30/04/2014 North West Tonight

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Good evening. Welcome to North West Tonight with Annabel Tiffin and

Roger Johnson. Our top story: Rania Alayed's husband admits causing the

missing mum's death. He says he was possessed by a spirit. We're live

outside the court. Also tonight: This man was convicted

of terrorist offences three years ago.

Now his family could have their home siezed by the courts.

After more than ten years of house, have Everton finally found a home

away from Goodison Park? The training which leaves them in

tears ` a new programme lifts the lid on what it takes to be a Special

Constable in Cheshire. A court's heard that a mother of

three from Manchester was murdered after attempting to leave her

violent and abusive husband. Rania Alayed's body has never been found.

Today, a jury at Manchester Crown Court was told that her husband,

Ahmed Al`Khatibi from Gorton, has admitted causing her death but says

he was "possessed by a spirit". He denies murder. Naomi Cornwell has

been following the case. She joins us live from Manchester

Crown Court. It is a murder case, even though the victim has never

been found. What have the jury been told today about how she died? The

prosecution have been opening their case today and they told the jury

that Rania Alayed was the victim of years of domestic violence. She was

born in Syria and came here with her husband, Ahmed Al`Khatibi. He was

violent and abusive. She was becoming too westernised, he

thought, and was trying to establish an independent life. She had

attempted to contact police and a solicitor and had left her husband.

He did kill her in June last year. They tried to conceal her murder by

hiding her body many miles away in Yorkshire. The two brothers deny

murder and the third denies perverting the course of justice. He

denies murder but admits causing her death, how has that been explained?

Much of the case centres on what happened inside that flat, inside

Millward last year. Inside that flat, he pushed his wife, causing

her to stumble and an her head, from which she died. He denies he

intended to kill her. He says he was possessed of a spirit that caused

him to do it. The court `` the jury he was shown CCTV of Ahmed

Al`Khatibi wearing his wife's clothes just minutes after she

died, attending to create the impression that she was still alive.

Thank you. The family of a convicted terrorist

will find out next month whether they'll be kicked out of their home.

His family say they have done nothing wrong and should not be made

to suffer. Their supporters are holding a public meeting in the city

tonight. Here's our Chief Reporter, Dave Guest.

This is Munir Farooqi. He's currently serving four life

sentences for attempting to recruit and radicalise young men to fight

against British forces in Afghanistan. He used this market

stall to draw in his recruits. This room at his home in long`sight,

Manchester, was stuffed full of terrorist literature. Prosecutors

now want the house seized together with two other properties he had

connections to. They say the properties were used by Farooqi in

his preparations for acts of terrorism. But his family who still

live in this one say that's not their fault. If you have not

committed a crime, you should not be punished or stop the family members

who live here had never been charged with any crime. I was acquitted in

the same trial, so it is difficult to understand why we are going

through this. Rachel Adamson is a solicitor who specialises in

proceeds of crime cases but she says this one is unprecedented. As far as

I know, this is a first. It will be a tough job to get it through the

courts. On what grounds Gamay challenge this? Certainly, financial

loss is important and if the financial loss to the family is

going to be so heavy, that will come into it. As far as the prosecution

are concerned, they want to put forward the argument that a family

home has been used in the commission of a serious offence. Both sides

will argue their case in court next month. In the meantime, the family

will maintain their campaign against what they see as a grossness

justice. `` a gross injustice. They are holding a public meeting

tonight. A Merseyside man has pleaded guilty

to the murder of his partner and disabled daughter. William Owen beat

Sharon Hayter and daughter Stephanie Owen to death at their home in

Knowsley Village last year. He'd previously denied the killings. He

will be sentenced later this week. The Manchester based Co`operative

Group has pledged to improve its own governance in response to a report

into management failings at the Co`op Bank. A major review by the

former Treasury civil servant, Sir Christopher Kelly, said the bank's

merger with the Britannia building society in 2009 should never have

happened. Greater Manchester Police are to be

investigated following the death of a 68`year`old man who was killed

after walking on the M61 motorway near Bolton. Stephen Hayes from

Blackpool was found by officers an hour earlier, near to a damaged,

"undriveable" car. They dropped him off at a nearby service station. The

case has been referred to the Independent Police Complaint

Commission. Plans for a state`of`the`art breast

clinic have been unveiled at Noble's Hospital on the Isle of Man. The

?1.5 million extension includes an ultrasound room and dedicated

consultancy spaces for breast cancer patients. The charity Manx Breast

Cancer Support Group raised funds for the clinic last year.

Currently, it is all over the place. Different clinics at different

times, there is nowhere private for anyone to go after a diagnosis. I am

a cancer patient, there is nowhere for you to go. You go through a busy

clinic of people. It is terrible, really.

After more than ten years, have Everton finally found a site for a

new stadium? The club and Liverpool city council are in discussions

about a new 50,000`seat ground in the city. Neither party would

confirm the preferred site but it is understood to be less than a mile

from Goodison Park. Stuart Pollitt is outside Goodison for us this

evening. They have waited a long time for

this, haven't they? That is right. They have been house`hunting for

more than a decade. In that time, they have checked out sites on the

waterfront, they have checked out a site in Kirby. Both of those fell

through. Goody answered lie just up the road from Goodison Park? ``

could be answer lie just up the road?

This is Walton Hall Park, less than a mile from Goodison Park, reported

to be the main site under consideration for a new stadium. You

not worried about extra traffic? No, we should still get it, even if it's

still there. There are all sorts of disruptions. I don't want to wish it

on anyone else. We are already in the area. It does cause a problem.

Everton have been playing at Goodison Park since the 1892.

Although it still holds an emotional pull, its facilities are holding the

club back. That is why they had been trying to move for more than a

decade, first to Liverpool's waterfront and then outside the

city, to Kirby. There is cautious optimism that the latest scheme

deliver. A lot of work has gone into potential designs. We need to

crystallise that, we need to spend more time working on that as a club

and the Board of Directors before we go public. That is because we want

to get it right. Everton cannot afford to build a ground on their

own, they need funding and they need Liverpool City Council to help. They

said they would offer assistance but were not in a position to funding

the stadium. Any investment would be part of a wider regeneration scheme.

I would personally like to see Goodison Park we develop. That is

possibly not feasible so the next best thing is rebuilding Goodison

Park in Walton Hall Park. I am asking, as an ever Tony and, ease up

on the red tape. `` as an Everton supporter. What are the obstacles

here for Everton? Are there any precedents for councils helping

clubs out? The obstacle is cost. To build this place in 1892 costs

?3000. These days, it costs hundreds of millions of pounds. A range of

options are being considered, one of which is a so`called Manchester City

model, where the club pays the council a rent. It will be difficult

to justify investing public money into a club like this. No decisions

have yet been made but Everton will find that finding a site is one

thing, funding the site is quite another. Thank you.

I am sure people have a view on that story, whether Everton fans or not.

A court in Sri Lanka has been hearing the horrific details of the

murder of an aid worker from Rochdale and the rape of his Russian

girlfriend. Khuram Shaikh was killed at a beach resort in 2011. Today,

the prosecution continued its case. Charles Haviland sent us this report

from Colombo. Prasanna Samarasinghe said he was

awoken by shouting and from his room he saw one of the six accused men

beating a white woman, the Russian fiancee of Khuram Shaikh, he said he

had noticed them earlier in the day, and remarked how nice they

were. They were beating up the Russian woman. She tried to escape

into the summing pool. They followed her and carried on beating her as

she shouted for help. They all wandered off and Prasanna

Samarasinghe wandered towards the restaurant area, where he saw Khuram

Shaikh lying in a pool of blood. She ran towards him, crying and

screaming. The first accused came back and started beating her again.

The witness could not bear to watch it any longer and he went back to

his room. The gang raised a riot in the restaurant, overturning tables,

breaking lights and smashing plates. The witness, a 42`year`old tourist,

Prasanna Samarasinghe, identified the three main assailants as being

among the six accused standing in the dock today.

Still to come on North West Tonight: The Barrow pensioner asked to pay

back a 20`year debt ` for 93p. Wasting that kind of money, for

peanuts, just doesn't add up, does it?

And bouncing back ` five years ago, a terrible accident threatened to

ruin his career, but Luke's a European star.

Oliver King was just 12 years old when he died of sudden arrhythmic

death syndrome. It is also known as SADS. His father has spent the years

since campaigning for defibrillators to be in every school in the

country. Today, the Government announced that it wants to help all

schools to help the life`saving kit. Mark is to receive a special

award from the Prime Minister as well. I am delighted to say he is

with us. I am sure the award especially but bittersweet

nonetheless. You must be pleased that the Government is getting

behind you and getting these deliberate late as into schools,

hopefully. It is a massive U`turn from last year, when they didn't

want to speed to us and we won't recognise. We were campaigning as

hard as we could. They told us to get 100,000 signatures and they

would have a debate in Parliament. We ended with 160,000 signatures and

they moved the goalposts and put us into Westminster Hall. Tell us about

Oliver. He was a fit boy, using a swimming lesson. He was a keen and

talented sportsman with an uncle icing zest for life. This macro and

un`compromise in zest. He was swimming when he suffered a cardiac

arrest and there was not a defibrillator. You believe that if

that had been on site, that could have saved his life. He set up the

Oliver King Foundation and you have done tremendous work so far. Tell us

what you have achieved so far. It was established in February 2012. We

have saved three young lives since then without defibrillators. A

four`year rod, a seven`year`old and a 14`year`old. You want these in

every school, just as fire X10 wishes are in every school. We want

the legislation. This announcement today is fantastic, it is a move in

the right direction. When the herd it would be announced, the

foundation itself, everyone, from the trustees to the trainers were

excited. It is busy struck a chord with the Prime Minister. He gets

what you are trying to do. It is the devastation that this brings. We

lose up to 19 young people a week from this. He has given new a Point

Of Light Award `` he has given you a Point Of Light Award. It should not

be for me, it should be for the team for the work that has been done.

Thank you. Now we all know that local councils are facing tough

economic times and have to be very careful with their finances. But one

pensioner in Barrow believes his local council has gone a step too

far. Mike Gardiner has been ordered to return a benefit over`payment

from 21 years ago. The total he was overpaid ` 93 pence. Peter Marshall

takes up the story. Mike Gardiner, a retired welder, has worked hard all

his life. He was briefly unemployed in 1993 and received council tax

benefit. 21 years on ` a surprise in the post. The first we knew, ten

sheets of paper arrived. I went to the end of it and it said I owed

93p. This was going back to 1993. This is crazy. It was sent out by

the company Liberata ` which works with Barrow Borough Council to

manage the authorities' benefits service. I could

that. It appears that Mr Gardiner is not the

for peanuts. It just does not add up does it? Nationally, Liberata

collects ?2.2 billion pounds a year in council tax and rates helping

local authorities increase tax collections. But in this case it

says "An issue has caused a number of erroneous council tax invoices

and University International Tennis

Tournament. On the final day, Northants resumed their second

innings but they were restricted to 179 all out. A trampoline gymnast

from Liverpool who nearly lost a leg after a terrible accident says

winning a European bronze medal has made it all worthwhile. Luke

Strong's medal was the first at that level won by a British man in 32

years. The 20`year`old badly broke his leg during a training exercise

when he was 15. I went along to meet him earlier today at the gym where

he trains in the city. Gymnastics of whatever discipline is a school of

hard knocks. Getting back up after a fall is what they do. But few have

had a tougher route to the top than Luke Strong. He was just 15 when he

broke his leg in a training accident.It was a high energy

fracture. Doctors said they had seen kids run over by cars at 40 miles

per hour and still not had as bad injuries. But not only did Luke go

on to compete ` this is him in the British Championships ` he went on

to make history. Complete joy. And happy that all of the hard work paid

off. Just take me back to what happened with your leg. You were

told the injury was so bad that not only might you lose your career, but

you might lose your leg as well. How did you find the strength to return

from that? The doctor told me I was 12 minutes away from losing my leg.

As close as that? Yes. I was heartbroken at first that I might

never be able to do trampolining again. Is that what you were worried

most about? At the time, definitely. His British team mates describe him

as an inspiration. Amazing. It is outstanding. Especially coming away

from the injury he had a few years ago. What's next then? We have a few

world Championships, world cups and Europeans coming up. But I would

love to make it to the Olympics at Rio in 2016. Do you think you will?

I don't know. I'm taking that as a yes! Good luck. You would expect

police training to be tough ` but the Cheshire force has come up with

a regime which leaves rookie special constables in tears. They'll be

asked to try out on themselves the pepper spray which they'll use

against suspects on the beat. A new BBC documentary series shows the

Cheshire specials being put through their paces, along with trainee fire

fighters and paramedics. Andrew Fletcher's been to meet one of them.

Preparing for a shift on the front line ` full`time mum and special

constable Sarah Johnson. When she signed up to train as a volunteer

with Cheshire police, she did not realise it would land her a starring

role on daytime TV. We were told at the tactical training centre when we

were actually doing the baton and cuffs training that the BBC were

going to come and film us. So that was OK, a bit scary initially. But

they were great, they were fine. First on the Front Line follows the

next generation of emergency service recruits through their training. For

Sarah, ten weeks in a classroom taught her the basics of the law,

before some painful practical exercises. Sarah has joined almost

400 special constables in Cheshire, working unpaid for at least 17 hours

a month, often many more. The day was going very well. There was loads

of singing and dancing and bands. People are having a very nice time.

But all of a sudden, the atmosphere changed. I hope it will prove to be

inspirational to people. I bet you're looking forward to watching

the programme now? I don't have a television! Everything changes after

today. The start of the week very settled, very mild. Tomorrow, what a

mess of weather fronts we have. They are falling apart before they get to

us, some of them will make their presence very much felt. But on

Friday, they get pushed out of the way as an area of high pressure

tries test and wish itself. The high keeps of the weather fronts at bay,

so the date should be dry and bright, but the nights will be

fairly chilly. This is been an picture throughout the day,

temperatures 17 and 18, but over last two hours, showers have really

started to get their act together. They have been heavy from time to

time. They could continue to be heavy as we go to the evening. The

picture for tomorrow is entirely different, it is cloudy it is

showery and some of the showers will be heavy. So from the onward, this

is what the forecast computer wants to do. The showers will die away,

the first band at least, but then the next band comes in as we head

towards the early hours of the morning. You may not notice the

join. Make the most of the last mild night, we are talking about nines

and tens for towns and cities. We will not see that again for some

time. Tomorrow is all about the showers. They will be around first

thing in the morning, cloud base is low and there will be mist. But the

showers are never that is for a way, even if you get an hour of dry

weather, you risk more coming through. The breeze is stronger than

it has been, it is not going in the most favourable direction.

Temperatures falling from 17 and 18 to 13 and 14. So it is changing. We

would be back at 10:30pm.