29/01/2014 North West Tonight

independent Scotland. That is all from the News at six, so

Good evening. Welcome to North West Tonight with Roger Johnson and

Annabel Tiffin. Our top story: Bill Roache's Coronation Street family

tell his sex abuse trial he's decent and kind to everybody.

We'll have the latest from Preston Crown Court. Also tonight: The

gambling addict who's begging the bookies to turn him away before he

loses it all. 100 years after ordinary working men

formed a regiment in World War I, a new look at a completed memorial to

them. It is to the Commonwealth Games what the torch was to the

Olympic Games. Find out about the baton as it heads to the north`west.

William Roache was always the perfect gentleman according to his

screen wife, the actress Anne Kirkbride. She was one of three

Coronation Street actors who gave evidence to support the 81`year`old

today. William Roache denies two rapes and

four indecent assaults against five women aged 16 or under between 965

and 1971. Our Chief Reporter, Dave Guest joins us from Preston Crown

Court. It must have been quite an unusual day in court today? That is

right. We saw some of the most famous faces on British television

turning up here today to speak up for one of their own. Those

colleagues of Bill Roache have described him as a true gentleman, a

father figure, an inspiration. They said they couldn't believe that this

man could became bowl of the type of crimes of which he has been accused.

`` be capable. They have appeared in countless scenes together and Anne

Kirkbride and William Roache appeared together in court room She

arrived at court this morning to support the actor who she has played

alongside for more than four decades. Anne Kirkbride described to

it `` during the cast in 1972 as a terrified teenager.

Asked how he behaved around female members, she said:

The theme was taken up by Chris Gascoyne, the actor who plays Peter

in the TV soap. He told the court...

Next came Helen Worth who has played Gayle for more than 40 years. She

said she had never seen him do anything untoward in all the time

she had been there. This afternoon, William Roache has denied all

charges against him. This case will move into its closing stages over

the coming days before the jury then retires to consider its verdict

Nominations have closed for the Wythenshawe and Sale East

by`election, caused by the death of the former Labour MP Paul Goggins.

The Liberal Democrats have chosen Mary di Mauro a local Councillor who

says local people should be helped to take advantage of new jobs.

We need to invest a lot in skills, training and getting people's

English and maths up to scratch I will work hard to get investment and

match it with the skills. A total of seven candidates are standing in the

by`election, they're on your screen now.

Voting is on Thursday 13th February. And tomorrow our Political Editor

Arif Ansari will be giving us an overview of the by`election and

what's at stake. An off duty police officer who

serves with Cheshire police has been arrested after stealing a police car

and ramming into the gate of Cheshire Constabulary headquarters.

Kevin Szabo who is 39 is said to be suffering from ill`health and stress

and is reported to have been at the centre of an earlier six hour

stand`off in Prestatyn, in north Wales, on Monday.

A compulsive gambler who tried to ban himself from betting shops in

Stockport says rules need to change to stop people like him from

frittering away thousands of pounds. Alex Woolliscroft recognised his

problem and left photos with bookies asking them to turn him away when

they saw him. But he says none did. Now he wants

casino`style memberships extended to bookies. We'll get the view from the

gambling industry in a few moments. First, this report from Mark

Edwardson. Hard at work in his successful

Stockport barber's shop. Alex Woolliscroft started gambling at 18.

Bets of ?10 have turned to hundreds. His losses are serious. I reckon I

have lost about 50,000. In one five minute session he lost ?700 on fixed

odds machines. A tattoo reminds him of the date, an attempt to

discourage himself. What a drug addict the class as a school, my

school is going into a betting shop. Recently a father, the 26`year`old

and his fiance have left photos of him with Stockport's bookmakers with

instructions not to let him gamble. But some bookies are ambivalent I

have lost a fair few times and they let me do it The Campaign for Fairer

Gambling says ?159 million was staked in Stockport in 2012 with a

total of ?5.3 million lost. More than once. ?53 million of that was

through fixed odds machines with punters losing ?1.7 million. Alex

once casino style membership in bookmakers. Before you place a bet,

you should swipe a card. If you are self excluded, it will turn red and

you can't gamble. William Hill told us they have

repeatedly tried to help Alex and will continue to do all they can to

support him. Earlier I asked Rupert Adams from

the company if there's more they can do to help people who have a

gambling problem. It is an interesting one. Self exclusion is

an important weapon in our armoury where we are trying to organise

responsible gambling. There is 000 interactions on a monthly basis

where I `` whereby a staff member will say they are not comfortable

with a person's gambling. We understand about 80% are successful.

It is a good bit of kit but the onus has to be on the individual. We

can't police it perfectly. You do accept you have a duty of care to

people who use your premises? We have spent 12 months creating a new

policy. It started in September and should be finished in March which

requires staff to get retraining on self exclusion. There is a

responsible gambling message on all machines. What about the idea of

having memberships? Someone might have a card that they have to swipe

before they can play. That then would enable you very easily to stop

people. It is such a transient population and it is extremely

difficult. I used to be a member of a casino in London and if you lost

your card, you couldn't get back in. It causes all kinds of

complications. You have betting shops or around the country and they

could be a William Hill member and good bet in any of your betting

shops or be barred from them. If you lose the card, you can't get into

the shop and have to go into the process all over again. That happens

all the time is with credit cards. I am not sure what will go through and

won't go through that they are all kinds of issues.

Still to come on North West Tonight: The missing VC. Bury museum's search

for the bravery medal won by a Lancashire hero.

And remember this? The North West prepares to relive torch`fever all

over again. But where this time The Liverpool Pals were formed in

1914, four battalions of friends who would stand shoulder to shoulder as

they fought in the first World War. Thousands volunteered. Thousands

died. Until now there's been no memorial for them in Liverpool.

But there's been a big campaign to ensure they have one to mark the

centenary of the start of World War One. Now work on the memorial is

almost complete. Our Merseyside Reporter, Andy Gill has the story.

August 1914. The call to arms. Your country needs you. It reached the

heart of every man. Thousands would die in the Battle of the Somme. A

Liverpool sculptor has spent a year working on two memorial panels. The

city's first monument to the Pals. To me, they all become real. It is

about remembering each person and remembering the family, the mothers,

the girlfriends, Liverpool. One panel, now away for casting, shows

happy volunteers. The second shows the horror of the war. When the

panels are put together, they will show the whole story of the war from

the horrors of the trenches to the modern day and the new memorial will

be unveiled opposite Saint George's Hall. Lord Derby helped recruit the

Pals. And they trained in trench digging at his Knowsley Hall estate.

Of 5,000 who joined up, 3,000 died. If you can imagine one street where

ten families lost somebody, it must have had a tremendous effect on

them. Among those seeing the panel today 12`year`old Bethany McGivern

who's helped with fundraising. The panels will be unveiled in August.

Staying with the commemorations of World War I and the Fusilier Museum

in Bury has launched an appeal to find one of its most treasured

medals. Six men from the Regiment were

awarded The Victoria Cross on the same day during the ill`fated

Gallipoli landings in 1915. Five of the six VCs have been traced now the

hunt is on to add the final one in time for an exhibition next year.

Sarah Stevenson is from the Museum and she's here now. Remind us what

exactly the Fusiliers did in Gallipoli. They were part of the

29th division that went in 1915 It was hoped the campaign would knock

Turkey out of the war and ease the stale male `` stalemate on the

Western front. It was on the first day of that campaign that the famous

six Victoria Crosss were awarded. `` Victoria crosses.

The one we're looking for is the son of Lord and Lady Bromley. His

Victoria Cross was putting up for sale many years ago. It was

withdrawn and we can only hope it was still with the family. This is a

coup for the museum because the other three have come from Lord

Ashdown who doesn't usually give these out. I'm sorry, Lord

Ashcroft. He has the largest collection in the world. He has said

he will loan us three of the crosses. He has never loaned them

out before and they have never been shown outside of London. If it comes

off, it will be the first time the six have been displayed together. If

anyone knows anything about Major Cuthbert Bromley and we can find his

family now, how can they get in touch? If they go to our website at

the Fusilier Museum, all our details are there. Good luck with the hunt.

It would be fantastic to have oral sex together again. Thank you for

coming in. A judge says Blackpool Council may

have been vindictive in the way it dealt with a lawyer who kept winning

compensation for people who'd suffered trips and slips on the

town's pavements. After months of wrangling, the High

Court last week ruled the Council acted unfairly when it refused to

renew Joanna Trafford's lease at the New Blackpool Enterprise Centre

Beccy Meehan reports. Personal injury lawyer, Joanna

Trafford, has run North Solicitors for nearly six years but last year

Blackpool Council said the arrangement was over. Blackpool

wrote to me in June 20 13th saying that the lease would cease and we

were not going to have another lease given to us. When I questioned why

that was, they said it was because my firm had been blacklisted. She

had `` had sued Blackpool for problems with pavements. The review

said the council of practice and personal injury lawyers... If they

want to stop the claims against them, they should fix their roads

instead of evicting a legitimacy business out of the centre.

Solicitors should never be prevented from representing clients are the

people that come to see them in all sorts of distress to the best of

their abilities. The council has yet to make a decision on Joanna

Trafford's tenancy. Richard's here with the sport now and after a

one`sided Merseyside derby last night Liverpool could be about to

add to their squad? Yes, the reds are in talks with

Ukrainian club Dnipro over a deal for winger Yevhen Konoplyanka.

Manager Brendan Rodgers says he s hopeful of completing a deal before

the transfer window closes on Friday and Konoplyanka may well be the man.

Onto last night's derby then and a 4`0 stroll for Liverpool.

Yes and to compound the misery for Everton, striker Romalu Lukaku could

miss several weeks after picking up an ankle injury. But fourth placed

Liverpool were irresistible and have moved four points ahead of their

neighbours in the table. Confidences there. Get in. Nervous.

Too many injuries. We haven't won it for 15 years. But it took just 0

minutes to rain on Everton's optimism.

Then Everton lost Romelu Lukaku to injury and by half time they'd lost

the game too. Daniel Sturridge showing no matter which way he's

looking. He knows where the goal is. When Luis Suarez made it four, the

Blues feared a hiding. Sturridge spared them further pain but it was

Everton left with head in hands at the final whistle. A brilliant win

for us. To school four goals, we could have had a few more. We wanted

to perform so well for our fans and we knew how much it means. They

arrived with hope tonight but the fans are living with expectation

that with many of their title rivals still to visit here, it could be a

season to remember for the red half of Merseyside. We could win it. We

had disappointing games against Chelsea and Man City. 100% one of

the best games. We know our limitations. On a night when Everton

perhaps found out their limitations, there's no telling the limit of

Liverpool's ambitions this season. Juan Mata's Manchester United debut

was a winning one, they beat Cardiff 2`0. You can see the action on Match

of the Day tonight. 10:35 on BBC One. Manchester City could go top of

the Premier League if they win tonight. It started with a

demolition in November. Manuel Pellegrini says Spurs are different

team now. Have improved a lot. I saw the last two games that they played

and they are playing very well. That's all from me, just a reminder

that Spurs`Manchester City will be live on BBC Radio Manchester from

7.45. Let me take you back to 2012 and

that summer when the Olympic torch went through the north`west. It

captured the spirit of the games. This year, it is a Commonwealth

pattern which is making its way around 71 countries before going

from Britain to end up in Glasgow. The list of places in England has

been announced. It is starting its journey in Cheshire. They are

excited there. They clearly are They haven't got full details here

but if you caught that glimpse of that church `` torch when it

arrived, they are about to relive it here because the Queen's batting

will be here. David Brown joins me. How did you manage to convince them

to bring it here? The it must have been a very good application. We

have hundreds of applications. Most of the people in Congleton turned

out for the Batten relay and 24 000 people were here that day. There

would be a full range of activities and we will organise a big leisure

run. Sharon is a mother here. You turned out for the torch. Same

interest? I wouldn't miss an event of a lifetime. Hopefully the same

with the baton? Yes. We will have all the pictures right here on the

programme. Only a matter of time before the crowds turn out in force.

I remember in Manchester it came to the end of my road.

Onto the weather now. We hope for good weather when the baton arrives.

I have three different weather warnings all the way up until the

weekend so be prepared for unsettled conditions. I start this forecast

with a weather warning for ice. We have had a lot of rain over the next

`` over the last few days and tonight it should be mostly dry but

we have clearing skies. And that, the temperatures will fall below

freezing. All that rain lying on the ground is likely to freeze over

Watch out for icy patches. It would be a frosty night and a frosty start

tomorrow. It is going to be bitterly cold and we have an easterly wind in

charge of your weather tomorrow The frost will linger for a time and

there will be a lot of cloud around. The breezes coming from the

east and it may blow some snow flurries. It will feel more like

freezing outdoors. For tomorrow we have a different weather warning.

This one is for snow. We could see some snow on Friday. We will see

heavy rain spreading in from the Atlantic but where that heavy rain

bumps if the cold air, there could be some snowfall for a time. It will

be a very wet day. The good news is it won't settle. As we headed to the

weekend, it will turn very wet and very windy. It would be a touch

milder. We are expecting gales on Saturday into Sunday. Very

unsettled. You got through all those warnings.

You called yourself and evil witch! Yes, it is because of all the

weather warnings. Goodbye.