Hunt for hit-and-run driver
Rainbow's nurse stars on Channel 4's Hollywood Me
A nurse diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at the age of 23 has tasted the glitz and glamour of Tinseltown by starring in a hit TV makeover show tonight.
Jenny Maine, a paediatric nurse at Rainbows children's hospice in Loughborough, appears in the second episode of Channel 4's new show Hollywood Me.
The 28-year-old was whisked away to California by TV producers in March to be met by a secret celebrity in Los Angeles.
Viewers will follow her as Jenny embarks on a series of outrageous shopping sprees and tries out some of the latest Beverly Hills beauty and health treatments.
"It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life," said Jenny, who was nominated by her colleagues at Rainbows, where she has helped care for children for the past six years.
"One minute I was getting ready to drive to work and the next this camera crew jumped out on me.
"They told me to pack a suitcase and I was driven to Heathrow Airport. Thirteen hours later, I was in LA.
"I still can't believe what's happened – I'll have to watch the show tonight to really believe it."
The twist of the show is that while Jenny was away, interior designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard, below, and his team got to work on turning her Wigston pad into a home fit for a Hollywood starlet.
In LA, Jenny was met by actress Tori Spelling, famous as Donna Martin in the US hit TV show Beverly Hills 90210 in the 1990s.
"I was treated like a superstar and I loved every second of it," said Jenny, who was put up for her five-day stay in The Grafton Hotel, on Sunset Boulevard.
Along with beauty facials and massages, she also had compression therapy to ease the symptoms of her multiple sclerosis.
Thinking that was it, Jenny returned to see her house transformed into a 1960s-style Hollywood hideaway.
"It's absolutely wonderful," she said. "But I don't think I can handle any more surprises!"
Colleague Lisa Todd, who nominated Jenny for the show, said: "She's a fighter and really deserved this treat.
"We're all excited to see what she got up to in Hollywood as she has been keeping a very tight lid on it all."
Jenny said she hopes the show raises awareness of MS and the work of Rainbows.
"I don't even know how to put it into words how I felt when I found out I had MS," she said.
"It was an incredible blow for myself and husband, Adam.
"But working somewhere like Rainbows really puts things into perspective. It makes me feel very grateful that I can live my life every day.
Hollywood Me will be shown at 8pm on Channel 4 tonight.
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Leicester City players in pre-season testing
The Leicester City squad returned to the club's Belvoir Drive training ground yesterday for fitness testing.
Manager Nigel Pearson and his staff put the players through their paces after their shorter-than-normal summer break to assess their condition ahead of the official start of preseason on Monday.
As well as running tests, the players' physical condition was assessed to ensure there had been no summer excesses.
Kasper Schmeichel and Sean St Ledger weren't there as they have been given more time off after their international exploits during the summer.
Jermaine Beckford was also absent as he is in talks with Bolton Wanderers over a transfer to the Reebok Stadium.
Some reports yesterday indicated the Trotters and Beckford were miles apart in their negotiations on personal terms, as the striker will have to accept a substantial pay cut.
The Mercury understands, however, that both parties are confident of reaching an agreement and the deal could be concluded by the weekend.
Other players who have been told they can join other clubs if the right offers come in, such as Paul Gallagher, Richie Wellens and Neil Danns, joined the rest of the squad for the fitness assessment.
Drama as man's life saved by golfers in Leicestershire
Quick-thinking golfers helped to save the life of a fellow player who collapsed from a heart attack while out on the course.
When the elderly man fell on the 17th hole, a fellow club member manually pumped his heart using first aid technique CPR for about 20 minutes until help arrived.
Meanwhile, club manager Jez Wilkinson rushed to a nearby garage where he knew there was a defibrillator. The device, which administers a large electric charge, was then used twice by another club member to restart the heart of the 75-year-old casualty.
The machine was bought more than 18 months ago thanks to contributions from village businesses and the golf club itself, and this was the first time it had been needed.
Paramedics then arrived and continued treatment until a doctor flew in by air ambulance to take over.
The golfer was airlifted to the Queen's Medical Centre, in Nottingham, where he had emergency treatment.
The incident happened at Kilworth Springs Golf Club, in south Leicestershire, at about 11.30am on Monday.
"One of our members applied CPR when the gentleman suffered a suspected cardiac arrest," said Mr Wilkinson.
"He kept the CPR going for 20 minutes while I went to get the defibrillator from the Esso Filling Station, in North Kilworth.
"I have been trained to use it but it gives clear instructions on how it is applied. I handed it to another person at the club to administer the treatment while I remained on the phone to the ambulance service."
The poorly man, who has not been identified, is being treated in the intensive care unit of the Queen's Medical Centre. Mr Wilkinson said he believed the actions of the unnamed golf club member who performed CPR – short for cardiopulmonary resuscitation – "saved the gentleman's life".
Mike Howkins, who owns the filling station in North Kilworth, said: "Jez Wilkinson came in just after 11.30am and took the defibrillator back to the golf course after telling me what had happened.
"Virtually every business in the village, including the golf club, contributed towards buying it.
"If it has helped to save someone's life it is well worth the £2,000 it cost."
He said the readout from the defibrillator showed it had been used twice during the incident.
An air ambulance spokesman said: "The air ambulance paramedic and doctor anaesthetised the casualty at the golf course in order to take control of his airway and breathing.
"The air ambulances regularly carry doctors on board their flights, which means they can perform advanced procedures such as anaesthesia at the scene of an incident, bringing the hospital to the patient, giving them the best chances of survival and recovery."
The air ambulance is a registered charity. For details, visit:
www.theairambulance service.org.uk
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Live: Traffic and travel updates
School run drivers caught in sting
Fraudster in bogus claim over speed bump damage to car
Council investigators rumbled a bogus compensation claim from a driver who said her car had been damaged by a speed bump.
Officials at Leicester City Council said the motorist fraudulently tried to get a pay-out for repairs to her car by submitting a fake mechanic's invoice which she had bought from someone in the pub.
Officers said their suspicions were aroused because of errors on the invoice.
On investigation, they discovered the garage was fictitious.
Details of the case were revealed after it emerged nearly 400 drivers have sought compensation from the council, claiming damage to their vehicles was caused by speed bumps or other traffic-calming measures around the city.
Most of the claims have been rejected.
Brian Brookes, the council's insurance and claims manager, said the woman was successfully prosecuted for fraud at Leicester Magistrates' Court in March. She received a year-long conditional discharge and was ordered to pay £200 in costs.
Mr Brookes said: "We offered to pay up but we had concerns about the invoice she submitted. It was full of errors.
"It didn't look right, so we checked it out and discovered it was fraudulent."
He said she was seeking about £400 for repairs to her front bumper, which she said had been damaged by the speed bumps in Hillsborough Drive, Eyres Monsell.
Mr Brookes said: "She was our first prosecution for fraud for someone who fraudulently tried to claim for damage caused by traffic-calming.
"We hope it will send a message to others not to try it. We thoroughly investigate every claim because it is public money.
"Where we have failed to maintain the surface of the road properly or haven't acted to repair damage promptly when we have been told about it, we will pay out. Most claims are rejected."
Between 2005 and the end of March this year, 377 drivers had submitted claims following damage they said was caused by traffic-calming measures around the city.
A total of £16,499.83 has been paid out in that time to 81 successful claimants.
The most claims in any year was 102 in 2010-11. The council said the particularly cold winter damaged roads.
In 2012-13 there were 76 claims but only 11 succeeded, with £1,100 being paid out in total.
Automobile Association spokesman Luke Bosdet said: "Generally, you see drivers claiming more for potholes damaging their cars than speed bumps.
"If you approach traffic-calming measures sensibly you shouldn't really have any problems."
Ex-Leicester City star urges fans to be patient
Former Leicester City striker Steve Claridge has urged fans to have patience as the club launches another bid for the Premier League.
City fans were heart-broken last season when Troy Deeney's late strike for Watford dumped them out of the Championship play-off semi-final.
Despite being in second place two thirds of the way through the campaign, City ultimately had to resign themselves to a 10th season outside the top flight.
The sole aim since the club's Thai owners took over has always been promotion and next season will be no different.
City get their new campaign under way with a trip to Middlesbrough on August 3 and it will be imperative they get off to a good start.
But Claridge urged fans not to put too much pressure on the players too soon.
"It is going to take some kind of understanding from the crowd and from everyone that it is no good putting pressure on from the start," said the man who sent City back into the Premier League with his 120th-minute goal in the 1996 play-off final.
"That's probably why they fell down a bit last season because of the pressure and expectation. It is not easy to play when you are expected to win things.
"Different players react in different ways to pressure. Some enjoy it, some thrive on it but some don't like playing like that.
"It will be interesting to see what the expectation will be this year – there is no doubt when teams play under that sort of pressure they can find it a struggle.
"The expectation should be, look, 'let's see this team settle, let's see this team develop and let's have a look at this at Christmas unless it is an absolute disaster'."
City's performance last season was definitely a tale of two halves.
At the end of January, they were sitting pretty in the automatic promotion spots.
But an abysmal run of just three wins from 17 Championship games after that saw them relying on a stoppage-time winner on the final day of the season proper to creep into the top six.
"They will just want more consistency next season," said Claridge. "If they do that, they'll probably make the play-offs and might even nick an automatic spot.
"I think they also might need to strengthen a bit in central midfield and they need more consistency from the wide players.
"The back four did okay, albeit for one or two hairy moments. Up front they have got players who can score goals but they went through some poor patches.
"Also they need a little bit more strength when they are not on the ball.
"They are very good, as a lot of teams are, when they have got the ball, and look nice with it, but when they haven't got it, they look a bit vulnerable."
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Car crash man guilty of wife's murder
Oadby car crash murder: Victim's family statement
Speaking on behalf of Sally's family, her sister Catherine Kudhail said: "Our family is here today because of the cruel, callous, evil and sickening act of murder against "Our beautiful Sally." On the day Sally died a part of us died with her. "Our family feels a huge sense of relief at the guilty verdict the jury has delivered in this trial. "Sally's murder was an act of pure evil. She was an inspirational, caring, kind young woman with a huge heart. She was so full of life. Losing her has been unbearable, not a day goes by without her being in our thoughts. She has been taken from us at the most happiest point in her life and has been denied what was undoubtedly to be a very happy future. "We would like to convey our heartfelt thanks to Detective Superintendent Neil Castle, Detective Sergeant Kevin Burdett and Detective Constable Dawn Watts and their team from Leicestershire police and Crown Prosecutor Nirmal Shant for their dedication and tireless work to bring this case to court. "Thank you also to the witnesses who came forward to give evidence in very distressing circumstances. "We would like to extend our gratitude to the jury, who have seen through the lies and deceit of Iain Lawrence in his attempt to minimise his responsibility for the brutal murder of Sally. They have played a huge part in finally enabling this murderer to be held to account for taking our daughter, sister and friend from us and for taking a mother from her three children." RELATED ARTICLES:Husband guilty of wife's murderOadby car crash murder: Police response after guilty verdict
Oadby car crash murder: Police response after guilty verdict
Detective Superintendent Neil Castle, who investigated the murder, said: "This was a complex investigation involving specialists and professionals from a variety of fields. I would like to thank those experts along with my investigation team and the Crown Prosecution Service for all their hard work and commitment over the past eight months. Collectively we have proved that Iain Lawrence intentionally drove his car into a tree, after deactivating the passenger airbag and unclipping the passenger seatbelt. These actions resulted in the death of Sally Lawrence and he has now been convicted of her murder. This offence was premeditated and planned and was driven by jealousy and financial gain, these facts have influenced his substantial sentence. In cases like these there is always more than one victim. Sally leaves behind a grieving family including her two daughters Jess and Rosie and her son William. The whole family have shown immense strength throughout the investigation and trial and I hope that today's verdict provides them with some comfort. RELATED ARTICLES: Husband guilty of wife's murderOadby car crash murder: Victim's family statement
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Pledge to denounce 'evil' sex grooming
Muslim community leaders in Leicester will today support a national campaign to denounce the evil of grooming and sexual exploitation of young women.
The campaign – Together Against Grooming – will see imams tackle the issue in their Friday sermons at about 500 mosques across the country.
It has been launched in the wake of a number of high-profile cases which involved Asian men sexually exploiting and abusing girls.
Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, a Leicester imam and assistant general secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain, said many mosques in Leicestershire would be supporting today's campaign.
He said: "We have not had a chance to collect numbers, but the momentum has been growing for the past few days.
"Any imam worth his salt would always use Friday sermons to talk about evils and forms of criminality which are prevalent in society.
"The difference here is that, for the first time, we have gone out to ensure the same message is given out throughout the country on the same Friday.
"The hope is that the impact of this message will be felt nationwide.
"At the same time, we are being careful to make the point that this is not a Muslim or racial issue.
"It is an evil which the whole of society has to tackle."
As well as mosques in towns and cities across the country, imams who work in prisons have also signed up to take part.
Ansar Ali, spokesman for the campaign, said: "We have been horrified by the details that have emerged from recent court cases and, as Muslims, we feel a natural responsibility to condemn and tackle this crime.
"Sexual grooming and child abuse afflicts all sections of society and is perpetrated by people of all ethnic groups.
"The campaign is unprecedented – we have brought together mosques and imams from all over the UK, irrespective of differences, to collectively deliver a hard-hitting sermon on a single issue.
"We are united in our stand against sexual grooming and are leading the effort to rid society of this crime."
Mr Ali said the campaign would continue beyond today's sermons.
He said: "This is the start of what will be a nationwide project in which we seek to work with others to eradicate this practice from all communities."
T20: Leicestershire Foxes ready to cause some hurt
It is pretty certain that Leicestershire Foxes will not be one of the fancied sides as the Friends Life T20 competition gets into swing.
The Foxes have lifted the trophy on three occasions to date, more than any other side, but remain the firmest of underdogs.
Maybe that is not such a surprise given that they have the toughest of jobs just to get out of their group to qualify for the quarter-finals.
"I always think the North Group is a very tough section," said head coach Phil Whitticase, whose side launch their campaign this evening against Nottingham Outlaws at Trent Bridge (6.0).
"Apart from ourselves, we've got Lancashire, Yorkshire, Durham and Notts – and Derbyshire look as though they will be a good side this year. There are no easy games."
The Foxes struggled last year as they set about defending the trophy they won in 2011, and Whitticase feels that was always going to be a tough task with top performers such as Andrew McDonald, Paul Nixon and James Taylor all having departed Grace Road.
"We lost six players from the 2011 side, so it was always going to be difficult to replace them all in that space of time," he said.
"But the players we have are another year on now, and we have made two good overseas signings in Joe Burns and Shakib Al Hasan, while Niall O'Brien will give us that dynamic approach up front alongside Josh Cobb."
Burns and Shakib also bring a winning mentality with them.
Burns starred as Brisbane won Australia's KFC Big Bash earlier this year, while Shakib played alongside Cobb for Dhaka Gladiators as they triumphed in the Bangladesh Premier League just before the start of the English season.
"I think we have got players who can hurt other sides," said Whitticase.
"Previous experience shows us that we have done well when we have taken wickets up front, so that is something that we have to get right."
In the past, the likes of pacemen Mark Cleary, Stuart Broad and Harry Gurney have taken those top-order wickets to put opponents on the back foot, and Leicestershire now need Nathan Buck, Rob Taylor, Anthony Ireland or Robbie Williams to adopt that role.
Elsewhere, the bowling looks solid with three spinners in the shape of Cobb, Shakib and Jigar Naik.
However, T20 remains wildly unpredictable, which is part of its undeniable attraction.
"It is the kind of competition where if you get on a roll and find momentum, then things can happen – as we found out in 2011," said Whitticase.
"The players are looking forward to it. They enjoy the format and the buzz that goes with it. But we have to get on a roll straight away."
The Foxes play their first home game tomorrow when Derbyshire are the visitors to Grace Road (2.40).
The Falcons have shown their intent by adding South African star Albie Morkel to their T20 squad this season.