Good morning, these are the latest ECHO headlines today.
Paedophile blames sick chats on his dad's terminal cancer
A paedophile blamed sick online chats with a '13-year-old girl' on the stress of his dad dying from cancer.
Alex McDonald sent disgusting videos and sexually explicit photos to a person he thought was a child.
But the 19-year-old - who encouraged her to perform sex acts - was talking to an undercover police officer.
READ MORE: Cocaine dealer hid gun under pregnant girlfriend's mattress
McDonald now claims he doesn't remember the chats and denies having any sexual interest in children.
Liverpool Crown Court heard officers set up the fake profile of a girl called "Amber" on Kik Messenger.
Amber received a message from McDonald on February 9 last year.
Read the full story here.
Dad 'terrified' as he watches Range Rover ram house over and over
A terrified dad said he was speechless as he watched a Range Rover ram into a house after it was pelted with bricks.
The neighbour, who asked not to be named, said he heard "shouting" on Glamis Road, Tuebrook, at around 5.30pm on Wednesday evening.
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Expecting his wife, he went to look out of his window. but was shocked when he saw two men in the street throwing bricks at a Range Rover.
READ MORE: Former headteacher downloaded images of little girls being abused
He said he started recording in case anything happened to his wife who was due home, or his own property.
The footage caught by the terrified neighbour showed one man on all fours on the car's bonnet as two men walked towards the car holding bricks.
The man then jumped off the bonnet before the men threw bricks at the windscreen.
Read the full story here.
Covid impact could impact new Merseyrail trains rollout
The cash hit faced by Merseytravel as a result of Covid-19 could impact plans for the rollout of new trains.
Additional costs to the transport body are being felt as a result of the pandemic as uncertainty around recovering passenger numbers increases.
Subsequently, leaders may be forced to go back to the drawing board on how the new rolling stock, unveiled to much fanfare by Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram last year, is finally put onto the wider network.
READ MORE: Enormous Royal Navy ship docks at Liverpool's Cruise Terminal
A financial performance report to Liverpool City Region Combined Authority ’s transport committee has explained how progress on the new rolling stock has been “has been negatively impacted by Covid-19 with delivery being delayed, which has placed upwards pressure on the overall costs of the project.”
It added that the project’s business case was built around higher passenger revenues, however the pandemic has caused uncertainty around the recovery of traveller numbers on the network.
The report said: “To the extent that the original business case assumptions are unachievable there will be additional costs to Merseytravel stemming from the project over the medium term that are currently outside the budget.”
Read the full story here.
