21/02/2017 North West Tonight

A convicted murderer is on the run tonight after escaping

from prison officers during a hospital

28-year-old Shaun Colin Walmsley fled with two men who are thought

to have threatened the officers with a gun and a knife.

Stuart Flinders is here with the latest.

What details do you have about the incident?

Shaun Walmsley is serving a sentence for murder

He was on a scheduled visit to Aintree University

At the end of that visit, as he got into a car

with two prison officers, two men, thought to be armed

with a gun and a knife, demanded his release.

The three of them then escaped in a gold-coloured Volvo.

Walmsley himself is described by Merseyside Police as six-feet

tall, dangerous and not to be approached by members of the public.

Neither of the prison officers was hurt.

Walmsley was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder in June 2015

The man he killed was Anthony Duffy, who was stabbed to death

He was one of four men convicted of that killing.

He was described during his trial as a big-time drug dealer

He has since appealed against the length of his

Tonight the police are examining CCTV and talking to potential

witnesses in the hope of finding him and his two accomplices. Thank you.

The man in charge of adult social care in Liverpool says

they're struggling to deal with falling budgets

Councillor Paul Brant's comments come as a major care provider says

businesses across the north west are questioning whether they can

continue on the money councils pay them.

Here's our Health and Social Care Correspondent Gill Dummigan.

This year the problems with social care have become big news,

Well, for a start more of the population is over 65 -

in 1974 it was just under 14% - in 2014 that had gone

Social care is paid for by councils and they've had seven years now

of austerity cuts which many say leaves them unable

We spoke to the councils in the north west and they told us

between what's needed and what they've got

And in four years time that's going to be 500million.

Now, unlike NHS trusts, councils can't go into debt.

They have to balance the books by squeezing,

To see what that looks like, we're going to start this

This is Granby Hub - set up by Liverpool City Council

for people who've left hospital but aren't quite ready to go home.

I was trying to sit on a stool, and it tipped over

To leave here, many people need a care package -

help with everyday tasks like cooking and washing.

The care packages have sort of dried up.

Unfortunately, the bigger the care package, the harder it

Liverpool City Council already buys 11,000 home care

Many of the home-care providers say they are now

struggling to run their businesses with the money

It is actually an anti-social care model in a sense.

You do not have the time to spend with people

and this is something that worries us.

We're here to build resilience and raise

In the past few years a number of care firms

have given up contracts in Liverpool and elsewhere.

When the figures do not add up, people walk away.

We are more resilient than that, we hang around

longer, but obviously we have our limits, but I feel

complete empathy with the

council, who are in a very bad position.

Since 2010 austerity cuts have taken seen Liverpool City Council lose 58%

But in that same period the demand for adult social care

There is an ever diminishing resource out there which means that

those who are not strictly within the criteria

It is not something we want to do, but

I think anyone that looks at the current situation

should be worried, and if they are not worried,

The Government is allowing a 3% raise in council tax

And money from a national Better Care Fund -

the council says it is nowhere near enough to head

A former Guantanamo Bay detainee from Manchester has been killed

fighting for the so-called Islamic State group.

The group announced Abu-Zakariya al-Britani, originally

known as Ronald Fiddler, detonated a car bomb in a suicide

attack at an Iraqi army base near Mosul two days ago.

A drug driving case has been dropped after blood tests were reviewed

from a forensics lab in Manchester, which is at the centre

Two members of staff at Randox Testing Services

in Blackley were arrested over claims that data

A 26-year-old man from Chester, arrested on suspicion of drug

driving, whose toxicology was analysed by Randox,

has now had the charges against him dropped.

His lawyer says there could be doubts about the convictions

of other people who've already been prosecuted.

It is reprehensible anybody who is innocent

could be found guilty of an offence,

In my personal opinion it is even worse individuals who may very well

be guilty of the offence have what I would call a get

out of jail free card, an opportunity to have their case

reviewed, the analytical evidence reviewed and if it is in a mess

and there are issues with it then they may then take free of the case.

But if the result is not reliable they should be

It is a very difficult situation from both sides.

My client has been through well over a year of criminal proceedings,

with the end result being the case is dropped.

Working families in the Isle of Man have been told they'll be better off

as a result of the Manx budget, which has been delivered in Tynwald.

Income tax allowances will rise by ?2500.

It's also been announced a so-called "sugar tax" on soft

But the government needs to save ?25 million a year,

and it's asking for suggestions on cost-cutting.

The Lake District has been named the UK's best-loved,

The survey, conducted by the coach company National Express,

is part of a campaign to raise awareness about outdoor attractions

?28 million is to be invested into a research

project in Manchester, to try and find a cure

Deena Campbell has been to meet Julie Morton from Cheshire

It affects my skin, muscles and joints.

I have severe circulation problems and liver involvement.

These are just some the things that sum up Julie Morton's

experience with lupus - a condition that sees her own immune

Some of its major symptoms are joint and muscle pain, extreme tiredness,

Despite suffering from many of the above issues -

Julie has managed to find an employer who

Before diagnosis she worked in a more pressured role.

I found I could not concentrate, and I could not

cope with the hours, the work, I could not take on the

And it is not just her work life that was affected.

I have a good supportive friends, I have lost friends that

think you're unreliable, think you're making

excuses, and you cannot do activities they are doing so you do

From April this year the National Institute

for Health Research has granted ?28.5 million for a new Biomedical

Research Centre for Manchester and lupus is one of the major

I hear that many women from African backgrounds are more

Yes, that is true and a lot of studies have

We did a study in the north-west a few years ago,

in the kidney, and we found that people from an African

times more likely to get it in their kidney than people

There is no cure for lupus, but this research will

help doctors understand the illness better, and help patients like Julie

Blackburn Rovers are looking for their seventh manager since 2010

after it was announced manager Owen Coyle had parted

Coyle has been in charge for just eight months,

his last game was the two one defeat on Sunday to Manchester United.

Rovers are 23rd in the championship.

In tonight's Champions League Manchester City scored three goals

in 11 minutes to fight back for a 5-3 win over Monaco.

Meanwhile, Wigan were beaten 2-1 by QPR in the Championship,

and in League Two, Morecambe drew one-all with Newport County

the day, particularly up towards the evening rush hour. It calms down on

the Outlook toward the end of the week and then milder again from the

wheel them. More on storm Doris now with Matt Taylor.