17/08/2012 BBC News at One

The Moors murderer Ian Brady may have revealed information about the

only one of his five victims whose body has never been found.

Detectives are investigating whether Brady has written a letter

giving details of where12-year-old Keith Bennett is buried.

Police in South Africa say they were forced to open fire on

striking miners, killing 34 people to protect themselves.

Guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred - three members of

the Russian punk band, Pussy Riot, await their sentence after

performing a protest song in a Moscow cathedral.

An apology from the Government as it emerges the information given

out about selling off school playing fields was wrong.

Stalemate - the Wikileaks founder Julian Assange remains holed up in

London's Ecuadorian embassy despite being granted political asylum.

Aiming high - Great Britain's Paralympians are told they should

finish 2nd at the Games with at least 103 medals. Later on BBC

London: sentenced to life in prison - the hotel receptionist who

murdered two colleagues then hid in a bed.

And locked out of home ownership and paying rising rent - is this

Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC News at 1.00pm. Police say

they're investigating the possibility that the Moors murderer

Ian Brady has written a letter giving details of where he buried a

12-year-old boy who he and Myra Hindley killed. Keith Bennett was

abducted in 1964. He is the only one of Brady's five victims whose

body has never been found. Brady's mental health advocate was arrested

and later released. Police have removed documents from her home.

Our correspondent Judith Moritz is at Saddleworth Moor now.

Yes, Sophie, and for the best part of half a century, these moors have

held a terrible secret. They are stark, and they are vast, and

somewhere here Keith Bennett's body is buried, but nobody knows exactly

where, and the police stopped looking actively for it some years

ago. Now, though, new evidence may have come forward which would help

them to locate Keith Bennett's remains.

It's nearly 50 years since 12-year- old Keith Bennett was murdered, and

in all that time, his body has never been discovered. His remains

are hidden somewhere on Saddleworth Moor, but to the distress of his

family, they haven't been found. The one man who could locate Keith

is his killer, Ian Brady. Brady and his accomplice Myra Hindley

murdered five children in the mid- 1960s, burying them on the moors.

Keith Bennett's body is the only one of them to never have been

found, but now Ian Brady is said to have written a letter from his cell

at Ashworth Hospital on Merseyside disclosing the location of the

remains. The claim, being investigated by police, was made by

Ian Brady's mental health advocate Jackie Powell who told a

documentary team about the letter. She told me that she had received a

letter from Ian Brady together with a sealed envelope addressed to

Winnie Johnson. On the cover of that envelope, it said, "To be

opened in the event of my death." Now, she also had a letter to her

in which Brady had said he didn't want to take secrets to his grave.

Keith Bennett's mother Winnie Johnson has said many times that

her only wish is to find her son's body. She's now severely ill, and

she spoke to me at the end of last year. I mean, he got away with the

other ones. They found the others, but they didn't find Keith, and

that is the main asset to me. I want him found, and I want him

found before anything happens to me. Brady is said to have wanted the

letter to be opened after his death, something those close to Winnie

Johnson say will cause her even more upset. That really is

consistent with his total lack of remorse. The decent thing he could

do at the end of his life after such a dreadful time for everybody,

particularly Winnie Johnson, is to come clean with her now and before,

in fact, she passes on, so this is very sad, but nonetheless, I am

still optimistic this will be a breakthrough. The police have

arrested Jackie Powell, who made the claim, and they're searching

her papers to try to find the letter. Their efforts to find Keith

Bennett's body have been on hold in recent years, but if they discover

the document, it could lead them to search the moors again. There has

been some cynicism as to the existence - the mere existence of

this letter at all, or, if it does exist, some have said, what is its

motive? Why has Ian Brady written it? I can tell you we have spoken

this morning to senior police sources within Greater Manchester

Police who have told us efforts are now under way to search through

those papers described - boxes, briefcases and papers that were

seized in South Wales yesterday. The police are looking through

those. Today, well, Winnie Johnson currently is not well enough to

speak today to give her response, but I think having met her myself,

it is fair to say that her feeling is she's pinning all her hopes on

the existence of that letter, and she'll be hoping very much indeed

that the police can find it quickly, and then they can come up here on

to the moors and try to find Keith Bennett's body for themselves.

Judith, thank you very much. Our correspondent Hywel Griffith is

outside the high-security Ashworth Hospital where Ian Brady has been

for the past 25 years. What are authorities there saying?

That police search Judith mentioned extended to the hospital yesterday,

and we understand to Ian Brady's cell. As you say, he has been there

for a quarter of a century. Over the years he's corresponded with

many people. He has regular, routine, long-standing visitors,

but what the police will want to see is if there is anything in all

of his belongings that suggest this letter could exist. I think it's

fair to strike a note of caution particularly when you read into the

police statement this morning - they say they're looking at the

possibility - only the month -- possibility - such a letter exists.

At the moment there is no information to lead to the

whereabouts of the body of Keith Bennett. Ian Brady certainly has a

reputation for trying to manipulate. He tries to try attention to his

own cause. He has been on hunger strike for well over a decade. In

fact, the lady who has been arrested in South Wales has been

his mental health advocate throughout that period. She was due

to come here last month for a mental health tribunal in which

once again he was to argue that he would be allowed to go do a prison

in Scotland where he'd no longer be force fed. For the moment, the

police will concentrate on the papers and the documentation to

ensure this letter does or doesn't exist before they want to give hope

to members of the family. Our home affairs correspondent June

Kelly is with me. A confusing picture. What more can you tell us

about this mental health advocate When somebody is deranged like Ian

Brady, they have access to a mental health advocate who represents

their views to authorities. This legislation was brought in five

years ago, but Jackie Powell says she has been acting in this role

since 1999. People come into this role from a variety of backgrounds.

From what we understand she's become something of a confidant to

Brady. They'd be able to have conversations on their own, just

the two of them present. She's described as the only person Ian

Brady trusts. We haven't spoken who her directly, but we understand

from the producers of the documentary on Channel 4 that she

as well as being his mental health advocate, she's taken on another

role. She's one of the execitors of his will. Informs that role she

received this correspondence. Because she was in that role, she

felt she couldn't go to the police. I should stress we have had a

statement this morning from Ashworth Hospital, and it is saying

that Jackie Powell is not employed by them or the Independent Mental

Health Advisory Service which is provided at the hospital.

Thank you very much. In South Africa, police say 34

striking miners were shot and killed during a protest at a

platinum mine near Johannesburg. There've been clashes between rival

unions and the police during the past week in a protest that began

over demands for a pay rise. The police say they opened fire on the

large crowd of striking miners to protect themselves. Our

correspondent Milton Nkosi is at the scene in Marikana. Milton?

Sophie, in Marikana, this is the platinum mine where the trouble

began. It's the third largest platinum producer on the planet,

and the shooting took place here because of a wage dispute. The

police are still here in full force. After the shooting, the hard work

has begun. These forensic experts are combing through the scene of

yesterday's shooting. The police defended the actions, saying they

had to use force to protect themselves. The militant groups -

firing shots and wielding dangerous weapons. Police retreated

systematically and were forced to utilise maximum force to defend

themselves. A day earlier, this was the scene

of the shooting on the ground near Lonmin platinum mine. There is a

sense of shock and bewilderment at what happened here yesterday. Those

yellow, green and orange cones - each represents the spent

cartridges which were fired during yesterday's shooting.

The miners' strike began as a pay increase dispute. Some of the

workers are still demanding the pay hike from the owners of the mine,

and they are defiant. TRANSLATION: We are not going to go

back to work right now. They can beat us, kill us and kick us and

trample on was their feet, do whatever they want to do. We're not

going to go back to work, and they're not going to be able to

employ anyone. If they employ other people, they won't be able to work

either. We'll stay here and kill them. Some of those who died in the

shooting were rock drill operators working deep underground in

conditions such as these. South Africa is the largest platinum

producer in the world. President Jacob Zuma expressed shock at what

he called senseless violence. Some people here have said yesterday's

shootings were reminiscent of the dark days of apartheid.

That is indeed the story from this place, which is a place of platinum

and wealth in many people's mind, but in reality, there's a lot of

poverty here, and as we saw yesterday, a lot of violence.

Thank you very much. Three members of the Russian punk

band Pussy Riot have been found guilty of hooliganism, motivated by

religious hatred. The women have been held for the last five months

after singing a protest song in Moscow's main cathedral which was

critical of President Putin. In a moment we'll be live at the court,

but first this report from our Moscow correspondent Daniel

Sandford, which contains some flash photography.

They have been found guilty, but are still awaiting sentence. Yes,

the judgment is still being read out, but from what has been said so

far, it's clear the verdict is guilty. The judge said the three

Pussy Riot defendants violated public order, showed disrespect to

worshippers and society as a whole when they came to the cathedral and

performed their punk prayer. The three women have been in jail

since March, and their trial on hooliganism lasted almost two weeks.

The prosecution asked for a three- year prison sentence.

They were part of this protest in February in Moscow's cathedral of

Christ the Saviour. A group of women called Pussy Riot tried to

perform a song which amounted to a prayer to the Virgin Mary to rid

Russia of President Vladimir Putin. The trial in this Moscow court was

one of the most controversial in recent Russian history. The women

claim that the prosecution was political and driven by the Kremlin

and the church, and they complain that the judge constantly ruled

against the defence and refused to hear most of their witnesses.

Which accompanied the husband of one of them, himself an anti-Putin

political artist, on the only visit he's been allowed in five months.

They are feeling positive, and they keep on smiling and fighting, but

they are preparing that Putin will give them this big sentence.

Wednesday, a group of Pussy Riot supporters protested outside the

cathedral. They held up a quote from the Bible reading, "Blessed

are the merciful." But the demonstration was almost

immediately broken up by the cathedral guards.

We'll have to wait until a little later in the afternoon to hear what

the sentence may be, but certainly most of the action today has been

taking place outside the courthouse here behind me. There are

supporters of Pussy Riot who have been shouting "Freedom, freedom,"

and opponents too who have been shouting "shame on you" and holding

up placards saying, "Pussy Riot to the cells." Tell us about how the

Orthodox Church has reacted to this? The hierarchy, the leadership

of the Orthodox Church has, said very little about the case, and in

fact they have been criticised by many orthodox leaders who think

they - the church should have shown more compassion to three young

women who sang an anti-Putin song The former news editor at the

Scottish edition of the News of the World Scotland has been arrested

and charged with committing perjury during the trial of former MSP

Tommy Sheridan two years ago. 39- year-old Douglas Wight has also

been charged with conspiracy to hack telephones and conspiracy to

Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has spent another night

in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, after being granted political

asylum in Ecuador. He wants to avoid extradition to Sweden where

he is accused of sexual offences. The Government here says he will

not be allowed to travel to South America. Our correspondent is at

the embassy now. Very little movement since last night.

Yesterday, very strongly worded statement from all sides. The UK

authorities said they had an obligation under international law

to make sure that Julian Assange was extradited to Sweden. Sweden is

saying their judicial and legal services is objective and not open

to pressures from outside forces. The Ecuadorian has said they

thought it was and Hallie and just the UK government was not allowing

Julian Assange to take up their offer of political asylum. We are

expecting a statement from the Ecuadorian ambassador. We

understand that statement will be very short and she will not take

any questions. What are the supporters of Julian Assange

saying? Very much a scaled down its sense compared with yesterday.

Yesterday there were hundreds of his supporters here. Overnight we

had about half a dozen camping out. Probably no more than 20 or so.

That is true of the police. Over my shoulder you can see a police

presence in anticipation of Julian Assange making that exit. Overall,

half the number of police that where he yesterday. If more people

arrive, presumably that would be scaled up. Much calmer than

yesterday. Our top story this lunchtime: Detectives are

investigating whether the Moors murderer, Ian Brady, has revealed

information about where he buried the only one of his victims not to

have been found. Coming up: Aiming high. Great Britain's Paralympic

team are going for 103 medals at the London 2012 Games. Later: Why

Westminster City Council is hoping their offer of free parking will

provide a much-needed boost to sales on the High Street. As the

Premier League kicks off tomorrow corrupt we asked Gary Lineker how

our London Clubs will fare. -- kicks off tomorrow, we ask. The

Department for Education has apologised for giving inaccurate

figures about how many school playing fields in England have been

sold off since 2010. The figures obtained by the Daily Telegraph

show that 30 sales were approved in that time, not 21 as previously

stated. The Education Secretary, Michael Gove, also overruled

independent experts five times in A record medal haul at the Olympics

and a promise to inspire a generation. Little wonder the game

on the political playing field is all about insuring we can be

successful in the future as the sporting class of 2012. It is

school playing fields that are at the heart of the political tussle.

What is the justification for selling them? A few days ago the

Prime Minister defended the record of the Government. The figure of 21

simply does not stack up. Of David Cameron said there were good

reasons why most of those 21 playing-fields had been sold. That

figure was wrong. It is actually 30 ft up in five cases, the Department

of Education over pulled an independent committee suggesting

fields should not be sold. -- overruled. Did you overrule the

committee? Playing-fields a better protected now under this government

than at any time before. A what makes you think you know more than

the committee? Plenty of questions for the Education Secretary.

need to know about the agenda of the Secretary of State on why he is

allowing playing fields to be sold off at a rate against advice.

Government insists most of the playing fields being sold like this

one will let go because the school was closing. Those who advise

ministers on closures worry about being ignored. We are concerned

that the sound reality of not a lot of money in the system, there could

be a trend of schools having to sell playing fields. The words

Olympic and legacy hang from the lips of pretty much every

politician at the moment. They want to be seen to be doing all they can

to help the next generation of sports men and women. That is why

this matters and we almost certainly have not heard the last

of it. It has emerged that the Ministry of Defence did scramble an

RAF helicopter to take the Duke of Edinburgh to hospital but bad

weather meant their efforts were thwarted. Instead he had to be

taken by road in an ambulance. Prince Phillip has spent a second

night in hospital in Aberdeen, where he is being treated for a

bladder infection. Doctors say the Duke is responding well to

treatment. Lorna Gordon is there. More details emerging of what

happens on Wednesday. I think this perhaps was just a sensible

decision. The deters about the helicopter and the attempt to

transfer Prince Philip by helicopter, given the distances

involved. Balmoral is 50 miles by road from Aberdeen. As it turns out,

at the time they were transferring him by road, they decided to intend

to transfer him by helicopter. That would have taken a lot less time.

On Wednesday, weather conditions were horrendous. Poor visibility

and heavy rain. These crews and used to working in very difficult

weather conditions as a general rule but the conditions were

extremely difficult on Wednesday. They attempted to make a transfer

three times. They landed three times in Aberdeenshire fields. And

none of those occasions did a land close enough to the road for Prince

Philip to be transferred from the road ambulance to the helicopter. A

decision was taken to continue on the journey by road. We are told

Prince Philip will get no visitors today. The Queen has been out and

about on the Balmoral estate. She has been driving, accompanied by a

royal protection officers. The Royal Family are in constant

contact with the Duke, who remains in hospital. He is said to be

continuing to respond well to treatment that doctors -- but

doctors have advised him he needs his rest. There are reports that

two American service personnel have been killed by a local policeman in

Afghanistan. It is believed the policeman was also killed. It is

the third incident this month. Well, after Team GB's big medal haul at

the Olympics, the spotlight has now turned to Great Britain's

Paralympians, who will be in action in just under two weeks' time. They

have been set a tough target by UK Sport, who say they should finish

second in the medal table, with no fewer than 103 medals from at least

12 different sports. Let's talk to the chief executive of the British

Paralympic Association. Good afternoon. Thank you for joining us.

That is quite some target they have been set. We need to reflect on

where we are. We were second in the medal table in Beijing and the two

Games prior to that. We were mine 102 medals in Beijing. We can be

confident about that. Also, I would not want to say we are in any way

complacent. The team going into the Games here is facing stiffer

international competition and we have ever faced. Which sports

particularly do you think there's medals will be coming from? That

are 20 sport altogether. About five of them equate to about 80% of the

medals. In terms of success from the Olympics, it is the same to our

team and our sport. Cycling is a very powerful sport. Equestrian.

Those other sports where we will be looking for a number of medals. We

hope our athletes will win medals across a wide range of sports.

Hundreds of millions of pounds was pumped into Olympics sports. What

about the Paralympics? Has it seemed that kind of investment?

There has been substantial investment. It is not quite at the

same level. Lottery money and government money has come from UK

Sport. It is against that the targets have been set. That is a

fantastic contribution. Going towards Rio in 2015, I hope we can

see more. Athletes have had four years of support. Basically,

knowing that we have got that support in place, our athletes,

supported by Paralympics GB and my team will be doing everything we

can do to get them to the start- line in as good a shape as possible.

It is hoped these Paralympics will be the first to be a sell-out. So

high it is the demand. That is lovely and brilliant. Our athletes

will be competing in front of thought crowds. Hopefully they will

be as excited as for the Olympic Games. That is a great tribute to

the British public's great love of sport. I hope that represents a

positive move forward for the Paralympic movement generally.

There are still tickets available. More profile, more excitement

around Paralympics than ever before. I hope that will carry on and we

will see the momentum out of London which means we can thrive and

people's understanding and awareness of the Paralympics may

challenge some perceptions around disability that may previously have

been held. Cricket now. And England have made a good start on day two

of the final Test against South Africa at Lord's. The visitors lost

three wickets this morning as they were bowled out for a first innings

total of 309. They lost the wicket of Andrew Strauss just before lunch.

If you think the queues are bad getting into Lords committee should

have seen the ones at the bar. Preparation is keep both on and off

the pitch at the home of cricket. Jimmy Anderson is warming up for

another assault on South Africa. He wanted a early wickets. Instead he

found fingers. Stuart Broad pocketed his wicket. The

breakthrough the home side needed and now they want to kick the score

below 300. -- keep the school. They seem to thrive in adversity.

Vernon's half-century is a vital contribution. 300 came and went. A

change of bowler brought a change of fortune. Steve Finn with his 4th

victim, courtesy of a brilliant catch by Matt Prior. The

wicketkeeper made a stumping. England have an opportunity to

level the Stoop - is that of the series as long as they stay calm

with bat in hand. -- level the series. Andrew Strauss was looking

good but it was ruined by the England captain. A huge boost for

some paprika, who will hope to test the home side's inexperience

batting line-up this afternoon. -- Some of us are having tropical heat

and others are getting torrential rain. There is an amber weather

warning. Some areas could get three times that amount of rain. Look at

the radar picture. Look at this clump of rain working into southern

Wales. That is absolutely torrential and could cause

localised flooding over the next few hours. In the south of England

there could be thunderstorms. In Swansea, there will be further

storms lining up. The rain will be widespread. In Northern Ireland, I

think things will improve through the afternoon. There will be some

fine and sunny spells. A reasonable afternoon for most of Scotland. The

first band of rain will loiter over the northern isles. Across East

Anglia and the south-east, it is hot and humid. Temperatures

probably around 28 degrees. Torrential thundery downpours

heading for the Midlands. Overnight, the weather ban stays in the same

kind of areas. Further heavy downpours in north and west England.

Hot and humid for a night in the South East. Our weather fronts

remain slow moving across central portions of the British Isles. In

the South East, this is where the hot and humid weather will be.

During the course of the weekend, temperatures could reach 32 Celsius.

It could be the hottest day probably of 2012. There will be

outbreaks of rain on Saturday morning. Most places will become

dry and bright through the afternoon. In the South East, it

will be hot and humid. Temperatures into the high twenties, perhaps low

thirties. Maybe the temperatures were not be that good across the

North of Scotland. On Sunday, we will see the cloud thickening up

with outbreaks of rain spreading in overnight. Affecting parts of the

same areas. Largely dry to the north with sunny spells. Not to

drive. Towards East Anglia and southern England, hot and humid. --

too dry. If we do hit the 32 degree mark - the high eighties in

Fahrenheit - that will probably be the hottest day we will see in the

whole of 2012. Thanks. Now a reminder of our top story.