:00:08. > :00:10.And now the news for the East Midlands, I'm Quentin Rayner.
:00:11. > :00:18.First tonight, armed police have begun patrolling parts
:00:19. > :00:21.of the East Midlands in a bid to reassure the public following
:00:22. > :00:25.The officers will be out for the next two weeks over
:00:26. > :00:28.the festive period in Leicester and Nottingham, but not in Derby.
:00:29. > :00:35.Our Social Affairs Correspondent, Jeremy Ball, reports.
:00:36. > :00:38.Police firearms officers patrolling Nottingham's Christmas market.
:00:39. > :00:40.You can expect to see them at major sporting events
:00:41. > :00:47.So, what do the shoppers here make of it all?
:00:48. > :00:50.Reassuring to see them with guns but I wonder how effective
:00:51. > :00:53.it is if somebody wants to drive a lorry down a pedestrian walkway
:00:54. > :01:03.I think if people see that they are there, it will give
:01:04. > :01:12.I don't think bringing guns into the city of Nottingham
:01:13. > :01:15.or into any city is the right thing to do.
:01:16. > :01:18.It's more than a decade since armed police carried out routine
:01:19. > :01:24.Now they are part of a regional firearms unit who usually deal
:01:25. > :01:27.You will also see them in crowded places across Leicestershire,
:01:28. > :01:31.It is run by what is known as the East Midlands
:01:32. > :01:40.We have got no specific intelligence to suggest there is anything likely
:01:41. > :01:44.So this is solely a precautionary measure to provide some visible
:01:45. > :01:47.reassurance to the residents and also if in the very unlikely
:01:48. > :01:50.event that an incident did occur, the officers are in the right
:01:51. > :01:52.location with the right equipment and would be able
:01:53. > :01:59.It is a very unlikely event that happened in Berlin this week,
:02:00. > :02:04.a deadly trap attack on a Christmas market.
:02:05. > :02:07.It would be a deterrent and I think we have got to see it positively.
:02:08. > :02:10.These armed officers are just normal police officers with a firearm.
:02:11. > :02:12.They've gone through all the same training, they've carried out
:02:13. > :02:15.similar role to unarmed officers, so they are still approachable,
:02:16. > :02:21.they are doing their job and that is to keep us all safe.
:02:22. > :02:24.The UK's terrorism threat level are currently described as severe.
:02:25. > :02:28.There will be armed patrols on the streets of the East Midlands
:02:29. > :02:32.Derbyshire Police aren't involved because they have a separate
:02:33. > :02:35.firearms team but they say they are doing all the usual threat
:02:36. > :02:49.assessments at events where there are large crowds.
:02:50. > :02:51.In a separate development, police in Derbyshire have confirmed
:02:52. > :02:54.this evening that two men arrested and questioned on suspicion
:02:55. > :02:56.of terror offences earlier this month have been released.
:02:57. > :02:58.The men, aged 22 and 27, were arrested in Derby
:02:59. > :03:01.on the 12th of December by Counter Terrorism teams.
:03:02. > :03:03.Police say there are no grounds to press charges.
:03:04. > :03:12.A coroner has said that an observant driver should have seen a young
:03:13. > :03:14.Derbyshire man who died after he was struck
:03:15. > :03:17.21-year-old Halcyon Theuri fell into the road after getting
:03:18. > :03:21.He was hit by a taxi driver who failed to spot
:03:22. > :03:33.A 21-year-old chef described as hard-working, caring and loving.
:03:34. > :03:36.In August last year, Halcyon Theuri, drunk after a night out
:03:37. > :03:39.in Ripley with a friend, was on his way home when he was sick
:03:40. > :03:44.He was then involved in a scuffle at a car park with the taxi driver
:03:45. > :03:53.Minutes later, he fell or tripped into Wingfield Road in Alfreton,
:03:54. > :04:09.He died shortly after, lying on the road.
:04:10. > :04:11.The coroner said the cause of death was a head injury,
:04:12. > :04:16.She said Halcyon Theuri was struck a glancing blow by the car
:04:17. > :04:19.while lying in the road and though the taxi driver, Alan Bramley,
:04:20. > :04:20.didn't see the 21-year-old, an observant driver should
:04:21. > :04:26.She concluded that Mr Bramley's vehicle's faulty de-mister,
:04:27. > :04:29.lower visibility on the road tutor heavy rain, and a lack of signal
:04:30. > :04:32.from Halcyon Theuri as he lay on the road all contributed
:04:33. > :04:39.There are lessons to be learned concerning the
:04:40. > :04:43.Surrounding the care and upkeep of taxi vehicles and a duty of care
:04:44. > :04:45.they should have two passengers in vulnerable states.
:04:46. > :04:58.It does bring home the reality of the vulnerability of young people
:04:59. > :05:00.when they have been out of an evening drinking.
:05:01. > :05:03.I think it's fair to say that this is every parent's nightmare.
:05:04. > :05:16.That something will happen to their loved one when they are out.
:05:17. > :05:19.The coroner has said she will be writing to the taxi company
:05:20. > :05:21.where Alan Bramley was employed at the time about her concerns.
:05:22. > :05:25.He is now no longer working as a taxi driver and his vehicle has
:05:26. > :05:32.Dozens of people with learning difficulties, who've been
:05:33. > :05:34.incarcerated in institutions for years, are finally getting
:05:35. > :05:38.It's part of Nottinghamshire County Council's plan to move
:05:39. > :05:40.patients from secure units to independent living.
:05:41. > :05:42.One such former patient is 58-year-old Sally Fenwick.
:05:43. > :05:55.Going with her carer through her own front door,
:05:56. > :05:58.something for the last four years, Sally could not choose to do.
:05:59. > :06:01.Now though she has her own flat and an independent life with care.
:06:02. > :06:03.Sally was severely affected by a virus as a child,
:06:04. > :06:05.which left her with learning difficulties and
:06:06. > :06:08.It meant she spent four decades almost entirely inside secure
:06:09. > :06:25.So, that wasn't a nice experience at all?
:06:26. > :06:33.It has taken Dawn two years to get Sally into leaving the last
:06:34. > :06:37.institution and now to start enjoying a free life.
:06:38. > :06:40.The difference is now with Sally, Sally can choose
:06:41. > :06:43.Everything that Sally does on a daily basis is down
:06:44. > :06:47.Nottinghamshire County Council and Nottinghamshire City Council
:06:48. > :06:50.want dozens of people still in institutions out of them.
:06:51. > :06:53.It is part of a national review of secure care after the scandal
:06:54. > :06:55.of abuse revealed five years ago at the Winterbourne View
:06:56. > :07:05.Can county councils afford to do this for everybody who needs it?
:07:06. > :07:07.The county councils and the local authorities can't
:07:08. > :07:11.We are very committed to supporting the remaining number of people
:07:12. > :07:13.in long-stay hospital settings to move into the community.
:07:14. > :07:15.How do you feel about being here now?
:07:16. > :07:19.I like it very much because you can do what you like.
:07:20. > :07:22.And what do you think about the people who look
:07:23. > :07:32.The charity Mencap has long been calling for those
:07:33. > :07:33.with learning difficulties, like Sally, to have
:07:34. > :07:38.Earlier I asked Dan Scorer from Mencap, why it was so important.
:07:39. > :07:41.It is important because people want to have a life in the community,
:07:42. > :07:43.near their friends and family, like everyone else,
:07:44. > :07:46.and that is where they are safe, where their friends and family can
:07:47. > :07:50.see the quality of care that they are getting.
:07:51. > :07:53.People don't want to be living in institutional settings,
:07:54. > :07:58.far away from their friends and family, where they are at risk
:07:59. > :08:01.of things like over medication, restraint and being kept
:08:02. > :08:18.in isolation, which is what was happening in many cases.
:08:19. > :08:20.We have seen it work successfully in Sally's case.
:08:21. > :08:22.How concerned are you that the pace of change isn't fast enough?
:08:23. > :08:25.Well, we are concerned the pace of change hasn't been fast enough.
:08:26. > :08:28.This programme of work has been going now for five years,
:08:29. > :08:30.since the Winterbourne View abuse scandal was exposed in 2011.
:08:31. > :08:33.The NHS have now published a programme to close up to half
:08:34. > :08:36.of beds in these units by 2019, but is very welcome,
:08:37. > :08:39.and councils and the NHS are working together across the country to make
:08:40. > :08:42.that change happen but it can't come soon enough for families who have
:08:43. > :08:44.loved ones in these units who are incredibly worried
:08:45. > :08:47.about what is happening to them and who want them back
:08:48. > :08:53.Well, I think this involves the NHS and local councils having to work
:08:54. > :08:55.together to make sure that there is the right support
:08:56. > :08:58.for people in the community, the right professionals to support
:08:59. > :09:00.them, the right housing available for them and that
:09:01. > :09:04.Many people have been sent away, out of their area, to inpatient
:09:05. > :09:06.units because there haven't been the right services for them
:09:07. > :09:10.in the community and now that is what we are waiting for to be
:09:11. > :09:13.developed in many areas so that people can come out of these places
:09:14. > :09:26.and be supported back in their communities.
:09:27. > :09:31.I'll leave you with Kay with our weather forecast.
:09:32. > :09:36.Tomorrow it looks like we are set for a really windy day.
:09:37. > :09:38.We do have a yellow warning in force.
:09:39. > :09:43.We are expecting rain later as well and that is all part
:09:44. > :09:45.of Storm Barbara, but for tonight, it remains dry.
:09:46. > :09:47.Plenty of clear skies first but during the early
:09:48. > :09:49.hours of the morning, we will get more
:09:50. > :09:53.And then the breeze starts to pick up from the south-west.
:09:54. > :09:55.Temperatures down to about three or four degrees.
:09:56. > :09:57.So, it will be dry and relatively first thing.
:09:58. > :10:00.Still, well broken across southern parts but thickening
:10:01. > :10:08.The warning in force from 12 o'clock tomorrow.
:10:09. > :10:11.Gusts of up to 60 mph, especially as the rain starts
:10:12. > :10:14.to come through and that rain will be heavy for a short
:10:15. > :10:16.period but as you can see across more southern parts,
:10:17. > :10:18.it will not really reach us until later on,
:10:19. > :10:23.Highs of 10 degrees but given the strength of the wind,
:10:24. > :10:25.it won't feel that mild through the day.
:10:26. > :10:28.Now, Storm Barbara continues to rattle down to the south-east
:10:29. > :10:30.and that actually leaves us with a dry, bright, although breezy
:10:31. > :10:34.Temperatures will be a little bit fresher as well but it will stay
:10:35. > :10:39.We are just looking at a little bit more in the way of rain pouring
:10:40. > :10:42.through one that is part of a warm front which means temperatures
:10:43. > :10:46.Double figures, around about 13 degrees, 55 in Fahrenheit.
:10:47. > :10:48.But then a fresher feel for Boxing Day.
:10:49. > :10:50.That it from us here on the late team.
:10:51. > :10:52.I will leave you with the summary and then your national
:10:53. > :11:10.itself, it's not white, but it's warm. Temperatures could reach 15.
:11:11. > :11:16.I suppose you could say today was the calm before the storm. A winter
:11:17. > :11:20.chill, plenty of sunshine, but more wintry showers in Scotland, more
:11:21. > :11:23.snow over the higher ground. Some of this snow will melt for a time
:11:24. > :11:26.tomorrow because there is wind and rain coming in from the Atlantic. So
:11:27. > :11:32.we'll leave the Highlands behind, head out and look at the cloud here,
:11:33. > :11:35.this tell-tale hook of cloud, signifies a storm is developing,
:11:36. > :11:40.this is Storm Barbara, of course, it is a deep and deepening area of low
:11:41. > :11:43.pressure, rushing towards the north-west of Scotland.
:11:44. > :11:47.Steppingening the winds and bringing rain into the north-west by tomorrow
:11:48. > :11:51.morning. Ahead of it fairly quiet. Already the showers in the north
:11:52. > :11:55.less wintry. Fewer and clearer skies, across England and Wales for
:11:56. > :11:59.a time, it could be chilly. One or two mist and fog patches. Out to the
:12:00. > :12:02.west winds pick up later, cloud increases and the rain arrives and
:12:03. > :12:04.very quickly tomorrow across Scotland and Northern Ireland it'll
:12:05. > :12:05.turn very