03/06/2014 North West Tonight

That's all from the BBC News at Six. It's goodbye from me. On

Welcome to North West Tonight with Annabel Tiffin and Roger Johnson.

Claims the abuse of boys at a Rochdale residential school was

covered up after the authorities were told what was happening.

It could have been hidden and locked away.

Among the allegations are claims boys as young as eight were sold

The two women whose starving dog mauled a pensioner to death.

These birds may not know it yet, but their lifestyle could improve where

Find out why this Lytham golfer defied odds of 40 million to one

A dog that savaged a pensioner to death hadn't been fed

Cliff Clarke never stood a chance when he was attacked in his own back

Tonight, the neighbours who owned and cruelly neglected that dog

The judge said they might have got longer had the tragedy happened

This was the moment when police cornered the dog that had viciously

But it was all too late for the 79`year`old `

When I went out in the garden, I heard him shouting. I looked over

the fence and I saw the dog attacking him.

Della Woods and Hayley Sulley lived in the house adjoining Cliff's.

In fact they had three dogs which they neglected.

On the day of the tragedy, they left two of them

in the back garden in scorching weather without food or water.

The dogs found their way into Cliff Clarke's garden and one,

a Presa Canario called Charlie, attacked him.

Shoe repairer Michael Rankin was Cliff's other next door neighbour.

He did his best to help, but was powerless.

I was on the top of the fence, trying to scare the dog off, but it

In court, the owners admitted breaking the dangerous dog laws

The dog was completely out of control. Eventually, the dog was

shot dead. A postmortem showed that it had not been fed for 45 hours

before the attack. In court, the owners admitted breaking the

and causing unnecessary suffering to their animals.

laws there are no words. I will never see my brother again.

What you feel towards those two women? I think that the women should

be punished. Those children will miss their mother, who won?

If he had been charged under different laws, they would have

spent longer in prison. A second racer has died during the

motorbike races on the Isle of Man. He was a three`time British sport

champion. He made his debut in 2012. The rest of the day's racing was

suspended. Five people have now been arrested

in connection with the shooting of a man at the Ashley Brook pub

in Salford last week. The victim is still in hospital

after being shot seven times. The five detained by the police

on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder are a 16`year`old`boy,

a girl of 17, two women and a man. Tests are being carried out to find

out how two men whose bodies were The men, aged 47 and 54,

were discovered at a bungalow in Bebington in the early hours

of Monday. Detectives are investigating

the deaths, which they describe The Government is being urged to

spend more on transport in the A report by a committee

of MPs has warned that, otherwise, It says spending on transport

infrastructure is weighted The man who first investigated

allegations of sexual abuse at Knowl View School

in Rochdale has told the BBC he believes his report was deliberately

covered up by the council. Phil Shepherd,

a health professional, looked into He sent a detailed account to

Rochdale Council, but Mr Shepherd The police are looking at a

cover`up. Knowl View School closed two

decades ago, but the scandal It opened in May 1969 to cater

for what were then called But soon after it opened, vulnerable

boys were being sexually abused by It was 30 years before he was

brought to justice and jailed. In 1991, a confidential report spoke

of a potential "public scandal", with allegations young pupils were

subjected to sexual abuse, The school was closed

three years later. Until, in 2012, the

Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk accused his predecessor Sir Cyril Smith

of being a serial child abuser. Smith was on the management board

at Knowl View. Former pupils came forward

and claimed he'd abused them there. Earlier this year,

Rochdale Council appointed an That inquiry has since been widened

and a new lawyer appointed. Greater Manchester Police have

also started a new investigation. They've spoken to ten possible

victims and are examining more Our political editor Arif

Ansari is in Rochdale now. Arif,

how significant are today's claims? It is one of a number of

allegations, one that has already blown away the sign on the wall here

at Rochdale Council, that was here in memory of Cyril Smith. For

several years, Rochdale Council has been strangling `` struggling to

handle these allegations that some believe were ignored at the time.

Allegations such as this man who was sent there when he was 11.

I was abused on the first night. I was taken to a flat and raped.

While he has spoken for the first time, not all of this is new.

Rochdale council received three reports into the abuse, none were

published and the council has been criticised for how it responded to

them. Now the man who wrote the first report says that he believes

that it could have been cut `` covered up.

I cannot see any other reason that it has not come out and was not

dealt with effectively at the time. I still find it difficult to

believe. I am looking for an alternative to cover up, it could

have been hidden or locked away. I don't understand.

He says that he will be saying that to the current council inquiry which

is going on here and see what happens, asking questions like who

knew what and when, and, if there was a cover`up, who initiated it and

why. One of the significant political story from Rochdale to

tell you, and that is that the Labour leader here has been

replaced. He was defeated last night, `` Colin Lambert, by Richard

Farnell, who will almost certainly become the new council leader when

the vote is taken tomorrow. That is significant, because Richard Farnell

was council leader here between 1986 and 1992, when those reports would

have been delivered. have been delivered.

Before we went on air, I spoke to the MP for Rochdale and asked him if

he'd thought that there had been a cover`up.

There is no doubt that senior council officers were aware of what

went on at Knowl View School. A real tragedy in terms of the victims who

were abused there. Some of the reports that I have read from the

1990s clearly show that there was terrible abuse.

The man in charge at the time of these allegations and the reports

was Richard Farr now, who tomorrow is likely to be Rochdale Council's

leader again? Yes, and I think they have made a

wise choice in choosing him to be the leader of the council. He was

the leader in the late 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s. I have

about the situation at Knowl View about the situation at Knowl View

School and he has assured me that he was never made aware of the abuse

that was going on then. I believe him.

I understand what you are saying, but we cannot pre`empt this inquiry

that is ongoing. That is looking at who knew what and when. Do you think

that it is right that he is back in that it is right that he is back in

charge before the inquiry has had a chance to report its findings?

Yes, I have had concerns about the inquiry anyway. It is a council led

inquiry looking at if the council got things wrong.

But it is `` is it right that Mr Farnell is in charge? It is

completely right. He will be an excellent leader.

We have spoken to Richard Farnell and he denies ever seeing any

reports related to the allegations and that is what he has told you as

well? Yes, I believe that what we need in

this is less innuendo against some local politicians for political

gain. Take the politics out of it, we should do about the victims who

were abused. Think about what they had to go through. Some of them have

committed suicide because the abuse was so terrible. I think we need to

concentrate on the victims and less on the politics.

The jury at the Hillsborough inquests has heard the disaster

could have been avoided, had a decision to close 12 turnstiles not

been taken. Dr Wilfred Eastwood, whose engineering firm worked with

Sheffield Wednesday on designing and building parts of the stadium, made

that comment in a letter written six weeks after the fatal crush. For

more on this, we can talk to Ben Schofield, who's live for us at the

Explain which turnstiles are being talked about here?

That is one of the larger roads through Sheffield that goes past the

Dr Eastwood ` who's not appearing at the inquests

in person, so we're hearing old statements, letters and transcripts

read out ` said that meant 6,000 fans for the North Stand would have

Dr Eastwood said he believed they were closed

He said that those fans would have added to the crowd that built up. He

said the decision was taken because the police wanted to avoid

confrontation. He said that the disaster would have

been avoided if the police had not decided to restrict the access. He

catered for, which was a factor of catered for, which was a factor of

the build`up of the crowd. Neither Sheffield Wednesday or the

police have told the jury why those turnstiles were closed.

The jewellery has been hearing from one of Doctor Eastwood's employees

at the time. Yes, that was John strange who was a

chartered engineer. He was asked to describe the character of his boss.

He said he was like a god in the office. He said that he could

deliver quite a thunderbolt. He has been asked to comment on the design

features, one of which I will tell you about. He said that he was

surprised to hear that the crash areas on the Leppings Lane side

were, as he said, much lower than the ones in the guidelines.

We'll find out why Burnley's World War One survivor is

And find out what perhaps did to beat the odds and entered the

golfing record books. It seems wherever you gaze out to

sea these days, chances are you'll Well, scientists are carrying

out some of the most detailed research ever into how those wind

farms affect coastal birds. The British Trust

for Ornithology is studying gulls on Walney Island near Barrow, so that

the impact of offshore wind farms It has to be done quickly to

minimise the interference to the colony. Trapped gulls put in sacks

and then fitted with a GPS system. The tags will record the location of

the gulls for two years, so that scientists can get an understanding

of where they fly and feed and how wind farms affect that.

We want to find out how likely it is that they could be hit by the

turbines or whether they might just avoid the wind farm altogether and

therefore have less good places to feed. Until we know that, we will

not know whether the wind farms are causing a problem or not.

There are already four wind farms of this post, including one of the

biggest in the world. When work here is finished,

scientists would have tagged 25 Lesser Black bat gulls and other

gulls. The data will show where it will be safest to build the wind

farms. Now, by their very nature,

stories about the First World War Most pubs might get through one

bottle of Benny a year, this club gets through 600. It runs at 2000

litres a year. They love it. It settles your stomach. It is a

fantastic drink. In winter and in summer.

So how did this area become the capital of this drink in the world?

It is a legacy of the First World War. But the reason why is the

source of much discussion. Local historians think they have the

answer. The walking wounded of the battalion

were invited to the distillery for their Christmas party in December

1917 when they were given a meal with drinks. Also in the base

hospitals, it is recorded that it was actually administered to the

wounded there as a medicinal compound, knowledge with hot water.

Troops returning in 1918 demanded their Benny. The clubs and pubs put

the orders in and the Benedictine has not stopped flowing since.

son. That is how it has gone on. It son. That is how it has gone on. It

is a very tasty drink. It settles your stomach. A lot of people will

have a view points and then have a Benny for bigger home. They will go

off on the way quite happy. This tradition has created its own

legends. Norma D is often visited by people from the miners club. And the

chairman of the organisation sometimes visits Burnley. He has a

point. Harry's dad was known as the king of

the Benny. The drink was even in a poem at his funeral.

Here is the Benny King, don't be sorry, don't be sad, just have a

Benny and remember my dad. I will try some of this. God bless

you. It is really nice.

I only had a little bit. It was very nice. You asked me if I have learnt

anything about World War I. There is apparently a new version of the

Benny hot and it is the Benny bomb. The younger generation are now

carrying on the tradition of drinking Benny.

But you did not bring me a bottle back? No, I did not, it was very

expensive. There will be more stories from

World War I and York BBC local radio station at 815 every morning this

week. We will have another good story

tomorrow. Cricket,

and in the county championship, Lancashire are following on

after being bowled out for 203 in their first innings against

Somerset at Emirates Old Trafford. It is the third day of the

championship. Lankan sure 95`3. `` Lancashire. They will be keeping

their fingers crossed in the dressing room.

When Pat Smart and Marie Anderton decided to brave the rain to play

a round at their local golf course, they couldn't have imagined it

would end with a place in the sport's record books.

The pair's efforts at Lytham Green Drive Golf Club also

defied bigger odds than winning the lottery, but how?

Approaching the sixth tee and about to walk into the history books.

Pat's golfing luck was about to change.

I have been playing for 18 years. I hit the ball, I went on the green

and I thought it had gone off the back.

I said, here it is. It was unbelievable.

But not as unbelievable as what happened an hour later at the 13th.

It's landed on the green. I was certain that it was in the hold. She

said that she thought it had gone in. I said that they would never

believe us. We looked at each other and could not believe it.

The hole in one is golf's holy grail.

Tony Jacklin hit the first televised one in 1967.

How rare is her achievement? This handbook lists just 15 names of

people who have got to holes in one. Bookmakers say that the odds of 40

million to one. The reaction from friends has been overwhelming.

Well done. With two holes in one, what you have

to do? I think I will have to buy everyone to drinks, but I do not

mind. We did win ?25 on the lottery. There is no stopping you!

She will need that lottery money to help by those drinks in the

clubhouse. She will need to win the lottery if

they are all drinking Benedictine. Well done to her. We should get the

lottery numbers from her. And here is the weather.

It was not a bad day for the Isle of Man. The closer inland you were, the

more cloud there was, so it has been very hit and miss. It looks like it

will be quite wet. Thursday does not look bad, but by the time you get to

Saturday, it looks as if it will be a wet and lively affair. The office

has already given a yellow alert to say that there could be significant

rainfall. There could be thunder and showers. If you have plans for

Saturday, look out for the forecast. It can change, sometimes it gets

wetter, often it gets worse. Patchy clouds, sunny spells has been

the order of the day. Temperatures in the mid teens. Some showers in

the last couple of hours. It will probably move towards us over the

next few hours. You might see a shower in Merseyside. We are

expecting clear whether for a time in Cumbria. A relatively quiet

night. However, things change as you head into the morning. The rain

begins to move towards us. All of this whether through the night gives

temperatures at 9 degrees in the countryside. Up to 30 Celsius in the

town. `` 13. It will not be a complete

wash`out tomorrow, but false on it will be close to it. There will be a

heavy burst of rain now and then, but it will be patchy and on and

off. The theme of this weather is all and down for most of the day.

Over the Pennines, you can see intense weather, heavy bursts of

rain. The wind from the Northwest is not a

good direction and could be up to 20 miles an hour. No sunshine, a lot of

cloud, I think the best that you can expect is 13 or 14 degrees.

One more note about our Benny and hot. The Burnley FC players drank

Benny and champagne. Some people say that they will try

it. Good night. Find out what life's really like

in the favelas.