22/08/2012 BBC News at One

Tony Nicklinson, the man with locked-in syndrome who fought for

the right for doctors to legally end his life, has died. His family

says he died peacefully at home of natural causes. Wiltshire police

will not be investigating further. After Tony received the judgment on

12th August, the fight seemed to go out of him. He said he was

heartbroken by the High Court's decision he could not end his life.

Essex police is accused of taking inadequate action against a man who

went on to murder his ex-partner and her two-year-old daughter.

The best as an Asil Nadir is found guilty of stealing over �28 million

from his Polly Peck empire over 20 years ago.

The British girl who drowned in Portugal is rain -- named as Lara

Louis, her 66 year-old grandfather also died.

Planes are late on the highest peaks of Wales, Scotland, England

and Northern Ireland. With Paralympic tickets in high

demand, the police warn of buying from a ticket touts. And why your

chances of dying from a heart attack in London and being rescued

Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC News at One. Tony Nicklinson,

the man with locked-in syndrome, who fought for the right for

doctors to legally end his life has died. His lawyers said he died of

natural causes at 10am this morning at his family home in Trowbridge.

After losing his legal challenge last Thursday, he said he was

devastated and described his life as a living nightmare. Wiltshire

police said they would not be investigating his death and his

death certificate had been signed by a doctor.

Tony Nicklinson said his life became a living nightmare after he

was struck down by a catastrophic stroke during a business trip to

Athens in 2005. Paralysed from the neck down he could only communicate

by blinking and through the use of computer software. Over the past

few years he has been caning for the right for doctors to end his

life, challenging the law in England and Wales. Last week he

lost a High Court case that would have allowed someone to administer

like ending drugs. The decision left him devastated. It is not

entirely unexpected. Judges, like politicians, have avoided

confronting the real issues. Everyone accepted this was a deeply

moving case, but the judges ruled that to allow him to die as he

wished would have involved a major change in the law. For his family

the judgment was deeply disappointing. A as you can see it

from his reaction he is heartbroken. We always knew it was a big ask,

but we have always hoped the judges would see sense and quite plainly

they have not. Until seven years ago Tony was an active and outgoing

man, but the stroke left him totally dependent on carers. This

morning the family tweeted that their dad died of natural causes

and quoted his own words, could buy world, the time has come, I have

had fun. They thanked all who had supported him. After Tony received

the draft judgment on 12th August, the fight seemed to go out of him.

He said he was heartbroken by the High Court's decision he could not

end his life at the time of his choosing with the help of a doctor.

The case posed difficult legal and ethical dilemmas, but at its heart

was a 58 year-old man who was cruelly struck down in what should

have been the prime of his life. Tony Nicklinson who died at his

home this morning. Essex Police has been severely

criticised for failings in the way it handled the case of a woman he

was shot dead by her partner along with her two-year-old daughter. The

police watchdog said that force had failed to notice a pattern of

incidents reported by Christine Chambers leading up to her death

will stop David Oakes was jailed for the murders earlier this year.

Christine Chambers and her two- year-old daughter Shania, shot dead

in their home by a former partner and father. It was David Oakes who

later stood trial for their murders, still bearing the sky where he

turned the gun on himself. There had been 16 incidents of domestic

abuse in the years before the murders. One witness saw him drag

Christine down the street by her hair. There was a custody battle

over Shania and a court order in place against David Oakes, but the

IPCC found Essex police lacking. Among the criticisms of the report

says the police failed to recognise the pattern and escalation of

violence. Information was not shared or acted upon and domestic

abuse teams were poorly resourced. The incidents that were dealt with

were individual ones and the big picture was not looked at.

Information that was available that was being used up for the county

court proceedings for a child custody were not available to the

place and that would have help them to see what a higher risk situation

it was. Christine Chambers' father Ken it said in a statement the

police should have done more to protect Christian. She should have

had a panic alarm installed at her home, he said, and we think that

officers dealing with ongoing incident should have been more

aware of their history. Essex Police has apologised for its

failing and has said domestic abuse was a blight on society. India

Christian and Shania died it received a 32,000 reports of

domestic abuse across the county to which it devoted a quarter of its

entire resources. The former tycoon Asil Nadir has

been found guilty of a further seven counts of theft from his

Polly Peck business empire. The jury had already convicted him on

three charges earlier in the week. They found he had taken more than

�28 million from the company. Our correspondent was in court and

joins us now. Asil Nadir stood in the dock are

completely impassive as the jury delivered its verdicts on those

nine remaining counts, finding him guilty on seven and not guilty on

two. He has been found guilty of stealing the vast majority of �34

million that he was accused of taking from Polly Peck

International, the business conglomerate he built up. The judge

thanked the cheery for their stamina in a gruelling seven-month

trial. What is certain for Asil Nadir today marks a spectacular

fall from grace. He was the successful millionaire

businessman whose Polly Peck empire was brought crashing down by an

investigation that has taken over 20 years to complete. The Serious

Fraud Office's long pursuit of Asil Nadir has finally been vindicated.

Shareholders, individuals and corporate lost a huge amount of

money and people lost their jobs as well. As far as the reputation of

London is concerned as a financial centre, if that sort of thing is

able to occur, it damages our reputation. For two decades he

remained defiant. Did you steal that money? Absolutely not. It

makes you wonder a man worth hundreds of millions of pounds,

spending dozens of millions of pounds a year on charity, what

motive does he have? The 1980s was the get-rich-quick decade and no-

one got richer, quicker than Asil Nadir. Starting in the rag trade in

1980, he made an investment that was to turn him into a modern-day

Midas. He paid nearly �300,000 for a stake in a small textile company

called Polly Peck. By the end of the decade, it was valued at �2

billion and he was mixing in high circles and had become a donor to

the Conservative Party. But things started to fall spectacularly apart

for Asil Nadir when the Serious Fraud Office raided one of his

offices in Mayfair. They were investigating allegations of

insider trading and that triggered the collapse of Polly Peck. It

caught investors completely by surprise. This lady had used her

savings to buy several thousand pounds worth of shares. It had a

brilliant annual report from the accountants which gave you no

reason to think they would be bad in any way, that it was suddenly go

broke. A few days later complete collapse. The SFO raid set in train

a shocking series of events. With the share price on the floor, the

company went into administration and in December 1990 Asil Nadir was

arrested and charged. In 1993 with his trial date approaching he

decided to flee the UK, asking a pilot to drive him to this remote

airfield in Dorset. We came up with his gate, left the car, the

aeroplane was right in front of us and the engines were turning. I

bundled him in and within 35 seconds we were airborne. The SFO

had let the man at the centre of one of the biggest ever fraud

trials slip through their fingers. The Turkish controlled part of

Cyprus has no extradition treaty with the UK. For years he lived

there beyond the reach of the law. Until 2010, when he returned to the

UK, saying he finally wanted to clear his name. He was accused of

stealing �115 million from Polly Peck's bank accounts in London,

often reaching eight by the Channel Islands and then through a complex

web of countries which the family controlled. As he always said that

before he took any money from the company in London, he had always

deposited equivalent amounts into family bank accounts in northern

Cyprus, so there could never have been any theft. But at the end of

the seven-month trial the jury rejected his account. Now Asil

Nadir has lost everything. Sentencing will take place at 10am

tomorrow morning. Asil Nadir faces a maximum of up to seven years in

relation to each of those 10 counts in which he has been found guilty.

It looks as if he will be receiving a prison sentence in double figures.

A five-year-old British girl and her grandfather who drowned off the

coast of Portugal have been named as Lara Louis and Brian O'Dwyer.

They were swept into the sea by powerful waves after going fought a

walk along the beach in Nazare. At Salgado beach today a red flag

warning of the state of the sea. It is on the speech in the Portuguese

resort of Nazare that a British girl and her grandfather lost their

lives. Five year-old Lara Lewis was on holiday with her family. It is

thought while her parents stayed on the beach she went for a stroll

with her grandparents. It seems all three were dragged into the sea by

a wave. They were spotted by two fishermen. Whilst they were able to

rescue Mrs O'Dwyer, Lara and her grandfather died. The commander of

the port authority said emergency services try for an hour to

resuscitate Lara, but were unable to save her. There were no

eyewitnesses. Nazare lies on Portugal's Atlantic coast about 60

miles north of Lisbon. As well as attracting holidaymakers to its

sandy beaches, the area is also popular with surfers. These

pictures taken last year showed just how big the waves can be

further offshore. But the shore line itself can be check first as

well. Maritime authorities say the part of the Beach weather has

happened is known to be a hazardous. Whilst there were lifeguards on

duty further along the shore, there were none where the accident

happened. Members of the family in east London have spoken of their

shock and say she was a happy girl, full of life and always smiling.

The Greek prime minister, Antonis Samaras, has called for more time

to make tough, political reforms ahead of crucial talks on his

country's financial bail-out. As he struggled to keep the country

inside the euro-zone, he has pleaded for a breathing space.

Today he is meeting the head of the group of the euro-zone finance

ministers. Our correspondent reports from Athens.

He took on perhaps the most an enviable job in European politics

and now comes the biggest test yet for the Greek Prime Minister. Can

Antonis Samaras secure his country's bail-out lifeline whilst

also winning more time to reform? Talks begin today in Athens.

Antonis Samaras will out loud a further 11.5 billion euros of cuts,

hoping it will secure the next size of the country's lone, but he will

also request another two used to cut Greece's deficit. In an

interview with a German newspaper he laid out his position. Let me be

very explicit, we demand no additional money, all we want is a

bit of air to breathe, to get the economy running. More time does not

automatically mean more money. Greece's social fabric is fraying.

Record unemployment, businesses closing and a third of Greeks are

below the poverty line. This nation cannot take much more. Later in the

week, the focus moves to Germany and France where discussions

continue. Their leaders are tiring of Greek delays, but they also want

to keep the pro-bail-out Government in power and may finally give

It sounds as if some flexibility is possible from the German side. They

will be allowed to make up for the last time in Duke of the elections.

Failure to win concessions would mean more protests. Violent social

unrest can make an already tested government yet more fragile.

Europe's patience with Greece is wearing thin. Antonis Samaras faces

a daunting challenge. This troubled Prime Minister must also start to

heal his broken country. Hugh Pym is here. We have sat here before

talking about quench meetings will Greece. His Ferrer sense the clock

is now ticking? -- about crunch meetings for Greece. Is there a

sense the clock is now ticking? lenders, the European Commission

and the IMF and so on, have to be sure that Greece will keep its side

of the bargain. They go in and looked at the books, to work out

whether Greece is pursuing the deficit reduction plan and spending

cuts and so on. They decide if the money can be handed over. There is

so much at stake. The Prime Minister needs to balance up the

anger in his own country about this austerity. Unemployment is at 25%.

If he plays hardball, lenders could say they will not give any more

money and Greece ends up with the default and has to leave the

eurozone. There is a lot at stake. Who will blink first? I suspect

that the leadership will have enough on their plates with Spain

in the months ahead. There is a lot of water to flow under the bridge.

And you can find out much more about the Eurozone crisis on our

Our top story this lunchtime: Tony Nicklinson, a man with locked-in

syndrome, who fought for the right to legally end his life, has died.

He died at home of natural causes. Coming up: We will be live at the

London Zoo where they are buying every one of their animals from the

insects to the elephants. On BBC London: Juggling school work with

performing on the world stage. We meet the teenager going for

The flames for the Paralympic torch relay have been lit today by four

groups of Scouts at the highest peaks of England, Scotland, Wales

and Northern Ireland. The flames will go on to tour the nations'

capital cities, before the Games begin in a week's time. The Scouts,

including some with disabilities, this morning scaled Ben Nevis,

Scafell Pike, Slieve Donard and Snowdon, from where our

correspondent joins us. I could do with one of those Paralympics

flames alongside need to keep warm. It is not a great British summer's

day on top of Snowdon. There are two ways to get here - by train or

walking. Leading the way, Lord Cope, the Scout cat as he set off with a

group on a three hour climb to the top of Snowdon. -- Lord Coe, the

Scout, as he set off. A group of scouts had already set off in

Northern Ireland as well. The Scottish climbers had the hardest

challenge. They had to make it to the top of Ben Nevis. In England

they were heading for Scafell Pike. I feel privileged. It is a once-in-

a-lifetime opportunity. It is amazing. The scouting movement

caters for all abilities and disabilities, just as the Olympic

and Paralympic Games. In Snowdon, Jenny complete. A well earned

Warnock cup of coffee. -- a well earned, warm cup of coffee. These

claims will merge to form one Paralympic flame which will be

taken to London for the opening ceremony. A small number of steps

to the top of Snowdon. We get the Paralympics in this country. A lot

of our competitors are household names. It is about starting the

journey on its way to the Paralympics Stadium. The weather

was no better at the other lighting venues. They needed a tarpaulin for

shelter on Scafell Pike. It had taken a few attempts before they

were successful on Slieve Donard. A week to go before the Paralympics

and the four different flames up burning brightly. They will all be

merged at the special ceremony at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. That is

the birthplace of the Paralympic movement. It is a busy day in the

athletes village. 3000 Paralympians are moving in. You can find out

more about the torch relays on the A website in the United States has

published pictures of Prince had a -- prince Harry shown naked in a

hotel. St James's Palace has confirmed the pictures are of Harry

but will not comment further. Just when the Royal Family thought they

could relax on their summer holiday, Prince Harry, photographed naked in

his hotel suite in Las Vegas, apparently playing strip billiards

with a naked woman. The pictures are on the internet. They were

apparently taken last weekend. He was there with a group of friends

on a short break. How the photographs were taken is not clear

but presumably with a camera phone. They were published on American

gossip website and have been picked up by most of the American media.

No part of the mainstream British media has published the photographs.

They are very mindful that Lord Justice Leveson is writing his

report about them. St James's Palace is not saying anything.

Officials are pointing out that everyone has a reasonable

expectation of privacy within the privacy of their own hotel room.

The friends of Prince Harry said, this was a young man - a young

soldier - letting off steam late at night. Whether his family will see

it in those terms is possibly another matter. A hospital in

Northern Ireland has become the first in the UK to use a robot

which allows doctors to remotely treat patients. The telepresence

robot enables intensive care specialists to examine and interact

with patients in different locations. It is being used at

Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry in It may look like something out of

Doctor Who but this doctor is being controlled by a real doctor. Meet

the robodoc. How are you? Charlie McCallister is an intensive care

specialist. This hospital in Newry doesn't have an Intensive Care Unit.

Dr McAllister is 25 miles away at a different hospital but he can still

speak to patients. The new technology has just been introduced.

This is the first of its kind in the United Kingdom. The intensive

care Dr has this robot. He can glean all the information he

requires to make important decisions about patient care. That

is a huge support to the high dependency unit. But is it simply a

cost cutting exercise? Officials at the Department of Health in

Northern Ireland say no. They claim it is a way of making the most of a

doctor's time and even some of the medical sceptics have been won over.

When I heard first I had reservations. Having seen it in

action, I think it is a real benefit to the care of patients.

But what has been the reaction from patients about having to deal with

a medical machine that looks more like a Dalek than a doctor? There

are over 600 of these around the world. People have accepted them

remarkably well. The robots may not have a doctor's traditional bedside

manner but, for some patients, old Usually a test drive of just a few

metres is not such a big deal but when the vehicle is happening more

than 100 million miles away on Mars, it is not just NASA scientists who

are getting excited. It is hoped it will reveal what the planet was

like years ago. Curiosity of a foster -- curiosity's first baby

step on Mars. The Rover is ready to wrong. Later today it will go on

its first test drive. Forward a few metres, a turn of its wheels and

then it will try reversing. This is the terrain. It is a vast crater,

whose rocks will be studied over the next two years. I can barely

control myself. I have been waiting eight years for this thing to be

ready. We are about to move. Eventually we will be able to go

maybe 100 metres every day. There will always been used things every

time we stop the Rover and look around. Apart from eight damaged

censor, all systems are working well. Soon, the science will begin.

Back on Earth, a job that requires big scare us, a long measuring tape

and a lot of nerve. At London Zoo, they are measuring the animals -

every single one. I am at the meerkat Enclosure. They are all

looking rather stout. They have just been weighed and have no doubt

passed with flying colours. They have been running around. Not

everyone has been watching their weight over the summer. From

recording the height of giraffes to measuring creepy-crawlies, it is a

busy day at London Zoo, as 16,000 animals, birds and birds have their

vital statistics taken. It is important we get the data standards

so we know how taught a Gerard should be at seven years old, how

heavy a Penguin should be. We need to share that data with colleagues

around the world so we can keep the animals in the very best of health.

Some had to be tempted on to the scales. Others were more willing to

be weighed. Pickle is the lightest Penguin at just three kilograms -

around three bags of sugar. Sadly, it was not such good news for one

gorilla. And she weighs more than the halt Olivier family. She could

do with some exercise. Get inspired by the Olympics. Gathering this

data can be slow work, especially when you have a giant tortoise to

contend with. It is vital it is shared with zoos around the world

to keep every species in top condition. The tortoise was

enjoying a healthy carrot. Today has been fun but it has been really

important. That data be shared around the world. It also means

that London Zoo stays at the top of We saw some sunshine in London Zoo.

Mixed fortunes across the country. We have some sunshine but also a

scattering of showers that will continue through the rest of the

afternoon. Torrential rain in the northern isles. You can pick up

that swirl of cloud. The rain across the Atlantic is a weather

for the rest of the week. This afternoon, there will be a

scattering of showers - heavy in the north. Fighter showers further

south. A better chance of seeing drier weather. Further north, the

mid- to high teens. Many of the showers will fade away during the

night. There will be some patchy cloud and clear spells. At 8

o'clock in the morning, at some breaks in the cloud for eastern

Scotland. The showers will be scattered. We will begin the day be

brightness in East Anglia and parts of the south-east corner with

temperatures around 15, 16 degrees. We might see the odd light shower

at times. We have cloud and a bit of brightness first thing in the

morning. In Wales, may be some showery outbreaks. We will see

patchy light rain in Northern Ireland but later in the day the

rain will arrive. Signs of things to come. The best chance of seeing

dryness will be in the south-east corner. Temperatures will lift into

the low twenties. Elsewhere, round about 16 degrees. You can see the

culprit - this low which will be here on Thursday and into Friday.

On Friday it will sit right on top of us. There will be outbreaks of

rain, particularly in the West. Showers further south and east

before the rain arrives. Temperatures a little bit

disappointing. Feeling cool. It is still below double drive the

weekend weather. We are expecting some rain at times. -- it will

still feel cool. Worth keeping up- to-date on the forecast. A reminder