07/03/2014 BBC News at One

to the damning report on the Stephen Lawrence case. Sir Bernard Hogan

Howe says claims of police corruption will have to be met head

on and pledges to reform the force. But with the Met under such scrutiny

we'll assess how he intends to do just that. We'll have reaction. Also

this lunchtime. Russia has dismissed pleas from the White House to accept

the terms of a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Ukraine. A former

girlfriend of Oscar Pistorius tells his murder trial he carried a gun

all the time, once firing it in anger after being stopped by the

police. Accused of a callous disregard to suffering, Network Rail

offers an unreserved apology to the families of victims killed at level

crossings. Halting trials. Barristers and solicitors walk out

in protest over cuts to legal aid. And the replica World War One

battlefield discovered in the Hampshire countryside. This training

area was intended to give soldiers an idea of what they would face on

the battlefield. The reality, of course, was rather different. Later

on BBC London, a construction worker has died in a tunnel at Holden. The

first fatality during building work for crossrail and legends say

regeneration for Tottenham will rip the heart out of the community. --

residence. Hello. Good afternoon and welcome to

the BBC News At One. The head of the Metropolitan Police says the damning

report into the Stephen Lawrence case was the worst day of his

career. Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe has pledged to restore trust and

confidence in the police and says the force will co-operate fully with

a public inquiry that was ordered after a review found that police had

spied on the Lawrence family. The mother of the murdered teenager,

Doreen Lawrence, says she wants heads to roll. Our home affairs

correspondent June Kelly reports. His force's reputation is on the

floor. Yesterday, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe left to do his deputy to

face the cameras. Today, in his first public comment on the scandal,

engulfing Scotland Yard, he said he had gone through the worst day of

his career. He was speaking in a newspaper interview. This case

lifted the lid on racism and incompetence in the Metropolitan

Police. Now new questions for former senior officers at like Paul Condon,

the Met commissioner at the time of the public and quiet, into Stephen

Lawrence's murder. It was after his family saw two men convicted of

killing, that allegations emerged and have now been confirmed that

they were spied on by the police. Doreen Lawrence and I will sit down

and identify officers that we think have been identified in the report

is being culpable in some sort of way. We will write to the

Commissioner, asking him to take appropriate action. This is because

the family have also learned that potential evidence on corruption was

withheld from the public enquiry. One ex-officer in the Metropolitan

Police for 30 years is not surprised by this. I think it's to protect the

organisation. It is damage limitation. And that would have

massive consequences, like it's going to have now. It's finally come

out and it's going to be even worse now. The corruption allegations

centre on former detective Sergeant John Davidson, tracks down in Spain

by the BBC eight years ago, he worked on the Lawrence enquiry and

claims he had links to the father of one of the murderers. No sign of him

at his Spanish bar since the story blew up yesterday. In the fallout

from this case, the Home Secretary announced an enquiry into undercover

police in general. And spoke about possible miscarriages of justice.

Today, two animal-rights activists jailed for firebombing department

stores in the 80s, said they would be appealing against their

convictions because of the alleged role of an undercover officer. Mark

Easton is with us. Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe wants us to have

confidence, but this is going to be an uphill struggle, isn't it? I

think the massive problem he's got is this going to be a drip drip drip

of really awful headlines potentially for months and years to

come. And it's going to be incredibly difficult for him to say,

all is fine now, when you're still going to be having these stories,

the reputation of the Metropolitan Police, you know, have been severely

damaged by this review which is making the point that, not only was

there potential corruption at the heart of the Metropolitan Police, 20

years ago, that maybe some of the echoes of that eruption are still

there today. The review published yesterday to not believe they were

necessarily seeing all the documentation that the Metropolitan

Police hold. Public confidence in the police remains remarkably high.

Two thirds of people say they trust the police officers to tell the

truth, and that is as hired has been since the early 80s, so a massive

job for Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe to do. It's vitally important we do

trust our police said everybody will hope it can work but it won't be an

easy job. Thank you. Russia's President Vladimir Putin has

dismissed a warning from Barack Obama calling on him to seek a

diplomatic solution to the crisis in Ukraine. The two Presidents spoke

for over an hour last night in their second phone call this week but

after Crimean MPs voted to ask to leave Ukraine and join Russia.

Vladimir Putin said Moscow could not ignore their calls for help. Ben

Brown reports from the Crimea. When a young mother arrives and says

she has a different point of view, she is chased away by the

demonstrators and we are stopped from filming. Passions are running

high here and so is tension. Some fear what will happen to them if

Crimea becomes a Russian. Take this family. TRANSLATION: We have become

used to living in a free country. We will not live in a dictatorship.

Today a Crimean delegation were given a standing ovation when they

went to the Russian parliament in Moscow. Ukraine says that the

forthcoming referendum here is illegal. But Russia says it is

Crimea's democratic right. So, as Russia says it would welcome

Crimea, fears have been sparked that other cities, like the divided done

yet, could follow suit. -- Donetsk. James Reynolds reports on how the

battles have been playing out. This is the main government

headquarters in Donetsk and this has been the centre of protest and

counter protest in recent days. Pro-Russian demonstrators came here

and swept their way in, even raising the Russian flag, but they've been

kicked out and the building has been retaken by Ukraine's authorities, as

you can tell by this line of riot police. The line is thinly spaced at

the moment but at some point is two offices deep. There aren't any

protesters here at the moment but just as a precaution, have a look

there and you will see two trucks guarding the entrance. The Deputy

Mayor of this city has told the BBC he thinks a referendum may be a

chance to calm tensions here and give the pro-Russian population

chance to decide its own status. There's still a lot of scepticism

about the aims and ambitions of the authorities in Kiev but for now,

these officers have their orders - they won't let anyone through.

A former girlfriend of Oscar Pistorius has been giving evidence

at his trial. He said he carried a gun all the time and descriptive as

a man getting very angry, once firing after the police car had

stopped him. Our correspondent is outside the High Court in Pretoria.

Another uncomfortable day in court. The prosecution is bringing in a

separate gun handling charge to raise questions about Oscar

Pistorius, about whether or not he is somehow reckless and

trigger-happy. We briefly met at a rugby game.

Oscar Pistorius's character came under fire today, this time with a

former girlfriend, Samantha Taylor, who described an incident in 2012,

reconstructed here, when her then boyfriend fired his pistol from a

car sunroof after being pulled over for speeding. He was angry at the

police after being stopped. Thereafter, when they wanted to fire

shots, they found it funny. They fired the shot and then they

laughed. That won't help Pistorius. It suggests he fired a gun in anger

before the night he shot dead his new girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp and,

Taylor said, he got angry with a lot of people. My sister, my best

friend, another friend of ours. His name? His best friend, Alex.

Samantha Taylor portrayed Pistorius as a man with a violent temper, who

kept a pistol with him at all times. But she was also asked specifically

about matters relating to the night Reeva Steenkamp was killed, about

where Oscar Pistorius slept in bed, what he sounded like when he

screamed. If he screams and is very anxious, he sounds like a woman.

That is not true. He sounds like a man. Again, this is important

because Pistorius's defence argues that he sounded like a woman when he

screamed that night and that neighbours were mistaken when they

thought it was Reeva Steenkamp screaming. So when you heard him

screaming, it was out of anger but not in situations where he perceived

his life to be threatened? No, my lady. Pistorius appeared to show no

emotions as his former girlfriend stepped down and left the courtroom.

Within the last few minutes, the trial has wrapped up for this week

but there was one last witness, a security guard who said he'd spoken

by phone to Oscar Pistorius after firing gunshots and the athlete had

told him everything was fine, though he could hear that the athlete was

also crying. Network Rail has offered a full and unreserved

apology to the families of people who have been killed on level

crossings. A report by MPs found the company had not done enough to

prevent the deaths and had displayed a "callous disregard" for bereaved

relatives on too many occasions. Danny Savage reports. Near misses at

level crossings have been going on for years. But MPs say too many

people are still dying on the lines. Network Rail has now been given a

deadline to cut crossing fatalities to zero. This is my grandson,

Michael. On top of that, the transport committee says Network

Rail has shown a callousness regard to people like Lawrence Hoggard. His

wife Jean and seven-year-old grandson Michael were killed in a

crossing in Hucknall in 2008. He was appalled by Network Rail's attitude.

There was no sympathy towards me and my family. Nothing. I've not

received any letter of apology from them. Even now. To this day. This is

the crossing where Lawrence Hoggard's wife and grandson were

killed. As you can see, the foot crossing is now been replaced with a

bridge. Afterwards, he issued legal proceedings against Network Rail

claiming they knew about the dangers here. But before the case came to

court, they paid him undisclosed damages. Today Network Rail's new

boss signalled a new era by issuing an apology for their past behaviour

towards bereaved families. I want to say that I give a complete apology

as well for the behaviour of Network Rail and the sometimes insensitive

way we behaved with respect to these bereaved people. Network Rail has

also issued a full and unreserved policy for past failings in managing

public safety at level crossings. But there's something else the

transport committee of MPs wants to see. Only two months ago, there was

a court ruling that Network Rail should be fined half a million

pounds because of a preventable death. In those circumstances, I

don't think it's right that senior executives should take bonuses this

year. The committee is now calling for the number of level crossing

fatalities per year to drop to zero by 2020.

Police have said a two-year-old girl could have been given the heroin

substitute methadone before her death. Sophie Jones died on Tuesday

night after being rushed to hospital in Blackpool. Kate, paramedics were

called here on Tuesday night to report that Sophie Jones had gone

into cardiac arrest. Today, police had one significant line of

enquiry, that you was given methadone that night to help her

sleep. Detectives also went on to say they cannot be sure and have

ruled out the possibility that she somehow accidentally took the heroin

substitute herself. What we do know is that her drinking bottle is being

tested to date and toxicology tests are under way to help detectives

understand exactly how she died. There was another warning from

Blackpool today, police believe heroin was removed from this house

on Tuesday night and has been hidden somewhere in this part of Blackpool.

One big worry for police is that this heroin could fall into the

hands of children. That's what this police investigation, to people when

has the time of her death, and they are still being questioned by

police. This is a 29-year-old woman and 41-year-old man, detained on of

manslaughter. OK, thank you. Our top story this lunchtime: "The

worst day of my career". The head of the Metropolitan Police says claims

of police corruption in the Stephen Lawrence case will have to be met

head-on. And still to come: How safe is the

information on your phone? A warning to be aware in public Wi-Fi

hotspots. Coming up on BBC London: We look at

ahead at Charlton's FA Cup quarter final - what it means to the

Championship side as they prepare to take on the Blades.

And why the way we collect art is changing - how more of us are buying

Banksys in an art fair than at a gallery.

Britain's most famous criminal court, the Old Bailey, was virtually

shut down today after lawyers walked out. Hundreds of them are staging

rallies across England and Wales against government cuts to legal

aid, which they say will force experienced lawyers to leave the

profession. Ministers say that England and Wales has one of the

most expensive legal-aid systems in the world. Legal aid costs taxpayers

about ?2 billion every year - half of that goes on criminal cases. The

Ministry of Justice wants to cut the legal-aid budget by ?215 million a

year. But lawyers say that will hit junior criminal barristers, who they

say can make a little as ?20 per day once preparation and expenses are

factored in. They also say the cuts are likely to deprive the less well

off of a fair defence. Here's our legal correspondent Clive Coleman.

Barristers and solicitors on strike and on the streets over cuts to

become aid. There are 18 courts at the Old Bailey. Today, only one

trial was taking place there. Others were halted by the walk-out,

including that of Nicholas Jacobs, accused of the murder of PC Keith

Blakelock during the Broadwater farm riots in 1985. But lawyers say the

cuts won't just affect high-profile cases. In 2011, Francis Neckles was

attacked by a youth near his home in south London but, to his surprise,

he was the one charged with assault. He was represented by a solicitor

funded with legal aid and acquitted. Had I not been able to get the legal

funding that made a difference in terms of getting proper

representation that I needed, my life would have been destroyed.

There's no doubt about that. Lawyers are protesting against government

plans for a 70 15% cut fees for solicitors. Fewer legal aid

contracts for work at police stations. And an average 6% the cut

for barristers. -- 17.5% cut. Barristers already face a fee

reduction of their work in the most complex cases. In what is becoming

an increasingly bitter dispute between the normally conservative

legal profession and the government, what lawyers say is at stake is

nothing more or less than a battle for the heart and soul of a criminal

justice system that is respected throughout the world. There will be

nobody coming into the criminal justice system to represent those

that need representation and, just as importantly, there will be nobody

there to prosecute the most serious criminals. The Government says that

at around ?2 billion a year, we have one of the most expensive legal aid

systems in the world and in the current financial crisis, legal aid

must be cut. But anyone charged with a crime will continue to be funded

with a lawyer by legal aid. The protesters delivered a copy of the

Magna Carta to the ministry of justice, a historical message to the

government in a legal dispute where neither side seems prepared to back

down. Birmingham City owner Carson Yeung

has been jailed for six years by a court in Hong Kong for money

laundering. The former hairdresser turned tycoon was convicted on

Monday of laundering more than ?55 million between 2001 and 2007. Jon

Brain reports. Carson Yeung being driven away from

a Hong Kong court this morning to begin his jail sentence. The final

humiliation for the former hairdresser turned millionaire

businessman turned English football club owner. It was all right the

different three years ago as Yeung celebrated Birmingham City's League

Cup victory at Wembley. It seemed his takeover of the club was

delivering on the bold promise of glory and financial investment. The

reality became relegation, cost-cutting and disillusionment. We

were on the crest of a wave at a time and it was all fantastic but we

were brought back down to work very quickly and it was extremely

disappointing and extremely frustrating to be a supporter.

Carson Yeung isn't the first foreign owner to be seduced by the potential

riches on offer in English football, though his fall from grace

has been dramatic. Birmingham City insists his conviction would have

any impact on the running of his club but not everyone is convinced.

Yeung himself stepped down from the club last month but three of the

four remaining directors are his relatives, including his son Ryan,

seen here on the right. He's still a major shareholder and owns about a

team % of the stock so he's going to have an influence, irrespective of

the fact that he's resigned. -- 18%. But the club says it fully complies

with its ownership regulations. Supporters just hope the club has

moved on from the man who promised so much.

If you are used to accessing public Wi-Fi networks when you're away from

home and want to get onto the internet, beware. There's a warning

that hackers could get access to your sensitive information. Our

technology correspondent Rory Cellan Jones is here. Explain. , well, my

colleagues on Click have been investigating the security of public

Wi-Fi and have found some problems. One scam involves fraudsters setting

up their own hotspots with an aim users will recognise, so they join

it thinking it's legitimate. A more sophisticated one involves

fraudsters effectively directing all traffic from a legitimate hotspot

via their phones or computers, stripping out security and gaining

access to whatever you're doing. Europe's top cyber crime police

officer has warned that we all need to look at this and change our

behaviour. We try to see if we can build in more security, together

with the mobile phones on the application providers, but also by

teaching users that they should not address sensitive information while

being in insecure Wi-Fi internet. They should do this from home where

they know that the Wi-Fi is secure but not if you are in a coffee shop

somewhere. You shouldn't access your bank or do all these things that

actually transfer very sensitive information. There is one tip,

though, if you are using your phone or computer in one of those

hotspots. Always go to sites if you are doing anything sensitive that

have https at the beginning, with the S standing for secure. But be

very careful about transactions from a Wi-Fi spot in public.

With just 138 days to go until the Commonwealth Games, thousands of

volunteers and staff have descended on Glasgow. The Clydesiders, as

they're being called, will take part in two days of orientation ahead of

the event. Lorna Gordon is there. Yes, Kate, more than 50,000 people

applied to be volunteers. Those who were successful have been attending

an event in the East End of Glasgow to come together for the very first

time. They turned up in their thousands. For these volunteers,

their Commonwealth Games experience starts here. Sorry about the rain.

It is glass! Even the typically Scottish weather failed to dampen

their spirits. -- it is Glasgow. My mum was inspired and said that I

should take part in the opening ceremonial. She's really keen to be

involved. My dad has been selected as one of the drivers, so it's a

family affair. The games makers at the London 2012 Olympics played a

big part in its success. Some are volunteering again while, for

others, it's their first experience. I also volunteered at the London

Olympics and I enjoyed the experience in London, and I'm coming

here to continue with the enjoyment. Too good an opportunity to miss. A

once in a lifetime chance to do something. Today's event was more

about razzmatazz and foreign and thanking the volunteers ahead of

their hard work but this purpose-built arena has a serious

side and will stage the badminton during the Games itself. There is

going to be a lasting legacy, like the building we're standing in now,

which is currently being used by youngsters. It will be used for the

Commonwealth Games and will be there afterwards. So with many facilities

in place already and others nearing preparation, preparations are well

advanced and the thousands of volunteers who will be helping out

are getting ready for the games. Well, the volunteer event that has

been taking place here has just wrapped up in the last few moments.

The volunteers got to see the uniformed they'll be wearing for the

very first time. Their training proper will start in about a month.

Archaeologists have found hundreds of yards of trenches in an area of

open land in Hampshire. They're thought to be exact copies of those

used in the French and Belgium battlefields during the First World

War and it's believed they were used in training troops before they

embarked for the western front. Historians say it could be hugely

significant in shedding light on what life was like on the home

front. Our correspondent Robert Hall has more.

Nowadays, we call it pre-deployment training. Final rehearsals for the

task ahead in an environment designed to be as realistic as

possible. A century ago, another army was preparing for service

overseas. This aerial photo of army land near

Gosport shows numerous traces of its use as a training area but an

observant conservation officer noticed something else - the

distinct shape of two trench systems identical to those seen in France

and Belgium. This is a 1951 aerial photographs that the regional

archaeologist was examining for Second World War features. As he

looked at it more closely, he realised that the these were

atypical First World War trench system. He realised that this is

almost certainly a First World War period training trench.

It's a very accurate model of what the front line was like in France.

It almost mimics the 1917 trench textbook on warfare that would allow

troops to spend time within the trenches here and get used to the

day-to-day routines. They're a fantastic resource the people who

can't get across to see front-line trenches in France. One secret

uncovered among so many - this miniature battlefield in

Staffordshire, buried after the war, was another recent fine. And there

are more mysteries to solve. People should be looking for anything

unusual to stop report it, take pictures of it, send pictures into

the website. But local church halls, community centres, buildings

that were requisitioned and used by American troops. There is hardly an

inch of this country that wasn't touched by the First World War. This

training area was intended to give soldiers an idea of what they would

find on the battlefield. The reality, of course, was rather

different. War games on the coast of Hampshire would soon be a distant

memory as recruits faced the mud and the bloodshed of the Western front.

Time to take you to the weather with Susan Powell. Hello, Susan.

After a gloomy start, the weather has done a good turn around of late

and this afternoon, sunshine to come for many. If we take a look at the

satellite picture for a little earlier, you can see the band of

cloud that covered most of us first thing. This weather front is heading

off towards the continent, brighter skies following on, but quite a few

showers across northern England and Scotland but those will fade into

the evening. Still some in the evening across Scotland and some

ice, as temperatures dipped away. For the South, after a clear

evening, we expect things to get mystique, murky and damp with low

cloud and Fog drifting into the South of England and South Wales.

For Northern Ireland, after a clear evening, by the end of the night

some rain along with some milder air. The rain and milder air will

move its way on Saturday morning into Scotland. There will be snow

for a while but just very briefly across the highest ground.

Temperatures not too much of a problem. A wet start for much of

Scotland, although the Moray Firth could do quite well with some

shelter. Northern Ireland quite grey and dank for first thing but drier

than it will be by the end of the night. For the South of England and

Wales, very grey but as we get down into the south-west, we can see

clear skies starting to show. That's clearer air coming up from the

continent. The southerly wind will feed that further north so most

areas will brighten significantly through the morning. Northern

Ireland will dry up for the afternoon. Not too much sunshine.

Scotland a lot drier for the second half of the day. Best chance of

sunshine in the Borders. A milder day for Scotland. We could see 16 or

17 across central and eastern England. Promising weather for

central and eastern England on Sunday but a different story further

north. A weather front slides out of Scotland into northern England and

North Wales so more cloud and outbreaks of rain. Clearer skies

into the far North. For next week, it looks like we're set to be almost

free of rain. High-pressure will build, which means a lot of dry

weather. Chilly nights so gardeners looking to get the bedding plants

in, keep that in the back of your mind. Can't promise wall-to-wall

sunshine. There could be mist and murk and that will linger in some

areas but when the sun does come out, temperatures that should shut

up. Pretty springlike and pretty promising.

A reminder of our main story: The worst day of my career - them ahead

of the Metropolitan Police says claims of corruption in the Stephen

Lawrence case must be met head-on. The Prime Minister says the Lawrence

family deserve justice.