09/01/2018 BBC News at Six

A former football coach goes

on trial, accused of 48 historical

sex offences against young boys.

The court was told that

Barry Bennell had almost "unfettered

access" to boys dreaming of success

in the professional game.

Some of the abuse is alleged to have

taken place in the grounds

of Crewe Alexandra,

where Bennell was coach.

And the other main stories

on tonight's programme...

The newly reshuffled Cabinet

meets for the first time

as Theresa May rings more changes

among junior ranks

to refresh her government.

The north London shopkeeper who died

after being attacked in a row

over cigarette papers.

North and South Korea hold

their first talks in over two years.

And the self-propelling suitcase

that follows its owner -

just one of the marvels at a major

tech show in Las Vegas.

Coming up on Sportsday later

in the hour on BBC News,

another

competition for Manchester City -

Bristol City are the visitors

for the first leg of their

League Cup semifinal.

Good evening.

A court has heard that the former

football coach Barry Bennell

was a "predatory and determined

paedophile," who is alleged to have

subjected a number of boys to abuse

on more than 100 occasions.

Bennell, who is now known

as Richard Jones, denies multiple

historical sex offence charges.

The prosecution said that some

of the abuse took place

in the grounds of Crewe Alexandra,

where Bennell was coach,

but also at his home.

Let's join our Sports

Editor Dan Roan,

who's at Liverpool Crown Court.

Yesterday, we learned that Barry

Bennell had pleaded guilty to seven

charges of sexual abuse, but he were

still contesting 48 further counts

relating to 11 compliments, all boys

aged as young as nine between 1979

and 1991. Today, this trial,

expected to last eight weeks, got

under way as the prosecution opened

its case.

Exercise full former coach in the

1980s, Barry Bennell worked with

some of the most successful teams

like Alexandra. He also had linked

with Stoke City. But today Liverpool

Crown Court was told the

63-year-old, who now calls himself

Richard Jones, was also a predatory,

determined and dangerous paedophile.

For the prosecution, Nicholas

Johnson QC told the jury that

Bennell, who appeared via video link

because of ill-health, engaged in a

course of conduct over many years

involving systematic and persistent

sexual abuse of pre-or prepubescent

boys. He had pretty much unfettered

access to large numbers of young

lads who dreamt of a life in

professional football. Although it

seemed that Mr Bennell was a skilled

and relatively successful coach, he

had a much darker side. The court

was told that Bennell had previously

served to prison sentences both here

and in the United States was serious

sexual offences against junior

footballers, but that he insisted

the current complainants were

maliciously making up stories

against him, seeking attention or

compensation. The court was told

that Bennell subjected boys to

hundreds of assaults and even

carried out some of his crimes here,

in one of the changing rooms in the

ground of Crewe Alexandra. But

several alleged victims also played

for clubs linked to Manchester City.

One alleged that he was abused when

aged between 11 and 13 more than 100

times after Bennell introduced

himself as a scout for the club.

Another claimed he was abused at

Bennell's house and on football

tours, where horror

movies would be played to soften up

his victims. And one complainant who

threatened to report the abuse said

Bennell told him that nobody would

believe him and that "I've got

people playing professional football

now that I have done these things to

- you are nothing". The jury were

told they would have to decide

between Bennell's version of events

or believe the prosecution's case

that he committed sexual offences on

a large scale against very

vulnerable lads. The trial

continues. Dan Roan, BBC News,

Liverpool.

Theresa May has appointed more women

and MPs from ethnic minority

backgrounds as ministers,

at the end of a two-day reshuffle

designed to recharge her government.

Our Deputy Political Editor

John Pienaar has more.

Allowed through the door at Number

Ten today for a quick peek at the

new look cabinet. Nobody move.

Almost nobody move yesterday because

Theresa May couldn't make them.

Where is she? There she is. Jeremy

Hunt, the Health Secretary, was in

the way and wouldn't budge, just

like yesterday. The new faces in the

top team were happy enough, though.

There's lots of energy, lots of

ideas. It was a really important

meeting this morning, with a sense

of renewed vigour.

And the losers?

I

thought what I thought right.

Justine Greening, now ex-Education

Secretary, had no regrets. She would

not switch jobs.

Now she is jobbed

off. You have to be careful about

who you alienate.

You can't make too

many enemies?

No, you can't. That is

the truth of all reshuffles. But I

do think the Prime Minister has

balanced it well. We have stability

at Cabinet level and we have new

blood coming through into the other

layers of government. So the

balancing act, she has got right.

Bringing the Tory party closer to

people was today's mission, making

government to look more like the

electorate and somehow retrieving

old loyalties that were judged by

potential voters.

Excited about the

prospect of joining the government?

So for those judged the brightest

and the best, the guessing game was

over.

You live in hope these days.

They left Number Ten happier than

they went in. Some couldn't bear to

wait for the official announcement

before passing on the news.

Congratulations, what have you got?

Altogether, 14 MPs were given jobs,

eight of them women, and five from

ethnic minorities. Meanwhile,

another plan went wrong today. Toby

Young, appointed to the board of a

new university regulator, resigned

under pressure. He had helped set up

free schools, but past inflammatory

comments and tweets forced to step

down before he could start his new

role. An embarrassment to the

government, but a relief to critics,

including Tories.

Clearly, due

diligence wasn't done. I made it

clear I thought it was the wrong

thing to do because of some very

extreme things that Toby Young had

said in the past on eugenics, on the

disabled and the way he described

working class people.

Newly

appointed unpromoted ministers are

looking happy tonight. They always

do. But this reshuffle, the

ministers Theresa May couldn't move

or sack, has been as much a mark of

her political vulnerability as the

sign of strength her party wanted.

Tory MPs can only hope for a tighter

grip at the top in what will be a

defining year. British politics is

as volatile as it has been in modern

times. Unpredictability is the new

normal. John Pienaar, BBC News,

Westminster.

North and South Korea have

held their first talks

for more than two years,

and have agreed to further

discussions to ease military

tensions in the region.

It came after the North confirmed

it'll be sending a team

to the Winter Olympics

in South Korea next month.

From Seoul, Rupert

Wingfield-Hayes reports.

The skiers on the slopes of

PyeongChang today were moving a

little slower than they will be in a

month's time. Then, the world's best

will be flying down these pistes.

And now we know that when the

Olympic Games open here on February

seven, there will be a full North

Korean team competing. They will

march in side by side with their

South Korean compatriots.

TRANSLATION: I think with both, we

can put everything aside and

everyone should do their best to

achieve their goals in the

competition. -- with sports.

North

Korea is just 50 miles away in that

direction, and the north has really

completely overshadowed preparations

for the Olympics here. Some teams

have threatened to pull out, ticket

sales have been slow. You can see

this place isn't exactly humming

with skiers, so there is immense

relief here that the north and the

South are now at least talking. This

morning, North Korea's chief

delegate strode across the

demarcation line that divides the

two Koreas. He warmly shook the hand

of his South Korean counterpart. The

weather is cold, he said, but

despite the cold, the people's

desire for improving relations is

frozen. It's hard to overstate how

dramatic and rapid this shift has

been. It's only a month since North

Korea test fired this huge new

missile, boasting that it could hit

any city in the United States. Off

the coast of Korea, US aircraft

carriers massed, their decks

swarming with supersonic strike

aircraft. It felt like this region

was teetering on the brink of war.

So is Pyongyang's sudden change of

heart real, or just a tactic to

avoid war with America?

North Korea

would like to gain time in order to

avoid a potential retaliation by the

United States against it and will

eventually re-engage in the

provocation cycle so that it can

threaten the United States.

The

Winter Olympics may be a cover for

Kim Jong-Un, a convenient excuse for

him to step back from the brink. But

here in the south, any chance to

talk is better than the terrifying

alternative. Rupert Wingfield-Hayes,

BBC News, in PyeongChang, South

Korea.

Five men and a woman have appeared

in court charged with belonging

to the banned far-right group,

National Action.

The six, who were arrested

during raids across England

last week, appeared

at Westminster Magistrates court.

They'll appear at the Old Bailey

later this month.

Virgin Trains have stopped

stocking the Daily Mail

on board their west coast route.

The company said concern had been

raised by colleagues

about the Mail's editorial position

on issues such as immigration,

LGBT rights and unemployment.

The Daily Mail has accused

the company of censoring the choice

of newspapers offered to passengers.

The Director-General of the BBC has

been asked to appear before MPs

to answer questions about gender

and pay at the corporation.

Lord Hall will face

questions by the Culture

and Media select committee.

The request comes after the BBC's

former China Editor Carrie Gracie

resigned from her post

after complaining about unequal pay.

She's also been asked

to appear before MPs.

The number of people waiting more

than four hours in accident

and emergency departments

in Scotland reached a record high

in the last week of 2017.

New figures show only 78%

of patients were seen

within the government's

four hour target -

the lowest proportion

since weekly data started

being published three years ago.

Here's our Scotland

Editor Sarah Smith.

Busy Accident & Emergency

departments in Scotland mean

patients are facing their longest

recorded waiting times.

Last week, over 100,000

patients waited more

than four hours to be seen,

nearly 300 waited

Nearly 300 waited

longer than 12 hours,

figures described

today as a "disgrace."

The figures out today

are for the week ending in Hogmanay,

a very, very challenging week

for our health service,

flu really beginning

to kick in that week.

For example, 40% increase in calls

to the Scottish Ambulance Service

on Hogmanay alone.

Of course, our staff are working

extremely hard on the front-line

to keep patients safe.

In the week between Christmas

and New Year, only 78% of people

visiting A&E were seen

within the target of four hours.

That's compared to 92% for the same

week the year before.

The delays are not because of

increased patient numbers.

Only 635 more people

attended A&E departments.

One reason given for

the increased waiting times

is a surge in flu infections.

Cases of flu in Scotland

are running at more than double

the rate in England,

more than twice as many

as there were last year, and that's

now a significant concern.

I just wasn't sure.

Patients with flu take longer

to assess and require treatment

in individual rooms,

as staff try to minimise

the spread of infection.

The team have had to work extremely

hard all the way over Christmas

and the New Year period.

Worse than before?

I would say so.

I've been doing this job for many

years and I think it's probably one

of the busiest times we've had.

The Health Minister,

visiting a hospital in Perth,

insists the Scottish NHS

is performing well overall,

with far fewer cancelled operations

than south of the border.

In Lanarkshire, some of the NHS

admin staff have been volunteering

on the wards to help

the overstretched nurses.

I was a bed buster.

What's a bed buster?

It was basically going to help

the ward staff to strip down

the beds after a patient had been

discharged so that it's cleaned

and made up and ready

for the patient to come into,

and do that as quickly as possible

to save the nursing staff

doing it themselves.

NHS spending is significantly higher

in Scotland, about £160 more

per person than in England.

Greater integrated health and social

care is meant to mean

fewer delayed discharges,

less bed-blocking, but today's

figures show that the winter health

crisis has hit Scotland hard.

Sarah Smith, BBC News, Perth.

Our top story this evening:

Barry Bennell, a former football

coach, goes on trial accused of 48

historical sex offences

against young boys.

Still to come...

Everyone is listening,

and I'm in the same room

as the royal couple right now.

Stay tuned to find out

what happened when Prince Harry

and Meghan Markle visited a south

London radio station.

Coming up on Sportsday on BBC News:

The Football Association announces

a range of measure to improve

diversity and increase funding

in the game.

It's the world's biggest showcase

for the gadgets that

could become part of our lives

in the near future.

More than 170,000 people

are expected to visit this year's

Consumer Electronics Show in Las

Vegas.

The tech companies' latest

developments include driverless

taxis and new advances in artificial

intelligence, including some

disturbingly human robots.

Our technology correspondent,

Rory Cellan-Jones, is in Las Vegas.

Reeta we come here every year to see

thousands of new gadgets launched

and spot the new trend. It's not

difficult it year it's all about

artificial intelligence building it

into products to make it smarter to

learn as they go along. That's the

theory at least. You may see behind

me the stand of alibaba. They are in

a battle with the Americans for

leadership in this technology of the

future.

A powerful and largely invisible

technology is on the march,

it's learning how to drive.

It can recognise individual faces

and it knows an awful lot

about our personal preferences.

That technology is artificial

intelligence and, in Las Vegas this

week, tech firms are showing

off how far it's come.

Hey Sophia, can we shake hands?

In a Las Vegas university lab I'm

meeting Sofia, a humanoid robot.

How sophisticated do

you think you are as a robot?

I want people to perceive

me as the robot I am.

However, I wouldn't want to trick

people into thinking I'm a human.

I just want to communicate

with humans in the best possible

ways, which includes

looking like one.

Sophia, who's had advance

notice of my questions,

has few practical uses right now,

but her creators believe she

represents a big step on the road

to artificial intelligence.

Our aspiration is to bring

the machines to life,

to create living, intelligent

systems and there you'll see

the greatest revolution

in artificial intelligence.

As this giant tech show gets under

way, China's spending on AI

and robotics is much in evidence.

This suitcase recognises

and follows its owner.

Here's China's biggest force in AI

the search giant Baidu,

laying on a lavish Las Vegas event

with the slogan - AI is changing

the world at China's speed.

It calls itself China's Google,

it's already a leader

in technologies like facial

recognition and Baidu

is confident China can challenge

America's AI dominance.

China is quickly catching up

and the gap is closing,

but China has a lot more people,

much larger scale.

It's a big market.

So I think that's a foundation

for China to prevail in the AI age.

Google, which usually keeps low

profile at this show,

has chosen to put its name

everywhere across

Las Vegas, stressing

its leading role in AI.

There is lots of great competition

and lots of excitment. What it means

is that there's a lot of investment

going into this area. A lot of the

best minds working on it. I think

you're going to see the field

advance pretty quickly.

It's arrival

quite slowly out in down town Las

Vegas I booked a ride in a taxi with

no steering wheel, pedals or driver.

It's not just America and China

Rasing to get ahead in AI.

Rory Cellan-Jones, BBC News, Las

Vegas.

A teenager has been arrested

on suspicion of murder and two

others are being sought by police

after a shop worker

was attacked in an argument

about cigarette papers.

Officers say when staff refused

to serve them because of their age,

they became aggressive.

The victim, Vijay Patel,

died in hospital yesterday.

Our special correspondent,

Lucy Manning, reports

now from north London.

He worked hard in this shop

in the quiet suburbs of north

London, but one punch was to end

Vijay Patel's life.

On Saturday night, Abdullah Rahimzai

was working alongside Mr Patel

when three teenagers were told

they couldn't buy cigarette

papers unless they could

prove they were 18.

They threatened me to break

the window, so that's why I ask him.

I wish I didn't send him

to the window, but because of

the threat the guys made,

I asked him only to see.

When I reached the door,

he was already knocked down.

He was hit one punch.

The family released this photo

of Mr Patel in hospital before

he died to try to help catch those

who killed him.

For his relatives in Slough,

disbelief a night at work

could end with such violence.

He was just the greatest man.

He was innocent, he was kind.

He loved everyone and that's why

we all loved him as well.

He was the pillar of the house.

You know how you take out the pillar

and the house is not

there, it's like this.

Everyone is broken down.

Mr Patel had come from India

a decade ago, working

all hours to help his family.

He came to this country

so he could support his family,

so he could support his children.

He could give them a better life.

So they could get the best

education as well.

So they could have

better lives ahead.

A better future ahead as well.

Police say Mr Patel

was murdered for trying to make

others obey the law.

It was a completely unprovoked

attack on a man just

doing his job here.

The police have now arrested

a 16-year-old and are looking

for two other teenagers.

Mr Patel's nephew, the same age

as the boy arrested,

can't understand why

they attacked him.

One punch and one family left

with nothing but their grief.

Lucy Manning, BBC News.

The Government has rewritten

its ministerial code of conduct

in light of problems with harassment

at Westminster which

emerged last year.

It states that inappropriate

behaviour "will not be tolerated."

The amended code also sets out

ministers' duty to report any

meetings they conduct overseas.

A year ago today, the late

Martin McGuinness resigned

as Stormont's Deputy First Minister.

His party, Sinn Fein,

and the Democratic Unionists have

since been unable to reach

an agreement to restore

the power-sharing coalition.

Civil servants have been

running Northern Ireland,

but they're not able to make

any major decisions.

Our Ireland correspondent,

Chris Page, has been

looking at the impact of 12

months without government.

Just like everywhere else

in the UK, the health service

in Northern Ireland is under severe

pressure this winter,

but what's different here is that

there's no Health Minister.

Three months before it collapsed,

the devolved Government published

a plan to restructure the NHS

after a report said the system

was at breaking point.

No problem with your

blood pressure before?

No.

This GP says urgent

reforms are being held up

because ministers are out of office.

We already see it with the long

waiting lists for secondary care.

We see it with the lack

of investment in social care.

We see it with the issues around

the out of hours service and we see

it with the heavy demands on access

to GP services, and that's where

the patients will see it primarily.

Others who rely on public money

to do their jobs say that

uncertainty is unacceptable.

You're too neat by nature.

This workshop for people

with dementia is one

of hundreds of programmes run

by community arts organisations.

They say their future is shaky

because of funding cuts,

but they feel they've nowhere to go

to make their case.

We have no Government,

we have no champion,

we have no minister.

So we've nobody to turn

to to support policy changes,

to support the communities here.

This is a crisis moment for us.

The political crisis is apparently

still as deep as a year ago.

Martin McGuinness ended

Sinn Fein's uneasy partnership

with the Democratic Unionists

when he resigned as

Deputy First Minister.

There have since been elections

to Stormont and Westminster

and several rounds of talks

to restore power-sharing.

But many days of negotiations have

failed to break the deadlock.

The DUP and Sinn Fein

increased their dominance in both

elections last year and they blame

each other for the

Stormont stalemate.

In the meantime, unmade

decisions are piling up.

Half of the construction

industry's business comes

from public sector projects.

Workers are concerned

about a downturn in demand.

Within the next few months,

unless decisions are made

and projects and things start

to move forward, I think

we could see a situation

where we're seeing layoffs

in the construction industry.

We need to see the Executive

and the Assembly reestablished

as soon as possible.

The British and Irish governments

are aiming to restart

talks between the parties

in the coming weeks.

At the moment, there's no sign

of a deal to bring devolution

out of the deep freeze.

Chris Page, BBC News, Belfast.

Prince Harry and his fiancee

Meghan Markle have visited a youth

radio station in Brixton, in south

London, on their first Royal

engagement of the year.

Hundreds of people lined the streets

outside the Reprezent

studios to welcome them.

Nicholas Witchell's report

contains flash photography.

They travel with all

the paraphernalia of royalty,

but Harry and Meghan

are the new Royal couple

determined to do things just

a little differently.

So this was a visit

to a radio station, housed

in old shipping containers.

CHEERING

Believe it or not everyone

is listening and I'm in the same

room as the Royal couple right now.

This is Reprezent FM in Brixton,

south London, set up 10 years ago

to help tackle inner city issues,

like knife crime.

It gives young people a purpose

and trains them to be broadcasters.

I can see why your show's

so popular because you're

so thoughtful in the approach,

but also so engaging to listen to.

Thank you.

Inside the station, Harry and Meghan

were getting to know

the broadcasting class of 2018.

Outside it was apparent that

royalty's newest recruit is reaching

new audiences herself.

The support from Brixton,

it was just a lot of people

of colour that were just

cheering her on.

Obviously you could tell

that she was quite surprised

the reception she got.

She looked shocked, didn't she?

I thought that, yeah.

Yeah, because everyone was shouting

for Meghan and not really Harry.

Get out of the way.

We want to see Meghan!

"We want to see Meghan",

demanded the crowds in south London.

Expect to hear a lot of that

between now and the wedding

in May, and beyond.

Nicholas Witchell, BBC News.

Time for a look at the weather.

Here's Chris Fawkes.

Here's Chris Fawkes.

We look at the weather going on in

the Kalps. A two-day snowstorm that

brought huge falls of snow. 160

centimetres of snow, it has shut the

resort. It's high across a wide

range of alpine resort areas. People

have been stranded at times without

power. Towns are digging out from

the huge snowdrifts. We have had low

cloud today, mist and fog patches

and drizzle widely. There have been

brighter spots, Cumbria and western

Scotland seeing fine weather and

sunshine. We are seeing a change

take place at the moment. This band

of rain is edging in off Atlantic.

There are bumps along this weather

front. That is a sign we could see

an area of low pressure form along

the front which would slow it down.

That heavy rain will get across

Northern Ireland into parts of

Scotland. The rain lighter in

England and Wales. Tomorrow the

complication is if we do get an area

of low pressure forming along the

front it could really put the brakes

on this front, particularly across

eastern Scotland and north-east

England. These are perhaps the

favoured areas for the rain lasting

into the afternoon. It could be

elsewhere across eastern England

too. We will see sunshine further

east. Temperatures five or six, not

as cold as it has been in the north,

milder to south-west England and

Wales later in the day. Mist and fog

to start the day on Thursday. Some

of these will be slow to clear.

Decent day weather wise. Bright or

sunny spells. Chilly in the north,

three or five degrees Celsius.

Cooler further south. That is how

the weather is shaping up.

A reminder of our main story.

Barry Bennell -

a former football coach -

goes on trial accused of 48

historical sex offences.

The court was told that he had

almost "unfettered access" to young

boys dreaming of success

in the professional game.

That's all from the BBC News at Six,

so it's goodbye from me

and on BBC One we now join the BBC's

news teams where you are.