25/04/2017 East Midlands Today

It's almost 6.30pm, you're watching East Midlands Today.

Tonight, the tiny battery that could have killed two-year-old Kacie.

The toddler needed emergency surgery after swallowing this lithium

battery at her home in Derby. It was a 30-40% chance that if she had

surgery she wouldn't survive, and if she did, there was a 50% chance she

would be paralysed from the waist down.

Also, the horror of a dog-on-dog attack. One owner goes to

Parliament. What happens flashes through your mind. Basically ripped

to bits. And why Brexit makes this coalfield

constituency a risk for Labour. And this man with a violin and an

amazing story to tell. Good evening and welcome

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

Geeta Pendse. First tonight, a Derby mother

is warning other parents to beware of the dangers of small batteries,

after her daughter was Kacie Barradell needed

surgery after she stopped breathing and began vomiting

blood in February. She's just returned home,

but now other parents are being urged to be more alert,

as Giles Taylor reports. Home at last and well

on the road to recovery. But it could all have been very

different for two-year-old Kacie, who started to feel ill

in February this year. The Saturday morning, I woke up,

went to check on Kacie. Doctors at the Queen's Medical

Centre in Nottingham carried out an X-ray and found this -

a lithium battery no more Cheryl was warned there was a one

in three chance that Kacie could die in surgery,

and in all, she spent six weeks in hospital

being fed her food through a tube. I've had to stay by her

side every single day. I've been getting three to four

hours' sleep a night, I've cried, I screamed,

but there was nothing I could do. Last year, surgeons at London's

Great Ormond Street Hospital said they'd experienced a big increase

in cases of children swallowing batteries,

seeing about one every month. Kacie still has to be careful

what she eats as the incident has caused serious damage

to her oesophagus. But Cheryl says she's just grateful

to have her alive and back home. It devastated me, it hurt,

it killed me inside, but having my little girl back

to normal, obviously not fully, but...all I can say is someone

was watching over her. The charity Child

Accident Prevention Trust says this is a growing problem,

and has started a campaign Its chief executive

is Katrina Phillips. These batteries aren't especially

new, so why are these incidents I think button batteries are such

useful things. They power novelty gift cards, nightlights, key fob is,

remote controls. There are in so many products now around the home

and parents and carers just don't realise how dangerous they can be.

-- they are in. Small children are so curious. They get into them and

when they swallow them it can have really serious effects. What is your

advice to parents? We advise parents to be aware of the kinds of products

that can contain button batteries, so that they don't leave them within

reach of small children. Toys that have gotten batteries in them, the

button battery should be in a Scrooge down compartment, but lots

of other products, it's really quite easy for small children to get into

them. -- in a compartment that is sealed. Put spare batteries

somewhere safe as well. It's really important to raise awareness because

if a small child swallows a button battery, particularly one of the

lithium batteries, the charge in the battery reacts with fluids inside

the body and it creates caustic soda, which is basically drain

cleaner, and you can imagine what that does in terms of corrosive

burns inside a small child's body. OK, clearly it's an issue of great

concern. Thank you for joining us this evening. Thank you.

A Parliamentary debate took place today, calling for tougher laws

surrounding attacks on dogs by other dogs.

And it was all because of a campaign by an East Midlands woman whose

own pet was attacked by another animal.

Yes, Jill Mayes from Loughborough collected over 2,000

New figures show there have been at least 1,700 such attacks

At the moment, one dog attacking another isn't considered a criminal

offence unless it involves a guide or assistance dog.

Victoria Hicks is in Loughborough tonight and can tell us a bit more.

Good evening. This is 110 acres of ancient woodland to the north of

Loughborough. It was given to the people of the town and it is managed

by the council. It is popular with dog walkers. One woman's recent dog

walk ended far from well. It was a horrid experience. Here is my

report. Stilton is recovering at home.

Whilst on a walk, she turned around to see two big dogs running towards

them. As soon as they came towards me, running up, they were trying to

get the dogs out of my hands. I was screaming and the dogs were

squealing. I know what to do. Stilton was unlucky. He was in the

dog's mouth and he was well and truly crushed by the jaws. You can

see one puncture wound there and a lot of internal injuries. Bruising

and swelling and even some internal bleeding. He had to have fluid

drained from his lungs. This is the second time one of her dogs has been

attacked. Monty, her Jack Russell, was almost mauled to death eight

years ago. That Harry Warwick says he sees two such attacks a week. He

says owners have a big part to play in controlling their pets. At the

end of the day, there is with that element of risk and are going to be

unfortunate accident from time to time, which we are probably never

going to be able to avoid, but if the owners take an active role to

avoid that and hopefully we can reduce the number of dog-on-dog

attacks in future. Jill from Loughborough has long campaigned for

tougher laws on dog-on-dog attacks. She has collected over 2000

signatures calling for a change in the law. We need that protection

that guide dogs and human beings have got. It isn't a criminal

offence for our dogs and it isn't for human beings and that needs to

change now. Today, Jill's campaign led to her local MP, Nicky Morgan,

leading a debate on the issue in Parliament. There have also been a

number of high-profile dog attacks on other dogs. The minister said

there was current scope in the attack to cover dog-on-dog attacks

but most people didn't realise this was the case. Campaigners say more

clarification is needed. Joining me now is a criminal

solicitor from Nottingham. We heard that there was scope under the

Dangerous Dogs Act to prosecute. What is your experience? It would be

very unusual to prosecute such an attack. The legislation was designed

for dogs attacking people and extremely rare for it to be used

other than that. For the prosecution to proceed with that, they would

need to show that job is dangerously out of control and be satisfied

there is a realistic prospect of conviction and that it's in the

public interest. -- that the dog is dangerously out of control. So quite

a few hurdles to get over. The current legislation is badly drafted

in the first place. There have been attempts to modify it in the past

and most of those haven't worked. We need to start again with a

completely new act. Thank you. This is certainly an issue that has got

people talking today and we will be charting any developments in this

story. A delivery suite at Leicester

General Hospital had to be closed for five hours overnight

because of a chemical spill. The Fire Service was called

after floor cleaner was spilt One member of staff was treated

for nausea and sore eyes and throat Fly-tippers in Leicester have been

targeted today as part of a campaign Wardens have been trying to track

down some of the people responsible for these piles of rubbish that have

been dumped across the city. In a statement, the council has told

us it provides a free bulk collection for domestic waste,

and there's no excuse. The parents of Madeleine McCann

say they're preparing for a "painful" couple of weeks,

ten years after the Leicestershire Madeleine was three

when she disappeared while on a family holiday

in Portugal in May 2007. In a statement today,

Kate and Gerry said they're immensely fortunate to have received

the love, solidarity and support Coming up later, Lucy will be

here with a distinctly Yes, for some of us a bit of a

chilly and wet end to the day, but how long will this cool spell of

weather last? I'll have a full forecast at the end of the show.

With so much attention focused on Brexit during this election,

there's always the risk that other issues could be sidelined.

But Labour's Angela Rayner has been campaigning in Nottinghamshire

today on a different subject - schools.

The Shadow Education Secretary visited a primary school and pledged

to bridge a ?3 billion gap in budgets predicted by

Are they for me? Thank you! They are lovely. Politicians are more used to

brickbats than bouquets but here they came bearing many gifts. One

idea about cyclist safety might even become Labour policy. Can I have

that copy? Then I can look at it and see if I can put it in our

manifesto. The warnings that current budgets for schools don't add up.

Rising costs will mean a shortfall of ?3 billion in three years' time

with rising pupils, but Labour says it will bridge the gap. You will see

in a few weeks when we roll out our manifesto is that we will do what

our say and that means old schools can have their funding instead of

diverging much-needed funds into grammar schools, which is what this

Government wants to do. Do you plan to find the extra money through tax

rises? I don't think we need to do that at the moment. There is enough

money in the system that the government is wasting and they

should be diverted that money in a big way. They shouldn't be diverted

in this money when our schools are in crisis. They say funding is at a

record level at the moment. Gas, but they understand pupil numbers are

increasing and they didn't plan for that. -- yes, but they understand.

They have not funded things like the apprenticeship levy. Governments say

they will be accessible to all and the grammar schools will increase

social mobility and parental choice. Have they got it right? Time and

time again that is not a scrap of evidence saying that grammar source

give these improvements. -- grammar schools. Make no mistake, the

ordinary working families of this country, for them it would be like

winning the lottery trying to get their child into those schools.

Brexit may dominate this election but it will be future generations

whose lives will be most affected by decisions made in the near future.

Now, the opinion polls so far have given the Conservatives

We decided to go to Labour's most vulnerable seat

in the East Midlands, to find out why a place once

dominated by King Coal was now among the Tories' top targets.

Here's our general election reporter John Hess.

Here is a clue as to where I am, over there one of the safest Tory

seats in the country. Over there, constituency represented by Labour.

In between, Derbyshire East. This time round the vote, be

guaranteed for Labour. This will be like Theresa May. Thereby be a few

disgruntled perform -- supporters but is a staunch Labour seat and it

has been for years. I don't think that'll change now. What the Tories

are doing is not acceptable in my opinion. The Tories were second and

Ukip took 16% of the vote in that constituency. The area's industrial

heritage has shaped his politics but last year added vulnerability came

to Labour's prospects after the Brexit vote. The last coal mine shut

in 1993. From the offices of the Derbyshire times, the newsroom has

reported on the changing nature of this corner of Derbyshire. The

commuter belt has been built up and some of that is for people commuting

to white-collar jobs in Sheffield and Chesterfield. You could argue

it's reflected in the whole country, where they are moving away from

heavy industry to service industry. There is now higher proportion of

professional occupations than in the rest of the region and nationally.

Attracted by the beauty of the Derbyshire countryside, the

proximity to the main urban and new jobs. It certainly brings a

brand-new skill set into the area. Obviously it's an area that has

grown significantly in terms of the number of businesses housed here by

about 20% in the last five years or so. And it's increased by a level

similar in jobs. So you see higher value of jobs coming in. The Liberal

Democrat vote crashed by 19% two years ago but the question is

whether their revival or Brexit could make all eight -- make or

break Labour's hold on East Derbyshire.

John's here with us now to talk about another development today.

John, this involves two of our region's leading Conservative MPs.

This is another example of the impact of Brexit on this election

campaign. Anna Soubrey and Nicky Morgan are both leading

pro-Europeans and were big supporters of the Open Britain's

lobby group. It is one of those umbrella organisations that has been

campaigning against Brexit. But what has angered them is that Open

Britain has decided to campaign against up to a dozen pro-Brexit

Tory MPs in an attempt to unseat them. The two MPs later tweeted that

it was untenable for them to play any further role with Open Britain,

but their tweets might not be enough to satisfy some in the Conservative

Party, because one influential Tory, Tim Montgomery, former editor of

their website, says both should be cooked -- expelled from the party.

Open Britain has said this evening that it was understandable but

during a political campaign that members of parties and their

differences become magnified. That's probably the first understatement of

this election campaign! Thank you. And the Broxtowe MP Anna Soubry has

thanked the police after a man who called her constituency office

making death threats was given He's been sentenced to eight weeks

after saying the Conservative MP Ms Soubry says it sends

a strong message that courts won't tolerate malicious calls,

and that staff working An independent report looking

into the safety of care homes in Nottingham following the death

of Ivy Atkin in 2012 says significant progress has been

made in the way local 86-year-old Ivy was severely

underweight and later died following the "systematic neglectful

care" she received at The home's owner, Yousaf Khan,

was jailed last year after admitting The Safeguarding Adults Board says

protecting vulnerable adults The M1 has been closed in both

directions through Leicestershire after a crash earlier this

afternoon. It follows a collision between a lorry and a car just after

5pm, with one vehicle crossing the central reservation. There were no

serious injuries but both carriageways have been closed

between junctions 21 and 20 because of fuel spillage. The roads are

unlikely to reopen for some time. Next tonight, the moving tale

of the folk musician, his violin and his search

for the soldier who first owned it. When Sam Sweeney, of

the best-selling folk band Bellowhead, discovered the soldier

had died near Ypres in World War I, The show is coming to Derby in June,

the month 100 years ago Sam is playing his fiddle at the

graveside near Ypres of the soldier who first created it. It is a very

special instrument. Out of all of the violins I tried that day, this

was the one that spoke to me. I often think of violins as Harry

Potter's one shot. There is very often one for you. And I was playing

a very loud and brash fiddle in my band at the time. It was a big,

folk, loud instrument, and this has a very quiet, sombre tone. So you

set about discovering the background of the fiddle, didn't you? I did,

and Sam brought it home. It has a maker's name inside. The first thing

I went to was the 1911 census, and the very same signature was written

on the census. So I knew we had the right man. And the second thing was

the War Graves website. Just to see when he died. 90 years later, the

history inspired the new owner of this filing, Sam. We created this

show called Made In The Great War, which is what the sticker says in

the violin. It follows the story of Richard and the violin all the way

to his death and beyond. Through this funny bit of coincidence, all

this incredible stuff has happened. And it's a great honour to be the

owner of this amazing violin. The story behind one violin. So

amazing. Beautiful. It is. Let's go to a lady who is always in

tune. Natalie with the sport! Thank you.

First, Leicester City manager Craig Shakespeare believes Leicester

can keep hold of their best and brightest players,

despite not being able to offer European football next season.

The Foxes' fairy-tale Champions League campaign

came to an end against Atletico Madrid last week.

But Shakespeare says even though their run in Europe is over,

his best players want to stay in the summer.

The priority right now, though, he says is staying

focussed on tomorrow night's clash at Arsenal.

Probably the bigger carrot is the Premier League and I've said all

along we aren't safe, and even when we are mathematically safe, if that

arises, we have to make sure we try to win every game, because the

competitive nature of football and of me, the players, that has to be

the motivation, and that won't stop till the end of the season.

Staying with football, and like Nottingham Forest last

week, Notts County have now cancelled their end-of-season

The club say it's because of the decision on Friday

by owner Alan Hardy to put Notts County Ladies

Cricket, and two Nottinghamshire players have been picked

to try to help England win some major one-day

Batsman Alex Hales and bowler Jake Ball are both included

in the squad for the ICC Champions Trophy, which

Snooker, and at The Crucible in Sheffield, another good day

for our Jester from Leicester, Mark Selby.

Marco Fu has it all to do against our world champion Selby

Defending his title, Selby is 6-2 up in his quarterfinal,

which resumes tomorrow, but he says he hasn't peaked yet.

As yet, I don't feel as though I've piqued to the top of my game. But in

the way I think that's a good thing. If I had peaked in the first or

second round, the only way you can go from there is down, so I feel my

game has been fantastic but also not poor, so I'll be happy with that

into the quarterfinal. Now onto swimming, and Olympic

champion Adam Peaty is in a 29-strong British team

for this year's World Championships The team was announced today,

and in an exclusive interview with us before the announcement,

he revealed the secret behind his So this is equilibrium, obviously

the Olympic rings, and I'm a firm believer to perform at my best you

need to have balance in all areas, so I need to have balance at home,

in training and everything needs to be balanced. I need to keep

everything in check to make sure I get that performance, so that's

something I think helped me with that Rio gold, and that's why I've

got a tad too with the Olympic rings. -- a tattoo with the Olympic

rings. What does it mean to you to make the championships and go to

Budapest? Obviously it means a lot to me to qualify but this is just

round one. I'm already thinking about what I need to do to set me

apart from the others. This is just qualifications I'm not getting too

emotionally involved. So I'm getting back training. How fast can you go

this summer? I think on the 100, maybe get around that world record

again. Maybe below it, above it. Who knows? But again, I'm always

striving to be better. But when you go to a world champion -- will

championships, it's all about getting medals for GB and that's

what matters. -- World Championships. And then showing them

off to the kids! I know what it takes. It would be great but at the

same time, I know I'm not even at my peak yet. So when I reach the peak

I'll let you know! Adam is leading the team but there are lots of other

local swimmers from our patch in the squad, so good luck to them all. Of

course. Good luck. The weather now. Hail, showers, possibly sleet.

What's going on?! Yes, some snow, some sunshine and a

notably cool feel. We have been dragging that in through last night

and today. We did start with some brightness first thing this morning

but then quickly we saw those showers get going. Those are the

ones that have contained the hail and sleet. You can see that quite

nicely in our weather watcher photos. Such a variety! This was

sent in from this morning. Some quite dramatic clouds in Nottingham

later in the day, though. And we even got this little snowman sent in

from Derbyshire! As we move through this evening, we have a few late

spells of sunshine with a few showers to look out for. Then we

will see some more in the way of cloud. Some clear spells at times

with just the chance of seeing a few wintry showers, but it will be

chilly with lows of 2-3 overnight. It could be cooler in the

countryside so we could see a touch of Frost in rural areas. Tomorrow is

looking quite similar to today. A bit more in the way of cloud with

sunny spells developing and scattered showers. Those showers do

have the potential to contain the odd rumble of thunder, hail and some

sleep as well. Again, temperatures struggling with highs of nine. --

some sleet. We have this warm front sinking southwards and that will

introduce some warmer air, so we will see temperatures recovering

slightly as we go into the weekend, but also bringing some patchy light

rain. You can tell the cricket season has

started when you get hail and rain! You just don't know what to wear!

April! Always wear socks. Great advice! Join us for the late news if

you can. Goodbye.