the data shows one london street alone had over 300 offences. mopeds gangs on london streets brazenly stealing from pedestrians, some going to any lengths to take from their victims. indiscriminately the assault and threatening innocent people with the capital's busiest streets offering rich pickings.” streets offering rich pickingsi noticed something moving out of the corner of my eye and as i turned towards that i realised it was a mopeds but they still hadn't realised what was happening. they snatched my phone and drove down the road. it wasn't helplessness, it was definitely anger. he is one of many mopeds victims last year. new figures show that mopeds assisted deaths under robberies have increased six fold over the last two yea rs. increased six fold over the last two years. the data shows it as here on 0xford years. the data shows it as here on oxford street where most offences took place last year with 291

compared to sa took place last year with 291 compared to 3a the previous year and 13 in 2014-15. compared to 3a the previous year and 13 in 2014—15. regent street and bond street have also had figures increased to magically since 2016. the situation is of huge concern to criminologists. it is certainly the crime of the moment and young gang affiliated boys will actively want these mobile phones because they can sell them for a high value. they can be decoded and reused so that as a profit margin to be made. earlier this month a 22—year—old man was stabbed after he chased down a mopeds passenger who snatched his mobile phone out of his hand on oxford street, but police and city hall said extensive operations and new tactics have led to an overall the crease in motorbike enabled crimes since 2017. we have been working with the metropolitan police ha rd to working with the metropolitan police hard to deal with mopeds crime and the snatchers and thefts that happen

and the money is put into extra policing and all have an impact on all crime sort includes mopeds crime. we are also calling on manufacturers to do their bit to mean it is harder to steal mopeds. despite assurances he says it is no surprise he still feels unsafe and is always wary when walking alone. surprise he still feels unsafe and is always wary when walking aloneli look over my shoulder more than i used to so that is a slight feeling of being on edge stilljust because of being on edge stilljust because of what happened then, but that is to be expected. the headlines on bbc news. president trump has said that making schools safer will be his administration's top priority — after 17 people were shot dead at a high school near miami. the former youth football coach barry bennell has been convicted of the remaining seven charges against him relating to the sexual abuse of boys in his care. president trump's former chief adviser, steve bannon, has refused to answer a range of questions posed by a congressional committee.

an update on the market numbers for you — here's how london's and frankfurt ended the day. and in the the united states this is how the dow and the nasdaq are getting on. now it's time for meet the author. if you read any of the four mick herron novels you will know what to expect in the fifth, london rules. skulduggery and streets alive with terror, a political class that is self—centred and often corrupt, time is pressing and the threat real and the ramshackle outfit, neverfleeing by the rules, has to try and save the day, welcome. jackson lamb and his many men and

women at a pretty rough lot? sort of. they are quite ordinary people in many ways and i'm quite keen on these spies having daily lives in contemporary london. that's right, they don't lead gilded lives, they are not pampered and they are under enormous pressure with a terrorist threat in this book and they will go into that in some detail but not too much. they are pretty rough in the way they deal with each other in the office stop what strikes me is that very seldom are they really nice to each other. very seldom. that

certain bonds between different characters, not as a group very much, but there are pairings that happens the series. indeed. i like to think in the group seems particularly, i always have at least one scene where everybody is their are all at once, and on those occasions they reach some kind of harmony, usually working on the problem. it may be harmonious in that sense and they do care about each other and their situations but you never get them saying, what are you never get them saying, what are you really like? they seem to be driven by a desire not to show too much of themselves. do you think it isa much of themselves. do you think it is a characteristic of people who find themselves in that world? is a characteristic of people who find themselves in that world7m may be a characteristic of people who work in offices and i focus on the order in this of these people. —— ordinariness. and they are spies but to an extent they could be anything and the relationships are determined by the fact they are all

frustrated in their ambitions and clea rers frustrated in their ambitions and clearers and all having to work together and don't want to. and the point is that if we met any of them in the street from would have no idea what they do by the way they behave, which is the point.” idea what they do by the way they behave, which is the point. i was looking in the tube on the way in this morning trying to spot characters. one of the things, and i am trying not to give too much away because it is a tense plot, but there's a blackmail threats made against someone and it is made directly by someone who is quite high up in the establishment. do you think that in that form could happen is that it clear is that? almost certainly. a real threat. is that it clear is that? almost certainly. a realthreat. we have got this photograph, and we talked about this beforehand, but we can see it involves somebody who is involved in cross dressing and therefore is going to produce an embarrassing series of stories in the papers and the questioners, will

he brazen it out and say, this is me, or will he fold at the threat of blackmail? part of the reason for introducing that blackmail was because i was interested in allowing this character who is mostly not pleasa nt to this character who is mostly not pleasant to have some integrity and bravery so he is facing a challenge and will he toughed it out cave, and so the decision he partly makes to tough it out indicates that as a court of integrity. when you're a character like that in circumstances like that, do you try however hard it might be to put yourself in that position? always, i try to write characters from the inside out. the only character they don't do that with is jackson lamb himself. you see what he does and says but never what he thinks feels. to somebody who hasn't read the four preceding books and might perhaps pick up this one and go back, how would you describe jackson lamb? the best way

of describing him would be to meet him. to enter his department of the secret service were all the failure is get assigned. you have to go round the back of the building through the door that jams round the back of the building through the door thatjams and all the way up to the top attic and when you open the door you would find a very dark room was no natural light because yoghurt as the blind down, and you would see a very large man with his feet up on the desk, the aid would be noxious because he smokes and is aggressively flatule nt. smokes and is aggressively flatulent. that's a marxist territory. —— how he marks his territory. —— how he marks his territory. do you know jackson territory. —— how he marks his territory. do you knowjackson lamb well are you still discovering him? still discovering him although in the book i am working on at the moment that is more revealed about him. are you going inside him for the first time? he is seeing things he has not said before. what will we

learn about him that we don't know without giving away the plot. a bit more about his past. that is really the core to the character. there's a sense in which we had always meant to ask the question, how did he end up to ask the question, how did he end up your? we might know a bit of the story but we don't know the whole story. that is partly because i don't know what either yet. so it wasn't deliberate to conceal his background, just that as you began to tease out the character you discovered as well that there was a mystery about him which is a mystification use year with the reader. the character was never meant to take the central role he has come to do but as soon as i started writing i realised there we re started writing i realised there were opportunities in a way i had never done before, in order to bring humour into the books and also that larger than life character who has a past cloa ked larger than life character who has a past cloaked in mystery. the other

fascinating thing about this story and it is quite unusual is that you set it not just and it is quite unusual is that you set it notjust in the contemporary world, ina set it notjust in the contemporary world, in a london principally where the threat of a terrorist act is ever present, but you have been very specific. there has been a referendum on brexit, the political figures who they are not a resemblance in an imitator of way but a broad resemblance to characters we might recognise only political spectrum, but as individuals but as people with points of view. quite a risky thing to do, quite bold? it didn't seem to me at the time that was the case, i was simply writing about the world i find myself in. the novel had been in preparation before the referendum and they didn't start writing to afterwords and it changed a lot of things. i hadn't foreseen the result of the referendum, few people had, but as soon as it happened a lot of

things became clear, clearfrom but as soon as it happened a lot of things became clear, clear from the terrorised reactions from a lot of the cabinet ministers who had organised that, from the cowardice of the prime minister as he realised what he had done, and the cabinet of backstabbing in the leadership election afterwards, we it was clear we we re election afterwards, we it was clear we were in for a long period of farce and chaos. london rules is a thriller and dramatic events happen but the political backdrop is one we have all been living through. the other thing finally about this book is that you resist very deliberately the idea that on the last page everything can be neatly tied up, it is all over. maybe something has happened that avoids a cataclysm but the idea that calm has been restored is not really what you comfortable with? we live in a state of ongoing tension and it can't be solved the

eye final chapter. so you say, prepare to be disturbed and don't think you can relax when it is over? yes. mick herron, author of london rules, thank you very much. it may have been milder than sony are for many of us today but there are for many of us today but there are still snow showers around and let's focus on the sunshine here in norfolk this afternoon. a gorgeous afternoon, england and wales or a few showers, the satellite picture shows speckled cloud indicating showers but thicker cloud running into north—west scotland and frequent, heavy wintry showers continue overnight. there will be further showers in the hill, blizzard is developing as well. new showers continuing to the western side of northern ireland. western and north—west scotland will get icy conditions on untreated

circumstances but elsewhere widespread frost into the morning. still picking up a few showers, running particularly into north—west scotla nd running particularly into north—west scotland using the day tomorrow, so further snow showers. 12—mac showers in western england but many will be dry and the morning sunshine, cloud increasing to the west of the uk, leading the best of the afternoon sunny spells across eastern areas and the temperature fairly respectable, r. n7— ten. and the temperature fairly respectable, r.n7— ten. as we run through friday night and into saturday morning, we are going to bring some outbreaks of rain, sleet and snow across northern ireland and on to england and north wales, but the system weakening as edges southwards going into saturday morning. still cloud around with frost expected and perhaps fog patches on saturday morning, the risk of them being dense in some

spots. overall the weather hasn't changed too much going to the first pa rt changed too much going to the first part of the weekend, still starting was more cloud around northern parts and a few showers dotted around, the best of the sunny spells across southern areas, but many others see sunshine at some stage of the day on saturday and again the temperature topping out at around 6—9, maybe ten or 11 topping out at around 6—9, maybe ten or11 in topping out at around 6—9, maybe ten or 11 in milder spots. topping out at around 6—9, maybe ten or11 in milderspots. more topping out at around 6—9, maybe ten or 11 in milder spots. more cloud on sunday particularly across northern and western parts of the uk leading central and eastern areas of england with the best of the sunny spells. where you have got the cloud you can expect things to be damp and drizzly but milder on sunday. america's agony — again — as 17 students and teachers are killed in the 18th school shooting in the us this year. he ran up and down the hallway — just banging and shooting at the classrooms — he shot through my door. nikolas cruz was arrested after going on the run. president trump today pledged to make schools safer. no child, no teacher should ever be

in danger in an american school. all change in south africa — cyril ramaphosa says one of his priorities as new president will be to fight corruption. a staggering statistic — one in six children now