21/03/2012 North West Tonight

Welcome to North West Tonight. Our top story: Jailed for six years

- the groom who burned down his historic wedding venue just hours

after getting married. The judge says it is a miracle that

nobody was killed. Also tonight: A Cumbrian village

welcomes the release of a mother by her Somali kidnappers.

There's �130 million for the region's railways as the Chancellor

tries to get the North West economy back on track.

Still fighting the battle - how Sport Relief is helping soldiers

beat post-traumatic stress. They will never walk alone - 6,000

miles from the fields of Anfield Road but singing from the same hymn

Good evening. Celebrations in Cumbria tonight for a woman held

hostage in Somalia and now finally released. Judith Tebbutt from

Ulverston was kidnapped in Kenya six months ago. Her husband was

killed. The couple were staying in a remote holiday resort when they

were captured last September. Judith Tebbutt reaches the British

High Commission and safety. Her first thoughts on her release? Her

husband, David, shot dead by the gang that kidnapped her. I feel

extremely sad, very, very sad, indeed. He was a good man. It was

very unfortunate. Judith Tebbutt was born in Ulverston but now lives

in the South of England. Her mothers and brothers still live

here. We have been praying daily for Judith in our prayers. We have

been seeking to support the family however we can. It's been very hard,

very stressful. There has been a lot of support from the family,

from within the church community and the community of the town.

is really good news. They are a lovely family. They are so close to

each other, so they will all be elated and I am elated for them.

Judith was on holiday on a remote island near the Kenyan border with

Somalia when she was taken and her husband murdered by a gang thought

to be Somali pirates or terrorists. Attempts to secure her release

failed until it is believed a ransom was paid. The handover took

place in Somalia, a security contractor guiding her to a waiting

plane. Back home, her mother said simply, "I can't wait to see her."

Elsewhere, the Bolton Wanderers club doctor says Fabrice Muamba was

"effectively dead for 7 minutes" as efforts were made to get his heart

working following his cardiac arrest. The 23-year-old remains in

intensive care. His condition is no longer described as "critical"

following his collapse. As I was running on to the pitch,

once I got there, my focus was on Fabrice. I wasn't aware that

players had gathered away. I didn't know Owen Coyle had come on. It

wasn't until 35,000 voices started singing Fabrice Muamba's name that

anything penetrated into that focus. I heard them singing.

Another incredible story - a grandfather from Rochdale, who

walked into hospital with his own severed arm, is recovering from

surgery to have the limb stitched back on. Stuart Frain had an

accident with a circular saw in his garden. The 51-year-old former

fireman picked up the arm and ran for help. Incredible.

A man who was arrested after a schoolgirl was crushed to death by

electric gates has been released without charge. Semelia Campbell

died when she became trapped at her home in Moss Side two years ago.

Two gate company employees were arrested on suspicion of

manslaughter by gross negligence. A second man has been rebailed.

Now, the coalition said it was a Budget for families and business.

Labour disagreed. They called it a Budget for millionaires by

millionaires. Here in the North East, it was all about better

connections. More money to improve rail links, more money to bring

superfast broadband to the region. We will get reaction from Jayne

Barrett in Crewe, but first here is our political editor.

Let's begin by taking a look at some of the measures the Chancellor

announced today which are specifically relevant to the North

West. He announced the improvement to rail services. He talked about

the city deal for Manchester, that is something we mentioned yesterday.

It means taxpayers' money coming back to the city. He talked about

superfast broadband for Manchester and also moves towards regional pay,

something which will be very much opposed by the unions. Let's begin

by talking about those rail services. There are three lines in

the region that are going to be upgraded. They are the Manchester

to Sheffield line, Manchester to Bradford and also Preston to

Blackpool. Quicker trains, greater capacity. I'm joined by two MPs now.

I have from the Labour Party, the MP for Eccles South and the

Conservative MP for Lancaster and Fleetwood. Those rail services, you

must be very pleased with what the Chancellor announced today?

investment in rail is very welcome for the North West. For every �1 we

get spent on the North West on transport, �20 is spent in the

South East. The difficulty for me, my constituents will be waiting at

Walton Station because we don't have the capacity. We need much

more capacity. You have brought out a report on the North/South divide.

Has what the Chancellor announced today - it is not enough to bridge

that? Everybody realises we are in difficult times. I think he's done

the best he can. The rail improvements, the fast broadband is

all to be welcomed. I think he's built on previous Budgets and

recognised the regional imbalance and trying to do what he can do in

a difficult circumstance. What will the reaction be from your

constituents? It is a Budget for millionaires with a big giveaway to

all the people who earn the greatest... It's taken five times

as much as the previous 50p tax did from the super-rich. Thank you both

very much indeed. The Budget so often is about business, but it is

about politics, too. Back to you. Yes, it is. Jayne Barrett is here

and is in Crewe tonight. How has it gone down there? Well, we are here

because we want to follow the course of this Budget and the

economy over the next 12 months from one town. We have chosen this

town. Some reaction, some fall-out to this Budget. Steven Clark is

from Transport for Greater Manchester. This big investment in

the transport hub, what will it mean for passengers? It is great

news. It will mean more services from Sheffield and Bradford into

Manchester. It is part of a larger scheme. We are keen that Government

goes a little bit further in the summer and commits to the whole of

the scheme. You wanted more money today? No, what's happened is super

news. It is a real step forward. There is a little bit more that

needs to be done. You are from the Forum for Private Business. George

Osborne said this was about benefiting business. Will it do

this? The transport infrastructure announcement in the North West are

a ray of light in what was an underwhelming Budget for small

businesses across the UK. Make no mistake, there has been an

underinvestment in transport network in the North West for a

generation, so this is positive news. We would have liked more,

significant tax incentives to boost small firms and help them drive job

creation. You got some tax breaks for the farming industry, the

gaming industry, all good news for the North West businesses? There

were some good measures and reducing the top rate of tax will

help drive inward investment. More was needed, we think, overall.

Craig Roberts, you are a small business owner. You are

underwhelmed? Very. The Government should have stepped up, admitted

they were wrong and give us some tax breaks that would make people

spend money, lower cost for hauliers, diesel, and VAT. You are

struggling with clients who aren't paying you right now. Is this the

year that things will turn around? Don't think so. Thank you. We will

have more from Crewe later. This is a big town without a big reputation.

A big town without a big department store. A big train station but

without a big destination pulling people out of the platforms and out

behind us into town. We will have more on why we are in Crewe later

in the programme. Back to you in Manchester. Thank you.

It should have been one of the happiest days of his life, but Max

Kay spent his wedding day getting drunk and threatening revenge on

the management of his wedding venue. He had fallen out with them over

the late payment of bills. So, in the dead of night, with his new

wife and family asleep upstairs, he set fire to Peckforton Castle in

Cheshire. Tonight he is beginning a six-year jail sentence and Dave

Guest has the story. He looks the typical beaming

bridegroom but Max Kay was seething with resentment. His big day at

Peckforton Castle had cost �25,000. Money he couldn't really afford. He

had been late paying the bills and was refused extra credit at the bar.

He wasn't happy. He didn't see why he couldn't have a bar tab. He

started making threats in terms of wanting to burn our homes down.

After downing a bottle-and-a-half of vodka, he set out to seek

twisted revenge. These pictures show him prowling through the

castle during the early hours of the morning. He goes into the

drawing room and sets fire to a set of drapes. His new wife and members

of his family are asleep upstairs. It was a reckless act. It was only

through the good training of the staff in the hotel that so many

people escaped uninjured. There was over 100 people who escaped. Kay's

fire-raising cost the hotel almost �5.5 million in repairs and lost

business. We have had many a difficulty to overcome. We have got

over all of those. None quite as difficult as Max Kay. He admitted

arson. Today he arrived at Chester Crown Court for sentencing in a

prison van knowing he will be leaving in one. The judge told him

all of this had come about as a result of his own ego. He had

arranged a wedding that he couldn't afford to put up a front to family

and friends. He then developed a misplaced feeling of grievance and

decided to seek revenge. The castle has been repaired and the owners

are looking to the future. Max Kay is looking at the next six years

behind bars. Still to come: Tony is live on a

big night in the Premier League. Yes, I'm at Manchester City where

some people say the title race could be decided tonight. They need

to beat Chelsea to stay in touch with Manchester United. With Carlos

Tevez on the bench, things are warming up nicely. Join me later.

The happy couple choosing red rather than white for their big day.

Now, the money you raise for Sport Relief funds charities which help

many people. Neil Blower joined the tank regiment as a 17-year-old. He

served in Kosovo and Iraq. After leaving the Army he was diagnosed

with post-traumatic stress disorder. He has found support from Combat

I joined the Army when I was 17, straight from school. I joined the

Royal Tank Regiment and in 2003, I took part in our name for the

invasion of Iraq, which was a war. The air strikes started and the

Scud missile warnings were coming through. This is getting a bit real

now. And then we lost a comrade in my unit. I was 20. It was a very

profound experience. I do think that the young kids that went

didn't come back. I left the Army in 2005. I was diagnosed with PTSD

and then I didn't do anything about it. Six years later, I picked up

the phone to Combat Stress. PTSD takes you to some very dark places.

And being in an environment where every guy and girl in the room is

in exactly the same position as you, knows exactly what you are going

through and can relate to you without having to say anything, it

is just a very therapeutic thing and, for me, it helps a lot. My

situation with the PTSD has got 110% better. Some of the great work

done by Sport Relief thanks to your efforts. It is Sport Relief Miles

this weekend. A big one in Manchester. Lots of them all around

the region. There's the website.

Go the extra mile.Ly be going the extra 50-something tomorrow.

have your legs in Lycra? I have. Let's go back to Crewe. Jayne is

there as you can see. Jayne, you have been gauging reaction to the

Budget. You were going to explain why it is you have chosen Crewe to

follow? Yes, if you are sat at home saying, "Why Crewe?" It is because

Crewe is a kind of average town. Lots of different indicators and

statistics, it ranks fairly average. There are those who will say Crewe

should be so much more than average. It is a big year for Crewe. We want

to see the fall-out of this recession and the course of the

economy through the eyes of people who live here. Is this going to be

Crewe's year? Let me introduce you to the town.

Welcome to Crewe. In a word, a town described as... Average. Really?

Average. Average town. A fair description? I'd say so. But it

shouldn't be that way. So let's take a fast train through Crewe's

history. It started with this, the arrival of the railway. Hello.

Until then, Crewe was a very pretty, very rural backwater. It is not too

long ago that the whole of Crewe looked like this place. That's

right. Geoff Pritch's granddad arrived to build the first station.

He and his father followed. Grand Central Railway built the town.

Every house was owned, all the water was supplied, the gas, the

electric tryst, all supplied by the railway company. Without the

railway, this place wouldn't be here? It wouldn't exist, no. As the

railway industry declined, other industries follow load -- followed.

Why 130 years after the railway put Crewe on the map is Crewe still the

place where you change, not the destination? You are not from these

parts? No. You are passing through? I am. Have you ever thought about

venturing outside? No. Never. hasn't been enough investment.

new promise, a new plan, the local paper said it's the biggest

opportunity since Victorian times. I think people are rightly cynical.

There have been so many schemes and they have never happened. Crewe

deserves to be rightfully the head of Cheshire East. It is one of the

biggest towns in the area. isn't? Well, it should be. At the

White Lion, Geoff has dug out a poem published in 1922. 'A

traveller ponders the enigma of what, if anything lies beyond

Crewe's busy platforms. childhood maddest guesses must be

true only the engines know the way to Crewe. Crewe is a fantasy of

travellers' brains, born of the night of Bradshaw and of trains.

And nothing has changed? It is probably just as well.

So not a terribly high opinion of the town even from people who were

born and bred here. Can they turn things around this year? What can

we learn from the people who live here? Laura Yates is back in the

town tomorrow and she will meet some people. This is about the

impact of the economy on the real lives of very real people. Laura

will be here with her economic trackers. We will be meeting Laura,

Joe and Chloe. They are the unemployed kids out of work, out of

luck, desperate for something to happen. Can this Budget deliver

jobs to them? We will also meet Phil, our business start-up. He has

taken the plunge becoming his own boss for the very first time. Is

there anything in the Budget for him? We will meet the Williams

family, one Budget in that household and they are desperate to

get on the housing ladder. Can anything happen for them? We will

introduce the Darlington sisters. Can they take their company global?

More tomorrow. We got the gist of that.

You got a frog in your throat?! Sport now. A big night at the

Etihad. Manchester City against Chelsea. Some say the Premier

League title is at stake. You recovered? No. Shall I carry on?

Yes. City need a win. Tony is there for us.

All eyes on this programme's one- time favourite invisible man?

Absolutely. You want the exclusive on that? I have seen the invisible

man tonight. He is here. More on him in a second. There is a real

tension around Manchester City tonight. They have won every home

game they have played this season. Tonight is not the night for that

record to go. If they beat Chelsea, they stay within a point of

Manchester United. Defeat will be unthinkable. They have been on top

of the Premier League for seven months. Also unthinkable is the

invisible man, Carlos Tevez, back on the bench. Can he influence the

game tonight? Of course he can. He has never been a fantastic

substitute. He is better when he starts games. He is raring to go. I

was speaking to people on Monday who worked closely with him, so he

is very fit. He is up for it. Roberto Mancini said he's trained

better than he has ever seen him. How crucial is this game tonight?

Can the Premier League be lost if City lose? No. We have to remember

there is a quarter of the season to go, which is a lot of football.

Manchester United's last ten games are quite palatable, they will

fancy winning most of those. If City remain four points behind,

that will begin to look like quite an obstacle. A match prediction?

City always win at home, Chelsea have flattered to deceive recently,

City will win 2-0. There is full match commentary on BBC Radio

Manchester. If you want the follow Liverpool and Arsenal, BBC Radio

A quick word on Bolton Wanderers. They have confirmed that their game

against Blackburn at the weekend on Saturday will go ahead. That is

amid continuing improving news on the condition of Fabrice Muamba.

Also, they have rearranged that game that was abandoned, the FA Cup

quarterfinal against Tottenham. That will be played on Tuesday 27th

March. Blackburn Rovers did themselves some favours last night

beating Sunderland 2-0. They are now six points clear of the Premier

League relegation zone. It was some night.

Short on smiles for most of the season, two crucial wins make

Blackburn short odds to avoid the drop. We should get out of it.

we win at Bolton, we should be in with a good shout. We are not safe.

Rovers earnt their breathing space at the foot of the table after a

breathless match which they dominated. Not that their first

back-to-back victories under Steve Kean came easily. The Ewood

faithful had to wait until the second half for the breakthrough -

Junior Hoilett with the crisp volley. Blackburn then found the

clincher late on. Yakubu - the goal may be the difference come the end

of the season. He settled Blackburn's nerves and the result.

The fans are seeing the just rewards of their efforts, getting

behind the team and we all win together and lose together. They

are starting to see some points. I'm still not too sure about him.

If you look at the game last night, we played some decent football.

They all seem to be playing for him. Quite a turnaround for a manager

and a team many had written off months ago.

There was plenty of Football League action last night as well. Ronnie

Moore's unbeaten reign as Tranmere boss goes on with a 2-0 away win at

Rochdale. Crewe are closing in on the League Two play-offs after

beating Bradford 1-0. Harry Davis with the winning penalty. The new

manager effect didn't work for Macclesfield, they went down 4-2

away to Rotherham. There we are, back to the Premier

League, back to a big night here at Manchester City. This game last

season, it was won by the odd goal. Guess who scored it? Carlos Tevez.

What are the odds on that tonight? If he scores the winner tonight, we

will see. Thank you very much. Nothing

particularly unusual about a football-themed wedding, but this

one shows dedication to the couple's favourite club.

# Walk on... # Never mind Here Comes The Bride,

the choice of music complimented the dress code. The happy couple

met watching the team's matches on television. They have probably

never been to Anfield. They have had thousands of hits online of

their wedding video. Shall we take a look... Have you got a Liverpool

a look... Have you got a Liverpool strip on?

Yes, I have! Good evening. We had a nice day today, but the good news

about tomorrow is tomorrow will be better, potentially up to 17

Celsius. Looking nice and feeling warm. Cloud was incredibly stubborn

first thing this morning. It did breakthrough the afternoon. Most

parts of the region have seen some nice spells of sunshine. The cloud

a bit stubborn in the Isle of Man for a good portion of the day. We

should all have better weather tomorrow. Of course, there is

hardly a cloud in the sky now. So that means tonight will be fairly

cool. The last couple of nights, we have had that cloud cover which has

held the temperatures up. You can see the blues returning. If you

head past midnight, it will be fairly nippy. Temperatures will be

as low as 2 Celsius in rural areas. Quite a frost in part when you get

up. Towns and cities 4-5 Celsius. Once again, there is some variation.

I think many places will have a chill in the air when you get up.

You will be off to a really nice start. This morning, as I said,

very stubborn cloud cover. Tomorrow, hardly a cloud in the sky. So you

are off to a sunny start. That sunshine will linger all the way

through the day. From time to time, you will catch a bit of patchy

cloud and there could be a little bit of haze around from time to

time. All things considered, that is one of the nicest days we will

see for some time. With that south- easterly breeze, it is not very

strong. Your temperatures - we will go for a high of 17 Celsius

tomorrow afternoon. That is 63 Fahrenheit. Obviously, not

everywhere makes that. It will look and feel very nice. Then for

tomorrow night, the cloud returns but the temperatures won't be too

bad. For Friday, we have a weather front so there could be some

drizzly rain from time to time. Get that out of the way and your

weekend is looking good! I said it! You did. We are all feeling sad

because one of our long-time producers, he has been here for 17

years, he is leaving. He is one of the nicest men you could ever meet.