29/07/2011 North West Tonight

Good evening. Welcome to North West Tonight. Our top story: A miracle

escape after a light aircraft crashes into houses near Barton

airfield and burst into flames. We were here from eyewitnesses and

have the latest live from the scene. Also: Over the points limit. How

hundreds of the region's motorists have dodged a driving ban.

Police think they have found the Lammy paintings stolen in a violent

robbery in Stockport. -- the LS Lowry paintings.

And how it Burnley's sound wizards have cast a magical spell over

Harry Potter and the Hollywood found -- film industry.

Also tonight, Tony is here with a reaction to Manchester City's

latest signing. Yes, they have spent �38 million

and finally landed Sergio Aguero. He looks like he is fitting in. He

hates hot weather and has Manchester United in his sights.

First, a light aircraft crashed into two houses in Salford today,

seriously injuring the pilot and his passenger. The plane exploded

in flames as it hit the houses shortly after take-off from Barton

Airport. Amazingly, those living in the homes escaped unharmed. Our

chief reporter is there. Yes, the scene here tonight is

fairly calm. There are fire crews but that does not pay in the

picture of what happened earlier. If you look around the other side

of this block of houses, you get some idea of the devastation caused

when that single-engine aircraft plummeted to the earth just after

lunch time today. It injured two people on board and caused panic

and mayhem here on the ground. The aircraft is owned by a flying

school which said today they are shocked and dismayed by what has

happened. That probably sums up the feeling in this community tonight.

Comfort and relief for those whose homes were hit by the plane. This

woman was in house when it happened. She was too upset to talk about it

but others did describe the moments that led up to mayhem. You could

see the plane was in flames. There was a big explosion.

REPORTER: You saw it on fire? What went through your mind? Oh, my

God. The wings wobbled and then it feared. As soon as the wings

bobbles and the height of the plane, as it came down so quickly, we

realised there was a problem. was a lot of smoke. Really bear

rink. -- bellowing. The plane came down between two houses, causing

extensive damage. I understand there was a man inside one of the

houses, who heard it and came out fairly quickly when the plane

impacted. He had the presence of mind to see two people trapped

inside the aircraft which was badly damaged and started to set on fire,

said he actually, assisted by two drivers... So two men in the plane

were injured but miraculously, no one up on the ground was. The fact

these houses are so close to the Barton airfield has caused some to

raise concerns about safety over the years. Inevitably, those

concerns have surfaced again today. The residents around here... Why do

they fly over at the property is so low? Questions are for another day.

Today there was just relief that it was not a whole lot worse.

I am joined now by an aviation expert. Some people concerned about

safety because the houses are so close to the airfield. This is an

airfield that existed much longer than many of the houses around here.

I do not think they should be concerned. Yes, there is an

increase in flying from the airfield but there is -- it is

pretty safe. This will be the subject of an investigation by the

Civil Aviation Authority. What will they look for? A bunch of things.

Including maintenance of the aircraft, the aircraft

investigators will want to go through the maintenance schedule to

make sure the aircraft was in tip- top shape before being taken out. A

whole manner of other things as well. Air traffic conversations.

And the tower at Barton aerodrome, and a whole bunch of other things

as well, including who happened to be at the controls as the aircraft

was taking off. Do these aircraft at a black-box recorder? No, these

are light aircraft. Black boxes do not exist on these sorts of

aircraft, so therefore it does mean pay very detailed examination of

the wreckage. Thank you. That is the situation here tonight. Those

two men injured and in hospital. But as we said before, it could

have been a whole lot worse. Motorists in the North West are

driving with up to 30 point on their licences, according to

figures obtained by the BBC. That is nearly 2000 people in the region

that have 12 or more points but still have not been banned. ANA --

1 road safety charity says that is shocking.

Yes, you might have been under the impression that getting 12 points

on your licence led to an automatic six-month ban, but not necessarily.

We requested these figures from the DVLA under the Freedom of

Information Act and they showed that over 1,700 people in the North

West had 12 points or more on their licence but have not been banned.

One motorist in the Blackburn area is still driving on 30 points. And

it is all within the law because courts have the discretion not to

ban drivers if it would cause someone exceptional hardship, for

example if they would lose their job and not be able to charge --

take care of their family, or take care of a disabled relative. Every

case is different and it is important for the courts to have

discretion. If you take that away we would not lead lawyers or

magistrates, we would need robots. A road safety charity has called on

the courts to take a tougher stance. David from Wirral decided to become

a driving instructor after his son Nathan was run over and killed by a

car. He now represents the charity RoadPeace. If we had 12 points and

you lose a licence and that was stuck to for everybody, including

to the point where they would ludes -- learned their lesson. When you

can go beyond that, for whatever reason, it makes a mockery of the

whole point. Joining me now from Liverpool is the chairman of the

Magistrates Association. Art magistrates to soft? Many people

will be a standard-bearer over 1,700 people driving around here

with more than 12 points, one with 30 points. We have to be very

careful how we use these figures. Those figures relate to the last 18

months and one of the things we have discovered as magistrates, and

raised with the Ministry and the DVLA, was that there is inaccuracy

in recording points award by the court on the computer licence held

at the DVLA. In some cases, we know that fixed penalty officers who

were writing the points on the paper licence were not informed --

informing the DVLA. We know that there have been problems with

transmission of data from courts to the DVLA. So in that 1,700, there

may be a number where... They have reached the 12 points but it is not

on the licence that is put before the court when the court makes the

decision. But there are still a lot of people with more than 12 points

driving and this is because, presumably, it is all down to the

magistrates' interpretation of what is exceptional high it -- hardship.

One magistrate will interpreted differently from another. There are

guidelines. Exceptional, the first important word. And hardship in

relation to the driver, but also, it could be the impact on those of

ran the driver. Members of the family. Or, if they owned a small

firm, the impact on the workers. They have not committed the offence.

Thank you very much. More news from the North West. A

former councillor from Cumbria has been jailed for ten years for sex

offences against three boys. 65- year-old Tony Brunskill admitted he

had abused a boy in Lancashire in the 1970s and groomed and abused a

Cumbrian boy in the last three years. He also pleaded guilty to

indecently assaulting a third boy. The judge at Carlisle Crown Court

said his behaviour was disgusting. 72-year-old Cecil Coley, arrested

on suspicion of murder after a stabbing at his shop in Old

Trafford on Tuesday, has been released. He has been bailed until

September said police can carry out further inquiries. 30-year-old Gary

Mullins died from stab wounds. It is thought he was one of a number

of men who tried to rob the florist. The chief executive of Arrowe Park

Hospital, Len Richards, is leading -- leaving his post. His management

skills have been criticised by MPs and a hospital staff. At a public

meeting last night, industrial action was threatened unless

changes were made. Mr Richards will be taking up another post in the

NHS. He is four years since valuable

paintings and drawings by LS Lowry were stolen on a raid in a house in

Stockport. A man was jailed but the art could not be found. But it

looks like the mystery has finally been solved. Police think paintings

seized from a house in Merseyside is the missing collection.

Be paintings and drawings believed to be the missing collection were

found at a house in this street in Halewood. The Lowrys are worth �1.7

million. The artworks, 14 in total, were found by detectives

investigating organised crime. They have arrested two men and charged

them with handling stolen goods. One of them, who lives in Halewood,

is 41-year-old Malcolm Shields. The second, a 31-year-old man, Kevin

Mullah, of no fixed address. They have appeared before magistrates in

Liverpool and remanded in custody until next Thursday. The stolen art

works belong to an 11 -- a dealer, Mr Aird. They include The Viaduct

and Tanker Entering The Tyne. Larry had been a friend of Mr Ed's family.

Four years ago, a man pretending to be a postman threatened Mr Ed's

wife, Louise, with a knife as the art works were stolen from their

home in Jill Hulme. I was asleep at the time and I heard her screaming.

He held a knife to my throat. man with the knife was Casey Miller.

He was caught and jailed indefinitely in 2009. But the

whereabouts of the paintings remained a mystery. It could take

another three weeks, according to Merseyside Police, to confirm that

the our words found here are the missing Lyris.

Jim Swift was on a holiday in Venice when he knew something was

wrong with his wife. After a day out, she could not recall a thing

they had done. She was only 58. It was early onset dementia. Within

the space of a few years, she has become completely dependent, on Jim

and the their Admiral Nurse But North West Tonight has learned that

Bolton is to scrap the pioneering nursing service, meaning Jim will

have to cope alone. Jayne Barrett has been to meet the couple.

John Swift was once a head teacher. A few years on, she cannot talk,

she cannot use a knife and fork, she is in Continent. One of think

kept the family going, there Admiral Nurse. She has given me

strength. But here in Bolton, Admiral Nurses are being axed.

think it is probably about saving money but I do not think the public

realise this is a terminal disease. These people cannot speak up for

themselves. There are only four places in the North East that have

Admiral Nurses. Now Bolton is going, it might be the first but the fear

is will they be the last? Day-by- day, literally, I am slowly losing

the army. John Suchet has been one of the highest profile advocates of

the service. He got an Admiral Nurse when his wife was diagnosed.

I have a wonderful man who is an Admiral nurse who is available to

meet purely because of the borough of London that a living. It is a

postcode lottery. Bolton is only the second area window of to scrap

the service. I met a man from Dementia UK. They train Admiral

Nurses. Shocked and disappointed, on behalf of the carers, because

this is the only specialist nursing service for the carers of people

with dementia. In a statement, the Mental Health NHS Trust says like

many they have had to make financially difficult decisions.

They will now switch to a generic carers network. They do not realise

that they are irreplaceable. It is a system that Jim says will not

come close to the specialist care he has come to rely on.

Still to come in North West Tonight: How one Burnley business

cast a spell over Harry Potter. And join me at a sand martin hotel

in Lancashire. Hands up if you have seen the final Harry Potter film.

The Deathly Hallows Part Two has smashed box office records, taking

more than �26 million in its first week. And some of that movie magic

was made by a business in Burnley. In fact, AMS Neve has cast a spell

over four of five of this year's Oscar-winning films. Nina Warhurst

has been to see why Hollywood came calling.

You would not believe some of the sounds that have come out of this

quiet room in Burnley. They start setting the standard here in the

1970s, when Mr Crabtree designed a small bump for his own band which

he drove to Liverpool and Paul McCartney. James Cameron refused to

begin making avatar until the work was done here. Do you still find it

exciting when you watch a Hollywood blockbuster and think, that is a

little bit of Burnley in there? My wife goes bonkers because we

watched the ten-minute end credits just to look for the people we know.

These two desks were made specifically for George Lucas

around 12 years ago and every time they need and have great, they are

sent back over from the Skywalker ranch in California to burn it.

These desks have been used on Black Swan and other famous films.

Sometimes it just grabs you and gets the hairs on the back of your

neck standing up. So if you are one of the millions

planning to see Harry Potter this weekend, remember, those magical

sounds were helped along by some wizards not far from you.

All the best things come from Bern! A hotbed of talent! -- from

Burnley! Tony is here with the sport. The

richest club in the world, Manchester City, now has the most

expensive player, Sergio Aguero. What can they expect? A 38 million

pound bill. What they will not want is what they got from their last

most expensive pair, Robinho, who was a great flop. Eger it has a

great goalscoring record from Independiente in Argentina and

Atletico Madrid. City fans will get their first look at him this

weekend. He already seems to be a fitting in quite well. Fans are

snapping up his shirt. He says he The fans are happy to have him and

at last city have an Argentinian who is happy to be in Manchester.

And one with his eyes already fixed For the last two summers, Sergio

Aguero has been linked with Manchester United but it is their

neighbours who have landed him. So what do we know about Sergio? He's

23 years old, scored 74 goals in 175 games for Atletico Madrid, he

is nicknamed Kun because of his resemblance to the Japanese cartoon

character. And most famously, his father in-law is Diego Maradona.

What does the first on of Tinnion to make an impact in English

football make of the latest arrival? -- the first Argentinian?

He is an ambitious young man. He wants to be in a top club, a top

team. So yes, he will be Arif Habib. He has been waiting in there for an

hour to get that done. It is well worth it. In an era of big-money

signings here, this is the biggest here yet. Sergio Aguero is the

biggest yet. With the transfer fee and wages, he could end up costing

city �90 million. If he helps them topple United then everyone here

will consider that money well spent. More men on the move now and Bolton

have completed the signing of Burnley duo Chris Eagles and Tyrone

Mears. Blackpool look set to lose one of last season's Premier League

Stars. They have agreed a deal with QPR up for a DJ Campbell. Southpaws

were met Fran Halsall missed out on a medal by just 6,100s of a second

at the World Swimming Championships in Shanghai. She finished fourth in

Salford City Reds may be fourth from bottom in Super League but

when they play Leeds at home tonight, fans and players can only

see great things ahead. The club had their Super League status

confirmed for another three years this week. They will start next

season in their brand new Barton Stadium and a new coach, Australian

Matt Parish, is already getting to grips with the side. I am pleased

to say Matt joins us now live from the Willows.

It is your first home game. How are you finding it? It is great. You

have had your Super League status confirmed again but you got A-grade

see, which is kind of they must do better. What do plan over the

coming weeks -- you got a C grade. More consistent performances and to

try to win some games. Off the field, we need to get more involved

in the community. We have a pretty good marketing team and it is

pretty well driven, so I am sure if we all work together we can lift

that grading. The football director at the club says you speak your

mind and everything I have read about new says the same. How would

you describe your management tactics? I would like to be

described as a good bloke. I am pretty direct and honest.

finally, where are you looking for players? Celtic crusaders are

withdrawing from Super League. Is that way you were hoping you will

get some new recruits? necessarily. We are looking at a

couple peer. I hope all the Crusaders boys find jobs. We have

e-mailed one. I am redeemed at the guys in our squad and trying to

improve them. -- I am looking at the guys in our squad. Maybe I will

bring some over from Australia. home debut on BBC Radio Manchester

tonight. There will be regular updates from the Willows during

full commentary off the leaders Wigan's trip to Hull FC. Both games

Blackburn Rosa's -- Blackburn Rovers are starring in an Indian

television commercial for their owners.

They look like they are generally acting!

I think they are a genuinely Good evening. A lot of cloud around

today, courtesy of this weather front, dragging clouds down from

the north. Over the weekend, from tomorrow, high pressure is in

charge, hopefully bringing some sunshine. By Sunday, we have a

frontal system making its way from the Atlantic. That will bring cloud

on Sunday and may be spots of rain. Saturday will be the best day of

the weekend. If you fancy a day at the seaside, tomorrow is the day.

Temperatures maybe a touch cooler across the Isle of Man. Tonight,

clearer skies. The cloud will melt away and because we have Pierrette

skies in rural areas, we will see temperatures dropping to single

figures. For the start of your weekend, it will be a warm day

coming your way. Some bright spells to be had. It looks as if we will

start off any bright note, may be a sunny note through the morning.

Through the afternoon we will see the cloud bubbling up with very

light wind around through tomorrow. You are in for a pleasant day.

Right across the board, temperatures over 20 Celsius. For

Sunday, you can see it will be a fairly cloudy picture. Spots of

rain from time to time. A warm day. A new wildlife reserve in

Lancashire is welcoming its first overseas visitors, with the help of

some man-made intervention. They are not American or Japanese. They

are tiny sand martins. They are flocking to Brockholes near Preston

to check-in to their new purpose- built hotel.

It is hard to believe we are just a few hundred miles away from the M6.

-- a few hundred yards. The visitors' centre here is built on

the lake. It is already attracting thousands of visitors but to get

the sand martins here, Lancashire Wildlife Trust had to get inside

the brain of the bird. Sand martins are tiny. Their nests are a work of

art, designed to keep them safe from predators. This nesting wall

has been made especially for them. Every hole has a nesting chamber.

The bird is very safe. It is sealed. There is dry sand in there so they

can carry out their nesting activities. The birds can often be

found in quarries and will return to the same nest each year. After

flying 3000 miles from the south Sahara, they only live for a couple

of years and for their size, the journey is a marathon. They arrived

here and they are quite tired so the first thing they do is start

eating. Their traditional breeding sites are in those holes you see in

riverbanks. As the winter goes on, they often clubs and they have to

excavate new ones. Brockholes opened earlier this year and covers

about 180 acres with the River Ribble meandering through. There

are about what 60 sand martins here, 20 nesting in the specially-made

wall. The reserve only opened at Easter and the wall was opened

after that. The aim is to attract other new species here, too.

Do you think they get played the house martins back catalogue?

E-mails about people driving with over 12 points. One viewer says,

take their licence away. Another says, they should not do it. Simple.

Several more there but we have run out of time. I do want to say to