26/06/2013 East Midlands Today

Sarah Teale and me, Dominic Heale. Tonight: life for Iain Lawrence -

the man who killed his wife by deliberately crashing his car. The

dead woman's family described the crime as callous and sickening.

Sally's murder was an act of pure evil. As she was an inspirational

woman with a huge heart. Also, the midwife led both unit here in

Grantham is to shout. Plus the Philpott fires tragedy,

what it could tell us about children sleeping through smoke alarms.

And could Rebecca Adlington be back? Her former coach says, never say

Good evening. Welcome to the programme. First tonight, it was

meant to look like a tragic accident. In fact, it was a callous

attempt to commit the perfect murder.

A former airline pilot, Iain Lawrence, deliberately drove his car

into a tree hoping everyone would think his estranged wife Sally had

died in a straightforward road accident. But, later, the police

discovered he'd turned off her airbag and unclipped her seatbelt.

He also made sure the passenger side took most of the impact. Sally

Lawrence's family said today they were overcome with relief, as her

killer was jailed for life. I was Lawrence behind bars. Sally

Lawrence's family cheered as he was found guilty of her murder.

Afterwards, they spoke of their belief that justice had been done.

Our family is here today because of the cruel, callous and sickening act

of murder against our beautiful Sally. On the day she died, a part

of us died with her and the sentence reflects the devastating impact that

her murder has had on those close to her. Iain Lawrence thought he had

committed the perfect crime but his brutal plan was found out. After the

crash in Oadby, flowers and cards were placed by family and friends.

Tributes painting a picture of a much loved woman. She was a kind

person and couldn't have asked for a better friend. Police investigating

the crash immediately thought of foul play. Her seatbelt had been

unclipped and the airbag turned off. Her car was in the driveway with her

phone and handbag. Her husband was arrested and charged with her

murder. The jury was told that the couple had had an acrimonious at --

discussion about divorce the mice before the crash. They were arguing

about who would get equity from the home where they still lived in

separate bedrooms with their 10-year macro -- ten-year-old son. At the

time he was away on a school trip. Police found damning texts send that

evening. She had two daughters from a previous marriage and said she was

scared of being in the house alone with Iain Lawrence. Detectives

discovered she had been telling family and friends the same thing

for months, that she felt threatened and that he had evil in his eyes.

She even told one friend that he may kill her. The jury took eight hours

to find him guilty. The judge said Sally died not by chance but as a

result of careful and cold-blooded planning. He addressed Iain Lawrence

directly as he said the consequences of what you did have been

devastating. Above all, for your own son who you have not only robbed of

his mother but you will have to live his whole life knowing she was

murdered by his own father. Sally's murder was an act of pure evil. She

was a caring woman with a huge heart and was so full of life. Losing her

has been unbearable. Not a day goes by without her being in our

thoughts. She has been taken from us at the happiest point in her life

and has been denied what was undoubtedly to be a very happy

future. Iain Lawrence was sentenced to life and will serve a minimum of

24 years in prison. The NHS Birth Centre in Grantham is

to shut. Campaigners have fought for decades against the successive

down-grading of maternity services in the town. But now the NHS says

it's no longer viable for women to have the choice of giving birth at

Babies have been born here for generations. In recent years, most

Grantham women have had to go to Lincoln. A midwife led unit in the

town is only designed to take low risk births. Campaigners feared the

decision and the Grantham birth unit is to shout. We are not surprised.

They have been manipulating the figures by telling people to give

birth other than Grantham. Grantham is getting bigger but the NHS

predicts there would be enough low-risk pregnancies to upgrade the

town's birth unit. At the moment, of the 2300 woman that give birth, only

100 give birth at Grantham. They get a good experience but we won't have

a choice of a midwife led birth for all of our men. Many parents say it

is a shame and lots want to give birth in Grantham but can't. I had

to travel to Lincoln and my births were quite quick. Because of

complications, I couldn't give birth in Grantham. We could have used the

units but my wife had complications. Everybody should have the

opportunity to give birth in Grantham. My birth was 20 minutes

and I didn't have enough time to give birth in Lincoln. A midwife led

unit is likely to be created in Lincoln alongside consultants led

care. What is happening here looks like it is part of a trend. At the

birth centres have shut in the East Midlands. Darley Dale, for example.

There is? Over Saint Mary 's birth centre at Melton Mowbray which is

under review. In Grantham, campaigners are looking at how they

can fight on against the decision. Still to come: In Sport - as the

swimming World Championships get underway, some intriguing news about

Mansfield's Rebecca Adlington. There were really a few puddles

forbid ducks to swim around in. The brain is back and I will have a full

forecast late in the programme. -- drive through the high speed rail

project that's coming to the East Midlands. Lord Deighton, who was

involved in the Olympics, has been appointed to head the new body. The

development's been welcomed to the biggest councils in Nottinghamshire

and Derbyshire as proof the Government plans to keep spending on

HS2, despite the cutbacks announced in today's Spending Review. Here's

what the Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin had to say. HS2 is the

first main railway north of London for 120 years thinking at least

eight of the ten largest cities and improving services to Scotland also.

I am pleased that HS2 enjoys a broad backing of all the main parties in

this house. As well as that, the Chancellor today promised in his

Spending Review, reform, growth and fairness to kick-start the economy

and boost jobs. But there's to be a further squeeze

on local government budgets and public sector pay. Over to

Westminster now, and our Political Editor John Hess. Today we got the

economic picture from the Chancellor and whether budget axe is likely to

fall. Tomorrow we get the fine detail and reaction from local

government but also perhaps where the rail and road improvements are

likely to be. New school buildings, that sort of thing. I will have the

latest political reaction. First, Geeta Pendse looks at the likely

impact for the East Midlands. manufacturing to policing, the

spending review will impact on business and the public sector in

our region. Amongst the losers are local authorities who have already

experienced cuts to their budgets and would lose a further 10%. What

impact will more cuts to the public sector have on the East Midlands?

Latest figures show there on 365,000 people in the region who work for us

in councils, the civil service, the NHS, schools, emergency services and

all the other roles are paid for directly by the taxpayer. That puts

us sixth in the table of the regions most reliant on public sector jobs.

Since the economic downturn, the region's public sector rose briefly

and shrunk with gathering speed. In 2010, there were 405,000 public

employees. Now there are 365,000, a reduction of 10% so far, a trend

that will continue with today's announcement. There are departments

that are massively overworked and it will continue to get worse without

more investment rather than more cuts. We need investment in the

public sector to create wealth, jobs in the community and nationally. In

Leicestershire, quart of police enquiries counters are facing

closure. We are facing a current budget challenge of �20 million and

a funding gap over three years. We have to look at a range of options

to reduce our budget. The government is looking at infrastructure and

local enterprise. What has been good is additional money going into three

key areas the business. One is training and apprenticeships, two

isn't helping for exporters and three, making the most of our

science and technology base. Whilst health and education have been ring

fenced, there are concerns a further squeeze on local government will put

too much pressure on services. Joining is Gloria De Piero and

Pauline Latham. Gloria, the chances of us talking about increased --

increased spending, apprenticeships, it is talking your

Lancashire. I have heard so many warm words. In Ashfield, the

building schools for the future programme meant many schools chief

improvement got cancelled. On youth and employment, it has gone through

the roof. He should get a young person 's guarantee. Pauline, what

was your reaction? I thought it was very positive. We are coming out of

the recovery and on our way to having a better economy. You are

wanting more house-building programmes. We are going to have

them. It dramatically dropped with the last Labour government but we

are increasing it. There is more social housing to come and that is

really important for the building trade, architects, builders,

quantity surveyors. One big headline is the 10% cut for local government.

What impact will it have in Nottinghamshire? You worry about

libraries, swingers -- swimming pools. It had to happen today. Why

did these cuts have to happen? They planned to balance the books and it

didn't pay off. We are trying to clear up the mess left behind by the

last government. We want to move forward and we are doing that and

will succeed. All I would say is the economy was growing when Labour left

office. But it crashed. It has been flat-lining for three years. There

child abuse in care homes in North Wales have arrested a 62-year-old

man in Leicester. North Wales Police say the arrest is part of a

alleged to have taken place between 1969 and 1984 when they were aged

between 12 and 14 years old. The man is still being questioned by

officers at a Leicestershire police station.

A man who was stabbed in the neck in Leicestershire while walking his dog

has been released from hospital. The apparently unprovoked attack

happened in parkland off Bluebell Close in Oadby on Saturday morning.

The 62-year-old victim left hospital yesterday. A 30-year-old man who was

arrested in relation to the stabbing has since been released on bail.

Two schools have been put in special measures after being rated as

inadequate. Nottinghamshire County Council wants to take over the

running of Burton Joyce Primary School after a damning report from

Ofsted. Meanwhile, The Pingle School in Derbyshire is also in special

measures. Inspectors found weaknesses in teaching, learning,

leadership and the sixth form. The County Council has said an action

plan is being put into place. The tragic deaths of six children in

a house fire has led to pioneering research into the effectiveness of

smoke alarms. Worryingly, it suggests up to 85% of young children

sleep through them. Officials are now calling on parents

to install extra alarms in their children's bedrooms. And they hope

something positive may come from the Philpott fire in Derby.

Dave is a familiar figure at the scene of suspicious fires. With the

aid of his fire investigation dog, he can identify their cause but the

tragic events on victory Road in Derby last year in which sorts --

six children died, would take Dave beyond that professional focus. This

particular incident had a massive impact on me. I was quite upset that

none of the children had woken up. The engineer that we had in was

adamant the smoking alarms were working. -- smoke alarms. I couldn't

comprehend why the children hadn't woken up. Dave carried out research

into this. We have done 200 plus activations of smoke alarms and only

26 times did a child wake. It is something we are still researching

and trying to look into the cause. There are two or three different

suggestions that have been put forward but we haven't gone down the

lines of testing those theories. In the meantime, Derbyshire Fire

service have studied the findings and had changed its fire safety

advice, particularly to those with young children. There is nothing

more tragic than having young children. Go out there and fit your

own smoke detectors in bedrooms. It is hoped this study will mean

something positive will come from the tragic events on victory Road.

struggle to comprehend why these Cheadle -- children didn't move. I

want something to come out of something bad.

Two men have been arrested after a security alert in a Derbyshire town

led to houses and businesses being evacuated. Dozens of residents in

Clay Cross spent more than seven hours away from their homes after a

large part of the town was sealed off.

In the early hours, the bomb squad was called and houses and businesses

in a 100 metre business -- radius of Clay Cross were evacuated. Officers

were told there was an explosive device in a car. Staff helped the

bomb squad officers get into the car. We couldn't get into the

bonnet. The car was thoroughly examined and it was confirmed there

were no explosive devices inside it. Police are treating the incident as

a hoax. Until that fact was established, residents were moved to

a nearby leisure centre for seven hours. I woke up at three o'clock

and I was told to evacuate because of a suspicious package. It is

better to do it this way even if it is a false alarm. A black Vauxhall

Astra was taken away for further examination.

We start with swimming and the man who coached Rebecca Adlington says

you can never say never to her making a comeback. Nottingham's Bill

Furniss is now the head of British swimming. And speaking for the first

time since he took charge, he's accepts he has a big job to revive

the sport. Kirsty Edwards reports now from the British Swimming

Championships in Sheffield which started today. Here I am by the pool

and they are in between sessions at the moment but this is where all the

big race and will be going on over the next few days. Through the

euphoria of London 2012, British swimming was one team that failed to

hit the mark but there is a new man in charge now and that man knows

exactly what it takes to be a winner. Notts's Bill Furniss has

been teaching in the county for over 30 years, taking Rebecca Adlington

to the very top. While she came away with two -- two Olympic medals, most

of the team felt very low. They were gutted and distraught. You can keep

looking back or you can pick yourself up and move forward.

believes the key to improving things is working on their mental strength.

More than anybody else, she knows what it takes to deliver at the

highest level. She has always known what it takes. I see the real

strength in what Rebecca can deliver and that is to teach our future

swimmers and our coach is what is possible. I am not talking about

technical things, I'm talking about a mindset, a belief. While he looks

to bring to the next generation, does he think we have seen the last

of Rebecca Adlington competing in the pool? Never say never but she

has put in the enthusiasm that she has put into swimming into other

areas. I think she will be a success in whatever she does. At this point

in time, she has plenty to occupy her mind. Getting in some practice

is Charlotte Henshaw and the job for Bill now is to find another medal

list like Charlotte and Rebecca -- Derby County defender John Brayford

has been the subject of a �1 million bid from Wigan Athletic. However,

it's thought the Rams have rejected the offer, as it fell short of the

club's valuation of the 25-year-old. Brayford has 12 months left on his

current contract and Derby have previously said they are keen to

keep him. Onto archery and it's been announced

that Nottingham will host one of the country's biggest archery

competitions for the next three years. The first National Series

final will be held in the city this September. And the organisers have

certainly picked a spectacular venue. The championships will be

have concentration. You have to have dedication and nobody gets anywhere

without practice. You need stamina and core strength. You need a steady

hand. Andrew and Lucy are young and committed to their sport. These

Nottingham students are aiming for the top. They are part of the

generation inspired by London 2012. It is great to see your country do

so well and be proud of it. Lord's Cricket ground, the games

fired the sport into the sort -- Spotlight. 10,000 people have since

picked up a bow for the first time. Where better to host the country's

next major archery tournament than the home of the outlaw famous for

his bow and arrow. After Lord's proved to be such an impressive

setting, it is hoped the grand backdrop of Wollaton Hall will be

just as good. It is fabulous. It is such a prestige event and we are

always looking for iconic venues. Organisers say the event on

September one will be free, fun and for all ages. The best of the

British talent is ready to compete. That is in Nottingham in September.

Back to Rebecca Adlington. Speculation about whether she will

come back. She is still a huge force.

She is at the British Swimming Championships and inspires the

youngsters. Well we're staying with sporting

achievements because two students arrived at Leicester City's stadium

this afternoon, nearing the end of a mammoth sponsored cycle to every

football league ground in England. David Clarke, from Hinckley, and his

friend Peter Cooper hope to reach all 92 stadia in just 36 days. It's

the equivalent of cycling from Lands End to John O'Groats three times.

They're raising money for Edgar's Gift, a charity set up in memory of

David's step brother, Ben, who died of cancer. Over the course of it, we

have learned how to ride a bike properly. It has been a journey of a

lifetime. I couldn't ride a bike nine months ago properly and now a

lot of people thought, that fat lad won't be able to do it. Now I look a

lot more like a cyclist. We are getting there and it has been great.

Even happy sideburns to go with it. What a great achievement. We give

them our best wishes. Now for a look is looking as if it is staying

relatively warmer over the next few days, turning muggy but the bad news

is we are going to see some rain over the next few days. I expect

that is good news if your gardens are looking a bit parched. These

weather fronts invade over the next few days, bringing back the rain. We

have seen the driest and the brightest part of the week. It is

turning wet over the next few days. It will start to feel a little bit

warmer. It felt warm in the stunt -- sunshine today. Some of that has

been increasing with clouds later in the afternoon and we are starting to

see a couple of light showers falling from that cloud. The showers

should fade away into the night. We will see the pre-is starting to pick

up and the cloud will come and go. It will stay relatively mild

tonight. Tomorrow morning, it is a bright start to the day. There will

be some sunshine around through the morning. The cloud will be

increasing as we headed to the afternoon. We will have that rain

back later on in the afternoon. The rain will not be hard -- heavy but

it will give us a breezy end to the day. Despite a lack of sunshine,

temperatures around 17 Celsius. Starting to feel muggy. A band of

rain will come across as for a while. It should slowly clear later

on in the day and the temperatures around 18 Celsius. Pressure is

building once again for the weekend. It is going to be moving back in and