18/12/2015 BBC Newsline

A senior police officer says Pader Heffron, a former colleague,

who was seriously injured in a bomb attack, is owed an apology

Four officers from the police intelligence unit are facing

disciplinary action for failing to give information to detectives

investigating the attempted murder of the constable in January 2010.

The Police Ombudsman says there is insufficient evidence

to support a claim that police had information which could have

As captain of the PSNI football team and the Irish speaker,

Peadar Heffron was a high-value target for

dissident republicans trying to deter Catholics

He was seriously injured and had a leg amputated after a bomb

exploded under his car five years ago.

Detectives contacted the PSNI several times to request assistance.

A Police Ombudsman report today says most of those

requests didn't receive a meaningful response.

In one instance, detectives had to wait more than two years.

The Ombudsman stresses that when the intelligence material

was eventually made available it did not

lead detectives to significant evidence.

But he says the delay was unacceptable.

Investigators are those who are best placed to make

so when they ask for information, at the time that they ask for it,

no-one knows how important it will be,

so whenever an investigator requests information,

there are clear protocols for how that information should be

This report is hugely embarrassing for the PSNI.

Police officers stand accused of failing to

help colleagues trying to catch those responsible for the attempted

The PSNI now says it accepts it was an

administrative failing and that Peadar Heffron is owed an apology.

This should have been dealt with properly,

within the organisation, but these matters

hadn't been resolved, and that piece of information hadn't

been conveyed, and we are sorry to Peadar Heffron

in respect of this, but we have continued to support him throughout

But the Deputy Chief Constable did not

accept the recommendation that four intelligence officers should be

He decided that two of them will be given

When we put a recommendation to the police,

we believe it is the right recommendation.

I do still believe that the recommendation we made

The police board has described the report as disturbing

They will discuss the findings and the police response

with Drew Harris and the constable next week.

Peadar Heffron has now left the PSNI.

A man has appeared in court in Dungannon accused

of using Facebook to trick a young woman into sending explicit

photographs to, what she believed was, a modelling agency.

The man, who is from England, also faces an allegation

of blackmail in relation to the photographs, some

of which he posted on what are called revenge porn websites.

Officers for the PSNI cybercrime team believe the alleged victim

who is in her 20s is just one of many women

chosen at random by Neil James Edwards, a train

Her ordeal began with a phone call out of the blue,

the caller said he represented a magazine,

She was directed towards a Facebook page

that apparently ran a modelling agency.

She was asked to upload photos for a 3-D model.

Semi-naked pictures eventually gave way to naked pictures and then

the police say what followed was explicit.

It was a year-long nightmare of harassment and attempted blackmail.

Neil Edwards, a married father of two is accused of posting some

of the pictures on so-called revenge porn sites,

trawling through the victim's Facebook page, pointing

More photos were demanded and backed up by threats to distribute

This was blackmail, Sadie believes, not for financial gain

but for sexual gratification and to satisfy

Eventually, the woman went to the police,

and after he was arrested on Wednesday,

Neil Edwards's home was searched, officers took away mobile phones

On it they found a hidden file containing 126

subfolders, 43 of which bore women's names.

Including the name of the woman at the centre of the case

The images in this computer are encrypted, and so far

Neil Edwards has refused to hand over the encryption key

to the police, despite admitting ownership

That is a fact the judge referred to as he

The defendant will appear again in court next month.

There were long tailbacks on the M2 and M3 heading out of Belfast this

Four cars were involved in the collision just

Three lanes were blocked between York Street and Fortwilliam.

More than ?33 million is being spent by the Department of Education

to enable older teaching staff to retire early.

As Robbie Meredith reports, the scheme would replace 500

It's a popular profession but it can be one of the hardest

Out of 2,000 graduates who have registered to teach in the year

2013 to 2014, over 1,400 don't have permanent jobs yet.

The education minister wants to bring the number down.

The over 55 can leave, the school has two commit to replace that post

with the newly qualified teacher. ?33 million is to pay

for the people opting to go early, to get a full rather

than reduced pension. Teachers approaching

the end of their career who would like to leave

the profession may do so now with dignity at 55 plus,

without facing an actuarial The scheme will operate

for a year from next spring, and for these teaching

students, it may be the difference between

staying or leaving. For many students they provide

opportunities in England and internationally

and Europe, but lots would like the opportunity to stay

here and that is what this does, I did my ERASMUS in China so I have

always considered going abroad again. It'll be exciting to see if

there are here. There are still debates

over whether we train too many teachers, but this scheme

means fewer years spent working in a succession of

temporary teaching jobs. About 2,500 homes in west Belfast

were left without power overnight following an arson attack

on an electricity sub-station. The fire service was called

to the blaze at Lyndhurst Meadows Bins had been placed up

against the sub-station and set Ten firefighters were

involved in the operation. Time now for a look at the weekend

weather, and here's Cecilia Daly. The mild weather continues tonight

and tomorrow but there is cooler weather on the way. There will be

some wet and windy weather tonight but not too bad tomorrow. Some

showers around in the afternoon. Temperatures could hit the

mid-teens. Saturday into Sunday will start to feel colder. More rain

rolling into night. It will get wet and windy for a while during the

early hours, the rain should clear in most places by early morning and

temperatures should hold up into double figures. It is mild again

tomorrow, there will be some showers but some decent dry gaps as well. It

should try out with sunshine in places. The showers moved to the

West by lunchtime and moved eastwards by the afternoon. A

weather front will sit here to the day. Whether warming in force. For

Scotland, lest mild, rather than colder. Temperatures are still above

the average for this time of year. Tomorrow afternoon, a few showers

around, light and Costa Rica and temperatures in most places will be

in the low teens. Called on Sunday and heavy showers around in the

morning. Wrong, gusty winds as well but an improving picture as the day

goes on. Next week, temperatures will be more where they should be

for this time of year. Have a great weekend. Same from us.

You can keep up-to-date with the news online. From all of us, good

night and have a great weekend. Goodbye.