26/08/2011 BBC Channel Islands News

Good evening and welcome to BBC News in the Channel Islands.

Tonight's top stories: Charged with six murders - Damian

Rzeszowski appears at Jersey's Magistrates' Court.

Plus a second postmortem is held on Liga Verse, who died in suspicious

circumstances in Guernsey. And we have highlights from

Guernsey's North Show Battle of A 30-year old man has been charged

with murdering six people including his wife and two children in Jersey.

Damian Rzeszowski appeared at a special sitting of the Royal Court

this afternoon, nearly two weeks after a crime which rocked a

community. Beckie Williams reports. This was the scene on the afternoon

of Sunday, 14th August. Six people were stabbed to death here in

Victoria Crescent, a quiet residential street in St Helier.

The oldest was 56, the youngest just two. Today this man, 30-year-

old Damian Rzeszowski, was charged with their murders. In the ten-

minute hearing here at the magistrates' court, Mr Rzeszowski

didn't speak. As the charges were read out through a Polish

translator, he stood in the dock flanked by two policemen, looking

pale and with his head bowed. Mr Rzeszowski's appearance here today

comes just 48 hours after his release from hospital where he'd

received treatment following the incident. Tonight he left court in

police custody, until his next appearance on 28th October at the

Royal Court. Tomorrow will be his 31st birthday. He'll spend it in

police custody. A second postmortem has been

carried out this morning on the body of a young woman in Guernsey

whose death remains unexplained. 24-year-old Liga Verse from Latvia

was found by police in a flat in St Peter Port in suspicious

circumstances. As the community comes to terms with the shocking

discovery, a special service is to be held this weekend in memory of

Liga. Mike Wilkins reports. After the shock of Liga's death,

the uncertainty of how she died continues, and now, a week later,

the community is reflecting on a young life cut short. It must be

hard for her family to come here and see their daughter dead. I am

sure she would have gone back to Matt the one day. A special service

is being held at the town church on Sunday evening to remember Liga's

life. And the man who'll be addressing the congregation says

it'll be a good opportunity to support others in need. Events like

this do draw communities together. People feel that they want to

support other people who are in deep sadness, and particularly we

hope that at this service there will be some support for Liga's

family, as we understand it at the moment, they would like to

repatriate her body for burial in Latvia. And if that is the case,

then it will be a very expensive operation to return the body to

that fear. It's still unclear how Liga died. A 27-year-old local man

who was questioned by the police has been released on bail. But as

the investigations continue, so do the prayers. Liga may be gone but

her memory lives on. New technology in Guernsey means

drugs containing potentially lethal chemicals can be more quickly

identified. A new machine has only been in the island a month and it's

already had a find. Emma Thomas reports.

On our streets, this cocaine seized in Guernsey has a bit more than

users bargained for - a lethal compound. Drugs brought to this lab

recently were found to be laced with a substance used to worm

animals. The machine behind me picked up that the cocaine was

laced with levamisole, a toxic chemical that can affect the immune

system with potentially lethal consequences. We can actually

detect small amounts or large amounts of these impurities, and we

do check them. It's important for public health that we are aware

what's in the drugs circulating in the island. The detection has

allowed Guernsey's Health Department to send out a warning to

drug users in the island. People have died from it, particularly in

the USA. It is a drug that is potentially toxic. It can knock

your bone marrow, stop it working and that can lead to death. This

equipment will mean courts have access to even more reliable

information about the dangers drugs pose.

Jersey's former Health Minister Senator Ben Shenton has announced

he won't be running for re-election in October. Senator Shenton says

he's become increasingly frustrated with ministerial government and

what he calls overpaid Deputies who waste time and speak at length on

every subject in the States. He was first sworn in as a Senator in 2005,

and despite standing down for now, he hasn't ruled out returning to

politics in the future. It's hoped the Red Arrows will

perform at Jersey and Guernsey's air shows next month. Hawk T1

aircraft have been given clearance by the Ministry of Defence to

resume flying. They were grounded last week after a 33-year-old pilot

died following a display in Bournemouth. Organisers in both

islands say a full show will still go ahead with or without them, but

if they do perform, they will pay tribute to Flight Lieutenant Jon

Egging. You're watching the BBC in the

Channel Islands. Later in Spotlight with Justin and Natalie: A very

special first day at school is coming up for this miracle boy who

And it's Friday so time for our "free Friday" feature, when we

showcase things to do in the islands that are either free or

cost very little. Our reporter Beckie Williams went to see some

musicians warming up for an epic performance in 12 pubs across the

Just a taster of music from one local band. If you want to hear

more of this, you can. This is just one band performing in pubs across

Josie this weekend. Why did you come up with the idea? I just

finished playing a gig with Andy and I thought I would like to play

a gig in every pub in Jersey one day. I thought about the logistics

of this, getting from one pub to another would be quite a hassle, so

I decided to have 12 acts doing it and the bans could move around.

Andy suggested we would do it for a charity, so we thought help a Josie

child is a local charity. There will be but it's available but

entry will be free. This gives performers a chance for more

exposure. Chris is one of those. You have a strange instrument here.

I hope people will appreciate seeing this out and about. It is

something I bought in London, only one of 12 in existence. Rival take

it out to see what people think of it. Is it hard to play? It is very

hard to play but it is a lot of fun and catches people's attention.

if you want to see this and plenty of other performers and their

instruments, come to pubs across Josie this weekend from 11am on

Sunday. The Battle of Flowers was held

yesterday in Guernsey and the community made such an effort that

we thought we'd show you some highlights to set you up for the

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 76 seconds

Now here is a weekend weather with Good evening. We're fat some

sunshine across the Channel Islands today. Tomorrow, more of the same

but the risk of showers. It is still low pressure. We are between

weather systems this evening was stop the tail end of this line of

shares could clip was later on tonight. The low-pressure beginning

to move away from us by midday tomorrow. The weekend improves.

Through Saturday there is the risk of a sham. On Sunday, the risk is

much reduced as the area of high pressure moves across the eye lens.

Bringing the sunshine back out. It will probably last until the early

part of next week. Overnight, the risk of a few showers can most of

which will fade away overnight. A few isolated light showers by dawn.

Tomorrow, we can expect those showers perhaps more widespread and

frequent and we have seen today. But by the afternoon, they become

very isolated. The second half of the day becomes mainly dry apart

from one or two of their showers. Winds from the north-west and 17

and 18 degrees the highest The forecast all the way through,

including the start of next week, is much improved. I think on Sunday

we will have sunny spells, patchy cloud. At times quite a lot of

cloud, but we will see temperatures rise was that much Writer wins for

Monday and Tuesday. Quite a lot of cloud around but relatively dry and

There's a mouth-watering opening match for Channel Island tennis