22/01/2017 North West Tonight

A Merseyside police officer whose wife won a legal battle to allow him

to die has passed away peacefully at a hospice in Wirral.

PC Paul Briggs had suffered severe brain injuries in a motorbike

crash on his way to work, leaving him in a minimally

PC Paul Briggs worked in Merseyside's Roads Policing Unit.

The crash in 2015 left him unable to move or speak.

He was kept alive by food and hydration given at the Walton

Paul's wife Lindsey had told the Court of Protection he wouldn't

Doctors disagreed, saying there was potential

for his condition to improve slightly.

At the time, a solicitor gave her reaction outside court.

This court case is the hardest thing we have ever had to do.

We did it for Paul to honour his wishes.

We are grateful that Mr Justice Charles has shown

compasion towards Paul, has respected his

has understood what Paul would have wanted.

Paul Briggs was later moved to a hospice to receive

only palliative care - making him as comfortable

His family said they were relieved he would finally be at peace

This weekend, Lindsey Briggs posted a message on Twitter saying Paul had

died as a result of his road traffic collision, adding "we're

to terms with all he's been put through."

Merseyside Chief Constable Andy Cook has said PC Briggs's

colleagues and friends here are all thinking

He paid tribute to the way Paul dedicated his

career to protecting the

public and to the way that Lindsey and his family bravely fought

Paul's family told us they've been overwhelmed by the kind

messages of understanding, compassion and support

from the public and hope their journey may somehow

The mother of Lee Rigby says she was threatened with arrest

if she didn't attend a court case where a distressing image of one

Lyn Rigby has told a Sunday newspaper she was forced to attend

an appeal brought by an internet troll who'd caused her

As Liam O'Donoghue reports, campaigners are now

calling for a new law to protect grieving relatives.

Lyn Rigby will never get over the death of her son Lee,

the Royal Fusilier who was hacked to death in 2013.

This week she says she was threatened with arrest if she did

not attend a legal appeal by Christopher Spivey,

convicted of harassing the Rigby family with grossly

During the case, Lyn broke down when asked how she felt

about an image much more graphic than this one, showing Lee's

The National Victims' Association says Lyn should never

have been summoned and grieving families need to be protected.

I believe Mrs Rigby was threatened with arrest, which is outrageous.

These things should not happen to a victim who has

suffered great loss and been through an ordeal already.

Mr Hines wants a victims' law to stop murder victims

in court where a written statement would suffice.

Sport and Match of the day follows this bulletin

I wont spoil the results for you now...

Southport's Tommy Fleetwood came from behind to win

He carded a final round of 67 to finish 17 under par,

one shot ahead of US Open champion Dustin Johnson.

It's his first European Tour title in more than three years.

Let's get a quick check on what the weather has in store for us.

High pressure in charge of our weather as we move

Overnight, there is the chance of seeing some dense

Plenty of cloud around and where we see some

breaks in that cloud, that's

where we could see a touch of frost developing and one or two

Temperatures falling to just about freezing in towns and cities.

Quite a cold start to the day tomorrow.

One or two patches of fog to look out for.

Once that lifts, we are looking at some sunny spells and patchy cloud.

Temperatures reaching a maximum of six Celsius.

It is going to be quite cold tomorrow, despite all

Tuesday is looking pretty similar to Monday.

That was all from me for now. Ellie will be here in the morning for the

news and updates. At the peaceful evening. Goodbye.