22/02/2017 BBC News at Six

The fiance of a children's author is convicted of murdering her

Ian Stewart had met Helen Bailey on a website back in 2011.

He drugged her for weeks before killing her.

I'm arresting you on suspicion of the murder of Helen Bailey.

The moment Ian Stewart was arrested for murder and his shocked response.

He probably planned it all from the day he met

her and in hindsight I don't think he loved her at all

Now police have launched an investigation into the sudden

death of Stewart's wife seven years ago.

A political row about the compensation paid to the British

so-called IS fighter after he was detained

The BBC announces a new digital television channel for Scotland

The top job in policing goes to a woman, Cressida Dick will head

And newly discovered planets, scientists believe they could have

the conditions needed for life. And coming up in the

sport on BBC News. The Leicester manager

Claudio Raneiri looks for a win against Sevilla

in the Champions League in what he hopes could be

the turning point of their season. Good evening and welcome

to the BBC news at six. The fiance of the children's

author Helen Bailey has been found guilty

of murdering her and dumping her body in a cesspit

under their garage in Hertfordshire. Ian Stewart, who's 56,

drugged Ms Bailey over several weeks before smothering her in April last

year in the hope of claiming The couple had met through

an online bereavement group. Detectives are now

re-examining the sudden death Our Home Affairs correspondent

June Kelly reports. Police recorded Ian Stewart's

arrest at his house. I'm arresting you on suspicion

of the murder of Helen Bailey. He was stunned he'd

finally been caught out. For three months he'd

been living with the body of his wealthy partner

buried under the garage. My name's Helen Bailey and I'd

like to introduce you to my new book, which is

called When Bad Things Helen Bailey was

a successful author. As well as murdering her,

Stewart also killed her dachshund, After her husband's death

Helen Bailey began blogging And it was through a

Facebook bereavement group that she met Ian Stewart,

whose wife had died. But while she was planning

their wedding, he was Ian Stewart's sons were

in court to see their father convicted of killing the

woman who was about to become their Last spring Helen Bailey suddenly

vanished from the home she shared with them and their father

in Royston in Hertfordshire. It took Ian Stewart

five days to report Hertfordshire police,

how can I help. Hello there, my partner has been

missing since Monday. Three months after Helen

Bailey's disappearance, police began searching the garage,

which was at a distance from the This laser imaging illustrates

how, underneath the hatched door there,

there was a well with a cesspit. The police started probing

and it was here below a layer of sewage

that they saw an arm. They had found Helen Bailey's body

and buried with her was her dog, There was even a possibility

because she had been drugged that she could have been alive

when Stewart put her down here. CCTV shows how within

hours Ian Stewart drove Was that duvet taken to the tip

because it had Helen's blood on it? In police interviews

Stewart said nothing. He probably smothered Helen Bailey

after drugging her over a He was set to benefit massively

from her ?4 million fortune. If Helen had written

a book of this story you He probably planned it

all from the day he met And in hindsight I don't

think he loved her at all And in hindsight I don't think

he loved her at all but Helen This is Ian Stewart's

late wife, Diane. Police are now

re-examining her sudden She'd suffered from epilepsy

and was said to have died from a Diane Stewart died of natural causes

in 2010, it would only be right and proper that we re-looked

at what the causes might be but of course it would be

part of our inquiries, At the family home in Bassingbourn,

in Cambridgeshire, Diane Diane was a very fit

and healthy person, the whole of Bassingbourn was in

shock, you could not believe it could have happened

because there was no sign or prior knowledge

that there was anything wrong

with Diane whatsoever. After his wife died, Ian Stewart

was seen with other women before he began his predatory

pursuit of Helen Bailey. As a writer, she was

used to studying human behaviour, but she never

learned the true character of the man who was closest to her

and who she thought she knew best. This was the same oath that crime

and tonight police face questions as to why it took them three months to

carry out a detailed search of the property. They say they were

following normal procedure in a missing person's inquiry. At the

heart of this story two families and Helen Bailey's brother John say both

have been left devastated by what Ian Stewart has done. He will be

sentenced tomorrow. Gene Kelly in Royston, thank you.

A political row has erupted over the compensation paid to the British

fighter with so-called Islamic State.

Ronald Fiddler was formerly a detainee at Guantanamo Bay

and is reported to have died in a suicide bombing in Iraq.

Lord Carlile - who reviewed terror laws for ten years -

said Fiddler should never have been paid a penny.

Tony Blair has defended himself from attacks

that he was responsible, saying the decision

to award the compensation was taken by the mainly

Our Deputy Political Editor John Pienaar reports.

The face of a fanatic, Britain, about to die and Isis suicide

bomber, detained, then freed, and reportedly paid ?1 million

compensation in taxpayers gush. Why? That is now a bitter dispute. Born

Ronald Fiddler he was among the suspected detainees held at Grant

and obey without charge until following British government

pressure he was freed to finally fight and die for so-called Islamic

state. Tonight his family insisted that compensation was lower than ?1

million for what they called mental cruelty and inhuman treatment. It's

been hard, you know. He's gone now and I just hope that between him and

his maker he is, do whatever he wants to do. But today the papers

and some Tory MPs blamed the then Labour government for paying him and

letting her go. Utter hypocrisy, said Tony Blair, the critics had

demanded the freedom of the detainee. But Mr Blair has hit back.

He said in a statement he was not paid compensation by my government,

the compensation was agreed in 2010 by the Conservative government. The

fact is that this was always a very difficult situation where any

government would have to balance proper concern for civil liberties

and desire to protect our security and we were likely to be attacked

whatever course we took. It is just a matter of fact that compensation

was decided by the Conservative government, by Kenneth Clarke, the

Justice Secretary, not by a Labour government. According to this

intelligence assessment on WikiLeaks Fiddler was a suspected terrorist

associated with Al-Qaeda, yet he was compensated. There was evidence

against these people yet the only way the actions could have been

defended is if the intelligence and the sources of intelligence had been

brought out in open court. And that would have undermined the whole of

the efforts of the intelligence and security agencies. Jamal travelled

to Pakistan in 2001. He was arrested that you're in Afghanistan, from

there a transfer to Guantanamo Bay before repatriation and release in

2004. In 2010 he was paid compensation and in April 20 14th to

Syria via Turkey, to join Islamic State. Intelligence can now be used

in court without compromising sources after a change in the law

but hundreds of Britons have travelled to Iraq and Syria as

jihadistss and one former minister said that they are likely to include

some who have been monitored, perhaps even detained and

compensated in the past. Is that the stock market? There may be more like

Ronald Fiddler, security forces can only try to keep up their garden

feature. John Pienaar, BBC News, Westminster.

A toddler who died after suffering a catalogue of injuries at the hands

of her legal guardian should never have been placed with her.

That's the finding of a serious case review which has concluded 18 month

was "invisible" to professionals - despite suffering over 150 injuries.

Kandyce Downer was jailed for life after being convicted

Our correspondent Sima Kotecha has more.

Keegan died in September 20 15. She had suffered a catalogue of injuries

and had 153 scars and bruises. Kandyce Downer was given custody of

Keegan earlier that year. Last May she was convicted of the toddler's

murder. Today a serious case review concluded that Keegan's death could

not have been predicted. But it said she had been "Invisible" to

professionals after being placed in Kandyce Downer's care, that

insufficient discussion had taken place between involved agencies and

that there was too much focus on Kandyce Downer's once rather than

the needs of the child. An Ofsted report released last year said

children's services in Birmingham were still failing to protect

vulnerable children. They have been rated as inadequate since 2008. Can

you generally put your hand in your heart and say that children in your

care are safe? We still have inadequate rating for safeguarding

survey are not safe enough. They are getting safer. We are making the

system stronger. But we've got some way to go, we want to be

outstanding. Last year the BBC highlighted that some special

guardians like Kandyce Downer were not being vetted properly. To date's

report said her assessment had been flawed and incomplete. Vetting is

absolutely key. We need to be absolutely certain that the person

applying to be a special Guardian is suitable, that they

will make an appropriate guardian for the child and crucially a safe

guardian for the child as well. The council says as a result of cases

like this it has made the vetting process more robust. But Kandyce

Downer's assessment has been labelled superficial today and has

cost and 18 month year old her life. Sima Kotecha, BBC News, Birmingham.

The BBC is to create a new digital television channel for Scotland.

It will broadcast from 7 in the evening until midnight

and will cost around ?30 million a year.

There had been calls for a separate Six o'clock News

for Scotland on BBC One - but this was rejected in favour

of a Scottish news hour on this new channel.

Our Scotland Editor Sarah Smith is in Glasgow.

How's this announcement being received there?

Well, it was a complete surprise to everyone in Scotland but it has been

broadly welcomed by the SNP and by the Scottish Government who have

been asking for a separate Scottish TV channel figures. People are

demanding a separate six o'clock news for Scotland say they are

disappointed but they will get an hour-long programme produced and

presented from Glasgow at 9pm on the new channel.

There is soon to be a lot more BBC in Scotland. Responding to demands

for more spending and more dedicated news, Tony Hall came to Glasgow to

announce a whole new channel. Does this mean you feel that what BBC

Scotland has been offering so far hasn't given audience what they

want? Khan no, I want to give audiences in Scotland more choice

and I believe the excitement of saying that we have a new channel

for Scotland, what will it be, how will reschedule it, how will we make

sure we get dramas, comedies, journalism, talk shows and at the

heart of it this one hour news from Scotland, that's an exciting

proposition for viewers in Scotland. The new channel will run programmes

like the adventure show along with drama, comedy, factual and

entertainment programmes, made in Scotland for a Scottish audience.

On-air from 7pm until midnight every day but why does Scotland need its

own dedicated channel? At the most basic level Scotland is a nation,

not a region like Lancashire or whatever. It's also important to

understand that Scotland has its state, legal system, education

system, artistic community is, all of which are befitting of a small

modern nation and they are not being reflected well now through the BBC.

The new channel will have a budget of ?30 million a year. There will be

one hour-long news programme at nine o'clock every night, due to launch

in the summer of 2018. The long-running debate about whether

Scotland needs its own separate news programme at 6pm on BBC One is now

over. Viewers in within its state, legal system, education system,

artistic community is, all of which are befitting of a small modern

mission and they are not being reflected well now through the BBC.

The new channel will have a budget of ?30 million a year. There will be

one hour-long news programme at nine o'clock every night, due to launch

in the sum of 2018. The long-running debate about whether Scotland needs

its own separate news programme at 6pm on BBC One is now over. Viewers

in Scotland will get Scottish Nine on the new channel instead of a

Scottish Six which does not satisfy everyone. Obviously I welcome new

jobs and new investment in BBC Scotland. I am however disappointed

the BBC Scottish Nine on the new channel instead of a Scottish Six

which does not satisfy everyone. Obviously I welcome new jobs and new

investment in BBC Scotland. I am however disappointed the we know.

Nothing the BBC does will never has decided not to go ahead with the

separate Scottish Six on BBC One because I think this is exactly the

time for a launch of this new programme with all the political

developments we know. Nothing the BBC does will never please Sarah

Smith, BBC News, and as the corporation has to make cuts

elsewhere viewers in other parts of the country might wonder why

Scotland deserves special treatment. The fiance of the children's author

Helen Bailey has been found guilty of murdering her and dumping her

body in a cesspit under Many of Princess Diana's most

beautiful and famous dresses Coming up in Sportsday

on BBC News... We'll be looking ahead to this

weekend's Rugby Union Six Nations Championship,

as George North looks set It's London Fashion Week,

the annual event where high fashion and new designs for the High Street

are shown on the catwalks. But how much does the fashion

industry cater to its customers With a collective spending

power of ?249 billion, they are a huge source

of potential revenue. But lots of High Street shops

still aren't making it easy for disabled customers

to spend their money. As part of the BBC's

Disability Works Week, our correspondent Nikki Fox takes

a closer look. We are not used to seeing

difference on the catwalk. But on Friday, two disabled models

opened London Fashion Week We approached the styling

and the casting of this collection They have the spending power

that no one seems to be That's a big enough reason,

to be honest, to begin with. And, again, our kind of overriding

conclusion is why not? High-end fashion might be

out of reach for many, but there is money to be made

on the high street. The Government says disabled people

and their families have ?249 billion a year spending power,

according to latest figures from the Department

for Work and Pensions. Sophie Morgan designed this

wheelchair for a sitting mannequin. I have not seen it in a shop window

in about five years. During the Paralympics in 2012

she got a product into a big high street store but it was taken out

as soon as the games ended. She thinks now is the right time

to give it another go. I wanted this chair to be a symbol

of inclusion from the shop so that I could come past this shop

and I know that this shop will have thought about how to style

somebody in a wheelchair. But furthermore that their shop

is accessible and they have changing It is not just about seeing

disability on the high street. Making sure disabled

people can actually get into shops so that they can

spend their hard earned cash. Exclusive figures show that

of the nearly 1300 fashion retailers the organisation DisabledGo visited,

23% had no step-free access. And 90% were unable to offer

a specialist sound system The 2010 Equality Act is meant

to ensure disabled people have equal Which is why those behind this

recent survey are disappointed. There were things that everyone

could do to improve their access - it could be simply, you know,

allowing your staff time It could be making sure your

aisles are kept clear. It could be providing a hearing loop

or a water bowl for assistance dogs. The British Retail Consortium says

shop owners can face restrictions on making adjustments

because of the age or Whether it is shopping or modelling,

many feel disability Both Kelly and myself have travelled

internationally to get recognised, and this is the first time we have

been recognised in the UK. The Supreme Court has upheld

a controversial rule preventing British citizens on below-average

incomes from bringing their foreign spouses into the country

from outside Europe. Judges rejected an appeal

by families who argued the threshold of ?18,600 a year breached

their human rights. But the court criticised the law

as "defective" because it didn't Police in Northern Ireland to an

improvised bomb has exploded outside the home of a special officer

outside Londonderry. The device discovered under a car was described

by police as more intricate than a pipe bomb and they believe it was

planted by violent distant Republicans. There were no reports

of any injuries in the explosion. The Government will bring forward

help for companies in England and Wales hardest hit by business

rate rises in next month's budget. The announcement was made

after ministers were accused of misleading their Conservative

Party colleagues over the effect of the revaluation which will result

in a quarter of businesses For the first time

in its 188-year history, London's Metropolitan Police force

will be run by a woman. Cressida Dick said she was "thrilled

and humbled" to be taking on the "great responsibility"

of the post of Met Commissioner. Ms Dick was previously

the national policing lead on counter-terrorism,

but left the Met for Our home affairs correspondent

Tom Symonds is outside Tom, Cressida Dick was a high

profile candidate, and not Yes, Cressida Dick was the commander

of a counterterrorism operation in 2005 in which the police mistakenly

shot dead not a terrorist but an innocent Brazilian electrician, and

his family have said today that it is shameful she is being given this

job. She has always insisted that and that day she gave the order to

stop Jean Charles de Menezes, not shoot him, and insists she has done

nothing wrong. She has said she wants to put a real emphasis on

helping the vulnerable in society, with mental illness or those who

have been sexually abused, and she says the net has to do better for

children as well. She has to do all of that wealth keeping the press,

the public and her own force is happy. She becomes Briton's top cop

but is also in the top three senior police officers in Britain, and at

the moment all three are women, quite a moment. Tom, thank you.

It's a question frequently asked - is there life out there?

Well, scientists have discovered seven planets in a solar system 40

They say these worlds lie within a temperate zone which means

they could have water, and conceivably life.

Here's our science editor David Shukman with the story.

And artist impression of a startling discovery deep in space. Around a

faint and distant star much weaker than our sun, a collection of planet

surprisingly similar to Earth. In all seven of these worlds have been

spotted and astronomers think it will change how we look at the night

sky. An array of telescopes point to one spot in space, and scientists

were looking for tiny clues about the light of a particular star

becoming dimmer on a regular basis as planets orbited in front of it.

They can't see these new worlds but they know that they are there. We

are extremely excited, this is the biggest amount of planets we have

found in one go that looked like the Earth in composition, size and mass.

All seven are far enough to the star and close enough to hold liquid

water, and that is just incredible. This is the latest revelation in a

wave of discoveries of the past 25 years of new worlds that exist in

solar systems beyond our own. The total of these distant planet is now

stands at well over 3000. What makes this discovery so unusual is the

sheer number of new worlds spotted in one go. Seven in all, and

crucially they are just the right temperature for liquid water to

exist at the surface. Three of them are in what is called the habitable

zone, raising the tantalising possibility that they could

conceivably horsed life, but we will not be getting there in a hurry.

They are 40 light-years away and to reach them using the Rockets we have

now would take something like 700,000 years. There is so much to

find out about these worlds, whether the artists' impressions are right,

whether it is possible the conditions for life do exist. And

astronomers said they will be a huge effort to try to find out. The more

we look, the more planets we find and the more earthlike planets we

find, but this is especially exciting because this, the ultra

cool start we have discovered, they are quite populous

throughout our galaxy and it is the first time we have found planets

orbiting a star like this and we have found seven of them. The best

hope lies with huge new telescopes which will come into service soon,

improving the chances of getting a really close look at these alien

worlds, to see for example if they do have oceans, and maybe, just

maybe, discover if they have life. David Shukman, BBC News.

She was renowned for her style and elegance,

and now some of Princess Diana's dresses are to go on display at her

The collection will include an ink blue gown she wore when she danced

with the actor John Travolta at the White House in 1985.

The exhibition coincides with the 20th

anniversary of her death, as our royal correspondent

This is some flash photography from the start.

Her public image was in so many ways defined

She was one of world's most photographed women,

and many of the world's top designers clamoured to dress her.

The results were frequently eye-catching - dresses that have

And now, 20 years after Diana's death, 25 of those dresses have

been brought together, for an exhibition at her former

They chart the evolution of a relatively demure newlywed,

through to her emergence on the international stage,

with, outwardly at least, much greater confidence

So here are some of the famous dresses.

The one that she wore to dance with John Travolta,

and others that were part of her wardrobe in the 1990s.

By the time she is wearing this dress, she is very confident

in her own sense of style - we are seeing a Diana

who has risen above those seasonal changes in fashion.

And she has a timeless elegance - she knows what suits her

Few would disagree with that, and the exhibition organisers can be

confident that the crowds will come from around the world to experience

Interest in Diana remains considerable, despite the passage

of years, but one imagines that her family would hope

that she will be remembered for much more than just the dresses she wore.

So do the organisers feel comfortable about perpetuating

Diana herself didn't like to be known as a clotheshorse,

however she did understand the language of fashion very well

and she used clothes to help her do the job at hand.

She was a very proud ambassadoress for British fashion

as Princess of Wales, but she also used clothes to help

They were the essential props which helped this sometimes insecure

young woman to face the world and win its admiration for her image

Nicholas Witchell, BBC News, at Kensington Palace.

Tomasz Schafernaker is here. Tell us all about Doris. Dark and stormy

Doris. We will have to batten down, brace ourselves and be steady with

that brolly. Watch the trees as well because the winds will be really

strong. At the moment, not much of a storm because it is still in its

developing stage and that is not good news because as it moves across

the UK it will be at its peak when it is developing and those vicious

winds will slice the UK, and that is when we will see the worst of the

weather. Tomorrow morning onwards and through the course of the

afternoon. There are two elements to the storm, snow first, rain and

wind. The snow will fall across southern and some central parts of

Scotland. An amber warning is in force for snow. This is Scotland,

and in some parts we could be waking up in Scotland to seems like this,

particularly across the hills which is where we will be getting a lot of

the snow. This is when the storm is at its peak, slamming into

north-western parts of England, nor the Wales, to the Midlands and also

into East Anglia. Another amber warning from the Met Office for high

winds. Let's look at the winds from the morning onwards. We often speak

about 70, 80 mph gusts in the winter, but these winds will be

realised in land. We are not speaking about the north-west coast

of Scotland and the Northern Isles where we often get these winds. This

potentially affect our infrastructure so we are speaking

about the potential for high sided vehicles to be blown over, perhaps a

little damage here and there but for some it could be proper structural

damage, so really take care tomorrow. Around about three o'clock

in the afternoon, Lincolnshire and East Anglia bearing the brunt of the

storm and then later on Thursday into Friday night, it comes down and

some of us probably picking up the bits and pieces. Take care tomorrow.

Tomasz, thank you. A reminder of the day's main

story... The husband