Cromer

An inmate found guilty of attempting to kill prison officers and another prisoner has been given three life sentences.

Lincolnshire Police

Aklakur Rahman, 32, carried out the attacks at prisons in Norfolk, Lincoln and Wakefield.

Rahman,originally from Ipswich, used makeshift weapons, including razor blades and a piece of masonry to carry out the attacks.

Passing sentence at Birmingham Crown Court, Mr Justice Pepperall said Rahman had prepared "the most dangerous weapons he could fashion from the limited materials available to him".

Rahman was jailed on Friday for a minimum of 13 years

Detective Inspector Kevin Brown, from the East Midlands Special Operations Unit, said: “It really is a blessing that no one was killed during what were extremely determined and violent attacks.”

The Environment Agency said the risk of flooding from the North Sea had reduced, but that it would continue to monitor the forecast throughout the day, as Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning tides would remain high.

It follows an evacuation warning in place from 07:00 to 10:00 for Heacham, Snettisham and Hunstanton, which has now been lifted.

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Its incident response staff were checking the condition of defences, it said.

There are currently no severe flood warnings or flood warnings along the Norfolk coast, with the earlier flood warnings for Snettisham, Heacham and Hunstanton, downgraded to flood alerts.

There are also flood alerts between Old Hunstanton and Cley; from East Cley to Kelling Hard; and on the tidal River Yare from Thorpe St Andrew to Breydon Water and on the tidal River Waveney from Ellingham to Breydon Water.

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High tide has been and gone at Gorleston with the water levels just a little higher than normal, but no problems.

A flood alert remains in place for the tidal River Yare, but this was the scene just after high water at Gorleston Lifeboat Station.

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Val Lasenby moved to the Hunstanton area recently, so this was the first full flood warning that she had been through.

She walks her dog, Freddie, every morning along the seafront and was relieved to see the water was calmer than yesterday.

She was pleased when things did not appear as bad as they could have been.

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Volunteers at Hunstanton Community Centre have been praised for their work looking after people evacuated from their homes.

Janet Wrubel and Kathleen Huggins turned up after they were advised to do so by their caravan owner as they wanted to be on "the safe side."

The helpers had provided "a very good service", they said.

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They have now been told it is safe to return to their caravan, but only after having coffee and biscuits.

Good news has just been shared in Hunstanton.

The Environment Agency has confirmed that the all-clear has been given.

It seems like everyone can return home, but with more high tides to come, expect further updates and more information from the agency.

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The Environment Agency has defended its decision to evacuate about 3,000 homes ahead of the high tide at Hunstanton this morning.

David Young said the agency's plans "seemed to have worked". The water levels were lower than expected, due to a change in wind direction, he said.

Flood alerts will remain in place due to further tides, and levels will be looked at closely tomorrow with more updates to come, he said.

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"We have to be careful with the messages we sent out. This warning was based on a lot of experience; those decisions aren't taken lightly," he said.

"We have robust plans in place to make sure that we are not leaving anything to chance. We do plan for the worst but do hope for the best and we don't want to take a risk with people's lives."

The high tide has arrived in Hunstanton but Paul Burrows, flood and coastal risk manager at the Environment Agency, told me things were not as bad as predicted.

"The forecast tide levels have come in as anticipated. The wind hasn't quite tracked in the directed expected, hence the wave action is not quite as severe as we had planned for," he said.

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"It's good that we have taken action to enact prepared plans that have been tried and tested over the last 10 to 15 years to protect vulnerable communities from a range of variables that the sea throws at us."

He explained the shingle defences were still vulnerable and is asking everyone to stay out of their homes until 10:00, when the tide has receded.

Then the agency will take stock of the tides tonight and tomorrow and see if any other action is needed.

It looks like the high tide surge has not happened in Hunstanton.

It seems like the wind has not switched round to the north, so we may have got away with it.

It is, of course, early days and we await further information from the Environment Agency.

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Nigel Croasdale, general manager of Sealife Hunstanton, said: "We’ve lived and breathed what the power of the sea can do in these circumstances, so when we heard of the flood warning the first thing that enters your head is 'This happened before in 2013'.

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"Having experienced a tidal surge which breached the sea defences and flooded the centre, which led to the evacuation of the animals and 10 months closed, it makes you highly nervous every time there’s a flood alert; it does seem ever so real.

"Luckily this morning the wind seems to have dropped, but if the wind speed had picked up in the right direction there could have been a much more serious situation that I think we’re going to end up with."

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In the last half-hour the wind has really picked up here in Hunstanton.

The waves are lashing against the sea wall and high tide is due at about 08:40.

The Environment Agency says when that has come and gone, the danger will not have passed and there could still be a risk of flooding.

They will be keeping a close eye on what happens, and further down the coast towards Snettisham, over the next two hours.

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There are only two people here at the Hunstanton Community Centre, where a rest centre has been set up for people evacuated from their homes.

Ruth is here with her daughter Phoebe. She told me she came here early this morning, just in case the roads were closed.

She is "well prepared", she said, and has already moved everything to a safe place, out of the way of any possible floodwater.

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Peter Gillard lives inside the flood zone in Hunstanton, but he's not worried.

He says he has lived here for many years and flooding has never been a concern.

"I never thought it would over-top today - it's not going to happen," he told me.

He is a bit annoyed that he had to get up early to prepare, but said there had been a reasonable amount of warning, so he made sure he had a cup of tea.

"People were warned. I'm up and ready if it does go over the top, which I doubt it will."

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It’s just getting light in Hunstanton under a grey and heavily clouded sky. The prom is quiet and we’ve seen fewer than half a dozen people in the last hour.

A dog walker was asking what all the fuss was about, and another early walker said she’d seen it much worse at the point before high tide.

On South Beach Road one of the amusement arcades has sandbags outside, just in case.

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There is a yellow weather warning in place from 06:00 to 20:00.

The day will start dry in places but showers will move in, some heavy and prolonged, with the risk of lightning and locally torrential downpours.

There will be some sunny intervals in between the showers.

Maximum temperature: 13 to 16°C (55 to 61°F).

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The message from David Young from the Environment Agency is simple this morning. "The risk is real," he said.

The agency is advising people to leave their homes and caravans from 07:00 BST, as the high tide is expected at about 08:40.

"We do have staff out and about, and patrolling the coast at the moment," he said.

People should remain vigilant and take care, he added.

If anyone has any concerns they should call Floodline on 0345 988 1188 or check the Flood Risk website.

This morning the Environment Agency has said that the risk of flooding has not changed since last night.

Winds are expected to be around the same as their predictions and therefore three flood warnings are still in place.

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