indian and British Primd Ministers are due to meet ndxt week.

The Foreign Office has confhrmed the men's case will be raisdd

The ex-soldiers' families hope Theresa May fights for the len

in the same way they once fought for their country.

Time for the weather now with Paul Mooney,

and it's a bit on the chilly side, Paul.

It certainly is, and it is set to stage a lead. A few changes on the

way with temperatures dropphng, but it will not be as cold as l`st

night, because we have cloud coming in from the West which. Temperatures

dropping below two Celsius `nd most places should Mr Frost. We will see

a few specks of rain here and there by the end of the night. Cold start

tomorrow but cloudier than we have had over the last couple of days.

Outbreaks of rain for many on and off through the day and by that we

get to the end of the afternoon more widespread rain moving into

western parts of Cumbria. Temperatures struggling aftdr that

cold start, 10 Celsius if you're lucky tomorrow and the wind coming

from a south-westerly direction Low pressure taking charge tomorrow

this frontal system bringing cloud and rain and through the wedkend,

it. The pool in a cold, northerly wind again. In fact, on Friday

temperatures in single figures, with most places seeing one or two

showers again, but the winds should be like on Friday. They will start

to pick up through the weekdnd with that cold, northerly wind

developing, single figure temperatures on Saturday and the

time we get to Sunday any showers over high ground will becomd wintry

and it will feel raw in that wind with temperatures of around six

Celsius. Here's a summary for not stop the temperature is coming

up to around 12. Mick Miller has the national picture.

The weather may have turned colder but for many of us today there was

abundant sunshine. This is from the end of the day from Oxfordshire

Cold and clear by day and clear and even colder overnight. That is the

recipe at this time of year. Widespread ground frost setting in.

Parts of East Anglia already below freezing. In western Scotland,

temperatures may stabilise. It could even go up