Updates for Wednesday, 27 January 2016
News, sport, travel and weather updates resume at 08:00 on Thursday
Anna Bartlett
BBC Radio Northampton
Kettering-based wheelchair tennis playerDermot Bailey, external has entered the world top 40 rankings for the first time.
The 21-year-old finished runner-up in the men’s singles at the Arizona Open in Tucson over the weekend.
Image source, Tennis FoundationThe British number five will now line up in this week’s Indian Wells Tennis Garden Championship, external in California, which begins on Thursday.
A road near Sixfields stadium in Northampton has been closed in both directions , externalafter a head-on collision between a car and a van.The air ambulance, external has been called out to the scene of the accident on Edgar Mobbs Way.
Elinor Cross
BBC Radio Northampton
The prosecution in the trial of a Northamptonshire police detective accused of murder has asked the jury to reject his claims of self defence.
In a letter read out during proceedings at Stafford Crown Court, Adrian Goldsmith said his wife had "compared him to Jekyll and Hyde".Prosecutor John Lloyd Jones told the court he agreed, adding: "He's both a commended hard working officer and - we say - murderer - all wrapped up in one."
The court is expected to hear a closing speech from the defence this afternoon. Mr Goldsmith admits causing fatal injuries, but denies murder.
Elinor Cross
BBC Radio Northampton
A jury has heard the type and number of injuries suffered by Northampton woman Jill Goldsmith before she died show she was murdered.
In closing arguments at Stafford Crown Court, the prosecution said Jill Goldsmith suffered more than 70 injuries, some of them while she was "curled up in a foetal position" trying to defend herself.
Her husband, police detective Adrian Goldsmith, admits causing her fatal injuries - but denies murder.
Closing speeches from the defence are expected later today.
Sarah Foster
BBC Radio Northampton
Here are the latest headlines for Northamptonshire this lunchtime:
Retailer Poundland has refused to confirm rumours that it is to open two new units in Kettering, external.
BBC Entertainment and Arts
Actor, and former Northampton School for Boys pupil, Matt Smith is to take on the role of avant-garde photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in a forthcoming film.
Image source, Getty ImagesThe Doctor Who star will be directed by award-winning Ondi Timoner in the biopic simply titled Mapplethorpe, according to Deadline, external.
David Keller
BBC News
Communities across the county are being invited to put themselves forward for the annual Best Village in Northamptonshire, external competition
Image source, Duncan Lilly / GeographIt's open to villages with populations up to 6,000 people. Recent winners include Weedon Bec, external and Helmdon, external (pictured), and there's a £1,000 prize on offer.
Graham McKechnie
BBC Radio Northampton sport
Northampton Saints, external flanker Tom Wood says he's determined to prove new coach Eddie Jones wrong and reclaim a place in the England squad.
Despite being a regular part of the international set-up throughout Stuart Lancaster's reign as head coach, Wood was left out of Jones's first squad when it was announced on Monday.
Image source, Getty ImagesWood told me: "Up until the team was announced I'd only played 50 minutes of rugby. Hopefully he won't be able to ignore me on the back of a real good run in for Saints."
The number of recorded violent offences in Northamptonshire has almost doubled in the past two years despite a pledge by the county’s police and crime commissioner to reduce it by 40 per cent, latest figures have shown, external.
Stuart Ratcliffe
BBC Look East
I'm on Billing Brook Road in Northampton, where a tent has been erected, external around a body found there.
The area has been cordoned off and the road closure between the A43 and North Holme Court remains in place.
People are being advised to avoid the area.
Elinor Cross
BBC Radio Northampton
The closing speeches in the trial of a Northamptondetective accused of murder are set to begin at Stafford Crown Court at 11:00.
The jury has heard two weeks of evidence relating to the death of Jill Goldsmith, who was found dead at the home she shared with her husband Adrian Goldsmith last March.
Adrian Goldsmith admits causing her fatal injuries but denies murder.
Anna Bartlett
BBC Radio Northampton
Police say they were called to the Billing Brook Road area of Northampton yesterday, following the discovery of a body.
Image source, South Beds News Agency / John O'ReillyOfficers are carrying out investigations to establish the circumstances around how the body came to be there.
The road closure between the A43 and North Holme Court remains in place. People are advised to avoid the area.
South Beds News Agency is reporting some residents in the Billing Brook Road area of Northampton, think there "may have been a shooting".
The residents also report seeing "two cars taken away on a low loader."
Image source, South Beds News Agency / John O'ReillyThe road in Northampton remains closed between the A43 and North Holme Court due to a police investigation. More on this story as we get it.
Anna Bartlett
BBC Radio Northampton
Police have told us an update on the Billing Brook Road situation is expected shortly.
The road in Northampton remains closed between the A43 and North Holme Court due to a police investigation, having been sealed off since yesterday afternoon.
Image source, South Beds News Agency / John O'ReillyWilly Gilder
BBC Northampton
The theme of this year's Holocaust Memorial Day, external is "Dont Stand By", as organisers say the Holocaust and subsequent genocides took place because local populations allowed insidious persecution to take root.
Image source, AFP / GettyPaula Boulton, a human rights activist from Corby, says she sees uncomfortable parallels in the way refugees are spoken of and treated today.
She warns we need to carefully guard against casually stereotyping large groups of people.
A new housing estate and a new highway linking Welford Road and the A43 is to be the subject of a planning application, external.
David Keller
BBC News
In 1966, two Kettering Grammar School teachers and a handful of students using radio equipment found a secret Soviet launch station in Russia, before the American military or intelligence services had released details.
Image source, Getty ImagesTo celebrate its 50th anniversary, Leicester's National Space Centre, external is launching an exhibition, telling the story of the school's Satellite Tracking Group and putting on display the equipment it used to listen to cosmonauts.
The March launch event will take place during British Science Week.
Forensics officers are investigating an incident that has closed a road in Northampton for 24 hours, external.
Billing Brook Road in Northampton is closed this morning between the A43 and North Holme Court.
The area was sealed off by police yesterday afternoon, but so far they haven't revealed why.
It's expected to remain shut this morning while officers continue their investigation.
