:00:15. > :00:23.Good evening. Welcome to North West Tonight with Ranvir Singh and Tony
:00:23. > :00:26.Livesey. Our top story: Tributes to a great leader - the soldier who's
:00:26. > :00:28.died two months after being injured in an explosion in Afghanistan. It
:00:28. > :00:31.brings the total number of servicemen from the North West
:00:31. > :00:34.who've died in Afghanistan to 49. The search for a runner from
:00:34. > :00:37.Cheshire who has gone missing during a marathon in Greece.
:00:37. > :00:44.The rising cost of IVF as two generations celebrate 25 years of
:00:44. > :00:48.pioneering treatment. These days, anything is possible.
:00:48. > :00:58.And a first sighting of the little giant girl as she prepares to wow
:00:58. > :01:03.
:01:03. > :01:06.the City of Liverpool. Also tonight: The Cod Army could
:01:06. > :01:09.soon be swimming with the big boys of the Football League. Peter
:01:09. > :01:18.Marshall's at the seaside on the biggest night in Fleetwood Town's
:01:18. > :01:21.history. Long yes, can Fleetwood Tarn are no
:01:21. > :01:31.place in history? Three points tonight will put them
:01:31. > :01:35.
:01:35. > :01:38.in the top league for the first time ever. Join me later.
:01:38. > :01:40.For two months Corporal Jack Stanley clung to life after being
:01:40. > :01:43.blown up in Afghanistan. Despite the terrible injuries he'd suffered,
:01:43. > :01:46.his close family hoped for a miracle. They stayed at his
:01:46. > :01:49.hospital bedside, desperate to see signs of improvement. Sadly, at the
:01:49. > :01:52.weekend, the last vestiges of hope ebbed away as Corporal Stanley died.
:01:52. > :01:55.Today, colleagues spoke of a born leader who loved the military life.
:01:55. > :01:58.And in Littleborough his mum paid her own moving tribute. Here's our
:01:58. > :02:01.chief reporter, Dave Guest. Jack Stanley was just 26, but he was a
:02:01. > :02:04.man who made an impression on many during his all-too-short life.
:02:04. > :02:11.Raised in the Rochdale area, he was football-mad, an avid fan of Bolton
:02:11. > :02:14.Wanderers. However, he chose the army as his career. He signed up in
:02:14. > :02:16.2003, and was serving with the Queen's Royal Hussars. He was
:02:16. > :02:19.deployed to Afghanistan last October, based at Lashkar Gah it
:02:19. > :02:27.was in February that he fell victim to an improvised explosive device,
:02:27. > :02:30.suffering terrible injuries. He was quickly airlifted to Camp Bastion,
:02:30. > :02:32.where he received a initial treatment before being flown to the
:02:33. > :02:35.UK, where he was admitted to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in
:02:35. > :02:39.Birmingham. There his close family remained at his bedside until the
:02:39. > :02:46.weekend when Corporal Stanley lost his fight for life. It's a loss
:02:46. > :02:50.felt by many. He had been a regular at this pub in Todmorden. They had
:02:50. > :02:52.raised money for him during his time in hospital. Today, one of his
:02:52. > :02:54.commanding officer described him as "professional, fit and utterly
:02:54. > :02:59.determined". Meanwhile, in Littleborough, Corporal Stanley's
:02:59. > :03:06.mum, Brenda, was back home but too upset to speak on camera. However,
:03:06. > :03:10.in a statement, she described him as "kind and generous". She added,
:03:10. > :03:14."He fought so hard to stay with us." she said she could not
:03:14. > :03:16.describe the devastation the family felt right now. But it's
:03:16. > :03:19.devastation experienced by so many north-west families in recent years,
:03:19. > :03:29.Corporal Stanley being the 49th fatality from the region since the
:03:29. > :03:32.operation in Afghanistan began. Search teams in Greece are looking
:03:32. > :03:36.for a man from Cheshire who went missing while he was running a
:03:36. > :03:39.marathon there. John Lawton, who is 63 and from Alsager, was taking
:03:39. > :03:43.part in the Taygetos Challenge near Kalamata in western Greece. The
:03:43. > :03:51.alarm was raised when he failed to finish the course on Sunday. Kate
:03:51. > :03:54.Simms reports. Looking forward to fulfilling an ambition - this was
:03:54. > :04:00.John Lawton just a few hours before he started the Taygetos Challenge
:04:00. > :04:06.in Greece on Sunday. He was, says his wife, ready for the challenge.
:04:06. > :04:12.He was absolutely raring to go. He had stuck to his training, the
:04:12. > :04:15.weather was perfect - warm but not absolutely blistering. It was a
:04:15. > :04:17.perfect day for running in the mountains. The 35-kilometre course
:04:17. > :04:20.is run every year around the village of Kardamilli, near
:04:20. > :04:23.Kalamata in western Greece. It's a challenging course, as this footage
:04:23. > :04:32.from last year shows, set along rough mountain tracks. John Lawton
:04:32. > :04:42.hopes to finish it in around six or seven hours. I gave him a case at
:04:42. > :04:46.
:04:46. > :04:49.the start, waved him off. -- I gave him a kiss. When he did not finish,
:04:49. > :04:55.I started to talk to the race organisers, who told me that he had
:04:55. > :04:59.not have reached the checkpoints. They started to look for him.
:04:59. > :05:02.and John had hoped to be enjoying a relaxing break by-now. Instead she
:05:02. > :05:06.is waiting for news as the search for her husband enters its third
:05:06. > :05:11.night. I do not know how much longer he could be out there and
:05:11. > :05:14.still possibly be alive. Lynda says her hope is that John's many years
:05:14. > :05:24.of running in all conditions will help him stay alive until they can
:05:24. > :05:26.find him. A Greater Manchester Police
:05:26. > :05:28.firearms officer has been questioned by the Independent
:05:28. > :05:31.Police Complaints Commission as part of its investigation into the
:05:31. > :05:34.fatal shooting of a man from Cheshire. Anthony Grainger, who was
:05:34. > :05:37.36, died as a result of a single gunshot wounds to the chest
:05:38. > :05:47.following the incident in Culcheth last month. The IPCC say a range of
:05:48. > :05:48.
:05:48. > :05:51.offences are being considered, including manslaughter and murder.
:05:51. > :05:53.Nearly �9 million pounds worth of cannabis has been seized in the
:05:53. > :05:56.north west in the past month. 17,000 plants have been destroyed
:05:56. > :05:59.after being discovered in homes and warehouses across the region.
:05:59. > :06:06.Police say by targeting those who are farming the Class B drug they
:06:06. > :06:10.are reducing the amount of violent crime.
:06:10. > :06:14.We have seen this link to gun crime, to the trafficking of higher
:06:14. > :06:18.classifications of drugs, and two serious violence. If people are
:06:18. > :06:24.making a lot of money out of the sand, as a result, they are
:06:24. > :06:26.fighting for turf in order to carry out that criminal activity.
:06:26. > :06:29.An animal sanctuary in West Lancashire says it is in desperate
:06:29. > :06:32.need of �40,000 to rehouse its rescue horses. Three Dartmoor
:06:32. > :06:35.ponies, which were due to be sent to Italy for their skins, were
:06:35. > :06:38.rescued by the Woodlands Animal Sanctuary near Rufford. Along with
:06:38. > :06:43.a Shetland pony called Merlin, they are now living in a stable block
:06:43. > :06:45.which needs rebuilding. As time goes on, they do need their
:06:45. > :06:50.own stables. We cannot take anything else until we have more
:06:50. > :06:55.stable blocks because we're at maximum capacity. The need to take
:06:55. > :07:01.horses in has never been so high. The recession ribby has hurt the
:07:01. > :07:11.horse world greatly. Police say they are treating the
:07:11. > :07:21.
:07:21. > :07:24.discovery of a burnt body in Leigh The north-west's first independent
:07:24. > :07:26.fertility centre is celebrating its 25th birthday. Since it opened,
:07:26. > :07:29.Manchester Fertility Services have helped bring nearly 4000 babies
:07:29. > :07:32.into the world. But, for those struggling to become pregnant, how
:07:32. > :07:35.much treatment they get and how it is paid for can vary significantly
:07:35. > :07:37.depending on where they live. Our health correspondent, Nina Warhurst,
:07:37. > :07:41.explains. Phil is the first person whose life started here and
:07:41. > :07:46.Isabella is the most recent. This is the north-west's first fertility
:07:46. > :07:51.clinic, set up 25 years ago when IVF was still seen as controversial.
:07:51. > :07:56.We did not know anybody who had experienced it, gone through it,
:07:56. > :08:01.thought of it, even. It was when, if you could not have children, you
:08:01. > :08:07.did not get children. These days, anything is possible.
:08:07. > :08:14.Or them was the birthplace in IVF. In 1978, pictures of baby Louise
:08:14. > :08:19.Brown were beamed across a fascinated world. This clinic sees
:08:19. > :08:23.a mixture of private patients and those whose treatment is funded by
:08:23. > :08:30.the NHS. Whereas three years ago 40% of care was funded by the NHS,
:08:30. > :08:34.now that has dropped to just 10%. IVF is expensive. Despite national
:08:34. > :08:42.recommendations that each patient is offered a three free runs,
:08:42. > :08:47.whether you get that depends where you live. In some parts of the
:08:47. > :08:52.north-west you will only get two or one attempt funded. If you live in
:08:52. > :08:58.traffic -- Trafford and Warrington, you do not get any at all unless
:08:58. > :09:04.you have exceptional circumstances. Mary was not entitled to NHS
:09:04. > :09:07.funding and has subsidised IVF by donating their eggs. I am glad to
:09:07. > :09:10.get that opportunity to somebody. If my children could not have
:09:10. > :09:14.babies, I would hope there is someone out there to we do that for
:09:15. > :09:19.them. Big changes in the NHS mean that,
:09:19. > :09:27.from next year, GPs at a more local level will decide who is entitled
:09:27. > :09:35.to treatment. Here in the studio is a very happy
:09:35. > :09:40.family. The Thomsons are from Lancashire and they spent �35,000
:09:40. > :09:44.after remortgaging their form. It did clearly pay off because you
:09:44. > :09:51.have your son with you. Talk to us about those 12 years when you were
:09:51. > :09:55.trying. It was something amazing like 132 embryos implanted in you
:09:55. > :10:03.during 44 attempts. It sounds harrowing to keep hearing that it
:10:03. > :10:09.has not worked. People ask us how we kept going. All I ever wanted to
:10:09. > :10:16.be was somebody's mother. I could not just walk away. Lloyd did say
:10:16. > :10:23.at one stage, you are destroying us. There is a huge emotional price to
:10:23. > :10:31.pay. What did it do to your relationship? It put strain on it
:10:31. > :10:35.on a regular basis. In 12 years, there were 144 months. You know
:10:35. > :10:39.that, month after month... And the agony every time when you knew it
:10:39. > :10:43.did not work. He had to pick yourself and bouncy as -- and
:10:43. > :10:49.bounce back again. Trudi did that time and time again.
:10:49. > :10:53.You run out of money, the pair of you. So you sold everything?
:10:53. > :10:57.remortgaged until we could not do it any mother. Then my mother and
:10:57. > :11:06.my stepfather came in with the money for another cycle, which
:11:06. > :11:10.produced JJ. Their body must have been exhausted by this point.
:11:10. > :11:20.said, take it, because I have to live with you if we do not have
:11:20. > :11:20.
:11:20. > :11:29.this baby. JG came along. He is their best friends now. -- their
:11:29. > :11:36.best friend now. What would you say to people who are struggling?
:11:36. > :11:41.keep trying. Keep trying. decided we were going to write to
:11:41. > :11:46.each other about stories to do with our lives, how we met and how we
:11:46. > :11:50.felt. It was a long time ago - at the late 70s, early-Eighties. I
:11:50. > :11:53.could not remember some of the things that he came up with an vice
:11:53. > :11:57.versa. We fell in love with each other again. There was a time when
:11:57. > :12:03.we did not think that we would be able to keep going together, never
:12:03. > :12:08.mind have a baby. Life is just a big adventure. I just think that
:12:08. > :12:13.you should never give up because dreams really do come true.
:12:13. > :12:21.You have written a book about it and you are raising money for St
:12:21. > :12:26.Mary's. Why did you not adopt? did. I was running the adoption
:12:26. > :12:30.process alongside the IBF. At the time, you were not allowed to do
:12:30. > :12:35.that. Lloyd said, if they find out you are lying you will not be any
:12:35. > :12:45.body's mother. I thought I had to keep Mike options open. For we are
:12:45. > :12:48.
:12:48. > :12:58.running out of time. Let JJ say hello. Hello. Hello.
:12:58. > :13:09.
:13:09. > :13:16.Thank you so much for coming in. Police say they are treating the
:13:16. > :13:18.discovery of a burnt body in Leigh as suspicious. The man's body was
:13:18. > :13:21.found yesterday afternoon in a wooded area behind Pennington Road
:13:21. > :13:24.in the town. Detectives are trying to establish the man's identity.
:13:24. > :13:27.Elaine Dunkley reports. This wooded area is popular with dog-walkers
:13:27. > :13:30.and joggers, and is overlooked by houses on the busy Pennington Road
:13:30. > :13:32.area of Leigh. Today it was the scene of a major police
:13:32. > :13:36.investigation after a badly burnt body was discovered yesterday
:13:36. > :13:43.afternoon. It would appear to be an area that is frequented by people
:13:43. > :13:53.who go to have a drink and sleep rough. There are empty beer bottles
:13:53. > :13:57.and bits of rubbish that people have discarded. Most of all,...
:13:57. > :13:59.Most distressing of all, you have the body of a burnt man. At this
:13:59. > :14:02.stage, the investigation is not being treated as murder and
:14:02. > :14:05.detectors are now trying to establish the identity of the man
:14:05. > :14:11.and why he was in the woods. Neighbours and people who use the
:14:11. > :14:17.area are shocked by the discovery. I walk my dogs twice a day. I have
:14:17. > :14:22.never felt worried there. It is quite a big surprise. It is really
:14:22. > :14:27.scary, yes, definitely. I don't think I will be coming down here at
:14:27. > :14:31.night time from now on. Police are reassuring residentss by
:14:31. > :14:41.increasing patrols in the area. In the meantime, they want to speak to
:14:41. > :14:42.
:14:42. > :14:48.anyone who may have seen or heard anything that may be useful.
:14:48. > :14:55.Still to come: Members of crew from Liverpool remember the day when
:14:55. > :15:00.Titanic set sail. That and can Fleetwood Town book a
:15:00. > :15:10.place in the big league? It would be so exciting to go into the lead.
:15:10. > :15:14.
:15:14. > :15:17.This week marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the
:15:17. > :15:20.Titanic. Questions about why it happened, why so many died and who
:15:20. > :15:22.was to blame continue to provoke passionate debate. The human
:15:22. > :15:27.stories, the heroism, the cowardice, the tragedies still fascinate and
:15:27. > :15:30.resonate with each new generation. All this week, I'm looking at the
:15:30. > :15:40.ship's links with the north-west. And my Titanic trail begins where
:15:40. > :15:49.
:15:49. > :15:51.We are here in Liverpool, where we are surrounded by monuments to the
:15:51. > :15:55.city's Maritime and commercial power. But one of the greatest
:15:55. > :16:02.monuments to that power is not here, it is lying at the bottom of the
:16:02. > :16:09.ocean. The Titanic had Liverpool painted on its stern, but the ship
:16:09. > :16:14.never came here. Even so, Liverpool can claim to be the doomed ship's
:16:14. > :16:21.spiritual home. Birthplace of the Titanic - Albion House, the
:16:21. > :16:28.headquarters of the White Star Line. In the early 1900s, the company was
:16:28. > :16:38.battling with Cunard for the lucrative transatlantic passenger
:16:38. > :16:39.
:16:39. > :16:44.trade. The building of the Titanic was a bold business move that ended
:16:44. > :16:49.in catastrophe. Titanic enthusiast David Hill takes up the story. What
:16:49. > :16:54.was the reaction here when news filtered through of the accident?
:16:54. > :16:59.Great shock. On April 16th, a letter went out from this office to
:16:59. > :17:06.the Board of Trade saying, referring to the telegram yesterday.
:17:06. > :17:11.We have received word that the steam are funded. A and they came
:17:11. > :17:14.out on the balcony. They did, and read out the list of survivors to
:17:14. > :17:16.the crowds of people who go into the office to find out what had
:17:16. > :17:19.happened to their friends and relatives.
:17:19. > :17:29.We have a pool's biggest contribution to the Titanic was
:17:29. > :17:36.
:17:37. > :17:40.manpower. There were 90s Gaza's in the crew. -- 90 Scousers. This was
:17:40. > :17:47.the highest paid captain in the world that the time. He was a local
:17:47. > :17:55.man. A you have other interesting entries. We have Frederick Fleet,
:17:55. > :18:05.another Liverpool man who was a lookout. They were on duty when
:18:05. > :18:08.they discovered the iceberg. The musicians commemorated here in
:18:08. > :18:13.the Philharmonic Hall were booked by a Liverpool company. We have
:18:13. > :18:17.come over to the waterfront for the final part in this Titanic story.
:18:17. > :18:22.This is the Titanic memorial. It is under wraps for a centenary spruce
:18:23. > :18:26.up. If you look at its these pages taken earlier, you can see the very
:18:26. > :18:34.realistic looks on their faces. That is because they were based on
:18:34. > :18:40.Liverpool engineers. We will never know who they were. When the
:18:40. > :18:50.memorial was finished, the First World War broke out. The Empress of
:18:50. > :18:51.
:18:51. > :18:54.Ireland had been sunk, the Lusitania had been sunk. So this
:18:54. > :18:59.became a general memorial for those who died, not just those on the
:18:59. > :19:07.Titanic. A tomorrow we follow the trail to
:19:08. > :19:12.Bolton, home of two captains. I have learned a lot doing that.
:19:12. > :19:19.The exhibition at the Maritime Museum is, Liverpool and the
:19:19. > :19:27.Titanic. It looks at the links between Liverpool and Bishop. --
:19:27. > :19:30.and the ship. Fleetwood Town are on the verge of
:19:30. > :19:33.history tonight, with the chance to win a place in the Football League
:19:33. > :19:35.for the first time. Three points against League rivals Wrexham will
:19:35. > :19:38.make them champions of the Blue Square Bet Premier League and
:19:38. > :19:41.secure promotion to League Two. Peter Marshall is at the club's
:19:41. > :19:44.Highbury Stadium, and joins us now. Peter, how is the atmosphere
:19:44. > :19:48.building? The atmosphere is building up quite
:19:48. > :19:52.nicely. They have had a good night's and bad nights here Robbie
:19:52. > :19:55.years. It does not get much better than this, though. Three points
:19:55. > :19:59.against Wrexham will make them champions of the Blue Square Bet
:19:59. > :20:06.League. It will also put them into the League proper for the first
:20:07. > :20:15.time ever. A big day for Fleetwood, even bigger for the local football
:20:15. > :20:23.team. It would just be the world, wouldn't it? Going to the Football
:20:23. > :20:26.League - brilliant, can't wait. To us three points from history and
:20:27. > :20:36.a place in the Football League for the first time. At this fish bar,
:20:36. > :20:46.fingers are crossed. We have a statue just outside Fleetwood. We
:20:46. > :20:47.
:20:47. > :20:54.will be there tonight with scarves. People here agree that it is a in
:20:54. > :20:59.no small part due to the luck -- the local chairman Andy Pilley that
:20:59. > :21:03.they are in this position. We have had five promotions in eight
:21:03. > :21:08.seasons. I am not sure that has ever been done before. He has
:21:08. > :21:12.invested heavily, now the fans are living the dream. The town is
:21:12. > :21:17.absolutely buzzing and has been for the last three or four years. For
:21:17. > :21:24.them to be promoted and to go into the league, it will only get better.
:21:24. > :21:28.It is going to be unbelievable. It is going to be an absolutely
:21:28. > :21:31.fantastic at the sphere, 5,000 fancier. Probably the best
:21:31. > :21:36.experience of my life so far. What is really happening is that
:21:36. > :21:45.you now see kids in Fleetwood with Fleetwood shirts on rather than
:21:45. > :21:49.Manchester United once. -- Manchester United shirts.
:21:49. > :21:53.If they do not get the points that they need they have another chance
:21:53. > :21:58.at home on Friday against Lincoln. Good luck to them and let's hope it
:21:58. > :22:03.all goes well. While we're on it, can prep -- congratulations also to
:22:03. > :22:09.Chester, who had just been crowned champions of the Northern League.
:22:10. > :22:19.We can see their celebrations there. We will bring you the result of
:22:20. > :22:22.
:22:22. > :22:25.this match on our late bulletin at 10:25pm.
:22:25. > :22:29.Now, earlier we heard some people's stories which link Liverpool with
:22:29. > :22:31.the Titanic. One of them, a letter written by 10-year-old May McMurray,
:22:31. > :22:34.which never reached her father, William, who died on the Titanic,
:22:34. > :22:38.forms the basis of an incredible piece of street theatre of which
:22:38. > :22:41.lands in the city next week. The Sea Odyssey will see three giants
:22:41. > :22:51.up to 50ft high roaming the streets of Liverpool. Stuart Pollitt's been
:22:51. > :22:53.
:22:53. > :23:03.meeting the man behind it. What kind of mind does it take to
:23:03. > :23:06.
:23:06. > :23:12.think up something like this? Mrs Jean-Luc. He is from France, in
:23:12. > :23:22.case you had not guessed. He has been planning the maxi odyssey for
:23:22. > :23:22.
:23:22. > :23:27.eight years. How do you like Liverpool, Barack
:23:27. > :23:34.Obama? Incredible. Five minutes ago it was raining and now there is
:23:35. > :23:39.nothing. It is a miracle. The maxi odyssey includes three
:23:39. > :23:49.giants covering 23 miles around the city. 250 volunteers will be on
:23:49. > :23:55.
:23:55. > :24:00.hand to try to keep things under control. Busy ban -- this event
:24:00. > :24:04.starts next Friday. When it ends three days later, they estimate
:24:04. > :24:14.that it will have been seen by more than 250,000 people. What do you
:24:14. > :24:15.
:24:15. > :24:25.want people to feel when they see the show? It is very important that
:24:25. > :24:31.
:24:31. > :24:36.the people love other people. The problem is a couple fighting.
:24:36. > :24:45.Come on, any glimpse into this man's imagination has got to be
:24:45. > :24:52.worth watching! That girl looks like Diane on a
:24:52. > :24:56.night out in high heels! Shall we take a look at the
:24:56. > :25:01.weather? Just remember how big that Dali's.
:25:01. > :25:11.A and how she will be stomping around a city near you very soon! -
:25:11. > :25:19.
:25:19. > :25:23.Aircraft have been having to avoid the weather around the Manchester
:25:23. > :25:29.Airport today. Very cloudy. We have had some thunder, some hail and
:25:29. > :25:39.some sleep. There will be more of that as we head through the week. -
:25:39. > :25:43.
:25:43. > :25:52.- some sleet. The wind has been over 40 mph at times. The showers
:25:52. > :26:00.will keep on going for some. There is room for a touch of frost in
:26:00. > :26:10.some parts. Tomorrow morning will be the same as this morning. The
:26:10. > :26:12.
:26:12. > :26:15.showers will cumin from the West. There could be a rumble of thunder.
:26:15. > :26:20.The wind will not be so strong tomorrow which means that the
:26:20. > :26:30.showers will not move away as quickly. The best temperature will
:26:30. > :26:33.
:26:33. > :26:41.be ten Celsius. Here comes that big girl!