:00:10. > :00:16.Welcome to North West Today. The headlines this Friday lunchtime.
:00:17. > :00:18.Merseyside Police begin a murder investigation, after a man
:00:19. > :00:26.Ten years after Sophie's murder, the charity in her name
:00:27. > :00:30.receives government support, to raise awareness of hate crime.
:00:31. > :00:32.And we catch up with Newton-le-Willows band Slydigs,
:00:33. > :00:41.back home after jet-setting with The Who.
:00:42. > :00:42.Police have launched a murder investigation,
:00:43. > :00:44.after a man was shot and killed in Merseyside.
:00:45. > :00:46.Officers were called to the Stanley Meat Market
:00:47. > :00:49.in Old Swan this morning, where the man was given first aid
:00:50. > :00:52.and then taken to hospital. He died a short time later.
:00:53. > :01:01.Andy Gill is at the scene for us this lunchtime.
:01:02. > :01:09.What more can you tell us about this incident? The police were called
:01:10. > :01:19.here just after eight o'clock this morning. Officers gave first aid to
:01:20. > :01:25.the victim, Thomas Baker, before he was taken to hospital, but he died
:01:26. > :01:30.later. He was shot in the head and chest. He was 43 years old and from
:01:31. > :01:34.the Everton area. The police describe it as a targeted shooting.
:01:35. > :01:44.This is the Stanley Meat Market in Old Swan. We were told the shooting
:01:45. > :01:51.itself happened in a premises called the Phoenix fitness centre. That is
:01:52. > :01:54.part of the building but a separate business from the meat market. It
:01:55. > :02:03.has been a gymnasium for a couple of years. Police say they are looking
:02:04. > :02:09.at CCTV footage. They are also appealing for witnesses and carrying
:02:10. > :02:15.out house-to-house enquiries. One neighbour told those that just after
:02:16. > :02:22.815, she had a very distinctive bang. The officers are here at the
:02:23. > :02:31.moment. You can see the seagulls behind me. Police are going to speak
:02:32. > :02:34.to journalists at police headquarters this afternoon, giving
:02:35. > :02:36.me be more detail about what happened and why it happened. Thank
:02:37. > :02:38.you very much. Greater Manchester Police say
:02:39. > :02:41.they are looking into the issues around the case of a violent
:02:42. > :02:44.paedophile who made a secret room in his home to conceal
:02:45. > :02:46.a girl he was abusing. Michael Dunn, from Redcar,
:02:47. > :02:48.raped and abused four girls over several years,
:02:49. > :02:50.including at a house in Mottram, where he created
:02:51. > :02:52.a compartment behind his fridge. He will be sentenced
:02:53. > :03:00.at a later date. There are more problems
:03:01. > :03:01.for financially-troubled Morecambe Football Club,
:03:02. > :03:03.with the players and staff not the second time that has
:03:04. > :03:07.happened since October. A board meeting is taking place
:03:08. > :03:09.at their home ground, the Globe Arena today,
:03:10. > :03:11.where it is understood Italian-American businessman Joseph
:03:12. > :03:19.Cala has provided a cash injection. A plan to turn Liverpool's Municipal
:03:20. > :03:21.Buildings into a four-star hotel The city council's former
:03:22. > :03:25.headquarters was put on the market, as the authority tries to find
:03:26. > :03:28.?90 million of savings over The proposal will be discussed
:03:29. > :03:39.by councillors next week. It is ten years since Sophie
:03:40. > :03:41.Lancaster was murdered in Bacup, when she was targeted
:03:42. > :03:43.by youths simply because Now, the foundation set up
:03:44. > :03:47.in her name has received government funding, to support
:03:48. > :03:49.its work in raising awareness about hate crime.
:03:50. > :03:51.Sophie's mum, Sylvia Lancaster, is the driving force behind
:03:52. > :03:55.the foundation and is here now. What will this funding
:03:56. > :04:08.allow you to achieve? There was the background to this.
:04:09. > :04:26.What happened with Sophie. She had gone out on a Friday evening
:04:27. > :04:36.and we met another group. He went into the park with were attacked by
:04:37. > :04:42.five boys. She died 13 days later. You have taken this horrendous
:04:43. > :04:48.experience and Tom it into a very positive legacy. Know you have
:04:49. > :04:55.funding. What is the clocks of the work the foundation is doing? We are
:04:56. > :05:01.seen as an anti-bullying charity as well as working on heat claim. That
:05:02. > :05:07.is about raising awareness about prejudice and intolerance.
:05:08. > :05:19.What will this funding allow you to achieve?
:05:20. > :05:30.We have been able to produce the film, which won me a couple of
:05:31. > :05:35.awards. We wanted to develop an educational resource rooms. We
:05:36. > :05:41.wanted develop drama and English, so we can take it into schools and use
:05:42. > :05:46.it in that way. We are also looking at working with the local councils
:05:47. > :05:48.and continue with the work we are already doing.
:05:49. > :05:50.In the ten years since Sophie's death, how have
:05:51. > :06:08.Obviously, there have been issues over since we voted to leave the
:06:09. > :06:12.European Union. There seems to be a lot of hatred towards Eastern
:06:13. > :06:18.Europeans, in particular, in certain parts of the country. Also,
:06:19. > :06:20.homophobia is a big issue. Thank you very much for coming and good luck
:06:21. > :06:23.in the future. An up-and-coming band from
:06:24. > :06:25.Newton-le-Willows have been tipped for the top by none other
:06:26. > :06:28.than the world's loudest Slydigs have returned
:06:29. > :06:31.from an American and European tour with Pete Townsend
:06:32. > :06:32.and Roger Daltrey. Mark Edwardson has been
:06:33. > :06:44.catching up with them. Let me introduce the band. They are
:06:45. > :06:58.just back from a huge tour in North America with none other than The
:06:59. > :07:03.Who. How was it? Travelling around on the tour bus in America, it was
:07:04. > :07:15.the sort of dream that you held when you start a band.
:07:16. > :07:22.I am guessing there are a lot of stories you could tell was quite a
:07:23. > :07:29.few that you probably cannot! There was a lot of fun. There are some
:07:30. > :07:36.bits we not remember. It was this opportunity to go round America with
:07:37. > :07:45.The Who, it is something that we could only dream about. Of course,
:07:46. > :07:53.The Who had one of the most famous drummers in the world of rock music.
:07:54. > :08:01.Did you feel his presence? Yes, it was very special. You have got a
:08:02. > :08:11.very big year coming up. We want to take on the world. We have got some
:08:12. > :08:14.big things coming up. It will all be announced soon. Look forward to
:08:15. > :08:20.hearing about it. Good luck with gigs and there
:08:21. > :08:23.will be more on the band Here is the weather forecast,
:08:24. > :08:29.with Alex Hamilton. Good afternoon.
:08:30. > :08:31.It is quite a grey afternoon ahead. Looking at the chart,
:08:32. > :08:33.we can see this cold front So, we are expecting
:08:34. > :08:36.wet weather tonight, As for the rest of this afternoon,
:08:37. > :08:40.quite grey, lots of cloud around. A few hints of brightness,
:08:41. > :08:42.here and there. Still feeling chilly, with highs
:08:43. > :08:45.of just around 5-6 Celsius. As we go through the
:08:46. > :08:46.course of tonight, we begin to see this
:08:47. > :08:48.rain creeping in. Do take care, as there could be some
:08:49. > :08:52.spray on the roads and, possibly, also some wintry elements to that
:08:53. > :08:54.rain over higher ground. As we look towards tomorrow,
:08:55. > :08:59.that rain will clear out of the way. We are expecting a mixture
:09:00. > :09:01.of some brighter spells, variable amounts of cloud
:09:02. > :09:02.and some showers. I will leave you with the outlook.
:09:03. > :09:11.Milder temperatures on the way. We are back at 6.30pm.
:09:12. > :09:22.Goodbye for now.