14/09/2016 BBC Newsline

Hello and welcome to BBC Newsline. for us with the latest

A paediatric pathologist has resigned over interventions

by Northern Ireland's Attorney General on abortion laws surrounding

Dr Caroline Gannon investigated the deaths of babies -

including those in the womb or stillbirths.

She said the final straw was having to advise a couple to use a picnic

cooler bag to return their baby's remains here following

Here's our Health Correspondent Marie-Louise Connolly.

Doctor Caroline Gannon's job involves investigating

She can also carry out postmortem examinations after an abortion.

However, abortion on the grounds of fatal foetal abnormality

She says some couples who have travelled

to England for termination after a diagnosis can face problems

bringing remains home for a postmortem.

One K is involved in advising a couple to use a cooler bag stuffed

with ice packs. If this has happened

in Northern Ireland, there would be hospital processes

in place, where someone else would be able to bring the body

to the mortuary to ensure But they were on their own,

they had to transport their own baby's body back in a picnic cooler

in the boot of the car I can't see how that

is compassionate care. Doctor Gannon says she feels

the role of the pathologist is under greater scrutiny because of legal

interventions by the I think he was the tipping point,

the Attorney General, he has made my professional life

here untenable and I do not consider that I can work under those

guidelines and rulings any longer. In a statement to the BBC, the

Attorney General said... He added

there is no clinical definition of the term fatal

foetal abnormality. Dr Gannon says parents never should

have been placed in a position a cooler to transport

the remains of their baby Imagine, we were talking

about places to buy a cooler from. The father of the young woman who

had the abortion broke his silence. I see nothing wrong

at all with what we did. It's the most humane thing one

could do for one's daughter, to try and end the type of pain

she is suffering. We pray everyday she will have

the child she longs for. The last thing she would ever do

would be end the life of the child if there was any other alternative.

The BBC understands other couples have used various modes

of transport, including a parcel courier company to carry

Prison officers at Maghaberry have been criticised for not intervening

as they watched a young mentally-ill prisoner blind himself in his cell.

The family of Sean Lynch have spoken of their devastation

about the incident, which happened two years ago.

An investigation by the Prisoner Ombudsman recommended sixty-three

changes to ensure a similar incident never happens again.

Sean Lynch was a promising young footballer but his career was ruined

He's now blind after self harming in Maghaberry jail.

On the night he blinded himself, several prison officers

were checking on him but didn't take any immediate action.

The family of Sean Lynch said he has paid the price

It is heart-wrenching to think these people could watch Sean for that

length of time and let him do that to himself and not intervene.

He cried for help, they watched him, they went to the door,

they looked through it and not one of them thought

Today's report by the Prison Ombudsman criticises the prison

The reports says "It seems remarkable that several experienced

officers felt it was neither necessary nor appropriate

to enter his cell to prevent Mr Lynch from self-harming further."

The report says they didn't not realise the seriousness

And they feared he would attack them and take the prison keys off them.

He had attacked a prison officer two days previously.

But the Prisoner Ombudsman wasn't convinced.

He said the officers' "duty of care was trumped by security concerns

that appear to have had little basis in reality."

The report lists a series of changes that are needed

There are 63 recommendations for improvement.

He's never going to see his niece and nephew again.

It has been two years since he's seen them and they've grown

Every time I look at him, my heart breaks.

The family say that lessons must be learned from this case.

The family of 25-year-old Sean Lynch say his life will never be

the same again and for that, they blame the prison service.

Well, earlier I spoke to the director general

of the prison service, Sue McAllister, and I asked her why

prison staff had not intervened to stop Sean Lynch harming himself.

None of us were there on that day, on that landing at the end

of a period of days in which Sean Lynch had behaved

violently and threatened staff, demonstrated an intention to run out

What I would say is that our staff exercise their judgment at that time

on that day and it is easy for us with the benefit of hindsight to say

what they could or should have done was different to

But they found those security concerns had little basis

in reality and his condition was beyond what officers

That is absolutely not something for me to comment on,

whether someone should be in prison or not is not a matter for me.

Is he not the perfect example of somebody, a mentally-ill

prisoner who should not be in prison and at the very least

if the only thing at your disposal there is the hospital prison, why

It didn't come out of the blue, he was behaving erratically.

Why was he not in the hospital in the prison?

You mention two things, should he have been

But you are the chief executive, your institutional responsibility

If you were the parent, wife or mother of this young man

would you not have wanted the prison service to keep him safe and prevent

We have no control over who comes to our gates,

There are no prison hospitals nowadays, health care in

prison is provided by the Southeastern Health

and their ability to provide inpatient care inside

They do not have the resources to do that.

They actually give prisoners as patients the equivalent level

of health care they would receive in the community.

The Irish government is to order an inquiry

into the controversial ?1.2 billion sale of Northern Ireland

The deal is already being investigated by the Uk's

National Crime Agency, amid a series of allegations

The announcement came as the Republic's public spending

watchdog, the Controller and Auditor General,

found that NAMA failed to get proper value for the Northern

It said this may have resulted in a loss to the Irish

NAMA has said that it categorically rejects the Auditor's findings.

Several people here have been diagnosed

The infection - which is spread primarily by mosquito -

has been linked to thousands of babies being born

It's understood one person was treated as recently

Those infected are believed to have travelled outside

The Department for Infrastructure has revealed details of a major plan

for new greenways and towpaths across Northern Ireland.

Over 1,000 kilometres could be developed for leisure activities

such as cycling, walking, and jogging.

Greenways and tow path thorough feature of daily life in some areas

will stop their popularity growing. From early morning until late in the

evening the roots are busy. If you still on splendid days of sunshine

like this will stop there are ongoing problems, supply and demand.

In Belfast, tow path and greenways are only found in part of the city

and across Northern Ireland, they are very scarce. There is new a new

plan from Stormont. The plan is about joining these bits together

into a primary network of around 450 kilometres. The plan also will

propose a secondary network of about 600: it is bringing greenways close

to all areas of Northern Ireland. The campaign group leaves that plan

Mitch is its vision to change the landscape of greenways. -- matches.

There's about 600 miles off this use ways and canals and it is a great

opportunity to open these others greenways. Those who use the

existing greenways are enthusiastic. It keeps people off the road,. The

more the merrier. The full details will be released in a few weeks and

then we will know how long it will take and how much of a cost.

The weather forecast now, with Geoff Maskell.

Hello, good evening. It has been a beautiful day today and another day

of mild temperatures to come tomorrow. Although with a different

feel. Tonight, guys cladding over and that will hold the temperatures

well into mid-teens as we go through the night. -- the clouding over.

Tomorrow, that cloud stays with us. While temperatures are similar to

today, the feel of the day will be quite different. Cloud sitting over

us in a bit of a blanket, a grave feel and with it comes the risk of

some patchy and light rain. Rain won't amount to much in terms of

rain hitting the ground but certainly giving a damp fields of

the day. It will eventually clear out and we move into some cooler air

on Thursday night and into Friday morning. There are a couple of

weather fronts sitting over Ireland as we go through the day tomorrow,

that will hold the cloud above us. In front of it, we have warm

temperatures across parts of Great Britain, up to 30 degrees. That will

be enough to set off some sharp showers. Weather warnings in place

because of potential heavy thundery downpours. Then we have brighter,

cooler air, temperatures down on the values we have been used to. Still

very respectable for the time of year and staying pretty good all the

way through to the weekend. Our next BBC Newsline is at 6.25am

during Breakfast here on BBC One. You can also keep updated with

News Online.