08/09/2014 East Midlands Today

This is East Midlands Today with Dominic Heale and me, Geeta Pendse.

Tonight the Chief Constable who says his own job should be scrapped.

First tonight, Nottinghamshire's Chief Constable

has told this programme that his job should be scrapped.

On You don't need 43 sets of headquarters. It could be done with

a lot less. How are four`ye`r`old girl died after being attacked by

the family dog. At 17, Ethan is about to become the UK's yotngest

bone marrow donor. The amount of pain I'm going to be in compared to

the amount of pain this child is going to be in, so why shouldn't I

donate my stem cells? He max need help getting to the table, but one

sees their commies are very good. I'm talking to the boy described as

a future World Snooker champion Good evening and welcome to Monday's

programme. First tonight,

Nottinghamshire's Chief Constable has told this programme that

his job should be scrapped. Chris Eyre made

the comment following a call for forces across the country to be

merged, to save money. Mr Eyre's backing the idea dven

though he concedes it's a bht He wants

a new regional force to run policing And he's convinced it can

still be locally accountabld. Our Social Affairs Correspondent,

Jeremy Ball, reports. Local policing

for your local community. It's a fundamental principld

of this country's law and order Today Nottinghamshire's chidf

constable unveiled his plans to adapt to the l`test

budget cuts meaning pooling more resources and specialist st`ff with

other local police forces You do not need 43 chief constables

and 43 sets of headquarters. The money that goes

into those should be forced and pushed down into giving better

services to the public. Do you think

your job should be scrapped? I guess this is part of it for me,

we can't carry on Regional policing is alreadx

well`established here in thd The Philpott fire deaths in Derby

were investigating the East Midlands These days everything from forensics

to firearms are handled So does Nottinghamshire's police

and crime commission think ht's time I've always thought there w`s

a strong case Whether we force people

into mergers, I think is sthll up in The East Midlands would be

about the size of Belgium. And it could depend

on public opinion too. Eight years ago, plans to mdrge

our local forces had to be scrapped amid fears that local peopld would

lose control over local polhcing. But Chris Ayre thinks it's

different this time around. I'm not arguing

for losing local accountability We've got locally elected police

and crime commissioners who would make sure the chief constable was

held to account for the delhvery of local services to meet

the local priorities that they It's inefficient,

doesn't make sense and creates But others might not be

so confident. If police force mergers are back

on the table they are bound to be Jeremy has in the studio. A regional

police force would be a hugd change. It's not going to happen imlinently.

It would need primary legislation. That certainly not going to happen

this side of a general election I do think things have shifted since

the idea caused so much outrage last time around. Firstly, because

there's so much more financhal pressure. Secondly, it's already

working in Scotland where local forces have been merged. Le`ding

politicians on both sides are much more positive about this idda of

police force mergers knows of a message tonight is watch thhs space.

Indeed, thank you. The mother

of a four`year`old girl killed by her pet dog has told an hnquest

how the animal went straight for her daughter's throat beford she ran

to get the biggest knife shd could Lexi Branson died at her hole

in Mountsorrel in Leicestershire Victoria Hicks reports

from Loughborough coroner's court. There is some graphic imagery in her

report. Lexi Branson was attacked by a bulldog in the lounge of the

family flat. She died from facial injuries and from being suffocated

by the dog. Her mother had seen the dog advertised online and told the

court she liked the look of it for them she said Lexi would give the

dog cuddles and it showed no signs of aggression, nothing to gdt a

cause for concern in the five weeks she had the dog prior to thd attack.

On the 5th of November last year, she described how the dog wdnt up on

all fours, when Steph and stayed at Lexi before going straight for her

throat and then her mouth. She described how she tried to pull the

dogs legs apart and smashed a glass on its head before finding the

biggest carving knife she could find repeatedly stabbing it before it

finally released its grip. The inquest heard she bought thd dog for

?50 from these candles. Thex re`homed cancel strays. `` kennels.

Police found it had seven previous owners including two dog brdeders

before arriving here. Detective Sergeant Penny Henry told the

inquest that while the dog `ppeared passive, it attacked without warning

the dog belonging to the last owner. That owner had contacted thd RSPCA

saying he had concerns over his children's safety. But when the

RSPCA would not collect the dot`com he contacted the city dog w`rden

saying it was a straight to get it off his hands for free. That meant

no information about the dog could go forward. Many apologies. We have

had a problem there. Moving on. Police in Derby have arrestdd

a fifth person following A group forced their way

into a house on Gerard Stredt on Saturday night and officdrs say

its believed shots were firdd. Two people inside the property

were hurt but not from being shot. Four people were arrested

shortly afterwards. One, a 26 year old woman,

has since been released. Another woman was

detained this afternoon. It's emerged that four out of every

five brothers or sisters pl`ced in foster care in Derbyshire l`st year

were separated from their shblings. New figures show 79%

of siblings were split up. The national average is

around a third. More than half of those fostered

in Nottingham were also sep`rated. The charity Action

for Children says it can affect It's calling for more foster

carers to come forward. Coming up `

the start of a new series hdre on East Midlands Today wherd we

shine a spotlight on educathon. We begin with a look

at a school placed in speci`l There have been some big ch`nges,

since then. This week a Nottingham teen`ger will

become the youngest person hn the UK Ethan Buttress who's 17 and

from the Lady Bay area is hoping to He was amazed to be told he's

a match after signing up to the Anthony Nolan register

at Bilborough Sixth Form College. Our Health Correspondent Rob Sissons

reports. Most teenagers don't like bding

parted from their mobiles for long. Ethan was in the bath when he read

the e`mail from the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust saying he was

a potential match for someone. I was at my grandad's house

in the Lake District in the bath and I was looking at my phone, which was

a stupid idea, water and phones Because it was only a potential

match at the time, I didn't think. I think they would have called

if it had been more serious. Ethan could change save

a child's life. All he knows is it's

a boy somewhere in the world, who is I think if I'm going to livd

on this planet I may as well do something worthwhile, so if I can

save a life why shouldn't I? The amount

of pain I'm going to be in compared to the amount of pain this child is

going to be in is nothing. Why shouldn't I donate

my stem cells? It began with a session simhlar to

this, the Anthony Nolan trust takes spit samples to see

if people are a match. The age limit for donors was

lowered in 2012 from 18 to 06. Ethan's sixth form Centre

in Nottingham got involved after a former student, Adrhan

Sudbury, died from leukaemi`. Ethan's A`level drama class was

taking his mind off Wednesd`y's procedure to remove bone marrow

in London. We're absolutely surprised

and delighted. We have about 400`500 students

on the register now. The chance of them being

called up is fairly slim. His girlfriend thinks it's

great what he is doing. I think it's pretty amazing,

a brave thing he's doing, A lot of people go on to live

full healthy lives so it wotld be Well earlier I spoke to Kathe Day

from the Anthony Nolan Trust and I asked her just how common is it to

find a match? You have around one

in 1,200 chance of being a latch But

when donors join our registdr we do tell them they stay on therd until

they are 60, so it can be any time It's not always the case th`t they

are matched as quickly as Ethan was. Of course,

Ethan was part of a college drive. You're starting a campaign

called Save A Life At 16. Are you hoping

his example will attract more young We do like to raise awareness in

sixth forms and colleges with our presentations, but also Savd A Life

At 16, what were asking is for the government to send informathon about

joining the bone marrow reghster to all 16`year`olds with their

National Insurance numbers so hopefully even more young people

will know they can save a lhfe. Is there

a particular reason why you're Younger donors are often chosen

by transplant centres They tend to have less freqtent

medical issues that might prevent or delay donation

so we keen to make people aware this Of course, Ethan may never leet

the child, the young person who will I mean, it's

a very incredible thing to do to give something of yourself to help a

stranger who you might never meet. Building work has uncovered

"elevated" levels of cyanidd and other hazardous substances `t

the site of Derby's new velodrome. The ?28 million arena has bden

built at Pride Park, A report to Derby City Council says

the toxic material is not d`ngerous to the public, but protection

measures have been put in place University students in Leicdster

could be offered the chance to De Montfort University todax

announced a ?42 million contract for a new fashion,

art and design school. Developer Balfour Beatty will build

the planned new Creative It says it hopes to offer work

experience to students in ddsign, Last November there were fireworks

and recriminations as OFSTED inspectors put half of

the secondary schools in Nottingham into 'special measures' in ` major

effort to improve standards. Almost a year on

since those snap inspections and with lessons underway again

after the summer holidays Simon Ward starts a new serhes

on education by seeing what changes At the end

of last year there was a devastating Farnborough School was one

of six placed in the special Critics said it amounted

to bullying by OFSTED. The inspector said improving

performance in Nottingham w`s one of the region's greatest

and most urgent challenges. Phil Compton from the high `chieving

Rushcliffe School have was brought He's now the executive head

overseeing both schools. We insisted that hoodies cotld

not be worn, mobile phones could And that there was a level

of courtesy between students and staff that previously dhdn't

seem to exist. So we introduced a series

of new sanctions. Some of them were considered to be

quite hardline, but what happened is the quality of teaching

and the quality of relationships And how confident are you that the

OFSTED rating will improve here We've seen enough of the st`ff,

students and engaged with the parents enough to realise that,

working with Rushcliffe, It's a fresh start with Farnborough

becoming an Academy with a new black uniform and the school motto,

Do The Right Thing, translated Well, there were people misbehaving

a lot and their work wasn't as well And then people weren't

as confident as they are now. We learned quite a lot more

and the teachers gave more `wards for the people who had been good

and more sanctions to encourage Overseeing two schools means working

in two places, so Phil Crompton often cyclds

between Farnborough and Rushcliffe. He's there to see both school choirs

joining to sing together I asked the headteacher why this

school is such a good example We have a chance for everyone to

shine brightly and we mean that Academically, we get fantastic

results, outstanding GCSE and A`levels or the personal

development of the child whdre we have numerous examples of children

really being extremely succdssful With Farnborough School becoming

an Academy, it will have five terms Other schools will have less

time to improve standards. EDUC Councillor Sam Webster is

Nottingham City Council's Executive How are the other five schools

doing? The ones in special leasures? There have been huge changes in

almost all of the schools. Changes in things like the school n`me head

teachers, governors have ch`nged and there has been the focus from

ourselves of the Council working in partnership with schools to improve.

You could say those inspectors were kept for us. They have really

focused our efforts are nevdr was working hard to make sure every one

of those schools is rated good next time Ofsted visit. World thdse

schools do it? My timescale is as soon as possible. We hope the next

time Ofsted visit they will be rated good or better. That's our

expectation for young peopld in Nottingham. Everyone wants to know

that their local school is `s good as it can be, it's a good school,

local for them to go to. I don't think they're too bothered `bout how

those schools are run as long as they are good. Working with

relationships through teachdrs and students, are you offering teachers

and students enough support? What are you doing that different? We are

bringing in a new education director in the City Council. We havd been

doing lots of bringing in of experts around the country and local

experts, people who attend schools around in other areas so thd

supporters there. We are improving what we do because we know schools

do need that support. We have got to have them and support them but we

expect them to be good and we expect them to do better. Four years,

Nottingham has had poor headlines for the education 's are yot

convinced this time it's gohng to be different and what can you say to

parents who are watching tonight? We will not rest until every school is

good or better by Ofsted. We havd been to

Tower Hamlets for instance. We went on learning visits to find out what

they were doing. And we found out lots of things, how had good

schools, and we brought back lots of lessons. Thank you.

Experts are warning a deer cull may be needed across the East Mhdlands.

They say research has shown wild deer are not only damaging

the countryside but are responsible for thousands of road acciddnts

Deer numbers are increasing across Leicestershire and Rttland.

But there are concerns about how the public would react to a mass cull.

And you can see what happens when Inside Out cameras join

That's at the later than ustal time of 8.00pm tonight on BBC One.

Still to come we meet the seven`year`old who's tipped

Westley's already played ag`inst Stephen Hendry although he did need

I'll start with cricket bec`use its a huge week for Nottinghamshire

They need to beat Yorkshire over the next four days if they `re to

stand any chance of winning the County Championship title.

It's their only shot at silverware as they lost their one day cup

Kirsty Edwards has been at Trent Bridge.

Back in training after what turned out to be

a disappointing weekend for Notts. They were hoping to make it to

Lord's to defend their one`day title.

They were hoping to make it to Lord's to defend

They found Durham's Ben Stokes in fantastic form.

His 164 and the Outlaws werd set a massive 354 to win.

And despite an impressive cdntury from captain James Taylor,

Unfortunately, we didn't do well on the most important day.

We all know how special Lord's final is but it just wasn't meant to be.

The players need to be readx and focused for what is going to be

a huge week for them with a must`win game against

If they win it we definitelx can't win the championship.

But if we beat them, we're still in the title race and we

If we can get that, it will be something special.

To finish the season without a trophy would be slightly

We're all desperate to try and turn this division one league

It's great to have Alex Halds and Harry Gurney back in thd ranks

but they've obviously got Joe Root and Gary Ballance back with them so

there's some special talent on show and plenty of internationals, so it

should be a great game for everbody to watch. This is the

Yorkshire, here at Trent Bridge preparhng

They're going to be really tough to beat.

We would far rather be here now this year than where we werd

I think we have given a good account of ourselves in four`day crhcket

this year and we should be very pleased with where we are now.

We know if we give two more really good performances who

It really is all or nothing for Notts this week then,

and they know they're going to have to be at their very best.

Much better for rugby's Leicester Tigers.

Their season started perfectly ` with a home win and

Toby Flood has gone but Freddie Burns

and Owen Williams are the coming men at ten and Burns was unerring.

An entire team is injured or away but those who remain are top`class

and know how to ride their luck for tries too.

His parents had travelled from Fiji to watch him.

They will have risen to their feet after

the interception and not sat down again until the ball was grounded

A hat`trick of tries and thd game in the bag.

It could only get better for Leicester with

a bonus point and that's duly what they delivered in the end.

If they wanted to wipe memories of last May away,

Mansfield Town got a much ndeded win away at Exeter City and

Bingham arrived on deadline day as Sam Clucas was leaving.

He repaid the Stags' faith straight away.

Scoring the first goal after just fourteen minutes.

When Fergus Bell came up with the second five minutes before half time

Exeter's single goal only a consolation.

Down at Meadow Lane, Notts County Ladies narrowlx missed

They were beaten 2`0 by Arsdnal in extra time in their

Nottingham Panthers continud to find European Competition as hard

as we feared with the Europdan giants Lulea rolling to

Panthers with lots of experience to bring back.

In Superbikes, it was a double win for Leicester

based team Buildbase BMW at Donington Park over the weekend.

Ryuichi Kiyonari going into the final Showdown racds

Also in the six riders going for the title is Nottingham's Chris Walker.

He confirmed his place with a tenth in the second race.

And former European and Comlonwealth Champion hurdler Andy Turner said

goodbye to his athletic carder with an emotional third place in

He's been a great champion and we wish him

His teammates clearly enjoydd the send off!

Well, as one sporting career ends could another be about to bdgin

Westley Cooper is just seven but he's already being tippdd to

join the talents at snooker's top table and

He may need a little help to reach the green baize, a milk crate, but

Tom Brown's watching him practice now at the Winchester Club

Good evening. It may seem a little bit much to talk about someone so

young as being a potential future world champion, but when yot think

he's already played Stephen Hendry at the Crucible, we may not be too

far off the mark and yes, this crate comes wherever he plays to help you

reach the table. Westley, c`n I interrupt? Tell me when you started

playing snooker. When I went to Butlins and on the last day my dad

took me down to the snooker club and I potted everything. And thdn we

went home. The next day, I `sked if I could go to the snooker club. How

often do you practice? Six hours at the weekend. After school, `bout

one. It's a lot of work. Tell your crowning moment when you pl`yed

Stephen Hendry? What was th`t like? I felt nervous. And even more when I

walked out to the song. I whll let you get on practising while we talk

to your dad. Give me a sensd of what is achieved in the game. He's been

invited to a lot of exhibithons Stephen Hendry, Ken Doherty, Steve

Davis, even Jimmy White, so is done really well. Can you believd it

Hopefully keeps at it and enjoys it. Hopefully he can go far. Yot must be

a proud dad. Very proud indded. When I was seven, my dad took grdat pride

in beating the sport. He has been beating me for a while now. It won't

be long before he has to give me a start. All the best to you. Thank

you for joining me and of course, Mark Selby, famous footsteps, he

could be following him one day. Yes, he will be Westley, the whirlwind,

Cooper, I guess. Beautiful Stacks of blue sky and sunshine but

a lovely picture to show yot. It felt like autumn this morning. Quite

chilly. High`pressure fast nowhere. It sticks with us into the rest this

week. We will stay dry once again for much of this week. Some subtle

variations day`to`day. We whll see quite a lot of cloud developing as

the week wears on and it is that time of year when it gets a bit

chilly and misty by the morning as well. But temperatures will be

responding. Lots of sunshind today. More cloud that will melt away

through tonight so it's dry, clear, and those temperatures will be

taking a tumble once again. Down to around 10 Celsius but in thd

countryside, 4`5. You can sde on the chart, mist and fog forming once

again by the morning as well. A bit murky to start off with tomorrow

morning and a bit chilly, as well. The mist will clear quickly through

the morning. Into the afternoon some fair weather cloud herd and

there. Generally, a dry, sunny day. 18`19. Responding after that chilly

start. The high`pressure st`ys with us for the rest of the week so it's

fairly cloudy at times with temperatures in the high tedns.

Lovely. Thank you very much indeed. Tune in for the late news. @bide by.