04/10/2011 Look North (Yorkshire)

A good evening, welcome to Look North. Our top storey, the nurse

who killed four patients, was the wrongly convicted? Also tonight,

after a fortnight of treetop protests, a 400-year-old tree is

felled. We will be joined in the studio by this man, Tim Piggot

Smith, who is in West Yorkshire to play King Lear. The weather is cold

and blustery, join me for the Welcome to the programme, a former

nurse who is serving a 30 year sentence for killing patients that

two Yorkshire hospitals is circuit -- is seeking to overturn his

conviction. Colin Norris, from Glasgow, worked at the Leeds

General Infirmary and the St George's Hospital. New evidence has

seen these -- could see the case sent back to the Appeal Court.

He was described as an angel of death, who murdered his patients in

cold blood, but Colin Norris has always protested his innocence.

you know those women by a injecting After a five-month trial in 2008,

he was convicted of murder, and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

The strength of the case was that he was on shift when five different

women suffered extremely low blood sugar. New evidence has come to

light suggesting that at least four of the women could have died from

natural causes. I was surprised at how Allberry, and it is in this

particular group of elderly sick people. In a very detailed search

by -- survey, it was up to 10 %. It is not that rare at all. I think

his conviction is unsafe. The BBC has uncovered evidence of other

cases of hypoglycaemia. His lawyer believes that there were serious

flaws in the investigation. seems that they only looked at the

cases when he was on duty. A West Yorkshire Police a spokesman said

that he had been prosecuted and sentence based on the evidence

presented in court. The new evidence has given Colin Norris's

mother a glimmer of hope. I do believe that the system will

eventually prove that there has been a miscarriage of justice. I

hope he will be a free man, whether it takes two, five years, I have

got to believe that that all happened. An application for a

fresh appeal is to be submitted to to be Criminal Cases Review

Commission. We contacted the families of

patients affected, they all declined to take part in the

programme. West Yorkshire police say that he had been prosecuted,

and convicted based on the evidence presented in court. Our reporter

joins us live from our Glasgow studio.

There is an application to hear a fresh appeal, does everything stop

now? No, not really. We are waiting for the Criminal Cases Review

Commission. He has already gone to the Appeal Court, it was rejected.

That was before he was in possession of this new evidence. A

new application is going to that Commission, that application will

go this week. They will take the decision, their options are to

reject it, to uphold the conviction, or they can send it back to the

Appeal Court. If it was to go back there, they would be a -- they

would hear the case, uphold it, or quash it. Inevitably, there are

compassion -- comparisons with the Stepping Hill Hospital. That

suspect was released due to lack of evidence. There are similarities.

We do not know the full details of that case. Alarm was raised after a

higher rate of hypoglycaemia was detected. This case flags up the

difficulty in investigating suspected insolent poisoning cases.

-- in saloon. Jumping to conclusions is what lawyers acting

for Colin Norris believe happen in this case. The victims did not take

part in this, what have they had to say? Or they have been involved.

They were invited to take part, they declined. It is a sensitive

case. I can understand why they did Thank you very much. If you have

that FreeSat, or Sky Television, you can watch Sovereign Grant Bill

tonight's at 10:35pm. The picture behind me gives you a

clue of what has happened. The five-year battle to say that tree

has ended with the trees being felled. The council said it was

causing damage to nearby drains, and needed to come down.

Campaigners had occupied the tree in an effort to save it, there were

emotional scenes as it began to fall.

As you can see, there is a gaping hole where the 100-year-old tree

once stood. Many protesters could not watch as it fell. One protester,

17-year-old, Nikki Welch, it was the end of a four year -- a four-

day ordeal. The council ride this morning to

erect a fence around the tree. Nikki Welch prepared herself for

After speaking to a council official, she decided to end her

four day protest. She was tired and emotional. I think we have to

accept that there is not anything more we can do for this particular

tree. They will be other things to do in the future to ensure that it

will be positive for more trees. She was one of five protesters to

occupy the tree. This man spent four nights there. He was then

replaced for three nights, Vicky spent four nights there. It was not

the end back campaigners had hoped for. Within minutes, the

contractors moved in and the branches frail -- branches fell,

protesters wept. It has been six years of campaigning. We have got a

lot of people's use. It is the heart of the village, it has been

removed, it is heartbreaking. What can you do?

The tree surgeons worked tirelessly. After removing the canopy brunch by

a branch, they started on the trunk. Justo Turk -- just over one hour

ago, the tree hit the ground. A five-year legal battle costing over

a quarter of bn-Pounds was finally over. -- to London �50,000. There

are plans to turn the trunk into a memorial. They have started a fund

to paper any legal fees for any future campaigners. -- pay for any

legal fees. I do not think we have heard the

last of that. Coming up, surging foreign unsung

hero, after race shaky start, this person went on to become a world

champion trapper lead. He will be telling us about his sporting hero.

It appears it is not a good time to be a builder in Yorkshire. The

latest figures from the construction industry are not good

at all. Builders say their workloads have been falling for

four years. Many small builders are on a cliff-edge. They are hoping

for an upturn, he was our correspondent.

Hammering home the point. This house may go over is one of Chris

Smith's last jobs. After this he will join the ranks of building

firms struggling for survival. not know where the next job is

coming from. Who knows where I am going? I keep advertising, but the

phone calls are not coming. If it does not turn round, what is going

to happen to you? I cannot say, it does not look good. He is far from

alone, workloads have been falling for four ears. There is no sign of

any let up. He used to have an apprentice, the that is now are to

be questioned. The workloads are getting smaller. Not only that, but

one-third of our members are saying they are going down even further.

The they want government help. They are not impressed with the

Chancellor of Exchequer's plan to prop up small businesses. It is far

wider than that. We need to give people confidence to spend. We need

to see the Bat decreased. This graph shows what is going wrong. --

Bat. Many businesses are finding it difficult to bridge the gap. In

Yorkshire, the index its banding at minus 30. Some cite some

mothballing waiting for better times. There are little signs of

A prisoner has pleaded guilty to killing an inmate at a prison near

York. Damien Fowkes strangled child killer Colin Hatch at Full Sutton

prison in February. At Hull Crown Court he admitted the manslaughter

charge. He also admitted the attempted murder of the Soham

killer Ian Huntley at Frankland prison in County Durham.

Only two people have applied for the job of Chief Constable of South

Yorkshire Police. The current man in charge, Med Hughes, is due to

step down this week. His deputy Bob Dyson will temporarily step in but

the police authority is due to re- advertise the role. Plans to fill

in a disused quarry in Derbyshire are dividing a local community.

15-year-old Ryan Walker drowned at Fall Gate Quarry at Ashover in the

summer of 2009. His mother supports the idea but local people say,

while they sympathise with her, filling in the quarry is a knee

jerk reaction. Tom Ingall has spent the day in the village.

On a day like today, it is hard to believe this place has ever been

called the Blue Lagoon. Fall Gate Quarry does not look inviting. Two

years ago, friends of 15-year-old Ryan Walker were here paying

tribute. He drowned, dented by the water on a hot summer's day. The

plans to build a quarry with waste have been put forward by a local

company and his mother supports the idea. Not a day goes by when I

don't think about him, and when the pain comes back it really hurts. If

another tragedy happens there, kids are still going up there. We know

that the safest thing to do is to fill it in. These are the gates at

Fall Gate Quarry, and they have not been opened to traffic for decades.

According to this planning notice, this is where the thousands of

tonnes of waste will arrive, perhaps using 18 lorries a day in

an operation lasting up to 30 months. Local people are objecting

to the plans because, they say, there is going to be problems with

his safety on the narrow roads and dead and noise, or that they do

sympathise with the Walker family. Keith is among many people who have

objected to the plans, describing them as a knee-jerk reaction.

not the responsibility of the lonely -- local planning authority

to sanitise the countryside. It is our responsibility to make sure

that we teach our young people about the hazards of quarries.

Educate them. It is the land owners responsibility to ensure that the

quarry is sufficiently fenced and sufficient side exists. We must

respect private property. planning application has been put

in by a local company who don't wish to comment, and there is not a

date for when the council will decide on the matter. Both sides in

this debate recognise the other's point of view, but the death two

years ago could as yet have a bearing on what happens to the

quarry. If you have got any stories going

on in your area, we always want to hear from you. Before 7pm: A young

head for numbers - we'll meet the schoolboy studying for his Maths A-

level who's just eight. And, one of Shakespeare's greatest

tragedies comes to Yorkshire. We'll meet the man who's playing King

This year, the BBC Sports Personality of Year Awards are in

Salford and one of the prizes handed out will be the Unsung Hero

award and we need your help to find Yorkshire's hero. The winner here

will be put forward for the national award - details of how to

nominate in a moment. But, to give you an idea of the kind of person

we're looking for, we asked triathletes Alistair and Jonathan

Brownlee to tell us about their Unsung Hero. Here's Neil Smallburn.

A great start for both the Brownlee brothers. They are both in the top

10 as they sprint... Even the greatest have to start somewhere.

Alistair Brownlee, he can start to celebrate! Towards the finishing

line, to successfully defend his world title, is Jonathan Brownlee.

And, for the Brownlie brothers it was here near Haworth. I think I

first raised here was as a 12-year- old. It was cold, very cold. It is

a great place to race. It is somewhere special. It has got grass

and it is muddy. When I was young I used to love getting covered in mud.

And the man who organise those races is Dave Woodhead. He has

still got his cheeky smile, he can get away with murder. It is just

the way he is. Jonathan is more serious. He has got a more serious

head on him. And they were like that as kids? A yes, very much so.

For over 30 years, Dave has been organising these races across the

age groups. David is a great organiser, and he is an

enthusiastic person. He is one of the most enthusiastic people I have

ever met. I love to turn up to his races. Is he responsible for

getting you where you are? Yes, definitely. He just showed me that

fund of racing and the enjoyment you can get from sport. The fact

you can do it in different places and in different environments, have

fun and meet people. We have grown up with them. Watching them on TV

and seeing them grow into that has the people now is what makes you

carry on and think the next gig that runs could go on and be

another Alastair. -- next kit. So, that's the Brownlee's unsung hero,

but what about yours? You can download a nomination form online

from our website. You can also get a form by ringing 0845 308 8000.

Calls cost up to 5p a minute minimum from most landlines. Calls

from mobiles may cost considerably more. Nominations close on Sunday

King Lear is widely thought by many to be the best Shakespeare tragedy

of all time. I did it at A-level, so I might disagree! It has all the

hallmarks of a blockbuster - madness, sibling rivalry and a

fraught relationship between a father and his daughters. It's

currently playing at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds, to

much acclaim. The film, television and stage actor, Tim Piggot Smith,

is playing the title role. We caught up with him earlier, ahead

of tonight's performance and asked him whether the three hour

performance is a tough sell. We have made it quite easy for

people because we have cut about 700 lines, so it is shorter than it

could be. It is never going to be an easy play, but I think it is

probably Shakespeare's greatest play, even greater than Hamlet. It

is the sort of Hammett for older people. I loved it. I loved the

madness, the arguments, the sibling rivalry. But I was reading reviews,

and you told me that you don't read them. No, I have never read a

review that makes the performance any better. If you go on thinking,

I am terribly good in this bit, you are in trouble. If you go on

thinking, I am really bad in this, then you can't do it at all. I

really don't read them. I may look at them afterwards when the show

has closed. I won't tell you, but they are all really rather good.

Well I know that. People tell you that. Would they tell you that if

they were bad? Then they treat you as if you have lost a relative!

you have a strong track record of Shakespeare. But also you have kept

your oar in in hours macro on television. Yes, but I would always

choose theatre. That is really where you learn how to act. I have

never learnt about acting in front of a camera. You learn in front of

an audience. When I started watching The Hour at about

journalism, it took a long time to get going. Then it failed like a

friend. Afilaka have lost something. -- it felt like a friend. I feel

like I have lost something. He has, the plot was very dense. It took a

couple of weeks for people to get into it, and if they got that far,

they were really in it by the end. King Lear runs until when? Until

the 22nd. And you already mentioned, you are keeping your clothes on.

Because King Lear traditionally takes his clothes off. Yes, but you

don't have to go down to absolutely nothing. When I was talking to the

director before I started, I said I did not want any nudity. It is

always distracting. I also did not want any rain. It is not real, we

are in the theatre. The irony is that he is more sane at the end and

he was at the beginning. Thank you. Now, while most eight-

year-olds are still getting to grips with simple arithmetic,

Thomas Frith has already got an A* in GCSE maths. Now Thomas from

Horsforth in Leeds is studying for an A-level in the subject, along

with students who are more than twice his age. Thomas and his

mother, Deborah Fletcher, have joined us now in the studio.

Let me ask you first of all, when he did you first start to realise

that Thomas was a little bit ahead of his years? When he was 18 months,

his party trick was going around reading the registration plate of

the cars. Let's give you a real indication of how good he is. We

did this footage of him in school today. He is young Thomas Frith.

to the power of three gives you ate? I have managed to fact Ariza.

Thomas? You need to multiply everything by a five minus X.

one thing wrong. But it all worked out right. Yes. Oh, Thomas. You

have lost me. These are the kind of sums behind us that most eight-

year-olds are doing. This is the kind of sum that you do. We are not

making this up. Let's have a look at that. But there kept it in

detail. Could you honestly tell me what all that is about? I got one

thing wrong in a question. Can you do all that Wigley stuff with all

the exs and why its? Yes, I can. looked at the sums for an eight-

year-old, but there are all the sums as well. What is it like

working with the older boys and girls? I have been with most people

most of the time because in reception I went to year five, and

in year two I went to year six, and in year three and started a GCSE

course. Now I am here. Very quickly, 12 multiplied by 23. Would you know

that? Not by the top of my head, but I could work it out. The one

then. -- go on then. Oh! Too much pressure. In my head, the

calculations went a bit wrong. Don't worry about it. I don't even

understand what you have been Not much time on the weather

tonight. It is mild and windy tomorrow. There will be a bit of

patchy rain, especially over the Pennines. Leeds Bradford has only

had 13 degrees this afternoon, so if you thought it was cold, you

would be right. Topsy Turvey weather. 20 degrees along the coast