Triathlete and screenwriter Lesley Paterson; Zara Aleena's murder & probation service failings; the Woman's Hour Power List 2023

Woman's Hour

BBC

Society & Culture, Health & Fitness, Personal Journals

4.2 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 28 January 2023

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Lesley Paterson is a five times world champion triathlete. She’s also a successful screenwriter, who has just been nominated for an Oscar and a BAFTA for Best Adapted Screenplay for the film All Quiet on the Western Front. It’s taken her sixteen years to get the film made. A woman no stranger to endurance, she explains how she used her prize money from her sporting career to help fund the film. An independent review into Zara Aleena's murder found a catalogue of errors by the probation service. We speak to HM Chief Inspector of Probation Justin Russell who conducted the review, along with Zara Aleena's aunt Farah Naz. The Woman's Hour Power List for 2023 is here! Last year was a game-changer for the visibility and perception of women in sport in this country and we want to showcase inspirational women – both on and off the field – who are spearheading and building on this momentum. The chair of judges Jessica Creighton launches the Power List and explains how you can make your suggestion. What is the role of a best friend at a deathbed? We All Want Impossible Things is a new novel by Catherine Newman exploring the topic. She reveals how her personal experience inspired the book. During World War Two, a house in Tynemouth was used as a sanctuary for more than 20 Jewish girls fleeing Nazi persecution. They had come to the UK on the Kindertransport. After a BBC investigation, a blue plaque was unveiled there yesterday, Holocaust Memorial Day, celebrating the house's forgotten past and those that found sanctuary there. Two of the girls who lived in the house were Ruth David and Elfi Jonas. We speak to their daughters, Margaret Finch and Helen Strange, about their mothers and their visit to the house.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to Weekend Woman's Hour. I'm Anita Rani. This is where we bring you all the
0:05.2	highlights from the past week. Coming up, Leslie Patterson, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of
0:11.0	all quiet on the Western Front reveals how a second job helped to fund the film.
0:16.4	So I've been a professional athlete for the last almost 20 years competing all of the world
0:21.1	and off road triathlon. So yeah, my husband and I were always wondering where we would get that
0:27.5	next paycheck from in order to raise the finances. But you know, having said that, I think the
0:34.2	durability that I've gained from that sport certainly is transferred to film, that's for sure.
0:39.3	And what is the role of a best friend at a deathbed? The author Catherine Newman tells us about her
0:45.0	new book exploring this topic and the Woman's Hour Power List for 2023 has been launched
0:51.0	with a focus on women in sport. Stay tuned to find out who'll be part of the star-studded
0:56.0	judging panel and how you can get involved. But first, last June, just nine days after being
1:02.8	released from prison, Jordan McSweeney sexually assaulted and murdered 35-year-old aspiring lawyer
1:09.6	Zara Alina as she walked home from a night out in East London. McSweeney was sentenced in December
1:15.6	to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 38 years. Zara's aunt told Woman's Hour the family
1:22.4	had been completely destroyed. At the time of the offense, McSweeney, who'd been in and out of
1:28.3	prison since he was 16 and had a history of violence, was under the supervision of the probation
1:33.7	service. The Justice Secretary Dominic Rab ordered an independent review into the case
1:38.9	and the findings were published on Tuesday. There was a catalogue of errors by the probation
1:44.3	service from being wrongly assessed to missed opportunities to recall him earlier to custody.
1:49.5	Earlier this week, Nula was joined by his Majesty's Chief Inspector of Probation Justin Russell,
1:55.3	who conducted the review along with Zara Alina's aunt Farah Nas. Nula began by asking Farah
2:01.6	for her reaction to the report. Well, it's an extremely distressing report. It's 35 pages
	...

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