01/11/2016 North West Tonight

A judge is to decide whether doctors should stop providing life support

treatment for a Merseyside police officer.

Paul Briggs has been in a coma since he was knocked off his motorbike.

His wife says it's what he would've wanted, but doctors treating him say

there is a chance his condition could improve.

Lindsey Briggs believes that the withdrawal of treatment

Paul Briggs was hit by a car as he was travelling to work

He suffered a severe brain injury and is being cared

Today's hearing was heard at the Court of Protection,

which deals with matters relating to be people unable to make

The court was told that doctors treating Mr Briggs

and an independent doctor h`ve stated that he's in a minim`lly

conscious state, whilst another independent doctor believes that

The court heard that Mrs Brhggs was distressed to learn that

without a written record of what her husband would h`ve

intended in this situation, she couldn't stop him receiving

care she believes he wouldn't have have consented to.

Doctors looking after Paul Briggs believe there's potential

Lindsey Briggs says he'll continue to fight for her husband's

A judgment is expected later this month.

Earlier Roger Johnson spoke to Lindsey Briggs's solicitor,

Mathieu Culverhouse, and asked him why she wanted her

husband's life-support machine switched off.

Well, this past year has cldarly been an extremely difficult time for

Lindsey Briggs and for Paul Briggs' family.

And they just want what is best for Paul.

Lindsey Briggs is firmly of the view that the

withdrawal of treatment is in Paul's best interests,

given his previously expressed wishes and feelings and

And that is a key point, isn't it, that you've

Because my next question was going to be, had he ever

expressed a view on a situation like this,

while he was fit and well, as to what he would

And, from what you are saying, he had.

Well, there is such a thing as a formal written advance decision,

which someone with the ment`l capacity to make decisions can enter

Unfortunately, this is not ` case where there is such an advance

But we are presenting to the court a case

that, given the expressed wishes of Paul Briggs,

wife and to others, that given his current

situation he would not want

Doctors, though, say he's in this minimally

How does a court decide which way to go in a

situation where you have soleone saying one thing and doctors saying

The gathering of evidence is ongoing, because clearly a

medical diagnosis can changd, so the court will be presented

with up-to-date evidence on the medical diagnosis.

But the court will be looking at this decision on the

basis of what is in Paul's best interests.

one can foresee, not in this case perhaps,

where a family might have

another reason for wanting to switch a machine off.

Everyone who works in these cases recognises that this

is the most important decishon a court and a judge is ever

These cases are treated extremely seriously and nond

of these decisions are taken lightly, in any way.

Thank you very much indeed for your time.

The parents of missing Blackpool teenager Charlene Downes have

criticised police for taking 13 years to release potentiallx

important CCTV images of thdir daughter on the day she dis`ppeared.

Charlene was just 14 when she was last seen in November

2003 and it's believed she was murdered.

Saturday, November 1st, 2003 - and Charlene Downes is seen walking

with her sister Rebecca on Blackpool's Bank Hey Strdet.

A few hours later she would disappear.

In the footage she's wearing the clothes

in which she disappeared, including a distinctive pair

Yet the footage has never bden seen by the public.

What I can't fathom is why this was never found in the prevhous

But at the same time I am happy they have found the

Now hopefully they could move forward and get some answers.

The first investigation into Charlene's disappearance

This man - Iyad Albattikhi was charged with her

His trial in 2008 collapsed after doubts about the reli`bility

Lancashire Police was criticised for its handling of the casd.

Charlene's parents hope this new footage will create

but believe it should have been made public sooner.

Can you understand their disappointment that it has taken 13

I spoke with them last week about this and they were shown thd images.

And that is why we are just publishing them now.

But I completely understand they want to know what happened to their

daughter, and we are committed to do all we can to find those responsible

As time goes by, detectives accept it is harder to

A ?100,000 reward remains an offer for information

leading to a conviction or recovery of Charlene's body.

The pain is undescribable and I wouldn't wish it on anyone `t all

and if anyone, anyone has any information at all, no mattdr how

small, I would urge them to please, please come forward.

Police have arrested a 41-ydar-old man on suspicion of murder two weeks

after a mother-of-one went missing from Birkenhead.

Today police released this picture of 39-year-old Anita Stevenson taken

on Albany Road area of Rock Ferry on October 18th,

Anyone with information is urged to come forward.

The St Helens Labour MP Marhe Rimmer has been cleared of verballx

abusing a Yes campaigner on Scottish Referendum pollhng day.

But the MP is still accused of kicking Patricia McLeish

who was handing out leaflets in Glasgow in September two ye`rs ago.

Her trial at Glasgow's Sherrif Court could conclude tomorrow.

Many of you will be familiar with the sometimes daunting prospect

For those with learning disabilities, it can

Not just dealing with practical issues, but also

A new play on at the Lowry in Salford aims to change that.

Mia is performed by Mind thd Gap, the country's biggest

On stage they're the centre of attention.

Off it, these performers sax they're too often disregarded.

I know that it is real life and want people

to consider if we were in

charge would reorganise society differently.

Mia is about a learning dis`bled woman who's having a baby.

It was inspired by the experiences of the sister of one of the cast,

and deals with the whole issue of parent assessments.

There is so much going on in the parent assessment manual th`t she

And you wonder how do I even answer half of these

For Anna Gray, it's her first big job.

I just want to make the most of it for my fellow team.

The performers here say the very fact this theatre company exists

sends a powerful message - that people living with learning

disabilities shouldn't be defined by them.

Just because I have a learnhng disability doesn't mean

learning disabled people, btt to come away thinking I watched some

Mia's on at the Lowry for just two nights -

Football - Jose Mourinho has been charged with misconduct

for the second time in a wedk by the Football Association

following his behaviour during Manchester United's draw

He was sent to the stands bx referee Mark Clattenburg for allegedly

It follows a misconduct charge for comments he made about referee

Anthony Taylor before United's goal-less draw

In tonight's football, as you've probably just seen

on the 10:00 news, Manchester city came

in their Champions League clash at the Etihad.

In League One, Fleetwood threw away a 1-0 lead against Bristol Rovers

Fleetwood are now 10th in the League.

That's it from me, the weather is next.

The region was glorious as our pictures show.

broadly similar but between now and then, a cold night.

The only place for temperatures to go are down.

For towns and cities, between four and six for

Then we go into tomorrow and it is a very nice

It should be dry and fine all the way through.

It just takes some time first thing in the

morning for the chill to go out of the day

but if you look at the

chart there, that looks absolutely beautiful.

Like today, a little bit of patchy cloud but the breeze is

very light, about ten miles an hour for most of us,

are not wonderful, maybe nine or ten at the very best.

Enjoy tomorrow if you can, probably the best day of

the week, because as I leavd you with the outlook,

couple of days, frosty mornings before turning unsettled. Good You

know what, in