20/02/2012 East Midlands Today

This is East Midlands Today with Dominic Heale and me, Anne Davies.

Our top story tonight: The mum who died days after a

gastric band operation. Out inquest hears Clare White had struggled

with her wait for years before opting for surgery.

I am tributes act school for a six- year-old boy who drowned with his

grandmother in a lake. He simply loved life. He tackled everything

with enthusiasm. And boxer Carl Froch backtracks

over claims he deliberately prolonged this title fight.

comments I made in hindsight, I shouldn't have said. But it was a

throwaway comment. And bowing out at 92, but is there

Good evening. First tonight, she was so desperate to lose weight,

but the surgery that she hoped would finally sort out her obesity

problems ended up taking her life. Clare White was 37 when she died

from a blood clot after undergoing an operation to fit a gastric band

at the Royal Derby Hospital. An inquest into her death was held

today. Our health correspondent Rob Sissons was at that inquest and

joins us now. Rob, why did she want this surgery?

Good evening. She tried with diets, but always ended up putting the

weight back on. She tried medication. So she turned to the

Royal Derby Hospital for gastric surgery, to try and finally lose

weight. She leaves a widow were and three children. It has left a huge

hole in their lives, the fact that there were complications following

the operation and that she sadly died. What was the evidence from

the Royal Derby Hospital? Here at the Royal Derby Hospital they have

developed and regional centre for of the city surgery. They have done

hundreds of these operations. Paul leader, the consultant who carried

out the operation, said his theory was maybe the gastric band had

caused tiny porous, not visible to the naked eye, that would have let

bacteria from the gut travel to another part of the body and cause

infection. The post-mortem examination that was carried out

following her death revealed she died of a blood clot, but she did

not feel well in the days after the operation and ended up in intensive

care before her condition went downhill. So, a complicated case.

And one that is not quite finished? No, her widower, Craig, had lots of

questions, he found it very complicated. He said his brain was

being fried by the evidence. He was obviously -- was obviously a

complex case and the coroner himself as a manager and the case

after killing all the evidence. He will deliver his verdict on Friday.

Next tonight, a 6-year-old boy who drowned has been described by his

head teacher as someone who simply loved life. The bodies of the boy

and his grandmother were pulled from a lake in Lincolnshire. Police

say inquiries are continuing, but there are no suspicious

circumstances. Helen Astle reports. After the shock, come the questions.

But what happened here, we may never truly know. But we do know at

grandmother and her six-year-old grandson lost their lives at this

late in Lincolnshire. This afternoon, the police named the

pair as Don Molineux and Laurence Marlet me Mills. It is thought they

may have got to view the ducks on their way to their home in kept it.

This morning, the boy's head teacher pay tribute to him. He was

such a special little boy. He simply loved life. He tackled

everything with enthusiasm. He relished the challenge, he had a

wonderful sense of humour. He was chatty, sociable, and he had

impeccable manners. He just loved everything about school and he

would run to get here every morning. Meanwhile at the village church,

Campbells are being let and prayers being said. I visited the family

yesterday and found them in terrible grief. As we would expect.

They are an open and from the household, people have been coming

and going. I think the family are aware what a friendly and

supportive village and a delightful school he attended. We have had a

special assembly for the children and they know that they can speak

with any one of us at any time if they have any questions. Throughout

the day, people have been coming here to pay tribute to Laurie and

his grandmother. Many locals have been visibly upset, saying because

of with his family, who lived just up the road from here. For Laurie's

Mann, she has lost her mother and her six-year-old son. And she may

never know why. Nottinghamshire Police have been

severely criticised for failing to give proper care to a teenager who

died in custody. The family of Reece Staples called it incredible

that four different police officers ignored the teenager when he told

them he had swallowed packets of cocaine and feared he would die.

Sarah Teale reports. The father of Reece Staples led the

inquest today, saying he could not come to terms with the fact that

his dying son was denied vital medical assistance. Reece died in

police custody after a cocaine packet Burston his stomach. He had

smuggled that drugs from Costa Rica and the day after he arrived back

in this country he was arrested for a different defence and taking to

the police station. Four different officers ignored him when he told

them he had swallowed drugs. He collapsed are as later in the cells

and died on arrival at hospital. Thus, the officers eliminated at a

stroke the possibility of his survival through hospital treatment

and surgery. Had he only received medical help, at least he would

have had a fighting chance of life. The inquest heard that Reece would

have died anyway, because his cocaine levels were so high. But an

Independent Police Complaints Commission reports criticised

Five police officers have since been disciplined for gross

misconduct, but the inquest heard that staff have not received

training on guidelines introduced in 2007, stating that anyone

suspected of swallowing drugs should be given immediate medical

treatment. The jury returned a verdict of death by misadventure.

The coroner said he was confident that the police had changed their

practices to make sure that frontline officers were aware of

what to do is something similar happens again.

So, why weren't frontline officers trained to follow guidelines put in

place two years before Reece Staples died? Well, that is the

question our chief news reporter Quentin Rayner put to

Nottinghamshire's Assistant Chief Constable, Paul Broadbent.

I am absolutely not satisfied, that that is a feeling on the force,

they did make -- did not make sure officers were aware of the

guidelines, both personally in writing and having received a

briefing. Obviously, back for the, there have been no deaths of a

similar nature since the time of Reece's death. But why did it take

a further two years for all frontline officers to receive the

training? Reece died in June 2009. Within a short time, the attention

of officers was brought to the existence of the policy, and a

short time after that, with the IPCC recommendations came out, a

formal briefing was delivered. So there was a lot on between his

death and the time that that training was completed. What

aspects of the five officers response alarmed you the most?

guess it was the fact that a number of the officers were told by Reece

that he had taken some drugs, and foreign number of reasons, all

those officers did not respond as quickly as they should have done.

We are presented with people on a daily basis who tell us lies. If

they told us the truth all the time, maybe they would not be as much

crime. But unfortunately, or five officers should have, between them,

Dr but Reece had told them and should have taken more decisive

action and for that, I apologised. Still to come on the programme:

Water levels on the slide. As the Government issues drought warnings,

we have the latest aerial views of Lots of controversy today around

the sport of boxing, and our own Carl Froch is right in the middle

of some of it. It is because of a live interview he gave to BBC Radio

Nottingham. In it, he said he could have finished his 2005 Commonwealth

title defence against Ruben Groenewald in the 4th round.

Instead, he deliberately avoided doing so because of bets placed on

him finishing it in the 5th. Let's hear what exactly Carl said to

Robin Chipperfield about trying to end the fight in a particular round.

I have done it a more than one occasion and it was right fight,

but that is not illegal. I can say, I ended to stop him in round five,

if I am good enough to do that, fair enough. My friends,... Again

say if I'm good enough to step on the gas to stop it, that is my

privilege. That is what I did in this particular fight at the Arena.

But the problem with that is, I held him up in round four. It was

there for the taking and they held them up. I could have got done

myself in round four. Well, Colin Hazelden has been

following all of this. It sounds controversial to me, has it been?

It's certainly had plenty of attention. Lots of reaction in

places like Twitter and the most read story on the BBC website for

most of this morning. It's not actually the first time Froch has

said something along these lines. He made less direct comments about

this immediately after the fight and in his autobiography. But, as

one expert pointed out to me, because of cricket's scandals,

times have changed. External perceptions are everything. No one

wants to call suspicion down on themselves. Just think before

speaking, in many respects. We think carefully about the

consequences. Carl Froch said clearly he had not gambled, so he

had done nothing wrong. But it is not as simple as that.

So what's Carl Froch had to say today?

He's been all over the media, mostly talking about the brawl

between Haye and Chisora you may have seen on the news. And of

course, he's been asked about what he said. A "throwaway comment" not

to be taken seriously is his line. I think it has been flagged up

because of the cricket issue. But in hindsight, I should not have

said that throwaway comments which are set on the radio. A fight

prediction is what it is. It is something fighters are like to do,

to generate media attention. That is basically all I did.

Will it end here, do we think? It looks like it. The British

Boxing Board of Control say they've spoken to Carl, who's explained the

comments. They think it's an old story. It will get discussed at the

next meeting, but certainly, the indications we're getting is that

Police believe a body which was found in Leicestershire yesterday

is that of missing man Stuart Taylor. Officers were called to

fields at Foxton near Market Harborough yesterday afternoon. The

discovery was made by a dog-walker. Stuart Taylor was last seen in

December and enquiries are continuing.

Thieves used a mechanical digger to carry out a ram-raid on a cash-

point at a Co-op store in Leicestershire. The digger was

stolen from a farm in Long Clawson and then rammed into the Co-op at

Asfordby at around 4am this morning. The cash-machine was damaged. It's

not clear how much money was stolen. The thieves escaped in a red pick-

up truck. Charities in the East Midlands tell

us more people than ever before are relying on food parcels to make

ends meet. Many can't afford to heat and eat. As Marie Ashby

reports, food parcels have now become a lifeline for some people

who you wouldn't expect to be living hand-to-mouth.

Joseph's Storehouse In Love produced hub around a dozen people

when it opened its doors three years ago. -- in Loughborough

helped around a dozen people. Now they help thousands the. Sudden

changes in circumstances and redundancies have proved more

people on to the breadline. We are seeing more and more of the people

who you and I would pass in the street and never think they would

have to come somewhere like this. It is a very humbling thing for

people to have to come here. It is really a matter of circumstances

for me and with my daughter being special needs, and then my wife

contracting an enormous. I have had to rely on income support. It has

been very helpful. All this food at FareShare's new depot in Leicester

would have ended up in landfill. Instead, it is shared out between

charities around the city. Three years ago, they distributed 40 tons.

That has trebled. Over the last four quarters, we have distributed

over 120 tons of food. You think of the articulated lorries we see on

our roads each day, that the equivalent of killing six of those

completely. -- that is equivalent to filling. This couple said they

could not survive without their food parcels. FareShare says it is

expanding to meet demand. There's more on this on tonight's

Inside Out programme here on BBC One at 7.30pm, along with a profile

of an East Midlands environmentalist who's enlisting

the help of local school children to help save the coral on the other

side of the world. Still to come on the programme, the

Foxes snare the Canaries in the FA Cup. They needed a fifth-round

upset in East Anglia and they got it. Now the fans are dreaming of

The Environment Department is warning that the East Midlands is

at high risk of severe water shortages if the drier-than-average

winter continues. Anglian Water says that levels at Rutland Water

are worryingly low. Staff say the reservoir is under 70% capacity

because of two dry winters and a lack of rain last summer and spring.

We sent Carol Hinds to check the level at one Derbyshire river.

It is one of the shortest but prettiest rivers in Derbyshire.

Villagers say the Bradford is only just recovering from one of its

driest summers. For water has come back again but we had virtually no

river -- water in the River Taw from August to December. It is

coming back but no where near to the extent it should be. The river

Bradford runs through part of the White Peak. The organisation

looking after the areas as low levels cannot be blamed solely on

the weather. His shoe such as the underground drainage and through

the limestone, so the loss of water in some rivers is disappearing

through cracks in the limestone, whether they be natural cracks or

due to mines. There is due to be a meeting to discuss what could be

the worst crisis over water levels in England since 1976. What can

make a difference now is starting to save water now. At the moment,

the river and water levels are no where near strong enough to get us

through the summer. We will be in trouble again this summer. That is

why tomorrow night, the Bradford redaction group will be meeting to

discuss how to protect this precious resource. -- the Bradford

at River action group. Time for the sport now, with Colin.

Some big results for us this weekend, but Notts County are

stealing all the headlines. They've named Keith Curle as their new

manager less than 48 hours after the shock sacking of Martin Allen.

Kirsty Edwards has more. Yes, never a dull moment! Who would

have thought that at the end of last week, we would be stood here

today talking about a new manager and Notts County. 48 hours after

Martin Allen's surprise sacking, former Mansfield Town boss Keith

Curle has been officially named as the new man in charge. He was

actually recommended to the club by Neil Warnock, who he worked and at

Crystal Palace and, more recently, at QPR. Give the guy a chance. See

what he can do. But he has a lot to live up to of the Martin Allen.

-- after Martin Allen. Both of his clubs are languishing but I will

give him every chance. Martin Allen's final act as manager was a

dismal 3-0 defeat at Hartlepool. Despite that, they're lying 11th in

the league positions. Not disastrous. The club are keeping

tight lipped saying it is being dealt with privately. Also

announced today, the departures of the system manager and the first

team coach, John Scofield. So, Keith Curle becomes their 7th

manager in less than two and a half years. He will be here in the dug-

out for the first time on Wednesday night.

Nigel Clough has today confirmed that Derby County are talking about

bringing in a director of football. But he's stopped short of welcoming

the idea, as Jeremy Nicholas reports.

Derby fans were reflecting on a 4-0 drubbing and there were reports the

manager was unhappy about plans to bring in a director of football to

work with him. It was suggested he was on a collision course with the

club about the appointment. We have been assured talks are taking place

and there has been no fall-out. But he doesn't sound too enthusiastic.

We are looking to improve in any way we can but we are certainly not

on a collision course. Anybody in training has far too much respect

for John. So you would welcome a director of football? No, we are

talking about it. Derby would not comment on speculation on who the

director might be but it is widely thought to be Ross Wilson from

Watford. That being said, forest needed to start well. The first of

was forgettable, however. But then this happened. It was like Forrest

Gump, except instead of running out of the stadium, he did a lovely

stepper and put the ball into the net. The goal wrapped up the points

and with Portsmouth dock 10 points for going into administration,

Nottingham Forest are out of the relegation zone.

And plenty more on Late Kick Off tonight at 11.05pm on BBC One, with

special reports on Notts County and Nottingham Forest.

Leicester City are into the quarter finals of the FA Cup. They'll play

either Chelsea or Birmingham next month and may well fancy their

chances, after disposing of Premier League Norwich. Paul Bradshaw was

2.5 nearly 2,500 fans came along to see their team, and a Laurie,

outboxed Canaries. It is hoped the Foxes can continue their run.

a dream about this game before it happened. If we can get a draw,

take them back. Things certainly started well when this header was

printed in from the corner. And Leicester were on top for most of

the first half and would have stayed that way if not for a

dubious penalty decision. Then the Foxes struck again. They danced

through the Norwich defence to set up a fifth round upset. More solid

defending kept Norwich out and it could have been three. Beckford hit

the bar late on. They were in good spirits, so a good performance. Not

just in terms of how we played football but in terms of how we

behave ourselves and how we were pleased for the players and with

the players. A good day for the fans as well. Come on, City!

the fantastic FA Cup run continues for the Foxes as their campaign

continues. Leicester Tigers Director of Rugby

Richard Cockerill says he's still targetting a top-two finish. That's

after Tigers became the first club in over a year to win at Saracens.

Leicester pressure in the second half finally resulted in an an Ed

Slater try to put them one point in the lead. But a Saracens penalty

set up an exciting finish, with Leicester working the ball back to

Geordan Murphy, who's drop-kick sealed victory by 20-19.

No such doubts about Nottingham Panthers' weekend. They beat

Edinburgh 9-0 last night. But the real joy was on Saturday. At home

in front of a sold-out arena and dishing out a 5-1 thrashing of

Sheffield Steelers, their biggest rivals. Fantastic! It has been a

busy old day! A 92-year-old bandsman is hoping to

retire after more than 80 years of playing. The only problem is, he

needs someone to take his place. Bob Taylor, from Melton, first

picked up a horn when he was six and has played in almost 30 bands

He knows how to blow his own trumpet, well, bass, and he should

because he has had over 86 years of experience. Bob Taylor has had

loads of experience with the horn after picking his first one up aged

six. I was fascinated. What does this do? What does that do? And my

uncle was a bandmaster. So bass was in his blood, and since then, Bob

has gone on to play in more than 30 bands, even playing in London's

Royal Albert Hall. He started Tornado Brass almost 30 years ago

but he says the time has come for him to put down his music and make

way for somebody younger. But that might not be as easy as it sounds.

Locally, he is known as Mr Music, because in Milton, he has been

associated with music for many, many years. Fill his shoes? No. It

can't be done. Fill his seed? We hope so. So, has you run out of

puff? Not quite, it seems. I want to play it again with Tornado Brass

Well done, Bob! Absolutely! Here's They headline for the weather is

that temperatures are starting to rise and stay mild. Thank you for

this photo. Cast your mind back when we had the snow. The park had

to cancel their Snowdrop weekend but this weekend, it is on.

Temperatures are at around seven degrees on average. By Thursday we

expect them to be as high as 16! We are expecting a gradual increase as

we go through the next couple of days and that is because of getting

the milder air. A lot of cloud through this evening and that

produces a few spots of light rain and drizzle as we go through the

evening overnight tonight. The cloud is holding the temperatures

up with a low of just five degrees. A frost-free night tonight. Maybe a

few spots of light rain in the morning but becoming drier in the

afternoon and then seeing the cloud break to give some sunny spells but

any sunshine will be at a premium. Already starting to see those

temperatures rise. As we go further into Wednesday, it will be a windy

day and we could get gusts of up to 40 miles an hour, with outbreaks of

rain gradually moving east through the day. But then we get the

introduction of the warm air, also 15, 16 degrees on Thursday with