Tyne Tees News

Newcastle City Council leader Nick Forbes has been talking to ITV News about how the council is marking International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia.

The councillor said he was proud of the steps forward that the region had made in tackling discrimination.

Phillipa Scrafton also spoke to us about how important it was to educate people about the issues surrounding discrimination.

• UK
• homophobia
• Newcastle City Council

• UK

A 15-year-old who knocked down and killed a man while driving a stolen Range Rover at 40mph over the speed limit, and who then ran away from police, has been detained for five years.

The court heard that the car smashed into a lamppost so hard the top section of the light ended in a tree 50ft away.

27-year-old Douglas Scott Robertson was dragged more than 100 yards under the vehicle after the driver lost control in snow.

He had been walking to his local club in Stokesley on the afternoon of the incident.

Police were looking for the car, which had been taken from a house party in the Stockton area that morning, after they received reports about it being driven badly.

The teenager fled from police after he had been spotted and asked for a help at a nearby house, saying men were chasing him.

"At the time the vehicle collided with the deceased he was walking along a footpath carrying an umbrella, minding his own business, making his way towards a social club.

"He was dragged 340ft over some waste ground until the vehicle went through a small wall and tree and hit the side of the working men's club."

• UK
• Stokesley
• North Yorkshire

A landlord from Norton in North Yorkshire has been sentenced to 12 months imprisonment for failing to take adequate fire safety precautions after two jockeys died at his flats in Norton in 2009.

Alan Foster pleaded guilty to 4 breaches and was sentenced to 12 months for each, the sentences to run concurrently. He is likely to serve 6 months before he is released on licence.

It is impossible to say what the outcome would have been for Jamie Kyne and Jan Wilson had the proper fire precautions been taken. It is clear however that their deaths would have been significantly less likely but for these breaches. The deaths of these two young people are an important aggravating feature."

• UK
• North Yorkshire

Newcastle City Council has a raised a rainbow flag above its civic centre to mark International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia.

The council is just one of three around the country which is led by an openly gay councillor, Councillor Nick Forbes.

• UK
• homophobia
• Newcastle City Council

Newcastle City Council is marking International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia.

A rainbow flag has been raised over the civic centre in Newcastle this lunchtime to support the day that fights against the discrimination of the transgender community.

• UK
• homophobia
• Newcastle City Council

The Independent Police Complaints Comission has asked North Yorkshire Police to investigate if any of their officers could face potential misconduct charges over their relationship with disgraced TV presenter Jimmy Savile.

The shamed DJ is said to have abused at least eight victims in the county, where he had a home in Scarborough. The IPCC has asked the force to review whether there were "conduct matters that should be referred" to them in relation to Savile.

• UK
• Jimmy Savile
• IPCC

• UK

A 1937 steam train has been restored by volunteers in York.

It took them six months to complete the makeover of the Dominion of Canada.

The train is now on display at the National Railway Museum in Shildon.

• UK
• York

Police are appealing for witnesses after a serious assault at a nightclub in Middlesbrough.

A 34-year-old man suffered leg and facial injuries in the incident in the smoking area of Slam nightclub in the early hours of this morning (Friday, May 17).

Detectives want to speak to two females who are believed to have been at the scene.

Anyone with information should call police on 101.

• UK
• Middlesbrough