05/04/2017 North West Tonight

Good evening. This evening we are at Aintree, home of the Grand National.

20 years to the day after two coded bomb warnings brought an end to the

world's most famous steeplechase. The stands have been evacuated, the

county stand, the Queen Mother stand, and the principality.

Racing at Aintree today has been abandoned.

60,000 spectators, jockeys and race personnel were forced to abandon the

course. They just said you have got to leave

your horses, get out of here. I ask all of you to leave the course

and get onto the public highway immediately.

Charles Barnett was in charge today. He said today, terrorist would

strike without warning. You would get a warning from the

provisional IRA in those days, and that would give you a chance to deal

with it. These days it is a different animal entirely.

And as thousands became stranded, Merseyside should true community

spirit. All the jockeys were in here in the

silks, the whips. It turned into a large party, actually!

It is without doubt one of the most famous race courses in the world.

And once again, tomorrow, Aintree in Liverpool will play host to the

Grand National Festival. The eyes of the world will be on the big race at

5:15pm on Saturday afternoon. Just as they were 20 years ago this very

day for the 150th running of the world's most famous steeplechase.

But the scene here was altogether different, properly as quiet almost

as it is now, because 60,000 people had been moved off the course after

at 2:50pm that afternoon, two coded bomb warnings were received from the

IRA. During the course of the programme this evening, we will take

a look back at the events and stories from that afternoon in 1997.

In all, 60,000 people had to be moved from the racecourse, and are

Merseyside reporter has been taking a look at the evacuation.

It was to be a special day, the 150th running of the Grand National

turned out to be a very sad day for sport.

All the stands have been evacuated, the County stand, the Queen Mother

stand... All 60,000 people at Aintree were

evacuated. So disappointing for so many people.

All the effort and time that has gone into it, it is the biggest race

in the world. But the biggest race in the world

was facing its biggest challenge. We have a great history of all sorts

of things being thrown up in this race, thereafter retails...

It seems the race would go on as normal. Then this...

They are evacuating the County stand.

The fact that you could actually decamp 70,000 racegoers from the

racecourse, was something that you just could not believe would be

possible. But not only that, it was just terrifying and depressing to

feel that this was happening to our great race.

We got two warning messages using recognised codewords. There could be

a bomb within Aintree. Everybody has been advised to move

away from the stand and move into the centre of the racecourse.

It came towards the end of a general election campaign, the IRA had been

making bomb threats to cause maximum disruption. Police called it 10p

terrorism. 10p the price of a phone called from a public phone.

Evacuate the whole racecourse and make your way to the park area.

Absolute mayhem in terms of people standing outside, it was getting

cold and dark. The police had disconnected mobile phones.

It meant an empty parade ring, an empty weighing room.

A great feeling of disappointment, an empty feeling here at Aintree.

There were controlled explosions... BBC reporter Mike Hughes was one of

the few able to carry on broadcasting because his radio mike

was still connected to a transmitter inside the course.

What started off as people from radio Merseyside listening to me

ended up that national radio stations opted in, the World

Service, little old me on my radio Mike talking to millions of people

around the world. Make your way home and leave the

area. All local people are being asked by

the police to move away from Aintree racecourse. Racing at Aintree has

been abandoned. Everyone had to leave, and had to

leave almost everything. If you could have just seen the

scenes down at the stable yard, where we have had to leave the

horses. But the evacuation helped to

reconnect the Grand National to its Liverpool home.

The people of Merseyside had fallen out of love with it. But that to

encapsulated how brilliant the people of Merseyside were and are.

And it brought the Grand National ) the city, it was part of the

infrastructure. So the people who came to watch the

Grand National that day back in 1997, thereafter and did not quite

plan out as they had expected it to unfold. These grandstands remained

empty for 48 hours as the bomb squad and Merseyside Police looked for

those had mixed laws of devices, that whenever find -- explosive

devices. The man in charge are still involved in racing, his name is

Charles Barnett. I can put them at Chester racecourse and asked him how

the events of that day unfolded for the man in charge.

We sat in the police control room when the message had come through to

evacuate, and it was agreed that I would see Des. He was in a horse box

in the car park, and I could see him there.

We had that dreadful day in 1993, but insignificant compared to today.

Yes, this is tragic. We will have to evacuate the whole course, everyone

will have to leave, including the BBC.

What did say to you about the of Liverpool?

It was extraordinary. Strong, long-term friendships were formed as

a result of that, many of which we know of today. Many people go to the

Grand National to see old friends they met in 1997. It was great,

Liverpool showed absolute best that day.

Did you always believe it was a credible threat?

In my mind's I, I thought it was highly unlikely there would be a

bomb on the racecourse. But there had been bombs going off under that

codeword in the weeks before, so it was clearly a no-brainer, you had to

evacuate. How do you feel about the people who

made the threat that day? I've never really thought about them

because it was just bloody annoying. And I guess it was a sign of the

times and how the world has changed in the 20 years since, with events

that we so recently in London, that those kind of threats are altogether

different. Completely different. That was one

thing the police were clear about, you get a warning from the

provisional IRA in those days, and it gave you a chance to deal with

it. These days it is a different animal entirely. I think that would

be much more frightening. Does that give your racecourses cost

the concern now? I think that's right, they are

constantly into Munich with the Home Office about this stuff. -- in

communication. Charles Barnett speaking to me a few

days ago, a chilling thought the way in which that threat has changed.

The stands were all evacuated, 60,000 people left the racecourse.

The only living things that remained were the horses, the owners, the

jockeys, the stable lads and lasses had to leave their horses behind.

One man stayed with them. The stable manager. His name is Derek Thompson,

and I am delighted to say that Derek is here. Thank you very much for

talking to us this evening. Was it a difficult decision for you to stay

behind? Not in the slightest. The horses

must come first. Quite literally they did, because at

that time, for all you know a bomb could have gone off and there were

controlled explosions, weren't there?

I don't know, I was too busy. I had a sick horse, so I had to be in

touch with the vet to see what we could do with that. Horses which

were saddled and needed ropes put on, lots of little things.

Whether horses spooks? Not at all.

I remember Red Rum, he used to get taken to Southport to a roomful of

people when he won a race. They are incredibly calm.

Yes, they are very calm, the jump horses.

Calmer than the people, sometimes customer?

Most people are very cool, I don't think so.

How much has this place changed in the last 20 years?

It has changed a lot in the last 20, but over the last 40 years it has

changed dramatically. Read Run's last win was 40 years

ago. Yes, and was only about 6000 people

here. There will be 60,000 plus this

coming week. Thank you very much for talking to us. Derick Thomson, the

stable manager at the Grand National 20 years ago. He did more than 20

years in that role here. We will reflect more on events 20 years ago

at Aintree a little bit later in the programme, but there is other stuff

to catch up on as well, so let's head back to the newsroom and

Annabel. It's come to light the police

who shot dead an unarmed man in Cheshire had a meeting

with the police officer who killed Today at a public enquiry into the

death, the request is about why that meeting had taken place.

Our Social Affairs Correspondent Clare Fallon's been there today.

What have we heard about this meeting?

You might think, in the hours and days after an event like this, an

event in which an unarmed man was shot dead by police, one of the

priorities would be getting clear and accurate accounts from the

police officers who were there on the ground when it happened. But

today, at the enquiry into the death of Anthony Grainger, we were told

that it was six days before the police officers who were there gave

their written witness accounts of what had happened. They only gave

those accounts after they had had a meeting with another police officer.

That was a police officer only known as the 53, and he was the man who

shot dead Mark Duggan back in London back in 2011. That was a

high-profile police shooting, because the protests that it

triggered in London soon escalated, and was rioting, not just in the

capital but also here in Liverpool and Manchester, and in other cities.

Today, giving evidence to the enquiry, one of the officers who was

in that meeting was asked about why it has happened. He was asked by a

lawyer representing Anthony Grainger's family, did you not think

when the man who shot dead Mark Duggan came up to Manchester and

came into a meeting of all of the firearms officers in this case, did

you not think, good grief, that is a bit odd. The response from the

police officer was now, he said that meeting was simply about welfare and

support for the police officers involved.

The enquiry has also been hearing from the armed officer who shot

Anthony Grainger. That's right, that officer 's only

known as Q nine, along with many of the other police officers giving

evidence at this enquiry. He has been granted anonymity. His police

force argued that he would be at risk if his identity when owned by

the public. He was giving evidence behind a thick orange curtain in

court. Members of the press and public had their mobile phones

confiscated on the way in to stop his identity being made public. He

has only just begun giving his evidence, but we are expecting to

hear much more from him tomorrow is the enquiry continues.

Thank you very much. A cricketer spared jail

for beating his wife - after telling a court jail

would destroy an offer to play professionally -

is to have his sentence reviewed. 34 year-old Mustafa Bashir was given

a suspended sentence Bashir told the court

he'd lose the offer from Leicestershire County Cricket

if he was jailed. But the club later said this

claim was "wholly false". People in the Isle of Man

are being asked to help the Manx government make

?25 million of cuts. It's part of measures

to tackle an ?80 million A new webpage has been set up

so residents can suggest where they think the money

should be saved. And could The Guardian be

moving back to According to the Times newspaper,

bosses at the Guardian have held secret talks about moving

from London to the North West The newspaper confirmed it was

looking at ways to make savings, but said there are no plans

at present to leave the capital. Staging a spectacular Easter passion

play in Manchester City Centre But one of the fund-raising ideas

put forward to meet that cost It involved asking people

to pay for the experience The committee threw it out -

but the man who suggested it stands by his idea,

as Dave Guest reports. This was the Manchester Passion of

2006, televised live and gave a contemporary slant to the story of

Christ's crucifixion. This year, the Passion returns to Manchester. But

this time it will have a more traditional feel.

We want to try and tell the story in it -- traditional way, but show the

relevance. The Manchester inspirational voices

will provide the voice -- music. Their energy and experience in

singing also connects with the story.

The budget this time is more modest at around ?50,000, but the

organisers had to raise that money locally, and so began thinking of

fundraising ideas. One of their number came up with something he

thought would be a winner. He went on an Internet crowdfunding side and

offers people the chance of the total crucifixion experience, saying

that for a fee they could spend time on the cross.

If people want to empathise what it is like to be on across, feel what

Jesus went through, that is where it is coming from.

But the idea was described as offensive and totally inappropriate

by other committee members who demanded it be withdrawn.

At the time we thought it was a good idea, that's why I chucked it out

there, and I was told to take it down, so I take full responsible.

It was enthusiasm getting in the way of sense.

You cannot buy time on the cross, but you can enjoy the Manchester

Passion for free in Cathedral Gardens this Saturday.

We will have a round-up of the day's news in our latest news at 10:30pm,

but let's go back to Roger at Aintree.

Not often you get to set foot on the hallowed turf of entry. They have

been making final preparations during the course of the day for the

Grand National, which is off at 5:15pm on Saturday. 20 years ago, a

very different scenario, the stands were like they are right now, empty.

They had to search every inch of the grandstands and the surrounding area

for the supposed two explosive devices. They could not possibly run

the race on the same day because they also had to search 16 miles of

hollow fence, anything could have been hidden in there, and the

authorities were very keen to be aware of that. What that meant was

that nobody had anywhere to go. 60,000 people were moved off the

racecourse, hotels were full, so BBC Radio 2 Z and the people of

Liverpool sprang to the call to help people, and our reporter reports on

a remarkable showing of community spirit.

You can see how close we are to the racecourse,

But 20 years ago it was the owners and trainers, jockeys' entrance,

so that would've been full of cars, Rolls-Royces, chauffeurs, all

And when the course was evacuated, all that razzmatazz ended

All the jockeys were in here in silks, the whips...

It turned into a rather large party actually!

You could not put a pinhead in the house.

The hallway, the porch, the kitchen, the yard, everywhere, you had

And we were dispensing food and drinks.

Well, we thought we had plenty, till they drank us dry.

You all represent the best racers in Britain.

We always got Christmas cards from them, thanking us

It was an amazing day, it was the most memorable day ever.

Spirits were high, but thousands of people still needed to find

Get on that bus there, cos that will take us somewhere where...

The council has set aside a place as an emergency.

I'm joined by two people in the studio, Jack and Sue from sunny

Kent. Do you have anywhere to go? No, we tried several hotels and

can't get in anywhere. I have got a spare room, I can help

put somebody up, and that just started a flood of phone calls. I

didn't think anybody should be left on the streets.

Schools and sports centres pitched in.

There are no hotels, they are all booked up.

We decided to stay at the leisure centre with every body else, and it

was terrific. Melling Road runs alongside the

racecourse, and many of the houses here became homes for the night for

racegoers who found themselves stranded.

The return men, they were all wagon drivers from Nottingham, and they

had gone to the racecourse on a coach. They had nowhere to go, so I

ended up winning them all back. I used about 500 tea bags that

weekend. I had about ?3 of bacon, and I had

to run to the shop to get more eggs, bread, cos I only had three loaves.

Carol's generosity was hailed as a shining example of how the people of

Liverpool opened their homes and tarts that day. The following month

a race at Aintree was named after her.

I was really pleased, there were lots of people beside me who took

people in. The local people looked after us

well. I am amazed at the generosity of the

people of Liverpool. We've had the best time!

Many of the friendships that were made 20 years ago still stand today.

The stands were filled when the race was rerun 48-hour 's later. This is

the programme for that day, April seven, 1997. This is the water jump

on the famous Grand National course. Back in 1997, Andrew Thorton was one

of the jockeys. 14 grand nationals, 1997 Shirley was unforgettable.

Very much so. That was a lightweight for me, I had lost quite a few

pounds to do the weight, but an hour before the race I remember that we

were all just told to evacuate the premises and moved out.

Let's bring it up to the modern day. You are standing in front of the

water jump. Moments ago you said to me that the water is eight feet, it

was a good deal bigger. A good deal wider. Probably another

4-5 foot. A bigger test for the horses. But now it is a chance for

jockeys and horses together their thoughts and prepare to go out on

the final circuit, when the real race start in earnest.

Has the changing of the senses, lowering some of them, the Chair,

the really intimidating one, has that made less of a lottery and down

to the form? It is still a tough race. When you

look at the winners in the last ten years, a 100 to one winner, it is

still, you still need a lot of luck. You need a clear passage on the way

round. Therefore to runners, you do not have that in any other race, so

you do need luck, and the formidable fences, Becher's Brook, Valentines,

it is still a huge test for horse and jockey.

And you once rode a horse that rocked your off quite early on and

tell itself even without a jockey. He was about as high as my kitchen

table, he felt at Becher's Brook, I got a round of applause after I came

back in out of the ambulance. They told me he felt three times loose.

He did bounce back. Thank you very much indeed, lovely to see you, and

very grateful for you to take the time to talk to us. Andrew Thornton,

who rode 14 times in the Grand National. We talk to little bit

about the Chair, that is the Fens one back from here, and that is

where we will hear the weather forecast.

I feel very privileged to be standing on the racecourse and next

to offence. It is not often you are standing next to the fences that you

realise how massive layer. This is the Chair, the tallest fence, 5'3"

tall, and it took the ground staff to days to build it. But it has not

been a bad couple of days for gardening or building fences. As we

look at the weather chart, you can see we have had a photograph in from

one of our weather watchers. This was Warrington this morning. Very

cloudy indeed. Today has been very cloudy in Aintree and is going to be

another cloudy day tomorrow. For this evening, right across the

region, it is a cloudy evening. Cloudy skies right across the

region. We may see one or two spots of rain in the overnight period come

a light winds around, mostly dry. In terms of temperatures, not going to

be particularly warm. Top temperature, or rather, low

temperatures of 5-6 . The headlines for tomorrow, more of the same. Cool

and cloudy conditions tomorrow. We start off quite grey, quite overcast

once again, a lot of cloud around. Into the afternoon, I think we may

see the sun just trying to break through in places. At best, maybe

some hazy right spells. Very light winds. We could see isolated spots

of rain on higher ground, top temperature tomorrow of 10-11 . For

Friday, it could be more of the same, but I think it should be drier

on Friday and brighter. We are going to keep the same temperatures, maybe

11 Celsius for Friday. As we head into the weekend, and once I have

some good news for you. We're going to see high-pressure starting to

slip away to the other side of the Pennines. But, as it slips away,

we're going to see this warmer air flowing in from the south, and so,

for Saturday, we could see temperatures in the mid-teens. We

could see highs of 14-15 Celsius on Saturday, and into Sunday I think

part of gesture or Greater Manchester could see temperatures

heading to 20 degrees. The weekend looks to be mostly dry, quite warm,

and we are looking forward to a Doctor Bridge of 19 20 degrees

answered -- top temperature of 19, 20 degrees on Sunday.

When the winner comes up to lift this trophy, as always it will go

down in history. Lord Gilliam was the winner back in 19 -- when the

Grand National was first run. They have allowed us to film the trophy

but not the million pounds that goes with. Have a good evening.

CHILD: This is a major scientific breakthrough.