04/04/2014 North West Tonight

Good evening and welcome to North West Tonight with Annabel Thffin and

Roger Johnson. Our top storx: Living in filth ` jail for the mother who

kept her four year old in appauling squalor.

The boy was only discovered when police called to investigatd a

missing dog. Six Preston North End players,

including the team's captain, are arrested over bribery alleg`tions.

I'm Prince Cassius, expert and I'm going to tell you

what's hot and not at the Grand National.

Baking has been fashionable for several years now but here xou can

wear the creations. A mother whose child was living in

some of the worst conditions ever seen by Lancashire Police h`s been

jailed for two years. Her four`year`old son was found in a

scene of absolute squalor bx a police officer responding to reports

of a missing dog. He found the little boy serhously

ill, surrounded by ferrets, dogs, animal excrement and rotting food.

Our reporter Judy Hobson is outside the Royal Blackburn Hospital. This

is a really appalling tale. It is. The little boy was brought

here in a dehydrated state. He had a pre`existing medical condithon

meaning he had to be fed through a chip into his stomach and that had

become infected. He was verx poorly indeed. Heiss was described as being

an absolute squalor and we have some photographs inside of the property.

The house was crammed with 20 ferrets which were running loose, 14

dogs, rubbish, rotting food and animal excrement everywhere. The

detective in charge of this case is with me. This was a chance dncounter

because they officer went to the house on another matter.

Yes, he was looking for a mhssing dog and he was particularly

tenacious about getting into the house. He was persistent and ended

up in a room where he found this child on a squalid mat on the

Flora. He thought it was a dog and then realised it was an unrdsponsive

child who was ill. I understand the police said another

24 hours and he would have died Certainly that is what we h`ve been

told because he was very dehydrated. He was intubated with a chip into

his stomach which was septic. The doctors said they had ever seen

anything like it. The police officers said it was in a

really poor condition. The director of children's services

said as a statement saying that the family were not on the radar because

they had only just moved into the area but the little boy is now doing

well and there are questions about how this little boy could h`ve slept

through the net. Preston North

as the club at the centre of the latest stage of a police

investigation into alleged bribery. Six of the seven players arrested

yesterday are Preston players, including the captain, John Welsh.

13 players in total have bedn questioned by the National Crime

Agency. Our reporter Stuart Flinders is at Preston's ground, Deepdale.

Stuart, what more can you tdll us? It is just five weeks now shnce

Preston North End marked thd death of its greatest ever player, Sir Tom

Bene, and it finds itself at the centre of a major police

investigation. Six of the sdven players play for this club `nd they

include the club captain John Welsh. The others are David Buchan`n, Keith

Keane, Billy Wright, Graham Cummins, who is currently on loan at

Rochdale, and then Davies, on a season long loan at Rochdald. They

all say they have done nothhng wrong and our own police bail. 13 people

have now been arrested by P`ul Leese an investigation into spot fixing,

where players are trying to affect events inside the game to affect

betting on that game `` polhce investigation. Preston North End

have a big match this weekend and are doing high in the leagud and

looking for promotion. This is a bad time for something like this to

distract them. Merseyside Police have confhrmed

that a body found on a beach near Alicante is that of the Livdrpool

man Francis Brennan. The 25`year`old from Anfield had skipped bahl to the

Costa del Sol in Spain whild awaiting sentence over a wotnding

charge. The inquest into the death of a

teenage girl who died in a car crash in the Isle of Man last month has

been opened and adjourned. 14`year`old Lucia Porter and seven

others were in a car that crashed. She suffered multiple injurhes. Two

men have been bailed. A polhce investigation is ongoing.

Friends and family of a teenage girl found hanged at a house in Bolton

have been paying tribute to her on Facebook today. Aleysha Rothwell

from Breightmet was just sixteen years old. Her mother wrote, you

have left a massive hole in so many peoples lives and hearts. Joining us

now is Ged Flynn from Papyrts, The Prevention of Young Suicide based in

Warrington. We can't talk about these three cases because wd don't

know the circumstances but hn general terms I use seeing lore

young people getting into the sort of place where they are considering

such things? It is a difficult question. We offer

services as a national charhty, one of which is our helpline. It is

eight telephone advice line. We will give the number at the end.

We speak to young people and parents, friends, family and

teachers. They say that the amount of pressure on young people seems to

be increasing. Is that the key thing? Is it the

pressure? I think being a young person is a

difficult time for us all that it seems to be I am hearing now... I

know what it is like to be 08 but sadly don't know what it's like to

be 18 now. I think we are pttting pressure on our children, for

example academic pressure. Someone said to me life teaches us that we

cannot be happy all the timd. The skill of suicide in this cotntry is

astronomical. It is ten timds the number of murders. It is thd leading

cause of death for young people more than traffic deaths, more than

young people. I wish we had longer to talk about

this because it is such an hmportant thing. Can you tell us in a

nutshell, very quickly, to `ny parent or young person who hs

concerned, what can they do? Don't suffer alone. Talk to someone.

If it can be someone you know, bring our helpline. We can talk to you and

get you help. Let us just give you the nulber that

he mentioned. We will put the number on the screen before you know.

A report out today says the North West has the highest proportion of

shops left empty after a nulber of high profile retailers went bust.

But the accountants Deloittd say high streets have weathered the

storm better than shopping centres and retail parks.

It wasn't so long ago that lany people were predicting the dnd of

the traditional high street. So what's gone right? Andy Gill reports

on one Liverpool street where they think they have some of the answers.

Bold Street was once known `s Liverpool's Bond Street. 11 new

business have opened here shnce last April. East Avenue Bakehousd is one

of them. It's part of a ret`ilers' forum which works to promotd the

street. I think it is becoming a hub for

foodies. There is a network of like`minded businesses.

The accountants looked at what happened when shops belonging to 27

firms went bust over the past five years. The North West has ndarly a

third of those shops still dmpty. The highest figure for Engl`nd. Buy

overall high streets did better than shopping centres. One way rdtailers

are surviving is with an online presence. This shop puts photos of

clothes online which brings in customers.

The quiet stays in the shop, if we didn't have that social medha, it

wouldn't work for us. We nedd to reach out to customers and lake that

effort rather than rely on the footfall.

It's not all good news on Bold Street. Waterstone's shut its branch

in February. Water stones closing as a

disappointment but it gives us an opportunity and we are lookhng at

plans to use the building. Today's report says high streets are

showing great capacity for reinvention.

It's the biggest gambling wdekend of the year, with the British public

expected to wager more than ?20 million on the Grand Nation`l.

Advertising gambling on TV comes under the spotlight in this week's

Sunday Politics at 11am on BBC One. Should it only be allowed after the

watershed? Well, one thing's for sure, a lot of

money will be changing hands at Aintree over the next few d`ys. But

today the focus was on the fashion because of course it was Ladies Day.

And you were there. It was a first for me.

A vision in tangerine. Now, tomorrow may be the Gr`nd

National but it's not the only big prize of the festival. The lain

event today ` who would win Best Dressed Lady?

Did you? I may have done! I met up whth one

of the judges, top fashion blogger Prince Cassius and went out with him

to see who he thought was the frontrunner.

This is Aintree. What do yot think? I love it. Beautiful. I'm so

excited. I'm looking for soleone who has put it out there and looks

effortless but I'm looking for that va`va voom. I'm looking for people

who take it to the next levdl. The golden rules are having a nhce

beautiful dress. Don't forgdt accessories, I can't emphashse

enough the need accessories. You need a hat, jewellery, nice shoes,

just feel comfortable. Look at you all the gland up. Can I stop you for

a second? This is so vintagd. I love it. Look at you.

You look really ravishing. Thank you so much for today and all

your insight into the fashion. You stand out the most but if I may say,

one little thing missing. M`y I You may indeed. I've got my hat was

bigger than that. His hair was bigger than th`t.

He was a great character. Thank you very much, Prince.

While you were doing that, H was putting my best foot forward for a

great cause. I was running for one of the police officers, Nicola

Hughes, who was killed recently weight in that race.

Not going to win any prizes for that RU?

We saw him yesterday at Aintree He looks rather fetching. I don't know

what he will be doing today. No headgear tonight?

I didn't want to outshine your fascinator. People have been giving

me all sorts of sex. Tomorrow's Grand National will be watched by

millions across the world. There are 40 horses each with a uniqud story

but none more so than Mr Moonshine. Jim Beaumont has been coming to the

National since he was a small boy but never before as an owner.

It was a fairy story really. I watched it for years. I can remember

my grandfather talking about different horses.

Jim was born and brought up in Liverpool and did lots of dhfferent

jobs to make ends meet, including bellboy and chef at the famous

Adelphi Hotel. What were yot saying to people when you were working in

the hotel `` what would you say if people said you would be a Grand

National winning owner? I wouldn't have believed it.

This year's hopes rest largdly on the broad shoulders of Mr Moonshine.

Another horse trained by thd renowned Harvey and Sue Smith.

He seems to really enjoy thhs track and jumps the fences well.

Why mess with a winning teal? Man on board was last year's victorious

jockey. I still get a bit of stick for it. I

never have the answer, it is just a lot of luck.

Good fortune or not, if he does it again, they will be Colin the owner

Lucky Jim. We will get you the inside track on

the race in a moment. In the Premier League, Everton

manager Roberto Martinez has played down their crucial match ag`inst

Arsenal on Sunday which could eventually determine if thex qualify

for the Champions League for only the second time in their history.

The Blues are enjoying their best season to date having taken a record

60 points from 31 matches to put them within touching distance of the

top four. Victory over fourth`placed Arsenal would take them to within a

point of the Gunners with a match in hand. Martinez says win or lose they

will not give up until the very last match of the season.

I'm delighted because we ard inside the top four place which is

remarkable. 21 points to fight for is a huge amount.

In cricket, Lancashire coach Peter Moores has admitted he made mistakes

when he was England's coach but would do things differently if he

got the job again. He was s`cked in 2009. That was due to differences

with several senior players. I have been there before and enjoyed

it and learned quite a bit. Things that worked on things you could have

done better. To try and put some of that experience back in Whidbey and

exciting challenge for me. Hf that chance comes along, I don't know, we

will just have to wait and see. Let us speak to Richard Pitlan.

I love talking about the National, it gets me alive.

What do you make of Mr Moonshine's chances?

They are good but only good. There are lots of horses with excdllent

chances. A year ago Mr Moonshine ran in the race and build`up. Hhs wins

have been over 2.5 miles so 4.5 miles is a different thing.

What is your main tech? I am a big fan of Long Run. I am

really strong on him. I havd been backing him for two months.

What about T4 three? I tried to buy a share in it and I

nearly got there before thex decided to keep it amongst themselvds. Big

chance for him but another outsider is All Add Up.

Do enjoy the big race tomorrow. We've had a great the cure for

Ladies Day. People who watched last night, and

we loved your hair.

Separated at birth. I've seen that picture and ht is too

true. It is too good. This isn't Richard's here that his

popped up. Now, we've been joined in the studio by some wildlife. The

peacock and the rabbit might look like works of art but they're also

cakes. They're part of a huge display that's the centrepidce for

the Cake and Bake Show in M`nchester this weekend. In a moment, we'll be

speaking to some of the taldnted ladies from the North West who've

created that display but first Naomi Cornwell's been getting a t`ste of

the show. Never has baking been so wild. From

fountains of sugar syrup to smoking shisha pipes. Welcome to thd Jungle.

The centrepiece of Manchestdr's Cake and Bake Show has surprised even the

experts. Everything is edible. Does ht taste

nice? Yes, it does!

Hungry? You're in the right place. There's a cake for those th`t could

eat an elephant. And everyone's talking about the latest trdnds

Handbags and shoes and things like that made of cake.

The funky flavours. I like funky flavours.

The ranks, apparently. `` meringues.

I'm bored of cupcakes. You can find more old`fashioned cakes. Some with

vegetables in them. Baking's been fashionable for

several years now, but here you can even wear the creations. And if

you'd rather watch others do the hard work, there are plenty of

celebrities on hand to demonstrate how it's done.

Things do go wrong sometimes. Sometimes she dropped the door on

the floor `` dough. It was once dismissed as thd latest

foodie fad but the region's businesses are still tasting the

sweet success that the boom in baking has brought them.

As we said, the creators of these fantastic cakes are with us, Rose

and Francesca. How long does it take to create something like thhs?

The whole installation took six months. Some of the key pieces took

two weeks on their own. Who needs them?

We will. We brought some

edible. You were at the British Armx's first

combat Army helicopter pilot. The sugar Rush was better than the

adrenaline rush, was it? Different. I left the army to have a

family so I have done that `nd doing flying helicopters in an attack role

was not really conducive to raising a family so I turned to this.

How long would that take to make? That took a couple of days.

I'm not surprised. The detahl is astonishing. Everyone thinks they

can break these days. You are professional. It is usually popular

now that smacked hugely poptlar now. Why is that?

People are getting more and more creative because it has to look good

as well as taste good. I went into the auction business for a number of

years and then had a family and wanted to do something creative

This is edible, we should s`y, all of it. Can I have a

It is like that television programme on the other side.

As the great British break of been a huge uplift?

It started people off but they have gone aspirational now.

Thank you both very much indeed And you can eat the peacock's fdathers.

Onto the weather now. It is a big sporting weekend.

Lancashire have got their fhrst match on Sunday and the weather will

not play along. We have weather front after weather front. Ht is

going to be fairly wet from time to time. Today, brighter skies tried to

work their way through but weren't that successful. It has been a

reasonable afternoon though. The cloud cover builds as the nhght goes

on tonight. And in the earlx hours of the morning we have got the first

weather system. The air is lild You wake up with this weather still

around and there is everywhere but don't be fooled

because it is not too long before the next wave comes. Heavy bursts,

especially for parts of Cumbria The Isle of Man doesn't fare much better

either. If you do get a bre`k in the clouds, it will be relatively mild.

On Sunday, there is a cold front with a narrower band of weather It

moves through quicker but hhs more rain. You may get brighter skies

behind it on Sunday afternoon. That is not a promise.

Would you like a bit of licorice betel? `` beetle.

We are going to leave you whth a shot of Aintree on the eve of the

Grand National. Have a great weekend. Goodbye.