:00:00. > 3:59:59Edinburgh, on the vote that could reshape Britain. Now we join the
:00:00. > :00:17.I'm Anne Davies. news teams where you are.
:00:18. > :00:21.First tonight, a mother has told an inquest of her desperate struggle
:00:22. > :00:23.to stab a pet dog which was attacking her four`year`old.
:00:24. > :00:25.Lexi Branson died at her home in Mountsorrel, near Loughborough,
:00:26. > :00:32.This report from Victoria Hicks contains graphic details.
:00:33. > :00:35.Lexi Branson was attacked by a type of Aylestone bulldog in the lounge
:00:36. > :00:41.She died from facial injuries and from being suffocated by the dog.
:00:42. > :00:44.Her mother Jodie Hudson, on the right wearing a peach blouse,
:00:45. > :00:47.had seen the dog advertised online and told
:00:48. > :00:51.She said Lexi would give the dog cuddles.
:00:52. > :00:57.Nothing to give her cause for concern in the four to five weeks
:00:58. > :01:01.But on 5th November last year, Jodie Hudson described how
:01:02. > :01:06.the dog went up on all fours, went stiff and stared at Lexi
:01:07. > :01:11.before going straight for her throat and then round to her mouth.
:01:12. > :01:14.She described how she tried to pull the dog's legs apart, tried smashing
:01:15. > :01:17.a glass on its head, and tried to prise its jaws apart before rushing
:01:18. > :01:21.into the kitchen to find the biggest knife she could, repeatedly stabbing
:01:22. > :01:27.the dog before it finally released its grip.
:01:28. > :01:29.The inquest heard Jodie Hudson bought the dog for ?50
:01:30. > :01:32.from these kennels in Barrow upon Saul which re`homed council strays.
:01:33. > :01:36.Police enquiries after Lexi's death found it had had
:01:37. > :01:42.seven previous owners including two dog breeders before arriving here.
:01:43. > :01:45.Detective Sergeant Kenny Henry from Leicestershire police told
:01:46. > :01:47.the inquest that whilst the dog appeared placid it had
:01:48. > :01:51.attacked without warning the dog belonging to the last owner.
:01:52. > :01:55.That owner had contacted the RSPCA saying he had concerns over
:01:56. > :01:59.his children's safety but when the RSPCA wouldn't collect
:02:00. > :02:03.the dog, he contacted the city dog warden, saying it was a stray to get
:02:04. > :02:16.That meant no information about the dog's recent history was passed on.
:02:17. > :02:17.Nottinghamshire's Chief Constable has told us
:02:18. > :02:21.Chris Eyre made the comment following a call
:02:22. > :02:25.for forces across the country to be merged, to save money.
:02:26. > :02:28.Mr Eyre's backing the idea even though he concedes it's a bit
:02:29. > :02:32.The East Midlands already has regional policing teams
:02:33. > :02:36.for investigating murders, and everything from forensics
:02:37. > :02:41.But Chris Eyre thinks it's time to go further.
:02:42. > :02:44.You do not need 43 chief constables and 43 sets of headquarters.
:02:45. > :02:46.The money that goes into those should be forced
:02:47. > :02:49.and pushed down into delivering better services for the public.
:02:50. > :02:51.In a world where we have police and crime commissioners, whatever
:02:52. > :02:54.services are going to be delivered locally will be held to account
:02:55. > :03:01.We need to make sure the rest of the money that goes in policing is
:03:02. > :03:04.pushed as much as we possibly can down into community services to do
:03:05. > :03:08.Do you think your job should be scrapped?
:03:09. > :03:10.Certainly I think there should be fewer police constables.
:03:11. > :03:13.I guess if this is a turkey voting for Christmas,
:03:14. > :03:19.We can't carry on in the way we deliver business.
:03:20. > :03:22.If you look across policing at the moment, in many, many forces there
:03:23. > :03:24.are collaborations being built between police forces where we've
:03:25. > :03:27.got teams of people who are now trying to report through to two,
:03:28. > :03:32.It's inefficient, doesn't make sense and creates
:03:33. > :03:37.Let's speak to our social affairs correspondent.
:03:38. > :03:40.Jeremy, how controversial is this idea?
:03:41. > :03:47.You might remember the outrage eight years ago when our local police
:03:48. > :03:50.Now, that time, there was so much opposition the
:03:51. > :03:53.whole thing had to be dropped, but I do think the sands have shifted
:03:54. > :03:55.because of partly because of financial pressures, partly because
:03:56. > :03:59.The local forces there have already been merged.
:04:00. > :04:01.Nottinghamshire police and crime Commissioner told me he is
:04:02. > :04:07.I'm very keen that we do things on a more regional level,
:04:08. > :04:11.whether that means greater collaboration, integration or
:04:12. > :04:16.ultimately, changing the structure, but it is clear as crystal that
:04:17. > :04:26.Whether we force people into mergers, I think is still up
:04:27. > :04:35.legislation. Now, by that, he means a change in the law.
:04:36. > :04:36.That's something that's not going to happen
:04:37. > :04:40.There have been some concerns about this merger idea today
:04:41. > :04:42.from the policing minister who is worried about compulsory mergers
:04:43. > :04:45.could end of distancing the police from their local communities.
:04:46. > :04:48.I think, though here in the East Midlands at least, this idea
:04:49. > :04:52.This week a Nottingham teenager will become the youngest person in the UK
:04:53. > :04:57.Ethan Buttress who's 17 and from the Lady Bay area hopes to help a
:04:58. > :05:05.Our Health Correspondent Rob Sissons reports.
:05:06. > :05:08.Most teenagers don't like being parted from their mobiles for long.
:05:09. > :05:11.Ethan was in the bath when he read the e`mail from the Anthony Nolan
:05:12. > :05:15.Bone Marrow Trust saying he was a potential match for someone.
:05:16. > :05:18.I was looking at my phone, which was a stupid idea, electrical device.
:05:19. > :05:27.It was only a potential match at the time.
:05:28. > :05:30.I think they would have called if it had been more serious.
:05:31. > :05:33.Ethan could change save a child's life.
:05:34. > :05:37.All he knows is it's a boy somewhere in the world, someone who is very
:05:38. > :05:41.If I can save a life why shouldn't I?
:05:42. > :05:43.The amount of pain I'm going to be in compared
:05:44. > :05:46.to the amount of pain this child is going to be in is nothing.
:05:47. > :05:48.Why shouldn't I donate my stem cells?
:05:49. > :05:50.It began with a session similar to this.
:05:51. > :05:52.The Anthony Nolan trust takes spit samples to see
:05:53. > :05:58.The age limit for donors was lowered in 2012 from 18 to 16.
:05:59. > :06:01.Ethan's sixth form centre in Nottingham got involved
:06:02. > :06:06.after a former student, Adrian Sudbury, died from leukaemia.
:06:07. > :06:09.We're absolutely surprised and delighted.
:06:10. > :06:13.We have about 400`500 students on the register now.
:06:14. > :06:15.The chance of them being called up is fairly slim.
:06:16. > :06:18.I think it's pretty amazing, a brave thing he's doing,
:06:19. > :06:26.A lot of people go on to live full healthy lives so it would be
:06:27. > :06:42.But with your weather now, here's Kaye.
:06:43. > :06:46.High`pressure engulfing the UK now and it will be influencing the
:06:47. > :06:51.weather in the next few days for the rest of this week, in fact, so we
:06:52. > :06:55.will stay dry for most of this week. The cloud will vary from time
:06:56. > :06:58.to time. More cloud as the week wears on and it will be a fairly
:06:59. > :07:04.chilly and mystique start through the morning. Temperatures will be
:07:05. > :07:10.responding and recovering but tonight it's certainly a cool night
:07:11. > :07:17.tonight. We will see temperatures falling. 10`11 in the town. In the
:07:18. > :07:21.countryside, 4`5. A misty start tomorrow morning and chilly start.
:07:22. > :07:25.Then Mr will start to clear away quickly through the morning
:07:26. > :07:32.revealing more sunshine once again. More cloud in the afternoon `` the
:07:33. > :07:35.mist. Temp just getting up to 19`20. That is it from us to.
:07:36. > :07:36.too bad for the next few days. Out of London, now the national
:07:37. > :07:43.forecast. Good evening. A little bit of mist
:07:44. > :07:48.and fog in the coming few mornings. Apart from that, we are set fair.
:07:49. > :07:51.This high pressure has been drifting in through the day. It will stick
:07:52. > :07:54.around through the week and into the weekend. So the rest of this week
:07:55. > :07:58.looks very good indeed, a lot of dry weather in the forecast. This is
:07:59. > :08:01.what we saw earlier today, a lovely afternoon across England and Wales,
:08:02. > :08:06.lots of sunshine, high level cloud drifting south through the evening.
:08:07. > :08:08.Essentially overnight, many of us dry, with clear skies. Light winds
:08:09. > :08:15.as well that. Combination will lead to the mist and fog forming, mainly
:08:16. > :08:21.across northern and western areas. 10 or 11 in towns and cities. In the
:08:22. > :08:23.countryside temperatures down to three or four degrees. Rural
:08:24. > :08:29.Northern Ireland and rural Scotland could be close to freezing. : In the
:08:30. > :08:33.north of Scotland thicker cloud keeping temperatures up and
:08:34. > :08:36.producing the odd spot of rain. Elsewhere, it's a dry start. Extra
:08:37. > :08:41.cloud for eastern Scotland and England. We have fog patches to
:08:42. > :08:46.contend with. I don't think it will be overly dense. It could be in one
:08:47. > :08:51.or two places. Not too much fog in the south-eastern corner. If you
:08:52. > :08:52.don't see fog through the morning, you should see sunshine. Any fog you