12/10/2016 BBC Newsline

A teenager has been describing the moment she thought an armed gang

of men were going to kill her after they broke into her home.

17-year-old Chloe Hawthorne from Markethill in County

Armagh said one of them threatened to shoot her.

She has been talking to our south-east reporter Gordon Adair.

I kept backing of and one of the boys smashed its breakthrough.

Chloe has been describing the moment she was confronted by a masked gang,

The glass was smashing. They were only interested in the car, where

with the keys to the car? The ketchup can give me the keys or I

will shoot. All I could hear in my head is just them shouting that. The

police believe this chain of events may have begun here. A house was

broken into and ransacked. Among the items taken was an illegally held

gun. It is not immediately clear what time this happened at but the

police are investigating a possible link between this break-in and the

crash just two miles away. This car was being driven by a local woman.

The Vauxhall had been stolen in Dublin, where a number of people

fled the scene. The Hawthorne home is just a few hundred yards away.

Chloe was there alone. I heard these noises and voices and they knew

someone was at the house. I grabbed my phone out of my room and I went

to the kitchen to see who was there. Originally I thought it was my uncle

grandad checking the sheep but I saw this gang coming over the back of

the hill and down the bank with a gun in their hands and putting it

straight at me and shouting at me to open the door.

Chloe accepts that putting this event behind her

You always imagine it is a nightmare.

I milk at a local farm. Even being there at work I am going to be

nervous. Anywhere on my own I will be scared encase that happens.

Hopefully it won't again but it will always be at the back of my mind.

Chloe's car was later recovered in Dublin and two arrests had been

made. And the Gardai say a juvenile has

been charged in relation to the incident, while another

teenager has been released The police are investigating

a security alert in Newtownabbey. A suspicious object has been found

at Devenish Drive in Homes have been evacuated

and roads closed. The Secretary of State has pulled

out of an event run by the DUP after it was revealed to be

a fundraiser for the party. The SDLP leader says

James Brokenshire needs to show he's not favouring the party over

any other in Northern Ireland. Here's our political correspondent

Gareth Gordon. This is the Lisbon cafe where the

secretary of state will not now be attending a DUP fundraiser later

this month. -- Lisburn. Billed as a business breakfast he was billed as

a guest speaker alongside the party leader and First Minister Arlene

Foster. All for ?30 a plate or a cable for ten at ?300. The

invitation called it an excellent opportunity to work with businesses

and elective representatives. But James Ragan -- James Brokenshire

withdrew from the event. This will have caused some embarrassment for

the Secretary of State and DUP and neither working to talk about it to

date. And NIO spokesman said only... The DUP refused to comment. Last

week the party held a champagne reception at the Conservative

Conference amid claims that the two parties have done a deal in the wake

of the Brexit vote. Critics were quick to jump on the breakfast story

of more evidence of growing ties. It is quite clear given the Tory party

Conference and champagne receptions and James Robbins are agreeing to

attend a fundraiser for that party that they seem to be working very

closely together. That is buying on one level but the British Secretary

of State and British Government should not be in the pockets of any

one party. The Secretary of State detainee the DUP MPs in what was

described as a distraught -- constructive and useful engage in.

The NIU said it was a constructive series of meetings with all the

parties represented at Westminster. A Belfast City Council committee has

voted to scrap free car parking in the city centre in the run

up to Christmas. It follows an intervention

by Translink, who said Instead, Translink has

offered to reduce fares Christmas shoppers in Belfast last

year and enjoyed an early Christmas present from the council. 1500 free

car parking spaces at night tanks and weekends. Part of efforts to

encourage people to spend their money. In the city centre. But some

said they initiative was counter-productive and lead to

increased congestion as they waited for the free spaces. This year

Translink and the Department of infrastructure of offering

alternative ideas including reduced fares and buses and trains. And

extended opening times of park-and-ride facilities. Translink

as the Belfast City Council to review the initiative and to make a

council committee voted in favour of ending the free parking. People came

in and found that they couldn't get a free parking space and even those

parking spaces were often taken up all day baby Bean became an early.

Turnover in the parking spaces was less than it previously had been. It

led to a congestion, confusion, stress. Not everyone was in

agreement. I think it doesn't encourage people to come in

particularly from far-away areas and people carrying bulky items, and a

car is much more convenient than a bus. Tonight next decision is a

recommendation. It will now have to go before the full council at a

meeting next month. Scientists have confirmed that

Mid Ulster is a hot spot for a gene that causes people to grow much

taller and larger than is usual. Stories of giants such

as Finn McCool are a feature of Irish myths and legends,

but geneticists in Belfast believe there is a genetic link

to those stories. People who carry the gene can suffer

from serious health problems, The story of the Irish giant gene

begins with the DNA of somebody Since then it has been passed down

through generations. Today it has been found

in more than 400 people, Spikes -- he was diagnosed with

gigantism. He is related to the 18th-century

giant Charles Burn. It can cause a brain tremor that

makes glands produce too The condition, if left untreated,

when we look at examples of the past, most of these

guys died in 20s, 30s. Just as a result of having

the condition. If it is left untreated. Happen.

Three years ago scientists screened almost 1000 people at Cookstown and

Dungannon. They discovered the area was a giant hotspot. One in 50

living here carry the gene compared to higher in the rest of the UK.

Many people carry the gene and never have a problem. For those who do it

can present with tall stature and people going excessively toll at a

young age. It can also cause problems with growth in the hands

and feet. It is associated to problems related to headaches

because of the growing tumour in the brain. The scientists hope that the

work will help to identify those at risk of passing the gene onto

children. The benefit of doing this is not just to reassure people have

the gene who are normal. It is to stop their children suddenly going

through a massive growth spurt, because if they see an increase in

the fight someone over a short period of one or two years, you can

put in treatments with drugs, tablets to stop it happening. As a

result of the research, the gene may be consigned to history, along with

the legends of Irish giants. It may not please the romantic in some

people, but those who are afflicted with this condition probably won't

object to the end of this condition. By raising awareness of the giant

gene, it is hoped that fewer people will suffer the consequences.

A County Antrim anaesthetist has pleaded guilty to 27

charges of making indecent photographs of children.

Piotr Dziurdzik of Meetinghouse Street in Ballymoney,

worked at the Causeway Hospital in Coleraine.

The Northern Health Trust says an interim suspension order has been

placed on the doctor's registration by the General Medical Council.

Teaching unions here have rejected a pay offer

The employers offered no cost of living rise for last year

The unions say teachers' pay in Northern Ireland is falling

behind their counterparts in England and Wales.

The largest union NASUWT says it will now consider strike action,

and from next week its members will refuse to attend meetings

This dispute has been going on for so long because of the failure of

the Department for Education to properly address the pay of teachers

in Northern Ireland. Since 2010 teachers pay in real terms as Poland

by at least 15%. This morning they really insulted the teaching

profession in Northern Ireland. They are saying this is a joke and it is

time for teachers to get together and stand up and put up a marker

with the Department for Education and minister of that teachers need

to be paid a decent wage. Looking ahead to tomorrow

night's BBC Newsline, we have the second of our reports

on mental illness in prison. Donna Traynor talks to the Governor

of Magheraberry Jail, and our Home Affairs Correspondent

Vincent Kearney hears from prisoners One tells how speaking to other

inmates helped him They see the light at the end of the

tunnel and making plans for the future. At that time I had no plans.

I more or less had no hope. That's on BBC Newsline

tomorrow at 6:30pm. The weather outlook now

with Geoff Maskell.