24/09/2012 BBC News at Six

The parents of the 15-year-old schoolgirl missing since Friday

plead for her to get in touch. French police join the search for

Megan Stammers - she's thought to have travelled there with her maths

teacher who is twice her age. Sweetheart, I don't care what you

have done or why, but you can tell I am in pieces and I just want you

home. Also on tonight's programme -

demands for an inquiry after Andrew Mitchell makes his first public

apology for abusing a Downing Street officer, but denies calling

him a pleb. I'm very clear about what I did say and didn't say, and

I want to make it very clear that I did not use the words that have

been attributed to me. A day after he ended his

international career, former England captain John Terry appears

before an FA disciplinary panel over racism allegations.

Autumn arrives with a vengeance - high winds and flood alerts across

the UK, a month's rainfall in 24 Ireland or against the West Indies,

they need to win. The details in Hello and welcome to the BBC News

at six. British and French police are working together to find the

missing school girl, Megan Stammers. It's thought she crossed the

Channel last Friday with a maths teacher who is twice her age.

Police say the pair had booked return tickets for Sunday but

failed to use them. This afternoon her parents made an emotional plea

for her to contact the family. Daniela Relph is at Sussex police

headquarters in Lewes. This is a worrying time for Megan Stammers'

family. They have tried to call her, tried to contact through her

Facebook Page, but so far they have heard nothing. Speaking out so

directly today, the family hope they can persuade Megane to come

home. There is flash photography at the start of my report. Megan

Stammers, 15 years old. Affection it, sensitive and intelligent, her

family say. The girlie girl who has never left home in this way before.

Her mother last saw her daughter on first day when she told her she

loved her. There was an emotional direct appeal on behalf of the

whole family. Sweetheart, I don't care what you have done or why but

I am in pieces and I just want your home. Your brother is absolutely

devastated, he is beside himself. He wants you back. More leap is

walking around in a daze, she just keeps saying when are you going to

come home? From me to you, you know you are an adorable princess.

is the man Megan Stammers is with, Jeremy Forrest, the married maths

teacher at her school. He's also an amateur musician who performs under

the name of Jeremy Ayre. In internet postings from the maths

teacher earlier this year, he made reference to a moral dilemma. He

wrote, "how do we and how should we define what is right or wrong?" The

police would not answer questions about Jeremy Forrest or what they

know about his relationship with the 15 year-old. Instead they tried

to reassure the teenager. believe you left of your own accord

but we need to know you are OK. Your family and friends are

extremely worried, but you are not in any trouble. If the police have

this evening released an image of Jeremy Forrest's black Ford Fiesta,

as they boarded a ferry at Dover on Thursday evening. The family have

also set up a Facebook page, urging anyone with information to come

forward. Megan, we had a date on Saturday and we didn't make it.

Babes, the offer is still there, sweetheart. I just want you to come

home safe. For Megan Stammers' family it is now an agonising wait

to see if these direct appeals will reach her. So far, there has been

no comment from Megan Stammers' school in Eastbourne, just an

appeal for help posted on its website. For now it is just a

waiting game to see if there is any response to these pleas for help.

Vince Cable has told the Liberal Democrats conference in Brighton

that the coalition plans to commit �1 billion to a business bank to

channel money to small and medium- sized companies. He was warning

Britain faced economic disaster if it failed to stimulate growth. His

comments reflect concern among Lib Dem delegates over the direction in

which the coalition is heading. The British economy these days is a bit

like our weather, never good for very long with strong wind from

abroad holding us back. The question hanging over the party

conference season - is it time to change course? That is what the

Liberal Democrats debated today. Plan A is not working. We have the

power, it we have the courage, to stand up and argue for a better

approach. No longer can deficit reduction by means of cuts in

public spending be the top priority. For government has to choose

between a growth strategy that worked and George Osborne.

Liberal Democrats voted to back the economic policy, not just of George

Osborne but also, as he made very clear, for Vince Cable as well.

have considerable personal sympathy for the Chancellor, who has been

attacked from borrowing too much and borrowing too little at the

same time. He said he would not apologise for the austerity, the

cuts needed to tackle the deficit, but then he gave a stark warning

about the dangers that lie ahead. The country must not get stuck in a

downward escalator, where slow or no growth means bigger deficits

leading to more cuts and even slower growth. That is the way to

economic disaster and political oblivion. That warning that slow-

growth could lead to spending cuts leading to slower growth sounded an

awful lot like what Labour says. He says the economy needs to be

stimulated but there is a difference - Vince Cable argues the

route to that is not more government borrowing. Today Vince

Cable and Nick Clegg visited an engineering firm to highlight what

they would do for British businesses. What businesses need,

they insist, is not more government spending but bank loans. If we need

a new British business bank with a clean balance sheet and an ability

to expand lending rapidly to the manufacturers, the exporters, the

high growth companies that power our economy, and I can announce to

you today that we will have one. new British business bank will be

set up with a billion pounds of taxpayers' money and private

investment. It willing to help small and medium-sized firms get

the loans they need to expand. It will buy existing loans made by its

other banks with the aim of making it less risky for them to make

fresh loans. This is one of the firms in Brighton that once that

money. The chief executives say the banks want him to risk his own

house before they will give him the money they need. Often banks will

ask the personal director to put their own money on a line. Wells

companies wait for the new British business bank, and it could take 18

months to set up, the economic weather looks very grim indeed.

The Conservative party chief whip has made his first public apology

for abusing a Downing Street police officer. It is claimed he swore and

called the police officer or a pleb. Andrew Mitchell said he hadn't

shown the officer the respect he deserved, but denied ever having

used the word pleb in his outburst last week. That's angered the

Police Federation which wants an inquiry into the affair, saying Mr

Mitchell was questioning the integrity of the police. Our

political correspondent Carole Walker reports. No sign of the

bicycle he wheeled into the altercation with police, but Andrew

Mitchell did decide to confront the media and give his side of the

story. It had been the end of a long and frustrating day, not that

that is any excuse for what happened. I didn't show the police

the amount of respect I should have done. They do an incredibly

difficult job. I have apologised to the police and the police officer

involved on the gate, and he has accepted my apology. No estimate

shall have tried to cycle out through the main vehicle gate of

Downing Street last Wednesday night but the police told him to dismount

and use a smaller gate alongside it. For some says they have seen the

police account of the outburst that followed and it says he did call

the police for a pleb. Sources say Mr Mitchell is adamant he did not

use the word pleb, though today he did not quite say that. I am very

clear about what I said, and I want to make it clear that I did not use

the words that have been attributed to me. Police representatives have

reacted angrily to the suggestion their officers were not telling the

truth. Used challenging the integrity of the offices by denying

he has said what has been reported. I believe the officers, and if an

inquiry proves he was lying he should be sacked. There are

conflicting accounts of what happened here. The Prime Minister's

spokesman said he accept the statement from his chief whip

Andrew Mitchell, and believes he did the right thing in apologising,

but does that suggest he doubts the word of the police? I understand Mr

Mitchell believes it is down to different recollections of the

incident, but the suggestion he used the word pleb is particularly

toxic because it fuels accusations the Tories are arrogant and out of

torch. I have been told however that jokes about social class are

not good for the unity of the coalition, but as a mea pleb I

couldn't resist it. More seriously, Lib Dem ministers do not believe

this is the end of the round. Explaining to the media what was

not said is not the same as saying what was said. Andrew Mitchell is

still in his job, but Labour are keeping up the pressure for an

inquiry. Let's speak to our political editor in Brighton. On

that last point, I gather you have some new developments on this?

Labour were pushing for an investigation, the Lib Dems were

saying there were loose ends that needed tying up. This letter is an

attempt by the government to finally end those calls and answer

the queries. It is a letter from the civil servant in the country

Jeremy Heywood, who points out that the number 10 head of security and

the private principal secretary of the Prime Minister spoke about what

happened. He said there clearly remains a genuine difference of

view about what words were actually used, but here is the critical

point. He says he has been talking to the head of the Metropolitan

Police, and they have concluded "in the light of the apology given, and

also the fact that the officer concerned has accepted the apology

and doesn't wish to pursue the matter further, the Metropolitan

Police Commissioner reiterated no further action will be taken." They

seem no interest in a further investigation. The apology failed

to end the calls for more information about who said what and

when, but this letter from the Cabinet Secretary is designed to

still them. There is more information and a

special report from the Lib Dem conference on the BBC website.

JJB Sports, once the biggest sports retailer in Britain, is calling in

the administrators to sell-off parts of its business. It is feared

more than half of their 180 stores could close.

How can a chain as well known as this collapsed after such a

glorious summer of sport? The final whistle is now about to blow, but

the end has been a long time coming for JJB Sports. After struggling

these last few years, JJB Sports has simply run out of time and

money to turn things around. This is the man who built JJB into

Britain's biggest sporting retailer before the almost forced him to

sell. Dave Whelan, the local boy named good, now owns Wigan Athletic

Football Club. I founded the company with one shot in Wigan. I

kept the initials JJB, and went from strength to strength to over

400 shops. When you see administration happening, it is

really sad. It was a billion-pound company at one point, but now its

value has tumbled. Its shares are all but worthless. It moved into

selling shoes, which was not a success and caused management to

take their eye off core business. It is a fast changing landscape on

the high street. Since 2008, 189 jobs have either been lost or

threatened, as a host of big retailers have come under. JJB

Sports is now said to add to that tally. Its sports rival could end

up buying some of the most profitable stores, but this chain,

Our top story tonight, British and French police are working together

to find the missing schoolgirl Megan Stammers, who is thought to

have crossed the Channel last Friday with one of her teachers.

And coming up, as floods, heavy winds and strong rain affect many

parts of the UK, we will have the very latest on the problems it is

causing across the country. In the business news, it is the end

of the road for JJB Sports after it goes into administration. And

Vauxhall suspend production at two The former England captain, John

Terry has appeared before an FA disciplinary panel at Wembley today

accused of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand. Mr Terry denies the

charge and was cleared over the incident in a criminal case earlier

this year. The Sports Correspondent who broke the story of his

retirement from international football last night is at Wembley.

George, John Terry, throughout his career, has been known as the kind

of player who rarely takes a back step. And that is what he did when

he suddenly announced his international retirement. Earlier,

he was at Wembley for the first day of that hearing over allegations

that he racially abused an opponent. Just the latest twist in a saga

that has lasted almost one year and has cast a shadow over the sport.

Turning his back and England, he said, had left him are broken.

Today, John Terry was forced back to Wembley having begun the latest

attempt to clear his name. It was during this Premier League match

last season that the Chelsea captain was alleged to have

racially abused QPR defender Anton Ferdinand as the player traded

insults. He denied any wrongdoing and was cleared of criminal charges

in July. But the FA open their own disciplinary proceedings over the

past -- over the incident, and he said that that decision given no

option but to quit. By understand his frustration with this. The

truth is, there are subtle differences between the charge in

the Magistrates' Court and the charge that he faces in front of

the FA disciplinary commission. Fiercely patriotic, John Terry was

one of his country's greatest ever central defenders, never afraid to

put his body on the line. His career was defined by commitment

and controversy. Look at John Terry! He first represented his

country in 2003, replacing David Beckham as captain three years

later. I realise that the responsibility is even higher, on

and off the pitch. He was then stripped of the armband into

doesn't intend following allegations of an affair with the

ex-girlfriend of a former team-mate, Wayne Bridge. He was reinstated by

Fabio Capello and then sacked for a second time this year over the

races and charges. He continued to be selected by Roy Hodgson but last

night finally turned his back on England. John Terry was fantastic

to me when I first got into the game. He looked after me and he has

been very professional. I have to wish him good luck and I have to

respect his decision. He missed out Patrice Evra. Luis Suarez was

suspended for eight matches last year for racially abusing Patrice

Evra. The FA comes under pressure to clamp down on discrimination and

John Terry knows he faces the prospect of a lengthy ban. The

fall-out had already spilled into this season with Anton Ferdinand

refusing John Terry's offer of a handshake when the pair came face-

to-face last weekend. This increasingly acrimonious dispute

has brought one of the more remarkable England playing careers

to unexpected in. The FA but the sustained and

thanking John Terry for his contribution to England, which only

serves to highlight the difficult position that they are in over this.

It may well explain why it has taken this long to get quite this

far. In recent times, John Terry had become something of a divisive

figure. There is no doubt that on the pitch his resilience will be

missed, but the baggage that goes with him will not.

A soldier who died from wounds sustained in a shooting incident in

Afghanistan on Friday has been named by the police -- Ministry of

Defence as captain James Anthony Townley from the Royal Engineers,

who died the day before his 30th birthday. A senior Metropolitan

Police detective has been charged with misconduct for allegedly

leaking information to the News of the World. The charges have been

brought as part as -- as part of Operation Elveden, an investigation

into alleged corrupt payments to officials which has so far seen 50

arrests. The man accused of murdering two

police officers has accused that -- appeared at Manchester Crown Court

by video link forged -- video link. Nicholas Bowen and piscine -- DEC

Fiona Bone and PC Nicola Holmes -- And some breaking news now, in the

last few minutes the European Court of Human Rights has rejected the

final appeals by five UK-based terrorism suspects against

extradition to the United States. The decision means that Abuhamza

now faces deportation. Let us go live to a our Home Affairs

Correspondent, Danny Shaw. -- Abuhamza. It looks as if it is the

end of the legal road for our Abuhamza, Babar Ahmed and three

other terrorism suspects, were told by the European Court of Human

Rights that it will not take their cases in the Grand Chamber of the

European Court. Abuhamza is wanted by the US authorities because it is

alleged that he tried to send up a terrorist training camp in the

United States as well as being involved in the kidnapping of

people in the state of Yemen in the Middle East. Babar Ahmed is accused

of setting up a website which was involved with terrorism as well.

Both these men have protested their innocence and both have tried to

fight this battle of extradition, but the European Court will not

continue this case, and extradition could proceed within the next few

weeks. Summer appears to have come to an abrupt end as much of the UK

braces itself for one month of rain in the next 24 hours. Winds of up

to 60mph are expected to hit the North of England and parts of

Scotland while other areas could see three inches of rain. In a

moment, we will be speaking to Danny Savage, who was in West

Yorkshire the first, Jon Kay reports on the flooding and

disruption in the West. Somerset woke up to find that

summer was over. Autumn at most definitely arrived. In this village

it had rained all day yesterday and then all night long. Taking many

residents by surprise. People here say they cannot believe how quickly

a flooded. There is a river just down there and it burst its banks

in the early hours. Within minutes, Wall Street was just covered in

water. -- the whole street. The tense ands house will need weeks of

repair. Inside and out. It is like a lake at the moment. A lot of

money has been spent on flood defences here, but local people say

it is the worst they have seen in 25 years. Next door, the dishwasher

is full of river water and they have not dared to check the family

photos. It is so horrifying you cannot take it in. You can't even

be bothered crying, it is so awful. The local fire brigade received 200

call-outs to flooded homes and block roads. Many rail services

were also badly affected. Chaos, chaos, absolute chaos. It is not

just the recent rainfall that has caused these problems, but the fact

that the ground is still wet from our terrible summer. It came up to

about a foot and a half, but I understand there is more on the way,

so we are bracing ourselves. In the West Country, water levels are now

dropping, but there is more wild weather to come, and in some parts

of Britain, it is only just beginning.

One of the areas with an increased risk of flooding is the North of

England. What are the critic Harold -- the particular concerns where

you are, Danny? The concern is that the weather front is going to grind

to a halt. Some forecasters say that we could see 10 centimetres of

rain falling in parts of the Pennines. The river behind me is

already in flood and the water is thundering through. It is about 80

metres wide. At the bridge, there are still spare capacity and it is

going to need that capacity because there is so much rain expected and

lots of rail disruption as well. have just the man to give us an

have just the man to give us an update.

As Danny was saying, it is going to get worse before it gets better.

The coldest September day on record in some parts of Northern Ireland.

The amber warnings have certainly been justified. There is a lot of

disruption as we have heard. That rain is gradually pushing north. We

have seen the worst of it in the south but increasingly it is

northern parts of the UK that are in the firing line. Not just any

rain but strong winds, up to 60 or 70mph. 80 mm potential across

northern England. Further west, it is pretty wet across Northern

Ireland and Spain chilly. The lowest eight degrees. Why is it so

that? Because we have this big area of low pressure, unusually deep,

around the centre. In the centre, it does not move but at the flank

is where we get the strongest wind. Strong to care for us wins in

northern Scotland and Northern Ireland. -- strong to gale-force.

Further south and further east, mild and bright. 15 or 16 degrees,

but you'll be lucky to get to double figures if you are sitting

under that band of rain. By Wednesday, things improving, but

rather windy in the West. Potentially some heavy rain in

southern areas but elsewhere, sunny intervals and scattered showers. In

the short term, keep the line for the flood warning handy. For the

latest on the destruction, BBC local radio are a very good source

for the latest information and the travel website pages of the BBC