07/03/2014 BBC News at Ten

as devastating. With the Met facing one of the greatest ever challenges

to its authority, the man in charge promises to do better. I will

respond to the criticism, make sure we support the enquiries and provide

everything I can to get to the bottom of what is a terrible set of

events. But tonight the BBC has obtained

evidence of another possible police cover-up while Mr Hogan-Howe has

been Chief Constable, concerning an allegedly corrupt officer. We'll

bring you more on that and asking where all of this leaves the

reputation of the Metropolitan Police.

European observers are blocked again from entering Crimea, and elsewherea

tense standoff between pro-Russian forces and Ukrainian soldiers at a

missile base. The Oscar Pistorius trial - an

ex-girlfriend tells how he always carried a gun on dates.

And the Winter Paralympics begin in Sochi. All but one of Ukraine's team

stay away from the ceremony. But team GB are hoping for the first

ever gold medal. In Sportsday, Britain's former

number one tennis player Elena Baltacha reveals she has liver

cancer. Good evening and welcome to the BBC

News at Ten. The head of the Metropolitan Police

says he will ensure trust and confidence in the police is

restored. After a damning review into the Stephen Lawrence murder

investigation, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said it was "one of the

worst days" of his career. This afternoon, the head of Scotland

Yard's counter-terror unit, Commander Richard Walton, has been

temporarily moved from his post. It's been revealed Mr Walton had

contact with the undercover officer now known to have spied on the

Lawrence family after their son's death.

And tonight the BBC has obtained new evidence of a possible police

cover-up concerning an allegedly corrupt officer linked to the

Lawrence case. The documents strongly suggest Scotland Yard's

claims not to have a record of his involvement in a separate murder

case are inaccurate. Mark Easton has the story.

The worst they of my career. After not appearing in public yesterday,

this afternoon the Commissioner of the Met broke his silence about

claims of corruption and spying at the heart of the Stephen Lawrence

murder enquiry, telling me he was determined to restore public

confidence. The public deserve to know that I will do it in an open

and honest way. I will respond to the criticisms, make sure we support

the enquiries and provide everything I can to get the bottom of a

terrible set events. You are sure you are the right man to do that?

There is no one better, in my view. Yesterday, a review of the Stephen

Lawrence murder case enquiry suggested secret documents had been

shredded or kept secret and it was confirmed that the Lawrence family

had been spied on by the Met after Stephen's death. Peter Francis was

that spied, and today an officer who met in the 1990s, Richard Walton,

head of Scotland Yard's Counterterrorism Command, was moved

to a non-operational role. The review described his account of that

meeting as somewhat troubling. There are parts of that report about this

officer that have caused some concerns. He is in a very

significant position in terms of our counterterrorist response. We think

it is the best thing to do at the moment. Responding to criticism that

Scotland Yard has covered up or destroyed documents about police

corruption in the Lawrence affair, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe also

announced a team with independent oversight to ensure no relevant

material was withheld. I need to reassure myself we are making the

best search for all the information we have. It is not an easy process.

It is a big organisation and we are talking about records from 30 years

ago. Questions centre on this form are allegedly corrupt detective,

John Davidson, now living in Menorca. Did he have a criminal

relationship with Clifford Norris, a notorious underworld gangster and

father of David Norris, one of Stephen Lawrence's murderers? And

did he also had links with Daniel Morgan, a private detective murdered

in 1987, who it is thought may have been about to expose police

corruption. Yesterday's review revealed how last month Scotland

Yard said they had no record of DS Davidson being involved in the

investigation into the Morgan murder. But tonight we have obtained

this document, apparently a case file from the Morgan murder

investigation, and DS Davidson's name appears nine times. The BBC has

seen the full document, but this redacted version suggests DS

Davidson had a direct and hands-on role in the case. Political pressure

is mounting on Scotland Yard. The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson,

described it as sickening that a police officer investigating Stephen

Lawrence's murder was potentially in the pay of the family of one of the

killers. On a visit to Bedford today, the Prime Minister said a

judicial enquiry was necessary to help to restore trust. The Lawrence

family have suffered far too much but this will get to the truth and

help us make sure we have the very best in terms of British policing,

which is what the country deserves. 21 years after Stephen Lawrence was

murdered in an unprovoked racist attack in south London, the

questions about what really happened and how the police responded

continue to rock Scotland Yard. Mark Easton, BBC News.

There's been more fallout from the report today, with lawyers warning

many political activists may now appeal against their convictions due

to the involvement of undercover police in their cases. There's a

renewed focus on the activities of Scotland Yard's top secret Special

Demonstration Squad, which infiltrated protest groups for

nearly 40 years until it was disbanded six years ago. Today, two

activists from the Animal Liberation Front jailed for firebombing

department stores in the 1980's came forward to say they intend to

appeal. Our home affairs correspondent Matt Prodger has this

report. They were known as the hairy is, for

the way they mimicked the appearances of the political

activists they spied on. Officers of the SDS prided themselves on how far

they went to remain deep undercover. Environmentalist Helen Steel knows

too well. She is one of the number of women trying to sue the Met. She

says the man she loved and lived with was a police spy. If you can go

through an experience where you live with someone for two years and

thought you knew them really well, cared about them, talked about

having a family, and suddenly they don't exist, they are not who they

said they were, it is a false name and date of birth, false identity,

false politics. It is like you did not know that person at all. The Met

neither confirms nor denies identities of such officers. Another

went public after his lover discovered his betrayal. The result,

the convictions of 29 activists overturned because of the role he

played in bringing them to court. And more may come. Two animal rights

militants who placed firebombs in shops in the 1980s said they would

appeal their convictions. They allege that an SDS offers who

infiltrated the group planted a third bomb. He has denied it. A

lawyer for people targeted by police says that much has yet to revealed.

I am confident we have just seen the tip of the iceberg in terms of

miscarriages of justice. We have looked at the cases of a fewer

officers involved in a few instance -- incidents. It is clear from the

evidence that we now have that this unit was active and out of control.

The police have defended the tactics, such as officers are

assuming identities of dead children for cover stories. But the purpose

of the operations has been questioned. When undercutting police

-- undercover policing is used to target political activists,

environmental campaigners and grieving relatives of a murdered

teenager, I think they are not put their best use. Tonight, the Met

admitted it was very worried at reports that hundreds of convictions

could now be overturned. Mark Easton is with me now. Let's go

back to the document you revealed at the top of the programme, connected

with the Daniel Morgan case, a notorious case for the Metropolitan

Police, involving the murder of a private detective and accusations of

police corruption. What makes this document problematic for the

Metropolitan Police is that there was a statement only last month

saying that such a document did not exist. In other words, there was a

denial that such records existed on the watch of Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe.

That will make it even more difficult for him to convince people

that he really is the new broom that is going to clean up Scotland Yard.

And an interesting development this evening. We now know that Doreen

Lawrence, Baroness Lawrence, has written to Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe

and says in a letter, she asks him to confirm that he will be

transparent and honest in his June tea of disclosure. Nothing short of

immediate and decisive action by you will begin to help to build the

trust that is needed. That is clearly the challenge for Sir

Bernard Hogan-Howe and it seems that with almost every day that passes,

that challenge becomes even more difficult.

There has been a tense standoff tonight at a Ukrainian missile

defence base, with Ukrainian forces locked inside fearing that

pro-Russian militias were attempting an assault. And today a group of

unarmed international observers has been denied access to the Crimea for

the second day running. Our World Affairs Editor, John Simpson, has

been on the border of Crimea near the village of Chongar following

today's events. The road into Crimea. A few days ago

this was part of Ukraine. Now it is part of Russia, and you can be

arrested for filming here, so we had to do it surreptitiously. Russian

troops are everywhere. Some are digging trenches to stop Ukraine's

army trying to get Crimea back. This is the kind of thing the observers

want to see. They tried to enter Crimea yesterday and were stopped.

They are trying again today. As I walked towards the border check

point, I could see the buses with the observers in them, stopped on

the far side of the border. But it is too tricky for our cameraman to

be able to zoom in on them. But these soldiers... The man in charge

of the pro-Russian volunteers who have been drafted in as back-up for

the Russian soldiers is distinctly wary of our camera. There is not

much chance of the buses being allowed into Crimea. But there is a

group of demonstrators waiting at the border post, equipped with

banners and staves, just in case they do come through. The stand-off

lasts an hour, and we cannot stay any more. That is the ridge where

the border is. We have driven away from it because they are so paranoid

about cameras there. It does look as though the OSCE buses are being

stopped and went to be allowed through, which is going to cause

another diplomatic problem for everybody concerned. The other side

of the border, the OSCE monitors were able to take their own pictures

of the Russian soldiers who stopped them. They will try again to get

through tomorrow, but it won't happen without Moscow's say so. The

arrival of so many armed, uniformed Russians here has brought heightened

violence to Crimea. These CCTV pictures from yesterday show some

thugs stealing equipment from a pro-Ukrainian TV station and loading

it into a van. Then they spot a man across the road taking photos of

them. They run over, grabbed him, and one of them threatens to shoot

him. It is ugly and worrying. Tonight, in Sevastopol, another

group of masked Russian soldiers attempted to take over this

Ukrainian missile defence base. The sense of violence and menace is

growing here. Meanwhile, Moscow has rejected pleas

from the White House to negotiate with the new government in Ukraine.

This evening the Kremlin said it hoped there would be no renewal of

the Cold War, despite the disagreements between Russia and the

West. At the opening of the Paralympic Games in Sochi today, the

Ukrainian team was represented by a single athlete carrying the flag.

The rest of the team stayed away in protest. From Moscow, here's our

correspondent Steve Rosenberg. At a Russian Olympics, it feels like

sport and politics are never far apart. In Sochi, Russia's Paralympic

team walked out to a song entitled Goodbye, America. Minutes later came

the Ukrainian team, or rather, just one member of it. Ukraine's other

Olympians had refused to parade in protest at Moscow's military

intervention in their country. Crimea has already cast a shadow

over these Olympics. But these are no games. America has sent six F-15

fighter jets from RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk to the Baltic to boost air

patrols there. It is a show of strength on Russia's doorstep, part

of the response of the West to the actions of Russia in the Ukraine.

Western leaders have accused Russia of invading the Crimea. Washington

has threatened to freeze the assets of Russian officials and to impose

travel bans. The Kremlin's response to that is that sanctions will hope

the West just as much as it will hurt them. So far, Moscow is

refusing to back down. On Russian TV today, Vladimir Putin's spokesman

went on the offensive, accusing the west of cynicism and double

standards over Ukraine. Ethnic Russians there, he said, were in

mortal danger. Russia cannot remain indifferent. Which is why Moscow is

embracing these MPs from Crimea, who want their peninsular to break away

from Ukraine. Today, the head of the upper house of parliament in Russia

told them that if Crimea votes to join Russia, the Russian parliament

will support that. And to show that the Russian people would, too, rally

was organised in red Square. Everybody was expect -- everybody we

spoke to was excited that the Crimea might become part of their country

once again. Historically, Crimea was always our land, says this lady. We

want to be together again. What is more, criticism from Kiev and

threats of sanctions from the West, well, they just seem to fuel the

partridges. Birmingham City Council has

confirmed that it is investigating an alleged plot to replace head

teachers with those willing to run schools "on Islamic principles". A

leaked letter detailing the plan, known as Operation Trojan Horse,

claims up to four schools in the city have already been taken over.

It's not known if the letter is genuine or a hoax. It appears to

have been written by someone in Birmingham to a contact in Bradford

and claims that struggling schools are "easy to disrupt".

A former girlfriend of the South African athlete Oscar Pistorius has

told his murder trial he always carried a gun on their dates and

once fired it through the sun roof of his car after he was stopped by

the police. Oscar Pistorius admits shooting his girlfriend, Reeva

Steenkamp, but says he mistook her for an intruder. From the High Court

in Pretoria, our Africa correspondent, Andrew Harding,

reports. It has been a bruising week for him

in court. Once South Africa's golden boy, now, under the harshest

spotlight. Today, his ex-girlfriend Dave Oscar Pistorius a character

reference he will not thank her for. Often in tears but not shown on

camera, Samantha Taylor told the court her old boyfriend was

unfaithful, often angry and always armed. He was angry at the police

after being stopped. Thereafter, when they wanted to fire a shot,

they found it funny. She described a 2012 incident, reconstructed here,

when Pistorius fired his pistol through a sunroof after being pulled

over with another friend for speeding. Just metres away from her

in court, the story is quietly took notes and hit his emotions. His

family were watching from the bench behind. Pistorius began dating Reeva

Steenkamp as he was breaking up with some answer. This is where he lived,

and where neighbours now say they heard a woman scream before hearing

gunshots, suggesting the new couple were Rowling. The defence insists

that was actually Pistorius, high-pitched and in anguished. If he

is really anxious, he sounds like a woman? That is not true, he sounds

like a man. She also raised some questions about his routine at home

in his bedroom, but Jens that the prosecution will say show the

athlete was lying about why he killed Reeva Steenkamp. This witness

spoke to him by phone just after the gunshots. He suggested Pistorius had

sought to mislead him. And so, the end of week one. Some tantalising

details, but many more unanswered questions.

Many British aid projects in Afghanistan are over-ambitious and

may fail to survive the withdrawal of international forces, according

to an independent report for the Department for International

Development. It says some projects have had a positive impact, but in

future there should be a simpler focus, on reducing poverty. The UK

gives around ?190 million each year to Afghanistan. Around a third is

spent supporting economic growth. The report says those projects

perform "relatively poorly". And it questions rural development efforts

to cut opium production, saying there is "no evidence of long-term

sustainable change". Our correspondent Karen Allen reports

from Herat in western Afghanistan, on the future of the aid programme.

How much impact does British aid have in Afghanistan, and what

future, after this critical year? Mine clearance by this charity is

making a major difference in Afghanistan, according to monitors.

15% of its budget comes from British aid. It is not simply saving lives,

but it is also transforming the farming community. We now have

work, he says. We can provide the basics of life and send our it feels

incredible that less than a year ago, it would have been impossible

to walk through this field because it was so heavily mined, many of

them dating back to the Soviet era. I have now been cleared, the land

has been returned to the local community, which has helped to boost

Afghanistan's shattered economy. But now, a warning, that some aid

initiatives elsewhere have been less successful, too ambitious, and

lacking in focus. Millions has been pumped into helping women in

Afghanistan like this clothing business. Although thousands of

Afghan women have been turned into successful entrepreneurs,

independent monitors say the UK should focus on the simple goal of

alleviating poverty, not transforming the economy, especially

with the so uncertain. I asked this lady if she worried this project

might not survive. It is in God 's hands, she says. But even if we have

to work from home, we can still be productive. Britain has a history of

misguided ventures in Afghanistan, and that is why warning signs are

going up now. The Ministry of Defence land to boost power from

this down, but it ended in lives lost after it was sabotaged by the

Taliban. The trust has convinced the aid watchdog that it can survive

here long term. That means British taxpayers digging deep into their

pockets after foreign troops packed up and go. There is a concern within

the development community here that the funding is going to start drying

up. But at our trust, we have worked here for many years, through the

good times and the bad. We believe that post-2014, we will just

continue with what we are doing. Britain has committed billions to

help grow a future Afghanistan. But with foreign troops leaving in less

than a year's time it is far from clear which aid projects can

survive. Lawyers walked out of court across

England and Wales today testing against planned cuts in the legal

aid budget. The Government says the legal aid system is one of the most

expensive in the world, and costs need to be reduced.

Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood has urged voters to reject what she

calls the "damaging Europhobia" peddled by UKIP in May's European

election. Ms Wood has told Plaid's spring conference in Cardiff that

only her party could "further the Welsh national interest at the heart

of Europe". She added Plaid was a "socially progressive voice over the

din of despair". The owner of Birmingham City

football club has been jailed for six years for laundering more than

?55 million. A former hairdresser turned tycoon was found guilty of

five counts of money-laundering over a six-year period by a court in Hong

Kong. He stepped down as chairman of Birmingham City last month.

Despite the crisis in Ukraine, Russia's President Putin welcomed

the sporting world back to Sochi today, with a spectacular ceremony

for the start of the Winter Paralympics. 547 athletes from 45

countries will compete in the Games. There are 72 gold medals up for

grabs in five sports over ten days. Britain have sent a 15-strong team

to Sochi as they attempt to win their first Winter Paralympic gold

medal. Joe Wilson reports. Britain's winter Paralympians did

not choose the host city. They were not responsible for Britain's absent

dignitaries at the opening ceremony. This was their opportunity. The

visually impaired skier, Millie Knight, carried the flag. She is 15.

About an hour before, I was not nervous, I was excited. And then the

moment we were about to walk on, I was so nervous. Britain's official

target at Sochi is at least two medals. Britain has never won gold

at the Winter Paralympics. These skiers may have the best chance.

Then of course, there is curling, a mixed sport, and Britain's Aileen

Neilson is the only female captain in Sochi. In total, it is the

biggest ever Winter Paralympics, and the head of the Paralympics raised

the attitude of Russia in staging the event, which, he reminded the

world, is about sport. Athletes and officials from a record 45 national

Paralympic midis, welcome to the games. -- Paralympic committees. It

is a Games where sport must be the winner. Amongst the imagery in the

opening ceremony, an icebreaker, slowly symbolising movements

somewhere. There was also plenty of ballet, with subtle arrangements and

formations. But the boldest arrival belonged to the American team. They

made their presence as visible as possible.

That's all from us, don't forget - there is a first look at the papers

over on the BBC News Channel, but now on BBC One, it's time for the

news where you are.