27/04/2012 BBC News at Six

A massive manhunt is on for a suspected murderer in the north-

east of England. James Allen is accused of killing two people in

Middlesbrough and Whitby. Hundreds of officers are searching for him,

they want the public to stay away. If you see him, it dialled 999, do

not confront him. We will bring to the latest.

Also, the MI6 officer found dead inside a holdall. Witnesses tried

to lock themselves inside a similar bout.

Shareholders' revolt at Barclays over the size of executive pay.

Armed police sealed off roads, businesses and tube stations in

central London after his security alert.

Remember this? What is happening with our weather?

I am here with Sportsday at 6:30pm. We look ahead to the weekend and

there is precious points to be one at the top and bottom of the

Good evening. A big police manhunt is under way

in north-east England following the discovery of the bodies of two

people in built a brand Whitby. Officers say the man suspected of

murdering them, James Allen, new one of his victims, and they have

warned the public to be on the alert and not to approach him. This

is a significant police operation. Yes, every police force in the UK

now has James Alan's details. This is the place he called home. He was

already on bail, neighbours have not seen him, and two people have

been murdered. Police patrol streets on horses,

gardens surged inch by inch, and roads checked again and again. 100

officers looking for James Allen, the man the police say this

dangerous and violent. Clearly, he is a dangerous man. But we are

putting everything into finding him, tracking him down and bringing him

to justice. If you see him, dial 999, do not confront him. This is

why police want to find him. On Monday, Colin Dunford was found

dead in his house. On Wednesday, 30 miles away, Julie Davison's body

was discovered. Detective still do not know why he was killed. They

too not know if he had a problem with James Allen or if anything has

been taken from his house. It was here where Colin Dunford would meet

his friends. It was also his friends who called police when he

stopped coming here. He did not harm anybody, he did not have a bad

word against anybody. He could not say anything bad. All day, forensic

officers searched the home of James Allen. His neighbours cannot

understand what has happened here. When did you last see him? For days

ago, I was walking through there, and I said to him, where are you

going? He said Scarborough, me and my friend. He was walking very fast.

I saw him on Sunday, he knocked on the door, acting -- like asking for

pots and pans. Detectives believe James Allen is still in the north-

east. They hope to find him soon. We were talking to Colin Dunford's

friends. Many of them were in their 70s and 80s. They did not want to

An inquest into the death of the MI6 officer Gareth Williams, whose

body was found padlocked inside a bag, has spoken to two expert

witnesses who tried to lock themselves in a similar bag and

failed. They concluded he must have been dead or unconscious when he

was in the back. Gareth Williams, the intelligence

officer whose body was found in a bag. Four days, the inquest has

been tracing his final movements. The central question, did he get

inside the bag himself or was he but there? Today there was evidence,

including this video, from experts. Here, one of them shows how

difficult it is to climb into a bag in a bathtub and close it,

especially without leaving any I wanted to report one of our

members of staff who lives and works in London is missing. When

police entered his flat in Pimlico, they found a red sports bag. Gareth

Williams's body was found curled up inside the bag in the foetal

position with no sign of him having struggled to get out. Inside and

underneath him was a set of keys for the padlock. But the bag was

padlocked on the outside in a way experts found impossible to

The police have said that from early on, they thought someone else

was involved in his death here at his flat. Today's evidence seems to

point to that, but it is still not clear who it might have been. These

photographs show tests on how long somebody could survive with limited

air in a holdall. An expert thought not more than half an hour. When

police examined phoned at -- phones and computers, they found material

on women's high fashion, as well as traces of a small number of visits

to websites looking at bondage and people tied up. The inquest is

expected to finish hearing evidence next week.

Shareholders have revolted against the pay awarded to the Barclays

boss at the annual general meeting. Nearly 27% voted against the band's

pay deals. The chairman apologised to shareholders for not

sufficiently taking on board their views about large executive pay

awards. Barclays Bank, a global player. Its

boss, Bob Diamond, has sparked much of the controversy over executive

pay. He was awarded a 6.3 million pound deal from last year, even

though he admitted returns to shareholders were unacceptable.

There were some small protests at the AGM today, but it was these

folk, the shareholders, owners of the business, who were staging a

quiet rebellion. Nearly 27% voted against the company's pay scheme.

It is exorbitant, what Bob Diamond is getting for the amount of

dividend that we get, it is paltry. Too much bonuses, not enough going

to the shareholders, so we have come to put a protest vote in.

Inside, they heard an apology from the chairman for not communicating

enough with shareholders when setting pay. That will change. It

has to, given the scale of this protest. It is quite unprecedented.

90% of companies expect to get 90% support or more. Companies in this

level of protest should be asking deep and penetrating questions.

Shareholders have certainly make their voices heard today, including

big institutional investors that from the likes of our pension funds.

Could this be a turning point, with investors starting to flex their

muscles? In the USA, shareholders recently rejected the pay deal for

the boss of Citigroup, scrutiny appears to be growing, but some say

it can only go so far. While they have to be active, Barclays is a

global bank, with Global investors, not just British investors, global

customers, and we have to recognise, they cannot change the banking

market, only the government can do that. The government is promising

reform. For now, the shareholder votes still only have the power to

embarrass. They have achieved that today, though.

A senior officer has resigned in protest against the election of

police commissioners. Tony Melville said he had grave concerns about

the election of commissioners and would not serve under one. The vote

will take place in November. Two Rangers fans, Neil McKenzie and

Trevor Muirhead, were jailed for five years for sending a parcel

bombs to the Celtic manager and other prominent figures. They were

earlier convicted of conspiring to assault him, Paul McBride and Trish

Godman. A soldier from first Battalion

Grenadier Guards has been killed in Afghanistan. He was serving as part

of combined force, and was on patrol as a result of small arms

fire. His family has been informed. A major security alert closed down

part of central London today after a man walks into an office,

allegedly threatening to blow himself up. He detached gas -- he

had attached gas canisters to his body. The police closed tube

stations for several hours until he was arrested. It comes three months

before London plays host to the Olympics.

Central London in broad daylight, up armed police rush towards a

reported hostage situation. From the fifth floor of this building,

computers and office equipment thrown onto the street below. It

started at lunchtime, when a man entered the offices of a company

that offers courses for would-be HGV lorry drivers. An employee said

he was a previous client with a grievance. He appeared to have

explosives strapped to him. turned up, he was strapped up with

gas cylinders, he threatened to blow up the offices, he said he did

not care about his life or anything. As a large part of London's

Tottenham Court Road was cordoned off, workers in neighbouring

offices fled to safety. When he had committed the offices, adjacent to

ours, two men is it quickly, we have got a shed fire escape, so

they came into our office and said, everybody needs to get out.

suddenly as it had begun, it was over. The police led a man out of

the building in handcuffs. They say he is a man who is from the area.

Some workers who had been trapped in their building emerged shortly

afterwards to describe their experiences. We bolted the doors

and windows, we are all fine, we were together, keeping each of the

calm. A few hours after it began, the incident has been brought to

his successful conclusion, but with the Olympics three months away, the

last thing the organisers would have wanted his age huge security

alert in the centre of London. Tonight, the police are still

questioning the man arrested at the scene.

The top story. A major police manhunt is underweight in the

north-east of England following the discovery of the bodies of two

people in Middlesbrough and Whitby. Coming up, the Queen visits abroad

than in her Diamond Jubilee tour, once they see a tragedy, today,

celebration. And, I will have Sportsday. Pep

Guardiola becomes football's most- wanted manager. He is quitting

It doesn't have a pilot, it's completely reusable and, according

to the people making it, it will be a cheap way of travelling into the

cosmos. The Skylon spacecraft has been a long time in the planning

and countdown wouldn't be for another ten years. But the British

scientists behind this unique project believe it could be the

future of space travel, as our science editor, David Shukman,

We have main engine start. For 60 years there is only been one way to

reach space. A rocket blasting spate -- straight up and it is

always expensive. Imagine instead just taking off from a runway and

flying into Orbit. Meet Skylon, a British design for a space plane.

It hasn't yet been built, but the project has reached a crucial stage.

The key is a completely new kind of motor, and ingenious concept for a

jet engine and a rocket rolled into one. The engineers go through their

cheques. This has to work if the space plane is to have the chance

of flying. Because of the high pressures involved in this

revolutionary jet engine, everyone has to wear protection. It's

designed to go five times the speed of sound. When it is going back

quickly, the flow of air become so intense it reaches 1,000 degrees

Celsius, which would normally not everything inside, but this unique

device called the heir to well below zero. It should make space

travel easier. And the tests are now under way. Three, two, one, go.

This is one of a series of experiments to check if the idea is

viable. This small band of engineers has worked with very

little funding. So far, so good, and the designers are thinking big.

It's like going to New York, you go down to an airport, you get on a

plane. Getting into space will be like that with this kind of

technology. The Skylon is a long way from launching, but the

European Space Agency checked it over and found nothing wrong.

might be something in the future, but where we stand today, looking

at the technology, this should work. It could fly. But billions of

pounds are needed. Clever engineering isn't enough to make

this British space dream a reality. There's more economic gloom from

Spain - the unemployment rate there has jumped to almost a quarter of

the workforce, its highest in 18 years. About 365,000 people have

lost their jobs so far this year. Over half of those aged under 25

are out of work. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh

have been visiting the Welsh town of Aberfan where 144 people, mostly

children, were killed in a catastrophic landslide in 1966. Her

Majesty opened a new primary school during the second and final day of

her Diamond Jubilee visit to Wales. Our Royal correspondent, Nicholas

Many memories will be rekindled for her in this jubilee year. Few,

though, will have the tragic resonance of this village in the

valleys of South Wales. This was Aberfan on the morning of 21st

October, 1966. A colliery waste tip had collapsed on to the village.

The junior school was engulfed. Local people, many of them miners,

dug frantically to try to rescue their children. But it was too late.

116 children and 28 adults had died. Britain was stunned. This was the

BBC broadcasting on the night of the disaster. Never in my life have

I ever seen anything like this. I hope that I shall never ever see

anything like it again. Initially, the Queen's response was hesitant.

Her aides urged her to visit at a fan, but it was nine days before

she did so. She has been back several times since and today she

spoke to some of those who nearly 50 years ago lost their sons and

daughters. I spoke to her 44 years ago. She shook my hand. She

promised she would come back and open a school when we built it. She

has fulfilled her promise. That new primary school is a place for

today's children and a reminder of the generation which was lost. The

Queen has never forgotten Aberfan. Mindful, perhaps, of that initial

slight hesitation, she particularly wanted her Diamond Jubilee tour to

include the village. Geoff Edwards gave the Queen a book about the

disaster. In 1966, he was the last child to be rescued from the debris.

It brings back poignant memories of what happened to me on that day.

But with the support of the green, it has helped us get over very

difficult times. Above van, a tragedy remembered in this jubilee

year. -- Aberfan. The Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt,

says he's happy to reveal all the communications between himself and

his former special advisor Adam Smith during News Corporation's bid

for British Sky Broadcasting. The Labour leader Ed Miliband has

called for an inquiry into whether Mr Hunt broke the ministerial code

in his handling of the issue. Mr Smith had to resign earlier this

week over the contact he'd had with News Corporation representatives.

will be handing over all of my private text messages and e-mails

to Mize special adviser to the Leveson Inquiry and I'm confident

they will vindicate the position that I handled the BSkyB bid merger

process with total integrity. Meanwhile, Nick Clegg says "we need

to get to the truth" of the Culture Secretary's handling of the BSkyB

bid. But he's backing David Cameron's insistence that the best

way to do that is for Jeremy Hunt to be cross examined at the Leveson

Inquiry. The Deputy Prime Minister was speaking to our political

editor, Nick Robinson, in his final interview with leaders of the three

main Westminster parties. Getting in touch, it is what any

political leader has to do. Will you help me? Not least when people

feel Westminster is a million miles away from the world they live in.

Nick Clegg learnt a lot more than how to make bread on a visit to the

Bradford HQ for of the supermarket Morrisons. It is really quite grim.

It is not unusual for me to cry at the end of the focus group.

Deputy Prime Minister heard about the cost sacrifices some customers

are making just to be able to afford their weekly shop. We have

had one in five months telling us they are missing a meal a day in

order to provide for the children. That stark fact was still preying

on the Lib Dem leader's mind when he travelled to his next election

stop. I spoke to him at Cardiff City's football ground. Were you

shocked by what you had? Of course. You would have to be made of stone

not to be shocked when you hear the terrible pressures some families

are under. It is one of the many reasons why I have been so vocal

for a long time about making the tax system fairer, taking a lot of

people out of paying income tax, giving over 20 million basic rate

taxpayers several hundred pounds of tax relief. Her but the government

is cutting people's tax credits and at the same time, giving the rich

are very big tax cut. Let be clear, let's not repeat some fiction. We

are raising five times more money from the very rich than they are

getting back in any change in the upper rate of income tax. But you

will know people, I certainly do, who will be thousands of pounds

better off. I wonder why in moral terms you did not say I can't do

this. It is very obvious to everybody that my priority has been

the many and not the few. Tax cuts for the many, not the few. That is

what we have delivered. I don't believe that would have happened

without the Lib Dems in government. Being in coalition means the Lib

Dems have to back for blues. An uncomfortable position for Nick

Clegg when the Tory Culture Secretary is facing allegations

that he got much to close to the Murdochs. Unless anyone has a

better idea, having a judge when a Cabinet minister needs to give

evidence under oath is about the best context did find out what has

happened or did not happen. There's a code of practice for ministers,

why not see if it has been broken? We have already got the agreement

that Jeremy Hunt will go to the Leveson Inquiry pretty quickly, I'd

like it to happen as quickly as possible. Is this a sleazy

government? I don't believe it is a sleazy government. You know why

people basket? Of course I accept that when you get a controversy in

politics, you get a lot of people attaching labels to government. I'm

very proud of the fact that unlike other big parties in British

politics, the Lib Dems have never and will never be in anyone's

pocket. Aren't you in the Tories' pocket and that is why you were

doing so badly in the polls was back if either people say we are

too much a Conservative government, or people yell and scream and say

it is not conservative enough. a star-studded Lib Dems are holding

the Conservatives back. It is a coalition government. We are

exactly what it says on the tin. That is the Lib Dems dilemma. How

to demonstrate that all in the coalition are aiming for the same

goal 1 at the same time convincing the electorate that the Blues and

Drought-afflicted parts of England are braced for the possibility of

flash floods as more heavy rain is expected to sweep across the

country this weekend. England and Wales have experienced the wettest

week since December, and forecasters say there is no sign of

the rain letting up for at least a week. Robert Hall is in Dorset for

We seem to have lost Robert. Must be the weather! Literally a week

ago of the river running deep below its banks, the river bed exposed...

It may not have been raining where Robert was, but clearly there's

Robert was, but clearly there's some sort of problem! Darren, I

will blame you! What is happening with the weather? There's more rain

to come over the weekend, but although we have had a lot over the

last few weeks, over the month it is not yet enough to ease the

drought. There's more to come, but it will not be raining everywhere

over the weekend. What we have is a North-South split. The northern

half of the UK will be drier and sunnier. The bitter frost around as

well. In the south, it will be cloudy. It will turn wetter and

windier as the weekend goes on. For showers have been wintry across

Scotland. Some heavy thundery showers from East Anglia to the

south-west. Gradually, over the next few hours, the showers will

decay so it will start to dry up. The rain will peter out. We keep a

lot of cloud across England and Wales so temperatures will hold.

Clare was guys in the north, especially in Scotland, so we could

have a touch as -- touch of frost. And there will be a few showers.

Showers in the south-west of England will be quite sharp. There

might be a little bit of sunshine in between them. The best of any

sunshine in Wales, along the west coast. For Northern Ireland, we

should see some good sunny spells. Very few showers, but 10 or 11

Celsius is below par at this time of year. A chilly day in Scotland,

but few showers than we had today. Sunshine in the far north of

England, but in the Midlands it is cloudy and the weather is going

downhill in the south-east of England as the rain comes in in the

afternoon. As we head into Sunday, it is a poor day for England and

Wales. Driving rain, strong to gale force winds, it may dry up in the

South East later, but for most of Scotland and Northern Ireland, that

is where we have dry weather. Cold is where we have dry weather. Cold

underneath the rain, possibly 17 or 18 in the south early next week.

Looking forward to it! A reminder of the top story.

Police in the north-east of England are searching for a man accused of