BBC TV News Review - Monday 21st August

We started with the case of Learco Chindamo, a 26 year old man, who killed a school headmaster, Philip Lawrence, in 1995. Our government attempted to deport him back to his Italian homeland once his prison sentence is complete, however this move was rejected because of human rights legislation.


Mrs Lawrence's widow was shown, obviously she is rather upset about her human rights and those of her two children; she feels that current human rights legislation does not "encompass" her requirements. It is all to do with Article 8 seemingly. Old images of the funeral were then shown as we heard how the victim was stabbed in the heart.

However, we heard from Mr Chindamo's lawyer who successfully argued that because his client had lived in the UK for 10 years before the murder then it would actually be illegal to deport him. Furthermore, Mr Chindamo had been part of a gang culture when younger however had now seen the error of his ways.

To conclude, we heard from various Members of Parliament who are also unhappy about the decision, it appears that the Labour government say that Human Rights Legislation has been interpreted wrongly, the Tories say it needs amended and a fresh Bill of Rights drawn up. This needs to be very closely monitored.

Hurricane Dean, sweeping through - getting stronger - could become a category 5 - "a monster, a giant wrecking ball." We travelled over to Mexico with BBC reporter Gavin Hewitt, to see some underground living accomodation and to hear how, like US Forces, "the seas were beginning to surge." We saw Jamica in hurricane aftermath as we heard of the "eye of the storm."

Eye of the coming storm ?

David Cameron is up for a "bare knuckle fight" apparently, over our hospitals and NHS. We heard of super-hospitals and saw Cameron looking at a patients bedside monitor, in the manner of a surgeon. We heard of district hospitals, the "cornerstone of the NHS since the 1960's" yet the "NHS is changing, it is not set in stone". There was no mention of headstones or super-bugs though.


Police have released CCTV evidence to try to help them solve the murder of Hells Angel, Gerry Tobin, who was murdered on the M40. We saw images of Mr Tobin at a service station.


We moved on to Iraq and a possible "exit strategy". Basically, it seems that the whole country is in a state of civil anarchy and we were asked to consider whether our "mission had failed". A radical Muslim cleric said yes, Major Mike Shearer said no, we "are not being driven out." Whatever the truth, it is a shambles.

Good news though, Royal Mail have agreed to allow parcels to be sent to our soldiers and servicepeople who are posted abroad on duty, for free, till Christmas. The generousity is truly humbling.


Coming up - Seconds from disaster - Plane crash, plus Tim Henman quitting.

First though, we heard the shocking news that "ever week, one child is killed by their parent(s). We saw images of some murder victims and were told "some make the news, some dont." We saw a grieving mother and heard that "children aged under 1 year are four times more likely to be killed than at any other time in their life."


We were then asked to consider "but why do parents kill their children" although no real answers seemed to be offered. Instead, we heard of targets to reduce child-murders and heard that we need to "value our children more" and "care for them more". Just time for the fascinating statistic that there is "the equivalent of a Dunblane massacre every four months."


The promised plane crash next - we saw images of passengers jumping from a Boeing 737 - 800 at a Japanese airport, just before the plane exploded. The pilots leapt last. Everyone escaped intact but we heard that China Airlines, the owners of the aeroplane, had a "patchy record." Think it maybe says Made in China on the bottom ?

A feature on Natascha Kampush next, she was the young girl who was held captive in a cellar for nine years. We saw images of her now and were treated to a "rare interview." Images of her cellar cell were shown as we heard of old socks and t shirts and her mothers book. To close, we saw images of her receiving driving tuition. Again, there is far more to say on this matter and I would refer you to thishttp://the-daily-behemoth.blogspot.com/2007/08/history-repeating.html

We closed with Henman and his retiral from tennis. "Tiger" Tim - eye of the tiger.

cheers