05/01/2017 East Midlands Today

And now the news for the East Midlands, I'm Dominic Heale.

First tonight, a supermarket cashier has gone on trial accused

of preparing to fight for a terrorist group.

Ryan Counsell's a Muslim convert who worked on the tills at an ASDA

The jury heard that he booked flights, bought military

equipment and downloaded an Al-Qaeda bomb-making guide.

Our Social Affairs Correspondent, Jeremy Ball, has been

following the case at Woolwich Crown Court.

Earlier, he told me about the charges Counsell is facing.

We heard today that he was in the advanced stages of planning to

travel out to the Philippines to join and to fight for a terrorist

group who have pledged allegiance to the so-called Islamic State.

The prosecution said Ryan Counsell had

searched online for cheap flights from Nottingham.

He'd eventually booked a ticket from Heathrow and

was due to fly out only two days after his arrest last July.

He's 28 years old, as we've heard

He is married with a young child and he worked

here on the tills at ASDA in Hyson Green

in Nottingham and lived just a few streets away

from there and when the police raided his home we heard

they found a mass of extremist material,

including Islamic State beheading videos

and an Al-Qaeda article headed Make A Bomb In The Kitchen

They also found military equipment and clothing designed to

protect against shrapnel from explosions and some of that was

found in his child's bedroom, packed into a suitcase.

Ryan Counsell told the police that he was travelling out to the

Philippines but that was for aid work.

As for those extremist documents and videos, he said that

was for academic research, designed to help him counter extremism.

As for the military equipment, he said that was

for a game called Airsoft, that is similar to paintball,

and he has denied for separate terrorism charges.

An operation which saw armed police patrolling

parts of Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire

It was in response to the terror attack on a Christmas market

in Berlin, which left 12 people dead.

The patrols here concentrated on crowded and busy spaces,

such as shopping centres and sports venues and lasted for two weeks.

Senior police officers say they can't rule out further

An investigation's started following the discovery of

The grey mare was found last night by a woman walking her dog

near Watchwood car park off Gravelly Hollow in Calverton.

The RSPCA says it appears to have been dumped by someone and it's

appealing for the public's help to trace the owner.

A local charity is offering a ?2,000 reward for information.

Leicester's oldest-surviving department store is to close

Fenwick's has been in business on the corner of Beever Street

Its owners are blaming a shift in customers' loyalties and online

A Leicester shopping institution, priding itself

on quality and reliability for over a century.

Built in 1880 as the store Joseph Johnson Co,

Today came the announcement it could close as soon as March, a sad day

Over the years, you know, we have grown to

love Leicester, and the people of Leicester, and the people who work

for us, who are all really dedicated.

This is one of 11 stores in a nationwide chain

They were given the bad news this morning,

news that for some could end a career spanning decades.

I have been store director for 20 years and many

members of staff have been a lot longer than 20 years.

We have tried our hardest, it's such a sad day.

The closure's being blamed on the rise

of online shopping, and a fall in customers, diverted,

say those in charge here, to places served

Once, this was a thriving retail area

Now customers are heading to different

centres like Highcross and Fosse Park on the outskirts of the city.

The City Council, meanwhile, says the area is seeing

It's confident new uses will be found for the building and the area

It is, of course, not the first big high-street casualty,

leaving customers feeling a sense of loss again.

Sorry to see another big player in the middle go.

I think it is a great shame, it is a lovely building as well.

You don't expect someone like that to

The group is now changing the way it does business

and about to provide a new online offering,

allowing Leicester shoppers to contine shopping.

A campaign's underway to honour munition workers

from World War One and Two - including those who

Staff at the Nottingham factory were amongst those known

as the Canary Girls because of the way toxic chemicals

Nearly 140 were killed in an explosion there in 1918

The campaign is being led by Conservative MP Bill Wiggin,

who wants a special veteran's medal created to honour

The chairman of the Derbyshire-based firm Sports Direct has survived

a second vote by shareholders over his future.

It follows a meeting last year at which there were calls

for Keith Hellawell to stand down following revelations about

Despite more than half of independent shareholders

voting against him today, he managed to secure 81%

of the overall vote to keep his position,

thanks largely to owner Mike Ashley's backing.

Shareholders have been expressing their disappointment.

It's very unusual to see this level of voting against any individual

director and I think it is time that the company really listened

to what its shareholders are saying and realise, yes,

Mike Ashley is the entrepreneur behind this brand but there

are other shareholders with a voice

and an opinion and who are very concerned.

Next, the challenges facing businesses as Britain prepares

to begin the formal process of leaving the European Union.

Companies which export their goods will be keeping a particularly close

With that in mind, our political reporter, Peter Saull,

spent the day at a small car-maker in Nottinghamshire.

Designed and built in the Nottinghamshire countryside,

2016 saw record sales of new cars and this manufacturer is hoping

Not many people have heard of us at the minute but the brand,

We want to be seen and known world wide with some of the major

All of these cars are manufactured right here in Ollerton

and sent all over the world, so what potential problems

Will it be a comfortable ride for businesses like these?

The referendum divided the two directors here.

Our exports are up which are really keen about,

We really are showing concerns now about what will happen in Europe

in the next couple of years and I think that this is the time

that the government has to tell us what is going to happen.

Today a chance to put those concerns to the local MP who is also

What we can't do is scupper our negotiating hand so the government

has to go and get the best deal it possibly can

and at that point then, you know, we can then

go and trade not only with our European

colleagues hopefully but colleagues all over the world

so it is about getting the best deal for these companies and we can't do

that by announcing what we're trying to achieve before we go

In less than three months' time Britain will embark on the most

complex negotiations in living memory.

The chequered flag will be waved on our membership of the EU but even

the Prime Minister admits there will be bumps on the road.

And an artist from Nottingham has turned his hobby

into a full-time job - building bespoke Scalextric models.

Tom Hall has won commissions from customers demanding a range

of scaled-down versions of famous motor racing circuits such

Orders for his intricate toy tracks are flooding

So, it's goodbye from me but, with your weather now, here's Lucy.

We have got another cold and frosty night on the way. A little bit less

cold than yesterday but still pretty cold. Today we saw plenty of wintry

sunshine around and some lovely blue skies. We saw a lovely orange sunset

in Rutland. Tomorrow, it looks like there will be a change with more

cloud and outbreaks of rain and drizzle. The bigger picture RDs

weather fronts coming across the Atlantic that will go towards the

south-east and bring cloud and outbreaks of rain. That will leave a

legacy of cloud through the weekend. This evening and overnight there

will be widespread frost and some patches of freezing fog.

Temperatures will fall just below freezing. Colder in the countryside.

That weather front pages and from the north and that will bring more

in the way of a breeze so any patches of frost and fog lifting

quite quickly. Cloud and patchy rain around in the afternoon. By the time

we get to the weekend, we have plenty of cloud around on Saturday.

Temperatures slightly milder but it Temperatures slightly milder but it

creeping up by a notch or two, 10, maybe nine Celsius. Here is Louise

with the national picture. Won't it cold and frosty this

morning? The coldest night of the winter so far in England. Down to

minus 8 Celsius. But widely, the temperatures below freezing. Through