04/04/2012 North West Tonight

Good evening. Our top story: A record fine for Network Rail after

the fatal Grayrigg crash in Cumbria but a stark warning from the unions.

The court heard that systematic failures lead to the train being

derailed. Also tonight: Heated exchanges in court as the defence

gets under way in the Rochdale grooming case.

Snow brings chaos to parts of the North West with roads closed and

And She Loves You. It's back to the Cavern for a visit by one of the

Beatles' original fans. A massive Beatles fan. She told me how she

went to their concerts are. Not Margaret Masson lost her life in

the Grayrigg derailment in Cumbria five years ago. 86 others were

injured. Today Network Rail was fined a record �4 million for the

systemic failures that led to the incident.

Today at Preston Crown Court the judge said she hoped the size of

the fine would ensure such an accident would never happen again.

But that was questioned by the main rail union. Here's Jayne Barrett.

In February 2007, a 300-ton Pendolino hit faulty points on the

line near Grayrigg. 86 were injured. Margaret Masson was killed. Today

Network Rail was fined �4million. A record fine for a health and safety

breech. In finding the company -- in finding the company, the judge

said systemic failures were to blame for this, at the same

systemic failures that have been to blame for the Potters Bar

derailment. The company was not only guilty, it had relevant

previous convictions. Margaret Masson's granddaughter said because

of the way Network Rail was funded, the fine would ultimately be borne

by taxpayers and that was wrong. What would you have liked to have

happened to the people at the top of the company? I don't know. She

should still be here. This is the only man to have lost

his job over the incident. David Lewis failed to carry out a crucial

safety check. But the Masson family have never held him responsible.

am glad it has all come to an end. You are the only person who has

lost his job through this. That is all I want to say. Today the judge

accepted he and his colleagues had neither the training, the tools nor

the time to implement necessary safety standards. Network Rail

declined requests for interviews but issued a statement: we have

learnt from the accident and we are determined to recognise what we got

wrong and put it right. But have they? This man, HM Chief Inspector

of Railways, admitted he has raised safety concerns with Network Rail

on four occasions since Grayrigg. Is it good enough that you have to

step in to make sure they are doing what they have been told to do?

is our job. Is it good enough that they do this? It is not good enough

and that is why at times we have had to act.

Outside court, rail unions protested. In light of funding cuts

and rail reviews they issued a warning. This is likely to happen

again for --. A man accused of sexually

exploiting teenaged girls today described one of his alleged

victims as a loud mouthed racist. And during heated exchanges in

Liverpool Crown Court, he accused the prosecutor of being a bully and

the police of being corrupt. He is one of 11 men standing trial,

accused of exploiting young girls in the Rochdale area. All deny the

charges against them. Dave Guest followed today's proceedings in

court and he's there now. Let's turn to the man who made these

remarkable statements. What can you tell us about him?

I continue Key's 59 and from Oldham but I cannot tell you his name for

legal reasons -- I can tell you that he is 59. He is accused with

conspiracy to engage in underrate sexual activity with under-aged

girls, rape and trafficking. He describes those accusations as a

load of rubbish saying it never happened. He went on to describe a

15-year-old that he is accused of raping as being loud and aggressive,

a racist and a prostitute. He said she was like a bone in a kebab and

went on to say, her tongue is full of poison, it is all lies. I should

say that he is Asian and she is white.

That was the theme he continued due under cross-examination?

That's right. He was asked by Rachel Smith prosecutor with the he

exploited the 15-year-old to make money. He replied with the swear

words and then went on to say the teenager was arrogant and that

anyone who was not white was considered inferior by her. He said

she had managed to plant forensic evidence to insinuating and that

she colluded with the police who he said were corrupt. He said the

prosecutor was a bully and added: You have only got my people here,

where all the white people? I should say that all the defendants

in this case are Asian. Have any to have been charged

alongside him spoken today? They all denied all of the charges.

Late this afternoon 25-year-old Kabir Hassan took the stand to

denied charges of rape and conspiracy. He said he never

touched a 15-year-old in any way. The trial continues tomorrow. Some

other news now from across the region.

The jury in the trial of a baby who died in Lancaster have failed to

reach a verdict. A judge at Preston Crown Court directed them to find

Karen Irvine and Christopher Roberts not guilty of murdering

four-month-old Lucas Irvine. Both may face a retrial on other charges

later this year. Police investigating the deliberate

poisoning of patients at Stepping Hill Hospital say they're looking

into the case of another patient. It's now believed 70-year-old Beryl

Hope, who died last August, was poisoned with insulin last summer.

Police say, in total, seven deaths are now being linked to the insulin

contamination. Pontins has been fined for health

and safety breaches at its Lytham St Anne's site, which led to a

woman's death from legionnaires disease. 53-year-old Karen Taylor

died in July 2009 after visiting the site. The company's in

administration, limiting the fine to �1,000, but the judge said it

should have been �500,000. Her family say somebody should take

responsibility. There is somebody out there that is liable for my

mum's deaf and I hope they can't sleep at night because they killed

my mother! Heavy overnight snow brought chaos

to many areas today causing problems for drivers and train

passengers. Roads on higher ground in

Derbyshire remain difficult and there have been severe delays on

the M62. 2,000 homes in the Peak District are still without power.

Our Environment Correspondent reports.

The scene first thing this morning in Buxton, after six inches of snow

fell in just a few hours. High winds added to the problems,

bringing a number of trees down. The snow has been causing chaos

overnight in many parts of Derbyshire, with four to five

inches of snow falling in the early hours of the morning. Many roads

have been closed throughout the day. Police advised drivers not to

travel as they closed several roads, including the Cat and Fiddle from

Buxton to Macclesfield, and the Woodhead and Snake Passes In

Saddleworth, the M62 ground to a halt for a time as drivers where

unable to keep moving. One man decided to abandon his car in the

early hours. It seemed OK until I needed to go up hill and then it

got star. Elsewhere, the Oldham area was also

hit by heavy snow, leading to the closure of the main roads into the

villages of Diggle and Denshaw. From the air it was clear that many

drivers were beaten by the sudden snowfall. Many isolated farms and

communities have struggled to keep moving. Farmers used ploughs

attached to tractors to push a way through to animals. Back in Buxton,

Northern Rail said rush hour trains in the Peak District were cancelled

because of drifting snow at higher levels. We were sat there from

7:45pm till 10pm, nobody moving. Horrendous. Power supplies to nine

thousand homes in the Peak District were disrupted but Western Power

say 4,000 properties are back on. Astonishing after last week's

weather. Hopefully it will be a better day tomorrow. We will have

the full weather forecast later. It's deadline day for any

candidates wanting to become either Mayor of Liverpool or Salford. And

there's plenty of interest. A total of 22 people have put their

names forward. Tell us about the candidates.

12 have come forward. Liverpool will be seen as at every big

political prize on election night. People will be voting for the first

time for whoever they want to be the leader of the Council, with the

new council of City mayor. Let's What we don't have in Liverpool of

the big independent names which What I would like to do in

Liverpool is create more growth and jobs using my local business

experience to improve the economy. I am also looking to improve

council services and freeze council-tax, and make Liverpool a

cleaner, greener, safer city by cutting crime and looking after our

green spaces. That is Tony Caldeira, one of the candidates in Liverpool.

There's been a surprise name in One name stands out, one of the

Independents, Paul Massey. He was jailed in 1999 for 14 years after

stabbing somebody and wounding with intent. He stabbed a man in

Manchester city centre and almost killed him. Paul Massey was

formally known as Mr Big in Salford. There will be raised eyebrows about

this. It is true that the government wanted big and

independent names to come forward that would not aligned to political

parties but I don't think that is We all know about leaves on the

line between the rail network to a standstill, then it was the wrong

kind of snow, and now stand has been causing transport problems.

-- sand. Strong winds blew sand onto the

tracks in Blackpool today met. A day it would seem is a long time

in transport. One of Blackpool's new, modern trams, officially

unveiled just yesterday to a huge fanfare, tipped off the track at

Fleetwood earlier this morning. David Evans was amongst dozens on

board. It wasn't any panic or anything like that. It literally

just stopped and we wondered why and then we found out that perhaps

things were not as they should have been. Each of these trams costs �2

million and earlier today the Met Road ground to a halt because of

the derailment caused by sand. The irony was not lost on many

passengers at Fleetwood. I am surprised that the powers that be

in Blackpool did not realise that Sandra blow on the tracks. You get

the old trams and they never stopped, you get the new one and

the first day it is done! Blackpool Transport say all they need is the

bit of a brush out and then, they say, it will be back on the tracks

very shortly. We expect there to be issues and gremlins and we will

deal with those, as we did this morning, and we will learned from

those and we said this year will be a learning experience. While

Blackpool Transport work out a way to keep its high-tech tram system

on track, for the moment it is back to basics with brushes and shovels.

You couldn't make it up! Many people will look back fondly

on the 1960s and in particular, beetle mania, the music, the

fashion, the screaming girls. We now know that The Duchess of

Cornwall was herself one of those screaming girls. She visited

Liverpool today to mark the 50th anniversary of the formation of the

Beatles. Sergeant Pepper lookalikes

entertain the crowds, braving a biting wind at the Beatles

exhibition in Liverpool. Some were here for the fab four, some for The

Duchess. She is a real princess. quite like the Royal Family and I

think she is part of it now. Another Beatles tribute fan band

played for The Duchess. John Lennon once invited royalty to rattle

their jewellery in time to the music but here, their toes were

tapping and she knew the words. Massive Beatles fan! She taught me

how she went to the constants, not just in the UK but in Paris -- she

told me how she went to their concerts. She said she tried to

identify herself on the picture of all the screaming girls. Did she?

She said she was carried off on a stretcher but I think she might

have been joking! This August it is 50 years since Ringo Starr joined

the Beatles, hence the celebrations It we were playing the piano and

the Duchess czars and said to me, I would join a India Yellow Submarine

but I cannot. They gave Camilla an official gift,

but she also got some official T- shirts.

And snow for the sport, great news from Down Under for one of her

Olympic teams. Yes, two names that are not household names yet. Pete

Kennaugh and Steven Burke. They could be bigger names in a few

months' time. They are half of the British team that has just broken a

world record at the track cycling world championship in Melbourne,

and even better, they beat the Australians on home turf. This

Chileans were the favourites. -- the Australians were the favourites.

They will be a good bet for her a gold in London.

I am lost for words. I had been wanting this for the last four

years and it has never quite happened. Tecumseh is chilly and

beat the Australians on their own - - on their home at Turf.

What a fantastic day for them, but a bit disappointing for some of her

cyclists. Disappointment for Sir Chris Hoy and Jason Kenny. There

are beaten today but hope to be in top form for the Olympics. Rugby

Union news now. Nine years after joining Stockport County, they're

off to share a ground with Salford Reds. She stopped. -- should

Stockport County be worries? Be say that if Sale Sharks stop

moving forward they die. They have announced that they will be playing

in Salford for at least the next five seasons. Does it matter

whether you actually end sale are not? Not these days.

The will be sharing with Super League's Salford City Reds. It is

about making them more attractive to sponsors. It is also about

potential. Edge -- bigger past year is 12,000, with them potential and

the future to rue increase its two 20,000.

It has not been to bat this season, but the few years before that had

become really quite boggy at Edgeley Park. Looking at the

picture at the moment this is an and off some state.

Where does this leave Stockport County? They will have Edgeley Park

to themselves for next season, and publicly work -- publicly welcome

this as an opportunity. But the ground is owned by Sale Sharks's

owners. If the pull-out, they will have to find money fast. You're not

going to say, you have finished with Edgeley Park, now you're on

your own? No, we are working closely with them to help them

achieve the status that they want. The status of a sale was looking

bright. Back to the Olympics, and there is disappointment tonight for

two of her north-west rowers. They were dropped from the prestigious

immense's coxless fours grew. They have been selected for her another

teens. It is an event which has given

Britain some of its best Olympic moments. For the lads from Cheshire

have made up the last -- made up the men's coxless four. Last summer,

they convincingly won the World Championship. But after the British

team for the Olympic season was announced today, it is possible

that none of them will be in that boat.? Of the men have definitely

been made to the men's eight. not my decision. We are world

champions and I do not see any reason why we could not have

carried on to be Olympic champions. That was the project and the

project has been changed. That is the way that sport is an there is

no point hanging around whingeing about it. The decision will be made

in the next fortnight whether they will change -- where there he will

join them. The eight would be a really great

experience. This excess land experienced

British courts -- British court says that this is the most

experienced team he has ever assembled. But they may not be in

their preferred board this summer, they will still have a great chance

of Olympic gold. There was happier news for two

cover other law as fit -- other rowers. Olivia Whitman and Chris

Bartley were chosen for her are the events that they wish to come the

10th. Owen Coyle has been named Premier League manager of the month.

No one can argue with that after the way that he handled the Fabrice

Muamba business. Finally, preparations are well under way at

Preston North End to celebrate Sir Tom Finney's 90 birthday tomorrow.

A 40 feet mural of the great man has been erected on the glass

entrance to the Tom Finney Stand at Deepdale. It will remain a

permanent tribute to him, he paid - - he played many times for the club.

We are going to be there tomorrow. It is Guild year in Preston and

this is a very big week. BBC takes to the streets on Friday to

broadcast the Preston Passion, which includes three special dramas.

We were given exclusive access find the scenes.

We had almost no information to begin with a tall, other than to

retell the Passion story, the Good Friday story, in Preston. Very

rarely do you get a chance to write from the heart as freely as this.

The director and I had three weeks to prepare? Period films and a

contemporary film. It feels like you are stepping in see a piece of

Renaissance art. Have you nothing to say?

We were in the court interest in and I suppose that the practical

challenge is to realise that it is a day-to-day working court. As a

result, we were then shooting every evening.

I am playing Amaia from Preston in 1946 when the riots happened.

They are trying parallels with the same moral dilemma that conscious

pilot went through a during the passion. This is something that I

am very aware of of. It is set in World War I,

replicating Preston railway station. It is such a touching story. That

is so emotional and sat. So many people do not return home. I wish

you could see me in my 10 hat and gas mask.

To handle the prayer book he had the bullet hole through it is so

profoundly moving. The people of Preston are quite

heavily involved in it. You also have the lovely

contemporary piece. What is lovely about that piece is to have a young

girl play that part. She is a young girl, she is only 12. She is local

to Preston. We find Preston to be incredibly

warm and welcoming. I hope we have reflected some of that energy and

colour in the film. I hope the people of Preston will be very

proud and pleased with the entire event.

Rarely did films. We will hear more her from a young schoolgirl from

Preston he appears in one of those dramas later. You do need a ticket

to attend on Friday. There is more information on the Preston Guild

website. The address is on our news that site and you can find it on

Friday. The we are hoping for a We saw Arsenal through the day

today, it does not take a large amount of snow because disruption.

Most of us have experienced strong winds all through last night and

the day-to-day. Over 14,000 there are some places. We had trees down,

and look at this... It has to get better tonight. The worst of the

weather is Clearing. In parts of Staffordshire at 4:00pm it was

still snowing steadily. Through the night tonight it is all about the

temperatures. You have to feel for those who have no power, because

look at the Blue descending all across the region. 021 Celsius

along the coast, or you might get two Celsius here and there. In

rural areas it will be minus two Celsius or minus three Celsius.

Where there is still snow on the ground it could be minus four

Celsius or minus five Celsius. Just about everywhere sees a lot of

sunshine from the word go. It will stay that way all the way through

the day, radically different to today. We keep that breeze, but it

is only a breeze, five miles an hour. After a chilly start, the

temperatures will go to nine Celsius.