17/01/2014 Look East - West

Good evening. In the programme tonight, a six`year jail sentence

for the former soldier who killed his daughter after being wounded in

Afghanistan. Remembering the fallen, thousands have attended a memorial

service at RAF Lakenheath for the helicopter crew killed on the

Norfolk coast. Riding high, the slumbering giants leading the race

for league status. And we have had some heavy showers today, but also

some springlike sunshine. I will have a weekend weather forecast

coming up at the end of the programme.

First tonight, a former soldier has been jailed for causing the death of

his baby daughter. Liam Culverhouse was given a medical discharge from

the army. He was suffering from post`traumatic stress disorder after

being shot in Afghanistan. Five of his colleagues died in the attack. A

few months later, in May 2011, his seven`week`old daughter Khloe was

admitted to hospital with severe injuries. She died over a year

later. Mike Cartwright has been at Northampton Crown Court and joins us

now. Liam Culverhouse had already pleaded guilty to causing the death

of his baby daughter. He had been told he was going to prison today.

Watching from the public gallery was his father, who told me afterwards

that his son had never been the same since the shooting in Afghanistan.

The court was told he had become angry, aggressive, irritable, unable

to cope with the cries of a baby. Silent as he walked into court.

Today, Liam Culverhouse was jailed for six years for causing the death

of his baby daughter. He had shaken and twisted her, fracturing her

skull, ribs and limbs, the court was told, on at least four occasions. He

had been blinded in his right eye by a bullet. This had contributed to

what he did, the court heard. These are pictures from the aftermath of

that event in Afghanistan. He was one of 16 soldiers who were

ambushed. The trauma after witnessing the death of your fellow

soldiers, the judge said today, had caused you psychological damage But

you do have cobbled at in this case, said the judge. You have

acknowledged you always had a temper. You appreciated the risk to

your daughter, and you ceased your anger management treatment. He told

officers he would never hurt his daughter. I am not responsible, he

said. He changed his mind. It is clear from the investigation and

from the early guilty plea that Liam Culverhouse himself was a very

troubled man, and clearly, I'm fit to look after a small baby. I hope

that the prison sentence affords him a chance to reflect on his actions

because he was truly remorseful for failing to adequately care for his

daughter. `` unfit. Medical assessment by the MoD found he had

missed important treatment, but also, key issues had not been

addressed. A soldier who, just after `` just 18 months after returning

from a skeleton, had inflicted terrible injuries on his baby girl.

`` from Afghanistan. Interesting hearing evidence from relatives who

say they spotted problems with Khloe, they say she was pale and

unresponsive. At one time she had a swollen head, but none of that, we

were told, was picked up by the medical professionals. This comes

after a damning report into child protection services here in

Northamptonshire just recently. A short time ago I spoke to Stephen

Clark from the charity Combat Stress, which helps armed forces

personnel with mental health problems. First I asked how common

post`traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is. Around 4% of Afghan and

Iraq veterans are expected to show signs of PTSD and about 20% are

expected to show signs of things like anxiety and depression. I guess

that is to be expected, but how effective is treatment for this

condition? There are a number of fact as. One of the most shocking

things for us is that the average time in which symptoms can arise can

be 13 years. In that time, veterans can have social problems, and their

issues can become very complex. So, it can be a lot harder for them to

get to a point where they can deal with it. But what can be done to

speed up access to the kind of service that you provide? One thing

which is really important is that with regard to mental health in

general, a lot of people go a long time without seeking help, either

because they do not feel they understand the situation they are

in, and sometimes, we do not think of mental health as is much of a

valid injury as a physical one. With soldiers still serving abroad, do

you feel enough is being done by the government to treat these people?

Great steps have been taken to make sure that people get the help they

need. Procedures are put in place to help people noticed the symptoms.

Also, we work with the Department of Health to make sure that people get

referred through to us. Like I said, it can take a long time for people

to either seek health `` help or to understand what is going on with

them. Two men have told a jury today how

they survived an attack by the serial killer Joanna Dennehy after

she embarked on a 10`day killing spree. After murdering three men

near Peterborough, she travelled more than 100 miles to try to kill

two others. Two of her friends accused of helping her cover up her

crimes are on trial at Cambridge Crown Court. Meeting for the first

time, two strangers who survived an attempt at attack by a serial

killer, who had been picked randomly by the killer. One of them turned

around and realised he was being attacked. She told him, I am hurting

you and I want to kill you. There was no emotion in her face. He said

he put his hand inside his jacket and he saw all this blood. Joanna

Dennehy had already killed three men that she knew, John Chapman, Kevin

Lee and another. All three were stabbed in the heart and left in

ditches near Peterborough. The court has been told that Joanna Dennehy

drove 140 miles to Hereford with the man accused of assisting her

searching for new victims. She is said to have told him, I want to

have my fun. The second to be taxed there was John Rogers, just ten

minutes after the earlier stabbing. John Rogers said Joanna Dennehy was

very matter`of`fact, like it was something she had to do, she was

just going about her business. She noticed that he was bleeding and

then said, I had better do some more. One family had witnessed some

of the stabbings that day and they thought they were seeing a couple

having a domestic flight. After the attack, they said, she looked across

and smiled. Joanna Dennehy has already admitted the three killings.

In the dock where her two friends, Gary stretch and Leslie Layton. The

ground say they helped her cover up the murders. Gary stretch denies

preventing lawful barrio of all three men and two of attempted

murder. Leslie Layton denies preventing lawful burial and

perverting the course of justice. One of the victims told how he

thought he was going to die as he drifted in and out of consciousness.

After the random attack on a spring afternoon. Well, Northampton have to

beat Castres tonight to stand any chance of making the quarterfinals

of the Heineken Cup. They have also got to hope that Leinster lose. Join

me later in the programme for a full preview.

A stigma around becoming a home carer is making it hard to hire new

staff, according to a private care company in Cambridgeshire. Centra

Care is trying to recruit 200 new staff to work in rural areas. They

say demand for care for older people there is growing fast.

Stephanie has been a carer for six months. She visits Sam and jailed

twice a day. In their 80s, Jill has dementia. Mealtimes, cleaning,

shopping, Stephanie is there to help. You have to love helping

people. I think if you do not have the passion for the job, I do not

think you will be as good. Sometimes you come early in the morning, and

you are depressed, and then after half an hour, you have talks to

them, and they have a smile on their face. Sometimes they say, thank you

so much for what you have done. And I do not think sometimes I have done

much, but it does make a difference for them. If it was not for our

girls, we they will come in early morning and if I am still in bed,

they get the up and dress me and bath me if I want. In rural

Cambridgeshire, there are 19,00 people over 65 with long`term health

problems. It is a figure which is expecting to rise by a figure which

is expecting to rise by 0.25 x 0 20. But finding more carers is a

challenge. This company is recruiting in shopping centres in

Cambridge. They need 200 new carers. Actually, it is a really important

job. You are probably the only person that some of these people see

every day. That is really important, but people perhaps do not give it

the credibility it deserves. With an ageing population, Cambridge county

council now works with 27 private care companies, but is it an

industry that people want to work in? If it is something you want to

do as a job, then yes, but it is not something I picture myself doing.

There is a most of the companies in Cambridge are looking for 300 carers

at the moment. Health visitors still come via the NHS, while home care is

provided by private companies. Their problem is attracting more people

like Stephanie to apply for a job. The Prime Minister, David Cameron,

said today that improved road and rail links will put this region at

the heart of the country's economic recovery. He was speaking as new

figures reveal that more money is now being spent on transport schemes

here than anywhere in the country outside London. Our political

correspondent Andrew Sinclair reports.

After nearly 40 years of campaigning, the A11 is almost

complete. Today, the man who gave the go`ahead to the final stage came

to inspect the work. The Prime Minister spent half an hour at a

overdone. He was told that last year 's good weather meant the road

should be open by this summer. He said it would be the final piece in

the jigsaw, inking Norfolk with London. `` linking. When it came to

power in 2010, the coalition scrapped dozens of road schemes But

since then it has become quite a believer in infrastructure,

believing that if you make it easier for people to get about, that is

good for the economy. He met campaigners calling for improvements

to the A47, which runs from Norfolk into Cambridgeshire. There was no

big announcement today but a recognition that the road needs

improving and they promised that it will be top of the list when there

is money available. Affirm the commitment, the better. At

infrastructure commitments made now will need to be delivered in three

or four years' time. `` the firm `` the more firm the commitment. The

revelation that we are now top of the list when it comes to transport

spending is significant. Four years under Labour and the Conservatives

we lost out. But there is still a lot of scepticism. The A11 is the

only big project currently under way. Work on the A14 is pencilled in

for 2016. Improving the bottleneck at the E Lee Junction has not

started yet, and work on the east`west rail link is happening,

but very slowly. Much of the money is not planned to be spent until

after the next election, and goodness knows what may happen, as

we have seen that kind of problem before. It is no good coming to our

region and telling us nice things might happen if there is no money

and this is a government which is scared it is losing support in the

east, coming here and offering nothing. But the Prime Minister

believes that for too long, we have lost out, and it is now time to get

things moving. But will he be able to deliver? Well, the Prime Minister

has just been appearing on our sister programme in Norwich,

speaking to Stewart White. He said to him, that when he came to power,

work on improving the A14 had stopped... When we came to power, we

faced a complete financial mess and a massive budget deficit. We are

sorting out those problems, the deficit is down by a third, and so

we are able to make these decisions now because we are clearing up the

mess which Labour left. That is part of our long`term economic LAN.

Infrastructure has a key part in it. But you can only deliver on these

plans if you win the next election. The scoping work is under way now,

and I hope that soon the shovels will be going into the ground. Of

course there is a lot more to do. But this is a big set of investment.

A short while ago, I asked our political correspondent Andrew

Sinclair about the significance of today's visit. Well, it is

significant because the Prime Minister drops into our region for

fleeting visits for a couple of hours at a time several times a

year, but this is the first time David Cameron has spent the whole

day in East Anglia. It is also very interesting that he chose to spend

the day talking about infrastructure, because, for many

years, there has been a feeling in this region, backed up either

figures, that for years we have lost out when it has come to investment

in road and rail schemes. There has been a feeling that Whitehall does

not think we are worth investing in. Well, today, the message from the

Prime Minister could not have been more clear. He believes this region

has a lot to offer the country's economy. It talks about the science

cluster and the growth of towns like Milton Keynes. He believes road and

rail are important ways of boosting the economy. He wants to keep

investing in this region. But did he announce anything new today? No he

didn't. That is not surprising, because there are no budgets at the

moment. All of them have been allocated for the foreseeable

future. All he could do today was 20 sagely and say, yes, I understand

what you mean, I get the message I know it is very important that the

A47 is invested in in the future, for instance. `` to Nord sagely

Labour say he is making promises for the future which he may well not be

able to deliver. But the counterargument says that even

commissioning feasibility studies, which is what is happening with the

A47, very slowly moves things forward. It might get noticed back

in London. There is a feeling that the visit has been worthwhile. The

Prime Minister also believes that how we get around the region is a

big issue for many voters, and he thinks today has been well spent.

More than 2000 people attended a memorial service this afternoon for

the four American aircrew killed in a helicopter crash ten days ago The

service took a hangar at RAF Lakenheath, their base, in Suffolk.

Alex Dunlop was there. Four F`1 fighters approaching Hangar 7, in

the traditional missing man formation, one symbolically heading

towards heaven. As their families watch on, fellow airmen pay tribute

to their fallen comrades. He was protective, fun loving and

energetic. He was we miss you, we love you, you will be in our hearts

for evermore. Few, perhaps too few, appreciate the

role of those who fly these aircraft. Today, we were reminded of

the squadron's motto. No words can explain why our fallen heroes were

flying on that tragic night. One by one, the families were presented

with military citations to those who they had loved and lost. The

squadron will carry on executing the rescue mission which they were

doing. The term was sombre, but there were moments of liberty, as

some recounted happier days with those friends. As the service true

to a close, a loan bagpiper struck up Amazing Grace, it was a chance

for everybody to take time to reflect. How hard, though, for the

families left behind. For some, the agony was too intense. It was a very

private moment of pain in a very public place. The callsign of the

downed aircraft will not be resurrected, along with the four

airmen, it, too, will be laid to rest. Finally, there was a rousing

call of their unofficial motto, to rescue all who are left behind.

In sport this weekend, Northampton Saints must win their final pool

match against Castres to stand any chance of making the quarterfinals

of the Heineken Cup. Whilst in football, two of the region's teams

are battling for promotion from the Conference. Let's cross live to

James Burridge, who is at Franklin's Gardens now.

Yes, welcome to Franklin's Gardens. It is an interesting weekend in

terms of the permutations for qualification. The Saints need to

get five points tonight and hope that Leinster slip up against the

ospreys. The chief executive joins me now. How optimistic are you? We

will take tonight's game as it comes. We will go out to win it I

suspect we will win it, but we are reliant on Leinster's result, and we

are not hopeful that they will get turned over tonight. Will the fans

be seeing European rugby next season, with the row rumbling on? No

conclusion, so I cannot give you a definitive answer to that. But

suddenly, everybody wants there to be European rugby next year. Layers,

management, clubs, supporters, everyone loves it. The difficulty is

getting all the parties to agree on one common setup. `` players. We had

every party to a potential agreement other than the French union in

agreement, but the French union would not concede with everybody

else. And so we are back to the negotiating table. What are the

final stumbling blocks? This is all about power, to be fair. It is all

about who is going to say they are in control of this competition. We

have suggested, and it was supported by the other nations, that Six

Nations should do it, and the French are not happy with that. Coverage of

this game on Radio Northampton tonight. In football ` there are

some important games for our teams tomorrow. One of the most exciting

battles for promotion involves two teams from this region. Luton Town

and Cambridge United are currently ranked one and two in the

Conference. The Hatters have spent the last five seasons trying to get

back into the Football League, and promotion will be worth ?1 million.

United, but in the wrong division for five long seasons. Luton's

Stadium, fan base and history is Football League. It is their job to

win back a place in the Football League. You can do it by being

competitive, working hard, and the other way is, you can wait around

for someone to come around with a magic wand, which touches you and

you just win it. Unfortunately we have not found that bloke yet. So

the search is on to find the promotion formula. On Tuesday it was

Cambridge's night in the FA Trophy. There is growing optimism that this

is the season that Cambridge, Luton, or even both, can end their long

association with the Conference It is one of the toughest divisions to

get out of, with just one team getting promoted automatically. It

is a two horse race, both of them are playing very well. Nobody gave

us a chance at the start of the season. We have been a surprise

package. You have to keep it going until the end. We have had heartache

over the last four years. We hope this will be our year. Five years in

the making, this has got to be it. John steel says he has got a

two`year project, but let's hope he can do it in his first season. His

predecessors have suffered under the weight of expectation, including

Richard money, now in Cambridge colours. In the last four seasons,

they have made the play`offs three times. Last year they finished

seventh, 13 points adrift of the top five. Today, things are healthier,

Luton are top, Cambridge second chasing a ?1 million prize. The

finances are secondary to our football success. What we really

want is to be in a position not just in the Football League, but to

aspire to get up to League One, and then the Championship. It looks like

Luton's battle with Cambridge will go down to the wire. The sides are

due to meet again, with a date as yet unknown. It could well be a

title decider. There is a pitch inspection at half past eight

tomorrow morning for Luton fans were there a game against Wrexham

tomorrow. Time now for the weekend weather,

with Alex. We have had a real mixture of weather today, with heavy

showers, but also some springlike sunshine. The heaviest of the

showers this morning affected parts of Essex, giving us problems with

flooding. There are some showers still around, many of them have died

away. The bulk of the night is looking largely dry. Essentially, we

start to develop quite a bit of cloud later on. Temperatures on the

whole will stay on the mild side, with quite a breeze coming in from

the south`east. Moving into the weekend, low pressure still very

much on the scene, which means some unsettled weather, and the chance of

some rain. Saturday looks more cloudy, with a greater risk of rain.

We start Saturday with this band of rain clearing away first thing.

After that it looks largely dry It will stay rather cloudy. There may

be some brighter spells, but for most of us, the skies will be

remembered cloudy. In terms of two bridges, around nine Celsius will be

the high. There will be a moderate southeasterly breeze. `` in terms of

temperatures. It will be feeling quite chilly at times. Looking

ahead, low pressure starting to move to the north. A ridge of high

pressure building in from the south`west, which will mean lighter

winds. Some finer conditions as we start next week, but also some much

colder nights following, as well as colder days. A weather front pushing

through on Sunday night will bring us some rain, but also, temperatures

dropping under clear skies. Starting next week, it is looking colder

Mainly dry and bright for Monday. A much colder night following on,

bringing a widespread frost. That could well linger into Tuesday.

That's all from Look east for tonight. I'll be back just after ten

with another update, with all your news and weather, plus that

all`important rugby result. And we'll be back tomorrow at ten past

one, after Football Focus, with all your news and sport. So do join us

then, if you can.