She's visited the set of EastEnders, attended the Royal Variety Performance, spoken to Engelbert Humperdinck and been preparing for tonight's X Factor quarter-final.

So it's fair to say it has been a busy week for Leicester Forest East prison guard-turned-singing sensation Sam Bailey.

However, the 36-year-old found time, between mingling with celebrities and photo shoots, to speak to the Mercury.

"This whole thing is a whirlwind. I don't know what I'm doing each day, it's crazy.

"I'm so busy. I'm working really hard, it's tough.

"People only see us having fun but the pressure is definitely on."

On Monday night, Leicester's very own music legend, Enge, rang Sam to wish her luck and give her some tips.

The mother-of-two said: "It was really strange. He saw me on the show and saw I was from Leicester – the next thing I knew, somebody had text me telling me that he wanted to give me a call. He told me how great it was that something so good could come out of Leicester.

"I was a bit freaked out.

"He gave me some tips – he told me to 'work on my eyes'. He said I look a bit scared on stage – I said that's because I'm petrified."

Enge told the Mercury: "She didn't really need any tips, she has a magnificent voice.

"I hope she didn't mind, but I told her to sing through her eyes – let them tell the story.

"I also said body language was very important but they're the only two things I think she needs to enhance."

Later on Monday, Sam was in the audience for the annual Royal Variety Performance.

She said: "I watch the Royal Variety Performance religiously and there I was, mixing in the VIP area and wearing a posh frock – it was really surreal.

"I'm used to being in the comfort of my living room with a cup of tea – I felt a bit out of place.

"It was a real experience."

Later in the week, Eastenders star, Shane Richie, who plays Alfie Moon in the soap, took to Twitter to get in touch with Sam.

"We used to have the same boss in 1998," said Sam. "He called me and invited me down to Albert Square – and when I told my husband, he said 'you're not going there without me!'"

Tonight, Sam will be singing How Will I Know? by Whitney Houston, which she chose herself, and Clown by Emeli Sande, voted for by viewers.

With the theme this week being jukebox, viewers were able to vote for the song that each hopeful will sing.

Sam said: "I am really happy with the song choice."

To see how Sam gets on, watch X Factor tonight and tomorrow night on ITV at 8pm.

Leicester Cathedral yesterday hosted a meeting between the city council and the University of Leicester in a bid to "create a trusting relationship" between to the two parties.

Both organisations have said they are the rightful custodians of the remains of King Richard III – despite agreeing they both want the bones buried at the cathedral.

The city council's claim comes as the landowner and the university's as the holder of the exhumation licence.

The disagreement arose not long after the skeleton was uncovered in August last year, but only became public when the issue arose in the High Court, on Tuesday.

The hearing was supposed to review the university's exhumation licence, but was adjourned following the council's shock claim.

Yesterday, the Bishop of Leicester Tim Steven and the Dean of St Martin's David Monteith met with Sir Peter Soulsby and Professor Mark Thompson in a bid to reconcile the relationship and "move forward".

Bishop Tim said: "We have reaffirmed that all of us, and the institutions which we lead, are absolutely committed to ensuring that the reinterment of Richard III takes place, in our cathedral, as soon as the legal processes allow.

"To that end, we will continue to work towards creating a trusting relationship between our institutions going forward."

Neither the university or the council would comment on the meeting.

Bishop Tim said: "The city mayor has repeated the statement he made to the press earlier this week that ownership of the remains of Richard III is irrelevant to the determination of the reinterment."

However, those who have been involved in the reinterment plans and the battle against the Plantagenet Alliance to keep the king in Leicester, have said the rift needs to be addressed.

Roy Shakespeare, 69, from Hinckley, started the petition which managed to collect more than 34,000 signatures in favour of reinterring the king in Leicester.

"I would have thought everyone was singing from the same hymn sheet," he said. "But it doesn't seem to have been the case.

"I hope they can sort it out, because this is playing into the Plantagenet Alliance's hands.

"It's taken the sheen off what we did with the petition.

"It's really sad that it's come to this, I just hope that it's going to come good in the end."

Chairman of the Leicester Civic Society Stuart Bailey said the two sides needed to "hammer it out".

"It doesn't matter who controls the bones, as long as they end up in Leicester Cathedral," he said.

"I heard about the dispute a long time ago but I lost interest and thought they both needed to sit around a table and hammer it out."

The university, council and cathedral have said the next step will be to talk to the Ministry of Justice in order to include Leicester City Council in the judicial review, which will consider the legality of the university's exhumation licence.

Until Tuesday, the authority was an "interested party", which meant it was not bound by any decision made during the review.

Now, it will be considered the third defendant.

The High Court judicial review will now take place next year – but a date has not yet been set.

Leicester City have extra motivation to beat bogey side Millwall at the King Power Stadium this afternoon, says captain Wes Morgan.

The Lions have done the double over City for the last two seasons and have claimed victory in three of their last four visits to the King Power Stadium.

But Morgan says City are determined that run will come to an end today.

Once again, City, who are joint top of the Championship, will start as overwhelming favourites against a Lions side that sits 18th.

Last week's victory against Barnsley was Millwall's first success in seven games.

However, Morgan said they certainly would not be taking Steve Lomas' side lightly, and the memory of previous encounters would be extra motivation.

"Every team comes up against a bogey side and Millwall seem to be ours," he said.

"We want to do something about that today and get the right result.

"It is very frustrating not to get results against a team who we know we can do better against.

"It is how it goes sometimes and how things happen.

"This is another opportunity to put that right and, with the confidence we have in the camp, I am sure we can do that."

That confidence was boosted once again by City's victory at Ipswich last week when they came from behind to claim the three points.

City have made a habit of rescuing games after going behind, and Morgan said that was because they never accept defeat. "To do that and come back to get the right result after going a goal down is fantastic," he said.

"I am sure not many teams can do that. It just shows our confidence and belief in the squad.

"It is a massive attribute to have. Not many teams can brag that they can go a goal down and still win. It shows we never know when we are beaten.

"We know we always have goals in our side.

"I think as long as the defence can do their job and keep the goals to a minimum, we know we have lightning-fast strikers who can break and score at any time.

"It is a combination ripe for comebacks in games."

Kasabian fans say their summer is sorted now they have their hands on tickets for the band's massive homecoming gig at Victoria Park.

As soon as the tickets went on full sale online at 9am yesterday, fans were ready with their debit and credit cards to make sure they did not miss out.

Tickets were also available at De Montfort Hall, Visit Leicester, in the city centre, and the O2 Academy on the University of Leicester campus.

Delighted fans tweeted the Leicester Mercury after confirming their places at the gig.

Shaun McGirr, 33, of Enderby, wrote: "I was prepared to sell my house to get a ticket, so getting a ticket has saved my marriage and home!"

Becky Taylor, 21, of Thurmaston, posted: "Changed my whole plans of going abroad next summer for it, wasn't missing this gig for anything!"

Josh Phillips, 26, of Stoney Stanton, tweeted: "Finally get to see the boys in my own backyard! Can't wait."

Chris Hull, 48, of Mountsorrel, wrote: "Can't wait, hope we're celebrating LCFC back in the Premier League as well! Vicky Park's gonna be rocking!"

While the majority of the 35,000 tickets are on sale online, 5,000 were allocated to De Montfort Hall and Visit Leicester, with the O2 Academy also selling some.

First in the queue at De Montfort Hall yesterday was Andy Morris, 58, of Knighton, who arrived at 6am.

"I wanted to get here early because I don't want to miss the gig of the year," he said. "I'm an old rocker – I was at first Monsters of Rock in 1980, so I'm looking forward to this.

"We had a great time in the queue – lovely conversation and they brought tea and coffee out. It was great."

Graham Gent, 43, of Thurmaston, was second in line after arriving at 7am.

"I'm a big fan, I've seen Kasabian many times," he said. "This is the biggest gig of the year. It's absolutely fantastic that they're doing it here, just unbelievable.

"It says a lot for what they think of Leicester."

Wayne Morris, 52, of Anstey, also joined the queue at De Montfort yesterday. "Kasabian are one of the greatest rock bands on the planet at the moment," he said.

Jayne Cordiner, of Thurmaston, daughter Caroline, of Evington, and fellow fan Zoe Holden, of Clarendon Park, were all delighted to get tickets.

Zoe, 26, said: "It's fantastic, we're really happy."

De Montfort Hall spokesman Gabby Miller said: "It's a massive homecoming gig so we're very happy to be a part of it by selling tickets here."

The tickets are priced at £39.50 and were still available online on the main sites – Ticketmaster, Live Nation and See Tickets – last night.

Despite that, some were already cropping up on eBay and online ticket marketplace Stub Hub at inflated prices yesterday.

On Stub Hub, one user had listed a pair of tickets, with each one priced at £503.70.

A spokeswoman for the company, which is the official ticket marketing place for eBay, said it was "unlikely" anyone would pay that much while the tickets were still on sale at face value.

"But good luck to them," she said.

Toby Flood's 17-point haul helped Leicester Tigers land a huge Aviva Premiership win at Kingsholm as they beat Gloucester 22-17.

Goal-kicking was the difference on the night as the hosts missed five out of six kicks at goal and went through three kickers in the process.

Flood gave an assured performance and won the battle of the England fly-halves hands down as Freddie Burns struggled.

Even after handing the Cherry & Whites all of their opening 14 first-half points with intercepted passes, injury-ravaged Tigers still had enough to come back and win in front of Gloucester's biggest crowd of the season.

The win took Tigers back into the play-off picture with the weekend's games still to come.

A 40-metre break by Graham Kitchener, which came to nothing when Thomas Waldrom knocked on, was part of a solid start from the visitors who began confidently.

It was the hosts who opened the scoring, however, when fly-half Burns intercepted a Flood pass on halfway and ran in for a try which he converted on eight minutes.

Much of the pre-game talk had been about the expected dominance of Tigers' pack and they won a first penalty of the game from the opening scrum. Flood stepped up to make it 7-3 on 13 minutes.

Burns snagged a drop-goal wide before Flood pulled the deficit back to a single point with his second penalty.

Scott Hamilton seemed fortunate to avoid a yellow card as he knocked on a floated pass five metres from his own line, but Gloucester were killing themselves with a series of bad decisions.

Burns missed another kick and then tapped-and-went, when a penalty was given in kickable range, and the move came to nothing.

Tigers eventually began to punish the Cherry & Whites for their profligacy.

Flood missed a makeable kick on 28 minutes but, shortly afterwards, his delicious off-load out the back of his hand found Dan Bowden, who ran in untouched.

Flood converted and Tigers led 13-7 as the visitors began to get well on top.

Flood then missed his second kick on 36 minutes but it did not seem to matter and Tigers piled forward again, only for Miles Benjamin to throw an unnecessary errant pass three metres shy of the Gloucester line. The ball was picked off, lobbed out to Jonny May who kicked from his own 22, caught the bounce and ran in for the try.

Rob Cook's conversion put his side 14-13 ahead at the whistle and a seismic shift had taken place.

Having missed nine points in penalties in the first half, Cook replaced Burns for kicking duties after the break.

The former Cornish Pirate duly missed his first two attempts and was then replaced by former Tiger Billy Twelvetrees.

The England man nailed his first kick to give the home side a 17-13 lead after 11 minutes of the second period.

Both sides continued to make errors with Leicester doing everything they could to keep the pressure on themselves with poor execution of the basics. Flood pulled the score back to 17-16 with a penalty and then Blaine Scully was tackled just short of the line after a tremendous tackle by Cook.

With Benjamin and Graham Kitchener becoming more and more influential, Tigers finished strongly.

A scrum-penalty five metres out led to Flood kicking his side ahead 19-17 with 10 minutes left.

When the visitors' pack won another scrum penalty, Flood added his fifth penalty of the night to end the scoring and seal victory.

A woman who was raped, gagged and blindfolded by a masked burglar has told how she feared she would be killed by the attacker.

The 22-year-old victim was half-strangled in her bed before being forced to endure a humiliating sex attack by Matthew Joseph Browne, while her child slept in the next room.

Browne (28) was jailed for 18 years, after being convicted of twice raping, and also sexually assaulting, the woman in the early hours of March 27.

He had denied the charges.

Speaking after the hearing at Leicester Crown Court, the victim said she would now try to stop living in constant fear.

She said she was too frightened to live alone for several months after the ordeal in her Melton home and has now moved house.

"I don't think anything is going to help me get over what happened," she said.

"Everyday life makes me nervous. When I close my eyes in the shower I start to panic.

"I'll never forgive Browne for what he did. I was absolutely terrified and thought I was going to be killed."

Trial judge Simon Hammond said: "It was a merciless, wicked and a cruel rape attack. He broke into her home, where she should have been safe."

The judge praised the victim for her "courage and dignity" when she gave evidence at Browne's trial last month.

Mary Prior, prosecuting, told the jury during the trial: "The complainant awoke to the feeling of someone patting her side. She looked up to see a masked, hooded adult, who grabbed her wrists.

"Something that felt like Sellotape was wrapped up into a ball and put in her mouth. It cut her lips.

"He started to strangle her and pushed her back onto the bed. She was told to shut up and she wouldn't die."

The victim had her mouth and head taped, also covering her eyes.

Mrs Prior said: "He tied her wrists to her ankles."

Browne cut off her nightclothes and raped her, causing excruciating pain.

He left, taking her mobile phone, the bed sheet and her clothing.

Suffering from multiple cuts and bruises, she called 999 from her landline.

The police found her naked with her wrists bound.

Mrs Prior said: "This has crushed her."

A police officer with 13 years' experience, who attended the 999 call, was on the verge of tears when he told the jury he would "never forget" what he saw that night.

Detective Constable Nikki McLatchie and Detective Inspector Reme Gibson, of Leicestershire Police's specialist sexual assault investigation unit, were publicly commended by Judge Hammond for their professionalism in helping bring Browne to justice.

Det Con McLatchie said: "This was a terrifying ordeal for the victim and she was extremely brave in reporting the incident to the police.

"Browne was cold and calculating."

Det Insp Gibson said: "This case was truly shocking."

Judge Hammond said Browne, of Ash Road, Tilehurst, Reading, still maintains his innocence in the face of "overwhelming evidence".

Nigel Daly, mitigating, said: "It was a one-off offence and he's unlikely to do anything like that in future."

The mother of schoolgirl Hannah Smith, who killed herself after being targeted by internet bullies, punched and knifed a teenager and threatened to slit his throat.

Tracey Tompkins took terrified Niall Hirrell captive before telling him she would put him in a body bag and bury him at Leicester's Gilroes Cemetery, where "nobody would find him".

At the end of his four-hour ordeal, Niall, who has learning difficulties, was forced to walk the streets naked and bleeding from multiple injuries.

The attack happened six months before Tompkins' 14-year-old daughter, Hannah, made national headlines when she committed suicide after being targeted by internet trolls.

The two incidents are not related, but Hannah's death was mentioned during her mother's sentencing at Leicester Crown Court.

The hearing was told that Tompkins, pictured, high on a cocktail of drink and drugs, punched, head-butted, kicked and knifed 19-year-old Niall during a row over £60.

The victim was so traumatised he has since twice undergone in-patient psychiatric treatment.

James Bide-Thomas, prosecuting, said that the background to the case began on February 10 when Niall, now 20, helped Tompkins' brother move out of his flat.

In doing so, they threw some items out of a window but, in the process, a window was broken in the flat below.

That led to an argument with the tenant and the police were called, but it was decided that Tompkins, her brother and Niall would each pay £20 to cover the cost of the window and avoid prosecution.

Two days later, Niall was at the new flat of the people he had helped move, in South Wigston.

Tompkins was also there.

At 8pm, she cornered Niall in the kitchen, closing the door behind her, demanding he immediately stump up the full £60.

He sent a number of texts and made desperate calls on Tompkins' phone, asking family and friends for £60 but without success.

Mr Bide-Thomas said she then punched him in the face, head-butted him and kicked him – and started threatening him with more serous harm.

"She took a kitchen knife and placed his hands on a cutting board, proceeding to run the blade along the top of his hands, causing cuts," he told the court.

"She said she was going to stab him. He had a number of wounds to his side, arms and the back of his head."

After an ordeal which lasted four hours, Tompkins told Niall she would kill him, put him in a body bag and bury him in Gilroes cemetery – "where no-one will find you."

The court heard she took his mobile phone, removed the SIM card and smashed it.

"She made him strip naked, took him to the front door and poked him in the back with the knife, telling him to go," said Mr Bide-Thomas.

"He got a bin bag and walked to a Tesco, where they initially thought he was drunk but then found he was hysterical."

Battered and covered in bruises, he was too scared to tell the truth at first, because Tompkins had earlier held a knife to his lips, calling him a "grass".

He at first claimed to have been robbed, said Mr Bide-Thomas.

In a victim impact statement, Niall said he could not understand why he was "so badly treated for £60".

The court was told Tompkins' criminal record dates back to 1996, when she was prosecuted for common assault.

In 1997, she committed four offences of causing actual bodily harm (ABH) and two thefts.

In 2001, she was dealt with for ABH and battery, between 2002 and 2007 she committed dishonesty offences and there was a public order offence in 2007.

In February this year – just three days before she attacked Niall – she was given a community order for a racially aggravated public order offence.

Richard Holloway, mitigating, said Tompkins had failed to appear in court for her scheduled sentencing on September 27 due to heroin addiction, but later surrendered after going "cold turkey".

He said: "She realises her actions were awful. She'd taken strong lager and a mixture of prescribed and non-prescribed drugs when she committed them. She'd got this completely out of proportion."

Mr Holloway said Tompkins did not go to Hannah's funeral "as she was stopped by other relatives, and deeply regrets that".

He said Tompkins was "concerned" about her 16-year-old daughter – Hannah's older sister, Jo – who found Hannah following her death in August, "and wants to be as much support as she can".

The hearing was told Tompkins separated from the girls' father years ago.

Senior probation officer John Pugh told Judge Michael Pert QC that Tompkins "says she owes it to her (deceased) daughter and to her 16-year-old daughter to sort her life out".

Tompkins, of St Saviour's Road, North Evington, Leicester, admitted blackmail, by demanding money with menaces, and wounding. She was given a merciful two-year jail sentence, suspended for two years, with one year's supervision and a drug rehabilitation requirement.

Judge Pert told Tompkins she subjected the victim to a "lengthy ordeal to get money out of him", but said: "On the other hand, I've read about you and heard of circumstances that are very sad.

"If you fail the court's order, you will go to prison."

When the sentence was announced, Niall's furious father, Neil Hirrell, 48, jumped up in the public gallery and shouted: "Unbelievable, unreal. If I stab someone, I hope you're the judge I get."

In a dramatic turnaround in proceedings, he was immediately ordered into the dock.

When he did not apologise for his outburst, Judge Pert sent him to the cells for 20 minutes for contempt of court, after which Mr Hirrell apologised for his outburst and was released.

However, after the hearing, Mr Hirrell, of Saffron Lane, Leicester, said: "I'm sorry for what happened to her daughter, but what she did to my son happened in February, many months before her daughter died – and the sentence is pathetic.

"Locking me up while letting her walk free is a joke."

Mr Hirrell said on the night of the attack, his son rang him to ask for £60.

"I said 'no', not realising he was being held, beaten up and terrorised. I even switched my phone off, and when I turned it back on I got a load of messages saying 'Niall is in hospital and he needs you'. I'll never forgive myself for that."

A newsagent has upset a city councillor by putting her mobile telephone number on an advertising board outside his shop so people who get parking tickets can call her.

Subhash Varambhia published the number of Leicester city councillor Sarah Russell's council-funded phone outside Snutch News, in Fosse Road South.

Subhash is opposed to the council's plans to introduce a residential parking permit scheme in the area.

Coun Russell is one of the ward councillors representing the area.

She told the Mercury she had asked him to take it down, but he refused.

Subhash said her number was publicly available on the council's website and in its Link magazine.

He said: "I keep getting inquiries in my shop about what is happening and I am just redirecting them to someone who can deal with them.

"It's not my job to explain what is happening to people."

Coun Russell, who is the city's assistant mayor for neighbourhood services, said: "It's been out there for about three weeks. I asked him to remove it. He told me he was unwilling to.

"Let's just say it was not an easy conversation.

"I am quite upset about it. I have had a couple of calls where the line has gone dead when I answered. That might be because of this. I can't say.

"It's one thing people going out and finding my number when they want help – I have no problem with that at all, but it's another thing to put it on an A-board on a major bus route.

"He's only put my number up, not any other councillors or the council."

The parking scheme had been due to come into force at the end of October, but has been delayed until December 16, with a three-week grace period during which unauthorised motorists will be given a warning notice rather than a fine.

Coun Russell said: "In any case, councillors can't intervene when people get parking tickets."

She said she had taken advice from council officials on the matter.

She said: "I asked if there is anything I can do but there is nothing slanderous or abusive about it so there is little that can be done."

Subhash said Coun Russell had cried when he refused to remove the sign.

He said: "I thought she was made of sterner stuff. I have no regrets at all. I will keep it up until the scheme comes in."

He said he had used her number and nobody else's as she had been the "chief mover" of the scheme.