24/04/2014 East Midlands Today

And now the news for the East Midlands, I'm Maurice Flynn. There's

division tonight over a campaign to stop young men travelling to Syria

to fight in the civil war. Police are urging Muslim men to st`y away.

They're concerned those voltnteering may end up being radicalised. But a

Leicester MP who deals with terrorist policing says he doesn't

think the campaign will work. Our Social Affairs Correspondent, Jeremy

Ball, reports. Maybe we can prevent many casualties. And appeal to move

to use their powers of perstasion to stop Muslim men from joining a civil

war happening thousands of liles away. Youngsters are going out

there, lots of Britons are being killed and injured. Going there to

fight is not an option, it hs just going to add to the problems there

rather than making anything better. The brutal conflict has alrdady cost

thousands of lives. Many fedl they are under a religious or moral

obligation to fight. Today, the police asked for help and thp`offs

about people who might want to travel to Syria for the war. One MP

says this strategy will not work. Families do not know it is

happening, the people you nded to go to our peer groups and soci`l media.

But the campaign has been stpported by two Muslim charities who are

sending vital aid to Syria. The say that is the most effective way to

help in the Civil War. Sometimes people can get misused without

knowing. There are many othdr ways to help. It is about spreadhng the

message through whole communities using people power and they are

hoping it can save lives. Phctures of the blaze in which a mother and

her three children died havd been shown to a murder jury. Thex were

told it was started deliber`tely by a gang of men trying to avenge the

death of their friend but that they targeted the wrong house. S`rah

Teale reports. The house in Leicester was set alight in the

early hours of September 13 last year. The mum and her three teenaged

children all died. Their father and husband, a doctor who was in Dublin

at the time, sat in court w`tching the CCTV being played to thd Judy

today. The footage first shows two cars driving past the house with

their headlights switched off. The vehicles parked around the corner

and eight figures walk back towards the house. Then flames can clearly

be seen flickering at the f`mily home as the fire takes hold. The

figures are then spotted running from the scene. The prosecutor

described how a neighbour hdard panicking noises coming frol the

house, crying noises and calls for help. It is alleged seven mdn and a

youth were responsible. It was revenge for the murder of a

20`year`old who had been st`bbed nearby but the gang had targeted the

wrong house. The Julie was then shown CCTV captured after the fire

of a man who had got out of the car, taken something from the boot,

and disposed of it in a hedge. Forensic teams later found ` petrol

can. DNA from another defendant was found on a red cigarette lighter

which pleas officers discovdred in rubble outside the house. The men

charge all counts `` deny all kinds of marker and the trial continues.

`` deny all counts of murder. Now in a month's time we'll get thd chance

to vote for the five MEPs who will represent the East Midlands in the

European Parliament. Nine p`rty s are standing and if you think it's

not important then just consider that these people oversee the EU's

annual budget of ?720 billion. Here's our Political Editor, John

Hess. It is hard to believe this cafe is in the heart of Leicester.

Its owner came to Leicester from Turkey. While he laughs Brussels he

is Eurosceptic. In contrast, his assistant wants others to elbrace

the EU. If it could just get nicer, friendlier, more together again I

Cannes so what will these elections be about? Jobs, migration, the

environment and even our melbership of the EU itself. How many buyers

will take any notice? I feel that Brussels rules loves but I do not

think we can make a difference by voting. We want to come out of the

EU. Now, we don't, because then we will lose out of the import /export

business. The region's MEPs are these people. The system of voting

is different. If more than one third of ours actually vote that will be

regarded as a success. We are back with the lunchtime update tomorrow

now the weather. We have had a pleasant spring day today btt it is

all change for tomorrow as rain is set to arrive from the south. We

have clear skies for most at the moment and any showers will die out.

Cloud will roll in from the North Sea. The cloud will hold

temperatures up. A cloudy and misty start to Friday but starting dry,

some brightness through the morning. We will push in from the Sotth

during the afternoon and thd rain will become intense as the `fternoon

progresses then there is thd potential of Thunder late afternoon

and into the evening. Now the outlook and after

weekend, you can see what is going on. Sunday might be brighter. Now

over to Louise Lear for the national weather.

Good evening. Today has been a day of sunny spells and a few scattered

showers, but where we see the sunshine, we have also seen some

warmth, with temperatures in the high teens. A slightly disappointing

story across the far north-east of Scotland. We keep that easterly feed

through the night to night, but looking out into the Atlantic, we

also start to pick up the south-westerly circulate in, and

area of low pressure bringing in some blustery winds for the start of

the weekend. Tonight it stays mostly dry, with some fog around. And we

pick up the risk of a few showers in the far south-east. Clearer skies at

the the South West, and cloudy, murky start our day tomorrow the

showers gather in strength and then start to march north and