19/03/2014 BBC Newsline

first look at the papers over on the BBC News Channel, but now on BBC

Good evening. The Police Ombudsman has launched an investigation into

video footage that appears to show police officers leaving an

incapacitated woman in a bus lay-by in Londonderry. BBC Newsline has

obtained other CCTV footage which also shows the moments leading up to

the controversial incident. Here's our North-West reporter, Keiron

Tourish. This is the mobile phone footage at

the centre of controversy. It was taken on St Patrick's Day and shows

how police officers dealt with a woman who was lying on the the

roadway in John Street. She was moved a short distance before police

left. Many have been alarmed that the police didn't at least move the

woman on to the pavement. The man who took the footage, who didn't

want to be fully identified, said he was shocked. I just didn't think it

was right that two police officers left her on the bus lane. She could

have got run over. Just as if they didn't care. What about the people

who think you didn't care or do anything? I was going to go out and

help. Me and a friend was going to help, but somebody else came out and

so it was took care of. One councillor said the actions were

unacceptable. Totally inexcusable. It is not acceptable for that type

of response from the PSNI and they have failed this community and in

particular that young lady in relation to how they treated her.

BBC Newsline have obtained additional footage of the same

incident from a different angle. It shows a man who is believed to be

the partner of the woman being taken away by police before the incident.

From this position, we can see the young woman running at the police

car as they detain her partner. The police officers are again seen

moving the woman from the side of the vehicle to the bus lay-by,

before they get into the car and then leave the scene. A short time

later a number of people come out of a business and help the woman

inside. The policing board says that while the details are not clear,

video footage of the police response raises question of the most serious

nature. ?? YELLOW It was horrendous. It was bad news for us. The police

exist to keep people safe. Our police officers taking this female

from the middle of the road and leaving her in a bus lane does not

look good. This incident shocked many people. The challenge now is to

try to establish all the facts surrounding the episode. To that

end, the police ombudsman has begun an official investigation.

?? WHITE And tonight, the woman involved in the incident has been

telling Radio Foyle her version of events. She says that she was put at

serious risk by the police. I was drunk, obviously. It doesn't give

them the right to throw me down. It could have been on the path, where I

would have been safe but not lying on the side of the road where I

could have been killed. It is out of order. You can hear more of that

interview on the Morning Programme on Radio Foyle and Good Morning

Ulster tomorrow from 6:30. Two men have appeared in court

accused of the murder of a man in north Belfast at the weekend. Eamon

Ferguson was found dead in a flat in Ardoyne Place in the early hours of

Saturday. The accused are 26-year-old Louis Maguire, in whose

flat Mr Ferguson's body was found, and 31--year-old Christopher Power

of no fixed address. Both men deny the charge, and were remanded in

custody. There's a security alert in East

Belfast. Police sealed off a number of roads after a suspicious object

was found at the junction of Albertbridge Road and Castlereagh

Street. Army bomb experts were called to the scene. There are no

more details at this stage. MLAs have rejected a proposal to

reinstate the flying of the union flag on Belfast City Hall every day

of the year. In the Assembly tonight, the Ulster Unionist plan

was defeated on a cross-community vote. The decision was taken as part

of a two- day debate on the Local Government Bill.

The Chancellor unveiled his budget for 2014 today. George Osborne

claims his measures will boost the income of pensioners and savers hit

by low interest rates. The Finance Minister Simon Hamilton has welcomed

some of the proposals but has again warned that public finances will be

tight. Dan Stanton reports. The Chancellor called it a budget

for makers, doers and savers. But in this bar, there was not much cheer

over a reduction of 1pm the price of beer. I am not as sure that I will

see the penny off in the bars. It will not be reflected in the price

as we are paying. If I buy 360 pints, I will get one free, with a

penny. Although 1p of my not sound much, the organisation paths of

Ulster says it should preserve jobs in the industry. The main points of

the budget are the personal allowance, the amount that you own

before paying tax, will go up. Savers will also benefit. The amount

you can put into an ice will jump to ?15,000. It is ?5,000 at the moment.

Fuel duty is frozen and beers down one bite. Spirits stay the same and

cigarettes go up above inflation. There are positives for savers and

low-income families and we also have our first enterprise own year in

Northern Ireland and we want to capitalise to create employment

particularly in technology and financial services. There were some

positive feelings in this factory in Lurgan. It makes thousands of egg

cartons every week. The firm is doing well but the recovery is

taking time to get to the staff. This year will duty, they froze it,

so that may help. -- DC will duty. The income tax is the one for us.

They may be more extra money for Stormont for infrastructure costs

and departmental spending. One of the measures announced by the

Chancellor today was the creation of an enterprise zone near Coleraine.

The initiative has been welcomed, coming just days after it was

confirmed that the Driver and Vehicle Agency office in the town

was to close with the loss of 300 jobs. Here's David Maxwell.

Enterprise zones have been talked about for some time, but it has to

be said that today's announcement came as a pleasant surprise to the

business community here in Coleraine. The first enterprise zone

in Northern Ireland will be located close to the University of Ulster

campus on the outskirts of the town. An enterprise zone is an area

where the government offers tax or planning incentives to encourage

businesses to set up. They believe that this will be a particularly

attractive site due to the fact that a data centre has already been given

the go-ahead. That is somewhere where large amounts of information

can be processed and held. They believe that will attract online and

competing firms. There will be 15 jobs created by the data centre, but

we will have to see what other companies decide to take up these

incentives and set up business here. And staying on the hi-tech theme,

there's a special report on tomorrow evening's Newsline.

There are big plans for Belfast to get three public -- free public

Wi-Fi but it is already available in regional towns. We go to Dungannon

to find out if and how it works. Here is the weather forecast.

A cloudy start to the night but a change is on the way. This cold

front is working its way across Ireland over the next 24-hour is. As

we go through tonight, rain starts to work its way in from the West,

spreading to all parts by dawn tomorrow. That means that your

journey to work tomorrow morning could be quite interesting -- quite

tricky. There are strong winds to contend with as well. This is the

picture for tomorrow morning. The rain is just about everywhere. Some

of it could be heavy at times. It gradually clears over to the east.

That front as the dominant weather feature of the day. In front of it,

brighter, warmer conditions, behind it, showers and cooler spells.

Plenty of rain on the front itself. Through the afternoon across

Northern Ireland, a mix of sunshine and showers but because of the

colder air temperatures, some of those showers could fall asleep to

all smoke over the Hill. A chilly feel to the day on Thursday

afternoon. On Friday afternoon, we could see snow falling on the yields

-- we could see snow falling on the hills. It will not last, because the

sun is stronger. Quite unsettled picture. It will be wet and

unsettled all the way through this week. That's it.

Keep up-to-date with news online. But night.

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