01/12/2011 North West Tonight

Good evening. Welcome to North West Tonight. Our top story...

Killed on a training exercise in Kenya. A family pays tribute to a

fusilier married a few months ago. A full investigation is underway

into James Wilkinson's death. Also tonight...

Post one of those and you might have had a problem last Christmas.

Join us later in the new delivery centre to hear a promise. Snow or

no snow, these will get through. By royal appointment. When the

Queen met Yoko at Liverpool's new museum.

Fighting to get out of a life of crime. The Olympic hopeful grateful

to his sport. When I was 15, I started going out with petty crime,

robbing cars, doing silly stuff. Ho-ho-ho! Merry Christmas!

I'm at Blackpool Pleasure Beach where the famous laughing man just

got even scarier. I bet you did not The Royal Military Police is

investigating the circumstances of the deaf or the 21-year-old soldier

killed while on a training exercise in Africa. Fusilier James Wilkinson

died during manoeuvres with the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers in

James Wilkinson on his wedding day in July. His wife Sarah is seven

months pregnant with their daughter. The couple were bringing up Sarah's

two-year-old son Connor. Exactly what happened is unclear. But

James's wife says she was told he was shot while on a live firing

exercise with his regiment in Kenya. In a statement, his family said

being in the army was in James's blood. He was treasured by all who

knew and loved him. Colleagues described a funny, reliable, and

loyal friend and an excellent soldier. Horrified and shocked and

Sat, terrifically sad that such a tragic incident has happened. --

shocked and sad. Training has to be robust and realistic. But it is

rare that we have an incident of this sort. Deaths like James's,

which happen outside combat operations, are treated slightly

different way by the Ministry of Defence. No formal announcement is

made. And a different method of repatriation is used. But the

family are given exactly the same level of support. And the soldier

is entitled to a full military funeral. James's wife Sarah says

she wanted to honour his memory by releasing details of his death.

Around one year ago, James Wilkinson wandered into this

building, like many do, and signed up for a career in the army. Now he

is the latest soldier from this regiment to lose his life.

The Ministry of Defence says it is carrying out a full investigation

into how James died. Last Christmas, we were inundated

with complaints about Royal Mail. There was the Christmas card that

arrived in March. The parcels that never arrived. And for too long, it

seemed, Royal Mail said things were running smoothly. Of course, last

year's shocking weather played a big part. In the end, they did

admit things could have gone better. But this year, Royal Mail say

things will be very different. Here is Jayne Barrett. We did a lot on

this story. It was not just consumers complaining. But also

postal workers themselves, frustrated with backlogs. Angered

by the closure of many local sorting offices. So will this year

be different? Apparently so, because this year they have a

secret weapon in Middleton. I never expected to wait this long.

Post men with 30 years' experience have never known such at disastrous

performance. Something seems to have gone on. -- gone wrong.

waited two months. Last Christmas was not the best, terrible meal,

huge backlogs. We are seeing this Christmas will be different. This

new parcel delivery centre is part of a �15 million investment with

the promise that parcels come in and out to the next day for first

class, the next day for second, no matter what the weather. We have a

much better process in place to manage the eventualities of snow.

So the parcels will go? definitely. Last year, everything

in and out of this region came here. Warrington with its state-of-the-

art machines, but they were swamped. We were e-mailed by frustrated post

officers showing the backlog. But now just parcels will be dealt with

you. They are already handling 10,000 parcels a day, Peking to

about a quarter of a million per day. But even with the bad weather,

they are saying they will get the parcels through because of this new

facility. This man will be watching. We met him when he was waiting one

month for four parcels from Belgium. Two never arrived and he is taking

no chances this year. And I am doing it myself, because I know it

will get there. He is still trusting his Christmas cards to the

surface, although I used that term lightly. Let us hope. -- trusting

his Christmas cards to the service. So you heard it here. Unless there

is a breakdown on a train or a lorry, parcels should get through

first class a day after it is sent. Second class two days after it is

sent. Here are the important dates for final deliveries Wednesday 14th

December for standard parcels. If you miss that, you will have to pay

for a first class recorded signed for delivery no later than the 20th

December. I am sure you will tell us how things are going.

Wayne Rooney has won a legal battle against the management from that

used to represent an. The Court of Appeal has ruled that the agreement

made when he was 17 was legally unenforceable. The company was

claiming nearly �4.5 million of the Brownies and commission. The judges

said that Rooney and his parents were unsophisticated in legal and

commercial matters when signing the agreement.

A power cut caused disruption at the Royal Preston Hospital today.

Power has now been resumed but the hospital cancelled some non-urgent

appointments as a precaution. They are now carrying out a number of

safety checks and say and there is no risk to patient safety.

A housing developer has pulled out of a major regeneration scheme in

Cumbria. Russell Armer was going to build affordable housing in the

area around the old lido in Grange- over-Sands. But today the firm said

it could not get the necessary finance. The remaining funding may

have to be covered by South Lakeland Council. It will be

discussed at a meeting in January. We could not decide over

pronunciations of that swimming pool. This lady could tell us. The

Queen came to Merseyside today to perform the official opening of the

Museum of Liverpool. Yoko Ono flew in from New York for the occasion.

Later, the Queen unveiled a plaque at the rebuilt Floral Pavilion in

New Brighton. Stuart Flinders joined hundreds of well-wishers.

It was all going so well. Phil Redmond gave the Queen an hour-long

tour of the new Museum of Liverpool. Yoko Ono had flown in from New York

for the occasion. Then Mr Redmond forgot to ask her to sign the

visitors' book. Her Majesty reminded him. That was just that

the 18th. He had to remember that was an important part of the day.

It looked like he got his hair cut. He was looking very smart. Outside

in the crowd, regular Royal watcher Colin Edwards saw the queen for the

140th time. I said, lovely to see you again, your Majesty, thank you

for coming to us. She then shake my hand. And I said, pleased to meet

Juett. I said I was looking forward to the Diamond Jubilee. -- pleased

to meet due. The Queen arrived in Liverpool aboard the royal train,

which pulled up at Lime Street bang on time. Sophia McDonnell presented

flowers. It was a good day. There was a brief stop at the Liver

Building. The Queen last came to the region

in 2008 when Liverpool was the European Capital of Culture. She

had been many times before. Her first visit, as Princess Elizabeth,

was in 1949. She met Ken Dodd in New Brighton, who is performing

there. He said he hoped she would stay for the show.

We do know if she did stay, or what she wrote in the visitors' book. We

love Ken Dodd. A lot of people work hard at their

jobs. But sometimes, some people really go the extra mile. As did

police officer Stephen Hopkins from Warrington. When there were no

witnesses to an attack on a local war veteran, DC Hopkins studied law

and investigated the case in his spare time until there was enough

evidence for a prosecution. He's now been nominated for a national

award. War veteran Edwin Stout was 85 and

suffering from cancer when attacked in his own home by a man and woman.

Money was stolen, and but there were no witnesses and little

evidence, so no one was charged. Stephen Hopkins was handed the keys

two years later. All the evidence was based on what he told the

family and people around 10. In my own time, I studied the law on here

say, human rights and criminal justice, looking for ways to try

and prosecute the case. It is a bit like Inspector Morse. When you look

at it, but this is reality and what we do with that level of commitment.

We do the best we can. Eventually, a woman pleaded guilty and was

jailed for four years. Edwin's granddaughter says the family or a

lot to DC Hopkins. He is one in a million, never gave up when the

Crown Prosecution Service wanted him to get out. He battled on, got

together with a Professor at Cambridge. He made them change the

law, so well done to him. It is not over. There is still the man

outstanding, the main offender, it is still ongoing. It is only a

matter of time before we get in touch with him.

And good luck to DC Hopkins. Still to come on North West Tonight...

Tracking down the criminals back in the lab. Lancashire's CSI team

searches for hidden evidence. And crashing out of the Carling Cup.

An apology after a disappointing performance.

Young Libyans in Manchester were amongst the first to leave the

safety of this country once the uprising began to fight for the

freedom of their homeland. Dozens of young men, some of them under 18,

spent months battling Colonel Gaddafi's forces. One of them,

Abdul, has been talking about his experiences.

Armed with guns, a group of young men from Manchester at Garratt

Tripoli's main prison. Abdul is I was watching the news and my

friends said we had to go out and fight. After a week of fighting,

Abdul was captured and spent several months in the most

notorious jails. We were in a small room, 40 of us, we were sharing the

food. You just want to die in that moment. Many youngsters from

Manchester's 2000 strong Libyan community left their families

behind to go and fight. I know some went without the permission of

their parents. There were concerns about their children. The families

in Manchester, in the Libyan committee he -- community, are very

proud. I do not want to go home yet. It is the first time I have lived

in my country. My friends are now like a family, living in Libya.

Eight months after arriving in the country, Abdul and his friends have

decided their future is helping to shape Libya's future.

All this week, we have been watching Lancashire's crime scene

investigators at work out on the road gathering evidence. But what

happens to the potential evidence found? Tonight, we are looking at

the work done back in the labs. Dave Guest is at police

headquarters in Hutton. But I hope you are not disturbing them. I will

talk quietly. This is the Scientific Support Unit, with

experts analysing fingerprints to tracing even the tiniest speck of

blood. There is even a specialist footwear department. Many of the

techniques used are shrouded in secrecy. They will not want to tip

of criminals towards the tricks of their trade. But I was allowed in

to see some work and how it relates to the work of the CSIs.

Crime scene investigators gather evidence that the scene of a crime.

Forensic specialists establish the relevance of that evidence. They

are trained to spot signs others might miss. This is covered in mud,

but there are also traces of blood. We look for what blood looks like.

The basic least select one and -- be basically select one, apply a

chemical. If it goes pink, we can presume that is a possible

bloodstain. It is a possible blood- stained. We can go for work -- for

the for DNA profiling. Even for that? Yes. DNA techniques are more

sophisticated. Just from that, we can obtain a usable profile. And it

seems this has more secrets. It is coated in a mix of chemicals. It is

then put under ultraviolet light, revealing a fingerprint that was

not visible to the naked eye. When fingerprints are recovered, it is

down to people like this man to check the match any held on the

offender database. He has just scored. We have a fingerprint on

the paper chemically developed. We have made a comparison with the

national database. And you have proved the suspect? This is a new

one that will be revealed to the police. Adam is the food we are

specialists. He is examining impressions taken from the scene of

a burglary. We saw the CSI taking them yesterday. We have a good

where Mark left behind by a trainer. The you know the make and the style

just from that? He yes. We do not know what type of shoes made that

mark. Because I do not know, I will use the computer system to help.

And their eighties. -- it is. type of technology helps them keep

one step ahead of the criminals. An update for you. They have now

established that Sue connected to the family. But the trainers look

like the belong to one of the intruders. If you have been

following this week, sadly no arrests about the theft of our ring.

But with the teller machines, that investigation is continuing. Such

fascinating stuff. We were teasing him as he was filming himself in

the middle of crying scenes, because he was wrecking evidence.

Just to avoid doubt, he did know damage. -- no damage.

Football, and Sir Alex Ferguson has apologised to Manchester United

fans after his side crashed out of the Carling Cup last night. Fergie

said the defeat to Championship side Crystal Palace was not worthy

of a Manchester United team. Little change out of the Crystal

Palace team. Everyone expected Manchester to dominate. I do not

think Alex was bothered. Disappointed, I thought we would do

better. Palace won 2-1. This is their first win at Old Trafford

since 1989, when the two clubs what more frequently. One player on that

day said that last night was a missed opportunity. A massive night

for a lot of the young lads. They did not step up to the mark. United

would have faced Cardiff. City take on Liverpool. Liverpool have not

won for a long time. Keeping the Carling Cup is more reporting to

them? Definitely. -- more important to them. Winning cups get your

confidence going. The Carling Cup is certainly not a priority for

Alex Ferguson or Manchester United supporters. But what will have

concerned him is that players he will call on as the season goes on

seem to have underperformed. City are through to play for

Liverpool. But Liverpool fans will be disappointed tonight. The

Brazilian midfielder Lucas Leiva is out for the rest of the season. A

scan has revealed he will need an operation on the anterior cruciate

ligament in his left knee. He was injured trying to make a tackle in

the 2-0 win over Chelsea in the Carling Cup on Tuesday.

Tom Stalker is one of Britain's best hopes for an Olympic boxing

medal. If he achieves that next summer, it will represent a

remarkable turnaround in his life. Tom from Huyton was a teenage

tearaway until he discovered the sport which changed his life. In

the latest of his special reports with our Olympians, Steve Parry has

been to meet Tom. Devastated, he gave it everything.

He is World number one, a favourite for a medal, but his life could

have been so different. I was in jail. I was brought up right by my

mother, but when I was 15, I was involved in petty crime, silly

stuff. I was drinking on the streets, taking silly drugs. I am

not proud. It was a birth and death that changed his attitude. I turned

18, my daughter was born. I then went into boxing and have not gone

back. Nothing will compare to Mike Mullen -- compared to my amateur

Jim. How does the church and boxing next? -- mix?

We used to going there every Sunday. We would be helping out the old

people. Some people saying boxers are bad people. Tom has become

Commonwealth Campion and picked up many medals. -- champion. I will be

the first to have their day medal in every competition, going down in

history. His current coach believes he can do that. I am not nervous, I

know how good he is. He is so fast Anne Sharp. He has everything.

is like being in the film Rocky. have had kids running around

sometimes. I think it is because I am a normal lad from Liverpool,

doing well. I have the best support ever. Let us see what you do, some

shadow boxing, then into a run. I kinky will challenge him to some

swimming. He is not as fit as he used to be. -- I think he will.

Next, you either love him or you hate him. But say what you will

about the famous laughing man at Blackpool Pleasure beach. One thing

he is is consistent. He's survived two world wars, and one major fire.

Laughing and rocking in the same slightly scary way for almost 80

years. But this Christmas, he's to have a new, festive laugh. The

public was invited to provide it. If you spend your childhood

terrified of laughing man, you have not seen anything yet. After a

newspaper and online campaign, these were the final, or should I

say only, 12 contestants. After hours of practice, we saw the good.

Merry Christmas! The standard at best. Merry Christmas! And, as you

might expect, the slightly weird. Merry Christmas! After three long

heats, local Scott from St Anne's took the prize. Merry Christmas.

managed to catch him before he was whisked off to the studio.

Congratulations, how do you feel? This is the first time I have done

something like this. I do not know how I feel. This was not your first

shot at stardom? I have had 6 editions. I have a band doing

theatres and hotels. And now you have hit the big-time, how does it

feel? Good. So he took it all in his stride. Sadly, that couldn't be

said for the runner up. I worked so hard that this, it has been my

lifelong dream to be the laughing Santa of Blackpool pleasure Beach.

To come so far and have been taking away -- taken away, I do not know

what I will do next. In case you're worried, he joined the winner for a

pizza. You can hear the all new laughing man from Saturday.

That was funny. It is not quite master chef, but it is brilliant.

He was good. Look at your face. The Globe tells you what you need

to do about -- what you need to know about the weather. The cold

weather digs in for the weekend and for next week. Do not expect

changes of temperature. A really cold night tonight, and frosty in

parts. Some showers today. Top temperatures not great. That is

something we have to get used to. You can see quite an act of line of

showers. I do not think those will laughed for too long. -- an active

line of showers. The cloud cover will clear later. Under clear skies,

temperatures zero 2-2 mac. Slightly higher in towns and cities. -- 0

going down to minus two. We could have some ice on untreated surfaces

tomorrow. Some spells of sunshine in parts of Cumbria. Then some

showers moving in, many places cloudy and dry, but some showers.

And possibly some sunshine, I am covering almost everything here.

Towards teatime tomorrow, turning cloudier and wait for many.

Temperatures not great. I am dressed like Santa's wife. I

could try and scare you. Lots of you have talked about your

experiences about the post. Let me share about what you. One man is

still waiting for his Christmas card from his parents last year.