26/10/2011 North West Tonight

Good evening. Welcome to NorthWest Tonight with Ranvir Singh and Roger

Johnson. Our top story: The family of soldier killed in

Afghanistan say they're disgusted with the MoD wanting part of his

wages back. I've read the letter again to make

sure what I read was correct. I was shocked.

The MoD have apologised but his friends tell us it's diabolical

request. Also in the programme: A father whose daughter was

murdered campaigns for Clare's Law - the right to know if your partner

has a violent history. Save our stations, MPs' debate the

BBC's plans to make cuts to local radio.

And Sarah Mulkerrins is in Salford with a band gearing up for the gig

Lance Corporal Jordan Bancroft paid with his life serving Queen and

country in Afghanistan. But the Ministry of Defence says it paid

the Lancashire soldier too much in his final wage packet. The

government wrote to his family to reclaim just over �400 because he

was paid for a month in advance, but was killed before the end of it.

His parents say they're disgusted by the penny pinching. Our Chief

Reporter Dave Guest has the story. It's clear Jordan Bancroft's

parents are proud of their solider son who died in the line of duty.

But, they say, the Ministry of Defence has now insulted his memory.

It is like having -- stabbing your heart. It is disgusting. The family

received this letter telling them they were due a payment for holiday

time Jordan had spent in training. In fact, by pure chance, BBC

Northwest Tonight filmed Jordan on a training exercise in Norfolk the

year before he died. But, the letter went on to say just over

�400 would be deducted from the payment because Jordan died on

August 21st 2010, but he'd been paid until the 31st. I was

flabbergasted. I read the letter again to make sure what I read was

correct. I was utterly shocked. You could have knocked me over with a

further. He was killed on 21st August so what they are saying is

you owe them 10 days back pay because he did not work? It is not

the amount of money that is the problem. Money is not the issue, it

is basically the letter and the wording of it that were quite

shocking. -- that was quite shocking. Members of the Nelson

branch of the Royal British Legion, preparing for this year's poppy

appeal, share the family's sense of outrage. Words fail me. I think it

is diabolical. Jordan did not know that he was going to die in the

middle of August. In a statement, the Ministry of Defence says it

regrets any offence and distress caused to Jordan's family. It says

that personnel who were killed in the course of duty were dealt with

care. It says recouping overpayments were designed to

ensure feyness -- fairness to all. When Clare Wood met a man she liked

on Facebook, she had no idea he had a violent criminal past. George

Appleton became her boyfriend, and then her killer.

He strangled Clare at her home in Salford before hanging himself.

Ever since, her father has campaigned for police to be able to

tell people if their partners have a history of violence. Today he

welcomed a Government announcement that it's considering changing the

law. Naomi Cornwell reports. George Appleton had a habit of

contacting women through internet sites. When Clare Wood met him on

Facebook in 2009, she had no idea that he had a record of domestic

violence against previous partners. He went on to strangle her and set

her body on fire at her home in Salford, before hanging himself.

daughter was not a silly girl. Had she been given the opportunity to

find out if he had done these things in the past, I would think

that she would have done it so soon it would have made your eyes water.

These are the last pictures of George Appleton, caught on CCTV on

the day before Clare's body was found. The week before he'd smashed

down her front door. That earned him a fine and a harassment order.

But he had a history of harassing other women too. He'd had been

jailed in 2001 for breaching a restraining order. The following

year, he was sent to prison for harassment with fear of violence.

He was also before the courts for criminal damage at the home of a

former girlfriend. Now the Government's launched a 12-week

consultation on plans to give men and women the right to know whether

their partners have previous convictions for domestic violence.

I would like it that those who are in a domestic violent situation to

have this information available. But some civil liberties groups

have concerns about the plans. Given these powers are already in

place, we are very concerned that this new database is being proposed

and a lot of funding will go into a new framework which could have

serious unintended consequences. And a change in legislation could

come even sooner, an amendment to the Legal Aid and Sentencing Bill

introducing similar powers will be debated at Westminster next week.

The Prime Minister's been asked to apologise for comments he's claimed

to have made about the families of the 96 Liverpool fans who died in

the Hillsborough Stadium disaster. Yesterday, it was reported that

David Cameron compared bereaved families pressing for the release

of more information to "a blind man, in a dark room, looking for a black

cat that isn't there". A local MP today called on him to say sorry.

Will the Prime Minister take this opportunity to apologise to the

relatives and friends of the 96 Hillsborough victims for these

grossly comments? This government has done the right thing by opening

up the Cabinet papers to help those people find the closer they seek.

A manager at Trafford Housing Trust, demoted for making comments against

gay marriage, has received support from gay rights campaigner Peter

Tatchell. Adrian Smith from Bolton had his pay cut after he wrote on

Facebook that allowing gay weddings in churches was "an equality too

far". But Mr Tatchell believes the punishment was harsh. Adrian

Smith's comment was Martley homophobic and expressed a view

that is shared by most of the population, including myself. Their

former, I don't understand why Trafford Housing Trust have taken

this rather severe decision to demote him and effectively cut his

That is when a driver deliberately crashes into another vehicle to

claim compensation. An insurance for -- firm it says that one car

was involved in three cashes in one out. The other north-west hotspots

are a junction four of the and 61 in Bolton and a roundabout where

the All them bypass meet Manchester As budgets are squeezed, BBC local

radio stations could lose up to a quarter of staff. BBC Radio Cumbria,

one of five local stations in the region feeling the budget squeeze.

It's facing a 20% cut: 12 out of 37 staff may have to go. Professionals

who rely on the service are worried. It is all very well for those

making the decisions to say you can use Twitter and Facebook, but a lot

of people would not know how to do that. It really is very important,

it is a life blood for certain parts of the community.

What's caused this is the government's decision to freeze the

BBC licence fee and force the Corporation to take on extra costs.

But it's the BBC that's decided how to spend the money and local radio

is not at the top of the list. The BBC has refused an interview but on

her blog the Director of BBC News Helen Boaden writes: "Are the plans

But in a Parliamentary debate, MPs lined up to disagree. It is coming

up to a year when we had a terrible gas explosion. 200 families were

evacuated. BBC radio covered it and no one to praise that coverage.

defines who we are, as I'm sure it does in Cornwall. With the Minister

agree with me that it is not just a question of what money goes where,

it is a question of identity? the government seems broadly

supportive. Other members have suggested closing down services and

cuts to Radio 4 which would result in job losses. They suggested cuts

to be the beat very that the same consequences. The BBC's plans,

known as Delivering Quality First, are still open to public

consultation. Still to come in North West

Tonight: Steering his way to success across

the pond - the local driver heading for life in the Indycar fast lane.

And hitting the bull's-eye - the high-flying pooch with a penchant

for pub games. Has she brought you any luck?

of luck, she puts the opposition A huge collection of antique and

rare books housed in the property in Cumbria is to be restored.

Townend Hall in Troutbeck near Windermere is full of books

gathered over the centuries by the Browne family. Angelina Socci

reports. Showing signs of wear and tear,

these books were collected by many generations of a farming family.

Now owned by the National Trust, they are to be preserved for

generations to come. It is a painstaking process and to

restore this library: They are more than 1,500 books in this room,

dating from the 16th century up to 1942. That restoration task lies

with these two women. Minor repairs to tears in the pages. In this one,

it has been repaired down here and along the edges. Then things like

repairs to the corners of the books. Many of these books are extremely

rare and preparing them has only been made possible after the

National Trust received a grant of �14,000. Given the wide variety of

the books and their ages, we have one of the top three libraries

within the National Trust. But because the books have been well

used, lots of them have torn pages so it is important to repair those

things to give another few hundred years of life to the books.

And delving into this library also provides an insight into the

family's lives. I love this collection because there is so much

evidence to the people who read the books, you can feel their presence.

It has something very special about it. Also there is the fact that the

Browns were Bookbinders. Papering over the cracks will be a time-

consuming exercise. The whole project will take seven months to

complete. Now it was going be the

breakthrough gig for Manchester band The Slow Show. They were

selected from a pool of new bands to support Elbow in a special

concert in Manchester tomorrow night.

However on Monday, their van was stolen with the drum kit inside.

With no kit, it looked like they would have to miss their biggest

gig yet. But the show will go on, and Sarah Mulkerrins is with the

Well, that was Manchester band The Slow Show and a few days ago a

rehearsal like this wasn't possible. That's because their drum kit and

other equipment was stolen on Monday evening from outside drummer

Chris Hough's house. Chris, explain to us what happened? I was loading

up the van to come to Brussels on Monday night and my wife asked me

to go to the supermarket with her so I was begrudging. Eventually I

did go and when we returned an hour later, the van had disappeared and

they had smashed through the back doors of the House, the front doors,

and all the stuff had gone, some symbols and other things. He spent

25 years collecting this stuff? and it has taken a lot of money to

build everything up. A lot of people have been very good, Mike

Joyce offers a drum-kit for the gig we have got on Thursday which is a

big one for us. That is massive, isn't it? Yes, it is a great honour

to support Harare elbow. We were chosen by a panel from that tour

bans, we were lucky. You have gathered a new drum-kit in time to

make the gig for tomorrow. The guy from Manchester Drum Centre sorted

me out so I really appreciate that because we would have been up stuck.

We have a logo on the front as well. We will let you get back to

They sound good. I'm sure they will be fine regardless of their drum-

kit. It is becoming unedifying, someone

who Hardy plays is in the headlines. Mean Carlos Tevez by any chance?

Last night, City released the findings of their internal inquiry

over his apparent refusal to come off the bench against Bayern Munich.

Tevez has been found guilty of five breaches of contract. They include

refusing to play in a match, failing to follow his manager's

instructions and bringing the game and club into disrepute. He was

fined four weeks' wages, believed to be around �1 million, and has

already served a two-week suspension. And Tevez and his

advisers have reacted strongly to these findings? The BBC understands

Tevez's advisers are considering suing manager Roberto Mancini for

his comments after that match in Germany. They've always maintained

he didn't refuse to play and Mancini's comments could amount to

defamation of character. Here's what a sports lawyer thinks of the

chances of such an action succeeding.

This is probably part of a much wider picture between the club and

the player. Ultimately, this situation will be resolved, not

necessarily through the courts. I think there has probably been a

long history up something that is not quite right. Maybe this is the

latest chapter in that affair. And it's not over. Tevez does have

the opportunity to appeal. Now, let's get back to football. While

Bolton Wanderers and Burnley bowed out of the Carling Cup last night

it was back to business for Manchester United whose fourth

round tie took them down into the Football League, from where there

were loads of goals for our sides too.

Chalk one up to the reserves, Sir Alex made 11 changes to the side

and they did not let him down. After this goal after 15 minutes on

his hundreds star, Michael Owen made it two before this player

scored the goal of the night. Tranmere march on in League One and

are in the play-off zone with 82-0 win over Hartlepool. This came just

22 seconds after the start. What did Preston have to do to win? They

were 2-0 up on all that much. Two goals in three minutes then display

at levelled it. They thought they had done it with this unbelievable

third only for the opposition to equal with just four minutes to go.

In League Two, at more come up suffering a similar Hanover this

morning. It ended 3-3. Crew headed home from Cheltenham with all three

points. They had won five in a row until this penalty put paid to

their run. Macclesfield are flying and it was a spot-kick for them

against Bradford. The City keeper was sent the wrong way. They are

one win from automatic promotion. Plenty more Carling Cup action this

evening with four of our sides aiming to join United in the

quarter finals. Liverpool head down the M6 to face Stoke, closely

followed by Man City who play Wolves. There are home ties for

Blackburn against Newcastle, and Everton who host Chelsea.

Highlights of those games on the League Cup Show on BBC1 at 11:30.

Better still there's live coverage of all the games on BBC Radios

Lancashire, Manchester and Merseyside.

Now, the North West has a rich tradition in churning out stars in

a range of sports. But when it comes to racing drivers, we've been

in the slow lane. However, that could be about to change. Oliver

Webb from Cheshire is on the verge of securing a place in one of

America's top Indy Car teams, as Ian Haslam reports.

Since the age of ten, Oli Webb's been living life in the fast lane.

Having started off in karting, the Cheshire driver's quickly moved

through the ranks of motor racing. Next up it's Indycar, America's

answer to Formula One. They would do 240 miles an hour. Formula One

doesn't do that. It is their main thing and they travel around the

world like to Japan and other countries. What kind of fans do get

over their? At the last race, we had about 210,000. This isn't the

first time we've met Oli on North West Tonight: 18 months ago he was

preparing for his debut in Formula Three, with Tony in the passenger

seat. For me, it is always about the speed. I want to be at the top

of what I do. Aylott comes with that, and be known in the north-

west has come out of it. Of course no motorsports are without risk,

and Indycar has found itself in the spotlight this month following the

death of British driver Dan Wheldon during a race in Las Vegas. He

raced for the Schmidt Racing team. I was with him that before he got

in the car. It was an upsetting weekend, but we have to understand

that that happens. As soon as we get in the car and we put the right

pedal down, we stopped thinking about that. The danger will always

be there, so will the chance for Oli to show his talents to the

world. He flies out to the USA My fingernail marks are still in

his seat! Finally tonight, after Mario

Balotelli's hectic week with Manchester City, what with

fireworks and demolishing Manchester United, what better way

to relax than go shopping? Although, according to one report today, he

was a little off target. Instead of buying an iron for his mum as he

was supposed too, he came back with a trampoline, a Scalextric track, a

table tennis set and two motor scooters. Were out! Makes my

impulse buying a look tame. Now if you love dogs, you will love

this story. Now all good sports teams have a

mascot, and the darts team at The Royds Arms pub in Rochdale is no

exception. In fact its members are so proud of Jip the dog - yes, dog

- they've made him an honorary member. So what does Jip bring to

the team? Well you could say he's a real high flier, as Abbie Jones has

been finding out. Meet Jip, the border collie. She's

a dog of many talents. In fact, when it comes to doggie tricks, Jip

Jip's athletic fetching skills have earned her a place in the pub's

darts team. And she's really hit the bull's-eye with its members.

Nothing like it before. There is no like it in this town. Definitely

not! She is brilliant. You don't have to get your darts out of the

board because she will bring him to you, it is fantastic. Has she

brought you any luck? Loads of luck. She puts the opposition of like you

have never known. Jip's sporting interests aren't confined to darts

though - she's also partial to a She also likes a pint at the bar

after a hard day of jumping. But she knows how to ask for one and

pretend to put her money down on the bar. From six weeks old, she

got into the fight, fight, fight. She teaches herself. -- threat. She

plays with the children. No training, she just picks it up.

Kenny's got more tricks in store for Jip, but for now, she's

What a dark! Something to make you happy. She looked like she was on a

trampoline. Maybe call her the ultimate retriever. I know!

Yesterday, around this time, we were asking Diane how we could

spice up her walk. We have got some excellent suggestions that came in.

Anyway, do one of the first ones. I'm going to stand here, I am not

Debate turned out to be better than we anticipated. We talked about

showers, there were some, but for many places we were bone dry. There

was a real nice afternoon of sunshine for most of us. You can

track the showers that move into Cumbria. Over the last couple of

hours, they became more widespread. But the story is for them to get

out of the way this evening and for us to be fairly clear tonight.

Unfortunately, it will feel fairly chilly again. It was cool last

night. Same story tonight. You can see the lighter areas on the map

and that is where the cloud cover will break. Overnight, temperatures

could be as low as five. It will only be for a short while because

the map is darkening in the south. An area of rain is pushing to us in

the early hours of the morning. It will put further north later

through the night. Overnight temperatures will be boosted a bit

with the arrival of the cloud cover all rain, around seven degrees. But

this is not a good picture. The brain pushes north and there is

more to come. It will be light and patchy through the morning. Past

lunch time, that is when it will take hold. There will be a heavy

burst from time to time. If you are lucky, especially in parts of

Cumbria, the Isle of Man and Lancashire, he will not see a lot

because it is coming from the south. But through the afternoon, it will

be trying to spread everywhere. Temperatures through the day were

12 and 13 degrees, but you have the sunshine. Tomorrow, not a glimpse

of sun so even though the same, it will feel fairly cool.

We will brighten up your evening. I'm not looking forward to this.

were talking about your walk and how to spice it up. Tony husband,

an award-winning cartoonist's, he got busy, and he sent these in.

Have a look. That is due in a bubble. I like the bobble! There

are more, here we go. Chickpeas and a unicycle. Look at you in the

barbed wire! It is a tribute to Gordon, of course. There is you