Nigel Pearson said it was a last-minute decision to name top-scorer David Nugent as a substitute following a slipped disc in his neck.

The Leicester City boss said it was only on Saturday morning that they decided to include Nugent as a substitute after the player came through a training session on Friday.

Even after Nugent rose to head home the first goal, Pearson was still fearful his neck injury would return, but the 11-goal striker came through the game without any reaction.

"We didn't expect him to be right," said Pearson.

"He decided he wanted to try it out on Friday in training. It was very much a case of seeing if there was a reaction on the morning of the game before we made a decision.

"He said he felt okay to play some part. Although he came off the bench, he has made a very good contribution. I am sure he will get the headlines but there were a lot of good performances.

"I was a bit concerned once he scored that that we would have to change again.

"He doesn't like being injured and, at times, we have to protect him. Having said that, it is great to have players who desperately want to play a part even though they have been injured."

Nugent's strikes were vital as the Rams were threatening to equalise after coming back from two goals down after a superb 30 minutes from City, which Pearson described as their best performance of the season.

"I think that is the best we have played in that first 30 minutes," he said.

"It was an outstanding start from us and we deserved to get two goals in that period. I suppose from that period until the end of the first half it was an illustration of how tough this league is.

"I don't think we played badly after that, Derby just controlled the possession more and scored during that period, which gave it a lopsided look to the half.

"I was a bit disappointed that we were only one goal ahead at half-time.

"But we kept our composure well in the second half and, even though they asked a few more questions of us in the second half, we defended well as a team.

The bottom line at Welford Road on Saturday was that Leicester Tigers picked up four vital Aviva Premiership points as they chiselled out a 17-12 win over Bath.

13 min: try (0-5) Both missed kickable penalty chances in the early stages but Bath forge ahead with their first serious assault, Stephen Donald cutting through the home defence to score, although he fails to convert his try.

15 min: George Ford's second penalty attempts clips the post and Tigers remain scoreless.

25 min: The bulk of the crowd think Tigers are back on terms but Niall Morris' try in the corner is ruled out for a forward pass.

34 min: Another great chance goes begging. With men over on the left, Anthony Allen's pass can only find touch.

H-T: Tigers 0, Bath 5

44 min: Penalty (3-5) Bath are penalised at a scrum and Ford's radar is back on as he puts Tigers on the board from 40 metres.

50 min: Yellow card Clever play in midfield from Mathew Tait comes to nothing as he is obstructed by Simon Taylor, the Bath No8 receiving a yellow card for his misdemeanour.

55 min: Penalty (6-5) Tigers go in front as Ford slots his second penalty from 45m and there is a sense of relief around the ground.

57 min: try (6-12) That feeling lasts just a couple of minutes, winger Tom Biggs being on hand to take a smart inside pass to score Bath's second try of the day. Donald converts.

60 min: red card Bath are reduced to 14 men when flanker Francois Louw is red-carded for foul play.

61 min: try (11-12) Tigers make their advantage count with Adam Thompstone scoring in the corner and, although Ford's kick sails wide, Leicester are back in business.

63 min: penalty (14-12) Ford's boot puts Tigers in front again as he lands another penalty after Allen had been impeded around 25 metres from the goal-line.

65 min: red cards There are some worrying moments as Allen is flattened by a high tackle from Matt Banahan. Banahan is red-carded and Brett Deacon follows the Bath centre to the changing room for his part in the ensuing melee. Allen is stretchered off the pitch and it is 14 against 13.

66 min: yellow card Donald is yellow-carded after tangling with Dan Bowden, the visitors now down to 12 men.

67 min: penalty (17-12) Tigers edge further ahead. Ford kicks his fourth penalty, the ball going over the bar via the inside of the post.

F-T: Tigers 17, Bath 12

A drug dealer who lived a luxury lifestyle financed by selling cocaine has been jailed for three years.

Ben Shardlow was caught with a stash of the class A drug when he was stopped in a car by police.

Officers went to his home in Palmer Road, Hinckley, to find a large number of electrical goods, designer clothing and £760 in cash.

They also found 700 Jamaican dollars, left over from a holiday to the Caribbean island the previous month.

Shardlow (28) admitted supplying cocaine and possessing it with intent to supply, on June 1.

Alan Murphy, prosecuting, told Leicester Crown Court that at 6.10pm that day, officers saw Shardlow parked in a lay-by in Hinckley Lane, Burbage.

A man who got out of the back of the car was found to have a single wrap of cocaine on him, which he had just bought from Shardlow.

Mr Murphy said Shardlow drove off, but was stopped by police in Wykin Road, and "indicated they would find drugs in the driver's side door".

There were 22 wraps of cocaine, each £40 street deals, totalling 14.68 grams, with a purity of between 25 to 27 per cent.

Mr Murphy said: "His mobile phone contained a number of drug-related text messages."

Judge Ebraham Mooncey said although Shardlow claimed he was dealing to fund his own cocaine use, he had tested negative for drugs.

Shardlow also told the police he committed the offences to pay off debts.

Paul Tubb, mitigating, said: "He's remorseful and appreciates the effect it's had on his family. He's keen to put this matter behind him and make positive changes."

Shardlow became depressed when his pregnant partner lost twins she was expecting, the court was told.

Mr Tubb said: "His escape from that was by starting to take drugs. He ended up spending his salary on the drug, by November and December last year."

Mr Tubb said: "From May 2012, he accepts to fund his own addiction and to enhance his quality of lifestyle he did engage in providing drugs on a commercial basis."

Sentencing, Judge Mooncey said Shardlow was caught with cocaine "ready to be supplied".

He said: "You made a lot of money for yourself."

Judge Mooncey made a confiscation order totalling £1,179.

Derby boss Nigel Clough said the quality Leicester City had on the substitutes' bench was the difference between the two sides.

Clough lamented the poor defending that led to them being 2-0 down inside half-an-hour, but he felt his side could have drawn level and even gone on to win the game until the introductions of substitutes David Nugent and Ben Marshall in the second half.

Nugent scored two goals, the first of which was set up by Marshall, as City then eased through to a 4-1 victory.

"The first time Cardiff went in our box the other night they scored and it was the same with Leicester. It's another goal conceded from a set-play," said Clough.

"That's the only thing that's holding us back. The general performance was not too bad for long periods of the game.

"But all that goes out the window if you don't defend properly and we certainly didn't in the first half-an-hour.

"Jimmy O'Connor gave them the second goal but, with all his experience, he shouldn't be giving that away. It was individual errors.

"If you give someone like Leicester the first goal after five minutes, they're going to be all over you.

"They are a powerful attacking side. Then we saw our other side, where as soon as we got a foothold and scored the equaliser whoever got the next goal would go on and win the game. Unfortunately it was them.

"I don't think Leicester took their foot off the pedal, I thought we started to play a bit.

"We got three in midfield and started knocking it around, and they found it difficult to cope with us. We created enough to get the equaliser.

"But then Nugent came off the bench and the quality they could bring off the bench made the difference."

Man-of-the-match Marcos Ayerza praised his team mates for keeping their cool in the red-hot atmosphere of Welford Road on Saturday.

With three red cards and two yellows shown during a frantic second half in Leicester's 17-12 win, the Argentine prop was at the centre of lots of his side's best work.

Tigers largely kept their heads while the visitors lost theirs, with Francois Louw and Matt Banahan seeing red alongside yellows for Simon Taylor and Stephen Donald.

"We kept our composure and kept our heads," said Ayerza, 29. "We got on with it and we managed it well.

"You could tell the referee was getting fed up with them constantly infringing with some high tackles and some nasty moments.

"Fair play to us, we kept our cool, kept playing and it paid off.

"We got an untidy win but a win which was very important for us in the context of the season.

"We played some expansive and ambitious rugby. We built our phases and, if it wasn't for the large penalty count against Bath, we might have been had more success."

With Ayeyza and Martin Castrogiovanni returning from international duty to bolster the front row, Tigers had the upper hand in the scrum all afternoon and that provided a platform for them to completely dominate possession.

But it wasn't until the visitors began getting players sent off that Leicester began to have the upper hand on the scoreboard. In fact, Bath led 12-6 on the hour before things kicked off.

"It was frustrating at times for us that we couldn't make the most of our dominance but we will take the points," said Ayerza.

"We can take plenty of positives out of this game and move forward.

"I really enjoyed coming back to Leicester after being away with the Pumas.

"This is my home and I like to contribute to making Leicester the best club that I can."

Bath assistant coach Toby Booth described the game as "one of the most surreal experiences that I have ever been involved in".

Booth said he was "shell-shocked" after the game after seeing four of his players receive cards.

"When you come to Welford Road, you need to be extremely competitive and everyone knows that," he said.

"We had spoken about discipline a lot during the week and it is something that we are working towards. Self-control is part of the professional players' make up.

"Some of the issues we saw out there were self-control issues and others were consistency.

"We defended well with our backs against the wall but we made it difficult for ourselves with so few people on the pitch."

Leicester Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill described the controversial 17-12 win over Bath as "like a game from the 1980s".

The visitors' flanker Francois Louw and centre Matt Banahan were both sent off for foul play, while back-rower Simon Taylor and fly-half Stephen Donald were sin-binned as Tigers fought back from a 5-0 half-time deficit to leap back into the top four.

Leicester's Brett Deacon was also dismissed as he punched Banahan in the melee that followed his tackle, which knocked Anthony Allen out cold.

Bath were down to 12 men at one stage and the league's disciplinary process is likely to be in overdrive this week.

Cockerill, though, largely defended Bath's players after the game by saying that most of the decisions were harsh on Gary Gold's team.

"It was like a game from the 1980s wasn't it?" he said.

"Banahan is a big man and not a dirty player. He hits Ant with momentum and with his arm out, he knocks him out and that makes it look a lot worse than it was.

"Brett Deacon then retaliates, throws a punch and he's off.

"If Francois Louw has dropped an elbow on someone, is it a red card? Probably not. It might be a warning and yellow at worst – but that is the world we live in.

"You go back to the mid-90s when this (Leicester) side was very aggressive, we would only have three blokes a side on the pitch these days!

"The laws are a bit mad but that is the game. I don't necessarily agree with the way it is refereed but you have to get on with it."

Aside from the controversy, which left the home crowd incandescent with rage at times, Tigers dominated play for the vast majority of the game after going 5-0 down to an early try.

But their failure to make the most of their dominance allowed Tom Biggs' 57th-minute score to put Bath 12-6 ahead on the hour.

But Adam Thompstone's try bought Tigers back to within a point and George Ford's two penalties settled the score.

"I thought we played some decent stuff in the first half," said Cockerill. "Fordy had a blip with is goal-kicking and then didn't want to go to goal after that and we kicked to the corners which led to nothing.

"George bounced back and kicked some important goals in the second half to win the game.

" I don't think they were over-physical. It was just a really hard game.

There was concern for Allen, who was stretchered off. Cockerill said he was "okay but a bit dazed" and the 26-year-old walked through the press room after the game and pronounced that he was "still alive".

He was under observation over the weekend and his fitness will be assessed this week.

Generous readers have helped raise more than £16,000 in just two weeks for the Mercury's Christmas Appeal in aid of Leicester Children's Holiday Centre, in Mablethorpe.

The charity, which provides a holiday for 350 children every year, needs £65,000 to replace its ageing boilers and revamp its central heating.

The charity's chairman, Jim Roberts, described the total raised so far as "fantastic".

The latest donation of £500, from a jumble sale organised by Sandra Doherty in Market Harborough on Saturday, took the charity's total from £15,861 to £16,361.

Sandra, 69, organised the event at Huntingdon Gardens, a sheltered accommodation complex where she lives with her 72-year-old husband, Kevin, who went to the home as a boy.

She said: "That's brilliant that we've taken them over the £16,000 mark – I'm over the moon."

Mr Roberts said he was delighted with the amount raised so far.

"I think it's fantastic – even better than I had hoped at this stage," he said.

"The total takes us a long way towards the first £25,000 to replace the boilers before going on to upgrade the central heating to make it more comfortable for the hundreds of children who stay there every year."

Individual donations pouring in to the charity's Holy Bones headquarters, in the city, have varied from £5 to £3,000.

Diane Batson, the charity's children's officer, said: "It's lovely waiting for the post to arrive each day and opening it to find cheques for the appeal.

"A lot of them are from pensioners who have been to the home who may not have a lot to give, but are still prepared to support the appeal.

"We've had £2,000 from someone who doesn't want to be named and we have had £3,000 from St Margaret's Charities."

A letter accompanying one of the donations read: "Although we are now pensioners we both have been to the holiday home as children and hold very fond memories of that time. I know this is not much, we do hope it helps a little."

Another contributor wrote: "Please find cheque enclosed for £25. I had use of your home many years ago. We spent one week in the old building, then one week in the new building around 1936. Thank you very much."

Lord Mayor of Leicester Abdul Osman, who enjoyed a holiday at the centre himself as a boy in the 1970s, said: "That's a fabulous amount of money for people to donate in just a couple of weeks. It would be nice if, in the run-up to Christmas, that generosity of spirit continues and the target is reached.

"I appreciate these are not the best of economic times, but this is a very worthwhile cause."

Two-goal hero David Nugent has revealed the full extent of his serious neck injury.

City's top-scorer was a surprise inclusion on the subs' bench in Saturday's 4-1 win over East Midlands rivals Derby.

Nugent came on to score twice and make the game – and third in the table – safe for City.

Nugent had been struggling to sleep and was in pain with a slipped disc in his neck.

City boss Nigel Pearson revealed, after the game, that his leading striker's inclusion was a last-minute decision.

Nugent was virtually written off from facing Derby on Thursday, but he improved enough to be named as a sub.

"I didn't think I would be playing but I woke up on Friday morning and my neck felt better," said Nugent.

"It was a slipped disc and it was very painful to start with. I couldn't sleep at night and was taking sleeping pills to try and get to sleep.

"I was going to just do the warm-up on Friday morning and I felt fine, so Dave (Rennie, the physio) asked me to join in with the boxing, so I did and I felt fine.

"Then it was the full training game, and again I felt fine afterwards.

"We had a meeting after training to see if I should go into the squad and I was happy to do that. I wanted to come on and do a job, which I have done and I am delighted.

"It was a pretty serious injury and you just have to rest it. I had a scan on it and there was a bulge, so rest was the key. I haven't trained for two weeks."

Nugent's first goal was a header and he admitted as Ben Marshall's cross came in he was apprehensive about heading it.

"We went to see a neck specialist and he said it would get better day by day," he said.

"It has done and is getting stronger.

"I am still going in for treatment and I am making it stronger to protect it.

"It is pain free now, but I am still a bit weary of it. For the first goal, I was a little scared to go up and head the ball. Once it connected and it felt fine then I got more confident.

"I won a few headers after that. I was waiting for a twinge but nothing came and I came off the pitch pain free."

A judge showed mercy to a remorseful teenager who scalded his girlfriend with boiling water, after he begged for "one last chance".

Nathan Haddock (19) admitted causing grievous bodily harm to the 17-year-old victim, who suffered burns to her left arm and side.

Judge Simon Hammond gave him a suspended prison sentence after hearing the couple's relationship was continuing.

The victim, who has forgiven Haddock and says she still loves him, was at Leicester Crown Court to support him.

Alan Murphy, prosecuting, said the pair went out for a night out in Leicester with two friends on August 31.

They all ended up booking into the Comfort Nights Hotel, Loughborough Road, in the early hours. The couple had earlier been arguing.

When Haddock made a cup of coffee at 2am his girlfriend pushed him, causing some of the coffee to spill on him.

"He picked up the kettle and threw his arm out, holding the kettle, in her direction," said Mr Murphy.

"It had the effect of projecting hot water on to her left arm and side, causing her to scream."

Haddock left the room and went outside for a cigarette.

Their two friends tended to the victim's burns with water and towels.

Haddock returned and they continued the night together.

Four days later, a tutor at the girl's school saw her burns and made an immediate appointment with her GP.

The police were informed and although the victim let officers photograph her injuries, she refused to make a statement.

Despite her not supporting the prosecution, Haddock was arrested and charged.

Haddock, formerly of Elizabeth Court, Wigston, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm. He appeared distressed in the dock and pleaded: "Please give me one last chance. I was an idiot."

Sentencing Haddock, Judge Hammond held up a photo of the victim's injuries and said: "It's a wicked thing to do to a young woman." He gave Haddock a 12-month detention, suspended for two years. He also told Haddock to attend a domestic violence programme.

The judge said Haddock was given chances in the past, with reprimands and warnings for assaults in 2005 and 2006.

In 2008, he assaulted a teacher.

Linda Jerman, mitigating, said Haddock was "incredibly vulnerable" and on suicide watch during 66 days on remand. She said: "He accepts he has anger problems.

"He has mental health issues.

"He's extremely upset and deeply remorseful. He loves his girlfriend dearly.

"He's her first love.

"She's also found it difficult.

"She has to balance in her mind about what's happened and what might happen in the future."

Haddock and his girlfriend both wept during the hearing.

When asked outside court why she had forgiven him, the victim said: "I love him."

Cheering on City at their New Year's Day match could cost fans as little as £10 a ticket thanks to our fantastic new Leicester Mercury reader offer.

All fans have to do is collect two tokens and an entry form, which will be printed in the Mercury this month, to get a huge reduction on the price of a ticket for the clash with Huddersfield Town at the King Power Stadium.

Season ticket -holders will pay just £10 for adults tickets, and non-season ticket holders will pay £15.

All tickets for under-12s will be just £5 and under-eights will be able to watch the match free in the family stands.

For each cut-price ticket you will need two tokens and one entry form.

From today, up until December 29, the Mercury will be printing the tokens you need.

They will appear every day, apart from Thursdays, when we will be printing entry forms.

Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson said: "It's a massive commitment from our supporters to come and watch us play week in and week out. We appreciate that it's an expensive passion, and it is a passion because, if you're a football fan, it's in your blood.

"I think it's important to understand the demands that supporting your club places on the fans and at Leicester City I think we get the balance right.

"Coming towards the end of what can be a very expensive time of year for supporters, the Leicester Mercury ticket offer is well-timed and will give more of our fans the chance to get behind the team at the Huddersfield game."

Lifelong City fan Lee Jobber, 33, of Braunstone, Leicester, said: "I think this is great – it would be brilliant to have a packed stadium."

Giving his thoughts on the match, Lee said: " Huddersfield seem to be doing the business lately so I don't know how it'll go.

"But I think we've got a good chance with the December matches and if we win them, the Huddersfield game is going to be massive.

"People love to get behind a winning team."

Vouchers can be redeemed at the City Fanstore at the King Power Stadium as soon as you have collected the relevant number of vouchers and entry forms, up to noon on January 1.

But City fans should start collecting their tokens and tickets now to make sure of getting their hands on the bargain tickets .

Season ticket holders will be limited to a maximum of four tickets per person at the ticket office and seats in the popular B and J blocks will cost £15, and £20 for non-season ticket holders.

Next week, we will have two more great opportunities for City fans.

We will be looking for a young fan to walk out on to the pitch with one of City stars at the start of the match.

We will also be searching for 10 footballers to compete in a half-time penalty shoot-out at the game.

Keep an eye out in the Leicester Mercury next week for more information on these great offers.

It was one of the most important takeaway orders the Chutney Ivy restaurant had ever received.

Comedian Hardeep Singh Kohli, appearing at Curve, made the order to test his Indian cookery skills against them.

The Glaswegian comic is touring the country with his act Indian Takeaway – an evening of comedy, cooking and curry.

Members of the audience arriving for the show were given a menu from the restaurant – which is across the road from Curve – and asked to pick a similar dish to the one the comic intended to cook.

Prior to the evening, Hardeep had spoken of his concerns at competing against the city's restaurants.

"The thing about Leicester is that is has some amazing Indian food so it's going to be difficult to live up to," he said.

"I'd say Leicester is the place I'm most worried about."

The comic, a finalist on TV's Celebrity Masterchef, cooked lamb pepper curry with cabbage, leek and broccoli, tahka dhal with butternut squash, sweet potato and basmati rice during his act.

The restaurant's owner, Shaf Islam, had one of his chefs' special dishes harri massala ka gost, with lamb, spinach, mustard seeds, garlic, coriander and onions and the chef's "special" spices prepared.

Then a handful of the audience were chosen to carry out the taste test.

The result?

A draw, with half opting for the comedian's dish, the others going for the restaurant's offering.

Chutney Ivy's owner Shaf Islam said: "When Hardeep asked us I was more than happy to oblige. I was flattered.

"It's a unique show. I took the meal over and was able to enjoy a few minutes of his act. He is very funny, it looked a great show."

He said a lot of the audience arrived at the restaurant to eat after the show.

"They all seemed impressed with our food and his show."

Hardeep said: "This is sort of a celebration of the phenomenon of Indian food in this country. Every high street pretty much has an Indian restaurant, no matter how big or small.

"It's a very interactive show. They choose the dish we order and I cook something similar but not exactly the same.

"And I have no other skills. I'd never have had a girlfriend if I couldn't cook.

"I like to chat with the audience and the shows are never the same. It's a little bit like being in my kitchen with 500 mates waiting to be fed."

Northampton Saints have found an unlikely ally in the form of Leicester Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill as they prepare for the blow of potentially losing their best two props to French club Racing Metro.

Reports have suggested that loose-head Soane Tonga'uiha and tight-head Brian Mujati will leave the club at the end of the season.

Both men have developed into what Cockerill called "world-class" players while at Franklin's Gardens, but now look set to leave for the riches of the French Top 14.

With a rigid salary cap of just more than £4million in England, Cockerill says that will cost Saints' director of rugby Jim Mallinder the chance of hanging on to two of the club's most prized assets.

Cockerill said Saints were falling foul of the system.

"The salary cap has bitten Tigers over a number of years and, if the reports are correct, Northampton are going to lose two of the props that they have brought in, developed and made world-class," he said.

"As much as Northampton are huge rivals, I think it is wrong that they are not allowed to compete in the market place for their players.

"Tonga'uiha came from Bedford and they have made him into what he is. Now they cannot afford to keep him because of the salary cap. That is harsh.

"It's a financial choice. Look at Alesana Tuilagi who has gone from us to Japan for a considerable amount of money. We didn't even try to compete with that because he would have taken up 25 per cent of our cap.

"For someone like Geoff Parling, who is also out of contract, he has come from Newcastle and now he is starting for England. He will get offers bigger than ours, so it will be down to the good will of the player to say he likes playing for you, that he is really happy here trying to win something and that he will take 25 per cent less than he could get somewhere else."

A burglar who disturbed an elderly man in his bed before making off with his sleeping wife's jewellery has been jailed.

Piotr Oleszczuk (33) was drunk when he broke into the couple's home in Aikman Avenue, New Parks, Leicester, on November 10.

Leicester Crown Court was told the male householder, in his mid-70s, was nodding off to sleep when the defendant opened his bedroom door.

The pensioner said: "Who are you?" He followed the intruder on to the landing.

John Hallissey, prosecuting, said: "The defendant went into the wife's bedroom next door and apparently locked it, to prevent him from following."

Oleszczuk grabbed items of jewellery, including two watches, gold and silver brooches, chains and a pendant, worth a total of about £300, before escaping out of the bedroom window.

The householder's wife, believed to be of a similar age, did not know what had happened until her husband woke her.

In a victim impact report she said she felt "sick" someone had broken in and taken what the judge said were likely to have been items of great sentimental value.

Earlier that evening, the defendant had unsuccessfully tried to break into another pensioner's home, in Plymstock Close, Dane Hills.

Mr Hallissey said that at about 9pm Oleszczuk had noisily damaged a kitchen door, which disturbed the 68-year-old occupant.

He said: "She came out to see what was going on.

"The defendant hid in a nearby bush for several minutes, during which time she could see him staring directly at her."

By chance, the woman's son's arrived to visit her and the defendant ran off.

Oleszczuk, of Lorimer Road, Saffron Lane, Leicester, was jailed for 12 months.

He admitted the burglary and attempted break-in.

Justine Robinson, mitigating, said the defendant had been out to celebrate the birth of a friend's child and drank to such excess he had no recollection of his actions that evening.

He regretted his actions.

Sentencing, Recorder Stuart Sprawson said: "On both occasions the occupants were at home.

"For anybody, whatever age, but particularly the elderly, jewellery is likely to have had a significant personal sentimental value.

"It's so serious it can only be dealt with by immediate custody."

More than 130,000 people have signed a petition calling for independent regulation of newspapers in the light of the phone hacking scandal.

Gerry McCann – the father of missing Rothley girl Madeleine – launched a petition on behalf of campaign group Hacked Off calling for the Government to implement the recommendations of the Leveson Inquiry.

Mr McCann and his wife Kate, from Rothley, were the subject of a series of false stories in the national press accusing them of involvement in their daughter's disappearance when she went missing from a Portuguese holiday resort in 2007.

He and Chris Jeffries, who was wrongly arrested for the murder of Bristol woman Joanna Yeates, launched the online petition on Friday and yesterday afternoon it had attracted 131,830 signatures.

That has made it one of Britain's fastest growing online petitions ever.

Lord Justice Leveson recommended the creation of an independent regulatory body for the press, free of editors and politicians, which should be backed by legislation.

However Prime Minister David Cameron is not in favour of introducing laws to regulate the press.

Yesterday, MPs debated Leveson's report and former attorney general and Harborough MP Sir Edward Garnier described it as "thorough".

He said: "We are not talking about state regulation of the press in the sense that Mugabe controls the press, in the sense that Putin controls the press, in the sense that the Chinese politburo controls the press."

A businessman has been sentenced for fraudulently claiming more than £40,000 by submitting false VAT repayment claims.

Abdulkadar Chokhandiwala (38) was the director and company secretary of KGN Supplies Ltd, which traded as Phone Bazzar.

It was involved with the purchase of mobile phone handsets which it then exported to Dubai.

The business could have claimed back from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) the VAT it had paid on the handsets it had exported.

But Chokhandiwala submitted false VAT returns to HMRC, supported by fake receipts, to claim back VAT he had never actually paid in the first place.

He was arrested on September 21 last year, and later pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud under the Value Added Tax Act 1994.

The defendant, of St Saviours Road, North Evington, Leicester, was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for 12 months.

He was ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work. Gary Lampon, assistant director of criminal investigation for HMRC, said: "This action sends a firm message to anyone involved or considering fraud against HMRC – your time is up.

"We are working relentlessly to combat those involved in tax evasion and fraud and bring them before the courts.

"With over £10 billion being stolen from UK finances each year by criminals involved in the hidden economy, it's a serious crime which we are determined to eradicate."

He urged anyone with information regarding tax evasion and fraud to contact the customs hotline on 0800 59 5000.