29/01/2016 BBC Newsline

The headlines on BBC Newsline: A murder inquiry's underway

after the body of a man is found in a house in Ballycastle.

A narrow escape for this motorist as storms bring travel

The Army agent said to have been involved in up to 50 murders -

police plan to bring in an outside force to investigate.

The Ulster Unionists call for a ban on election posters -

Also to come on tonight's programme: There's a rabbit on my roof -

how Storm Gertrude brought an unusual 999 call

Ulster travel to Italy this weekend and welcome back Stuart Olding

And first the wind, now snow and ice can be added to that warning

A traumatic and frightening death - that's how the police have described

the murder of a 48-year-old man in Ballycastle.

Anthony McErlain's body was found in a flat in the town last night.

Our reporter Kevin Sharkey has been to the scene.

A heinous crime, that's what police say they are investigating. Anthony

McErlain was 48 and was in a neighbour's flat yesterday evening.

Something happened while he was there and before the end of the day

he was dead. He came to visit his friend. And he didn't have far to

travel. The victim lived the last phase of his life in this flat and

he lost its life just around the corner in another upstairs flat.

Anthony McErlain was well-known to many people around this coastal

town, including a former school classmate. Just a character,

wouldn't have passed you in the street without speaking -- just a

bubbly character. Always had a wave and a smile. We were chatting about

the old days back at school. Police are trying to find out more details

about his last hours alive, particularly around this area

between 5pm and 8:30pm yesterday evening. Forensic officers have been

at the scene all day, carrying out examinations. It's still not known

for sure how many people were in the flat at the time, but what is

certain, one man is dead and another was arrested on suspicion of murder.

The murder has left this community in shock. This is a very sleepy,

quiet part of Ballycastle. This was an awful, awful murder. Anthony

McErlain's death has left relatives dealing with the devastation of

losing a family member to murder. 150 NIE emergency crews have

been restoring power across Northern Ireland

after Storm Gertrude took hold. A number of people had a lucky

escape when trees came down - When dawn broke the extent

of the damage was clear to see, For some, it was a little too close

for comfort. An incredibly lucky escape for the motorist caught up in

this. And our's drive away and yet more damage, with winds-macro of up

to 85 miles an hour. It is clear to see the sheer force of Storm

Gertrude. A tree wedged up against a house. Imagine waking up to this. It

was quite frightening at 5am in the morning, when you are waking out of

your sleep and you heard an almighty crash. We thought the roof had caved

in, but fortunately it may not be as bad as we first anticipated, you

know? Hopefully when they get the tree removed there won't be too much

damage, when we get a contract to check it out. From Hollywood in

County Down to the dark ages of County Antrim, Gertrude struck a

swathe across the country. These trees have been here for quite some

time, since the 18th century. They're one of the most photographed

places in Northern Ireland. They have even featured in Game of

Thrones, but not even these could withstand the strength of Storm

Gertrude. I think the wind direction brought two big ones at the end and

has damaged one behind me, but it's sad to see. I would come down

normally after a storm. This morning I wasn't sure it was too bad because

the last couple of times there have been no trees down but there are

some down today. At its height, 18,000 homes and businesses were

without electricity but NIE has the ground covered. It's extremely

difficult to get the some of the sites, we have danger from falling

debris and trees, we have dangers from broken poles and when we are

going into fields, sometimes it's difficult to get access through

small lanes. We obviously have to be careful when we are working at

height, so we take complete consideration of the risks before we

start a piece of work. We're not out of the woods yet. There is still a

wind warning in place and with snow on its way NIE's 150 emergency crews

are on stand-by and ready to go. The Chief Constable George Hamilton

has confirmed that he plans to bring in detectives from outside

Northern Ireland to investigate claims that a man alleged to have

been the Army's most high ranking agent within the IRA,

was involved in up to 50 murders. The investigation into

the activities of the agent, codenamed Stakeknife, is expected

to take at least five years. Our home affairs correspondent

Vincent Kearney has the details. The investigation into the alleged

activities of this man could be the largest ever in Northern Ireland.

Former West Belfast man Freddie Scappaticci is alleged to have been

the Army agent codenamed Stakeknife. It's claimed he was a member of the

IRA's internal security unit and was involved in up to 50 killings. He

denies the allegations. Three months ago, the Director of Public

Prosecutions announced he had instructed the Chief Constable to

launch an investigation into the agents -- agent's alleged

activities. I've outlined today extremely serious matters, perhaps

the most significant in my time as DPP. I have not taken the steps to

commence investigations lightly. Relatives of some of Stakeknife's

alleged victims say they didn't trust the PSNI to conduct the

investigation and launched legal action in a bid to stop that

happening. At a court hearing this morning, it was announced that PSNI

does not want to be involved. A barrister for the PSNI told the

court that Chief Constable George Hamilton has concluded that his

preferred option is to bring in external police officers to conduct

the investigation. He didn't give any details about the enquiry, but I

understand it is expected to cost around ?5 million a year and to take

at least five years to complete. Some of the relatives who took the

legal action were in court today. They included the daughter of

Caroline Moreland, the IRA claimed the 34-year-old mother of three was

an informer and shot her dead in 1994. Her daughter and her legal

representative welcomed the PSNI statement but say they want

assurances that the investigating team won't report to the Chief

Constable. We don't know where they are coming from, whom they are, we

don't want them under the PSNI. There are a lot of questions about

it. We don't know the actual structure of the investigation, the

team and the oversight of the team. If there is an element of

involvement from the PSNI, then as an oversight we wouldn't see that as

wholly independent. The families say they are -- they will continue that

legal action to prevent the PSNI having any role. The big question

now is who will pay for this investigation if the PSNI requires

additional funding. The Chief Constable has had discussions with

the Department of Justice and the Northern Ireland Office, but so far

neither has agreed to foot the bill. And coming up on the programme: How

mums and dads are going back to school to help their

children learn to read. A Cloughmills mother whose son

was killed while walking to school said he might still be

alive if she had not been Sarah Hanna, who had been highly

critical of the Education Board, appeared today for sentencing,

having admitted driving It was in November 2014,

eight-year-old Adam Gilmour was with his mother and five siblings when

they were hit from behind while walking to school along the Loughill

Road near their Cloughmills home. A month earlier the children's mother,

Sarah Hanna, had urged the Education Board to keep children safe by

providing transport. And she laid the blame for her son Adam's death

squarely with the board. It's emerged that two months before the

fatal accident, Sarah Hanna was caught driving while banned on the

way back from school. She pleaded guilty to driving while

disqualified, driving without insurance, and taking her mother's

people carrier without permission. Today, she admitted that had she not

been banned from driving her son Adam would still be here. The

34-year-old was banned from driving for a year and given a three-month

jail term, suspended for a year. A senior judge has said that it's

in the interests of the people of Northern Ireland to deal

with contentious cases linked Over the last two weeks

Lord Justice Weir has been assessing more than 50 stalled cases,

which relate to almost 100 deaths Before Lord Justice Weir today, the

case of a teenager killed at this west Belfast bar 1972. A Catholic

RUC officer shot dead in 1977. The man murdered by the LVF, as he

walked home from the pub, and the 2005 killing of a 20-year-old, shot

at his home he shared with his partner and children. This was the

final day of Lord Justice Weir's review into 56 cases that have

spanned the troubles. Over the last two weeks the issue of how these

investigations can be resourced has been a constant. Today, it was the

turn of the police ombudsman's office. During a hearing into the

UVF murder of 20-year-old Craig McCausland and 2005, a lawyer for

the ombudsman's of his was both and both and resourced and underfunded

-- his office was both under resourced and underfunded, and the

case was complex now it was being linked to three loyalist murders and

he would need a dedicated team and promises to properly investigate it.

But for the family of Sergeant Joel Campbell it was a lack of will in

the past, rather than a lack of money that was the obstacle. They

now believe the police collusion in their case is a little nearer to

being uncovered. The passage of time doesn't diminish these things. It

doesn't make them any easier at all. I think the judge himself is a man

who seems to have a lot of empathy with the people who are appearing

before him. He certainly is very businesslike, in moving along all

the state agencies to do what they should do and to do what they should

have done years ago. Over ten days of review hearings, Lord Justice

Weir has been highly critical of how slow both the Ministry of Defence

and the PSNI have been to hand over documents. But today, in his summing

up, he thanked everyone involved and said that this process was an

important one for everyone, not just the next of kin, but for the people

of Northern Ireland who want to see this chapter of life dealt with

properly and put to rest. County Antrim teenager has to his

differences with privacy action on confidential terms and there was no

admission of liability by Twitter. The boy's lawyers are also seeking

to sue Google for negligence and there are three separate lawsuits

against newspapers because of publicity linked to his arrest last

October. A pipe bomb has been thrown

at a house in the Waterside Two adults and a child were in

the house at Ebrington Street when the device landed in the back

yard just after midnight. Neighbours were moved out

of their homes while the Army Police were at the door saying a

device next door, you need evacuate, so I got sorted as fast as I could.

I was in the middle of brushing my teeth before going to bed. I was

really flustered, so I called a friend and asked if I could stay

with her. The Ulster Unionist Party Chairman

has written to the other political parties to see if they would agree

to a voluntary ban on erecting His move however has been branded

by the DUP as a stunt. One local company which prints

posters says a ban would Here is our political

correspondent Stephen Walker. They are part and parcel of the

political landscape. To some, they are a blight. To others, they help

us decide who to vote for. Now, there is a move to have them banned.

I just think the general public don't like them. There's a degree of

risk with them because they can fly Yours-macro in the wind and its

people and they have in the past. Election workers have been injured

putting them up and I think we should look at a different way of

doing things. But some think the UUP are playing politics. The band that

is being proposed should have been taken forward years ago, not in the

mouth of an election. The public will see it or what it is by the

Ulster Unionist Party, it's a stud. This firm, which employs around 40

people, Prince most of Northern Ireland's election posters and its

vital business. It's a portion of turnover we wouldn't want to lose,

we have developed good relationships with all the parties in Northern

Ireland so we'd like to be rewarded for that and maintain it in the

future. And everybody here is involved in that process.

Absolutely, from the people in the design studio, right through the

printers and guys back in the posters. On last night's The View

programme Martin McGuinness dismissed the idea of a voluntary

poster banned. The chances of that happening are zero. The chances of

other parties agreeing with that are zero. Others say the only way to

change the problem of posters is legislation. People simply won't

sign up because they recognise that election posters raise people's

recognition. So what has to happen? It has to be a ban, with

legislation. The SDLP say the proposals are worth examining and

they will take a full part in discussions. So are any of these

heading for the dangerous species list? It now seems very unlikely a

deal will be struck before May's assembly election. So once again,

our politicians will look down on us as they try to top the pole. Still

to come on the programme. Safely back on level ground -

after last night's storm gave Bumper A new study of almost 2000 primary

school children suggests those from disadvantaged backgrounds

struggle with reading Our education correspondent

Robbie Meredith has been to one school which has brought in parents

to help tackle the problem. Pants and knickers save mankind, not

just underwear! These children at Black Mountain Primary School in

west Belfast have some very special teachers. Their mums! We have this

book at home as well so we will sit and read if we have five minutes

before bed. He will do that as well, but he knows he's done it in school

that day. We spend time, reading. Parents are encouraged to come into

the school and help their children. They even have their own room. I

never read. I didn't read books. Now I can't wait to buy a new book and

read a new book, so his reading has improved and he gets more enjoyment

out of it because it is me and him, quality time with mummy. The

school's principles says the initiative has strengthened

relationships between teachers and parents and improved reading test

results. Even children who started off very weak, we have found they

have moved considerably, which we wouldn't expect, so we have very

high expectations here and we have exceeded the expectations with

parents being involved. One of the organisations behind the study once

more investment in early years education and more schemes like

this. We have measured language at age three and language attainment at

five, and what we find is children from the most deprived backgrounds

are well below the average attainment in language are aged

five. We have been working with Black Mountain Primary School four

fifths years. The changes we have seen are extraordinary. Study after

study has shown many children from disadvantaged areas struggle at

school. What Black Mountain shows that parent power may be one of the

key ways to change that. Now to a "hare" raising adventure

for a pet rabbit in Omagh. Bumper the bunny was in his

enclosure when it was blown onto the roof of a care home

during last night's storm. Firefighters equipped with a ladder

and somewhat unusually, Our south west reporter

Julian Fowler has the story. What is up, Doc? Bumper the bunny

has become something of a sensation after his airborne antics. He

normally has his four paws firmly on the ground at Woodbank House, a care

home for adults with mental health issues, but high winds from Storm

Gertrude lifted his enclosure into the air, leaving him stranded on the

roof, which came as something of a shock to Frank Bradley, who feeds

and cares for Bumper. I was looking down here, I looked around. It was

halfway up the roof as well. When the fire brigade was called at first

they thought it was a hoax, but when a crew from Bravo Watch in Omagh

arrived they saw Bumper's predicament. After a bit of and

coaxing with the help of a carrot he was caught and brought to safety.

The fear was that if we didn't do something a member of the public

might have done something dangerous, so the guys were able to use a short

extension ladder and an outreach pole and coached the rabbit down.

The residents of Woodbank House are grateful for the rabbit rescue. We

thank them, if we lost any of them it would be like losing a member of

the family. Basically what we all are here is a family, in Woodbank

House. Now Bumper and his friend Thumper has been getting 20 of

attention, and been given new nicknames, Hurricane and Gertrude,

but they will be hoping that flying days are over! All is well that ends

well. And if you want to see

Bumper the bunny again, just check out BBC

Newsline's Facebook page. Gavin's here with the sport -

and an Irish international returns to the Ulster rugby team ahead

of their trip to Italy. Stuart Olding will make his first

appearance for Ulster The centre has been named

in the starting fifteen for the Pro The 22-year-old Ireland

international has missed most of the last two seasons

with serious knee injuries. Stuart Olding has had a lot of time

to stop and think in his short professional career. Latch -- last

March, just two minutes into his comeback game, he seriously damaged

his knee. The young centre left the field on a stretcher, facing surgery

and another long spell on the sidelines. Ten months later and he

is back. Making a scoring return for the Ulster a team last weekend. It's

a massive relief to get back out. It was ten months, all the hard work

paid off. It was tough enough. I had great support from the staff and the

physios and coaches, I knew had that backing behind me and I'd come back

a better player. He's due back in the fold, I know for him he is

pleased he has got through his first game and I wish him luck going

forward in terms of his injuries. I think he is over it now and we are

looking forward to a good finish for the year for him. And Stuart Olding

can hit the ground running -- running in the coming weeks. The

lads are in the six Nations, it gives me a chance and I will put my

hand up for selection and get behind the rest of the guys who are playing

unbelievably well. Just to get in there and put my hand up. And where

better to start than away in Treviso against a side who have lost 25

games in a row? In Gaelic football the Allianz

Leagues start this weekend. Most of the games take place

on Sunday - but the action begins in Newry as Donegal travel

to Down in Division One. There's a theory out there. If you

want to win the All Ireland you have to be playing in division one. Since

the league was restructured back in 2008, all the sides who collected

Sam Maguire have finished in the top six of the league. If you go by

statistics that's the way to look it but on a personal front for Donegal

you want to play the top teams in the country, the eight teams that

are in division one at the minute, you have the top eight teams and you

are putting your wits against the best out there and you will

challenge yourself every week and the team that comes out of the

National Football League with better form behind them cease to do well in

the provisional Championships. -- seems to do well. One side hoping to

do that is Down, division one new boys in 2016. It's massive, if you

are playing division one football it's a steep learning curve,

especially for the younger lads coming in. You are playing against

the cream of the crop. A lot of people were tipping is to get

relegated to division three last year so a surprise for what are the

people that we got into division one. I'm sure at the same time a lot

of people are probably thinking we will slip back down into two, so

it's a massive challenge to stay in the division but there are great

games to look forward to. It starts with Donegal awaited Down this

Saturday. And there'll be live coverage

of the games on Saturday and Sunday Warrenpoint Town are

on an impressive unbeaten run, which has tightened up

the relegation battle at the foot And a win tomorrow at Dungannon

could take them off the bottom Over the past few weeks Warrenpoint

Town have taken great strides in their battle to avoid relegation. An

unbeaten run of six games has dragged them closer to safety.

Everyone has written is off, some might even say we wrote ourselves

off at times in the bad weeks but it certainly is the label of the great

escape, there's a long way to go yet. I don't think we have earned

the right to be talking about safety, because at this minute in

time we are still there. If we pull it off, full credit to the players

because they keep going and it's them that have turned it around.

Warrenpoint's next three games are against the sides immediately above

them in the premiership. They face Dungannon on Saturday. These are the

important fixtures coming in now, you are picking up points and taking

teams off those around you. We need to play professionally and get

everyone in the right frame of mind going into the games. If they

continue on their run premiership survival will be the prize at the

end of the season. Final Score will have all the goals

- that's BBC One tomorrow And at the same time over on BBC Two

it's Treviso v Ulster. Now we have the weather. We had the

wind and now we Now we have the weather. We had the

wind and now we are expecting snow? It's getting colder in the wake of

Storm Gertrude, which has caused disruption, power supplies, trees

down and even the odd flying bunny! Quite widely we had gusts of 60-70

miles an hour. The highest, 85 miles an hour. The winds have come down a

little bit since then but there are noteworthy through the next 24

hours, 50-60 miles an hour could be disruptive, and on top of that

combines we have snow and ice. Through this evening we start of the

transition to the really cold air. Most of this is initially showery

rain as sad -- but as the temperatures start of all we get

snow on the hills. It's in behind the band of rain but temperatures

tumble. Really cold air coming in. Frequent showers across Northern

Ireland, and they will fall to low levels, a few centimetres likely in

places and becoming quite icy. Given the gusty winds if you're up on the

hints that -- if you're up on the hills there could be many blizzard

conditions. Into the weekend, a bitterly cold start, some snow

showers around. Throughout the weekend it will feel cold but it

will turn to -- it will try to turn milder on Sunday but it will be a

slow process. Strong, gusty winds are with us tomorrow, sleet and snow

showers. Quite a few others will wake to a covering of snow and with

further sleet and snow showers falling through the date it adds to

what is already there. We will find the showers more frequent across

northern and western parts, but the winds are strong enough to bring

showers further inland and towards the south and east. There will be

sunshine in between, but winter sunshine, not warm at all.

Temperatures at best around three degrees. There will be a distinct

wind chill. Through tomorrow evening and tomorrow night the winds start

to ease down for a time but is still cold. There will be icy patches,

further showers of sleet and snow. Sunday morning, a cold, damp start,

a mixture of rain, sleet and snow by that stage. Through the day most of

it will be turning to rain as the temperatures come up. It is a slow

process and the winds eventually pick up and that is ahead of what

could potentially be another stormy spell as we go into Monday. It looks

like a cold one. Our late summary is at 10:30pm.You

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