23/01/2014 BBC Newsline

shaking your head. That is horrible. That is all from the

Hello and welcome to BBC Newsline. Tonight's top stories...

Peter Robinson says he recognises the difficult position Ian Paisley

Junior is in after the TV documentary about his father's life.

I don't think he should say or do anything that makes his relationship

with his family more difficult. But as an important element for him to

keep. The police pay out more than 135

million pounds to former officers who said their hearing was damaged

on duty. A young boy from Belfast is in

hospital in Glasgow with swine flu. The businessman who accused the

Royal Bank of Scotland of deliberately bankrupting viable

companies claims Ulster Bank is doing the same.

The bookies are left counting the cost of one of the most daring

gambles in betting history. And prepare yourself for some wet

and windy weather - it'll be moving in this evening. I'll have the

details shortly. It's been quite a week for the

Paisley family and the DUP. And today the First Minister, Peter

Robinson, broke his silence. The First Minister said he recognises

that Ian Paisley Junior is in a difficult position in the wake of

this week's BBC documentary, which focused on his father's departure as

party leader. Mr Robinson says the DUP won't be sidetracked by the

latest revelations in the media. Here's our political editor, Mark

Devenport. Peter Robinson focussed today on a

generation much younger than either Ian or Eileen Paisley. But before

this youth work placement event got underway, the First Minister fielded

questions about the controversial comments from the 87-year-old former

DUP leader. We will not be losing our focus. We will not be

sidetracked by the media, by television programmes, or anything

else. But your former leader is obviously better about the treatment

at the end of his time. How do you explain that, given that you say you

treated him magnanimously? I have made a statement on the party has

made a statement. I have indicated that I do not retain to take part in

these kind of recriminations. -- I do not pretend. Mr Robinson wants to

concentrate on the future, but the BBC documentary included Baroness

Paisley's outspoken defence of his current North Antrim MP, Ian Paisley

Junior. There was no sleaze. He never brought any sleaze, his wife

didn't do anything wrong, he didn't do anything wrong, there was nothing

wrong with his character or his life. Ian Junior is in a difficult

position. I hope that you people do not make it any more difficult for

him. I certainly don't intend to. I give him a prize as a father, rather

than a party leader or his First Minister. I do not think you should

say or do anything that makes his relationship with his family more

difficult. That is an important element for him to keep,

particularly at this stage in his parents' lives. So, this will not

affect his future in the party? It will not, nor will it affect his

relationship with me will stop I hope he gets the message and is not

put under pressure from people like yourself. I am still friendly with

Ian Paisley at this time. We still keep in contact. I would like to

continue to remember the good bits. Whatever happens within the DUP, the

First and Deputy First Ministers still have to resolve their

differences over flags parades and the past. -- flags, parades, and the

past. Martin McGuinness wants progress made in the next three

weeks. Peter Robinson won't accept any deadlines.

The police have paid out more than ?135 million to settle claims by

former officers who said their hearing was damaged during the

course of their duties. Nearly half that bill, over 65 million, was for

legal fees. Our Vincent Kearney reports.

Firing range training, as it should be. With high quality protection.

But in the late 1960s, the police knew they should have provided

proper protection for anyone in this activity but they did not do so

until the late 1990s, after tougher health and safety regulations were

introduced. Thousands of former RUC officers claimed their hearing was

damaged. The figures involved in compensation are enormous. The

response to a Freedom of Information request has revealed that up until

November, more than 8500 former police officers received

competition. The total paid out is well over ?135 million. Of that

total, more than 70 million has been in damages paid to former officers.

The rest, more than ?65 million, has been spent on legal and court costs.

That ?65 million includes the PSNI's own legal costs. When I asked

for a detailed breakdown of how much was paid to external solicitors and

which firms received what, I was told that would be treated as a

Freedom of Information request and could take up to 20 working days.

Barrister and Justice committee member Albany in says those costs

are unacceptable. It is a shocking figure. I think it could have been

avoided. I did not begin has been well handled by the policing board

or the Department of Justice and I think there should be a serious look

into this. This solicitor have settled claims more than 3500

officers and another 500 are in the pipeline. One of the senior partners

gave the example of a client with a constant ringing sound in his ears,

known as tenet 's. The main part of him case was tenet 's -- tinnitus.

He asked the consultant to make him deaf, because it would have been

better than coping with tinnitus. Even if he was deaf, he would still

have the tinnitus. It drove him insane. She claims tens of millions

of pounds could have been saved if the police had accepted medical

evidence instead of contesting every case. Virtually every single case,

except for a tiny minority, are settled at the door of the court.

Generally, I do not see any reason why those could not have been

settled once the medical evidence was in for both sides. I do not

suggest that the Crown pay out money for the case has not been proven,

but this case is proven at the earliest stage with medical reports.

My estimate would be that they could have saved around half of that sum I

settling cases at an early stage. One group representing victims says

it is unfair that so much has been spent paying for the legal costs for

former police officers at the same time as those taking action at the

police and state have had legal aid cut. There is a double standard,

there is hypocrisy. The same people championing security force personnel

are denying money to victims. In a statement the police said all

hearing loss claims have to be thoroughly investigated to establish

liability and that all claims are dealt with as economically as

possible. It said the Chief Constable's lawyers challenged legal

costs when appropriate. A 39-year-old woman originally from

Banker has been stabbed to death in Australia. Her husband is under

armed guard. We've been bringing you the details

of a sex abuse trial in Coleraine. You may find the content of the

story upsetting. A woman has told a court she was raped 1000 times

between the ages of six and 14. The claims came during the third day of

the trial of three men accused of sexually abusing two siblings during

the 1990s. Our north east reporter David Maxwell was at the court in

Coleraine. Much of the evidence in this trial

is simply too graphic to repeat. Today the woman who claims she was

raped by her father, uncle and a family friend told the court that

sometimes up to nine men were involved. She said it took place at

parties in her father's home which were held most weekends. On her

second day in the witness box, she was cross examined by the defence.

Asked how long the sessions of abuse would go on for, she indicated they

would go on all night. She said, "Sometimes the sun would come up". A

defence lawyer asked her if she could remember any of the men. She

said, "I don't remember their faces, I don't remember their voices, I

don't know who they were." She later told the court the only men she

knows who were involved are in the dock. The alleged victim also gave

details of abuse carried out while on holiday and more details of the

assaults she claims took place at her father's house after her parents

separated. Asked why she ever agreed to go on contact visits to her

father, she said, "I was afraid of him, I thought he would kill me."

The trial continues. A boy from Belfast has been

diagnosed with swine flu. The primary school pupil has been

transferred to a hospital in Scotland. Our health correspondent

Marie Louise Connolly is with me. What do we know? It is understood he

became unwell at the weekend and was admitted to the Royal Belfast

Hospital for Sick Children. The primary school pupil was isolated

but eventually doctors thought it would be best for him to be

transferred to a hospital in Glasgow. This could be because he

required and ICMO machine. -- and ICMO machine. I understand the

family had previously travelled outside Northern Ireland. Put this

into perspective - should we be worried? Unthis is not an epidemic.

A child transferred to a hospital outside Northern Ireland will give

cause for concern, but to give it perspective, if you look at the

Public Health Agency's figures, currently there are 20 people with

the H1N1 swine flu virus. It does not mean they are all in hospital.

Since it arrived in Northern Ireland in 2009, it has been considered as

an treated like any other form or strain of flu. The pHA is advising

people who are vulnerable, the elderly and those who had children,

but if they do become unwell to seek help from their doctor immediately.

But this is not in any way in epidemic.

-- and epidemic. You have also been following the story of David

Haddock, who has gone through treatment for severe burns that he

received in a house fire. Ellis about that. This is treatment that

is changing someone's life. David Haddock from East Belfast was

horrifically injured by a fire in 1981. After the Belfast Health Trust

cancelled several appointments in as many months, a benefactor contacted

the BBC and said they would pay for his treatment. He has been to

Dublin. David Haddock, being prepped for

surgery. These areas around the hairline, moustache area and

eyebrows, were all destroyed by fire, meaning that hair is unable to

grow. Earlier tests are looking positive. Tests a few weeks ago

shall it is growing, which is very early. David Haddock's grandmother

and mother died in the fire. The burns unit at the Royal Victoria

Hospital has been treating him for three decades and has cancelled

several appointments last year. After the BBC broadcast his story, a

benefactor offered to pay for the treatment. This type of

reconstruction is not included in the health service. According to the

Dublin clinic, they have received aid applications from people in

Northern Ireland, however only one person's treatment received funding.

It is a terrible shame that these patients are being denied service.

This should be available for reconstruction. I am not talking

about old men or women having hair transplants. That is nothing to do

with it. Hair transplantation is a complex procedure, but basically,

hair is removed from the patient where there is plenty, usually the

back of the head. The area is numbed throughout the process. Mr Haddock

has been drifting in and out of sleep. They have removed a strip

with hair follicles and have calculated how many hair follicles

they will get from this strip of skin. They are transplanting it. It

is amazing. In an adjacent lab, clinicians dissect the hair into

around 1500 follicles, which are transplanted back into David's skin.

At last several hours. It requires a team of about 20 people. The average

person has about 70 or 80 hertz per square centimetre -- 70 or 80 hair

is per square centimetre but David has a lot more. It makes our job

easier because we have lots of hair to fill the gaps. Doctor Collins

says there is a mental and physical argument for the NHS to pay for some

surgery. Eyebrows, after all, most of us take for granted. We will

never bring him back to having a normal appearance, but we can

greatly improve the situation. We are covering scar tissue and in his

eyes, he will look much better, and that is the important issue. The

story raises many questions, including which procedures should be

defined as medical and which should be cosmetic. If the NHS's approach

should be different. The businessman who used a

government-commissioned report to accuse the Royal Bank of Scotland of

deliberately bankrupting viable companies has accused Ulster Bank of

the same practice. Lawrence Tomlinson has been here this week to

talk to some of the bank's customers. He's been speaking to our

economics and business editor, John Campbell.

It's an extraordinary claim - a largely state owned bank,

deliberately ruining people's businesses and lives in pursuit of

profit. And Lawrence Tomlinson says it's been going on here, inside

Ulster Bank which is owned by RBS. When I first came across the first

few cases, and incidentally some of the first cases were Ulster Bank

customers, I didn't believe it. And then I got more and more cases and

they followed a very similar pattern. What I am saying is that it

seems that they follow such a pattern that it is systemic and

institutional within the bank as a whole. The allegations focus on the

part of the bank known as the Global Restructuring Group or GRG. Loans

which are going bad or look risky are moved into the GRG, with the aim

of turning the situation around. But some customers accuse that part of

the bank of behaving aggressively and forcing them out of business.

The Ulster Bank effectively repossessed this building in central

Belfast. Its former owner believes he was treated unfairly. From 2008,

whenever the regulators decided that the RBS and the banks should reduce

their lending and reduce their exposure, there has only been one

way for them to do that and that has been to close good businesses. The

bank doesn't comment on individual cases but says, "No evidence has

been produced that backs the claims of systemic fraud. Ulster Bank is

committed to working with customers who find themselves in difficulty."

Mr Tomlinson says the bank should be thinking about compensation. There

are sceptical views of Mr Tomlinson's claims. Yesterday, a

former senior official in the Bank of England, who also investigated

RBS, said he had seen nothing to back up the allegations. This is the

Financial Services Watchdog. Now in the hands of We should hear its

verdict before the end of the year. Coming up... The bookies can the

cost of one of the most daring gambles in living memory. -- count

the cost. The local council in Fermanagh has

been asked to examine holding a county-wide referendum on fracking,

the controversial method of extracting gas from rock. Parts of

the county are thought to contain significant shale gas deposits.

Campaigners on the council want the poll to take place on the same day

in May when the local Government and European elections are held.

Decisions are being taken far away from the mechanics of where fracking

is going to happen, so it is very easy for someone 100 miles away or

in London to say, let's frack in Fermanagh. They will not be affected

by it every day. They should interview local people. It would be

a lot cheaper and more likely to happen. I do not think folding will

happen because I do not think government will allow that to

happen. And you can see more on that on The

View tonight on BBC One, 10.35 after our late news bulletin.

The Department of the Environment is investigating the planning process

over a new college theatre in Bangor. Local residents complained

that the planning permission had expired before funding was granted

for the building. Our education correspondent, Maggie Taggart

reports. Last October, the South Eastern

Regional College in Bangor was dancing for joy when the Department

of Employment and Learning said it would pay for the ?12 million

performing arts and technology centre.

This car park is the site for the new theatre but, just as it won

funding, eagle eyed residents spotted that planning permission had

expired. The rule is that work must have begun to make sure the

permission is still valid. There's now a dispute over the date of

expiry but the Department of Employment and Learning says a new

entrance was built within the time limits. Since we were there in

October to reveal the ?12 million funding, a new trench has been dug

and warning signage put up. While we were at the site today, officials

from the Planning Department responded to the concerns and

arrived to investigate what work has been done. Next, they'll be checking

the exact time scale of any construction carried out. The local

Green Party wants the college centre built, but say this is an

embarrassing slip-up. I think there has been a lot of shouting and

banging of tables and we need answers, not least because when you

go on to the planning service website, the usual documentation is

missing. The employment and learning Minister says he is confident the

planning permission is still valid. He says today's site inspection

showed the proper works had begun and all that remains is to show the

evidence they were begun within the timescale required by law.

Now sport, and it's very rare that the bookmakers are left licking

their wounds, but the cost of one multiple bet has left the industry

with a black eye. Yes, the bookies have been counting

the cost of one of the most daring gambles in memory. Four horses

racing yesterday, all with links to former trainer and legendary gambler

Barney Curley, were all heavily backed early at combined long odds

of nearly 15000-1, and all four came home winners, leaving one bookmaker

to estimate a cost to the industry of ?2 million.

It will live long in memory as a black day for the bookies. It was

one of the most audacious gambles of modern times. Four courses, --

horses backed a long bets. All had links to Barney Curley, and the

bookies only saw what was coming too late. It was the overnight business

that was so costly at the prices. When the shops opened in the

morning, prices had been cut accordingly and they were cut all

day because of the rate of money on the horses. Is this just a case of

lesson learned, move on? I am afraid it is. We have to take our hats off

to those involved. It is part of the game. The game has been well played.

Barney Curley has made the game well and has done a number of times. They

have not broken the rules, they have been well placed and planned, taking

a long time to planet, and the bookmakers are smarting. That is the

game you are in. The bookies, they say, always win. Will there be

sympathy from the punters? I do not think so. The punters and the public

in general think the bookmaker always wins and we're here for the

people to take a pop art, but we will be right. It is part of the

game. We will still be here tomorrow. At the meeting today in

kill Kenny, sympathy was in short supply. No, I have no problem with

it. Best of luck to him! Fairplay. As long as it doesn't affect me, I

do not mind. Barney Curley has yet to comment but suffice to say, the

gambler's legendary status has grown.

The countdown to the Winter Olympics is well and truly on with two weeks

to go until competition gets underway in Sochi. The Coleraine

figure skater Jenna McCorkell is part of Great Britain's team. As

Nikki Gregg reports, preparations are being fine-tuned on and off the

ice. Even for the most seasoned

campaigner, kitting out day is a special moment. From jackets, to

boots, and an all important selection of hats... Members of the

Great Britain team will take over 100 items of kit each to the Winter

Olympics. Taking pride of place in Jenna McCorkell's luggage will be

her skates, as she attempts to recapture form and confidence

heading to Sochi. Jenna suffered a major setback in her latest outing

at the European Championships. Aiming for a top ten finish, she

came 24th after falling twice during her opening routine. They took my --

it took me a while to get my head around it. I couldn't explain it.

The practices were great, I was in good shape, didn't miss anything in

the warm up, and then something like that happened with no explanation.

Jenna has experienced disappointment at a major Championship before. --

Illness and inexperience affected her performance at her first

Olympics in Vancouver four years ago. Sochi offers Jenna another

chance to prove herself among the elite in what will be her final

competition before retirement. It is always hard to predict but I want to

just put down to good skates and be happy. If I do what I have to do I

could have a good results. After a career spanning over decade in which

she has won 11 national titles, the 27-year-old is aiming to bow out of

the sport on a high. Finally, Bangor's Kelly Gallagher

had her place on the GB Winter Paralympic team confirmed. The

visually impaired skier heads to Sochi tipped for major honours after

winning medals at World Cup events this season. And that's tonight's

sport. We haven't had much ice but the

weather is going downhill. It is. If you get sunshine today, I

hope you had a chance to enjoy it because over the next few days we

have a fair amount of rain. We had showers today, and some are

continuing this evening. Eventually it will become much worse. We have

cloud rolling in from the West as an area of low pressure moves in. They

will bring rain for everyone tonight and some of the rain is going to be

heavy and persistent as the winds pick up as well. Chile, temperatures

falling to just two or three degrees. -- feeling chilly. It will

be a wet and unsettled start Friday, and quite windy. For rush-hour, not

pleasant, especially in the east, with heavy rain. By the afternoon,

the rain will become patchy. Dry spells at time staying down. Rain

pushing from the West in the afternoon. Temperature is better,

ten or 11 degrees, though out and about it should feel colder than

that. Tomorrow is tomorrow evening it will turn much drier. If you are

tomorrow evening you should not need the umbrella. Overnight into

Saturday, it will become more active. More showers coming in from

the west. Heavy rain during Saturday morning. Not as chilly with

temperatures falling to five or six degrees. On Saturday morning,

heavier rain around and heavy showers. We could have spawned and

lightning, possibly hailstones as well with sleet and snow. -- thunder

and lightning. That should ease off by the afternoon. Later in the day,

more in the way of dry weather. Temperatures of seven or eight

degrees. Westerly winds keeping it colder. Into Sunday, things change

again. Low pressure pushing in from the Atlantic and with that, we are

going to introduce some stronger winds. We will see the ice occurs --

isobars tightening. Rain coming in, causing problems on the roads and

localised flooding. We have a weather warning in force. If you

have anything planned for the outdoors this weekend, plan for

Saturday. I late summer is at 10:25pm.

Keep in contact via Facebook and Twitter. Good evening.