19/01/2017 East Midlands Today

Police pay their informants more than ?1 million.

Some of the cash has gone to convicted criminals,

but police chiefs have said it is worth it.

If it is taking drugs off the streets and getting people locked

up, I think that is the right thing to do and I think we have to be

grown up about this. A warning from the firm's

chairman in Japan. Plus, support for families affected

by suicide from those It is extremely difficult for people

believed by suicide to cope and Debbie, more than anyone, they will

be do not have anyone to. We will be looking at landmarks made

out of Lego in brand-new show. Good evening and welcome

to Thursday's programme with Dominic Heale, and me,

Anne Davies. First this evening,

East Midlands Today can reveal that more than ?1 million has been paid

to police informants here over The figures have been

released to us under Some of that money has been paid

to convicted criminals. But the police insist it's

good value for money, and say it's helping to protect us

from serious crime. Our social affairs correspondent,

Jeremy Ball, reports. It's a cloak and dagger world

of secretive deals in the shadows, The police have a name for them -

covert human intelligence sources - but for the criminals

they are helping to convict, there They are paid by results for giving

tip-offs about plans for drug deals or anything from weapons and stolen

antiques to serious organised crime. Inevitably, they are often

insiders who have been This derby criminology lecturer used

to be a police superintendent. He placed ads for police informants

in newspapers and pubs. If someone says at a given time,

date and place that a crime is going to occur or where stolen

property is, the police can deal Alternatively it can be very costly

process. So this is an efficient way of dealing with aspects of some

crimes. Now we know how much was paid to informants in the last four

years. Derbyshire Police spent ?158,000. The Leicestershire force

made payments of ?244,000. The highest figure was in

Nottinghamshire, where the police spent ?670,000 on performance --

informants. It gets drugs off the street and we must remember that

informants do not yet paid unless they provide useful information. We

are talking about public money being used to pay criminals, people will

be uncomfortable about that, surely? It is a com -- it is an

uncomfortable area but if it is getting people locked up, that is

the right thing to do and we must be grown up about it. The information

that the police gets, a lot of it, comes from criminals. The police

must protect performance so that they did not refer to how many times

they have been used or what crimes they have helped to solve. It means

informants are keeping all of us safer.

A Leicester woman - found dead yards from her home -

has been described as a much-loved mother and daughter.

Today, Ashwin Daudia appeared in court for the first time,

charged with the murder of his ex-wife Kiran.

She was reported missing earlier this week and her remains

Giles Taylor is in Leicester for us this evening.

What have we been told about Kiran today?

I'm standing on Lyme Road in the Stoneygate area of Leicester,

and behind me is the home Kiran and Ashwin shared with their two

sons - just a street away from where her remains were found.

Kiran was named by police last night, along with a statement

from her family, describing the 46-year-old as a "much

loved" woman, who would be deeply missed by them all.

She'd spent the last 17 years working for retailers Next,

who have also issued a statement today.

They say they've been shocked by the death of their colleague,

who they've described as a highly respected member of their

They've added that their thoughts are with Kiran's family

and friends at this sad time, and they're ready to co-operate

The neighbours have been telling me tonight what Kiran was like. Lovely

young lady, always has time for you. She would stop and speak to us. Very

jolly person, always a smile on her face whenever I met her.

The 50-year-old was charged with murdering his ex-wife

For the last few days, forensic officers have been

scouring Cromer Street - just a short distance away from here

She was reported missing to police on Monday,

and Ashwin is accused of killing her some time

Today he appeared at Leicester Magistrates' Court,

where he gave his name, address, and date of birth with

He'll be back at Leicester's Crown Court tomorrow to apply for bail

and is expected to enter a plea later next month.

Thank you for that report, Giles Taylor.

Still to come this evening - the families bereaved by suicide.

We speak to a leading lawyer whose daughter took her own life and who's

calling for more discussion of suicide and the taboo

The chairman of Toyota has warned the company is considering "how

to survive" in the UK after the Prime Minister spoke

He said the car-maker, which has a plant at Burnaston,

near Derby, must be more competitive once Britain leaves the EU.

Toyota cars have been rolling off the production line

at its plant in Burnaston, near Derby, since 1992.

The Japanese firm employees 2,600 staff here and it builds one in ten

While the company said today it remains supportive of its people

and its operations wherever they are, the chairman

of Toyota issued a warning after the Prime Minister's speech

yesterday about taking Britain out of the EU's single market.

In an interview with the Financial Times,

We've got many businesses across the East Midlands

who are clearly looking to Theresa May's government to seek

that clarity to help them with their own business plans

and clearly, the comments today from Toyota reiterates how important

it is for government to make the road map as clear as possible,

The UK car industry is heavily reliant on exports to Europe

and so most exposed to any risks surrounding Brexit.

Responding to Toyota's comments, the Prime Minister's official

spokesman today insisted the government had listened

to their concerns and that the automotive sector was one

They added, "We will be working very hard on the negotiating process

to make sure they can remain as successful as they

Sarah Teale, BBC East Midlands Today.

The M1 in Derbyshire's been closed for much of the day

following a collision between a car and a van.

It happened on the southbound carriageway close to the Tibshelf

services just before ten o'clock this morning.

Two people were taken to hospital, one with serious injuries.

Police say its thought the car had broken down shortly

The motorway's was closed between Junction 29 for Mansfield

It's emerged that more than 20 East Midlands schools called in Army

bomb disposal experts at the end of last year to deal

It followed government warnings about a potentially volatile

chemical which can be used in school labs but needs careful storage.

Figures released to the BBC show 12 schools in Nottinghamshire,

seven in Leicestershire and five in Derbyshire called in experts

The chemical can be disposed of with a controlled explosion.

Next tonight, he's known as one of Britain's leading

He's been associated with high-profile cases which have

included the Guildford Four and the Birmingham Six.

And he's represented families of the Hillsborough victims.

Away from the courtroom, though, Michael Mansfield QC and his partner

have been grieving the loss of his daughter, Anna,

Today the couple were in Nottingham to launch a support group aimed

at getting people to talk about suicide - a subject they say

Michael Mansfield QC, a colourful, confident, charismatic Lloyd. His

most difficult case however has been away from the courtroom. Making

sense of his daughter Anna. She was 44, it was suicide. I do think about

most days of the week. In a sense I feel guilty about it because I think

more for now than when she was alive and, of course, in one sense that

makes it more difficult. But it also means that it provides the stimulus

for doing the initiative that we are doing together. Michael and his

partner Yvette have teamed up with the Nottingham Brighton initiative.

It is taboo. One of the things that we struggle with in society is

speaking about the death and dying and what it means. The

circumstances, the context that people face that make people

consider these things. They are planning monthly support meetings at

a big event in March and Nottingham's Albert Hall. We do not

know why exactly, we can not get into the mind of that person. She

went to work in a responsible job and I think if you get a redundancy

notice, which he dead, three weeks before she took her life, that is

the thing that upsets the balance, where you are trying to keep

everything under control. She left notes saying effectively she had

thought she had failed her children. I mean, nobody agrees with that,

but, you know, that is where she placed herself. They want to end

what they still believe is a stigma around suicide. The feedback we're

getting from the initiative that we do is that people feel completely

unburdened. Simply because they have spoken.

Rob, the couple there believe attitudes are changing?

They very much do and they have put in a lot of energy into this and

they point out that it was not long ago, just over 50 years, that

suicide was a crime, hard to believe that these days, but people were

sent to prison for attempting to end their own life. This is very much on

the government's reader. We heard earlier this month about the mental

health strategy and the Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, spelt out that

preventing suicide is a big challenge. We have about 13 people

who kill themselves every single day tragically, that is an enormous

unspeakable tragedy for them, but also for their families, from

everyone that knows them. We think that we can do better. The rate is

beginning to fall a little bit, but we have a particular problem with

men under the age of 50, for whom that is now the biggest cause of

death. Michael and if it are very much tied to get people to speak

about it, they will be back in Nottingham in March where they have

a big event at the Albert Hall plant and they hope to talk around these

issues. Just to let you know, the Samaritans are available for anyone

who has been touched by the issues in the report. U-turning them on

this number, it is on your screen now. There is also an e-mail

address. The important thing is that it is free from any phone, mobile or

landline and it will not show up on your bill. Always good to speak to

someone, isn't it? Thank you very much, Rob.

Thai Airways is to investigate claims that Derby-based Rolls-Royce

paid millions of dollars in bribes to its employees and government

It's the latest airline to launch an inquiry after the aero

engine-maker agreed to pay a penalty of more than ?670 million

to authorities in Britain, the United States and Brazil

to settle bribery and corruption claims.

The company has apologised unreservedly.

Hospital managers say they're still not in a position to reopen

Grantham's A unit overnight, despite recruiting more doctors.

The department has been shut between 6:30pm and 9am since last

The United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust says it is committed

to reopening the service, but only when it's safe to do so.

From today full-time firefighters in parts of Derbyshire will also act

The county's been testing the idea since 2015 -

The county's been testing the idea since 2015

using part-time firefighters who've helped in almost 1400

They take on the role of first responders

The fire service says the new trial, using full-time officers in Matlock,

Long Eaton and Ilkeston, will run for three months.

Next tonight, a nursery with a novel approach to play has

The children don't play with what you might call

conventional toys - the brightly-coloured,

Instead, they're given everyday household items,

such as saucepan lids and drain pipes.

The idea is that the youngsters become more creative.

The rice and Thomas, wave is all about play for them. Except here at

love to learn of Surrey in Leicester, the toys are rather

different. We do not tend to have any lasting toys. You might find a

small dinosaur or little cars, but everything in this environment is an

open end resource and what that means is that the children use their

imagination to play and learn. The nursery is based on the philosophy,

developed after the Second World War. It focuses upon giving children

free rein for them to explore and express themselves. Here in

Leicestershire, it is the first nursery of its kind and already 27

children have been enrolled. It seemed like a place more in keeping

with his home life, we did not want things that were too different. I

like the different way of learning, not having simply plastic toys,

where it makes us brainwork more. It will help my daughter because she

thinks differently, she is quite a free thinker. It will encourage her

to be more of an individual. Charlie is quite an active child, I was

looking for a nursery that was going to appeal to his creativity and

which was innovative. The children play with saucepan lid, drainpipes

and other objects, very few are conventional. There are so many

tests for children these days, let them be little, let them learn and

develop their own pace, their own schematic style. We do all of the

learning embedded but through fun and excitement. The nursery opened

at the beginning of the year and spaces are already filling up. Helen

Astle, BBC East Midlands Today, Leicester.

Volunteers in Leicestershire have won praise for making

The Morsbags movement was started ten years ago by Claire Morsman.

It makes, and then gives away, cloth carrier bags.

But one in three of these bags-for-life is lovingly

And among the many people who've donated unwanted fabric

for the team to transform, is Prince Charles,

The ring of approval for another reusable shopping

Once a week volunteers in Oadby in Leicestershire gather

to sow donated fabric into cloth carrier bags.

They are given away free as an alternative to plastic ones.

Even though there are charges, there are still people who are sort

of buying five or ten plastic bags each time.

So what we are doing is just giving the message,

look how easy it is, make a bag out of your old curtains

This month, the Morsbag movement is ten years old.

20 groups across Leicestershire have sown one in three of nearly

a quarter of a million bags that have been made worldwide.

I cut out for a lot of the people here, so I would say many

Under 10,000, but Rosie thinks it's near to 10,000.

Also showing off their skills are Leicester's mayor,

Sir Peter Soulsby, and at his London residence, the Prince of Wales.

He was showing visitors at Clarence House how to make

So, yes, some very lucky people have got Royal Morsbags.

Concern for the environment is at the heart of this movement.

Supporters say that one Morsbag can replace around 500 plastic carriers.

Carol Hines, BBC East Midlands Today, Oadby, in Leicestershire.

We have got a few here. I think this is Prince Charles' old curtains.

Smells very regal! Time for the sport news. Breaking news, I

understand. Yes, we are breaking this news and

it's Rams Nottingham Forest. More controversy. In the last hour, the

American tycoon trying to buy the club has issued a statement. The

deal with John Jane Morrice collapsed on Friday but tonight he

is a thing he wants to buy the Reds and has offered to take on a total

ownership of the club. Jonny May now from our newsroom is our reporter,

Angela Rafferty. What is going on? It has been a long-running saga at

the city ground. Tonight more, as the man behind the failed takeover

deal has revealed he still wants Forest and has offered a

significantly enhanced offer for total control of the club earlier

this week. He believes this is what the chairman wanted by Pete on the

beds down. The American tycoon says he is still interested and would

like to take over the club and feels frustrated that the deal has not

been done. It comes as the current owner Fawaz Al Hasawi said he is

totally committed to the club, promising to find a new manager and

finance director. He said last week the deal offered them was not in the

best interest of the club. No word yet as to why the new offer has been

torn down. We await further news tonight from Forest. This is the

first time the American has spoken so openly and they are clearly

putting pressure on the chairman to do the deal. We will have to wait

and see how they will respond. Angela Rafferty, thank you very much

indeed. Keep an eye on BBC Nottingham's sport Twitter feed and

our website for any developments. We start at Nottingham Forest

because Aston Villa are set to sign We understand Villa

will pay ?3.5 million Lansbury, who is 26,

joined the Reds from Arsenal four Earlier this month the club rejected

an offer from Derby for Henri. But Forest are expected

to confirm the deal with Villa by the end of the day

or early tomorrow morning. At Derby County, forward

Andreas Weimann has joined Wolves Meanwhile, manager Steve

McClaren says Tom Ince The in-form Ince is reportedly

an ?8 million target of Rafa Benitez to boost Newcastle's promotion push,

but Derby want promotion too and McClaren today

scoffed at the speculation. I heard that, ?8 million,

that will pay probably Staying with football,

and Leicester City are in the top 20 of the world's richest football

clubs, according The Deloitte Football Money League

shows the clubs Premier League winning season saw them report

earnings of nearly ?129 million. It means Leicester are now

generating almost five times as much revenue

as when they were in the Well, that will be music

to the ears of Mark Selby. The big Leicester City fan

and snooker's very best, plays in the quarterfinals

of the Masters tomorrow. It is a really big deal

because Selby is bidding to become only the fifth player to hold

all three of snooker's Triple Crown The current world, UK and three-time

Masters champion won a thrilling last-16 tie 6-5

against Welshman Mark Williams And that game is tomorrow afternoon

from one o'clock on BBC Two It's been around for the best

part of 60 years and it We're talking about those little

coloured bricks every A new Lego exhibition

is about to open at a gallery Handmade models of all shapes

and sizes have been built to reflect the wonders of the world,

both ancient and modern. And Quentin Rayner has been

given a sneak preview. Come to Welbeck and you will see the

world, this gallery is racing to get the wondrous exhibition in place by

the weekend. 70 models have been made to reflect Egypt's natural

wonders in Lego. You can gaze at the great Pyramid of Giza, look at what

the London Bridge might have looked like, look at how the world is

interconnected by the Internet and marvel at the opportunities offered

by air travel with a model of London City Airport. It has been a labour

of love over three months by this husband and wife team. Both are

full-time Lego artists. He has been finishing off the Great Wall of

China, she has been making sure Niagara Falls into place. There has

been a lot of work that has gone into them, we have designed the

structures and we will work from lectures and Internet searches. We

build what we see. It can take weeks, months in some instances.

Sometimes we are lucky and get things done in a few days. That is

less common. It is a huge labour of love. We love what we get to do, we

build Lego models for a living. It is fantastic, every time I tell

people that, they smile. It is fantastic, we do it together and we

get to work together, something they love. When this

gallery put on a similar Lego exit -- exhibition one year ago, it

attracted more than 80,000 visitors in the months, the most it has ever

had. Many of the repeat visitors are self declared fans, adult fans of

legal. That plane is getting ready to take off. It was a younger group

of enthusiasts from a nearby primary school that were invited in for a

sneak preview. It is absolutely amazing, I did not know you could

build such things out of Lego, so many possibilities. It is amazing, I

like the fact that there are lights on the runway, makes it look better.

Eliminated. They have put lots and lots of effort into it and it is

just brilliant. -- illuminated. The exhibition opens on Saturday, adults

and pronouns are welcome. Children never clear up their do

they? And then parents get to play with it then!

We have lots of grey weather around at the moment. This was the picture

in Market Harborough earlier today and we also had some low cloud over

Derbyshire as well. That seem broadly continues tomorrow for a

time. We will see some occasional drizzle. It will be feeling quite

damn. That is because we have high pressure at the moment penning that

cloud over our region. But it is slowly starting to move. This was

the picture earlier, that cloud slowly creeping northwards and some

sunshine down to the South East of the country. As we go through the

course of the night, we will continue to see that clouds

starting to move North. There will be some mist patches as well. When

the blues the cloud we could get down to around 0 Celsius tonight,

possibility of a frost. Further North, quite a contract, six Celsius

is below tonight, you should stay frost free. Tomorrow we will

continue to see that cloud slowly trekking northwards. Some slightly

brighter conditions behind it, highs of six Celsius. It will feel rather

chilly. Lots more cloud around for Saturday, but some hints of

brightness as well and then dry conditions on the way towards the

weekend. This is the situation as we go toward Sunday. We have some high

pressure that are still pending cloud over us but it is that into

them and break up in places. As they go towards next week we are

expecting brighter conditions but look at those temperatures, very

chilly indeed, made sure you wrap up warm as they go towards next week.

I have got a hat, that will help. Leicester City are making a mint!

YAS! Incredible, 11 times as much as the need eight years ago in League

1. Join us later for the big news.

Goodbye.