13/12/2011 Look North (Yorkshire)

Good evening. Welcome to today's Look North. Our top story tonight:

pictured for the first time, Richard Smith he stabbed his wife

Claire, his sons Ben and Aaron and then killed himself. New clues help

establish when he carried out his crime. Ben's Advent calendar was

not opened on the Saturday so we believe something happened

overnight on Friday. We will have the latest on the police

investigation in just a moment. Also tonight, I am live here at

Trinity Walk Shopping Centre in Wakefield where there is a stark

message. Despite the fact that the new facility is open for Christmas

shopping, budgets are tight and for some people, virtually non-existent.

Mike Childs says to me, mummy, I want to go but I cannot take him. -

- my child. I love my daughter to bits and I don't see any way around

it unless things change. And the Sheffield film-makers who

are performing strongly and are back in the spotlight tonight.

Another windy night to come with dales in places. The very latest

coming up shortly. -- with gales in Good evening. First tonight, it has

been revealed that two young brothers and their mother murdered

in their home in West Yorkshire had each been stabbed once. Police

today reveal further details of the horrific scene which confronted

them when they broke into a house in Pudsey near Leeds at the weekend.

Clair Smith and her son's Ben who was nine years old and Aaron was 13

months old are believed to have been murdered by the boy's father

Richard. The motive remains a mystery.

The tragic family, their lives ended just a fortnight before

Christmas. Toddler Aaron aged 30 months, brother Ben who was nine

and rather Clair who was 36. They had all been stabbed once and Ben

suffocated. On the left, 37-year- old Richard Smith who died from

smoke inhalation. it is believed of three murders and a suicide. The

house revealed today after police barriers where it removed. Police

have been called are worried relatives on Sunday afternoon, they

broke in to find it ought four bodies laid out on a double bed in

the main bedroom. Signs of staining on the window from a slow-burning

fire. Last Friday, the family had had an apparently happy social at

their local cricket club before something terrible went wrong.

Detectives believe it was in the following hours last Friday night

when this tragedy unfolded. The sad clue, nine-year-old Ben's Advent

calendar had not been opened last Saturday morning. I do not want to

go into motive or anything like that. That will be the thrust of

the ongoing investigation over the next two months. What the state of

mind of Richard, Clair and anybody us will be something we will try to

investigate. For me to guess now would be early on. -- for me to

guess now would be wrong. Clair's parents said that she was

an exact -- exceptional person, loving and caring to everyone. Her

children were her life and everything centred around her

family and home. She was our daughter and our best pal. We

cannot imagine what caused this tragedy.

Weeks before, one had raised money with Pudsey and his love for

football was plain to see -- Ben had raised money. It is believed

that they died at the hands of the boys' father Richard Smith who then

committed suicide, it is believed. I am joined in the studio by our

reporter. You asked last night, why? We are now no nearer to the

answers. Where does the police investigation go from here? In the

short term, they will have to decide how long they need to keep

the bodies for examination. Then an inquest can be opened and adjourned

to allow funerals to take place. The main inquest will be many

months ahead. A long police investigation still will go on to

decide how it happened, when it happened and if you like, sadly, in

what order. There are many questions to be asked. Eventually,

a coroner will decide wide. This family was described to you by many

neighbours, are -- as a loving happy family. Ben's school have

been playing tribute to him tonight. A few minutes ago, we received a

statement from the head teacher of his primary school in Pudsey. She

said, our whole school community is in shock. We are deeply saddened by

the tragic news. Ben was a wonderful bright pupil who

thoroughly enjoyed school. He loved to help and was a really popular

boy, not just with his friends but across the whole school. For the

Community, this has been a dreadful experience. It really is,

especially when you see that photograph. Thank you.

Family budgets in Yorkshire are amongst the tightest in England.

That is according to new figures released today. Inflation has

dropped slightly but figures obtained by Look North show that

wages in the region have failed to keep pace with the cost of living.

The research by the Office for National Statistics also shows that

women in Yorkshire far the worst paid in the whole of the country.

In the first of a three-part series on the economy, our reporter is at

the Trinity Walk Shopping Centre in Wakefield and can tell us more.

Thank you. 12 days also till Christmas, this virtually brand new

facility, they are hoping that thousands of Christmas shoppers

will come here and spend lots of money. But there is a question we

are asking tonight, how much money have we got this Christmas? Today's

figure shows that pay in Yorkshire has failed to keep up with

inflation. The average weekly wage or employees is �360, down 0.4% in

England and as a whole, the decrease is 0.1%. Women in

Yorkshire are the worst paid in England, their average weekly wage

is �283, down 0.1% on last year. Meanwhile, the average weekly pay

for men in Yorkshire have is �433, damp 0.5% -- down 0.5%. Those

figures are worrying. We have been to Barnsley to see how one family

is coping with the prospect of Christmas.

They are nice. For this mother, putting food on the table as they

struggle. We have to consider whether it is something we really

need, biscuits and things are a luxury item. You have got to think

about long-term. You have got a week's shopping here and a budget

to do it on. From May, sweets and chocolate do not happen. It is a

strict regime for hat and her three-year-old. -- for her and her

three-year-old. You cannot have a toy. She shops around and tries to

get the best deals, it still the sums do not add up. Apart there

does agency work packing boxes, bringing in an average of �126 per

week. Various benefits take the family's total income to �272. From

that they have to cover rent, bills, and repaying debts. That leaves

just �42 a week to cover everything else. Having to sacrifice a lot of

things just to be able to keep up with the cost of living. Sometimes,

I can't even do that. Even something as simple as getting the

bus is a strain. The return journey to the shops costs �3.40. This trip

has just cost at 8% of our weekly budget. It adds up. It could go on

things you need. It is tough on how, how partner and her daughter.

sees things on television and she says, I want to go. I can't take up.

We do not have enough to direct. I have got to keep her warm and

enclose. I love my daughter to bits. I do not see any way around it

unless things change. She arrives home to yet more bills. A final

demand from a doorstep lender, a loan taken out in desperation.

want to go out and work to support us all, like my partner does. But

there is not enough help for me to do that. So I am sad at home. I am

thinking and stressing and getting depressed about how we can make

things any better. If nobody was willing to meet in the middle, we

cannot do that. When you have cut out all of life's luxuries and

still cannot make ends meet, what else is left to cut?

I think you will agree that it is a very honest assessment of what

Christmas will be like fog Jasmine and Craig and their daughter. Are

you dreading Christmas? Yes, in a way. The wages are not enough for

what we want. We are trying to put food on a table and we have got the

little one to try and get Christmas presents for. We have bills, it is

not meeting anything. We saw you in the film shopping. Obviously, it is

very emotional for youth. It is. Times are hard. I cannot get a job.

I would like to see more help retard care costs so that I can go

back to work and contribute and help a little bit more. It is hard.

We are not getting the help that we need. The news that inflation is

not quite as bad this not as it was last month means very little to

you? Very, very little. It is dust... The percentages are not

high enough. It is not helping anyone. Can I get one thing

straight, you are desperate to find a full-time job, on to be? I am. I

am in employment at the moment but it is only one or two days a week.

We have got a little one, it is hard. Can I bring you in, Neil

Liversedge. You have had a look at the financial situation that

Jasmine and Craig are in. What practical advice can you give them?

Its it is very difficult to come up with a magical solutions. Between

them, to be fair, they are doing as much as they can reasonably do. The

problem is not of their making. It is a capitalisation of the

workforce and a tendency to farm jobs at two agencies rather than

employing people directly. People are short of hours. I have been

lucky to have a 35 hour or sometimes more working week. Now we

are seeing people getting 14 hours, 21 hours, and they do not know from

one week till the next what the hours or days will be. That limits

their ability to go out and get another job. There is a stark

message that Jasmine and Craig must accept. You do not accept people

knocking on your door and offering the money. Absolutely. We are

seeing more and more predatory lending. If this is always a

symptom of a recession when times are hard. Rather than people doing

what you would think which is being a bit more relaxed and helping

people along, the predatory lenders are the opposite way. They

exploited and use it to fill their pockets at the expense of other

people. If you get the doorstep lenders coming along with what

sounds like easy terms, tell them where to go because in the long

term they will make your life miserable. Back solid advice, it is

a bit after the horse has bolted, but how do you react to that now?

Don't do it. Try and clear what you have got if you have got any debt.

Do not lend anything off nobody. there a light at the end of the

inflation -- light at the end of the tunnel with the inflation

figures? CPI inflation, I have not been able to find anybody whose

actual inflation rate mirrors that. I am sceptical. If you have a

mother at home with children, they consume more fuel like old people.

Domestic fuel costs have gone up. I think CPR I'd inflation for people

like these, basically, it is a joke. The cost of living is rising very

slightly more slowly than it was last month. Thank you very much

indeed. That is the situation by some families. They are very, very

tough Christmas indeed. Thank you. There will be more on

this story on our late Look North. We will be asking why look -- why

wages in Yorkshire have been among the lowest in the country.

Still to come: coming to a small screen near you, the plans to bring

a new commercial television stake in to at least one Yorkshire city.

-- television station. More of today's news. It is 1000

days since the Yorkshire -- not chef Claudia Laurence disappeared.

Police say they have possibly significant news. It has been

These are the last images of Claudia Lawrence. The police know

she phoned her father that evening, but what happened next is a mystery.

The chef failed to turn up for work the next day, sparking one of the

biggest investigations ever by 0 Yorkshire Police. 1,000 days on,

and a house remains empty. Today, they at officer heading the inquiry,

said a new information had come to light. But more detailed work is

required to clarify its significance. He said it had the

potential to be a significant line of inquiry. For her friends and

family, any progress is welcome, but they are wary of birth false

leads. They lead is a lead. It has been a bit like a desert recently.

That is up to them to work out and investigate as to whether it will

lead anywhere or not. We hope it will, because it is 1,000 days now.

It is rather a long time for any family and friends. There have been

many new leads, but none so far have provided the breakthrough that

so many have hoped for. A patchwork of information can eventually

provide a picture, so the work continues.

The Government has announced plans to close DVLA centres in Leeds and

Sheffield with the loss of 73 posts. The offices, which deal with

vehicle and driver licences, are expected to close by the end of

2013. Unions have criticised the move. The Roads Minister says

moving services to Swansea will mean more choice for people trying

to get in touch with the DVLA. Doncaster Royal Infirmary has

closed some of its wards to new patients following an outbreak of

the winter vomiting virus. Symptoms of Norovirus include severe

vomiting and diarrhoea. A number of wards have been closed to prevent

it spreading. The hospital is advising people not to visit unless

absolutely essential. A new non-emergency police hotline

has been launched in North Yorkshire. 101 is designed to cut

the number of 999 calls and can be used to report problems including

anti-social behaviour and thefts and to make general enquiries. The

number is already in use in South and West Yorkshire.

Plans to improve sea defences to protect part of the North Yorkshire

coastline have been approved. Scarborough Borough Council has

decided a new sea wall around South Bay, and the Spa is the best option.

It would cost around �20 million. A new local TV service for Leeds

could take to the airwaves within two years, after the Government

gave the scheme the go-ahead today. But organisations who want to set

up similar channels for Sheffield and York have been told they will

have to wait. One of what is thought to be four

to defend groups already gearing up up answer today's invitation from

the government to make their bids to run a TV station does the Leeds.

People are interested in using their local community. We have to

demonstrate our ability to deliver the news which is good quality and

relevant. Since the 1960s, the BBC and ITV have provided a regional

service, but that could cover five cities, and umpteen towns. ITV's

Callender has similar coverage. It is handing over a �40 million lump

sum of money to kick-start news and sports channels. That will be

subsidised phone three years, then they will have to pay their way

through commercials and sponsorship. If we la -- if we start to see

local television stations that do not have a good reputation, there

will not be much of an audience, and it will undermine the

credibility of television news. I think it is very risky. Leeds is

the only city in Yorkshire being asked to bed. -- bed. York and

Sheffield are on a reserve list. Sheffield will get its own licence.

The projections done for Sheffield meant there would be a small

potential audience, and we have identified that it needs much more

research in terms of transmission. Changing the law to allow local TV

broadcasting will go to next year, with a view to launching its these

first 20 city channels in 2014. Now let's have a look at some sport,

and the weather has been pretty rough Down Under in Perth at the

Sailing World Championships. But the storms haven't hampered

Rotherham's Paul Goodison. He's had a much better day two in the Laser

Competition. And despite feeling ill during his third and fourth

races, Paul is now in second position overall, behind Aussie Tom

Slingsby. The York Wheel is finally turning

tonight after high winds and lengthy safety checks delayed its

opening to the public. People started queueing from 2 o'clock

this afternoon to be the first on the new attraction. Some had come

into the city especially for the experience. It is my birthday today,

so I thought it would be a great thing to do, and in November, I

went on the wheel in Brighton, so I thought I would do this this

afternoon. Now we live here, we want to go on the York Wheel again.

We wanted to come on the first day. We have watched it go up, so it is

nice to see everything from their. Hopes were soon dashed when

expectant customers were turned away as maintenance checks hadn't

been completed, but they didn't leave empty-handed. We have got a

ticket. We can come back any time in six months and bring two more

people. That is wonderful! We are so happy!

Our reporter, Michelle Lyons, managed to wangle her way aboard to

film these amazing views before the sun set this evening. And the Wheel

finally opened to the public just a couple of hours ago.

Now to the Sheffield film company that's become one the most

distinctive on-screen brands in the country. Warp Films have won major

accolades at the Baftas and the British Independent Film Awards.

And tonight sees the showing of their latest mini TV series, This

Films have become one of the most - - Warp Films have become one of the

most respected film-makers in the country. They have said a

distinctive brand of artistic vision. -- set up a distinctive

brand. Titles like for Lyons, and submarine, whose soundtrack was

written by the Arctic monkeys, and the to run us all have seen the

films made in Yorkshire achieve global success. It can go and

smashed it in America. These films go there, and people lap it up.

These little films made in Yorkshire. We won it three at

Sundance. It is still rolling out. We have got the Baftas to come, and

other big awards. Internationally, people have responded very well.

Another Warp Films hit - This Is England. The latest three parter

being shown on Channel 4 tonight is being filmed in Sheffield. It is

easy finding Eighties themes. You are away. Other new products

include a film about the reform mission of the Manchester band, the

Stone Roses, and possibly the first attempt ed take children from. --

children Finally tonight, something to make

This robin has taken up residence at Horsfield's Nursery in Silkstone

near Barnsley. He moved in a few weeks ago, and has shown no sign of

wanting to return to the great outdoors. While he isn't quite

house-trained, he's clearly not bothered by browsing customers, and

often perches on the plants to sing to them! He likes to hang out on

this Christmas tree. We have got a little more trouble for him, and he

pops into the shop. If you want to attract the robin, it is the balls,

Let me show you two pictures. Mark was on his bike this morning. He

said, it was only about three degrees, but what a lovely morning!

The reservoirs are starting to fill up. There we are. That is never

Holmfirth I think. Let us have a look at those compacts. You can

tweet any, of course. The headline for tomorrow - very similar to the

one we had to Dave. Cold, windy, with sunshine, and a few wintry

showers. We have been talking all week about this potential winter

storm. Confidence is growing that we will miss that. That is good

news, but we will need to keep our eye on it. These white speckled

clouds are wintry showers. Many places today have been dry, and

will stay like that tonight. On the northern dells, there could be a

covering of snow. But further south, but showers are few and far between.

The main emphasis is the strength of the winds. Gales of 60 miles per

hour possible. Two Celsius. The sun rise is that 8:17am. Those are your

higher water times. Tomorrow - a cold and windy day with sunny

spells and a few scattered showers, but look at the graphics. Not many