ANDY Thompson, 34, of Northumberland Close, St Ann's, is accused of stealing cannabis plants from a house in Scotholme Avenue, Hyson Green. Magistrates in Nottingham heard he allegedly committed the theft with two people, whose identities are not known, on March 11 this year. The case will next be heard at Nottingham Crown Court on September 27. He has been remanded in custody.

DARREN Walker, 37, of Jury's Court, Derby, has been accused of offences in Nottingham and Derby. It is alleged he was begging in Market Street, Nottingham, in August, and at the time was banned by an antisocial behaviour order. He is also said to have used threatening, abusive, insulting words or behaviour in Derby in May and to have begged in Derby when prohibited by the Asbo on the same date. He is on conditional bail to return to court on September 27.

ADAM Cassidy, 31, of Crammond Close, The Meadows, denies receiving stolen goods. He faces a trial at Nottingham Crown Court after it is alleged that he received a stolen satellite navigation system in North Road, West Bridgford, between April 25 and May 1 this year. His case will next be heard at the crown court on October 5. He is on unconditional bail.

MATTHEW Rhone, 21, of Swildon Walk, Top Valley, will have his case heard at Nottingham Crown Court on October 5. He is accused of stealing jewellery, cash and a Nintendo DS games console from a house in Cairngorm Drive, Rise Park, in June. He is on conditional bail.

JOSEPH Newman, 35, of Woodfield Road, Broxtowe Estate, pleaded guilty to assaulting a woman. He entered his plea at Nottingham Magistrates' Court. The assault happened at Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre on July 15 this year. A pre-sentence report is being prepared and he will be sentenced on October 10. He is on conditional bail.

JAMIE Cragg, 32, of Williams Drive, Calverton, has been accused of causing grievous bodily harm to a male in Beeston on September 6.

He is further charged with stealing a safe containing cash and three gents' watches worth £3,000 from an address in Derby Road, Beeston, on September 6. His case has been sent to Nottingham Crown Court to be heard on September 27. He has been remanded in custody.

IAN Smurthwaite, 24, of Brentnall Court, Kirk Close, Beeston, received a conditional discharge for 12 months when he appeared before magistrates in Nottingham. He pleaded guilty to assaulting a female by beating her in Beeston on May 26 this year. He will pay court costs of £100. No order was made for compensation.

BILLY Watt, 26, of Cyprus Avenue, Beeston, was fined £50 for assaulting a male in Beeston on May 27 this year. Magistrates in Nottingham sentenced him after he pleaded guilty to the charge. As well as the fine, he must pay a victim surcharge of £15. No compensation order was made.

PHILLIP Henshaw, 42, of Lime Tree Court, Beeston, denies two charges of assault on the same female. The offences allegedly happened in Lenton Abbey on August 8 and July 11 this year. Magistrates in Nottingham have granted him conditional bail to return to court on November 21 for his trial.

AMY Newton 28, and husband Michael, 30, began trying for a baby in 2010 about a year after they got married.

But things did not go to plan and Amy suffered five miscarriages in the space of a year.

Last November Amy discovered she was pregnant again but, just days later, was hit with news which she feared could rule out her chances of becoming a mum altogether.

She said: "I'd just had a smear in November last year, and three days later I found out I was pregnant again.

"But then the smear results came back and said there was a significant change in my cells, and that I needed to go for a colposcopy which is an internal exam.

"I just thought 'now I'm not going to be able to keep this baby, either'. I was eight weeks pregnant by this stage and I was scared.

"Then we got the worst news after the examination, which was that I had cervical cancer.

"I was nine weeks pregnant. Initially I was told I had to terminate the pregnancy and treat my cancer. We had got so far this time and now we were losing our chance again. It was devastating."

But Mrs Newton's consultant at the City Hospital offered hope.

She added: "A week after I found out about the cancer we had another appointment with our consultant who told us he thought he could operate on me while I was pregnant."

In a first for Nottingham's hospitals, Mrs Newton was operated on when she was 13 weeks pregnant, in January this year. Her consultant told her that he had never carried out the operation on a pregnant woman and that he had only heard of it happening to two other women in the UK.

She spent a week in hospital. where she was monitored very closely. She added: "I left the hospital with the hope that my baby would survive and knowing how rare the operation was. I was told all the cancer had been removed and it hadn't affected the baby. But the doctors had removed a lot of my cervix so there was a very real chance that my body might not be able to support the baby."

Mrs Newton said the following months were the most nerve-wracking of her life.

She said: "We never let ourselves believe that our baby would survive, until she was born on July 18. We called her Ruby.

"She is our little miracle, an absolute miracle and we think our consultant is an absolute god.

"The pregnancy was the most stressful time of both our lives but I feel so very lucky to have my daughter now. She's perfect. We're so lucky."

Mr Jafaru Abu, consultant gynaecological oncologist at the City Hospital, carried out the operation on Mrs Newton. He said it was an extremely difficult procedure.

Mr Abu said: "Essentially Amy's case was very unique. I put the options to her initially which were to carry out a radical hysterectomy, removing the whole uterus and the neck of the womb, terminating the pregnancy too.

"But then I went away and did a review of similar cases and found the operation had been performed on a pregnant woman twice before without terminating the pregnancy, once in Liverpool.

"I told Amy there would be a 50/50 chance that the baby would live. She decided to take the risk. I removed the neck of the womb and used keyhole surgery to remove the lymph gland in the pelvis. It was very challenging and nerve-wracking but went smoothly."

He added: "When I tell my colleagues about the operation they are all amazed. But now I've done it once, I think I would do it again."

Mrs Newton said that after going through what she had she wanted to encourage as many young women as possible to go for smear tests.

"I want to tell all young women to go and have a smear. If I hadn't had them, I wouldn't have known about my cancer and I wouldn't have Ruby. For a two-minute smear, it is all worth it, because often cervical cancer has no symptoms. It is very important that young women get smear tests – very, very important."

A MAN forced to work as a "serf" for a traveller family stayed with them for 18 years because he had nowhere else to go, a court heard yesterday.

Alexander Gourlay, 54, said that, had he stopped working for the Connors family, he would have ended up sleeping on a park bench or staying at a homeless shelter.

He told Bristol Crown Court that he had been picked up from a shelter in the city and worked long hours for the family, resurfacing drives or laying paving slabs, for as little as £10 a day.

William Connors, 52, wife Mary, 48, their sons John, 29, and James, 20, and their son-in-law Miles Connors, 23, deny charges of conspiracy to hold another person in servitude and conspiracy to require a person to carry out forced or compulsory labour.

The Connors are accused of treating vulnerable men – often homeless drifters or addicts – as cheap labour, keeping them in filthy caravans or sheds and dishing out regular beatings.

They were arrested after police raided traveller sites, including one in Pleasley, near Mansfield, last year. Officers also raided sites in Leicestershire and Gloucestershire.

During a second day of video-link evidence, Mr Gourlay said William Connors, known as Billy, would have gone to find him if he had left, so he "stuck it out".

"I wanted to leave but I had no place to stay," he said.

On Thursday, Mr Gourlay told the court that he was forced to live in caravans in Leicestershire or packed into sheds with other men. He said he was attacked if he did anything wrong and witnessed other members of the "serf" workforce being assaulted by the "bosses".

But yesterday he said that at times he felt like one of the Connors' family, having been given a birthday cake on one occasion and bought a TV by William Connors.

THERE was a time when Royalty graced Kenilworth Castle.

Go back more than 400 years and you may have seen Queen Elizabeth I at the Warwickshire landmark.

Fast forward four centuries and Ti Colluney, of Beeston Rylands, also experienced life as a monarch – thanks to a competition on Facebook.

Ti, 43, entered the contest run by English Heritage which asked people to say why they deserved to be monarchs for the day.

She said: "My daughter Victoria has severe dyslexia but has managed to find ways of dealing with that and be top of her class in English, maths and science.

"She has always wanted to be a Princess at a castle and this seemed to be the perfect competition to enter."

Ti said she was delighted when she found out she had won. "I was excited, especially for Victoria," she added. "She jumped up and down celebrating."

Ti, daughter Victoria, 14, and husband Sean, 47, went to the castle and were given a tour before donning their robes.

Ti wore a green and gold robe, Victoria a dark red and gold robe and a purple velvet cloak with fur trimmings. All wore crowns.

The family were taken to their thrones and watched combat events and were invited to present the prizes to the winners of the Knights Tournament, a competition at English Heritage sites around the country.

Ti added: "It was a lot of fun for us all. It was a very memorable day. It felt great being in those costumes. People were taking lots of photos of us.

"Everyone was so friendly and we really enjoyed having a VIP tour of the castle. And the costumes were awesome, but we did need some help figuring out how to get one or two items on."

The family were also given a year's freedom of the castle, meaning they can go back whenever they want.

"We will certainly be going back for a picnic," added Ti.

The castle was the home of Robert Dudley, the great love of Queen Elizabeth I. Dudley created an ornate palace to impress his Queen in 1575.

"It has been quite a long time since a member of the royal family watched over a medieval tournament at Kenilworth Castle, but the Colluney family filled the role fantastically, and played along with the roles brilliantly throughout the day," said the castle's property manager Holly Woodward.

THE family of a police officer seriously injured when he was hit by a car have backed a force road safety campaign.

Police are inviting cyclists to attend "cycle safety hubs" in the city to claim free high-visibility Think Bike packs.

Safety advice and more than 1,000 packs will be offered to cyclists on commuter routes, starting next week.

PC Diederik Coetzee was cycling towards Blidworth when he was struck by a car last November.

He continues to receive intensive rehabilitation treatment, and is making slow but steady progress.

In a statement on behalf of his family, his daughters Lauren and Rachel said: "Road safety has always been drilled into us by our father.

"Some of our earliest memories are of dad going out on his bike, training for many different sporting events.

"Mum was always concerned for his safety on the road, but dad would remind us all, time and time again, how important it was to be as visible as possible to other road users.

"This is something we have never forgotten.

"Cyclists need to be aware of safety precautions, such as wearing high-visibility clothing and a helmet and using lights, especially as the dark British evenings approach.

"But it's not only up to cyclists to make sure they are visible. It's down to all road users to be aware of each other.

"While it was the actions of another road user that caused dad's collision, the fact that he was wearing a helmet very well saved his life that night.

"We will always be grateful for the diligence he showed toward road safety."

PC Coetzee is well known in the area and attracted national publicity in 2006 when he arrested 404 people – a new record for the highest number of arrests in a year.

His performance during his 12-year career at Notts Police saw him singled out for praise by Hazel Blears during her time as Minister for Policing.

The statement added: "Before this happened, we were oblivious to just how devastating head injuries can be. But we can certainly say it has turned the dynamics of our family upside down.

"Seeing the changes in our father – from being a man who used to take part in Iron Man events and who achieved a record amount of arrests in England to a man who needs 24-hour supervision and specialist rehabilitation – has been extremely difficult.

"There isn't a day that passes when we don't wonder what life would be like if he had never been hit by that car and suffered a severe brain injury.

"This type of thing doesn't just affect the victim, it affects their whole family.

"It has certainly changed our lives completely."

The free cycle packs – which include a high-visibility rucksack and jacket, a multi-tool, bike lock and lights – will be available to cyclists at the following locations:

Tuesday – 7.30am to 9am at the junction of Derby Road and Lenton Boulevard.

Wednesday – 7.30am to 9am at Dunkirk Island.

Wednesday, October 3 – 7.30am to 9am at the Riverside Way Toll Bridge.

Thursday, October 4 – 7.30am to 9am in Queen's Bridge Road, opposite Nottingham Train Station.

NOTTS County players will be given a pep talk of a different kind before they face Portsmouth today.

Nottingham's Paralympic hero Richard Whitehead is the club's guest of honour for the League One game at Meadow Lane.

And Magpies' boss Keith Curle has invited him to talk to his players in the home dressing-room before kick-off.

Lowdham-born Whitehead, who was born without lower legs, stormed to a gold medal in the T42 200m at the Paralympics Games in London, in a world record time.

He is now the world, European and Paralympic champion at T42 200m and Curle believes he could inspire his players, having overcome so many barriers in his life.

"From what I know of him he is a very inspirational character and I know he's used to speaking to groups of people as well," he said.

"I think he will bring a motivational atmosphere in the changing room before we go out."

Notts will be missing suspended midfielder Andre Boucaud against Pompey, after their appeal against his red card was rejected by the FA.

Curle is unhappy his three-game ban has not been overturned – and is so convinced Boucaud should not have been sent off at Oldham that he has not been fined by the club.

"It's not satisfactory at all in my own mind, but as a club we will accept the decision that has been made, take our punishment and move on quickly," he said.

"We put a good argument forward for wrongful dismissal, but it got rejected so we will move on."

The Magpies are aiming for a fifth league win of the season against Portsmouth, who are 19th in the table and in a financial mess.

"It's can't be easy for them so it's testament to their players that they are going out and competing in every game that they play," added Curle.

"They have had some indifferent results, but they have had some very good performances as well.

"What you find sometimes is that through adversity comes unity. They have got a small squad, but they have got some quality players there."

A HEAD teacher hopes travellers will leave his school site this weekend.

Ian Brierly, of Chilwell School, is hoping a court order will force the travellers out.

Around ten caravans and some cars have been parked on a grassy area at the entrance to the school drive since Wednesday evening.

It is believed they removed some small posts to gain access.

Extra staff have been deployed at the start and end of the day, and break times, to make sure students don't get involved in confrontations. Police have also visited several times to make sure there is no trouble.

One of the travellers told the Post they were planning to move soon – but the school is taking no chances.

Mr Brierly said the school's solicitor gave the group a notice to leave the site yesterday morning.

If they were still there on Monday, he said he would speak to the county council to seek a court order.

Mr Brierly added: "Our solicitor has been down there with police to serve warning. He got some verbal abuse. As a foundation school we have our own legal team. But for the purposes of speed, we have been in touch with Notts County Council and will be going to court on Monday to force them to move on."

Mr Brierly said he was notified by the school business manager, who lives close to the site, about the arrival of caravans after school on Wednesday.

They are parked around 150 yards from the main school building.

Mr Brierly said there had been no trouble involving students

But he believes that removing the caravans will cost the school thousands of pounds.

He added: "They are a bit of a distance from the actual school. But it is school property nonetheless.

"We have got take account of the fact they may have dogs on the loose.

"We have been in touch with our parents to let them know about this. They have been superb.

"We are monitoring the situation to see what happens."

A police spokesman confirmed they had received reports about the travellers. She said the force was monitoring the situation, with officers regularly visiting the site.

She said: "We are there to make sure there is no public order offence or crime happening."

Foundation schools have the option to buy into local authority services, including legal help. Chilwell School doesn't do so, but can still call on the council for help.

A council spokesman said the authority was aware of the issue.

Yesterday, the travellers had a small fire going on the site.

One of the travellers told the Post they would soon be moving on.

He said: "We won't be staying around long. It is too much hassle for us."

A WOMAN who suffered five miscarriages in a year and was then diagnosed with cervical cancer while pregnant has given birth to a "miracle" baby.

Amy Newton, 28, was originally told she would need radical surgery which would end her chances of becoming a mum forever.

But her consultant at the City Hospital decided to try a pioneering form of surgery, only ever used on a handful of pregnant women in the UK.

She is now free of the disease and has a healthy baby daughter, Ruby, who is two months old.

Mrs Newton said: "She is our little miracle, an absolute miracle and we think our consultant is an absolute God. The pregnancy was the most stressful time of both our lives but I feel so very lucky to have my daughter now. She's perfect. We're so lucky.

"Initially, I was told I had to terminate the pregnancy and treat my cancer.

"We had got so far this time and now we were losing our chance again. It was devastating."

Jafaru Abu, consultant gynaecological oncologist at the City Hospital, carried out the operation.

Mr Abu said: "I told Amy there would be a 50/50 chance that the baby would live. She decided to take the risk.

"I removed the neck of the womb and used keyhole surgery to remove the lymph gland in the pelvis. It was very challenging and nerve-wracking, but went smoothly."

He added: "When I tell my colleagues about the operation they are all amazed.

"But now I've done it once, I think I would do it again."

Mrs Newton found out about the cancer after going for a smear test. Now she is urging all women to make sure they go for tests when they are called.

"I want as many young woman as possible to go for smear tests, because I believe having the test saved my daughter's life.

"It is very important that young women get smear tests – very very important.

"For a two-minute smear, it is all worth it, because often cervical cancer has no symptoms."

FISH in the Erewash Canal have been stunned with electricity to rescue them from water polluted by a major fire at the Stanton Works site.

In the wake of the blaze in Lows Lane, Stanton-by-Dale, which has been burning since Saturday, stretches of the Erewash Canal still have low oxygen levels and dead fish were spotted in the water.

To prevent more fish from dying, the Environment Agency performed a "fish rescue" yesterday.

A spokesman for the agency said: "We used hydrogen peroxide to increase the oxygen levels in large parts of the Erewash Canal.

"This resulted in an increase in our oxygen readings in selected parts of the canal, with levels varying between 70 to 100 per cent, though some parts have oxygen just above three per cent.

"A number of dead fish were observed and our teams are continuing to use hydrogen peroxide to increase the oxygen, which is improving the situation."

The Canal and Rivers Trust has closed the Erewash Canal at the Trent Navigation to prevent any potential discharge into the River Trent.

The spokesman added: "Yesterday, we were looking to save the fish in the canal by carrying out a fish rescue.

"Our teams moved the fish by electro-fishing to a location where oxygen levels were normal.

"We will continue with the oxyjets until the fish are all moved or oxygen levels return to normal."

Electro-fishing is a rescue operation using electric fishing equipment to lightly stun the fish, which can then be caught in a hand net and put into a tank of water with oxygen before being moved to a new location.

Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service is now scaling down its operation to put the fire out.

Firefighters have been at the scene since Saturday, with up to eight fire engines and more than 60 firefighters in attendance at the height of the fire on Saturday evening.

Area manager Bryan Bennett told the Post: "We have reached a point with the incident on Lows Lane where we are happy to scale down our operations."

"Fire crews have worked extremely hard in arduous conditions to bring this large and complex fire under control.

"Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service will remain in attendance for the next few days to assist partners in bringing a safe conclusion to the overall incident."

The service said it was still reminding people to "take care" if they were affected by the smoke.

ALAN Judge was the star for Notts County today as they beat Portsmouth 3-0 in League One at Meadow Lane.

The Magpies' midfielder scored a stunning goal and made two more for striker Yoann Arquin.

Summer-signing Arquin scored his first goal at Meadow Lane after just five minutes to put Notts 1-0 ahead.

Judge doubled their lead just two minutes into the second half and Arquin completed the rout on 57 minutes.

The Magpies made just one change from their 1-1 draw at MK Dons, with Jeff Hughes replacing Jamal Campbell-Ryce on the right wing.

Left-back Alan Sheehan was still sidelined with a hamstring injury so Carl Regan again deputised for the Irishman, joining Julian Kelly, Dean Leacock and Gary Liddle in defence, in front of goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski.

With Andre Boucaud banned, Joss Labadie partnered captain Neal Bishop in central midfield.

Francois Zoko started on the left wing and Judge was given an attacking role just behind lone striker Arquin.

Former Notts players Jon Harley and Luke Rodgers notably started for Pompey.

The Magpies made a super start and took a 1-0 lead after just five minutes.

Judge swung a corner into the Portsmouth penalty area and Arquin beat goalkeeper Mikkel Andersen from close range in front of the Kop.

Notts threatened again on 12 minutes.

Judge squared a free-kick across the edge of the box to Labadie and he drove the ball powerfully at goal, but defender Lubomir Michalik made a good block.

Judge then forced Andersen to punch clear under pressure on the edge of his six-yard box with a free-kick on 14 minutes and just three minutes later he curled a shot just over the bar from 20 yards.

Notts continued their onslaught on the Pompey goal and Judge created another chance on 19 minutes by measuring a pass magnificently over the visitors' defence for Jeff Hughes, who stretched to prod the ball at goal from eight yards, but straight at Andersen.

Portsmouth threatened for the first time on 22 minutes and it took good blocks by Kelly and then Liddle to deny Izale McLeod and Rodgers inside the penalty area.

Arquin then almost scored a second goal on 25 minutes from another Judge corner.

This time he met it with a header inside the six-yard box, but it hit a defender and the ball was deflected wide.

Undeterred, Notts went close again on 25 minutes.

Judge was again involved, typically, curling a cross into the box from the left that Zoko missed with his head and went just wide of the far post.

Judge was looking unstoppable and he forced Andersen into a good save on 33 minutes at the end of a superb attack.

The Magpies carved Portsmouth open with some lovely one-touch passing and Judge raced into the box and drove a low shot at goal, but Andersen blocked it with his legs.

Having dominated the first half, Notts survived a scare almost on the stroke of half-time.

Pompey captain Brian Howard strode forward unchallenged and hit a low shot narrowly wide of Bialkowski's left-hand post.

Notts introduced Campbell-Ryce for Bishop at the start of the second half, but it did not affect them and Judge scored a stunning goal to make it 2-0 on 47 minutes.

Arquin beat two players and passed to him 30 yards out and the rest was sublime as he smashed a shot at goal that flew past Andersen and inside his left-hand post.

Leading 2-0, the Magpies and Judge were in the mood for more and he made a third goal for Arquin on 57 minutes, pickpocketing Howard inside the Pompey box and passing to the French striker, who controlled the ball and then drove it low past Andersen.

Labadie then sent a powerful effort just wide on 63 minutes and Zoko hit a shot over the bar from 20 yards on 75 minutes, before Judge came off to a standing ovation on 82 minutes – and deservedly so too.

NOTTS: Bialkowski, Kelly, Leacock, Liddle, Regan (Wholey, 62), Bishop (Campbell-Ryce, 46), Labadie, J Hughes, Zoko, Judge (Bencherif, 82), Arquin. Subs: Spiess, Mahon, L Hughes, Showunmi.

PORTSMOUTH: Andersen, Dumbuya, Michalik, Gypes, Harley, Williamson, Russell, Howard, Compton (Walker, 82), Rodgers (Obita, 77), McLeod (Harris, 58). Subs: Eastwood, Thompson, Ertl, Webster.

ATTENDANCE: 6,834 (816 away).

NOTTINGHAM Forest suffered their first defeat of the season in the Championship, after producing their worst 45 minutes of football under Sean O'Driscoll.

The Reds found themselves 2-0 down after being completely outclassed in a one-sided first half that saw Luciano Becchio and Dominic Poleon give the home side a deserved lead.

Forest were much improved after the break after O'Driscoll made a double-change during the interval – and largely dominated the second half.

But, while Dexter Blackstock pulled back a goal in the 60th minute, the Reds could not make the breakthrough for a second time, despite piling on the pressure.

Substitute Lewis McGugan came closest to breaking Leeds' resolve, firing one free kick narrowly wide of the post and seeing another effort superbly saved by Paddy Kenny as Leeds held out for a narrow victory.

Forest made three changes to their side, with manager O'Driscoll also opting for a change in formation. This time it was an orthodox 4-4-2, with James Coppinger handed his full debut to play as one of two wingers, with Andy Reid operating on the left flank.

Along with Coppinger, Guy Moussi and Dexter Blackstock were also brought into the starting line-up. Sam Hutchinson missed out with a knee injury, while Lewis McGugan and Billy Sharp dropped to the bench.

Adlene Guedioura sat out the first of his three match ban. But Chris Cohen and Henri Lansbury were both included on a very attack-minded bench.

Simon Gillett had an early shot charged down as Forest prodded and probed at the Leeds defence early on.

But it was Simon Cox who enjoyed the first genuine opening of the game, after Coppinger had cut the ball back cleverly into the striker's path, as he made a late run into the box. But the experienced figure of Paddy Kenny was well placed to make a solid save, crucially holding on to Cox's driven shot as Blackstock waited to pounce on any spillage.

Leeds responded by coming close to breaking the deadlock from a corner, with Tom Lees powering a header narrowly the wrong side of the post.

It was Forest who were looking the more lively of the two sides however, with Cox's driving run forcing a corner at the other end and Reid delivering a ball to the far post where the ball ended up in the back of the net as Danny Collins and Lee Peltier challenged in the air – although referee Andy D'Urso spotted a foul.

But it was the home side who were to take the lead as El-Hadji Diouf managed to elude the attentions of Harding, before delivering a teasing ball from the right. Forest failed to properly clear the ball at the far post and it dropped perfectly for Becchio, who drove a powerful, rising shot high into the back of the net from ten yards.

Now it was Leeds who were in the ascendancy, as their confidence grew. And, in the 25th minute, United were to double their advantage following some less than impressive defending.

Ayala seemed to have a yard on Becchio as the duo chased a ball down the centre of defence, but the Forest man made a hash of his attempted clearance, allowing the striker to get in a shot that, although charged down, broke perfectly for the overlapping Poleon, who drove an emphatic finish beyond Camp at the near post.

Ayala almost made amends with a fine ball for Cox to chase at the other end, with Jason Peace forced into a clumsy challenge on the edge of the box, earning the defender a booking.  But, after much fuss about lining up the free kick, Reid's curling effort was sent curling high over the target.

Coppinger fired a shot across goal and just wide as half time approached, but there was no question that O'Driscoll was going to have to find some inspiring words at the interval, following the worst 45 minutes of his tenure so far.

Leeds could have gone into the break with an even bigger advantage, with Forest looking vulnerable at the back, particularly from set pieces – with Sam Byram sending a decent headed opportunity over from a free kick -  and lacking cohesion going forward.

Becchio wasted an even better opportunity after Harding had been beaten by Byram down the Leeds right, before squaring a simple ball for the striker in the centre, where he fired wildly over with only Camp to beat at the near post.

O'Driscoll was proactive, making two changes, with Lansbury and McGugan introduced in place of Moussi and Reid, with the Reds reverting back to their more familiar 4-1-3-2 formation.

Coppinger had a chance to pull one back within a minute of the restart, but could not connect properly with a shot on the right side of the box as he was put under heavy pressure by Adam Drury.

While McGugan let fly with a trademark long range shot that hit Pearce, taking the sting out of it and allowing Kenny to make a simple save.

Forest already looked to possess more attacking threat, with Blackstock winning a free-kick 30-yards out following a driving attack from the visitors – although McGugan's driven shot cannoned back off the defensive wall.

O'Driscoll's side have already built a reputation for flowing football this season. But, when they did claw a goal back, it was from a rather more direct route. Halford won a throw on the right and then flung a huge throw-in almost to the far post, where Blackstock headed beyond the advancing Kenny.

It gave Forest 30 minutes to conjure up an equaliser. But Leeds managed to waste three of those minutes by making two substitutions, which the wily Neil Warnock ensured took an age to complete.

Still it was the visitors who had the momentum, with Coppinger seeing a shot cleared off the line by Kenny, as the Leeds goal was put under a barrage of pressure.

 Camp had to demonstrate his agility to get across goal and pounce on a firm header from Rodolph Austin.

But Cox conjured up a shooting chance for Blackstock, who saw his effort blocked and, ten seconds later, McGugan bent a shot towards the far post that Kenny saved superbly, pushing the ball around the post at full stretch.

McGugan then came within a whisker of an equaliser with a spectacular free kick that Kenny could only watch as it fizzed beyond his right hand upright, as Forest continued to control the game.

Lees was then booked for bringing down McGugan after he executed an outstanding turn, giving the Forest man to drive another shot into the box. And, when he did, the Forest players were all appealing angrily for a handball.

While Halford had a close range effort blocked, amid a melee of players, as Leeds desperately hung on.

Given that the home side had started wasting time 15 minutes into the second half, it was no shock when the fourth official indicated that at least six minutes of injury time would be played.

But Leeds managed to hold out until the final whistle to condemn Forest to their first league defeat of the campaign.

Leeds: Kenny, Peltier (Varney 68), Drury, Lees, Pearce, Austin, Becchio (Gray 90), Tonge, Diouf, Byram, Poleon (White 66). Subs: Ashdown, Kisnorbo, Brown, Payne.

Forest: Camp, Halford, Ayala, Collins, Harding, Coppinger (Sharp 83), Moussi (McGugan 45), Gillett, Reid (Lansbury 45), Cox, Blackstock. Subs: Evtimov, Cohen, Moloney, Majewski.

Referee: Andy D'Urso.

Nottingham Forest's unbeaten start to the season was halted by Leeds who won 2-1 at Elland Road on an afternoon when the home fans were given a nod towards a possibly brighter future.

After almost seven years of supporter unrest about his involvement with their club, United's supporters were told by veteran owner Ken Bates that talks over investment from four present Bahraini businessman are at an advanced stage, prior to a 90 minutes that saw their side score through Luciano Becchio and starting debutant Dom Poleon.

The success not only ended a two-game losing run for Leeds, but allowed manager Neil Warnock to avenge the 7-3 defeat at the hands of the same opposition in March that he described as one of the worst nights of his career.

He promised to return this year campaign with a side worthy of promotion and, should Bates stay true to his word, then he may well have new money with which to pursue that ambition.

Forest are a side already feasting on the wealth of Gulf owners and a lavish summer spending spree was one of the key reasons behind their previously unbeaten start. Their riches could not spare them, though, as two failures to clear their box gave them a deficit that they could not surmount despite Dexter Blackstock's goal and a late onslaught.

With a thin squad - further depleted by the expected three-month absence of Ross McCormack - at his disposal, Warnock had hardly done his bit to raise pre-match expectations by saying he might as well go fishing as try and sign a new player.

He was true to his word with no fresh faces lining up, but with the ground seemingly energised by the pre-match activity, Leeds set about getting on top of Forest early on, with Rodolph Austin sending in a 25-yard tester in the second minute.

Forest responded through Simon Cox, with the striker working Paddy Kenny at his near post, before Tom Lees headed a pinpoint El Hadji Diouf corner wide at the other end.

Diouf was the man Warnock turned to in the summer when captain and playmaker Robert Snodgrass left for Norwich and the Senegal international has not disappointed his manager so far with a string of impressive performances.

He added to that in the 15th minute when he laid on the opening goal, cutting in and standing up a cross that hung in the air and eventually fell for Becchio who duly made it seven for the season.

Diouf was causing Forest all sorts of problems as he flipped between playing up front and on the wing but, for all of his poise on the ball, he has never been renowned as a lethal finisher and so it proved in the 23rd minute.

The former Liverpool man broke in to the box on the back of a Poleon lay-off but could only roll in a shot that was blocked easily, although it mattered little two minutes later as the roles were reversed.

Diouf pulled a long clearance out of the sky and immediately threaded a ball through that put Becchio in on goal and, although the Argentinean dallied too long, Poleon was on hand to ram in from 12 yards.

Forest's response was muted with an Andy Reid free-kick and a James Coppinger long-ranger the best they could muster, and the would have been three down at the break had Becchio not blazed over from six yards.

That miss would cause Leeds' anxiety levels to rise after the break too for, with an hour gone, Greg Halford launched a long throw which Kenny lost in the sun, allowing Blackstock to head in.

Forest had discovered Leeds' Achilles heel - the long throw - and Halford quickly deployed it again, with Kenny this time scrambling to tip over, and the goalkeeper redeemed himself further with a sprawling denial of Lewis McGugan's 75th-minute curler.

They would continue to pepper the Leeds box with crosses but, as time ticked on, including six additional minutes, their resolve weakened and United held on.

Notts County maintained their strong start to the season with a clinical 3-0 victory over struggling Portsmouth at Meadow lane.

The home side took the lead in just the fifth minute when a corner by Alan Judge was turned into the net by Johann Arquin in the six-yard box with the Pompey defence static.

County nearly doubled their lead after 32 minutes when a terrific exchange of passes in midfield put Judge through on the right and his shot was saved by the legs of Mikkel Andersen.

County did make it 2-0 after 47 minutes when the ball fell to Judge 30 yards out after good work by Arquin and he planted a superb right-footed drive into the corner past Andersen's despairing dive.

That man Judge was involved again as County went 3-0 ahead after 57 minutes, playing in Arquin who slipped it past Andersen with ease to seal the victory.

Telford and Mansfield drew 2-2 despite the home side playing the entire second half with 10 men.

Liam Chilvers was sent off after 38 minutes but the Stags were unable to find a second half winner.

Mansfield went ahead in the 12th minute through Lee Beevers' curled effort into the far corner.

The lead lasted just three minutes as Ryan Tafazolli turned the ball into his own net from James Spray's dangerous cross.

And 11 minutes before half-time Telford took the lead. Kieron St Aime's pass found Richard Davies in space in the penalty area and the midfielder fired an effort low into the bottom corner.

But five minutes later Mansfield were back on level terms and had a numerical advantage. Chilvers was dismissed for bringing down Jake Speight in the area and the striker dusted himself down to equalise from the spot.

But the 10 men defended well in the second period as the game finished all square.

SEAN O'Driscoll today said the end of Nottingham Forest's unbeaten run could be blamed on an inconsistent performance from his side – and from referee Andy D'Urso.

After a bright first ten minutes, Forest suffered a nightmare first half, as Leeds powered into a deserved 2-0 lead through goals from Luciano Becchio and Dominic Poleon.

A dramatically improved Forest clawed a goal back through Dexter Blackstock in the second period – and looked as though they would again fight their way back for a point.

After the final whistle, O'Driscoll admitted his side could have been far better. But he was also critical of the referee's performance.

O'Driscoll felt Forest had what would have been an equalising goal ruled out in that first period – when Blackstock was harshly punished for a push - and Jason Pearce escaped a second yellow card after the break despite hauling down Simon Cox on the edge of the box.

"The equalising goal in the first half… we can't see what is wrong with it," said O'Driscoll.  "I am quite consistent when I look at things again on video, most of the time you can say to yourself 'I can see why he has made that decision'.

"But with that one, I cannot see it. But that is the Championship. There were a lot of incidents that had both benches complaining. It will be an interesting one to look back on.

"I would like to look at things again and see why things might have been given from the referee's perspective.

"Sometimes you go into games and you see that the referee is going to be one of those that gives lots of fouls and you just accept it. You work with that.

"This time around, one minute something was a foul and the next minute it wasn't. Then some things were not given because 'they were both at it'.

"I asked the fourth official why he had not been given a second yellow card. You don't want to see players sent off, but Simon turned him on the edge of the box.

"The fourth official said that they were 'both at it'. I don't understand how that can be an explanation."

O'Driscoll admitted his side had been poor in the first period, saying: "We started really well, we moved the ball and looked as though we might score any minute.

"We had a great chance when James Coppinger went through down the right and cut it back (for Simon Cox).  But then, for some reason, we lost our way. Diouf caused us problems dropping off deep and we didn't really sort that out until half time.

"We employed Simon Gillett to patrol that space in front of the back four in the second half. That got us back on track and we looked as though we could go on and win the game.

"But when your starting point for that is being 2-0 down, it is not ideal."

A MAN has been arrested following the death of a woman in Somercotes on Saturday.

Derbyshire Police said the emergency services were called to Burke Drive just before 4pm yesterday and found the 30-year-old woman dead in a house.

A force spokeswoman said a 22-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the incident.

The woman has not been formally identified but her relatives have been informed. 

A post mortem examination is expected to be carried out on Sunday to determine the cause of her death.

A police incident room has been set up at Ripley and anyone who has any information that may help the police investigation is asked to contact Derbyshire Police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.