04/01/2012 BBC News at Six

The men who murdered Stephen Lawrence are jailed and told their

crime scarred the conscience of the nation.

Gary Dobson will serve at least 15 years and David Norris will be

behind bars for a minimum of 14 years.

Stephen Lawrence was stabbed to death by a racist gang - it's taken

nearly 19 years for his family to get justice. Today is when we can

look to start moving on and just - I don't know - try to take control

of my life once more. Who else was involved in the

murder? The police issue a warning to other suspects. The other people

involved in the mushed of Stephen Lawrence shouldn't rest easily in

their beds. We're still investigating this case.

Also on tonight's programme: The body found on the Queen's

private estate at Sandringham - police confirm it was a young white

woman. The big clean-up after storms in

Scotland as thousands are still without power. And -

You push hard and fast here on the sovereign to Staying Alive. Forget

the kiss of life - hard-man Vinnie Jones says this Bee Gees hit could

help you save a heart attack victim. Good evening.

Welcome to the BBC News at 6.00pm. Gary Dobson and David Norris, the

two men convicted of murdering Stephen Lawrence, have been told

their crime scarred the conscience of the nation. Sentencing the men,

the judge said their white gang had acted purely out of racial hatred.

Dobson will serve at least 15 years and two months while Norris will be

in jail for a minimum of 14 years and three months. Today the

Metropolitan Police Comissioner, Bernard Hogan-Howe, warned other

members of the gang that they could not rest easy in their beds. Our

Home Affairs correspondent Tom Symonds is at the Old Bailey. Tom.

Yes, George, plenty of people wanted to see the culmination of

this trial. The public gallery was packed. Barristers gave up their

seats for extended members of the Lawrence family. The jury came back

to watch the results of their verdicts. Now, the sentences are

lower than they could have been for legal reasons, but the Lawrences

welcomed them nonetheless. Stephen Lawrence's name has never

been forgotten. Today finally a penalty was handed down for taking

his life. David Norris and Gary Dobson are detained at Her

Majesty's pleasure. They won't be released until the late 2020s at

the earliest. Hip, hip, hooray! Stephen's mother

reached the end of this trial satisfied by what justice had

delivered - to a point. And these sentences that happened - it may be

quite low, but at the same time, the judge's hands were tied, and

for that, as much as he can do, I was very grateful. The court was

packed. The convicted men said nothing when the sentences were

handed down, though afterwards there was a shout from a supporter

in the public gallery, "Shame on all of you." The judge, Mr Justice

The pair were juveniles when they murdered Stephen and when police

put them under surveillance. Under law they received lower sentences

to reflect their ages at the time but several years were added to the

totals because of the racist nature of the crime and the public

reaction to it. The judge also said he hoped the conviction of Norris,

here being interviewed by police, and Dobson would not result in the

case file being closed. Outside, Stephen's father said he hoped the

pair would now cooperate with police. These people have now

realised that they have been found out and is now going to go and lay

down in their bed and think that they weren't the only ones who were

responsible for the death of my son, and they're going to give up the

other rest of the people. The other people involved in the murder of

Stephen Lawrence should not rest easily in their beds. We're still

investigating this case, and I would just like to take this

opportunity - if anybody out there has anymore information or anymore

evidence even after all this time, please tell us, and we'll do the

rest. Nine people remain of interest to police. They include

Luke Knight, Neil Acourt and his brother Jamie. They've never been

convicted of violence despite a series of allegations. In 1993 Neil

Acourt and David Norris were said to have attacked a youth, he was

acquitted, Neil Acourt never charged. This is Darren Giles. In

1994 he intervened in a nightclub row Jamie Acourt was having with

his friend. Mr Acourt stabbed Darren Giles in the heart. My heart

stopped for about 12 minutes. There was no oxygen getting to my brain.

I don't remember a thing. I was dead for about 12 minutes,

basically. But Jamie Acourt, who has refused to speak to the BBC,

was acquitted. A jury decided he'd acted in self-defence. These

incidents don't provide any evidence any of the three men

killed Stephen Lawrence. They all deny that, and police currently

have no information to act on. The Lawrences left court this afternoon

to begin their return to normal life, but they do expect to meet

detectives again next week. Just to come back to those sentences, 15

years and 14 years - if the offence will be committed last year, for

example, the sentences could have been as high as 30 years in prison,

but there is a basic rule in law that you're sentenced according to

the law in place at the time. 1993 there were lesser sentences for

this sort of crime, and in particular, these two men had to be

treated as juveniles. George? Thank you.

Stephen Lawrence's murder, and the failure of the subsequent

investigation raised stark questions about race relations in

Britain and the treatment of ethnic minorities by the police. Our home

editor Mark Easton has been talking to people in South London to find

out if attitudes have changed after 18 years.

Almost two decades after Stephen Lawrence's racist murder on the

London street, how much scope for celebration is there in terms of

improved race relations? No-one actually is born racist...

The DJs at Respect Radio reflect the self-confidence of their young,

largely black audience in South London. Do you think the colour of

your skin makes much difference to the way your life goes? I try not

to see it like that. I know it probably does, and I have been in

situations where I can see in a person's eyes there is a sort of

judgment, but I try to see that as more of self-paranoia than anything.

Waves of immigration have shaped diverse neighbourhoods in

communities which have become used to difference, but where today I

found tension, even prejudice just below the surface. I don't think

they was guilty. Really? Do you think it was a stitch-up or what?

think it was a stitch-up. Why was that? Why do you think that was

done, then? I don't know because it's - BLEEP - been done... Using

the "N" word in public is rare, open prejudice rarer still. Racism

still exists in Britain, but in multicultural communities here in

South London, it is subtle, hidden and unacceptable. What does exist

is hostility towards new migrants, who are seen as competitors in the

battle for increasingly scarce resources. What are our children

going to do when they grow up? They can't get a job if we can't. Do you

blame black people, brown people? No, I blame the Government. Other

countries don't take them, like Australia. Why do we?

relationship between police and the black youth have improved. I have

been stopped three to four times in one day. For me, it just feels like

why is it always me? It feels like I am being targeted. In 1993 the

proportion of Met officers to ethnic minorities was 2%. Today

it's just under 10%. The local Police Chief told me the force has

come a long way. The images of life on Mars and that sort of culture

did exist, but not in the way it's portrayed sometimes around racism.

It's more about our relationship with how we police the diverse

communities in London and how we understand those communities.

majority of people I met on souths London's streets thought race

relations were pretty good, certainly better than 20 years ago,

but no-one argued Stephen Lawrence's death had seen bigotry

stopped. More details have emerged about the

body of a woman found on the Queen's Sandringham Estate on New

Year's day. Police say she is young and white - probably aged between

15 and 23 years old. Our correspondent Claire Marshall is

outside Sandringham. Claire. George, within the last half hour, police

have said they have analysed DNA samples taken from the woman's body

on the Royal estate a few hundred metres behind me, and they have not

found a match. That body still hasn't been identified, but they do

know that she was between 15 and 23 years old, so they do have that

information to go on, and they are following some very strong leads.

ALisa Dimitrieva has been missing four months. She's 17 from Latvia.

Officers are still trying to find out whether it was her body found

on New Year's Day here at the Royal estate at Sandringham. They have

been carefully searching the area all day. This missing woman is one

important line of inquiry. Today the posters are still up where she

lived. It's around 30 miles from where the woman's body was found.

The town has a large Eastern European immigrant population.

Martin is Latvian. What do you know about her as a

person? I don't know, just - she was a nice girl, something like

that. I don't know. One time, miss - some guy missed her - her father,

her mum, theands it. The body was taken away from the Royal estate

yesterday for a post-mortem. Police say they will need more time to

identify who she is. So they have been very carefully

searching this site all day. There have been police helicopters above

us earlier. The Queen and Prince Philip are in residence at

Sandringham and are being kept up to date with the proceedings of

this case. The name of a soldier who died in

hospital earlier this week after being injured in Afghanistan 18

months ago has been released. Rifleman Sachin Limbu from 1st

Battalion, The Royal Gurkha Rifles, was caught in a blast from an

improvised explosive device in June 2010.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission has launched an

investigation into the granting of a firearms license to Michael

Atherton - the man who shot dead three women in County Durham,

before killing himself. The 42- year-old killed his partner and her

sister and niece - in his home in Horden on New Year's Day. Relatives

of Susan McGoldrick, Alison Turnbull and Tanya Turnbull today

paid tribute to a "much-loved" women.

Police officers are being warned to avoid having a drink with

journalists and are being told to watch out for reporters flirting

with them in order to obtain information. A report into

relationships between Scotland yard and the media by Dame Elizabeth

Filkin says the close relationship between some members of the police

and the media had caused. - serious harm.

It's the first indication of how the big high street stores did over

the Christmas period. John Lewis said its sales were up nine per

cent on the same period in 2010. But Next saw its share price drop

after posting disappointing results at its stores. And both companies

have warned that the year ahead could be difficult. Our chief

economics correspondent Hugh Pym has the details.

Seems like awhile ago now - the Christmas season on the High Street

followed by the sales starting on Boxing Day. After all that noise

and hustle and bustle, we now have some hard figures showing how much

went through the tills. First up, John Lewis reporting higher

December sales than the same month in 2010. It said trade before

Christmas was outstanding, but warned this year would be tougher.

The big challenge for 2012 is just planning for the economy that we're

going to face. We're not expecting a serious reduction in sales. We

think the economy will still grow, but probably only a little above

flat sales and just preparing for that getting everything planned

around that - that's the challenge. The biggest winner was online trade,

up 28% at John Lewis. Internet and online seath sales at Next were up

17% in the August to December period compared to the previous

year. At the same time Next saw High Street stores saw lower sales,

and the performance was disappointing. Shoppers are

migrating away from the High Street and buying online. There is the

perception of a better value and being able to shop when you want.

So here are two of Britain's best- known retailers acknowledging

trading conditions right now are not exactly straight forward, so

it's hardly surprising elsewhere on the High Street, some smaller

competitors are finding life more difficult. There has been a squeeze

on consumer budgets because of high inflation, and some retailers have

felt the pressure. Take Blacks Leisure. It admits it's had a

challenging year and is trying to The underwear retailer said it was

ready to call in administrators because of tough trading conditions.

Other retailers will come up with their own Christmas stories next

week there. Could be cheerful news from some, but not all will have a

happy ending. Our top story tonight: The

murderers of Stephen Lawrence have been jailed for a minimum of 15

years and 14 months. - 15 years and 14 years.

Coming up: What to do before the ambulance gets there - new advice

on how to keep a heart attack He's a former US state Governor, a

former Mormon missionary, and now the Republican frontrunner in the

race to challenge Barack Obama for the White House. Mitt Romney won

the first big poll of possible Republican candidates last night,

in the state of Iowa. But, as Steve Kingstone reports, he did it by

only eight votes and the outcome is still far from certain. Get used to

this face. A year from now he could be the most powerful person on

Earth. Mitt Romney here in a photo finish when he took to the stage

for the final votes were still being counted. This is a campaign

night where America wince. We're going to change the White House and

get America back on track. CHEERING

Mitt Romney remains the best funded, the best-organised candidate in

this race, the favourite. But this result makes it clear that more

Conservative Republicans are looking for an alternative. Game on.

CHEERING And that alternative is called Rick

Santorum, who came within eights votes of Mitt Romney, with the

support of evangelical Christians. For give me his Grace every day,

and poor loving me warts and all, I offer thanks to God. Who are the

name to watch? There's Mitt Romney, a businessman who governed

Massachusetts, with former Senator Rick Santorum second. 76-year-old

Ron Paul would slash foreign spending and end foreign wars. Newt

gring rich is hanging on in fourth. -- Gatwick rich. These contests are

-- Gingrich. Iowans were voting on values and who can beat Barack

Obama. I'm supporting Romney, because I think he's got the best

chance to win the general election. I'm supporting Rick Santorum

because of his Conservative stance on gay marriage. He doesn't support

that. He's pro-life. For some candidates like sixth placed

Michele Bachmann Iowa was the last dance. She dropped out today. But

others have already moved on to New Hampshire, which votes next Tuesday.

There, Mitt Romney has a commanding lead in the polls. Four years ago

he fell short of the nomination. Now he's the man to beat.

Families with children will be hardest hit by tax and benefit

changes aimed at cutting the deficit, according to new research.

The Family and Parenting Institute, a charity, says many families will

lose over �1,000 a year. But the Government insists it's taking

"practical steps" to help, such as cutting fuel duty. Chris Buckler

reports. The cost of running a household has been rising, from

heating to eating. But while prices have been going up, wages simply

haven't, and families are feeling the pressure. To eat, to live, to

wear clothes, everything nowadays is an expense within itself. They

should put the earnings up or the bills down, to make even. Families

bringing up children will continue to find it tough. According to

today's report, commissioned by the Family and Parenting Institute. In

the five years to 2016, they predict the average household

income will fall by 0.9, or �215 a year. But there's a difference for

the average household with children. Their income is expected to fall by

4.2%, or �1,250 a year. Ashley has three children. He's just started

up this cafe with a partner at a Community Centre? Huddersfield.

He's having to watch the pennies and pounds, not just at work but

also at home. When you sit down at home and look at all your bills and

you assess it, you ask yourself, "What am I doing? I'm paying

constantly bills." It is frustrating, because I can see how

it the missus. It is going forward that people are really concerned.

For many the outlook could be bleak for the coming years. The report

says it is the Government's changes to taxes and benefits which will

leave families with children worse off than families without.

thing that's surprising and very worrying is the number of children

that will be in child poverty going forward. It doesn't make sense

economically in the longer term. The Labour Party says the research

published today deliver as damning verdict on the coalition's policies

for family and children. But the Government insists it is taking

practical steps to try to help people in difficult times. Like

cutting fuel duty. Freezing council tax, and cutting income tax for

many. They also say many poorer families will be protected by

welfare changes, which will be phased in from next year. But there

is no doubt that some will be left feeling that they do need a little

help. Thousands of people in Scotland are

facing a second night without power, and there's continuing disruption

to rail services following yesterday's storms. Scotland was

the hardest hit by heavy rainfall and strong winds, which also

affected parts of England and Wales. Our correspondent, Lorna Gordon, is

in Glasgow. It was a day when the winds topped 100 miles per hour.

Walking was difficult. The roads were dangerous. The bridges visibly

swayed. And through the course of the storm power was lost to more

than 140 ,000 homes. For this couple in Lanarkshire it meant no

heating no, hot water, camping lights and candles for 24 hours.

You are switching on the kettle and you get nothing. No electricity. It

is really awful. I've been here for 77 years now and this is the

longest we've ever been out. Since half past eight yesterday morning.

Engineers have been working to restore supplies but it's been

difficult Places the damage was much more severe than in previous

storms. It is very difficult for us. This has been the worst winds I've

ever seen. We have 600 engineers on the patch now working to try and

restore supplies to as many customers as possible today. We

hope to get the vast majority on but we'll have some on tonight.

This storm was deadly. Two people died. Among them a father of three

who was killed when his van was crushed bay falling tree in

Tunbridge wells in Kent. The damage and destruction spread across the

country. In west works heaters were handed out after the winds affected

gas supplies. There's a warning reconnecting homes here could take

days. There's a chimney pot which had come down by itself. Now the

winds have receded a little, it's a chance to count the cost. Like the

rest of Scotland a lot of people were on holiday, so people weren't

having to get to work. There is obviously a lot of phoning around

the organise the insurance. high winds wreak havoc. Blocked

roads will soon be cleared, but the damage to homes will take far

longer to sort. If you're not trained in first aid,

what do you do when someone's had a heart attack? Forget mouth-to-mouth

resuscitation, just concentrate on giving chest compressions. That's

the new advice from the British Heart Foundation. The organisation

says many more people could survive an attack and, as Jane Hughes

reports, it's come up with an unusual way of getting its message

across. A lot of us don't know the answer. Former footballer Vinnie

Jones keeps his advice simple: first off you call 999. Then no

kigs. You only kiss your mis - then no kissing. You only kiss your

missus on the lips. If feeling is if you are not trained you may not

feel willing to do mouth to move. Chest compressions could save lives.

Phone 999 and prest hard on the chest. -- hard.

Two months ago his heart stopped while he was at work. He only

survived because one of his colleagues gave him chest

compressions. Thank goodness she was there. She perform sod quickly.

She showed extreme courage. It is amazing. Very, very much thank you.

He was lucky. An estimated 30,000 people a year have a card yack

arrest in public and fewer than one in ten survives. Only about a third

getly life-saving resuscitation from a by-stander. It is the

difference between life and death, the nature of cardiac arrest is

such that it needs very prompt treatment. The community, in terms

of lay people, the general public, pressing hard and fast in the

centre of the chest when they realise someone's not breathing,

with the Ambulance Service coming behind, will give that person the

best chance of survival. Traditional first aid training

advises alternating chest compressions with mouth to mouth

resuscitation and that remains the gold standard. But people who

haven't been trained often panic and don't know what to do when

someone collapses. The idea of this campaign is to give them the

confidence to help. Push hard and fast two time as

second, like to the beat of Staying Alive. It is a simple message that

really could make the difference between life and death. It ain't as

hard as it looks. Let's take a look at the weather

Let's take a look at the weather now with Alex Deakin. Not the

violent gusts that we had yesterday but the winds remain a key feature

of the weather tonight and for much of tomorrow. Tonight the windy

weather be accompanied by rain. Winds gusting 50-60 miles per hour,

particularly to the east of the Pennines. That could cause issues

up the A1M. Later in the night and into the morning across south-west

England, gusts of 50-60 miles per hour through the Bristol channel.

It's a windy night, a wet night for most of us. Temperatures will fall.

Most of let us stay above zero. The showers you turning wintry in

northern Scotland. Showers in the morning. Another windy day. Gusts

in Northern Ireland, south-west Scotland and the East Coast of 50 -

60 miles per hour. Through the day the showers start to fade. For most

places it does cheer up and there'll be winter sunshine.

Showers in northern Scotland. Some will drift down the West Coast of

Scotland into Northern Ireland. For much of northern England and Wales

it will become dry by the afternoon, with sunshine. A scattering of

showers to dodge across East Anglia and the South East. Not many in the

south-west corner. With sunshine here, temperatures reaching 10

degrees, but it is going to feel chilly because of wind. The winds

die down and the temperatures drop on Thursday night. A cold start to

Friday. A dry and bright day in eastern areas. But in the west it

will cloud over, with rain in western Scotland and Northern

Ireland. The weather is calming down a touch.

Breezy on Saturday. Scattered showers in northern Scotland but a

better chance of sunshine. That's the theme into the weekend activity

winds are not as strong. Most of let us get a bit of sunshine. The