04/12/2013 BBC News at Six

Nigella Lawson admits in court that she has taken cocaine, but she

denies being an addict. She says it happened when she was

being subjected to intimate acts of terrorism by her former husband, the

millionaire Charles Saatchi. Also on tonight's programme: a

further ?3 billion cuts in government departments.

Police in West Yorkshire arrest a man who went on the run after

shooting a police officer. The female officer has sustained serious

injuries to her face, her neck and her right hand. Her condition is

described as poorly, but stable. A woman whose husband died of cancer

begins a legal battle to stop his frozen is termed being destroyed.

The 400,000-year-old skulls that could hold the key to our evolution

- scientists hope DNA samples could unlock the mystery.

Coming up in the sport on BBC News, Australia name an unchanged 11 for

the second Ashes test, and their captain, Michael Clarke, does he can

guess which players will make the England team.

Good evening and welcome to the BBC News at Six. Nigella Lawson has

admitted in court that she has taken cocaine, but denied she was an

addict. The celebrity chef said it happened during a very difficult

time when she was being subjected to what she called acts of intimate

terrorism by her former husband, Charles Saatchi. She was giving

evidence in the trial of two personal assistants accused of

fraud. Sangita Myska has been following the case and joins us from

Isleworth Crown Court. In front of the world's media today,

Nigella Lawson admitted to using class A drugs. On some occasions

during her marriage to her late husband, and then again during her

marriage to Charles Saatchi. The spite the revelations, she said she

felt duty bound to give evidence in the fraud trial of her two former

PAs. This report contains flash photography.

Nigella Lawson today looked confident as she walked past a

frenzied media scrum. She was at court to face tough questions about

the breakdown of her marriage to Charles Saatchi and claims that she

was an habitual drug user. She also talked about smoking

cannabis during her marriage to Mr Saatchi.

Nigella Lawson and her ex-husband, Charles Saatchi, a multimillionaire

art collector, were often photographed in public. Then in the

summer, these paparazzi photographs were published, in which Mr Saatchi

has his hand around Ms Lawson's neck. The couple divorced shortly

afterwards. In court, Ms Lawson and alleged that Mr Saatchi had

threatened her by saying: Nigella Lawson is one of Britain's

most celebrated television cooks. Today, she is giving evidence in the

trial of two of the couple's former personal assistant is. Elisabetta

Grillo and Francesca Grillo are accused of falsely spending half ?1

million on a company credit card. It was at the family home in Belgravia

that Nigella and Charles Saatchi formed a close pleasure ship with

the Grillo sisters, who were in charge of household duties including

organising laundry and looking after the children. It is here that they

claim they came to a tacit understanding with Nigella Lawson

that they could spend thousands of pounds on the company credit card if

they did not reveal her alleged use of passe and clasp B drugs to Mr

Saatchi. The jury heard that Ms Lawson gave the Grillos thousands of

pounds' worth of gifts and now felt let down by Elisabetta Grillo. She

was known as Lisa. Nigella Lawson earlier told the

court that she felt it was her that was now on trial by the world's

media. Her former PAs deny the charges.

Nigella Lawson has not finished giving evidence. She will return to

court tomorrow to face more cross-examination. The trial

continues. A further ?3 billion in cuts to

government departments are to be announced tomorrow, when the

Chancellor delivers his autumn statement. George Osborne will also

include the government's plans for investment in the country's

infrastructure. The cuts could be used to pay for

commitments like tax breaks and free school meals.

George Osborne told scientists they are getting money for research. But

behind the smiles, the chancellor is preparing to deliver less good news

for others, hard facts contained within this green book, his autumn

financial statement. The tomorrow, Mr Osborne will see that budgets in

Whitehall will be cut by another ?1 billion per year for each of the

next three years. Health, schools, a damn local government will be

protected, as will be HMRC and the local security services, with some

Flex ability for the MoD. But that means more pain for the welfare,

justice and business departments. This is eye-watering stuff, another

?3 billion of spending cuts, all to pay for things like tax breaks and

more free school meals. The aim is to get the bad news out of the way

early so that ministers can focus tomorrow on what they hope will be

better news about the economy. Danny Alexander thinks one way of making

the economy better is getting more holes like this. The Chief Secretary

to the Treasury went deep underground to see how tunnels are

being dug to spread electricity across London. Today, he promised

support for similar projects across the country. This is evidence that

we are making progress on delivering an infrastructure fit for our

country's future. The National Infrastructure Plan presents a

vision that is helping secure long-term investment. It is a plan

that will lead to long-term growth. The plan includes a new nuclear

power station in Anglesey, a revamped station at Gatwick Airport

and an extension to an underground line in London. There will be no new

public money. The government will raise the cash by selling off its

stake in Eurostar. Labour said there was not enough progress. With the

country facing a cost of living crisis, isn't it time that the

government invested in the fundamentals to strengthen our

economy for the long-term? When will these really did press releases

finally translate into diggers on the ground? This kind of

infrastructure will be getting less support. The government said

subsidised prices for onshore wind farms and solar energy would be cut

substantially over the next five years. In return, there would be

extra support for offshore wind, but not until 2018, a deal that pleased

Tory MPs and the Lib Dems. This is great news for clean energy and good

news for the consumer, because we will have the energy security we

need and better value for money. The prime minister, travelling back from

China for tomorrow's statement, said the government's long-term plan of

making cuts was paying off, and hinted that the government was ready

to go further. If the sun continues to shine, we should be fixing the

roof while the sun is shining, which the last government failed to do.

That means not just get rid of -- not just getting rid of the deficit

but trying to put money aside. Behind this door tonight, the

chancellor is putting the final touches to his speech. His message -

the economy is recovering, but there will be more pain before the job is

done. These cuts come on top of existing

plans, and they could be painful? Yes, they will hurt. ?1 billion

worth of cuts may not sound much in terms of the day-to-day spending of

Whitehall, which is north of 300 billion. At a lot of these

departments are facing cuts already. By 2016, those cuts will be ?10

billion. If you add another one for that, that will have some impact.

The government says it shows they are showing discipline. It also

shows that there is still a lot of pain to go. But to show you how

difficult this will be, tonight there is a row brewing between the

education department and Nick like's office over how to find ?80

million to build some new school kitchens. They are fighting over

millions. They will have to find aliens soon.

Well, those further cuts that James has been talking about, amid

improving economic forecasts. But critics say it is a recovery based

on the wrong foundations - consumer spending. Our business editor Robert

Peston has been gauging the mood among Christmas shoppers in Kent.

Lovely. If it is Christmas in a shopping mall, these huge blue water

in Kent, I am out with my white Lord, the day before the

chancellor's check on the health of the economy and government finances,

to gauge whether you shoppers were in the mood to power our economic

recovery in the weeks ahead. Are you spending or saving at the moment? I

am spending, but I would like to save. We are saving more than

spending. I am smart spending. I am doing both. Definitely spending.

Saving. Even though you have got these lovely bags? Spending more

today. Always spending. In this enormous shopping centre, people are

feeling more confident and spending more. For the economy as a whole, a

rise in household consumption has been driving the recovery. If that

recovery is going to last, it has to have other sources of growth.

Businesses have to be more successful at exporting and they

have to invest more. A derelict warehouse near Preston. If Norman

feels the recovery is built to last, he will expand his plumbing supplies

business into it. He is one of thousands of entrepreneurs trying to

decide whether the outlook has improved enough for it to be worth

taking bigger risks. There is no one in government that really knows what

it is like to run a business and sit there on the night before payday,

knowing that you have got to feed 45 mouths. So for me, it is important

that we have the confidence to not just move one or two steps and play

it safe, but really start running. But the growth we have is faster

than the EU's negligible 0.2% rise in income in the last three months,

Japan's 0.5%, America's 0.7%. Yes, right now, the UK is top of the big

rich country recovery league table, with growth of 0.8%. We hope the

recovery will begin to work through into people's wage pockets over the

next year or two. The ball will feel more prosperous. But there is a lot

of ground to make up. Real wages will fall significantly and people

will still be poorer than in 2008. So tomorrow, the Chancellor will

help sustain the recovery long enough so that we start to feel a

bit richer before the general election.

A policeman at the centre of the so-called "Plebgate" row is to sue

the former government Chief Whip, Andrew Mitchell. The officer claimed

the MP used the word "pleb" in a confrontation in Downing Street more

than a year ago. At a press conference last week, Mr Mitchell

accused the officer of lying about what happened.

The European Commission has fined eight banks including RBS a total of

more than ?1.4 billion for fixing interbank lending rates. RBS has

agreed to pay ?325 million for its role in forming a cartel, but

Barclays has escaped a fine because the bank told the commission what

was happening. A man has been arrested in

connection with the shooting of a female police officer in Leeds. The

officer and a male colleague were attending a routine call-out to a

disturbance in the early hours of this morning. 37-year-old James

Leslie was arrested a few hours later after a police manhunt.

It was the early hours of this morning when the police went to this

house in the Headingley area of Leeds. Two an armed officers had

been sent out to respond to what was reported as a low-level disk opens.

But when they arrived, they were confronted by a man who opened

fire. Neighbours were woken by the noise. About 3.30, we heard a couple

of shots, like fireworks, big bangs. I thought, it is just fireworks.

Then the police told us what has happened. Then we worked out that it

was a guy who had shot a police officer. A 33-year-old female police

officer was seriously hurt. Her male colleague was uninjured. West

Yorkshire police launched an urgent hunt for 37-year-old James Leslie.

The public were warned not to approach him. He was wanted in

connection with the shooting on Cardigan Road and had last been seen

cycling towards Victoria Road. Just after ten, he was arrested a mile

away on wood lane in Headingley. The police confirmed that they had

recovered a firearm and the public were no longer at risk. We filmed

what appears to be a weapon lying in the road next to a primary school.

The female officer has sustained serious injuries to her face, neck

and her right hand. Her condition is described as poorly, but stable and

not life-threatening. Tonight, the policewoman is being treated in

hospital. It emerged that as she was being shot, the neighbourhood

response officer pressed her panic button, which some and other

officers to the scene. Her male colleague gave her first aid and

moved her out of harm's way. James Leslie is in custody for questioning

by detectives. West Yorkshire police said they are not looking for anyone

else in connection with the shooting, but are appealing for

witnesses to get in touch. And the time is nearly 6:16pm. Our

top story this evening: Nigella Lawson admits in court that

she has taken cocaine, but she denies being an addict.

And still to come: You are Nelson Mandela.

And you are Winnie Madikizela. We talk to the British actor taking

on the role of Nelson Mandela. Coming up on Sportsday, more on the

news that trainer Gerard Butler has been banned for five years for

injecting horses with the steroid substance designed for humans.

Our evolution from ape-like creatures millions of years ago to

what we are now has intrigued generations of scientists. But

there's always been confusion about how exactly we progressed from

. Now scientists have extracted DNA from human bones 400,000 years old

which, they hope, will shed light on our evolution. Pallab Ghosh reports.

Scientists scramble towards the place they call the" pit of bones" .

These small, underground tunnels in northern Spain where the only way

into a cave which was once home to primitive humans who lived 400,000

years ago. And here are their bones. Perfectly preserved. Back at the

laboratory, one of the thigh bones has mitochondrial DNA extracted, to

help solve the mystery of how modern humans evolved. I am very excited by

this development and if we can get not just mitochondrial DNA but the

rest of the DNA from the Jinan, we can build up a full story of these

earlier stages of human Revolution, which so far we have not been able

to. For more than a century, scientists have built up a picture

of how humans evolved by measuring the size and shape of ancient skulls

and bones. The DNA can show blow by blow how humans changed over

hundreds of thousands of years. The first ape with human features

evolved into primitive humans who lived around 1.5 million years ago.

And skipping forward, scientists know modern humans emerged 200,000

years ago. But they don't know from fossils how we got from here to

here. It's called the "muddle in the middle". Scientists hope they can

now begin to clear up the muddle by analysing the DNA in these fossils.

The editor who published the research in the journal Nature

believes that analysis of ancient DNA is a more reliable way of

determining how our species emerged. We are now on a cusp. Whereas

before, we had to do Everything with bones and stones and teeth, now we

have DNA, and DNA can tell you things that bones and stones and

teeth just cannot. There will no doubt be many more new discoveries

which will tell the true story of human revolution. -- evolution.

A 28-year-old woman has begun a legal battle to prevent her dead

husband's frozen sperm from being destroyed. Beth Warren's husband

died from cancer last year. She's been told that his sperm cannot be

stored beyond April 2015. Her lawyers say the regulations defy

common-sense. Fergus Walsh reports. Warren Brewer and his partner Beth

were together for eight years. He had his sperm frozen before having

radiotherapy to treat a brain tumour and repeatedly signed forms saying

she could use it posthumously. The couple married weeks before his

death last year. But she has been told his consent forms expire in 16

months and the sperm must be destroyed if it is not used by them.

It is a huge decision, because that child won't ever meet their father.

I really need more time to consider everything, to get myself in a

position where I am strong enough in every aspect to be able to do that

and really think about it and figure out whether it is the right thing

for a child. The rules state that sperm can be stored for up to 55

years, but only if written consent is periodically updated. The frozen

sperm of the Beth Warren's husband is stored in liquid nitrogen in this

tank. If it is not used by April 2015, it will have to be destroyed.

But if it was thawed out and used to create embryos, they could be stored

for a further seven years. Her lawyer says those time limits are

illogical and unfair on a woman who is still grieving for her husband

and her brother, who died in a car accident. Common-sense dictates that

she should be allowed time to recover from the loss of her husband

and her brother and not be forced into making such an important

reproductive choice at this point in her life. In a statement, the Human

Fertilisation and Embryology Authority said it has every sympathy

with Mrs Warren. The case has echoes of that of Diane

Blood's 16 years ago. The Appeal Court ruled she could use her dead

husband's sperm to have a child. In that case, there was no written

consent. Ultimately, it will be a High Court judge to decide whether

Beth Warren, a physiotherapist from Birmingham, should have more time to

decide whether to have her late husband's child.

The jury in the trial of two men accused of killing the British

soldier Lee Rigby has heard that one of the alleged killers showed "no

regret or remorse". During a June Kelly was in court for us.

Michael Adebolajo said he was a soldier of Allah and on Lee Rigby's

killing, said, "May Allah forgive me if I have acted in a way which is

displeasing to him" . This report reveals distressing

details. This was Michael Adebolajo on the Thursday he was interviewed

at a police station in south London, ten days after the killing in

Woolwich. Throughout the interviews, covered himself with a blanket and

said he wanted to be known by his Muslim name of Mujaahid Abu Hamza.

He described his co-defendant as his brother and knew him as Ismail and

not Michael Adebowale untold interviewers that Britain was at war

with Muslims. He and Michael Adebowale butchered

Lee Rigby with a meat cleaver and a knife as he made his way back to his

barracks. The soldier's family were in court as Adebolajo spoke in his

interviews about the killing. He told detectives...

Today, the court heard from the personnel are just -- pathologist

who carried out the postmortem. One of the jurors was in tears as he

described Fusilier Rigby's injuries. The rucksack he was

carrying when the men targeted him was shown and there were pictures of

the car they drove at him. The defendants left court this evening

knowing that the prosecution case is drawing to a close. Then their

lawyers will begin their defence. The prosecution is now moving into

its final phase and tomorrow, there will be more police interviews with

Michael Adebolajo. Nelson Mandela's eldest daughter

says he is still putting up a courageous fight as he battles

against a long-standing illness. A film telling the story of his

journey from a rural childhood to anti-apartheid icon is due to get

its Royal Premiere next month. In The Long Walk To Freedom, Mandela is

portrayed by the British actor Idris Elba. He's been talking to our Arts

Editor Will Gompertz. You are Nelson Mandela. And you are

Winnie Madikizela. How do you know? I made enquiries. Two Londoners take

the lead roles in the film Mandela, The Long Walk To Freedom. Naomie

Harris plays Winnie while her soon-to-be husband Nelson is played

by Idris Elba who, when first offered the

We want equal political rights. One man, one vote. My own personal

responsibility as an actor is to make someone who everyone knows

Country Life in film -- come to life in film and this was a big one.

The film charts Nelson Mandela's life story, with Idris Elba playing

him from his mid-20s to his late 70s.

What did you find easier, the young Mandela or the old Mandela? Believe

it or not, the old Mandela was easier. I had a great reference

point with my late dad. You know, he reminds me of Mandela so much, with

his movement, his charisma, his hair. I have beautiful children and

a beautiful wife. I want them to walk free in their own land.

I was born into an England where, you know, there was racism, there

was sort of "us and them" and I grew up amongst it. I was encouraged to

get your own piece of land, go for it, go back to Africa and this sort

of stuff, but at the same time, you know I was born in this country. A

lot has changed since then, but I have him if it was any easier for

black actors to win roles. -- I asked him. What has happened is

there are more opportunities, there are more writers that are writing

more diverse storylines that incorporate our whole country, our

whole, you know... England is a very diverse culture and it is starting

to seep into the story of film and television. And that is creating

opportunities. But it is easier? No. Nor, he says, was playing Nelson

Mandela, which he describes as the greatest challenge of his acting

career. That brings us to the weather.

Here's Jay Wynne. There is a winter storm heading our

way and the Met There is a winter storm heading our

way and the Office had issued amber warnings because of the strength of

wind we are expecting. We are expecting strong winds along --

across large areas of United Kingdom and across that area, it will be

quite windy so be prepared for nasty weather. This mass of Cloud is fast

approaching. It is ready quite windy across the north of the United

Kingdom and if anything, overnight, the wind gets stronger and stronger

and the rain gets heavier and heavier. By the end of the night,

Scotland is very wet and windy. Further south, much quieter with a

touch of frost across many southern counties of England. In the morning,

across Scotland, atrocious conditions. It is very wet but also

incredibly windy, with gusts up to 75 mph or more, particularly across

the mountains and hills but also through the lowlands. Transport

probably affected. The impact will be widely felt. The areas affected

will also see some lively snow showers. The winds travel southwards

and eastwards to affect the North Coast areas. We could see some

coastal flooding is, and not just the North Sea coast, England and

Wales at the West also affected. It may well stay three or four degrees

on your thermometer, but it will feel colder than that and the cold

air spread south through Thursday and Friday, a widespread frost for

eastern areas but at least a bright start. Still some snow showers in

the north of Scotland and later in the day, on the leading edge of the

weather front, snow coming in from the West. On the short term, the

storm could cause some travel disruption and flooding.

disruption and Keep up-to-date online.

That's all from the BBC News At