20/12/2016 Look East

Hello and welcome to the Look East late news.

A coroner records a verdict of unlawful killing

Detectives say they haven't given up the search for his killer.

Described as a gradual lightening of the load,

the Queen hands over her honorary roles

at some charities, including one in Newmarket.

And a man of many talents, broadcasting legend

Clive James talks to us about his illness,

An inquest into the death of a notorious Essex criminal

has returned a verdict of unlawful killing.

John Palmer, who was nicknamed Goldfinger, was shot six times

at close range in his garden in South Weald.

Detectives say the killing had all the hallmarks of a professional

hit and are continuing to search for the killer.

Our Essex reporter Gareth George was at today's inquest.

John Palmer, AKA Goldfinger, he got the nickname admidst rumours he had

melted down old bullion from the Brink's-Mat heist in 1983.

But speaking to reporters at the time in

Tenerife, where he was operating a time-share scam, he denied having

I am completely innocent of any thing to

do with this so-called Mat-Brink bullion raid.

In June last year, shortly after the CCTV

pictures were taken, Palmer was

shot six times at his home near Brentwood in Essex.

For days, police didn't realise he had been murdered,

thinking he had died as a result of gall bladder surgery

A mistake they have since apologised for.

Today, an inquest into his death was held here in

The coroner, Caroline Beasley-Murray,

concluded that he had been unlawfully killed.

There was only member of John Palmer's family

present at the inquest and that was a man called Ashley Thilthorpe.

He is the partner of John Palmer's daughter

and he is seen here on the

right leaving the hearing with Detective Chief Inspector Stephen

DCI Jennings gave evidence and said the murder investigation is

One problem detectives have is the sheer number of people who

might have had a motive to kill Palmer.

In relation to his fraud conviction in 2001, there were

listed anything up to or above 16,000 victims.

Again, there could be 16,000 motives as to why he was

And then, of course, his criminality involving

a number of the people involved in that, subsequent

place have now been either killed or have died.

So, again, that was very much in consideration.

Police say someone involved in the criminal

underworld knows who killed John Palmer and after today's inquest,

officers renewed their appeal for anyone with information

The wife of a man from Suffolk who went missing in France

this summer says the thought of Christmas without him is agony.

David Wood, who's from Woodbridge, disappeared in August

while walking in the French Alps near the couple's holiday home.

For Valerie Armstrong, the past four and half months have been

Unable to face Christmas at home, she's staying

We have nothing, we don't know if we're grieving.

There are four stages of grief, we go through every stage

and back again and back again and back again.

David Wood went missing on August the 2nd

while walking on a path between the villages of Marie

and Clans, a distance of six kilometres.

An exhaustive search over ten days found nothing.

He was last seen by a couple heading the wrong way.

Dave was going very fast towards Clans, the wrong way.

He stopped this couple and said, in French,

"Could you tell me the way to Marie?"

Because he knew, he knew the way to Marie.

A Facebook page has had a huge response.

She says officers from Suffolk Police have

David's dental records and fingerprints

and are working with French investigators.

There are plans to contact his Californian-based employer

Meanwhile, the couple's friends in France are distraught.

They're very kind people and this is hurting them all and the

The police in France have been good, very good.

I hope the New Year will bring some closure,

You know, we love him so much and we miss him so much

It's been announced today that the Queen is stepping down

as patron of more than 20 organisations, including the Animal

It's being described as a "gradual lightening of the load"

for the monarch who is, of course, now 90.

The news comes as the Queen prepares for her Christmas holiday

at the Royal estate in Sandringham from where Mousumi Bakshi reports.

It's been a momentous year for many reasons,

not least because of the

It has been a year of parties and pageant

that will surely be reflected upon when the Queen arrives

here for her annual Christmas break in Sandringham.

In October, she became the world's longest

But today perhaps a sign of the Queen stepping back.

It is an association that has spanned almost 60 years but at

the end of the year, the Queen will stand

down as the patron of the Animal Health Trust near Newmarket.

It is renowned for its work fighting disease and injury in animals.

It was in urgent need of renovation...

Her daughter, the Princess Royal, is still president and continues to

The trust says it will discuss the patronage with her

As her 90th year ends, the Queen is keen to cut

A patron of more than 600 bodies, she will

This is all part of the gradual lightening of the load for the Queen

to give her a workload which, as officials will say, is more

appropriate to someone who is 90 years old.

The Queen will also hand over her patronage of the Wildfowl and

Wetlands Trust in Welney, famous for the annual swan migration.

She will be continuing to support the

Sandringham Flower Show alongside her

son, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall.

Well, reaction tonight from the Animal Health Trust

in a statement publicly thanked the Queen for her dedicated support

is the current president of the charity, is likely to become its

patron and suggestions tonight that Prince Charles will be the new

patron of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust.

Mousumi Bakshi, BBC Look East, Sandringham.

Six years ago, the writer and broadcaster Clive James

was diagnosed with leukaemia, kidney failure and lung disease.

Not long after that, he told the BBC he was nearing the end.

Then, last summer, he said he was slightly embarrassed

He's been receiving treatment at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.

Today he talked to us about his illness, his career

At home in Cambridge today, Clive James surrounded by books.

His volumes of autobiography, novels,

travel writing and poetry has secured his reputation as a major

I have got a few books done in the last few years

First of all, I didn't expect to live to write

them and second, I never expected to finish them.

And if you read the last chapter in each of them, you

He has continued to write ever since he was diagnosed

He says he is not in pain and praises

the care he receives at Addenbrooke's Hospital.

New drugs were invented and I'm testing them

I go to Addenbrooke's, the hospital here, all the time and

there's a lot of people there who aren't going

to come home who are in

It is a reminder that I have actually had it lucky.

But it was talent rather than luck that earned him the title

Clive James came to England in the 1960s, he went to

Cambridge University and then became an award-winning TV critic

A medium that couldn't get enough of him in front of the camera.

He is a curious mixture, journalist, poet, critic, lyricist

he was once dubbed, and he's still blushing,

Shooting from the lip, he was the perfect guest on dozens of

Here he is on Did You See in the mid-80s, the subject,

I want to turn the show on to get something unique

I won't turn it on at night to see, say, some American

who is starring in the London production of 42nd St singing

Lullaby Of Broadway out of tempo before segueing into a clog dance.

As a lyricist, Clive James has worked extensively down the years

There's quite a good chance now, actually,

as I drop off the twig, as we say in Australia,

If you look up Pete Atkin, you find him

singing our songs, pages and pages of them.

It is a terrific reservoir of what we have done, I'm so thrilled

Now though, it is the writing that takes centre stage.

That's all from me, coming up now, the weather with Alex.

But from the rest of the late team, goodnight.

Thank you. We're recording some pretty chilly temperatures across

the region right now, some places close to freezing. The risk of frost

but as we go through the night, increasing cloud from the west with

light and patchy rain will help you can to recover as we get to the

early hours of tomorrow morning. The wind is picking up a little bit,

breezy to the day tomorrow. This weather front close by so some early

rain to clear. It does like there will be some drier interludes

throughout the middle part of the day with some brighter spells. Quite

a brisk breeze and into the afternoon and evening, another spell

of rain expected to come through. Could be on the heavy side. Highs

around 10 Celsius. The national weather is coming up but here is the

outlook. A lovely day expected on Thursday, chilly, sunshine and

turning making a journey elsewhere in the

country it's worth knowing the national forecast. Over now to

Tomasz. So, the weather's going to blow a

few cobwebs away in the coming days and maybe a few other things, as

well. How stormy is it going to get? For most of us probably not too

terrible. It is, however, going to be very nasty across parts of

Scotland on Friday.