28/01/2014 East Midlands Today

Now the news for the East Midlands, I'm Anne Davies. A Lincolnshire man,

who murdered 10`year`old Rosie`May Storrie, has lost his appeal against

his conviction and sentence. Paul Smith was found guilty of

suffocating Rosie May at a Christmas party 0

suffocating Rosie May at a Christmas party in Leicestershire in 2003. Amy

Harris reports. Rosie`May Storrie, aged nine, filmed at home in 2002

with her pet rabbit. A year later, she would be dead. Rosie`May was

killed at a Christmas party at this house by another guest. 17`year`old

Paul Smith. He was convicted of suffocating her and sentenced to 14

years in jail. He's always denied murder and his previous `` has

previously attempted to change the verdict. Today, it was announced the

Court of Appeal refused an appeal againsts his conviction and

sentence. It's welcome news for Rosie`May's family. It means we can

get on with our lives and go forward in a positive way. It's a decision

that can't be reversed, but Paul Smith's father, Nigel, says the

fight to clear his son's name will go on. My son is innocent. This is a

huge miscarriage of justice. I will continue to fight it. Rosie`May was

a born performer. This year, she would have been 21. Her family are

coping with their loss by putting their energy and efforts into a

dance academy and a children's home in Sri Lanka, set up in her name.

Their way of giving other young people the future that Rosie`May was

denied. Amy Harris, BBC East Midlands Today. Next tonight, the

twins who, their parents say, have missed out on months of schooling.

The girls both have disabilities and need to be assessed, but the family

have been waiting since last June for some kind of decision. There is

the chance of places at a school a mile away, but the council won't

fund special transport. Jo Healey reports. It was the girls birthday

yesterday, 10 years marked by surgery. Zara had an operation on

her spine, last June they moved back from Birmingham to Derby. Since then

their concern hasn't been just their health, but their education. My

favourite subjects are maths and English. I miss my friends. I miss

not going back to school. They are highly dependant. We have been

struggling throughout. We have not been able to get any schooling, any

home education. It's been uphill. We want them to go to school. City

Council has a school in mind. The family say it's a mile from home.

The council won't give them special transport. Their chairs won't fit in

a car. This would be their only option. They are prone to infection,

they have a low immune system. We're worried they will end up in hospital

again. If we have to do this every day in the cold, rain and wet it's

not a solution. We are very worried that we won't be able to keep this

up. In a statement, Derby City Council said the family had been

encouraged to apply for help with transport and the council always

puts the needs of children first. A 71`year`old woman was helicoptered

to hospital after a smash between a bus and tractor in a Leicesteshire

village. Witnesses saw a single decker bus collide with a tractor,

before hitting a wall in North Street in Rothley today. Three

others were taken to hospital as a precaution. The road was closed

while emergency services rescued the woman, who suffered serious leg

injuries. The bus was well lodged in the wall. The driver side was lodged

worse, the tractor hit the door as you would step onto the bus. The

front of the bus was in a good mess. The Government has turned down a

plan to improve one of our key rail links. A minister says there's no

business case for work on the Castle Railway line from Nottingham to

Lincoln, via Newark. To no avail. The East Coast Main Line gets

passengers into King's Cross in 1 hour 22 minutes. The Government is

talking about spending a lot of money on North/ Rail. It's cross

country that we need a lot more help. The service would be improved

because there is always too many people on it. If the train was more

frequent, it would be better. From Nottingham toll Newark in the

evening you have two coaches. You have a lot more people commuting

from work or university, like myself, who want to get home, yet

you can't get a seat. That's bad service. The Castle line opened? 18

46 and is regarded as an an important railway. That's why local

politicians want new investment to cut journey times. We all want this

to succeed right outside our constituency. It's emerged that the

message has yet to reach a Transport Minister. The department has

received no comment from Nottinghamshire County Council or

Lincoln conshire County Council Council. We haven't seen a business

case. Council is the organisation that lobbies for our region say it

is's disappointed. A business case has been made. Maybe on the Castle

Line these things take much longer to arrive. Football now, and both

Leicester and Derby were in action tonight. The Foxes beat Birmingham

2`1 to set a new club record of eight League wins in a row. Derby

were 2`0 down to Yeovil at half time, but they fought back to win

3`2. Now a look at the weather: were 2`0 down to Yeovil at half

time, but We are in nor a short, sharp cold snap over the next few

days. The showers will diminish tomorrow. Some could turn wintry.

For the time being it's wetness we have in store for tonight. There

could be a wintry element to the showers later on in the night across

the Peak District. For most it will be rain showers. It is relatively

mild, four or five Celsius our lowest temperature. Grim start to

tomorrow morning, cloud and showers. The showers will merge for a time

during the morning time. They may turn wintry as the cold air feeds in

with highs of five Celsius. Colder still on Thursday, 0

with highs of five Celsius. Colder still on Thursday, wet, windy and

mild again by Friday. That's about it from the late team. From all of

us, goodbye.