18/09/2014 North West Tonight

and on BBC One, we now join the BBC's news teams where you are.

Welcome to North West Tonight with Roger Johnson and Annabel Thffin.

As video of a second British hostage is released,

more than 100 Muslim groups call on Islamic State to release Salford

We'll talk live to one of the Muslim leaders pleading for Alan Hdnning's

The family of a zoo keeper killed by a tiger say they still h`ve

unanswered questions after an inquest into her ddath

The first pictures from inside Manchester Dogs Home

And will be a Liverpool when Ellie 1000 people are taking part in a

huge exercise to make sure the emergency services work togdther as

The Muslim community in the North West has united to express hts

revulsion at the kidnapping of the Salford aid worker Alan Henning and

Leaders from different secthons of the Islamic faith have shgned

a letter condemning Islamic State, the group who've threatened to

We'll be talking to one of the 100`plus signatories to

the letter in a moment, but first Clare Fallon reports.

Filmed during Alan Henning's last hours of freedom.

But travelling to Syria with the friends who called him Gadget

Held hostage for the last 9 months and whth a

video posted by his captors at the weekend threatening to kill him

The response here is one of condemnation.

It looks very clear that whoever kills a human being...

Anjum Anwar works at Blackburn Cathedral.

She's one of the many Muslil leaders in the UK who've signed a ldtter

He is an innocent human being who was out there doing good work,

helping people. It is painftl but someone like me, I can only imagine

A new hostage video released today makes no reference to Alan Henning.

It shows another British man being held by IS.

But it's not just the militants using social ledia.

With the hashtag Not in My name more and more people are hoping

their message is heard and that it might just help.

Do you think Islamic State will take any notice of people like this?

Firstly I think they should be called an Islamic State. We hope it

will make a difference for @lan Henning. That is very important for

us. Given how extreme their behaviour has been shown to be,

could this make them even more resolved? We hope that the text of

the letter and the appeal from the Muslims of the UK will make a

difference. What is the perception of the Muslim community herd to what

is deemed done in your name in Syria and Iraq? They are saying not in our

name. I have signed at this letter and all the mosque council have

signed it. It has been signdd on behalf of over 27,000 Muslils. Their

perception is that this is `n an Islamic State who are going around

pretending to be Islamic. What is the perception that a Muslil people

in this country are finding from the broader community in the wake of

what is being done by Islamhc State to the Western hostages who have

already been executed? We h`ve been here a very long time. Indigenous

people here are very tolerant. There are a few exceptions and yot would

get that in any community. But are you finding people are antagonistic

towards you? You find that lore in cyberspace than in face`to`face

meetings. If people are sayhng this face`to`face, then I feel it is a

good thing because it is an opportunity to engage.

An inquest in Kendal today heard how a zoo`keeper was mauled to death

by a tiger as she worked in the animal's enclosure

After the jury's conclusion this afternoon,

Sarah McClay's mother and p`rtner reacted to the end of the inquest.

Beccy Meehan was at the inqtest and joins us now.

The family has sat through four days of gruelling testimony. The

coroner, after his summing tp, praised the dignified and sdnsible

manner in which the family conducted themselves. They heard in some

detail about the attack. Earlier the jury came back with a narrative

verdict. A wildlife lover whth a dream job she was working as a zoo

keeper in Cumbria when she was mauled to death by a tiger last

year. An inquest in Kendal this week heard how the 24`year`old from

Glasgow was working inside ` cat enclosure in May 2013 when she was

killed. Today the jury concluded that the tiger walked through a door

that had been left open in the enclosure and smacked Sarah from the

keepers corridor where she worked. She loved animals and it ironic that

she should've been killed an animal. Much of the testimony focusdd on how

the safety door came to be open No responsibility was apportioned.

Earlier this week zookeeper David Gill told how he fired a

tranquilliser at the tiger. Sarah was a dedicated and valued lember of

the staff. Her enthusiasm and friendly character were appreciated

by everyone she met. A separate investigation into the zoo hs

ongoing. But Sarah's partner, the trauma is ongoing. It is quhte

simply no future, and what could've been. As we had, the coroner

recorded a narrative verdict. This isn't the end of the story? That's

right. The GRE was asked to come to some conclusions about the facts.

That is what they did. The family has said there are some unanswered

questions. They have their own ideas on who is responsible for what

happened to Sarah. They are keeping silent on their theories until there

is a conclusion to another investigation which is being carried

out. We are led to believe that is coming close to its conclushon.

There is still some distancd to run on the story.

Manchester Dogs Home has begun to put up temporary kennels next to the

buildings destroyed by last week's fire, although no stray dogs are

The kennels have been lent by Battersea Dog's Home.

Six dogs have returned to the kennels. More than ?1 million has

been raised to rebuild the home Judy, six dogs are back but still a

lot of work to do. There is yes Behind me is the block that was

destroyed by the fire. We c`n't go in at the moment because of health

and safety reasons but we c`n show you some extent of this fird. As you

can see, the roof was made of timber and fibreglass. Everything hs

banned. The fire spread quickly sending debris crashing to the

ground. The smell of smoke `nd burned wood is still very strong.

And of course, around 50 dogs died in the fire. Lisa Graham is the

manager of the home. I'm sure you've not had much sleep this week. How

are these this week? Not too bad we are looking forward. Obviously, we

still have the devastation to deal with but we have been able to gain

access to a kennel area and bring some of the dogs back to st`rt their

rehabilitation. Yes we have some shots. You can only take a handful

of dogs at the moment. Our temporary kennels are going to be used for the

strays that will start coming into us. We will hold them temporarily.

We will still be sending thdm over to our Cheshire side.

People have been very generous. When will the new dogs can be buhlt here?

We don't have that on a timdline yet. We are dealing with dogs who

are in an emergency stay. Wd only had the site released to us in the

past 24 hours. We are just starting. Thank you very much. Most of the

dogs who did survive have bden fostered.

A former Merseyside police hnspector has denied he 'accentuated

the negative and eliminated the positive' in statements about

the behaviour of Liverpool fans before the Hillsborough dis`ster.

Keith Wilkinson was one of 14 mounted officers

The inquests heard how a second report he made contained

more references to fans drinking which hadn't appeared in his first.

A train derails in Liverpool, crashing into several cars

and a school, killing and injuring hundreds of people

But don't panic, it's an imaginary scenario for a massive

Nearly 1,000 people from the emergency services, local

councils, NHS and utility companies are taking part in the exercise

The idea is get them working together more effectively

The "injured" trapped in cars, trains and buildings.

And as realistic as possibld to test how the emergency services

The pressure that the firefhghters feel in responding to this scenario

is as intense as it would bd if it were real incident.

The RAF are also involved in the exercise.

After real disasters like the London bombings in 2005,

a number of enquires concluded the services did work well together

Which is why training like this is vital.

We've done 31 exercises across the country. This is by far the biggest

will stop it the finale for the programme. We are seeing sole 1 00

players. The people who takd the decisions here don't know in detail

what is going to happen beforehand and the scenario can change many

times during the day. Communication is one of the

important things. Local students volunteered to be casualties. It was

emotionally draining. Reallx quite scary. It's been one of the most

horrific yet I opening experiences. The exercise runs until midnight.

The UKIP leader Nigel Faragd arrived in Heywood

and Middleton today to launch his party's by`election campaign.

The contest is taking place following the death of

A UKIP leaflet has accused Labour of ignoring years of child sextal abuse

But Labour have hit back saxing Nigel Farage's party is exploiting

the suffering of abuse victhms for political ends.

For Nigel Farage, today was about persuading the people of Hexwood

There were a lot of people out there who are looking for something

different. I think in UKIP what they see is a political party made about

people are not career polithcians. They are from all walks of life

But UKIP have already caused a big row here.

The party is being accused of exploiting the scandal of sexual

The parties by`election leaflet blames the abuse

of white girls mainly by Asian men on Labour's reluctance

Every single case where large`scale sexual grooming and molestation of

young girls has happened, every single case, there are Labotr

run... The Rochdale MP Simon Danzctk says

UKIP are exploiting the isste He's on holiday but spoke to us

from abroad. I've examined this issue very

closely. During that time UKIP have never had anything to say about it.

They are quite clearly trying to get votes on the back of this awful

crime. I think that's despicable. Someone shouted racist to you. Any

known politician walking down any high street will get abuse of some

kind. Racist is a strong word isn't it? Yes it is. So do the people that

live here want change? I am not a racist yet I want to support UKIP. I

won't vote UKIP. I want my country back. I voted Labour all thd time. I

won't vote UKIP. The big qudstion is will UKIP overturn Labour's big

majority of 6000 here. In exactly three weeks time we will find out

when voters go to the polls. We will be talking to all

the parties Both the Conservatives and the

Green Party said they didn't want to comment on the row about

the Rochdale grooming scand`l. We're still awaiting a statdment

from the Liberal Democrats. You can see a full list

of all the candidates The man in charge of Salford Reds

explains how he hopes to improve on And the author of warhorse dxplains

how he will be bringing the curtain down in Salford. It's a fantastic

privilege to walk on the st`ge with these people.

Sport now and Richard, an old favourite is back to try and turn

Yes Stanley, fifth bottom of League Two, have appointed John Coleman

He certainly won't need to be shown around.

John was manager there for 13 years from the late 0990s and

took the club all the way up from the lower reaches of non le`gue

He replaces James Beattie who left the club last week

When you've been in a club so long, and the feeling that you have, you

can't describe it. I am really looking forward to this.

Everton kick off their Europa League campaign tonight at home to German

It'll be their first Europe`n campaign in five seasons and manager

Roberto Martinez is excited by their group stage opponents.

The draw has been really kind in the way of bringing two

phenomenal teams of the quality of Lille and Wolfsburg to Goodison.

And then a real surpise with Krasnodar beating Real Sociddad

in the previous play`offs, so in terms of group stages it is

Despite holding their own against the five time winners,

Manchester City still lost their opening Champions League match

at Bayern Munich as their continental wobbles continudd.

The Blues are desparate to lake their mark in Europe this sdason

and while they remain heavily fancied to progress

from the group stage, there's plenty of hard work ahead after thdy went

down to Jerome Boateng's last minute goal in Bavaria.

With the regular season proving to be one of the tightest and lost

thrilling in years, excitemdnt levels are through the roof

for Super League's play`offs which get underway tonight when Whgan

While the winners progress, the losers get a second chance next

week but the Warriors have no intention of relying on the

We approach it in a special way We have to win this game. We w`nt that

weekend. That's how the plaxers approach it. Training has bden

intense. The players know it is an important time of year and they want

to get back to Old Trafford. Salford Red Devils owner Dr Marwan

Koukash says frustrations at the way rugby league is run might c`use him

to reconsider how much he invests. The multi`millionaire, who `lso owns

a string of racehorses , wants clubs to be able to spend more on players

than the current salary cap. On top of that his plans to build

a stadium for Swinton Lions were submitted this week and as we

reported yesterday he's also close I started by asking him

about a disappointing bottol`half Overall, the season has been

very disappointing for us. But the calibre

of players we have had in the team we should have been at the

very least been in the top dight. You mention that you

accept you made mistakes. What are those mistakes,

in your mind? I'm usually somebody who

is careful in what I do. I made others make decisions

for me and we ended up prob`bly with Is there not

a counter`argument that you employ experts, rugby league experts,

to do the playing side and xou are But then I might have emploxed

the wrong experts to advise me. What about the crowds here

at Salford? We are potentially losing, dvery

game, about 2,000 to 3,000 people. If being here keeps fans aw`y

then we need to ask why. If you can't get people to

work with you then you have Just explain

the overall strategy then You've been linked with all sorts

of clubs. It will end up with a decent

stadium for Swinton to play in. Once we are given the green light

then I'll go ahead and complete As for the Australian link, yes I am

getting frustrated by the w`y things I might have to reconsider

the amount of money I am investing What about the future then

for Salford? Where do you see

the team being next season? We've got some very exciting people

to come into the team I would be very disappointed

if we are not up there. It's been

the biggest show ever staged at the Lowry Theatre with some of the

biggest puppets in the business The critically acclaimed War Horse

has had an 18 weeks sell out run It's a tale of love, loss and

overcoming unimaginable obstacles. And the main star is a horsd,

a big puppet horse. War Horse was written by

Michael Morpurgo in 1982. Since then Joey

the War Horse has entertaindd Tonight, Michael is joining his

beloved Jerry for one night on stage. Did you see the star on the

door outside? Have you rehe`rsed yet? I've been doing nothing else.

Duane tear my lines? I'll sde if I can remember them. Nine guineas

That's it. Do you only have one line? With more than one line..

Although it is only made of cable, leather and steel,

when I met Joey a few mnths ago i was pretty terrified of it.

Tonight, Michael is sharing the stage with him,

I still don't know what it hs. Three people making an animal, live. It on

in Germany as we speak. It on in London as we speak now. 100 years

after the First World War bdgan Two of the essential capitals that

created this holocaust of the war. It is a play about the love of peace

and a longing for a reconciliation. After this, the warhorse wagon will

be rolling on to South Africa in time for Christmas.

Here is someone who never forgets her lines.

The further north you are in the region, the better the weather will

be. This is why. We have thhs line of whether coming towards us. That

will bring Cherry rain. We will get clear and fresh conditions for

Sunday. This is how it looks outside our window now.

Getting to the coast, most places are fairly gloomy and grey. Pockets

of mist could develop. Keep your eye on the showers. They will ptsh

further north. Once again, the wall of this cloud cover means that

temperatures would drop too far Tomorrow is all about the showers in

the southern part of the region They will work their way through and

become heavy. The wind is not very strong so those showers are

slow`moving. I can't tell you exactly where they will turn up but

hopefully not too many placds will see them. There is a lot of cloud

cover to start. That will thin and break with bright disguising the

afternoon. It won't be brilliantly sunny. We won't see the samd

temperatures that we've had over the last couple of days. The lack of

sunshine, even though it will brighten up, I think we will see

temperatures around 19 Celshus at best. But the weekend, a we`ther

front goes through on Saturday. That could be rain. It's affair, Sunday

is better. It was like the summer holidays today. Is there likely to

be an Indian summer? Somethhng to look forward to.