06/05/2014 North West Tonight

Good evening. Welcome to North West Tonight with

Roger Johnson and Annabel Tiffin. Our top story: Compensation and an

apology for the transplant patient given a cancerous kidney.

We'll hear how procedures have been tightened so it can never happen

again. Also tonight: Back in court.

Stuart Hall faces denies 20 more assault charges, including rape. But

admits one before his second trial starts.

And the little girl who won the hearts of millions joins a famous

friend as their fund raising campaign is brought to reality.

Also tonight: They're having a party in Rochdale and Peter Marshall is

there. Yes, the founders of Rochdale

football club have only celebrated promotion three times in their

history so what better reason for a party than promotion to league one.

The team has already been on an open top bus tour around the town now

there is a civic reception at the town hall. All from here later in

the programme. Thank you, we will you later.

First tonight: A transplant patient has been awarded a six figure

compensation payment after being given a cancerous kidney.

The organ had been identified as possibly having a problem but the

message didn't get through to surgeons at the Royal Liverpool

Hospital. Rob Law had to undergo a course of chemotherapy soon after

receiving the kidney. But he says he doesn't regret having the transplant

and today commended the work of transplant teams. Our Chief

Reporter, Dave Guest has the story. Rob Law has had a lot to deal with

in recent years. First he was given a kidney transplant. Then he was

told the kidney he'd just received was cancerous. I was scared because

I had gone through a kidney transplant and survived that which

was the main thing and then I was told I had cancer. I wanted to know

why, basically. You were scared, where you anger as well `` angry as

well? Know I did not have any anger, I wanted to know how it had gone

wrong. What went wrong was a breakdown in

communication. The kidney had been identified as having a possible

lymphona. But that message wasn't relayed to the transplant surgeons

at the Royal Liverpool Hospital. When you are told that, yes, you

probably have cancer, it is a very hard time and you have to think

logically. He underwent chemotherapy and after nine months of treatment

was told the cancer appeared to be in remission but he says he still

has lingering concerns. It was such an aggressive form of cancer I

wondered how it could be gone. He has just been awarded compensation

but says his admiration for the transplant teams and organ donors is

undiminished. What they do with organs from people who pass over and

courageous families that donate their organs, I have every respect

for them. Do you have any regrets about the initial kidney

transplant? None whatsoever, I christened the kidney kitty and it

is a wonderful relationship we have. She has given me life and I

have given new life to kid `` two kitty. She gave you life but she

also gave your major scare. She gave me a scare but I came through it.

Today NHS Blood and Transplant apologised for the mistake that was

made and said that they hoped that now there had been a full and final

settlement he would be able to move on with the rest of his life. The

organisation also insisted that lessons have been learned from this

case in an attempt to avoid similar mistakes being made in the future.

Exactly what changes have been made? NHS Blood and Transplant said that

today they had reiterated to all staff in hospitals the need for good

and clear communication. They now use an electronic system to transfer

information about donors and they discourage telephone calls unless

absolutely necessary and those calls have to be recorded. They have

written to the Society of coroners to ask pathologists to flag any

problems they come across in postmortems on the bodies of donors

and they have reminded everybody about the need for good supervision

of trainees. They point out that all medical interventions do carry a

degree of risk and they do their best to minimise that risk but they

say that has to be set aside against the fact that many people die whilst

waiting for a transplant, yet those that do undergo transplants are

increasingly enjoying a much longer and more fulfilling life. Thank you

very much. Stuart Hall is already serving a prison sentence for a

series of other indecent assaults against others. He denies a further

20 charges including 15 of rape. We have been following the case Preston

Crown Court. Today a jury has been sworn in for

the trial of Stuart Hall. Following a ruling by the judge we can say

that it is his second time in the dock year. The jury will be told

that he is currently in prison, having last year pleaded guilty to

14 indecent assaults against 13 girls. The jury today were told they

may recognise Stewart called because he is recognised from his TV

appearances over the years and in recent years yet been on the radio

commenting on BBC Radio five Live. This morning he pleaded guilty to

indecently assaulting a girl under the age of 16. He has already

pleaded not guilty to a further 20 counts. They all relate to two girls

who were allegedly assaulted by him in Cheshire in the late 1970s and

1980s. They include 15 counts of rape and in one he is accused of

raping one of the girls when she was under the age of 13, allegations

Stuart Hall denies. That is the opening day of Stuart

Hall's trial. The world renowned classical

musician Duncan McTier has been charged in connection with sex

offences at two of the region's top music institutions. Duncan McTier, a

double bass soloist and music teacher, faces four charges of

indecent assault. The offences are said to have happened between 1985

and 1994. It comes as part of an ongoing investigation into reports

of abuse at Manchester's Chetham's School of Music and the Royal

Northern College of Music. A hospital in Liverpool has

apologised to a patient who was given a vasectomy by mistake. The

man had gone into the Royal Liverpool Hospital for a different

procedure. He's now waiting to find out if he can have children in the

future after a reversal operation. The hospital say they greatly regret

the distress it's caused, and apologise unreservedly.

The parents of Rhys Jones, the 11`year`old murdered in Liverpool in

2007, have lost a battle to stop one of those convicted of assisting the

school boy's killer from visiting his sick mother who lives just

minutes from the Jones family home. An exclusion zone meant the man

couldn't enter the Croxteth Park area. The probation service says in

exceptional cases permission to enter may be granted.

A former chief executive of Astra Zeneca is warning that jobs may be

lost if a takeover by the US drugs giant Pfizer goes ahead. AstraZeneca

employs more than 2,000 people in Cheshire, most of them at its

manufacturing base in Maccelsfield. Sir David Barnes has told the BBC he

fears their future would be uncertain under new ownership.

Andrew Fletcher reports. PFizer want some of this, the

expertise that means that AstraZeneca make up 2% of UK goods

imports. It is not a very long`term promise. It has been heavily caveat

it, for a example, it is for a maximum of five years and even then

it is dependent on there being no change in circumstances. One of our

options as the government would be to consider using our public

interest test powers. Concern is mounting at Westminster. In a

statement this afternoon it was said it would be in the national interest

but the MP for Macclesfield is worried. Pfizer have a reputation

with asset stripping and they have reduced significantly their

workforce in the UK from 6.5 thousand to 2.5. This Cheshire town

with its 2000 AstraZeneca employees found itself at the centre of a

national debate and there is a certain uneasiness about what would

be the biggest takeover ever by a UK firm from arrival from overseas.

They will take the company and the drugs that they want and take the

business back to America. I think we will lose jobs with many cannot do

that, we have lost enough jobs. One former employee told me why

AstraZeneca mean so much to the town. It is an important part of the

economy, not just because of the people who are employed but because

of the impact of their income on the rest of the economy. What we would

like Pfizer to do is recognise our highly skilled labour force and that

they would commit long`term to jobs. Still to come on North West Tonight:

have Crystal Palace crowd Manchester City as champions?

The collapse of Liverpool's title challenge was too much for some.

Kirsty's campaign, the fundraising youngster and her famous friends see

their vision become reality. Before all that: More people have

been affected by the so`called bedroom tax here than anywhere else

in the UK. Close behind the North West is

Scotland. But in the coming weeks Scotland will be given the ability

to scrap a policy many say is one of the most unfair of the Government's

welfare reforms. A year ago we reported from around the region on

different aspects of those reforms. This week, we go back. Here's Jayne

McCubbin. There are more people claiming

benefits here in the North West than in other region in the country.

750,000, that's almost 17% of the population. The third biggest

benefits bill in the country, is here in Knowsley. Nationally, that

bill stands at ?169 billion. Up ?15 billion in the past three years.

Almost half of that is state pension. Because we have an aging

population, that figure will keep on growing. So reforms are designed to

do two things. Bring the spend under control and create a fairer system.

This week we're going back to people we first met 12 months ago to

examine how the reforms have been for them and how much is being

saved. A year ago we went to one street in

one town to see the effect of one of the Government's key benefit

reforms. The spare room subsidy. Emma, a widow, was facing up to the

fact she couldn't afford to stay. All the memories of their Dad is

here. You don't want to go. No. But I'll have to leave it behind. 12

months on, she's in a new two bed house. Her teenage boys share a

room. It was heart breaking. I did cry

quite a lot when I moved. It wasn't just the emotional side of things,

it was having to start again. But two`bed houses are rare here. We're

told seven families have moved out of three`bedroomed homes on the

street. New residents haven't moved in. They're empty. They're lying

empty. And they're building a load of new two`bedrooms down there now.

Land at the top of the street, set aside for new housing. Many much

sought after two`bed homes. So all these people that had to move and it

was urgent that they move. It wasn't that urgent after all. Cos they're

stood empty. Critics say the overcrowding this was designed to

fix just does not exist here. But for the Government it is also about

fairness. Why should people like Jean be paid to have spare rooms? So

she's had to find an extra ?100 a month to stay in her home of 30

years. A lot of people have lost their houses. What evictions?

Evictions, because they couldn't afford to pay the rent. They said if

you vote labour they will abolish the bedroom tax. If they do, you

will feel it has all been for... It will have been for nothing for a lot

of people. More people have been affected by these cuts here than any

other region in the UK. The Government says the policy is fair.

One year on, taxpayers are being saved more than ?1 million a day. We

will keep following that in the months ahead of course.

Richard's here with the sport now and we'll be going over live to

Rochdale's promotion parade in a moment, but before that, will

Liverpool fans still have their heads in their hands after last

night's result? They will not be very happy to see

you in a Manchester City blue dress today.

Thank you for pointing that out! Suarez. But then it all unravelled

for Brendan Rodger's men as they went from thinking about improving

their goal difference to trying to hang on to the points. They couldn't

and Dwight Gayle it was who struck the third for Palace, a goal that in

the mind of Liverpool's manager handed the title to

stellar career on the pitch but he is now 40 and, of course, has had

his first taste of management. United take on Hull City in their

penultimate match of the season. Let's focus on the celebrations in

Rochdale now. Dale are marking their automatic promotion to League One

with an open`topped bus parade through the town. Crowds have

gathered at the Town Hall where a civic reception is taking place.

Peter Marshall is there for us and and we can join him live now. Peter.

The fans of Rochdale and the football team were not going to let

promotion pass without some kind of party. They have been having one and

they have been dispersing now but the crowd has been good here today

enjoying the moment because the club has only enjoyed promotion three

times in its long history. They were up for some fun today. There has

already been an open topped bus tour through the town and they set off

from the Stadium while earlier and they came to the town hall for a

civic reception which is taking place inside. The fans have been

delighted, obviously. I hope they say where they are now.

It means a lot has been an absolutely fantastic season. We will

enjoy it tonight and who knows next season, we might another one. We are

going up! We are going up! I am joined now by the club captain. Put

into words what it has meant to you, promotion. This is the

culmination of all of our hard work over the season. We were expected to

be in the middle of the table so to achieve what we have achieved is a

real big bonus for asked and for the community. You can seal the people

of turned out today. They have drifted off now but what was it like

to see all of those people here and during the trip through the town. It

has been great. The fans have been fantastic for eight weeks. We have

been taking huge followings to away games which has never been seen

before. Credit must go for them helping us help. Next season you

have a restricted budget, can you be successful again? I think so. We

have been fortunate this year but we have some younger players coming

through who I expect to go on to big things and the longer we can keep

hold of them are more we will be strengthened and we will be

competitive. What do you make of Keith Hale, the manager, in terms of

these spells? They will put it back on all of the players but the credit

has to go to him for what he has done in the last 18 months which is

a real big achievement. Managers these days do not last in the job

for very long so to achieve that in a short space of time, all you can

do is give him a lot of credit. Enjoy the party and thank you for

joining us. Great to see them having their

moment in the sun because they have played well all season.

Dale were already certain of promotion going into the last game

of the season on Saturday, but for two of our League One clubs it was

about trying to stay in the division. There were tears of joy

and sheer relief at Crewe as the Alex avoided the drop by beating

Preston 2`1. But the tears at Tranmere were of the opposite kind.

Rovers were relegated after losing 2`1 to Bradford City at Prenton Park

after a troubled season on and off the pitch.

Cricket and Lancashire are facing an uphill struggle after the third day

of their LV County championship match against Sussex at Old

Trafford. In reply to the visitors first innings of 298 Lancashire

reached 191. Sussex in their second innings ended the day on 149 for

three giving them a lead of 256. We could have with the play`offs,

Fleetwood going up from league two and Preston North End from the one

and Wigan from the championship. So we could have a promotion and the

champions doubled the Premier league as well.

Absolutely. Thank very much. Manchester's big wheel came to a

standstill today after a convicted gangster climbed into it to return

`` protest about his return to prison. Dominic Noonan climbed onto

the roof of one of the pods of the giant wheel in Piccadilly Gardens.

We have this update from the scene. Earlier this afternoon Dominic

Noonan climbed up the centre of this wheel using the maintenance ladders

and is currently sitting on the axle right in the centre of the wheel

here. We did get a shot of him earlier. This was a shot from

3:30pm. There were passengers who were stranded in the pods for two

hours but they have now been released. He was arrested and

imprisoned nine years ago for firearms offences and was out on

licence. He has been shouting to the crowds that the gap gathered here

because he says he did something very trivial which meant the police

average `` recalled him back to prison and he says it is unfair and

that is why he has staged a protest. We will have an update on that

situation in our bulletin at 10:30pm. At least the people on the

wheel have managed to get off. It was a friendship which started 13

years ago. When Mohammed Al Fayed met Kirsty Howard she was just six.

Such is their close bond, her picture was always above his desk in

Harrods. Many of you will know Kirsty was born with a rare heart

defect. She has raised millions for the Hospice in Manchester she uses,

Francis House. Well today her famous friend met Kirsty again to open up

part of a 3.5 million pound unit for teenagers like her. Nazia Mogra was

there. Kirsty Howard captured the hearts of

the nation. Diagnosed with a rare heart condition, she was told she'd

only live till the age of four. Kirsty Howard!

But at six she started the Commonwealth Games with David

Beckham. In 2012 she passed her GCSEs with

flying colours. And in a few months she'll celebrate her 19th birthday.

All while raising millions of pounds for Francis House.

And today at the launch of the new teenage unit it was another chance

to meet her best friend Uncle Mo, or to me and you Mohammed Al Fayed, and

his daughter Camilla. He has been really good. He has been helpful to

the hospice and my family individually and he got me an

electric wheelchair a few wheels `` years ago because mine was breaking.

The new building has state of the art bedrooms with balconys, places

to relax, a lounge with all the things teenagers like. The people

who care about the place real angels. Just to be able to give

comfort and give hope. This building behind me is the old building but

now there is a new building. ?3.5 million and it will be home to just

teenagers and strictly no parents allowed! It is nice to come here and

be treated as you age really and it is OK to drink and coming with a

friend and stay up until three in the morning. No tears from these

friends on their goodbyes, Kirsty and her baby nephew have been

invited on another date in London. We cannot believe she is 18 now!

I have really vivid memory of her in the Commonwealth Games. Brilliant

work to her, she has raised so much money.

With apologies to all the fans, look who is here! It is nice to see you.

Good evening. We started off with really good spells of sunshine this

afternoon and things are going downhill this afternoon. `` this

evening. We are going to see outbreaks of rain, particularly by

the end of the week. It is not looking particularly brilliant for

the end of the week. There is plenty of crowd around. We start with

showers that will merge to bring longer spells of rain overnight.

Hopefully easing away by dawn. The breezes picking up all of the time.

The temperature does not look too bad because of the breeze and the

cloud. Temperatures only go down to nine or 10 Celsius. It is not

looking bad initially but the rain continues. We start off cloudy but

it is a start with cloud cover. The showers will merge to bring longer

spells of rain through the afternoon. It is a little bit of a

disappointing day I will have to tell you tomorrow to end with. The

temperature is disappointing. Just 13 or 14. In the south of the region

you can see across Cumbria it is just ten or 11. You will notice a

difference as well. We have a stiff westerly breeze which will feel a

tad cooler than that. It will begin to become very unsettled and the

frontal system brings in a band of rain on Thursday. Another band of

rain eases on Friday. All the while the breeze continues to pile in from

the West. A breezy end to your week and this is the breakdown in terms

of temperatures. Very disappointing. Just ten or 11 Celsius in the Isle

of Man on Thursday and Friday. That is just a tad below average for this

time of year. Hang on to your umbrellas.

It has all gone downhill. What a shame?

It is not particularly bad but not particularly brilliant.

We are very genesis `` we are very jealous of Terry and Jacqueline who

are watching us from Spain tonight where the weather is glorious! We

want to be with them! Enjoy the sunshine. Have a good

night. Good night.