26/01/2017 Look North (Yorkshire)

Good evening - you're watching Thursday's Look North.

The growing problem of violence in Yorkshire's prisons -

the number of fights and serious assaults on guards

We investigate what's causing the chaos.

Police investigate after a Conservative councillor was caught

on video making lewd comments to a protestor in North Yorkshire.

Charges are dropped in the case of two pensioners arrested

during a protest against tree felling in Sheffield.

And the Bradford woman who made it home to cook tea after narrowly

Very lucky escape. Everyone's saying by a lottery ticket now! I'll have

to do that on Saturday, won't I? It's been absolutely

nithering out there today. New figures out today

reveal the chaos unfolding The number of fights,

serious assaults on guards and the number of prisoners

self-harming are now These Government figures paint

a bleak picture of life inside the prisons in Doncaster,

Leeds and Wakefield. The number of fights

has more than trebled, climbing from a total

of over 300 in 2010, And five years ago, 11 prison guards

were seriously injured in the line of duty - that figure

has now more than doubled. And the number of prisoners

self-harming has reached Obviously, at the time,

they weren't really John Bedford has been out of prison

for almost a year now. He spent most of the

previous eight inside. His medical notes detail his mental

health struggles during his Page upon page of self-harm

incidents and suicide attempts. Nobody was visiting me, I had

nothing, do you know what I mean? I was just a little

boy stuck in something Were you trying to

kill yourself, John? John was often in conflict

with prison staff, frustrated by the lack of help

and a spell in isolation. This footage from inside HMP

Leeds shows an example John bit a member of staff

while he was being restrained. He says he'd been denied

exercise for two weeks. John is far from being

the only prisoner to try There were more than 400 incidents

of self-harm at HMP Leeds alone in the last year,

and also four suicides. That's the highest the figure has

been for almost a decade. The most high-profile deaths

over the last 18 months, Jenny Swift at Doncaster prison

and Vikki Thompson at HMP Leeds. The Ministry of Justice

admits that violence, self-harm and deaths in prisons

are too high. We're investing ?100 million

in appointing new officers, 2500 officers, across the estate

so that offenders have both the support and the challenge,

but also safety in place. John says he knows he

deserved to be in prison. What he wanted was to break

the cycle of reoffending. He says he has now,

but it's despite, not because of,

his treatment inside. Earlier, I spoke to Alex Hewson

from the Prison Reform Trust, who campaign to improve the way

prisoners are treated, and asked him why we're seeing these

levels of violence in our prisons. We have high levels of people

stuck in their cells They're there, not spending

their time productively. Not able to get into education,

into training, into all the things we know help people to turn

their lives around and make prisons And so, it's addressing those

problems that really needs to be a priority of the Government,

rather than simply firefighting and saying they're going

to employ more prison staff. I get we need to rehabilitate

prisoners, but a lot of our viewers will be watching this thinking,

actually, we need to put more money into social care

and things like that. And if you're in prison, you've

forfeited your right to freedom. You forfeit your right to freedom,

but it's in everybody's interest that people come out of prison less

likely to reoffend. What do you think about the amount

of attacks that are now happening on prison guards who are working

inside the prisons? That number has now

doubled, hasn't it? As I say, violence and safety

in prisons are symptoms of a system It isn't in the interest

of any us in the country. Grievances start from very,

very small, petty things. If there is an abiding sense

of injustice because somebody can't get access to education,

they're locked up in a cell all day, they can't get in touch

with their family because they're locked in their cells,

that leads to a sense of injustice. It's not day care for

prisoners, though, is it? You have to accept there will be

an amount of boredom in prison, that's why you're sent

there, isn't it? But I think, as I say,

it's in everybody's interest that people come out with skills,

with opportunities to Nobody is going to achieve anything

by simply spending 24 hours a day locked behind a cell door,

staring at a wall. We'll have more on this story

on our late programme as part I'll be speaking to the

Prison Officers' Association. Next tonight - North Yorkshire

Police are investigating after an altercation between a huntsman

and a protestor on Monday at the Middleton Hunt

in North Yorkshire. Charles Carter, from Birdsall

near York, was caught on camera making sexual comments

to Linda Hoggard when she He's since resigned his position

as a Conservative district councillor in Norfolk,

where he previously lived. The moment when Linda Hoggard

takes up the story. The moment when Linda Hoggard

approached Charles Carter to tell him fox hunting is illegal. The hunt

protester challenges Mr Carter, and he starts filming her.

Charles Carter has been a district councillor in Norfolk for five

years, but who resigned over night after the revelations of his

conduct. His council leader said he was appalled. In June 2015, Charles

Carter, as Master of the west Norfolk foxhounds, was interviewed

about the ban on fox hunting. Having to look over one's shoulder,

all the time, for fear of being in breach of bad law, is not what the

country should be all about. But note Mr Carter has moved to

North Yorkshire, and the hunt he now writes with is described as one of

the most historic in North Yorkshire, dating back over 200

years. His comments about controversy to the game is hard.

I don't know if it's been blown out of proportion or not. He's stepped

over the line. He made some sexual comments to

hire... They aren't relevant to the

situation at all. Sad, there we are. It is now understood Mr Carter has

phoned Mrs Hoggard to apologise for the situation.

We hear a number of reports of people who are spattered, abuse,

intimidated. This is a problem that is getting out of control. The

problem is that the hunt's lobby organisations refused it contained

these incidents and they are getting worse and worse. -- to condemn these

incidents. North Yorkshire Police confirmed

they are investigating Monday's incident.

Bonding with your baby - how patting and singing to your bump

can be good for the whole family after the birth.

The prosecution case against three people arrested by police

in Sheffield for protesting against the felling

The three included Jenny Hockey and Freda Brayshaw, a retired

lecturer and a former teacher, who are both in their 70s.

They were facing charges under the Public Order Act - but today

Relief and delight for Jenny Hockey and Freda Brayshaw

after the prosecution case against them was withdrawn at

The two women were arrested following a stand-off with police

during a tree-felling operation by council

contracters Amey in the early hours of November 17 last year.

There were cheers and applause in a packed Court One

here at Sheffield Magistrates' Court as district judge, Naomi Redhouse,

told the two women the case had been withdrawn.

She awarded them ?150 costs each and told them

Outside court, the two women gave their reaction

I hope that if anything good comes out of this,

it's about energising the campaign even more.

Were you always confident that the case would be dropped?

No, not at all because we've never quite understood,

as in many other aspects of this issue, we didn't know

One charge, then another charge, now it's dropped.

Today's decision was welcomed as a vote for common sense.

We've had Freda, one of the defendants, it was her

birthday and she's had a great birthday present.

The fact is the CPS, together with the council and Amey

They've seen the error of their ways and it's great today to be

able to say to the CPS, well done, you've

The two women say a rethink of Sheffield's tree-replacement

strategy is now needed and ask that lessons be learned

They're now planning to celebrate Freda's birthday and a vow

to continue their campaign against further tree felling.

Other news now, and the Independent Police Complaints

Unions representing workers at Tata Steel are going to recommend

their members accept a new pensions offer as part of a deal

1700 staff at Rotherham and Stocksbridge will be balloted

over plans to change pension arrangements next week.

The unions say the offer is not without issues but is,

"The only credible and viable way to secure the future".

Commission says it's found no indication of potential misconduct

by police officers during the 1985 Bradford City fire disaster.

West Yorkshire Police referred itself to the watchdog

following claims that there were a number of fires at businesses

The IPPC today confirmed it won't launch a fresh

inquiry into the blaze in which 56 people died

and more than 250 others were injured back in 1985.

There's to be a judicial review into the decision to give

the go-ahead for a planned redevelopment

Despite protests, the City of York Council approved English Heritage

Now a High Court judge will scrutinise that decision.

The Council says it's confident it followed

People in a South Yorkshire town say the decision to close its remaining

Both HSBC and the Yorkshire Bank have announced closures in

Wath upon Dearn, which they say reflects the fact more customers

Here's our business correspondent, Danni Hewson.

You're fed up about Yorkshire Bank, aren't you?

It seems to be the only topic of conversation here,

from elderly residents to business owners, the decision to close both

of this town's remaining High Street banks has been met

Not having a bank to use, for a business,

Plus, what about the more vulnerable members of the community?

We have a higher-than-average elderly population, we have quite

a lot of disabled people in Wath due to the mining heritage of the area.

People will struggle to get to alternative banking.

People come and bring their own dogs...

Businesses have been coming back to the town's High Street.

Matt's pet store is just over one year old.

He's tied into a business account for just over two years,

and come the summer, his closest branch will be Rotherham

It's going to drive customers from Wath.

It's hard enough place to work here, anyway, to get people down here.

It's difficult for us in particular, we use the bank, we're cash to cash,

We're going to travel miles to put money in on a daily basis,

because it has to go in and back out, constantly.

Losing one branch would have been a blow, but the news both were to go

has pushed the local MP to take action.

I have now been in contact, directly,

I want an explaination of what they're doing,

and want them to rethink the decision to pull

Everyone I've spoken to here and Wath is adamant

that these banks are an integral part of their High Street.

But the figures tell a very different story.

Since 2011, Yorkshire Bank say the number of people using the bank

for day to day transactions has fallen by a third.

And HSBC say that last year, 90% of customer

And while this town accepts times are changing, it's change that's

The situation and Wath is mirrored across the region. Danni joint us

now. You say this is due to a rise in online banking, what do the banks

say? We've had statements from both HSBC

and Yorkshire Bank, HSBC say they are continued to invest in digital

platforms and people, Yorkshire bank say they are shaping the business in

response to changing needs. We have to remember not everybody banks

online. We spoke to a lot of businesses, but spoke to a lot of

elderly people as well, they they don't use internet banking, they

don't trust it, they like cash. We also have to remember that, when you

have big decisions to make, many people like to go into the branch

and talk to people. They're now going to have to travel.

In first place, they have started a petition to stop this happening, is

it likely to succeed? -- in Wath. It will depend on whether and not

the two banks knew that both were due to close, because it does leave

a void. That could potentially make a difference. I do know the strength

of feeling in the town, they're collecting a lot of signatures.

This is not just a problem in Wath Yorkshire, we're see more of this

across the country? We will expect to see a lot more of

this because the way we're doing things is changing. Last year we had

figures from Which which suggested there were more than 1000 bank

closures across the country, that is 11% of the network. Those are big

figures. It's not just HSBC or Yorkshire bank, we also so Yorkshire

building society announcing closures and other banks following suit. We

have to remember that we're not using the banks as much, if we're

not using the service, they won't provide it.

Thanks, Danni. Now, there are times

when you must really think that And for Helen Wilson from Bradford,

Tuesday must have been She was outside her mother's home

when a car lost control on black ice It could have all

ended so differently. This is the moment Helen Wilson is

knocked down, just as she gets out of her car, another vehicle loses

control on the icy road and ploughs into higher. Amazingly, she

survived. I'm absolutely fine, this is what I

can't understand. When the adrenaline rush wears off, you'll be

shaking. I felt we'd be yesterday. I cried most of the day.

I saw the video last night, I felt... At anything that happened

there, I was in tears. It was so scary.

Helen's back home, slightly bruised and a little stiff. The only visible

damage, a rip in her favourite jeans.

It knocked out in the air and she landed on her bottom. I thought, you

can't jump in the air! When I saw that, I thought...

It's horrific thing, but perhaps in a week's time it might kick in more.

You tend to go back and just think, I've been sat there for a few

minutes previously with the car door open, it could have taken me legs

off or anything. It's frightening thinking about stuff like that, but

I try not to focus on it, I focus on the good side, that I'm here.

Helen and Jack both know things could have turned out very

differently. Very lucky escape, yeah. Everyone's

saying, by a lottery ticket! I'll have to do that on Saturday, won't

I? Helen has yet to watch these

pictures, she's not sure she'll ever be ready to.

Leeds United are up to third in the Championship after beating

When Forest failed to clear a corner, Chris Wood

But the second Leeds goal is the one to watch time and again.

Souleymane Doukara scored this stunning 20-yard volley

It's so good, it's worth another look.

Barnsley have sold their captain to Aston Villa for an undisclosed fee.

Conor Hourihane made more than 100 league appearances

for Barnsley, scoring 29 goals.

He joins former Barnsley team-mate James Bree at Villa Park

These departures from Oakwell follow the sale of striker Sam Winnall

to Sheffield Wednesday earlier this month.

A new approach to antenatal classes that was pioneered in Bradford has

been shown to improve the bond between parents and their

newborn babies when mums interact with their bumps.

I didn't, maybe that is where I went wrong.

I used to play at Shakin' Stevens, that got it living.

And according to researchers at Hull University, mums who talk to,

sing and massage their bumps bond better after birth.

These new mums in Bradford have a special bond with their babies.

They both attended an antenatal class which encouraged them

When we got asked to speak to our bumps, or asked if we do,

I was like, no, that seems a bit daft talking to your bump.

I've got a two-year-old, and you tend to think, I know at all.

This is Family Links' Welcome To The World Antenatal Programme.

It looks at the emotional wellbeing of mum and baby

We're really trying to support the parents to be excited

It really helps them to think about, emotionally, how

life's going to change, physically how life's

going to change, and it's really there to support emotional

Now researchers at Hull University have proved that it really

One of their findings show that women who attended these

classes were less likely to develop postnatal depression.

I think there's some anecdotal evidence to suggest that talking

to your bump is a really good way of starting off that process.

To capture it and be able to demonstrate it through evidence

was something that gave much more clarity to that whole idea.

Back in Bradford, what did our a new mums make of the classes?

My little girl would sing to my bump, and my partner would saying.

I think that truly helped when he came along.

Because my little girl and him are really, really

Because of the group in general, it made me want to breast-feed her

And it's six months and I'm still breast-feeding,

Nice to know that I wasn't being silly talking to my bump.

In the future, researchers plan to look at how men

The key to being a good teacher is keeping your class engaged.

But imagine if you could transport them to another world in an instant.

They could experience the Northern Lights close up,

or imagine they were swimming across the bottom of a blue ocean

The Maldives would be nice, wouldn't it?

Or they could find themselves floating around in space.

And you could do it all without the expense of a school trip.

Well, that's exactly what happened at a school in Pontefract.

Heidi Tomlinson went along to try it out.

How to impress a room full of noisy 12-year-olds.

Get them a headset with mind-blowing access to pretty much anywhere.

It's the tallest waterfall in the worlds, Angel Falls,

They're experiencing an expedition app through a 3-D headset.

It's new way of learning, devised by Google.

If you look around, you can see a big ray up there.

Just want to reach out, it's so real.

It made me feel like I was actually in these places.

When I was looking at it, I felt amazed, I'd never seen

You can go inside the body and anything like that.

When you sit there, people don't want to go through your book,

But with these ones, it makes you want to.

Over 60% of jobs these young people will have in the future

Being competent and able to use this technology

is really, really important for the knowledge-based society.

It looks like they're having a lot of fun,

They are learning, we've brought in teachers

At the moment they're looking at technology,

and the teachers are explaining how this technology works and what

It does actually make you feel like you're underwater.

But we're not underwater, we're back in the class.

You'll have to go to your next lesson.

No headsets, nowhere near as entertaining.

That looks great fun. You wouldn't want to take them off,

what do you? I would like to be on a real beachcomber it's been freezing!

I feel like a rose between two thorns. I should get a purple suit,

we'd but all look great. These are quite astonishing temperatures,

everywhere was sub zero. The cosy air is so dry, that's why it felt so

cold. Tomorrow will be cold at first, variable brightness in the

East, then we get milder south-westerly is in. This might

bring... Into February, milder and more unsettled. You can see the

extent of the cloud feeding up from the continent. Breaks emerging

across the southern part of Britain. Cardiff are most of us at the

moment, they could enough for wintry flurries. Frost in places at the

moment, down 2-3 C. The Sunrise... Extensive hill fog in the Pennines

in the morning. A few flurries of snow, ice and frost. He's an errors

will be brighter tomorrow, Stein Gray further west. Always the risk

of wintry showers. Temperatures recovering through the afternoon, a

high of three Celsius. It turns wet through Friday evening and Friday

night, a wet start to Saturday morning, sky is bright in the

morning, the afternoon dry with sunshine. As we head towards the end

of January, milder but much more unsettled. That's the forecast.

Willie hats tomorrow, I think. This is been fun, a girl thing.

I'll be back the late years, it see you then.

Bye-bye. Einstein replaced Newton's theory

of universal gravitation