22/02/2017 North West Tonight

A reminder of the day's main story... The

Welcome to North West Tonight with Roger Johnson -

A nationwide manhunt - after armed men helped this

convicted murderer escape from a Liverpool hospital.

He deserves to be behind bars, he's highly dangerous, vicious

individual. Questions are being asked about why

killer Shaun Walmsley was taken The challenges of looking

after the elderly. Lancashire faces

a shortage of care homes. The generation who voted for that,

if we cannot look after them, we do not deserve to be in the job they

are in. Paralysed after being

shot six times. Now army medic Anthony is preparing

to make sporting history. The Wigan Warriors who're

taking ballet lessons Also tonight, warnings or bad

weather on the way. You will have heard storm Doris will

be crossing the region tonight and tomorrow, and amber warming, this is

one step up from a yellow warning which could mean disruption to

transport an unsafe buildings, trees could come down, fences in gardens.

Winds of up to 90 mph. The peak period will be from late morning to

early afternoon. Add some heavy rain for all of us and it's a really poor

picture, the full details at the end of the programme.

There are questions tonight about why a prison allowed

a dangerous killer to take a cab to a hospital appointment.

Shaun Walmsley was accompanied by prison officers.

But they had to let him go when they were ambushed by two armed

Liverpool's Mayor has described it as a major security breach and he's

Our Chief Reporter Dave Guest is at Merseyside Police Headquarters now.

What's the latest on the search for Shaun Walmsley? In a nutshell he is

still at large and the police are still looking. After being sprung by

two accomplices in a hospital car park in broad daylight. The incident

has outraged the mayor and called the present officers Association to

call for a complete review the way inmates are transported to and from

hospital. This is Shaun Walmsley, a convicted killer and a very

dangerous man according to the police. He deserves to be behind

bars, he's a highly dangerous, vicious individual. Vicious and

violent yet he was allowed out of prison to go to a hospital

appointment? I cannot comment on that in terms of the lead up to his

escape, I am completely focused on finding him and the individuals who

helped him escape. Anthony Duffy was stabbed to death by Walmsley in

2013. The two work drug dealers who had a falling out. Walmsley was

being held at the Walton Jail, serving life with a minimum of 30

years. Yesterday prison officers took him to an appointment at

Aintree Hospital. They travelled there by taxi. At the hospital they

were ambushed by two men armed with a gun and a knife. There are two

issues, why was this prisoner allied to travel in a cab and also why and

how did he was able to communicate his whereabouts, his appointment

details and where he was going to be? Because that's a serious

breakdown in my view of security. Walmsley and his liberators fled in

this gold colour Volvo. This is just a couple of minutes drive from

hospital, the car was found abandoned here last night. But

police believe it was also here during the afternoon before the

escape, they want to hear from anyone who saw the car in this area

at point yesterday. And the escape has caused prison staff to question

the system for transporting inmates to hospital appointments. I would

ask our employer to review all security arrangements, all security

escorts and give us the level of protection we have been asking for

for some time. The Ministry of Justice refused to comment but did

say its decision to transport Walmsley by cab would be part of the

investigation into what happened. And an update from the police in the

past half an hour or so, they say they have traced the last legal

owner of the gold coloured Volvo. It was not really registered so it has

been in a garage or street for a couple of months, the police

desperate to hear from anyone who saw it. Meanwhile the search

continues for this very dangerous man. Thank you very much indeed.

The family of man from Manchester who's blown himself up in Iraq

have this evening blamed his treatment at Guantanamo

Jamal Al Harith was held at the high security US compound for two years

before before being allowed to come back to the UK.

But he went on to travel to Syria to join to so called Islamic State -

This from our social affairs correspondent Clare Fallon.

Is that the stock market? Any sell my shares? He grew up in Manchester.

At school he was Ronald. The son of churchgoing Jamaican parents and

idolised by his little sister. Ronald was my big brother. When it

was raining he used to make it sunshine. You know I mean business.

He died in Iraq, and Islamic State fighter and suicide bomber inside a

car packed full of explosives. He should have grown up, had a family,

not get involved with the message of the jihadis and stuff like that. A

one-time Guant namo Bay detainee, one-time Guant namo Bay detainee,

Ronald Fiddler had become Jamal Al Harith. He had been held on

suspicion of links to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. He was freed after

lobbying by his family and the intervention of the British

government. I had been in a cage for so long I did not want to leave, a

strange as it might seem. One shall least he came back home and came on

this programme to insist he was not a terrorist. People will point the

finger and say terrorist. That's right. Just before I left the

Americans said we picture picture, we sent it to intelligence agencies

around the world and nothing came back. This man who protested his

innocence and was paid compensation by the government let this home that

he shared with his wife and children in 2014 and travel to Syria to join

the so-called Islamic State. It shows the lists of people, the red

flagging of people if you like to have terrorist connections is not as

robust as it should be. It has worked, generally speaking but this

man slept through the net. In a statement released this evening the

family said: but whenever it happens, the fact

remains he was radicalised and he did manage to leave the UK and die

for Islamic State. UKIP's biggest donor -

Arron Banks - say he maintains he's sick of hearing

about the Hillsborough disaster. Two party officials on Merseyside

resigned earlier this week, saying his comments

were partly the reason. Lancashire's hopes of taking powers

away from Westminster in a devolution deal have

suffered a setback. The leader of Fylde council has

told the BBC they will probably join Wyre council

in withdrawing their support. A government spokesman

said it doesn't make a devolution deal impossible,

but it does make it harder. Prime Minister Theresa May

is to hold telephone talks with the Chief Executive of Peugeot

over the firms proposed Nearly 2,000 people

are employed at its site There's speculation

the factory could be closed. It's thought the takeover could be

completed in the next fortnight. Over 28,000 drivers have

so far been issued fines for driving in the bus lane

on Fishergate in Preston. Lancashire County Council supplied

the figure during a special hearing Five people claimed the signage

wasn't clear enough when giving evidence to try

and overturn their fines. A decision is expected within a

fortnight. The council say the signs are clear

and only 10% of drivers Lancashire County Council is calling

for a Government enquiry in the way The council's one of the north

west's biggest providers of social care and it's facing

a funding gap of ?92 million It's also dealing with an increasing

number of care homes In the second of our special

series of reports, our Health Correspondent Gill Dummigan's

been to Burnley. The weekly craft session at Ashmead

Care Home in Burnley. There is a full programme of activities

including keep fit classes, aromatherapy, a visiting

hairdresser. As far as I am concerned it is very good. Do you

enjoy being here? Yes, best thing I ever did. This is typical of care

homes in Lancashire, just 18 residents in an Edwardian house run

by a husband-and-wife team for 20 years. In that time they have seen

big changes in those coming here. Nowadays the clients have complex

needs ranging from dementia are two quite severe physical. They pride

themselves on running a good home but the increasing needs of the

clients mean increasing demands on them. She says the piece she

receives from Hampshire County Council is between ?2 50 and ?3 an

hour and it is not enough. Its pensions going up, the living wage

going up, refurbishments we are doing. This home makes a point of

charging everyone the same. Many care homes particularly in more

affluent areas private self funding client pay far more than those

funded by the council. In other words they are subsidising them. In

Lancashire are fewer people have the ability to pay for themselves so the

care homes are more reliant on the lower council fee. With the recent

added pressure of regular inspections by the government

watchdog some of those homes are deciding to call it a day. What I am

hearing is they are wanting to leave in the near future. And that is

impacting people like Avril. In the past two years 17 homes have shut in

Lancashire causing pressure in the sector which deals with more complex

needs. Avril's husband Gary has vascular dementia. She looks after

him 24/7. You feel like you are a prison in your own home really, I

cannot leave him. I get a few hours each week that enables me to go and

do some shopping, everyday things that you take for granted that you

could just do before it happened. Avril is desperate for a holiday but

she cannot find a home to take Gary whilst she is away. It's just

frustrating, really. I am just one of thousands. I am no different to

any other carer but who cares for the carer? This year Lancashire

County Council's ?26 million short of what it needs to paper adult

social care. By 2020 that will ?92 million. When the first council

falls over and declares itself bankrupt the government will realise

there is a problem and I'm determined it be Lancashire. Like

many Lancashire has suffered a deep austerity cuts and has no way of

getting the money back through council tax. Everyone agrees the

system is broken, the government needs to step up to the plate and

address it and say we are going to have a proper enquiry into this and

try to put some proper funding in place that we can do this. The

generation coming through now, they are the generation who voted for the

setting up of the NHS back in the 1940s. If we cannot look after them,

we do not deserve to be in the job they are in, any of us politicians.

Earlier I spoke to David Mowat MP for Warrington South who's also

the care minister and I put to him that councils like Lancashire say

the current social care situation is unsustainable.

Well, I mean, first of all we do except the system is under strain.

And we have said that, that's one of the reasons we have increased

funding for next year. During the course of this parliament funding

for social care will increase in real terms by around 6%. But, you

know, it's not just about money, there is a big difference in

performance between councils in terms of delayed transfers of care

which translates into bed blocking. There is a lot we have to do. Many

councils now say they will raise council tax but even if they do that

they say it will not even scratch the surface. The increase in council

tax that you mention over the next two years, plus the homes bonus

which has now been allocated is ?900 million. That's ?900 million over

and above all the previous settlements that were put in place

and that is new money from December. That is more than scratching the

surface. Is the responsibility for social care are completely on the

state and councils? It's a mixture. This state is the provider of last

resort but as you will be aware social care is not free in the same

way health services are free. People, many people also provide for

themselves as self providers. And families have a role as well. It's

clearly a major responsibility of the state to get this right and

provide back-up. Will Philip Hammond talk about social care in his

budget? Because he did not in the autumn. I have just come away from

our meeting, sitting on the front bench with Philip Hammond, he did

not tell me what would be in the budget, we will all now in two weeks

but I'm not going to announce at this afternoon. But you would like

to see something in there I would imagine? I am the health minister

and accept the system is under strain and money is part of the

answer. But like I say it's not the whole answer and the fact that

different councils have 20 or 30 times different levels or

performance in bed blocking is not about money, it's about individuals

in some cases doing a brilliant job. Thank you very much. Thank you.

The last in our social care series tomorrow on how the future of social

care might work. A former soldier from St Helens

who was told he may never walk again after being injured in Afghanistan -

is on the road to sporting history. Anthony Williams was shot at six

times as he treated a casualty He's now joined forces with three

other injured veterans Team BRIT aims to be the first ever

group of all-disabled drivers to compete in the pinnacle

of endurance motorsport, It was one of the bloodiest times

for British troops in Afghanistan and in 2010 Anthony Williams was

made it out on the front line every time you step out the front gates it

was not long before you had contact with the enemy. He survived two

grenade attacks but was shot six times three weeks later as he

treated wounded colleague. I was shot twice more and then one came to

my left hip, fracturing it. I was hitting my spine, instantly

paralysed from the waist down. Due to his injuries he was told it was

unlikely he would ever walk again or have children. But he has defied the

odds on both counts. It has left me with a paralysed left leg before the

knee so I had to weigh this brace which keeps my foot from dropping on

the floor. It was during his rehabilitation he fell in love with

motor sport. It means absolutely everything to me. The fact that I

cannot run, I cannot walk fast but I can go fast in the racing car is a

big buzz. He is one of four injured servicemen that make up Team BRIT.

The car has special controls meaning they can compete against able-bodied

drivers on a level playing field. We are more competitive than what we

used to be because we have a point to prove. The hope that point will

drive them up the racing ranks of the next two years with the dream of

becoming the first ever team of all disabled drivers to compete in Le

Mans in 2020. My daddy is very good at driving fast. Which is a good job

if they want to make the dream a reality.

What is this motor sport event, Le Mans? I said it wrong, anyway.

At least he has let it go! We all make mistakes!

Onto a true professional. Hardly!

We work only talking yesterday about Owen Coyle and they have already

appointed replacement? Yes, we know that man, Tony Mowbray, very

experienced manager, he is the new man in the dugout.

The club's seventh permanent manager since

controversial owners Venky's took over in 2010.

And he's got a big challenge ahead of him,

with Rovers second from bottom in the Championship - three

Tony Mowbray certainly knows the Championship well.

He won promotion with West Brom and later managed Middlesbrough.

He's also been in charge of Celtic and Hibs in

the Scottish Premier League and has lots of experience.

It's fair to say some of his managerial roles haven't

He left League One strugglers Coventry City , who've got all sorts

of problems off the pitch as well in September.

And in a shake-up of the Rovers' backroom staff, club legend

We hope to hear from Tony Mowbray tomorrow.

Now onto Manchester United and Wayne Rooney's future

After his representatives spoke to Chinese Super League

But the BBC understands a deal is unlikely to go ahead,

and that Rooney's poised to stay at Old Trafford for

He has missed Manchester United last four matches to injury and is not

part of the squad for the Europa League last 32 second leg tie at

Saint-Etienne. That match is well into the second half, the closing

stages, United taking the lead through Henrik Mkhitaryan to make it

4-0 on aggregate and it means United are into the last 16 draw. Eric

Bailly were sent off which meant United were playing with ten men for

the bulk of the second half. Now sometimes Champions League

matches don't live up But you certainly can't say that

about Manchester City's eight goal thriller at the Etihad Stadium last

night. In the first leg of their last 16

match against Monaco, City twice Constant attacking,

mistakes and a penalty save. Here's what City

fans made of it all. Best match I have ever been to.

Absolutely electric. Carried on running, on the side, he

can tee up Raheem Sterling. Great player, great goal. Bend towards

Falcao, that is what he does. It is like keystone cops at the back.

Otamendi is normally a wall. In behind, he fires Monaco ahead. Saves

it! We are going to turn it around. What a mistake by the goalkeeper! He

has lost it, Falcao is in, look at that. The drama, 3-2 and we came

back fighting. Towards John Stones and then in by

Aguero! Great cross and he was there at the right moment at the right

time. It's a good corner and Manchester City are in front and its

John Stones! He was disappointed after making the mistake but after

he scored, very happy for him. He made up for it, assured character.

Aguero has made the run and he is in behind. What a fighting spirit the

team have. This is the first match you have been to, you chose a good

one? Yes, it was electric. Will you go to another? Absolutely. It's not

always like that! Are simply fabulous Champions League

match. They're moving from their

Melwood training ground - where they've been since the 1950s -

to their academy base in Kirkby. A deal worth ?50 million has been

agreed with Knowsley council to redevelop the existing academy

into a combined training facility The Manchester United match has

finished, 1-0 on the night, 4-0 on aggregate. Thank you very much. And

we continue with sport of a kind. Now do you know your

piroutte's from your plie's? You probably know

they're ballet terms. What you may not know is that these

terms are fast becoming That's because they've become

the first Super League club to introduce ballet -

with youth players channelling their inner Nureyev as a way

of improving strength Moves often choreographed

in training, characterised by light, Moves like this are also

choreographed in training and characterised by

light, graceful technique. There are more similarities

between ballet and rugby league It helps if you're

not wearing a suit. I thought it was for girls

but it's really hard. Just like on the pitch

the under 19's hard work The improvement in such a short

time, they are sportspeople and want to be good

at everything, including ballet. This is Alan, the pianist

and pioneer behind everything. We set it up and surprisingly the

boys agreed which was incredible. Off to see the royal ballet

on Thursday at Covent Garden. So good Shaun Wane's newly crowned

world champions follow suit? The first team have taken a massive

interest in this and I would not be surprised if they incorporated into

their recovery like we have. A regime which might even help them

stay in first position. Good idea. We could do it to improve

our posture. Sit up straight. Tell us more about Doris, Diane.

Another storm crossing in the next 12-24 hours, warnings kicking in at

about 9pm tonight because rain is part of the story but the amber

warning is about the strength of the wind. Working towards us tomorrow,

look at the squeeze on the isobars, that means heavy rain, very strong

wind. Potentially 80 mph. If you look at the amber warning its rate

over the north-west of England so we will see some of the worst of the

conditions. Coming straight from the Irish Sea, no protection, coasts and

hills will see the worst of the conditions. It's been on and off

about all the time to the day, it dropped to the south, more to come

as we head to the next couple of hours. This is the latest picture,

you can see the rain digging in, a warning about that from the Met

office, be aware warning, yellow warning. It's going to be quite wet

at times. Dries up every now and then but never that far away. The

wind light as we sit beat but it starts to build overnight, overnight

temperatures around six or seven. Tomorrow rain is guaranteed but the

wind will be picking up every hour, mid to late morning to two mid

afternoon is when the strongest winds will be. Straight from the

Irish Sea, no protection at all so there could be some disruption to

transport. Power lines could come down, buildings unsafe, lots of

problems. Keep your eyes and ears across the forecast, significant

event, wet and windy. It will come down to the afternoon but that's a

really tricky spell. Other storms in the past has been

missed certain areas, but this is coming right for us?

Yes,. It's almost like we have been giving

them names. Doris sounds so cute. Stay safe, goodbye.

Good job, guys. We totally nailed it.

This year, fundraising kits are going to be sent through the post.