05/09/2014 East Midlands Today

And now the news for the East Midlands.

Five robbers who funded a lavish lifestyle by blowing`up

dozens of cash machines have been jailed for a total of 82 years.

Nine of their attacks last year were at banks and supermarkets

Today a judge said the gang posed a significant risk to the public.

Our Social Affairs Correspondent, Jeremy Ball, has more.

The gang attacked this bank back in June last year.

They were causing explosions, explosions that could have killed

This is how the cash machines were blown apart.

There were dozens of explosions across the region.

The gang escaped with hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Highly organised, highly dangerous, there was debris covering

a wide area that could have hurt or injured people.

They were relentless in what they wanted to achieve,

which was the money from those machines to fund their lifestyles.

Mary was asleep here in Birstall, when when her local bank was hit.

I heard the loud bang, like a bomb going off.

I heard an explosion that I thought was an earthquake, and then I looked

out the window, and I saw some people at the bank, and I thought,

The cash machine here in Mountsorrel was blown up twice within three

Today, five men from Merseyside and Coventry were jailed

for conspiracy to commit burglaries and cause explosions.

They've received sentences ranging from 13 to 18 years in prison.

We have worked tirelessly to bring these people to justice.

We were very conscious that we had to arrest them, because of the

danger to the public, and when we did so, these offenses had ceased.

The British Banker's Association says that these attacks put

the entire industry under extreme pressure, with frightened staff

Tonight, the men responsible are paying with their liberty.

A Leicester firm has announced hundreds of job losses

at its headquarters and sites across the UK.

The Mark Group is blaming the government for a sharp drop

in demand for its insulation products from homeowners.

It was a government scheme designed to help

with the cost of making homes as energy efficient as possible.

But it's proved to be controversial from the start.

Here at Clifton in Nottingham thousands

of properties were supposed to benefit from solid wall insulation.

But the project stalled when the government changed it's

But now this Leicester energy saving installation firm says changes to

the government grant scheme have led to a massive slump in business.

The Mark Group is now making a quarter

We don't know exactly what the impact will be.

We are doing everything we can to minimise that number, of course.

The change was designed to cut customer's green levy, but it's led

to calls for a major overhaul of the energy efficiency policy.

We constantly call for stability in the policy framework, and today,

those calls appear to be vindicated, with a very real human consequence.

The government says it has created a pipeline of up to ?120 million

worth of work, which will be carried out in the coming months,

and it says over one million homes will benefit from the project.

However, the Mark Group says that this is a sad day for their company,

as consultation starts on shedding hundreds of jobs.

Derby's trainmaker Bombardier has confirmed it's lost out

It had bid for a ?210 million deal to build

But the work's gone to German company Siemens.

Three years ago Bombardier shed fourtee staff after losing a one

and ?1.5 billion contract ` also to Siemens.

A health watchdog has criticised the way some elderly patients are

discharged from hospitals in Derbyshire.

Healthwatch Derbyshire spoke to staff and residents

They reported cases of medication notes

and personal belongings being lost, and in some cases elderly patients

Our correspondent, Rob, has more on this.

Rob, it's a real snapshot of how things can go wrong, isn't it?

Some of the things uncovered in visiting ten care homes in gathering

evidence, the case of a patient sent home in nothing more than a blanket.

In another case, a patient was in a diabetic coma when they arrived back

at a care home because not enough had been done in the discharge

Sometimes, incorrect medication was given to patients.

Other problems included personal items sometimes being lost,

and there was also concern in some cases patients were more ill

after a hospital stay then when they went in.

HealthWatch say significant issues that need sorting out.

We've been hearing about these issues

Now we've got evidence from professionals

in care homes that there's a problem, so we feel we have enough

evidence for the Acute Trust that they do need to tackle this issue.

And, Rob, what have hospitals and social services said in response?

Well, they say that they're working to improve things.

The challenge of hospital discharges is

well`known, and that communication in some cases needs to improve.

And some results for you in tonight's sport.

Nottingham kicked off their Championship rugby season

at Meadow Lane earlier with a win of 19`10 over Bedford.

And in the ice hockey, Nottingham Panthers lost 6`2 tonight to Lukko.

I'm back with your updates across the weekend, but let's check out

Well a few have outdoor plans for the weekend, it does not look too

bad. There will be a lot of dry weather around, and even some

sunshine, because the cloud has been fairly standard recently. A cloudy

evening and night that we have. It will break at times to get a few

clear intervals, but mostly we are left with mist and fog forming in

places. It should be dry, though, and not a cold night. 15 Celsius.

Where we have the mist and fog first thing, that will quickly cleared

away. We will be left with a cloudy morning, and outbreaks are patchy

rain particularly across the Midlands. It continues this way

through the afternoon, but it looks like a good deal more dry weather in

the afternoon, and hopefully that club rating to give s'mores sunny

spells, and in that sunshine, Tebbutt as of 19 Celsius.

The national forecast is next, but I'll leave you with a look

Hello. I am sure you cannot wait to find out what the weekend wet ler be

like. I have to say -- weather will be like. I have to say it is looking

good for most of us. Some of us may have to use our umbrellas, but

hopefully for a short moment. This is the satellite today. You will

notice this cloud, this is a weather forecast we have said for the past