11/08/2017 BBC News at Six

In one of the biggest investigations into modern day slavery,

11 people from the same family, are found guilty.

Members of the Rooney clan, used threats and violence including

punishment beatings, to force victims to work

Police described the conditions some of the captives had to live

They were living in caravans that were dirty.

Many had to use the wood as a toilet, and someone living in stable

And all the while the gang masters lived a life with exotic

President Trump tweets that America is "locked

and loaded," ready to deal with North Korea, if necessary.

The steel firm Tata, can offer less generous

pensions to workers, in return for safeguarding jobs.

The cannabis factory inside a nuclear bunker, three men are jailed

after drugs worth ?1 million are seized.

And Sir Mo was certainly pleased, but a succession of British athletes

have underperformed at the World Championships in London.

And coming up on BBC News, as the Premier League

gets ready to begin, Liverpool's star player

Philippe Countinho hands in a transfer request,

Good evening, and welcome to the BBC News at Six.

11 people from the same family have been convicted of running

a modern slavery ring in Lincolnshire and keeping

vulnerable people in conditions that police have described

Members of the Rooney family picked up victims from the streets

and kept them in squalid conditions in caravans

Using threats and violence, including punishment beatings to

keep them in line. Victims were forced to work in the family's

construction business for little or no wages.

Our North of England Correspondent Judith Moritz reports.

Yes, the Ronneys were flashy with their money. They went on holiday to

Barbados, they had cosmetic surgery, they shelled out thousands of

pounds. But by terrible contrast, by very stark contrast, the people they

controlled were kept in poverty. For many, many years, forced to live in

squalid conditions. The police tell us tonight that one of their victims

was held captive for, they believe, around a quarter of a century. His

family had given him up for dead. Fathers, sons, cousins across the

generations, a leading members of one family, whose cruelty has banned

the decades. The Ronneys were the masters, this is where they kept

their slaves. They were forced to live in these caravans in squalor

and in filth, conditions not fit for human habitation. Whilst those who

controlled them lived in comfort and luxury. The Rooneys had many

victims, including this man, whose interview has been re-voiced to

predict his identity. I have been on and off the streets for years, drugs

and alcohol. I haven't seemed to be able to get settled. See, they have

scarred me. Sometimes I have flashbacks, and you know what I

mean, nightmares and that. I'm always wary about them. Patrick

Rooney was one of those posing as a bespectacled businessmen, Lady in

driveways. But in reality, the family used slave labour, forcing

vulnerable men into labour. One man is the bit how the workmen appeared.

They weren't treated as civilised at all. They were treated as if they

were subhuman. I was truly astonished. There was no machine to

strip the old tarmac off, nothing. These guys did it all by hand. And

it was extremely hard work for them, I will give them that. They didn't

stop. They didn't have any breaks, anything. All they got was we made

them a few cups of tea, if you drop it biscuits. They were delighted to

get a cup of tea, because I knew and they knew they weren't going to get

anything else. Not for the day. In contrast, the family lived lavishly.

This expensive funeral for one relative showing their wealth. In

the local Lincolnshire community, it didn't go unnoticed. The people they

were preying on were the most vulnerable. They made a lot of money

out of them, and the stories I was hearing about big wodges of cash.

Bringing the 11th family members to book has taken several years. The

police needed to win the trust of victims who were very vulnerable.

They were dirty. They were thin. The clothes they were wearing were

terrible. We took them to the reception centre, one victim had to

use an entire bottle of shampoo to make himself feel clean. To how they

are now, in employment, going to college, they are reunited with

their families. It is absolutely heart-warming and amazing to see the

transformation. It makes it all worthwhile. They preyed on the

homeless and desperate, offering them shelter and work. But there was

no dignity in this, only lives exploited and destroyed. Judith

Moritz, BBC News, Nottingham. President Trump has stepped up

the war of words with North Korea, saying the US military is "locked

and loaded," with plans in place, Russia has now intervened

in the deeping crisis, with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov,

calling on both sides to sign up to a plan,

to de-escalate tensions. Our North America correspondent

Nick Bryant reports. After fire and fury comes

"locked and loaded" - not the title of some

Hollywood summer blockbuster, but the words of America's

commander in chief, to describe his country's

state of military readiness. These are the latest pictures

of B-1 bombers stationed in Guam, the motto of this squadron,

"Fight tonight." President Trump reminded

people of that He's deploying social media

to ratchet up his rhetoric. "Military solutions are now fully

in place, locked and loaded, Hopefully, Kim Jong-un

will find another path." And last night, there

was another personal warning He has disrespected

our country greatly. He has said things

that are horrific. And with me,

he's not getting away with it. He got away with it for a long time

between him and his family. He's not getting away with this.

This is a whole new ball game. As the government of Japan deployed

missile interceptors to guard against North Korean rockets,

international leaders essentially TRANSLATION: I believe that I'm

firmly convinced that an escalation of rhetoric will not contribute

to a solution of this conflict. TRANSLATION:

When a fight has nearly broken out, the first step away from that

dangerous threshold should be taken by the side

that is stronger and smarter. Amidst this verbal brinkmanship,

it's emerged the Trump administration has been secretly

talking to North Korea about Americans in prison there,

and deteriorating relations. The news came as America's Defence

Secretary emphasised diplomacy. You can see the American effort

is diplomatically lead, it has diplomatic traction,

it is gaining diplomatic results. And I want to stay

right there, right now. The tragedy of war

is well enough known. It doesn't need another

characterisation beyond the fact Holiday-makers on Guam,

the island North Korea has threatened with missiles

still seem unfazed. But amongst the beach

reading this morning, a fact sheet from the Guam

government, warning not A pattern has emerged this week.

President Trump continuing to use this fiery and unconventional

rhetoric. But others in his Administration using much more

nuanced, much more traditional, much more diplomatic language. Now,

perhaps there's a good cop, bad cop dynamic playing out here. It's also

reminiscent of what President Richard Nixon used to describe as

the madman theory of you plant in the mind of your adversarial the

sense that you are volatile, that you are unpredictable, that you are

prepared to do anything. Now, that strategy didn't work with Nixon in

Vietnam, and of course it is a very dangerous strategy if that is the

case to apply now, because any miscalculation, any mistake, could

so easily lead to war. OK, Nick, thank you. Nick Bryant live there in

Washington. The steel company Tata,

has been given the go-ahead to separate its UK pension scheme

from the rest of the business, which will help tens of thousands

of the firm's workers. Staff voted earlier this year

to accept less generous pensions, in return for

investment to secure jobs. The move is expected to clear

the way for a possible merger Our correspondent Wyre Davies

reports now from Port Talbot. Tata Steel had warned

for years that its UK business was under threat,

and wanted to radically reduce pension benefits to workers,

or face the prospect of having For months, employees who stood

to lose thousands of pounds from the retirement plans have been

meeting to review their options. All of a sudden, you come

to the end of your working life, And you have got to work another

seven years in order to get what you have worked for your entire

life without any penalties, I've been there for 23 years,

24 years, and you think you're going to be secure

when you're 60 or 65, and now The ?15 billion British Steel

Pension Scheme is Around 130,000 members will be

affected and the new plan would see current owners Tata paying

?550 million into the The scheme will also get a stake

of one third of Tata's UK business Workers who sign up

to today's proposal will have Other options include

transferring into a personal pension scheme, or they can stay

with the old British Steel scheme, which is backed by the pension

protection fund, that's the really controversial part,

because that's normally only available to companies that

have gone out of business. The Pension Protection Fund

is there to protect the members, So I think the issue

that everyone has is, why should they be allowed to join

the PPF when the liability Which has plenty

of cash, as we know? Though this agreement does protect

workers' pension plans, it also makes the company,

Tata Steel, much more attractive And with the German steel giant

Thyssenkrupp waiting in the wings, there will be renewed concerns

about future job losses and even closures at some UK steel plants,

including Port Talbot. The German firm says

it wants to consolidate European steel-making,

but industry experts say that Port Talbot

is in a relatively strong position. I think the immediate future

for workers at Port Tolbert Port Talbot has restored its

competitiveness, it's been helped by the exchange rate of the pound

against other currencies. Port Talbot has been synonymous

with steel-making for 70 years. And although only one fifth

of the once 20,000-strong workforce Our Business Editor

Simon Jack is here. Is this good news for workers?

Breaking pension promises is never ideal, and people will get less in

the future, but remember, workers voted for this. Tata Steel have

convinced workers, and today, the readily to, that without doing this,

then the future looked grim. If you cast your mind back 18 months, the

future of this plant looked incredibly bleak, people were

talking about closures. So this is good news. The conundrum here is,

Todd Steele said, we may go bust, but the industry expert says they

are making good money at the moment. If we don't have the drain of the

ongoing viability of the pension fund, we can make good progress. We

are going to file possibly on the idea of an imminent merger, they

say, "Look, this is an effective stand-alone company, we might do a

joint venture or merging the future. That is not definite." All in all,

if you look at where we were 18 months ago, jobs look secure for the

medium-term we have to take it as good news. OK, Simon. Simon Jack

there. The judge leading the inquiry

into the Grenfell Tower disaster, has written to the Prime Minister

with recommendations, about the scope

of his investigation. Sir Martin Moore-Bick,

has outlined his proposals, following weeks of talks

with survivors. It's expected Theresa May

will set out the terms of reference for the inquiry,

in the coming weeks. Three men have been jailed,

for running a cannabis factory inside a former nuclear

bunker in Wiltshire. One received eight years,

the other two were sentenced five. All three admitted conspiracy

to produce drugs, after several thousand cannabis plants

with an estimated street value of ?1 million were seized.

Duncan Kennedy reports. Hidden beneath the wooded

hills of Wiltshire, even today, the bunker remains

a secretive, subterranean world. Its old antenna and air vents

the only sign of its existence. But five metres below ground, this

Cold War sanctuary was transformed This was where 4,000 cannabis plants

were found, spread over two floors. The men behind it

were Martin Fillery, Plamen Nguyen and Ross Winter,

who were jailed today for admitting Police say using the nuclear bunker,

once owned by the Ministry of Defence, meant the gang

could exploit its This was a highly organised

operation, and of course, the nuclear bunker provided that

level of security, and covertness This was the bunker as it was,

a secret headquarters for regional government in the event

of a nuclear war. 150 officials could survive

here for up to a month. They found everything from

a big-screen TV, to a fish tank. And all with the home comforts

of an underground world, where the underworld

could go to ground. The gang even bypassed the mains

meter, ripping off ?650,000 All to keep the cannabis growing,

and drying around the clock. In fact, they thought this facility

would provide them with the perfect Why? First of all,

you can't see it from the road. It's completely isolated, and

the complex itself can be locked up. They managed to keep this place

a secret for three years. A place built for a icon in raw

global world tensions, it ended up as an industrial scale

cannabis production line. But one now consigned

like the Cold War itself to history. Duncan Kennedy, BBC News,

at Chilmark in Wiltshire. In one of the biggest investigations

into modern-day slavery, 11 people from the same family have been

convicted. I am here at the Emirates Stadium as the English Premier

League season kicks off for the first time on a Friday.

Coming up in World Athletics Sportsday in the next 15 minutes

We'll be looking ahead to the evening session

including Dina Asher-Smith in the 200 metres final.

Eggs from European poultry farms, containing traces of insecticide,

have now been found in nearly 20 countries.

They've been contaminated with the pesticide fipronil,

which can damage the kidney, liver and thyroid gland.

The European Commissioner for Food Safety, is calling

for high-level talks to tackle the problem, and has called

for an end to countries blaming and shaming each other.

Here's our Europe Correspondent Damian Grammaticas.

The Netherlands is Europe's biggest producer of eggs. But millions of

chickens might have to be slaughtered. This farm has been

given the all clear. The pest control company that fumigate her

band, didn't use the banned insecticide fipronil but the damage

to hurt industry has been done. The farmers trust the companies to come

and do their stuff. There are many rules in the Netherlands, so we are

thinking it is OK. The extent of the problem is spreading. Where it

started in the Netherlands, farms in Belgian, Germany and France, farms

have had to be close. Eggs have been withdrawn from sale from the UK,

Ireland to Poland, Italy and Romania. In Switzerland, even as far

as Hong Kong, there have been re-calls. All this shows how

interconnected our industrial food chains are. Belgian authorities said

the first signs of a problem may have emerged as long ago as November

in the Netherlands. There are difficult questions for European

countries, why wasn't anything done sooner? The European Commission has

called for a meeting of member states to get to the bottom of The

States. The aim is to continuously improve the effectiveness of the EU

system to deal with food fraud and food safety issues. Fipronil is used

to kill fleas in domestic pets and is not allowed on animals entering

the food chain. The amounts discovered in eggs are not harmful

to humans, but prosecutors said two people have been arrested for

threatening public health. TRANSLATION: Be mixed this substance

in something to come into contact with the food chain and they did it

for their own profit. They put health in Dayjur and damaged food

safety. That confidence in what we eat it save may be taking time to be

repaired. A man who murdered his brother

by setting him on fire, has been sentenced to life in prison

and told he must serve Blair Logan had admitted

killing Cameron Logan, at the family in East Dunbartonshire

near Glasgow on New Year's eve. He also seriously injured his

brother's girlfriend. Blair Logan, a young man

who murdered his brother in a horrific attack,

which he planned and prepared for ahead of time and

researched on the Internet. His victims, his brother Cameron,

with whom he had what's described as a hostile relationship,

and Cameron's girlfriend What is very clear is that

your stated intention, I accept your violence

here was out of character. This was, nonetheless,

an exceptionally serious crime. Logan, wearing a mask,

had entered the room at the family home where his brother

and his girlfriend were sleeping. He poured petrol over their bed

and then set fire to Cameron. 12 days later, the 27-year-old

admitted his crimes. Rebecca Williams was in court

for the sentencing. In a statement afterwards,

she said Cameron had been her best friend and partner

and that their future together had She said she wished,

more than anything, Rebecca, seen here to the right

of her father, suffered severe The horror of what happened in that

room will haunt me for ever. It was a calculated

and intentional attack. Cameron died in the most cruel way,

in front of my eyes. The actions of one evil

individual cannot be undone. The length of the sentence imposed

today was never going to be enough for such a barbaric

and ruthless murder. In sentencing him, Judge Lady Scott

said whilst she accepted Logan had a limited ability to appreciate

the consequences of his actions, he had acted with wicked

recklessness and was fully, criminally responsible

for what he had done. The judge added, she could not

imagine the pain his parents would endure, having lost,

in effect, both of their sons. Lorna Gordon, BBC News

at the High Court in Edinburgh. It doesn't seem that long ago

when the season ended, but tonight the English Premier League kicks off

again, and for the first Arsenal take on Leicester City,

in this, the 25th year of the EPL. Our Sports Correspondent Andy Swiss

is at the Emirates Yes, it is an unusual start before

the Premier League season. The first time it has kicked off on a Friday

night. Why? It is good for TV audiences and Arsenal against

Leicester is an intriguing opening match. Arsenal, looking to bounce

back from their worst Premier League season for 20 years, whilst

Leicester suffered something of a hangover last season after the

incredible Premier League triumph. It is a chance for the fans to see

some new players at the Premier League clubs have been splashing the

cash. They have spent more than ?1 billion this summer and Arsenal fans

will be interested to see their new ?50 million striker, Alexandra

lacquers. As for the question as to who will win the title, Chelsea are

the champions and Manchester City are the favourites. But as Leicester

fans will tell you, anything is possible. Indeed. Thank you.

With just two full days left of the World Athletics Championships

in London, there have been sell out crowds, but little cheer

Only one gold medal so far, thanks to Sir Mo Farah.

As Natalie Pirks reports, UK Sport's target of between six

to eight medals overrall, looks increasingly unlikely.

We had hoped for more of this... Instead, the enduring images of

these championships from a British perspective have been of tears and

heartbreak. They are measured in measured Billy McClure medals and Mo

Farah might be the only gold medallist, double gold medallist

Bertie is leaving and going to the road. Five years on from London when

you think about legacy, it is in great. Before these championships

began, the British performance director told me they would need a

lot of luck or they could be kicked in the backside. In a game of fine

margins, this isn't a team short of flair, it is short on fortune. Last

night, Nathaniel Mitchell Blake was the latest Briton to come forth in

his event, making up the quartet of the oh so close. Just inches

separated the likes of Kyle Langford and Laura Muir from a podium spot.

Nevertheless, it now means UK sport's target of six medals looks a

distant dream, especially with Greg Rutherford injured. It is difficult

to win medals in athletics. It is a fact of life. Other sports, with

Olympic sports who win a lot of gold medals, it doesn't take anything

away from their achievements, but not as many people or countries

participate. This is the hardest sport in the world to win a major

title. Athletics received the highest amount of funding. But they

think it is money well spent for the future. They are in transition, the

older group have gone and the younger ones are coming up. The

World Championships of the World Championships but overall I think we

have put on a good show. I think it is good experience but in a few

years, the gold medals. Coming. The British athletes are trying their

best, but at the moment, their best isn't good enough.

Mo Farah has been responsible for six medals and the 5,000m tomorrow

night represents his last chance of carrying British hopes on the track

at a major championships. But there are around three medal hopes up for

grabs with Dina Asher-Smith, the bash out in the women's 200 metres.

Clive. Natalie, thank you. Not getting bad, but it is cloudy

today. Lovely picture, but look at those guys, many of us have had the

source of weather today but this next picture, huge contrast. I love

the two colours between the first and second. Beautiful blues here

this is in Nottingham. This is what we have got at the moment across the

country, a lot of cloud across the UK. Clouded over in the south-east

where the first part of the day was nice. A lot of sunshine around. But

for most this evening and overnight it will be cloudy. Rain from time to

time, not too heavy. There will be breaks in the cloud so if you are

hoping to catch the shooting stars this weekend, you might get a chance

tonight. But the better will be tomorrow. The weather is improving.

The morning might start of cloudy in the south and the south-east because

we are close to a weather front which is just exiting. In the

afternoon, it will be a mixture of sunny spells, lengthy sunny spells

and a few scattered showers. On balance, I think we have a fine day

on the way, but don't be surprised if you do catch a brief, light

sprinkle of rain. Tomorrow evening is looking better. A great

opportunity to get out there and enjoy the views of those shooting

stars. Sunday, the better day, we will have more sunshine right from

the word go. There will be fewer showers, pleasant temperatures and a

bit of rain heading our way. It will be approaching early on Monday so it

will be an unsettled day on Monday, Tuesday a bit better but the good

thing is, the weekend is looking decent.

Now on BBC One, let's join our news teams where you are.