16/06/2011 North West Tonight

Good evening. Welcome to North West Tonight. Our top story: Jailed for

eight months. The juror who contacted a defendant on Facebook

collapses as she is sent to prison. It is important the integrity of

our justice system and jury system is maintained and preserved.

As the High Court issues a warning on social media, we speak to the

other defendant in the case. Also tonight: The increasingly thin

blue line. As police forces slash their budgets, one chief constable

asks what you would cut. The size of the reduction we're facing means

we have to fundamentally change the way that we do policing.

This time last year, this school in Coniston was failing. Now it has

been given a clean bill of health. And chatting to the chatty man.

Alan Carr on how his comedy career kicked off here in the North West.

Joanne Fraill was a respectable member of her community who had

never been in trouble with the law. Then she was called to do jury

service and that has now resulted in her going to jail. She broke the

rules of jury service by discussing the case outside of court. In fact,

she discussed it with one of the defendants using the social

networking site Facebook. Tonight, she is paying the price. Here is

our Chief Reporter. Last year, she was been called to

court to perform her civic duty as a juror. Today, Joanne Fraill

arrived at court knowing she wouldn't be leaving through the

front door. A judge had warned her she would be going to jail for

breaking the golden rule which governs all jurors. It is important

that the integrity of our justice system and jury system is

maintained and preserved and seen to be so. When Joanne Fraill was

sworn in as a member of the jury on a major drugs trial here at

Manchester's Minshull Street Court, the judge warned them all not to

discuss the case with anyone outside of their number. And they

were told they should resist the temptation to conduct their own

research on the internet. It is a standard warning. But it is one

Fraill ignored and she is now paying a heavy price. She used

Facebook to strike up a conversation with this woman, Jamie

Sewart. She was a defendant acquitted by the jury. But as that

jury considered other verdicts in the case, she and Fraill exchanged

comments about those deliberations. Today at the High Court, Fraill was

jailed for eight months. Sewart was given a suspended sentence. She

expressed sympathy for the disgraced juror. I feel sorry for

the woman. I seriously do. She has a mother. I felt for her.

courts hope this case will convince others of the need to respect the

rules of jury service. There have been warnings over the last 12

months for -- from the Lord Chief Justice that if anyone was caught

doing this, they would be caught -- Dame -- there would be severe

consequences. We are joined now by Jamie

Sewart'solicitor, Keith Dyson. Was she aware she was doing something

wrong? She had just been acquitted and she was not sure if it was

genuine. Later on, she had misgivings about whether it was

genuine. At the time of replying, she thought it was the juror who

was showing some empathy for what she had been through. There was a

series of quite sure Facebook messages between them. Then your

client went on to ask about how the deliberations were going. She must

have known that was irregular and dangerous? It was an ambivalent

question. Joanne Fraill made a mess tent -- made mention of what is

going on. If you start to delve into what is going on in the jury

room, it is dangerous. Briefly, their conversation but this.

did she denied contempt of court? She did not think the question that

he asked was calculated to ascertain what it had been

happening in the jury deliberation room. Is that you review? That was

her view of it. The question was asking when the case was likely to

finish. The response that then was received touched upon matters that

had been discussed in the jury room and that is completely prohibited.

With the prevalence of iPhones and jury members having a lot of time

on our hands, it is surprising this has not already happened. It is

quite a dangerous situation. If you run a jury and you start to discuss

what has taken place in the jury room, you are run very thin ice.

People on the receiving end of the conversation are also on thin ice.

That was only part of the story. Thank you.

A man has been charged in connection with the murder of

Giuseppe Gregory. Moses Mathias was arrested in Amsterdam and was flown

back to the UK today. 16-year-old Giuseppe died two years ago after

being shot outside the Robin Hood Pub in Stretford. Two teenagers are

already serving life sentences for his murder.

Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport has been told it needs to do more

to meet the nutritional needs of some elderly patients. Inspectors

found one patient lost 12 pounds in 17 days and another was left

without a drink for several hours. Stockport NHS Trust says most

patients are happy with the food, but it has taken action.

Chorley Council is appealing for the names of vandals who caused

thousands of pounds of damage at Astley Hall to be given to the

police. On Tuesday evening, more than 20 panes of glass, dating back

hundreds of years, were smashed by teenagers throwing stones at the

building. Final approval has been given for a

massive windfarm in the sea off Barrow, which will double the

number of turbines there and create hundreds of jobs. The West of

Duddon Sands windfarm will lie further out to sea than the

existing sites off Walney Island and provide energy for up to

300,000 homes. An inquest jury has decided a

break-down driver who died attending to a car on the M60 was

unlawfully killed. Denis Livesley from Oldham died when a car

ploughed into the back of his recovery truck. The coroner said he

would write to the police and Highways Agency to see if they

could do more to help recovery workers.

The whole family has been devastated by this death. The

inquest has provided answers as to what happened on the day he died.

We want lessons to be learned from the mistakes that were made, so

that no one else doing the job that he did dies in the same

circumstances. Fewer bobbies on the beat or more

station closures. They are among the choices facing Greater

Manchester Police as it looks to save �134 million over the next

four years. The force says it needs to lose about 3,000 staff after its

budget was cut by 4%. And it is a similar picture across the region.

Merseyside is looking at cuts of �66 million by 2015. Lancashire, 42

million. Cheshire, 35 million. Cumbria, 19 million. Last night,

Greater Manchester Police held the first in a series of public

meetings to gauge residents' views on where to make the cuts. Our

reporter was there. Every Year in his 34 year career,

police have enjoyed ever-bigger budgets, and to allow. So, at

Stockport Town Hall, the Chief Constable invited members of the

public to see the scale of the task ahead. These are the cuts that they

are discussing. �134 million. That means one quarter of staff going in

the next four years. Just short of half of those will be officers. The

question is, will they be able to deliver these cuts and still

achieve the cuts in crime that they have done it in 10 years -- over

the last 10 years? We have to fundamentally change the way that

we do policing. That is not about giving an easier life to criminals.

He hoped to get the public on board. They have got to do this. I do not

think you can make cuts without having an effect on crime. The key

message was this. Don't get hung up on the number of officers. Instead,

what they're very. I am worried about police numbers and I will

continue to be worried about police numbers. His predecessors said that

we needed more police officers on the beat. What about statistics?

The kind of statistics that tell us that crime is falling in

Manchester? How many people believe those statistics? That is

interesting. Nobody in the meeting trusts crime statistics. We put a

huge amount of effort into collecting statistics, but nobody

here trusts them for all stop he thinks they can make cuts and

protect the service. A seemingly impossible challenge.

We would like to know what you would cut. You can contact us on e-

mail, [email protected], Twitter, @bbcnwt, or

Facebook.com/bbcnorthwesttonight. People in parts of Tameside say a

stench which has been seeping into their houses for months has got so

bad there are days when they have to leave their homes. The bad odour

has been traced to a chemical leak which happened at a local factory

more than 25 years ago. Our reporter is at the site in

Stalybridge now. This is a detergents factory. At

the time of the leak, a different company operated from you. The

smell has been intermittent since then. The current operators of the

side say they're working hard to try to get rid of the bad smell

which affects residents, even a couple of miles away.

This family have lived here for 8 mac years. They say the bad smell

pervading their home has got steadily worse. I cannot sit in

here, when it is bad, which has a lot of the time. We have been

confined to an upstairs bedroom. work from home and some days it has

been so bad that have had to leave the house. Other residents agree.

It is a chemical smell which I would compare to blue. On a bad day,

it is unbearable. You have to leave your house. There was a chemical

leak here in 1985. It is thought the current fumes are linked to

that week. There are now coming up into the cellars of some houses

through the drains. I have concerns that those chemicals are still down

there and they might migrate someone else. I will be speaking to

the council and ask them to speak to the company, so they can bring

those chemicals from the trains up so that there are no longer a

problem. Last week, children were taken to hospital because of sore

eyes and headaches. Residents are considering moving elsewhere.

we could do is move, but we could not sell this house. Who would buy

a house that is full of solvent chemical smells? The company has

now appointed Public Health Consultants.

In a statement, they said they are working with the council and the

Environment Agency to try to do something about this. They have

washed out the sewers and had cameras down there. The next move

is to line up research of the sewer system. Everyone around you is

They collect your bins, they fill in your potholes, and take a chunk

of money every year. But what else do you know about what your local

authority does? For one day, Tameside Council in Greater

Manchester is publishing details of everything it gets up to on the

social network Twitter. Nina Warhurst has been following

progress. 50 departments and 5,000 employees,

and an annual budget of �365 million. These short Twitter

messages aim to show us exactly what the council are doing. At 6am,

a team responds to concern an elderly resident who has activated

a panic alarm. Later, a school minibus overheats, prompting a call

out from transport services. By 8am, the recycling team's already in

full swing. These are all ended on Tuesday. By Thursday, they are for.

How often is the team working? Every single day. By 10am, the

management at Ashton Market have tweeted about broken glass on the

floor, a new Italian deli due to open. As well as one crucial issue.

A few issues with the public toilets. Other tweets include an

alleged rat outbreak in Audenshaw, which actually turns out to be a

hedgehog. An unusual request for the crematorium team to arrange a

webcast of a funeral. And the council's mechanics are called on

to save the Stamford Bell. Today, you are one of today's Twitter

heroes. We heard about the breakdown at the park. Yes, we had

to repair it. It's all very well, but Tameside Council's just made

savings of �24 million, so what aren't they tweeting about?

don't want to impact on frontline services, so we are significantly

reducing management costs, back office services. Those are

difficult choices. The council says it wants public involvement in how

those decisions are made. You can tweet them, pick up the phone and

call. Or if you want to be really Still to come in North West Tonight.

Hello, I'm Alan Carr. Later, I'll tell you why you'll

find me chained to the Stretford Mall railings. And springing into

action. Special Olympics hopeful Omar gets some top tips from a

On the day the Education Secretary announced plans to turn hundreds of

failing primary schools into academies, one school in Cumbria is

celebrating its own turnaround. This time last year, Coniston's

only primary school was put into special measures after a series of

poor Ofsted reports. But now, with the help of a new head teacher,

it's been given a clean bill of health. Colin Sykes has been to see

All smiles in the playground at Coniston C of E Primary School. But

this time last year, it was officially failing, with poor

results and even worse morale. Basically, the children's behaviour

and morale and eagerness for learning was very low. Children

were not interested in learning. was a worrying situation. This is a

small community and we want a village school. We want to pull

together. Zena was brought in as acting head from a school in Barrow.

First job, to brighten things up. At the end of the year, everyone

will have been a VIP. The range of activities go beyond the curriculum,

like gardening and art. We all join in activities. A year ago, it

wasn't that good. We weren't confident doing our work. It was

gloomy but now everything has changed. Everyone can learn. One to

one sessions have been possible in a school with only 54 pupils But

raising morale has been important too. We have had support from

parents, governors, staff, the community. We have worked extremely

hard to pull this caught out of special measures without academy

status. The school's location has always been a bonus. Now it's got

the results to go with it too. Sport, and a campaign's been

launched at Westminster to make Sir Alex Ferguson a Lord. The

Manchester United manager was knighted 12 years ago, but now two

Manchester Labour MPs, Graham Stringer and Tony Lloyd, have

tabled a Commons motion, calling for the 69-year-old to be given a

seat in the House of Lords. The Liverpool International Tennis

Tournament got underway today, with Richard Krajicek and Greg Rusedski

taking to the court. The competition is used as a warm-up

event by some Wimbledon hopefuls. This year, we have focused on the

female agents. Martina Navratilova is here. And the last British

Wimbledon winner, Virginia Wade. Very much a Ladies' Day.

Olympic Games might still be more than a year away, but for some

athletes in the north west, their Olympics is just days away. The

Special Olympics, for competitors with learning disabilities, starts

in Athens a week on Saturday. A large proportion of Team GB is from

this region, including Omar Haddan, 23. Today, the Cheshire gymnast was

given a training session he'll never forget. As Richard Aaskam

reports. The a special coaching session for

one of the Special Olympics stars of. Try to focus on that corner to

hold your balance. Omar Haddan has been a gymnast since he was late.

Ahead of the biggest competition of his life he was invited to brush up

on his skills with the most successful British gymnast of all

time at her gym in Liverpool. giving him a few pointers ready for

Athens next week. He is full of enthusiasm, it inspires me. He

keeps going and going. Do you enjoy it? Yes, I am enjoying it. Omar is

part of a 215 strong team. 30 competitors come from the north

west. The pinnacle for athletes like Omar. 178 countries will take

part. Omar is determined to come out on top. Eight medals.

wanted eight medals! Six members of his family will cheer him on in

Athens, including his parents, brother and sister. We are also

proud of him, it is fantastic. He has done something massive with his

life and achieved something no one in our family has been able to.

our little staff. A young man who may well shine on the big stage in

Athens. Good luck. I hope he does really

Now it's time for the weather. It was a little bit better. But, if

you are out tomorrow, bring your wellies. We have had not too bad a

day, a mixture of sunny spells and scattered showers. I hope you made

good use of the sunshine because it is a completely different picture

tomorrow. A wet and breezy day courtesy of low pressure. Another

weather front is driving in a band of rain right into the evening.

Tonight, still some sunshine, in between showers. The showers are

fading away, leaving a dry light. Heading into dawn, the showers will

return along coastal areas. Elsewhere, some clear skies, and a

brisk westerly wind. Tomorrow morning starting cloudy with

showers. In the afternoon, the showers will bring longer spells of

rain, persistent at times, heavy in some places. Also, brisk southerly

breezes, brimming disappointing temperatures, highs of 16 Celsius.

For the weekend, staying rather unsettled. Low pressure is still in

charge, bringing scattered showers on Saturday. Sunday could be the

better day, temperatures not looking very good. Highs of 17

The north west has a fine record of producing great comedians. Of our

current crop, you would probably reel off Peter Kaye, Jason Manford

and John Bishop. Stand-ups who can sell out arenas right across the

country. But you could add this man to that list. People do drink too

much, don't they? Has anybody been to others don't and emergency on

Friday night? Have you seen the state of the people there? I

thought somebody had bombed Lidl. Yes, it's that chatty man, Alan

Carr. As a young man, he came to Manchester, worked in a call centre,

lived in Stretford, and launched his comedy career here. He's now

about to embark on a nationwide tour, which includes Manchester and

Liverpool gigs. When he popped in earlier, I asked him if he'd

managed to nip out for a quick shop in the Stretford Mall.

I have heard it has been knocked down. You are going to lead a

campaign to save it? I could chain myself to the railings. Let us

pretend you are. I used to spend so much time because I used to live

across the road. You played the clubs around Manchester. Yes, some

of the clubs aren't even there any more. It was amazing. You have done

pretty well for the son of a football manager who wanted him to

play professional football. Your dad did come up here and work with

Kevin Keegan at Manchester City. dad was always a bit, I watch him

to be a footballer. And I would become a dad, I'm going to be a

comedian. Why Dad heard about me doing my stand-up and Stuart Pearce

came up to him and went, can I get two tickets to see him? My dad was

like, what! He might be quite good, my son. You are about to launch of

into a grand tour around the UK. When I talked to John Bishop

recently and asked him what it was like to walk out when there are

13,000 people, he said he had no nerves at all. I am such a nervous

performer. I can't describe the amount of wind I have before I go

on. What! So people stay well away from you? Yes, yes. Hopefully that

goes away when you are on stage. is so funny when you watch the

telly now. The early days when I was living here. Mead, John Bishop,

Jason Manford, travelling across the Pennines. I always said, for

the first time in my life I was in the right place at the right time.

This massive, huge enthusiasm for stand-up comedy.

I could have heard more of him. We've had a big response to our

police cuts story. John Crook has emailed to say: "As a retired

police officer, I feel the Chief Constable should consider

approaching recently retired officers to see if they could do a

few hours on a voluntary basis." Charles Finnegan says: "If police

officers patrolled singly, they would cover more ground for the

same manpower, and be more tuned in to their patch and local