29/11/2013 BBC News at Six

A jury is shown the last moments of Fusilier Lee Rigby, captured on

security cameras. Rigby was run over by a car and then

gruesomely killed before horrified onlookers.

The two accused arrived for the first day of the trial amid high

security. The relatives of Lee Rigby left

court in tears. We'll bring you the latest from court.

Also tonight: The battle over energy bills - Labour accuses David Cameron

of privately pleading with energy firms not to increase their prices.

Charles Saatchi in court says he has no proof his ex-wife Nigella Lawson

took drugs, and he still adores her. And UK retailers copy America's

Black Friday, slashing prices and drawing crowds.

Gary Ballance stakes his claim for Ashes selection, but England's other

batsmen struggle as they declare on 212 for seven in Alice Springs.

Good evening and welcome to the BBC News at Six.

The horrific last moments of Fusilier Lee Rigby have been

described in court, as the case begins against the two men accused

of killing him. The jury saw video footage of the 25-year-old soldier

being hit by a car before being attacked with a meat cleaver and a

knife. His relatives left the court in tears. Michael Adebolajo and

Michael Adebowale are accused of murdering him in a street in

Woolwich, south east London, before horrified onlookers in May last

year. June Kelly is at the Old Bailey where the trial is taking

place. Details of this case are very distressing. Yes. Obviously a very

difficult day for the family, because what we saw was a lot of

video evidence, and we saw Lee Rigby on the final day of his life,

captured on CCTV, making his way back to Woolwich Barracks, where he

was taste. He was seen walking up the hill close to the barracks. The

jury was then shown footage of the car driven by the men in the dock,

which hit Lee Rigby. His body is thrown into the air. He was then

rendered unconscious, and the jury was told they pulled his motionless

body into the middle of the and then they began to attack it with a meat

cleaver and a knife. Michael Adebolajo, it was said, almost

decapitated the soldier. One witness described it as like a butcher

attacking a joint of me. We will have more on that story

later in the programme. The political battle over high

energy costs has broken out again. The Prime Minister has denied asking

the big energy companies to freeze bills. But the BBC has learnt the

government has asked the firms to make a commitment until 2015 not to

blame any future price rises on the cost of the government's green

policies. Labour has accused David Cameron of privately pleading with

the energy firms rather than using legislation. Here's John Moylan.

Did the government asked the big suppliers not to raise bills on the

basis of government energy policies until the middle of 2015? Industry

sources told the BBC that a commitment was sought as part of a

wider review of green levies. Those levies help to support renewable

energy and energy saving schemes. But the government has promised to

roll them back in the wake of an outcry over rising bills. We want to

help households and families by getting sustainably lower energy

prices. The only way to do that is by increasing competition and

rolling back the costs of some of the levies on bills. I said that is

what we were going to do and that is what we are going to do. Energy shot

up the political agenda when Ed Miliband promised to freeze bills if

elected. Today, Labour accused the coalition of mimicking its

policies, as it launched the green paper to reform what it calls a

broken energy market. We now know that while David Cameron has been in

public opposing and energy price freeze, in private he has been

pleading with energy companies to get him off the hook. So how big are

the green levies on our annual bill? The average Jew fuel bill this

year was around ?1300. -- dual fuel bill. Then there is the cost of

transporting gas and electricity to our homes, the network costs. One

fifth of the bill is the supplier costs, including their profit,

roughly 5%. But the government's energy and climate change policies

account for ?112, which is forecast to go higher. The rest is VAT. So

the government wants to relax the companies' environmental

commitments, specifically a multi-billion pound energy

efficiency scheme. But some fear it will hit thousands of jobs in the

green energy industry. Others warn that vulnerable households will miss

out. We are concerned that we are left with no financing for

insulating and heating measures for people on low income. So we are

really keen that that element of the green levy review is not touched. If

cuts to our bills are not coming and the figure of ?50 is being mooted,

we should find out on or before next week's Autumn Statement. As for the

price commitment from the firms, Treasury sources have denied the

companies were asked to hold down bills.

Lets talk to Carole Walker at Westminster. This has certainly

become a rather contentious political issue. Yes, it is a

burning issue, and very complex. That is why you are seeing some

rather different rethinks coming out, as talks continue between

government and the energy companies. -- different briefings. The Prime

Minister says he is focused on more competition in the energy market and

reducing the levies and charges which the government controls. We

know that he wants to bring these down, but he also wants to make sure

that the energy companies pass on any reductions to the customers,

that the energy companies do not just pocket the cash themselves. He

also wants to make sure the government does not get the blame if

the bills go up for other reasons. Tonight we learned the details of

one of the government changes, which is to that keycode scheme in which

energy companies pay for poorer households to get free insulation.

We have learned that the carbon target for that scheme is going to

be reduced, and it is going to be extended over a longer time frame.

That will mean costs to energy companies will be less, but it also

means there will be less insulation available for poorer families, and

less work for the companies that install it. It will be controversial

but that is just one of the measures that is going to be announced as the

Chancellor sets out what he hopes will be seen as a coherent plan to

bring down energy bills. The average cost of a house in the

UK is at its highest for five years. According to the Nationwide, prices

rose 6.5% in the year to November. The average house now costs around

?175,000, though that's about 6% below their peak before the

financial crisis. Mortgage approvals for October were also at their

highest level for five years, about a third lower than their peak before

the crisis. And new figures from Europe suggest

bankers in the City of London earning more than a million euros

earned an average pay rise, including bonuses, of 35% last year,

taking their pay to an average of ?1.6 million. According to the

European Banking Authority, Britain has 12 times as many high earning

bankers as any other country in the EU.

The art dealer Charles Saatchi has told a court he did not know whether

his ex-wife Nigella Lawson ever took drugs. He said he was "utterly

bereft" that a private email he sent to the television chef, referring to

her being "off her head" on drugs, had been made public. Mr Saatchi was

giving evidence in the trial of two sisters accused of defrauding the

family. Sangita Myska's report contains flash photography.

Met by a media scrum, escorted by security guards, multimillionaire

art collector Charles Saatchi today arrived at court to express his

regret that intimate details of his marriage had been made public

journalling the fraud trial of two of his former personal assistance.

-- during the fraud trial. Nigella Lawson, celebrated TV cook and

daughter of a politician was acrimoniously divorced from Charles

Saatchi in the summer. This week, their former personal assistance,

Elisabetta Grillo and Francesca Grillo went on trial for allegedly

defrauding the couple by over ?500,000 by dishonestly using a

company credit card. An e-mail from Charles Saatchi to Nigella Lawson

was read out to the court. It said, of course, now the Grillos will get

off on the basis that you were so off your head on drugs that you

allow persistence spend whatever they liked. And yes, I believe every

word the Grillos have said. When asked about the e-mail, he said he

was utterly bereft it had a made public. He was then asked if his

ex-wife was an habitual drug user. He replied, if you ask me whether I

actually knew whether nigella ever took drugs, the answer is no. The

court also heard about the nature of the relationship between the couple

and the personal assistance. It was in Belgravia at their home that the

Grillos sisters moved in and forged their relationship with the family.

According to Charles Saatchi, they did the laundry, organised the

household and took the children on foreign holidays. Their defence team

claims that one of them was so integral to the family, she was even

given a bedroom very close to Nigella Lawson. Charles Saatchi was

also asked about paparazzi photos showing him holding Nigella Lawson

by the throat, taken before they divorced. He said, I was not

gripping, strangling or throttling her. I was holding her by the neck

to make her focus. Can we be clear? When asked by the defence whether it

was about drug use, he said, no. Finally, a told the court, not for

one second did he believe his ex-wife was truly off her head. He

added that over ten years Nigella Lawson had been very successful. The

Grillos deny the charges against them and the case continues.

More on the trial of the two men accused of the murder of Fusilier

Lee Rigby in Woolwich in May last year. June Kelly has sent this

report from the Old Bailey. With other family members, Lee

Rigby's mother, in the white top, came to court for the opening day of

the case. The two men accused of the murder, Michael Adebolajo and

Michael Adebowale, were brought to London in a high security convoy.

Traffic was stopped as the vans carrying them made their way into

court. Michael Adebowale, on the left, and Michael Adebolajo are both

pleading not guilty to the murder of Lee Rigby. The court heard that

Adebolajo told witnesses at the scene, these soldiers go to our land

and kill and bomb our people, so an eye for an eye, a 232. This was Lee

Rigby on that spring afternoon, captured on CCTV on his way back to

Woolwich Barracks, where he was based. The court also saw this

harrowing footage. At the top, Lee Rigby is hit by a car driven by the

defendants. He was thrown into the air and knocked unconscious. The men

were then said to have dragged his motionless body into the

middle-of-the-road. The court heard he was repeatedly stabbed and

Michael Adebolajo almost decapitated him. At the same time, Michael

Adebowale was using a knife to stab and cut that his body. One witness

described it as like a butcher attacking a joint of meat. The jury

were told, they wanted the members of the public resident to see the

consequences of their barbarous acts. They had committed a cowardly

and callous murder by deliberately attacking an unarmed man in civilian

clothes from behind, using a vehicle as a weapon. And then they murdered

him and mutilated his body with a meat cleaver and knives. In the

dock, the men listened, as the jury was told how they had waited for the

police to arrive and were shocked when they ran at firearms officers.

The court was also shown dramatic CCTV footage from the street, which

shows how, confronted by the men running towards them, the police did

not even have time to leave their vehicle. It was from the car that

they opened fire. The defendants also deny conspiring to murder a

police officer and the attempted murder of a police officer.

A further 19 hospitals are to be investigated as part of the enquiry

into the abuse of NHS patients by Jimmy Savile, bringing the total

under investigation up to 32. Solicitors had expressed concern at

the length of time taken to name the hospitals.

It's a US phenomenon which seems to have crossed the Atlantic. American

stores traditionally offer big discounts on the Friday after

Thanksgiving, today, in what's come to be known as Black Friday. A

number of of sales promotions have caused a shopping frenzy here, with

a fight breaking out in one branch of Asda, and another woman ending up

in hospital. Chris Buckler reports. Across the UK, customers queued for

televisions, tablets and toys. Black Friday bargains brought chaos to

Asda stores, and even arrests and injuries. In Bristol, a man was

detained by police after a scuffle erupted as he attempted to buy two

televisions. Tempers tested there and in several other supermarkets.

Black Friday is a huge sales event in the United States. Discounts are

offered, often for only 24 hours, encouraging huge queues and often

crazy scenes. Today was no different on the other side of the Atlantic,

and ASDA's attempt to bring Black Friday to the UK brought with it a

taste of the mayhem. At this store in West Belfast, it turned into a

real battle for a bargain. There was pushing, shoving and then fighting

in the aisles. One woman had to be taken to hospital by an ambulance

with a suspected broken wrist. It was bedlam. Absolute chaos. I was

pushed to the ground when people were going for the televisions. Then

I was trampled on. Cracked glass is one sign of what happened. ASDA says

safety was of vital importance and it had full support -- security and

extra staff. But if the levels of demand were not a complete shock to

the company, they certainly were to some employees. It was awful,

jumping over each other to get at the stuff. Lots of screaming and

shouting. ASDA says that it acknowledges there were disappointed

customers and some were critical of how the sale had been organised.

They should have queueing for people to get bargains like that. It was

ridiculous this morning. I would not hurt somebody. Glad to hear it.

There is no doubt the events of Black Friday have cast a dark shadow

over ASDA's wrote pre-Christmas sales. The jury in the murder trial

of soldier Lee Rigby is shown CCTV footage of the moment he was

attacked in the street. And still to come, the countdown is on. China's

mission to the moon and how they plan to get there. Coming up, Gary

Ballance stakes his claim for the Ashes. Other batsmen struggle.

Potential treatments for cancer, heart disease and other common

conditions rightly get a lot of attention but rare diseases are also

a major problem in the UK. There is better diagnosis, yet they struggle

to find funding to develop a cure. At some time in their life, one in

17 people will be affected. This works out to more than three million

people in the UK. There are over 5,000 recognised rare diseases.

Among them is Epidermolysis bullosa - a painful and incurable skin

condition. Now a trial has begun of a new cell therapy. Our medical

correspondent, Fergus Walsh, followed one girl through the

treatment. You might find the pictures at the start of his report

upsetting. For this 11-year-old, it is a daily routine, having her

dressings changed. She is one of around 8000 people in the UK with

EB, the genetic condition which means the skin blisters and tears at

the slightest friction. It affects not just her outer skin but her

throat and even the surface of her eyes. There is no moment of any

minute of any day she is not in some pain somewhere on her body. I do not

think any of us can really appreciate what that is life. Her

severe form of EB is getting progressively worse. Most patients

develop malignant skin cancer before their mid-30s. Now she is one of ten

children testing this new treatment at Great Ormond Street Hospital. It

involves an inclusion -- an infusion of blood cells. Three months later,

although her skin is still very damaged, it is, for the first time,

showing some improvement. Doctors say it is not so inflamed and she is

in less pain. I think things have got a lot better and my skin is a

lot less red and sore. It feels less sore and less itchy. It is still

pretty tough. Yeah. For the team at Kings College London who developed

the treatment, it is highly encouraging, but it is not a cure.

We expect the benefits will last for several months, perhaps six, nine

months, maybe even a year. At that stage, we think, maybe we can do

this treatment again or maybe do even more effective treatment. If

this and future trials succeed, the potential benefits for patients with

this where skin disease are enormous. It can have far wider

medical applications for the treatment of people with damaged

skin. Rare diseases often struggled to get research funds. Her parents

have raised more than ?2 million for patient trials, to help find

treatments for this debilitating condition.

The government says it is committed to introducing shared parental leave

by 2015. The new plans would mean that new mothers and fathers are

able to share the existing one-year maternity leave between them. But

some employers have voiced concerns. This report from our business

correspondent in Liverpool. Eight dads and little ones toddler group.

They like to keep up with their kids. Employers have to realise it

is more of a balance now. Enabling fathers to be more involved cannot

be anything but good. The government says current rules do not suit many

modern families. Lots of mothers and fathers, where the mother wants to

get back to work more quickly and the father wants to take a longer

time off to look after the newly arrived baby. At the moment, the

rules stop mums and dads taking those decisions for themselves. What

other measures for new parents? At the moment, mums are entitled to 52

weeks maternity leave while others get just two weeks. From April,

2015, 50 of those weeks could be shared between both parents. There

are some rules. Employers could consist that -- insist that leave is

taken in one block. Most parents will welcome more flexibility when

it comes to grappling with childcare and all the difficult choices it

involves. What to employers think of the new rules? Most business groups

broadly support them, having scored concessions. John Walton runs based

sports coaching company in Liverpool. He can see it from both

sides. I can see the benefits of both parents. From a professional

point of view, yes, I can see it causing headaches, and minister to

issues, replacing staff, particularly in a company like ours

which relies on consistency of staff. The changes will make quite a

splash. The question is, how many dads will be able to afford to take

more time off work? It is more than 40 years since man last set foot on

the moon. But now the Chinese look set to introduce a new era of space

exploration with their first manned mission of the moon's surface. As

our science editor has been finding out, this time they could be doing

much more than simply taking one small step.

China is going to the moon. Here in this city, an exhibition captures

the growing excitement. This rising nation is reaching beyond Earth.

This animation shows how a Chinese -based craft will descend to the

lunar surface. It has not been tried for war than 40 years. A rover will

emerge. All robotic but it paves the way for Chinese astronauts to

follow. America did all of this 40 years ago but now China is catching

up very in the Asiatic leads and very methodically and with greater

ambition. The plan is not only to visit the moon but also to exploit

it. So, where will you land? In this area. The man behind the mission has

never spoken to the Western media before. The Chinese space programme

is normally highly secret. This professor says there are

opportunities on the moon. It has valuable minerals and potential

sources of energy and he wants China to make use of them. With Chinese

astronauts gaining experience in orbit, the idea of a Chinese space

on the moon, or even a mine up there, is starting to look

feasible. Perfectly plausible from the technical point of view and

plausible from a financial point of view because they have a lot of

buying power in China. There is nothing at all to stop them doing

that, probably within something like ten years. The last people to walk

or skip on the moon were American. The astronauts of Apollo 17 back in

1972. The next footprints look set to be Chinese. Children at the space

exhibition are loving it. I really like it here, this boy says. I want

to come again. This one says, I want to be an astronaut to go to the

moon. A computer game about a Chinese mine on the moon. It is a

great way to fire the imagination about the new frontier in this

country is constant search for precious resources will stop this

generation may actually see it happen.

Yesterday evening, I promised more sparkle in the forecast. Behind the

rain quite a clearance. It was windy with Dales in the far north. There

were a few showers to the north and west. The strongest of the winds

push off into the North Sea. Still a potential for gusts of 50 miles an

hour on the Norfolk coast. A touch of frost in sheltered areas of

southern Scotland and northern England. That is where we will start

off with some of the spells of sunshine on Saturday. Still breezy

across the day. Coastal showers on Saturday could be a bit of a

nuisance. We keep the showers to the north-west of the great Glen.

Lighter winds than we have seen today. Some lovely sunshine for much

of England and Wales. Just the slim chance of a coastal shower but not

amounting to very much. We could still have the potential of nuisance

cloud across Essex and Suffolk on the coast. As we say goodbye to

Saturday and into Sunday, the high-pressure drifts further east.

Temperatures could fall away fairly sharply. The potential for a touch

of frost in sheltered areas and the cloud will dominate. It will be a

dull day on Sunday with a few isolated showers. Into the weekend,

not looking too bad. Today's wins will slowly eased down. A sunny

Saturday on prospect that more cloud around on Sunday. At least it will

stay dry. A reminder of our main story... The jury in the murder

trial of soldier Lee Rigby is shown CCTV footage of the moment he was

attacked in the street. That's all from the BBC News at Six. So, it's

goodbye from me and, on