25/10/2012 North West Tonight

Good evening. Welcome to North West Tonight with Annabel Tiffin. And

Roger Johnson. Our top story: DNA dispute, the baby denied army

compensation following her soldier dad's death. The Prime Minister

says he's shocked and the situation "must be sorted".

Also tonight: Under attack, the fire fighters

fearing for their safety after being pelted with stones and bricks.

Up and away, the new airliner safeguarding the jobs of thousands

of workers in the region. It is cutting edge technology. This is

advanced materials. You put that together, it is looking very good

for the plant. The twins who had life saving laser

treatment before they were even And new to you, the long lost piece

of music by Beethoven making its Private Daniel Wade from Warrington

was just 20 when he died for his country in Afghanistan. A tragic

loss to his family and one for which they would normally expect to

be fully compensated by the Government. But Private Wade's baby

daughter has been denied any payout. The Ministry of Defence refuses to

sanction the award without a DNA test to prove the child Lexi Mai is

really his. Now the Prime Minister's stepped in on her behalf.

Stuart Flinders reports. Spontaneous applause for Private

Daniel Wade at his funeral less than six months ago. He was killed

with five others in an explosion in Afghanistan. Wearing a cream jacket,

his fiancee, Emma Hickman, eight months pregnant at the time. The

baby has since been born and Lexi Mai, as she's called, would

normally qualify for compensation from the Government. But the

payment's been refused. According to the Ministry of Defence, there

are complicated legal issues The MOD requires DNA evidence

proving that Lexi May is Daniel Wade's daughter. But it hasn't been

given his family's permission to obtain a sample from his remains.

Emma Hickman's MP has raised the matter in Parliament. I think this

is absolutely dreadful situation and it cannot be allowed to

continue. In other countries, particularly the US, the army

routinely takes DNA samples of active service men and women and,

obviously, that can be used as necessary. We do not do that here

and that is why we get into these situations. In a statement, Emma

In May this year, hundreds of people were at Warrington parish

church for the funeral of Private Daniel Wade who died for his

country. Now his fiancee and their daughter believe his country owes

them something. But they may have to go to court to get it.

I'm joined now by Richard Foster, the area manager for the Royal

British Legion in Greater Manchester and Lancashire. Have you

ever heard of a case like this before?

I haven't. If I could turn it around, it is very interesting that

I have never heard of a DNA test being applied to the children of a

married couple after the father or mother has been killed on

operations that it is very surprising and disappointing.

you think everybody should be treated equally, whether they are

married, whether they were dressed partners, they should all get the

compensation? Indeed. The Royal British Legion has exercised that

policy. As long as a committed relationship is in evidence and it

can be as same-sex committed relationship, than the Legion does

not draw any lines. It has never had any problem with supporting

families. You can understand the MoD has to set up rules and rules

on who can get compensation and they have to stick to them.

course. As a servicemen myself, I was 35 years in the Royal Air Force,

that is axiomatic to what we do. We would never comment on whether the

rules are right or take any political position, but the whole

point of our existence is to honour the dead, in this case Private

Daniel Wade, and to support the living, Lexi May. And we hope to

work hard to make sure they are properly supported after that

tragic loss. It is particularly apt this year because you poppy appeal

is focusing on the families of servicemen. Absolutely right. It is

that brought us Brecht from -- that broad spectrum we are talking about.

We are there to help them. Thank you very much for coming in and

talking to us. The job of a fire fighter is, by

its nature, hazardous. But fire fighters in Greater Manchester have

been facing an additional hazard in recent weeks. They've been coming

under attack from youths pelting them with stones and bricks. The

latest incident was last night in the Gorton area of Manchester. Fire

crews say it's got to stop before someone gets seriously hurt. This

from our chief reporter, Dave Guest. A run of the mill rubbish fire in

Gorton. This is bread and butter stuff for fire crews. But at this

incident, they've got an audience. Notice the youths in the background.

One of the youth's through a brick at the firefighters. It's difficult

to make out, but you can just see the youth hurling the brick which

hit one of the fire fighters striking him on the chest. A second

brick was then thrown. Fortunately, that one list. You don't expect

this when putting a fire out. attack was the 8th on fire crews in

Greater Manchester since the beginning of this month. Some years

ago, Greater Manchester Fire Service was at the forefront of a

campaign which saw the introduction of a new law which makes attacks on

emergency crews a specific offence. Here, they say, they need to make

sure that law is used to punish the perpetrators of such attacks.

Firefighters put their lives at risk every single day protecting

the community. They are to rescues and traffic conditions. I do not

expect my firefighters to be put out additional risk in the

community. On this occasion, no-one was hurt. But that's not always the

case. Fire fighters say their job is hazardous enough without others

trying to make it more hazardous. A Manchester United player has been

banned from the road for drink driving. 19-year-old Ryan

Tunnicliffe from Heywood crashed his Range Rover into a parked van

after drinking heavily the night before with his family. His front

seat passenger received minor injuries. The midfielder's been

banned for 18 months. No police action will be taken

against an Oldham footballer accused of racially abusing a ball

boy at Bramall Lane. The allegation against Lee Croft was made after

the match against Sheffield United earlier this month. He denied any

wrongdoing. There's been a huge rise in the

number of people diagnosed with whooping cough in the North West.

380 cases have been confirmed in the region so far this year

compared to 73 last year. Pregnant women are being urged to have a

vaccination in the hope they'll pass the protection on to their

unborn babies. 11,000 fish have been put into the

River Weaver in Cheshire today to restock it after 5,000 died there

in the summer. The Environment Agency said those that were killed

had been affected by algae in the water, which had reduced oxygen

levels. Plans have been approved for a new

skyscraper in Manchester city centre. The River Street Tower will

be 42 storeys high and will house 600 new apartments. It will be

built on a site near the Mancunian Way and will be the second tallest

building in the city after the Beetham Tower.

Next month, we have the most important elections of the year for

Police and Crime Commissioners. These are new positions with one

commissioner being elected per police force. Commissioners are

supposed to better reflect the views of the public and community.

But how feasible is that, given the size of the areas they're

representing? Our Political Editor Arif Ansari has been considering

the challenge in Lancashire. On election patrol in Blackburn.

Lancashire Constabulary's new police and crime commissioner will

be expected to gather views in places like this and pass them on

to the Chief Constable. I am worried about these youngsters,

hanging out on the streets around because they've got no jobs and I

worry about the future of these youngsters. Doesn't matter if they

are Asian or English. They are this same. We hear about kids being

taken away. I want keep my kids are safe. We get teenagers after hours.

They will go around the area, smoking drugs and stuff. Those are

some of the issues facing the Community and Blackburn but how

different is it 20 miles away in love them? Up it is quite quiet of

an evening, but recently we live nearer college and we have had

quite a few gangs hanging around. The level of policing, I would say,

is adequate. To be honest, we don't have any particular problems here.

So, what does the commissioner do when one community's priorities are

different to another? There will be communities competing for the

police crime Commission and if one community gets ignored, it may

affect community tension. So, you think it could make things worse?

It could cause problems. There are all sorts of communities with

different needs and priorities. This woman runs an organisation

representing gay people. Discrimination is discrimination

across the board, whether it is around a -- religious context,

disability or sexuality. So, you had the police commissioner might

be able to bring communities together? That is an element of it.

With the limited resources and so many different communities, that

will be a big job. So, clearly, representing these

people is going to be extremely difficult.

I was at an event where Ed Miliband was launching as the Police

Commissioner elections for his party and it was a queue and a

session in which people were raising issues from services for

elderly people, services for younger people, all sorts of things.

Considering Lancashire has 16 MPs and there will only be one Police

Commissioner representing everybody, that is a huge job. The Government

would say it is better that one person does it than nobody.

So that is part of a series that we are building up. What other issues

will you be looking at was meant we will be going to other forces like

Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, and a range of

different issues from anti-social behaviour to gun crime to police

numbers. That police patrol will be out and about on this trip.

We look forward to seeing you in the back of a police car again.

The country's officially out of recession today and there's more

good news on the economic front. The aircraft manufacturer Airbus

says 6,000 jobs at its factory at Broughton near Chester have been

safeguarded by the new A350 airliner. The main production line

in France has officially opened and before the plane has even flown the

company has sold nearly 600 of the aircraft. Here's our Transport

Huge excitement in Toulouse as the A350 production line is officially

opened. There's a lot riding on the success of the plane including the

future of 6,000 jobs at Broughton. Metal replaced by lighter materials

is a new way of building airliners. What you are looking at his a major

assembly delivered by another British company. They are based in

Prestwick and Preston. That is primarily carbon fibre

infrastructure. The plane as wide bodied, offering a quieter cabin

for passengers amongst other things. It isn't even flying yet, but

nearly 600 have already been bought by its airlines obviously attracted

by a 25% reduction in fuel costs. With many airlines due to replace

their fleets, experts reckon 27,000 aircraft will be needed in the next

20 years. 558 A350s have already been sold. 70% of the plane is made

of advanced materials bringing down the weight and running costs. In

Broughton, new engineering techniques have had to be learned

to make the wings which are mainly carbon fibre. This new factory has

cost �400 million and production is about to increase now that the main

French plant is up and running. is going to mean longer term job

security. This is cutting-edge technology using advanced materials.

Put that together and it is looking very good for the planned. -- for

the plant. With the celebrations over, the real work starts making

sure the A350 lives up to expectations. The first plane will

fly for real next year. That is impressive.

Still to come on North West Tonight: I will have more on the

mountain bike trail in Lancashire causing a headache for mountain

rescue teams. And new to you, the long-lost piece

of music by Beethoven making its world premiere in Manchester. This

is a very lovely story. Their chances of surviving to full

term were one in ten. But now twins Finlay and Oliver have made medical

history for the region. A faulty blood flow meant they weren't

developing properly in the womb. But Liverpool Women's Hospital

offered life-saving laser surgery before they were even born. Our

Health Correspondent Nina Warhurst Two perfect twin boys. Two very

proud parents who know how different life could have been.

Their 22 week scan revealed Finlay's artery way carrying too

much blood to Oliver, making their chance of survival just one in ten.

Heartbreaking for a couple who had already miscarried once before.

When we found out that was what we had, then we were devastated. We

thought we might not have a good outcome for. Today they were

reunited with the lady who saved their son's lives. Incredibly, she

performed laser treatment on the boys before they were even born.

They are gorgeous. Finlay wasn't getting enough nutrients and was

struggling to grow. Oliver's heart was under too much pressure from

the faulty artery. So Dr Bricker used a camera to identify the right

vessels and using a tiny laser, blocked the excess flow and the

twins' survival made history for the region. It is amazing to see

these two because it is our first successful double survivor from

this procedure in Liverpool and it has taken us some time to be able

to do this in the North West and it is important to us. When times were

hard, she came through and made us all laugh. The cleaners, the ladies

who brought us cups of tea, everybody. We want to thank

everybody for how well they have looked after us and for giving us

our to beautiful boys. -- two beautiful boys. The laser procedure

is still high risk. One in three babies will die. So Finlay and

Oliver's mum says one day when they're a bit bigger, she'll tell

them why they're so lucky to have each other.

That is a very cross baby! A adorable!

Now, the popularity of cycling has soared in the last few years thanks

to the likes of Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish with many people

taking up mountain biking, something that's caused problems in

rural East Lancashire. The Bowland Pennine Mountain Rescue team says

it's struggling to cope with the number of callouts to injured

riders at Gisburn Forest. Stuart Pollitt reports.

It's not hard to see why you'd want More and more mountain bikers are

making tracks here. So, too, though are mountain rescue teams.

We have seen a rapid increase, which has led to 11 call-outs this

year. So the amount of incidents is putting at risks the entire

operation? It is not getting that critical yet. As a small charity,

we only need �40,000 a year but we cannot afford to maintain that if

the level of incidents continues as it is. It was Martin's idea to open

the forest to cyclists 15 years ago. These trails now welcome 50,000

people a year. We always try to learn from the incidents. We visit

the site where it has happened. It is comparable to other bike trial

centres and comparable to other outdoor activities. Nigel rides

here regularly. He's well equipped but says others aren't. He wants

them to be better trained. There is an increase in people and possibly

an increase in people who are not properly equipped. You know, simple

things like a lack of helmet. what is the most important thing to

be done? Training, the right equipment and following the colour

code. Most people come with the proper kit, that I have seen.

very safe, yes. You have got to write to your ability. If there is

no adrenalin, don't bother coming out. As the forest grows in

popularity, the onus is on each and every cyclist to make sure the

mountain rescue team doesn't become a victim of its success.

Football, and Dougie Freedman is the new Bolton Wanderers Manager.

He used to be called Doogie. Wanderers made the former Crystal

Palace boss their top target after the sacking of Owen Coyle more than

two weeks ago. News of the expected appointment leaked out from Palace

48 hours ago. I thought you were not going to

stop there. I know, I was so excited! And so it

was no surprise when it was confirmed this morning. Richard

Askam has been gauging the reaction of Bolton's fans.

He's young. Just 38. And was described by his new chairman today

as a man with drive and passion. is untried. Is he good, is he bat,

time will tell. It has been a tough 18 months. Let's hope the good

times come back. He will not be introduced to the media until next

week but there are a couple of quotes from him on the club's

website. He says, on surprisingly, that he is delighted to join Bolton

and he talks about how the club is geared up for the Premier League

and how excited he is about the challenge ahead. Before Freedman

left Crystal Palace, they went on an eight-match unbeaten run, taking

them up to fourth in the Championship. A former Scottish

international and Premier League striker, Freedman's playing

experience is deep and varied. But he is inexperienced as a manager

with less than two years under his belt at Palace. It is the same as

Owen Coyle. Young manager, untested but I think he deserves a chance.

And not 100% on the acquisition of him. Somebody new and young might

give them a boost. Because they need something. Dougie Freedman is

expected to watch Saturday's match against Middlesbrough from the

stands before taking charge of his first training session on Monday.

This next story is all yours, read all of it!

In the Champions League, Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini says

his side will need a miracle if they're to qualify from their group.

Despite taking the lead through Samir Nasri, City slumped to a

disappointing 3-1 defeat against Ajax. So far, after three games,

they're bottom of Group D with just one point. They say it is my fault

for this defeat, but on the beach, there are always 11 players. We

scored one goal, we missed some other trances. The second half, the

same. Blackburn Rovers' caretaker boss

Eric Black has picked up his first win since Steve Kean's departure.

This close-range effort early on from Grant Hanley was enough to

secure a 1-0 win at home to Sheffield Wednesday. Rovers are

fifth in the Championship. The former Burnley and Blackburn

footballer John Connelly has died. The winger, who also had spells at

Manchester United and Bury, played 20 times for England including

their opening match of the 1966 World Cup finals against Uruguay.

He was 74. He was Bernie's top scorer when they won the title in

1960 and also won the Championship with United.

We like to bring new musical firstRevolution even if there are

200 years old. A previously unheard Beethoven

score has been unearthed by an academic in Manchester. A professor

came across the rare piece of music when he was searching through the

composer's old notebooks. It's believed that it was written and

forgotten nearly 200 years ago. Today it made its debut at the

University of Manchester where it was performed in public for the

very first time. Kelly Foran reports.

A long last piece of music by one of the greatest composers in

history. It looks like a series of courts of no particular description.

But when I looked at it more closely, I realised it was a

complete him setting. He has clearly composed it himself because

he makes changes as he goes along. Tucked away for 200 years, it was

discovered by a professor at Manchester University. I was amazed

and thought, this is quite exciting to find a piece like this which we

didn't know Beethoven had written. A new addition to his output is

quite a rare. It was performed It may well be an ancient piece of

music but it struck a chord with a whole new generation. To be

involved in a premier by a piece -- of a piece by Beethoven is a

fantastic. It has got some very special moments. It is great to see

the corrections he made. It is a real sense of occasion. And they

hope it is no longer a forgotten Different from Beethoven's usual

compositions. It was quite mild in Macclesfield.

Then, when I came out of the car, it was very cold.

If you had listened to me yesterday, none of this would have been a

surprise to you! I am sure I should have known.

I thought you listened more than will Roger.

Talking about the cold weather, tonight is cold, Saturday looks

like being dried and bright and by Sunday, there is a chill in the air

but also some rain. This chart shows everything. You can see the

direction of the wind, it is pushing the mild air out of the

weight and the cold air extends everywhere. That moves in through

the night tonight. Through the day, you saw some sunshine, but some

places saw hardly any at all. As we head through the next couple of

hours, no matter how much cloud cover you have now, it will

gradually start to finish and disperse. From almost blanket cloud

cover through the day, through the night, the minute this guys start

to clear, the Blue comes in. We are talking about the temperatures

going much lower for many nights. Tonight, as a minimum, we could be

talking minus one. Towns and cities, two and three. The difference

tomorrow is it is chilly in the morning but the sun will be there

from the word go and what a nice- looking day we have got. It will be

a very pretty day. It is crisp and called but some really long spells

of sunshine. Look at the Pennines. They could be a light wintry flurry.

It will not amount to anything but it is something to look at.

Temperatures, 6 or 7. Were you listening?