Murder inquiry launched after man's death
House fire: Murder investigation launched after four found dead
MPs claim nearly £1.5m in expenses
MPs in Leicester and Leicestershire claimed nearly £1.5 million in expenses last year, it has been revealed.
The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa), which oversees MPs' allowances and salaries, yesterday published its annual summary of their business costs and allowances.
It showed the 10 MPs for the city and the county claimed £1,499,245.44 for staff salaries, rent, office costs and travel between March last year and April. The figure represents a rise of more than £87,000 compared with 2011 to 12.
The claims were on top of the basic salary they are all paid of £65,738, while Leicester East's Keith Vaz and Charnwood MP Stephen Dorrell are paid a further £14,582.04 annually for chairing Parliamentary select committees.
Labour Leicester South MP Jon Ashworth claimed the most. The £184,363 he claimed last year was £59,940 more than he claimed in 2011-12.
South Leicestershire Tory Andrew Robathan, who employs his wife as an assistant on a salary of £20,000 to £24,999, claimed the least – £91,657.30 – £370 less than the year before.
Mr Ashworth's staff costs were £86,035.90 – a rise of more than £44,000.
He said: "The increase is mainly down to increased staff. I was elected in May 2011 and in my first year I did not have my full staff. Now I have three full-time staff and two part-time staff. They help me with an increased workload.
"More and more people are seeking help with their benefits. We get a lot of people getting in touch and we try to be pro-active and help them out.
"We are here to help people and we are funding an increased work load."
Charnwood Conservative MP Stephen Dorrell's overall expenditure fell from £150,827.97 in 2011 to 12 to £120,848.98.
He said that was also largely down to staff costs.
He said: "The previous year I had a lady retire so there was a crossover with her replacement. In effect, I had 2.5 staff before it became two again.
"There has also been a shift from doing some things in London to Leicestershire which is cheaper. I don't want to say any more about it. Much has been said on this subject and there has been more heat than light."
Ipsa was established to overhaul MPs' expenses after the scandal that engulfed Parliament in 2009 when a national newspaper published details from leaked documents about claims. Ipsa said the scheme it introduced in 2010 has saved over £35 million since then.
It said the total claimed by MPs for non-payroll expenses in the 2012-13 financial year is £23.8 million – a fall of £34.7 million in 2008-9.
Ipsa controversially proposed a £10,000 salary rise for MPs.
It also suggested the introduction of a new MP pension scheme on a par with those in other parts of the public service, saving the taxpayer millions, scrapping "resettlement payments" worth tens of thousands of pounds and introducing more modest redundancy packages. A consultation on the matter ends next month.
MPs expenses: How the totals compareCost-cutting council imposes recruitment freeze
A recruitment freeze has been announced by Leicester City Council in an effort to cut costs.
Staff have been told there will be no new appointments – unless there are "truly exceptional" circumstances – for the foreseeable future.
The council has about 8,200 employees, excluding school staff who are not affected by the measure, which was announced in an e-mail to all staff on Thursday from chief operating officer Andy Keeling.
Some staff have warned a failure to replace departing staff will lead to even greater workloads for those remaining, affecting council services.
Staff numbers have been declining in recent years as the council contends with cuts in funding from the Government
Mr Keeling wrote: "As you know, this year we have to implement £18 million of savings from our revenue budget and a further £13 million next year – as well as dealing with all of the other financial pressures that service managers have been reporting over the past couple of months.
"In addition to this, we have to save a further £70 million by 2017/18. All of these savings are a direct result of the reductions to the Government's grant to the council.
"After reviewing our recent budget performance I am keen to ensure we are doing all we can to make the savings needed while avoiding compulsory job losses wherever possible.
"With this in mind, we announced a general recruitment freeze across the council at a meeting of directors and heads of service."
One member of staff, who did not wish to be named, said: "There's a pretty high turnover of staff so people will be leaving, but they won't be replaced.
"People are struggling to cope covering for colleagues who have already gone and doing far more than they are able. This isn't a straw that will break the camel's back. It's a brick."
Mr Keeling told the Mercury the council was looking to its spending on recruitment advertising, which stood at £216,000 last year.
He said : "On an average year, we seek to recruit between 1,000 and 1,200 people and put a significant quantity to external advertising.
"Now we are facing unprecedented times. Our focus will be retraining staff and we hope to minimise compulsory redundancies.
"Part of this is about recycling good existing staff.''
Spot fines for no-seatbelts drivers
A total of 21 drivers were issued with £60 on-the-spot fines for driving without wearing seatbelts in a police road check.
They were stopped in a four- hour operation at Beaumont Shopping Centre last week.
Graham Compton, senior traffic management officer, said: "We were very disappointed so many people were driving without wearing seatbelts.
"There were others that were spotted but we did not have the resources to stop them all.
"We just want to spell out how not wearing a seatbelt costs lives. If you have an accident at 30mph and you are not wearing a seatbelt you will hit your head on the windscreen with serious consequences."
He said: "Each of the 21 drivers who was stopped was issued with a £60 fixed penalty notice."
The check, which was run from 8am until midday, only involved spotting drivers who were committing offences.
Emporium Nightclub
In Thursday's Mercury, we ran a report about the Emporium Nightclub, in Coalville, having gone into liquidation.
We have been asked by Arthur Holland, managing director of Holland Park Leisure, which bought the Emporium in 2004, to point out that it was later sold to another branch of the family, trading as The Holland Emporium Ltd – the company which has gone into liquidation.
Dental nurse guilty of misleading and dishonest behaviour
A Leicester dental nurse who "put patients at risk of serious harm" has been struck off by the General Dental Council.
Sarah Anne Mickleburgh, who worked at Care Dental, in Warren Lane, Leicester Forest East, was found guilty by the GDC of misleading and dishonest behaviour.
A tribunal was told she had falsified a life support qualification and was also found not to have completed such training. She failed to prove she had the required professional insurance cover.
Mickleburgh did not attend the London hearing. She has 28 days to challenge the ban, which was imposed immediately, before it is made permanent. The allegations were heard by the GDC's Professional Conduct Committee.
The charges she faced included providing a certificate purporting to be from the Leicestershire and Rutland Healthcare NHS Trust certifying she had successfully completed basic life support training at the Alfred Hill Centre, in Glenfield, in November, 2011.
The committee found the certificate was inaccurate in that she had not completed basic life support training at the centre. She was also accused of not responding to requests by the General Dental Council to provide evidence of appropriate professional indemnity cover against compensation claims from patients.
Announcing its decision, the committee said: "Her breaches put patients at risk of serious harm. Ms Mickleburgh's actions were dishonest, misleading her employer that she had a current basic life support certificate.
"This itself could have impacted upon patient safety and also put her employers at risk.
"Ms Mickleburgh's actions were deliberate in that she set out to create and submit a false document, which purported to show that she had up-to-date basic life support training.''
Battle of Britain heroes remembered at moving ceremony
The courage of RAF pilots who fought to defend Britain against Nazi invasion was remembered by veterans and cadets yesterday.
Members of Royal Air Force associations and air training corps gathered in Leicester to take part in the annual commemoration of the Battle of Britain.
About 100 people were involved in a short march, led by a cadet band, through the city's Victoria Park to the cenotaph, where wreaths were laid in honour of British, Commonwealth and Polish pilots, as well as those from other nations, who fended off the superior numbers of Germany's Luftwaffe in August and September 1940.
Leicester RAF Association chairman Barry Smart said: "It is always a special occasion, but this year our march actually fell on September 15, which is Battle of Britain Day.
"There is always some sadness to the day because we are marking it without another member, Jim Lord, from Evington, who was a bomber pilot and holder of the Distinguished Flying Cross, who passed away. He is sadly missed. It is so important to remember the Battle of Britain because had it not been for those pilots, with Germany poised to invade, we would have lost the war."
In the summer of 1940, Hitler was planning Operation Sealion, the conquest of the British isles. The Germans required mastery of the skies over the Channel and southern England which, in turn, meant he had to destroy the RAF.
The Hurricane and Spitfire pilots of the RAF repelled raid after Luftwaffe raid. The last large engagement of the Battle of Britain took place on September 15, when 60 German planes and 25 British fighters were shot down.
Hitler abandoned his invasion two days later, although German bombers continued to attack British cities.
Roy Rudham, secretary of the Leicester RAF Association, said: "I am very proud when I think about what those men did for this country and I am also proud on days like this when I see the young cadets come out to remember them. The Battle of Britain was a key stage of this country's history."
Wreaths were laid by Mr Smart and Councillor Alan Tanner, chairman of Blaby District Council. A minute's silence was observed with standards lowered. The parade then continued, watched by members of the public who had come to share the occasion, to the Church of St James the Greater, in London Road for a commemoration service.
The Battle of Britain anniversary was also marked by a parade in Melton yesterday. It was led by the Tally Ho! Marching Band and participants marched from Park Road, along Nottingham Street in High Street and then into the town's Memorial Gardens, in Wilton Road, where a wreath- laying ceremony was held.
Sean Lock's De Montfort Hall show is a silly, surreal delight
Sean Lock is great fun. His show feels like attending a family gathering and catching up with an uncle you haven't seen for a while, at various stages of his inebriation.
Uncle Sean was only here three months ago, but is back for a second night by popular demand, reprising his Purple Van Man show. So, at a packed-out De Mont, he shared his thoughts about the world.
Resplendent in his grape purple suit, he looked very trim and soon we knew why: his routine is cover for a full-body workout.
Uncle Sean was soon bouncing up and down head-butting an imaginary light bulb, clicking his heels in mid-air and running backwards and forwards across the stage. But his show is far more cerebral than physical: the twinkle in his eye reveals the ingenuity of his material.
As a reviewer, though, Lock leaves you in trepidation, because how do you recount his act when he goes into full surreal mode?
After the show, I bumped into a neighbour and explained my predicament. He said: "Just write 'Sean Lock has a mixed and varied repertoire'." I replied I couldn't possibly just write that. Anyway, Lock has a mixed and varied repertoire – thanks, Ian – all delivered in a Michael Caine-style accent.
His jokes, based on a myriad of subjects, mostly fall into the "you had to be there'' category.
Don't believe me? He discussed, in no particular order: Alvin and the Chipmunks, inadvertently having to apologise to bemused dwarves, celebrities shouting advertising through your letterbox, encouraging monsters under your child's bed, an idea for a Hollywood film involving two estranged brothers making a talking car of their mother and half a backwards centaur that looks like a frisky old woman.
See what I mean? All inexplicably abstract but mind-twistingly funny. I just hope it's not too long until the next family gathering with Uncle Sean.
Delight as hundreds visit hospice open day
About 1,000 people attended an open day at the Rainbows children's hospice.
The event, which happens once a year, gave people the opportunity to find out more about the work the Loughborough hospice does in caring for children with life-limiting illnesses and their families.
Visitors were able to tour the hydrotherapy pool, the music room, cinema, arts and crafts room and soft play area as well as meet members of the Rainbows' care team.
There were also stalls and refreshments.
Geoff Ellis, chief executive at Rainbows, said: "We were delighted with the turnout at the open day this year and we would like to thank everyone who came along to find out more about what we do at Rainbows.
"We hope people enjoyed themselves and were inspired with what they saw.
"We work hard to make Rainbows a happy place and, as we support more than 280 families, we simply wouldn't be able to do this without the backing of our volunteers, supporters and fund-raisers."
From car bombs to house fires: Man who heads firefighters in strife-torn Mogadishu
Car and suicide bombings and protection by armed soldiers are all in a day's work for the Leicester man leading the fire service in a troubled African capital.
Abdulahi Mohamed, known as Saneey, returned to the Somalian capital, Mogadishu, last week to resume his role as director of the fire and emergency services in the city, which has seen two decades of civil strife.
Saneey, 44, from Belgrave, Leicester, said goodbye to his wife and six children before flying back on Thursday to take the helm of the city's fledgling firefighting force, which has only been operating for about a year.
"It's a tough life," he said. "I have to be there at any incident, day or night, and we need to have soldiers protecting us. It's a dangerous existence and we deal with everything from car bombs to house blazes.
"The firefighters arrived within 10 minutes at the home of a single mother which was on fire. They managed to stop it spreading.
"She was crying because we had come to help – the first time she had such help in 20 years."
Mogadishu has been a major battleground in a civil war which has ravaged Somalia since 1991 and the overthrow of President Siad Barre.
Since then, Somalia has seen clan-based warlords, Islamist militants and its neighbours all battling for control.
Although the city is now under the control of an internationally-recognised transitional government, it is still the target for terror attacks – the latest car-bombing, on September 7, claimed 15 lives.
Saneey fled the city in 1991 before moving to Holland. Since 2001 he has called Leicester his home. But a visit to Mogadishu in 2010, while working for a charity, brought him into contact with the city's mayor and he discovered how much a fire service was needed.
He said: "There was a fire in the market and they didn't have any fire engines to tackle it, people were throwing buckets of water on it.
"Some people died and a lot of businesses and homes were destroyed. I started thinking about how to get some fire engines and spoke to the mayor and it started from there."
He returned to Leicester and worked with the Iqra Aid Trust to raise money to help launch a fire service for the city. He said: "We went to the Clock Tower to collect money and, over time, we raised £15,000 to send a fire engine to Somalia.
"I was there in November last year and it arrived in December. I was appointed to my position in January and came back home to my family last month."
He underwent just a few weeks of training in the UK and in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, before passing on his training skills to the 53 members of the city's fire service.
Last week, Saneey, who represented Somalia in the 800m and 1500m races at the Seoul Olympics in 1988, took delivery of a donated former Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service fire engine. The Denis Saber appliance donated by Leicestershire fire service will boost Mogadishu's fleet from three to four engines – to cover a population of three million.
But Saneey admitted his long- distance commuting is hard on his wife, son and five daughters, who are aged between three and 16.
He said: "I won't be back home now until Christmas for four weeks before going back to Mogadishu.
"It's tough on my wife and kids, but they are happy that I'm there helping people, it makes sense to them because it's humanitarian work.
"I just want to help make life better than it was."
Appeal after car damaged
Police have appealed for witnesses after a car was vandalised.
The blue Nissan Primera's paintwork was scratched while it was parked in Headstock Close, Coalville, between midnight on Thursday, September 5, and midnight the next day.
Contact Pc Tony Moffatt on 101 or Crimestoppers, which is anonymous, on 0800 555 111.
Pork gelatin revelation delays schools' vaccination programme
A flu vaccine due to be given to school children has been delayed after it was revealed it contained pork gelatin.
Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust has decided to postpone the programme at a handful of schools due to receive it today and tomorrow after parents raised concerns about the vaccine, which comes in the form of a nasal spray.
Parental permission to administer the spray had been requested, but a letter to parents from the trust failed to reveal what was in it.
Revised information is now being sent to all schools and head teachers are being asked to pass it on to parents.
Nigel Bruen, head teacher of Coleman Primary, in Spinney Hills, Leicester, where immunisation was due to start today, said after being contacted by parents he approached the health authority and discovered the vaccine contained pork gelatin.
He said: "I wrote to parents immediately to tell them and made it clear if they wished to withdraw their child, the decision was open to them.
"About 350 of our pupils had signed up for it and that has now dropped to fewer than 100.
"I don't have a medical background and took it in good faith this would already have been taken into consideration, especially given the recent scare over pork in halal burgers.
"I'm grateful some parents were clearly on the ball and raised it with me.
"An immunisation programme such as this requires much more forethought."
Spinney Hill Primary school was also due to start the vaccinations this week.
Chris Hassall, head of Taylor Road Primary, in St Matthew's, said: "It's disappointing the trust did not consider it necessary to inform parents of the vaccine's contents, when clearly it should have.
"This has huge implications for the 650 Muslim children in my school and about 40 vegetarians."
Some 70,000 pupils are eligible for the vaccine throughout Leicestershire and Rutland. It was due to be given out at every primary school as part of a pilot project to children whose parents had requested it.
Suleman Nagdi, of The Federation of Muslim Organisations in Leicester, said: "This is very disappointing. There should have been a lot of sensitivity around this. I think many parents will be devastated as it could cause issues through their faith or personal choice.
"It's imperative all public bodies give out all the available information – anything less is irresponsible."
Dr Tim Davies, consultant lead for screening and immunisation at NHS England's Leicestershire area team, said: "Gelatin appears routinely in very small quantities in a number of pharmaceutical products, including the nasal spray vaccine Fluenz.
"Nationally, Public Health England gave very careful consideration to this issue, and previous advice and guidance from religious groups was considered when taking the decision not to include the reference to gelatin in the information leaflet."
He said while pharmaceutical manufacturers list active ingredients in their products, it is not practical for the NHS to reproduce that information on every drug each time it is given.
A Leicester City Council spokesman said: "We would expect NHS England to be liaising closely with schools on important matters such as this."
Malcolm is delighted as blue tits make their return
A colourful mix of blue, yellow, white and green makes the blue tit one of Leicestershire's most attractive and recognisable garden visitors.
This picture, taken by amateur photographer and bird lover Malcolm Dawson, of Oadby, captures the beauty of the small bird perfectly.
Malcolm's picture is among the most recent batch of entries in our latest wildlife photography competition.
He said it was particularly satisfying as the nesting pair and chicks is something he hasn't been able to enjoy for decades. "This was the first time blue tits had nested in my garden for 40 years," he said.
"I took this photo as my wife and I watched a pair build their nest and feed their young."
Readers have less than a week to send in their wildlife snaps before the competition closes on Sunday, September 22.
The winner, who will be contacted by phone, will receive £100 from the sponsor of the competition, Brinvale Bird Foods, manufacturers of wild bird food in the Vale of Belvoir.
Entrants can e-mail up to six photos, with your name, age, address and number, and a caption on where each picture was taken. Photographs must be at least 1mb in size. E-mail pictures, putting "Brinvale competition" in the subject box, to:
picturedesk@leicester mercury.co.uk
Grandmother facing deportation is detained by Border Agency
A grandmother who is facing deportation to her native Zimbabwe has been detained.
Evenia Mawongera, an outspoken critic of the Mugabe regime, has been fighting to stay in the UK since July.
On August 16, Evenia submitted an application to stay in the country.
On Friday, the 55-year-old made her weekly visit to the Border Agency, in Loughborough, where she was required to report in.
When she got there, she was told her application had been rejected. She was held in Loughborough before being taken to Yarl's Wood Detention Centre, in Bedford, where she is being detained pending deportation to Zimbabwe.
Ambrose Musiyiwa, a University of Leicester student, who is supporting the family, said: "Neither Evenia nor her solicitor have seen the reasons for refusal.
"If deported to Zimbabwe, Evenia is at risk of persecution and extremely serious ill-treatment at the hands of the Mugabe regime."
It is the second time in three months Evenia has been detained.
In July, she was kept in the detention centre for 11 days.
Evenia fled persecution in Zimbabwe 10 years ago and settled in Leicester, joining her two daughters, who had been granted leave to stay in the UK after completing their studies here.
Her daughters arrived in this country in 1999.
Richard III: Site of king's last night given special plaque
The tavern where Richard III spent his last night before riding out to Bosworth has been commemorated with a special plaque.
City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby unveiled the memorial, which gives details about the Blue Boar Inn and has been mounted on the side of the Travelodge bed and breakfast, which stands on the same site as the medieval roadhouse.
Sir Peter said: "This is the second of 11 informative plaques we're unveiling around Leicester.
"It shows the Blue Boar Inn, the place where Richard spent his last night before Bosworth, before he met his death, and couldn't be in a more fitting place.
"It's just another example of Leicester's rich connection with Richard III – and why he should be reinterred here in the city."
The Blue Boar was a large inn, with east and west wings and a coach house, which stood in Highcross Street until the mid-1800s.
Lead archaeologist on the Richard III project, Richard Buckley, from the University of Leicester, was also at the unveiling.
He had created a 3D model of part of the inn after finding detailed sketches of its architecture.
He said: "The inn was a very high status building which would have accommodated travelling aristocracy and merchants.
"This area was once the principal commercial street in Leicester and would have seen a lot of very wealthy, and important people, like Richard, passing through."
Visitors and tourists are using the inn's modern-day equivalent, the Travelodge, to relive Richard's last night.
Manager Salman Mohammed said: "We are very proud that our hotel has a place in Britain's history.
"Since the remains of King Richard III were identified earlier this year, we have been inundated with inquiries."
The unveiling event also saw the launch of a book, called Richard III – The Leicester Connection, which details all the sites in the city related to the former monarch.
The book's author, and Richard III expert, David Baldwin, said he hoped the book would show people how many links the city has to the last Plantagenet.
He also backed the reinterment of the king's remains at Leicester Cathedral.
He said: "The critical point for me is that after 1485, when Richard was killed, no member of his close family tried to have him recovered from the Greyfriars and reburied in York – or anywhere else for that matter.
"So if they were happy for him to be here, then who is anyone to argue."
Deborah Hunter, commercial development manager for arts and museums at Leicester City Council, said: "We hope the book will debunk some of the myths about Richard and tell people what he was really like.
"It tells us about the great historical attractions in the city which are related to the king.
"As we know, the cathedral is already a destination for Richard fans and it goes without saying that his bones should be reinterred there."
The book is on sale for £3.99 at Leicester Cathedral, the Guildhall, Visit Leicester and the University of Leicester.
Marquee plan for historic hall
The city council wants to make changes to Belgrave Hall as part of its plans to use the historic building for events.
It wants to put in a new semi-permanent 18m by 9.5m marquee, move a greenhouse, install two new wrought-iron gates and put in lighting between the marqee and the house.
The hall in Church Road, Belgrave, is no longer open as a museum due to declining visitor numbers, but the council wants to use it for 20 to 30 events each summer.
The council's planning committee will decide on the changes to the hall at a meeting on Wednesday.
Driver cut free
A motorist was injured when two cars collided in a city street.
The crash happened at the junction of Craighill Road and Northcote Road in Clarendon Park, Leicester, at about 9pm on Friday.
Firefighters, police and paramedics were called to the scene and one person had to be cut free by fire crews and was treated by ambulance staff.
Pedestrian hurt
A pedestrian was taken to hospital after a collision in Melton town centre.
The incident involved one vehicle and a male pedestrian and happened in Scalford Road, Melton, at about 11.30am on Saturday.
The road was closed for an hour while the man was treated at the scene, before being taken to Leicester Royal Infirmary with injuries to his shoulder.
Leicester City v Wigan: Best show of season so far, says Nigel Pearson
Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson believes his side produced their best all-round performance of the season to beat Wigan.
A first-ever City goal from Liam Moore and a late penalty from David Nugent gave his side their fourth win from the first Championship six games.
Pearson said he was pleased with how his side had controlled the game throughout against a Wigan side awash with Premier League players.
"You could argue that was our best all-round performance," said Pearson, who watched the game from the stand after being handed a touchline ban following the defeat at Charlton two weeks ago.
"I thought we controlled the game for the majority of the time, even in the period when Wigan had a bit more possession than us probably, just before we went 2-0 up.
"We changed our own shape to deal with that and were still pretty comfortable. We defended set plays pretty well.
"The important thing was the team played well and were able to win a game against a side that will do well this year with the players they have."
Despite their good points return, City had not been at their very best until Wigan visited the King Power Stadium. But Pearson believes his side deserve more credit for the way they have begun the campaign.
"I keep hearing about what we haven't done this season but we have had a pretty decent start," he said.
"I think we have shown we have capabilities to win games when we are not playing well but, against Wigan, we played well and won.
"That is our sixth win of the season. We do what we need to do to win games, whether that is 4-4-2 or 4-3-3. It is about having players who are willing and able to do what they have to do to win games."