31/03/2014 BBC Newsline

- on BBC One we now join the BBC's - on BBC One we now join the BBC's

so it's goodbye from me, Good evening. The headlines on BBC

Newsline: Up to one hundred loyalists go on the rampage - the

police call it a mob on a power trip. They want to grab power and

legitimacy in communities. We are determined to bring them to justice.

They shouldn't even exist, in my opinion.

The man who died after a medication mix-up - his family say they want

the truth. The police say it was a clear

attempt to kill their officers - this time a bomb was on a golf

course. The boy who broke his back doing

this - but now he's back on the pitch. I'm at Titanic Belfast where

this year's NorthWest 200 is being launched with fans getting the

chance tonight to meet their heroes. And, a risk of surface water

flooding in places. A Met Office rain warning is in force.

Extra police officers will be this evening on the ground in Larne where

a gang of up to one hundred loyalists went on a rampage last

night. They ransacked three homes, injured a man in one of them and a

police officer and struck fear among people living in two areas of the

town. The South East Antrim UDA has been blamed for the violence which

it's believed was connected to a feud and recent police arrests.

Here's our north-west reporter David Maxwell.

Tensions have been mounting here for weeks according to police. At least

two of the houses attacked have been targeted previously. But no one

predicted the scale of last night's trouble in two parts of Larne. This

is where two properties were damaged last night when around 60-100 masked

men arrived in this housing estate. This is one of the properties

damaged. I have been speaking to a man that was in this house at the

time. He has described masked men coming to the door, smashing windows

and the family inside, around five people, barricading themselves into

the kitchen. He has described the ordeal as terrifying and it's left

the family in a state of shock. None of them wanted to appear on camera

but one member of the family said they're having to consider whether

or not they'll stay in this area. Some of their neighbours left their

homes when the trouble was at its height. Anybody that can do that to

anybody, terrible. Just terrible. I couldn't ask for better neighbours.

Both families attacked in this street are related and it's

understood part of the motivation for the violence is an ongoing

dispute with members of the South East Antrim UDA. A shot was fired

through the window of this house in January. Another possible motive is

a show of strength following arrests of UDA members. This seem to be on

some sort of a power trip. They want to grab power and legitimacy in

communities. We are determined as a police service to bring them to

justice, actually, not to give them that legitimacy. They shouldn't even

exist in my opinion. The other house attacked was a mile-and-a-half away.

Here the same gang left a similar trail of destruction and seriously

injured one man. A police officer was also injured during the

hour-long rampage. The trouble was condemned on the floor of the

Assembly today where many politicians called for robust police

action. I think the police need to do more. The police were quickly on

the ground last night but not in sufficient numbers. And of course

had to retreat and wait for reinforcements by which stage all

the damage was done. The police had a golden opportunity last night I

feel for arresting quite a lot of these men and let it slip through

their hands. They were slow last night and they'll have to admit that

themselves. The PSNI says its response was appropriate and it had

a public order unit on the ground within 20 minutes. Nevertheless, a

number of police officers in the area will be increased in the coming

days. The family of a man who died at

Antrim Area Hospital four years ago have said they are not conducting a

witch-hunt but they've had to fight for every piece of information about

his death. Neil Cormican was 81 when he passed away after being given the

wrong medication. Last week it emerged that a review into the

Northern Health trust had identified 20 cases where care was below

standard. 11 of those cases were deaths - five of which were babies.

Our health correspondent Marie-Louise Connolly has been

speaking to the Cormican family. In April 2010 Neil Cormican was in

hospital where he was recovering from a fall. But an overdose of a

drug his family say he shouldn't have been predescribed triggered a

fatal heart attack. His family say all along they've just wanted the

truth. We never set out on any kind of a witch-hunt. We never wanted

anyone to lose their job over what had happened to our dad. But we felt

that the standard of dad's care over those two days was obviously

extremely poor. What we would like to see is that for the doctors and

nurses who were involved in dad's case, for their performance was less

than competent, there should at the very least be a note on their record

to say what had happened and that they've been involved in this. It's

a statutory duty to report such deaths to the coroner. It took the

Trust six months to report this death, held three years later the

inquest revealed a catalogue of failings. My dad's death should have

been immediately assessed as being a serious adverse incident. It should

have been immediate immediately referred to the coroner without any

question. There should have been an open and independent investigation.

There should have been lessons drawn from that investigation and systems

should have been put in place so that nothing like it ever happened

to anyone else again. During the inquest the family received an

apology. The Trust's medical director said their father had died

as a result of mistakes made by clinical staff of the hospital. He

also apologised, in his words, for the major mistake he had made in

advising that there was no need to inform the coroner about the death.

Last week, days before the Minister went public with details of a

review, the Trust again wrote to the family.

In that letter a senior director at the Northern Trust offered to mark

MrCormican's death with a donation to charity or the purchase of a

piece of art. I would have thought to channel their energies to

improving their services would have been better for dad's memory, rather

than a piece of art with his name on it. I don't see the logic in that at

all. The former chair of the Northern Trust's board said the

death shouldn't have happened. They should have reported to the coroner,

but inside the hospital, very busy hospital, very difficult situation,

underfund something the core of all these issues. It's just unreasonable

that people are expected to work in such difficult circumstances. This

afternoon, in the Assembly the Health Minister confirmed that not

all families have been informed of details and said he was considering

new guidelines described as a duty of candour. We are certainly open to

the idea but I don't think it's the entire solution. I think it may be

part of the solution. For instance, in some cases we have heard in the

media there may have been a lack of communication with the families and

that's very clearly an issue. Neil Cormican had 17 grandchildren, his

story is one of several, not just in the Northern Health Trust but across

the Health Service. The police say a bomb found on the

golf course in Strabane was a clear attempt to kill police officers. The

device was packed with nuts and bolts. Our north-west reporter

Keiron Tourish has been talking to the area's police chief.

Army bomb disposal experts spent all day dealing with the device. It was

left on the golf course in Strabane just yards from the normally busy

main road into an estate. Two masked men had warned local residents about

the device last night. This is about a six-inch pipe, it's packed full of

nuts and bolts and there is explosives in it. Had this gone off

this would have killed anybody in the vicinity, 30, 40 yards vicinity.

This would have killed. This is designed to kill police officers.

The golf club said some members were playing on the course before the

alerlt was raised. -- alert was raised. Very alarming, we had a few

people playing golf this morning and not only that, our ground staff have

been cutting, as well, dealing with heavy machinery. The bombers were

strongly condemned. Get off our backs. That's what people have said

to me. We don't want this any longer. I cannot understand the

logic of these guys who are intent on seriously maiming or killing

someone. Detectives who are investigating this incident have

issued an appeal for information. They want to hear from anyone who

noticed any suspicious activity in or around the golf course last

evening to get in touch. Still to come:

Milking an opportunity - how criminal gangs who normally deal in

dodgy diesel have found themselves in a new line of business.

Fifty jobs are under threat at Fivemiletown Creamery. The

cheese-making factory in County Tyrone, which has suffered large

losses, is in negotiations with a multi-national food company but

there are fears the factory will close. Our south-west reporter

Julian Fowler has the story. Fivemiletown Creamery is renowned

for making cheeses, it even sold Brie to the French. Recently its

core business has been suffering. Two years ago, it lost a major

contract worth 50% of its turnover. The co-operative says difficult

trading conditions have had a significant impact on its financial

viability. The creamery has been making significant losses for the

past two years. A position that's now become unsustainable. The fear

is that in the current economic climate the 50 people who work here

will lose their jobs. It's now in exclusive negotiations with a global

dairy company based in Kilkenny. But there is no guarantee the factory

will stay open, to the concern of the local community. I think not

just only the people who work in the creamery, because they're going to

lose their jobs, it's going to have an impact on small businesses like

myself who have opened in the town. Then there is the knock-on effect

with farmers and where they take their milk and less competition for

them so they may not get as much for their milk. It's going to be a

massive impact on the town. They already know the impact of the

closure the creamery would have. Two years ago one closed with the loss

of 30 jobs. The shareholders of Fivemile Town Co-operative will meet

on Thursday to discuss how long the factory gates here will remain open.

A man has appeared in court charged in connection with the seizure of a

bomb in West Belfast last week. Connor Hughes of Altan Close in

Dunmurry is accused of having what's called an improvised explosive

device. Our reporter Kevin Sharkey was in the court for BBC Newsline.

The bomb was found on Shaw's Road last Thursday night. It was

contained in a hold-all. It led to a security operation in the area at

the time and a court appearance by Connor Huge this is morning. He was

charged with having a bomb with intent to endanger life or cause

serious damage to property -- Hughes. Connor Hughes entered the

dock and immediately turned to the public gallery and waved to a group

of about ten supporters. When he was asked if he understood the charge he

ignored the question and turned away. A solicitor said there will be

no application for bail and he was remanded in custody. As he left the

dock, Hughes again turned to the public gallery and waved to his

supporters. Connor Hughes is due to appear before the counteragain via

video link -- court again sri video link.

A couple of months ago we spoke to a 15-year-old who broke his back

playing rugby. Since then, Ryan O'Hagan has spent time sitting on

the sidelines in a wheelchair. But now he is back on the pitch. Chris

Buckler has been speaking to the teenager and his family about his

return to the sport. He is ready for action. But it is

opt six months since Ryan O'Hagan had to be carried off during a game.

Having broken his back, when tackle went wrong. It must make you think

about do I really want to play this sport? No, the first thing I asked

was can I play rugby again, they said it was a 50-50 chance and I was

heartbroken in case the worst happened.

Having made a full recovery, Ryan is back on the pitch, both training and

playing. But allowing that was a tough

decision for the parents of a 15-year-old boy who broke his back.

There are some mothers who will be watching thinking if that happened

to my son, I would never let them play rugby again. They think I am

mad. So many people have said are you wise, letting him do it? But how

do I take that away from him? This is his passion.

But as we were filming, there was a reminder of the dangers of this

sport. An ambulance was called to another pitch at the rugby club,

after an accident during the match. A young teenager has had to come off

the pitch and he has been taken to hospital as a precaution, he has a

neck injury, and again, it is just highlighted how important it is that

coaches watch out for injuries. Ryan's father is involved in

training one of the teams at this club.

Not surprisingly, as both a parent and a coach, he is very aware that

there is always the chance that someone could get hurt. Especially

at 13, through to 19. They think they are inVince. The training we

get that allows us to step on it. Because people have been seriously

injured, even paralysed a lot of effort is going into make everyone

aware of the dangers of concussion and contact in rugby.

You hit your neck, it can get pushed down and you can get crunched. In a

sport where' Greggs is part of the game, there is no way of getting rid

of all of the risks. -- aggression.

Lost his job was punishment. The 5-year-old was found to be well over

the limit, twice in three days, both on and off duty. Chief engineer

Mikhail Irusglotov was in the jin room of his ship here on Belfast

Lough on Friday evening, round about 8.00. When the captain of the ship

noticed a drop in engine revolutions, the ship had just

delivered coal to a power station. On inspection the captain found

Mikhail Irusglotov drunk onboard so he called the police. He was

arrested and then failed a breath test. He appeared in court on

Saturday accused of being in charge of a vessel while under the

influence, he was given bail. But he was rearrested yesterday on a second

similar charge. He wasn't on duty at the time but the court heard that

the Dane said he was so drunk, he couldn't be called to duty. A

prosecution lawyer told the court that his actions could have put

lives at riskful today in court he pleaded guilty to both count,

handing down a conditional discharge, the judge referred to his

34 years of working onboard ships. She said "I am going to send you

home today, but the fact that you have lost your job after such long

service is punishment." The Food Standards Agency has broken up what

it believes to be a milk smuggling operation in South Armagh, the

agency has stressed such scams do not pose any significant public

health risk but they do break international laws and affect

traceability. Officials from the Food Standards

Agency arrive outside this farm, a farm nay suspect has been at the

centre of a milk fraud. The amount of milk produced right

across the European community is controlled by EU quota, and that

system is due to end next year, as they gear up for that change some

farmers in the republic find themselves producing more than their

current quota. Last year the republic's agricultural minister

urged farmers to produce less and so help the country avoid a possible

levy. Every alert criminal gangs spotted an opportunity. Tankers were

begged, stolen and borrowed and suddenly, those who perhaps normally

deal in dodgy diesel or fake fags found themselves in the milk

business. Milk from legitimate farms like this

one sells for a little over 30 pence a litre and costs round 20 pence a

litre to produce. The smugglers offer surplus mill

forensic the republic to farmers north of the border for reportedly

round ten or 11 pence a litre, but in doing so they are contravening a

whole raft of legislation. This is an issue about food

traceability, when milk purchasers buy the milk from farmers, they are

buying that milk on the basis that that milk has been produced on those

farms, and we know that this is not the case, so it completely degrades

the traceability in relation to that milk purchase.

As far as we are concerned we condemn this sort of activity, it

has potential to jeopardise the good name of all farmers in Northern

Ireland and we would encourage anyone who is wear of any suspicious

activity to report to it the authorities and we would expect the

authorities to prosecute in this case.

For anyone caught taking part in a scam like this, the apparent profit

could be a false economy, with the official processors almost certain

to blacklist them and deny them access the market entirely.

Sport next, and Stephen Watson is at the launch of this year's North West

200 road racing festival. Stephen. Donna, thank you. Welcome live to

Titanic Belfast. A big night for this building because it was opening

two years ago today. This evening it will be filled with hundreds of

motorcycle fans who have been lucky enough to get one of the tickets

which were snapped up in a matter of 24 hours to meet their hero, they

will hear news of a new BBC deal to cover the North West 200 for the

next five year, I am joined by the Race Director Mervyn white and one

of the best road racers in the world John McGuinness. Mervyn, how pleased

are you that this event will be broadcast globally until 2019? This

is brilliant new, good news for our point of view. It is going tout a

worldwide audience. We are getting that out and it has to be a major

credit to BBC and from our point of view it is brilliant. John, all

motorcycle fans will be disappointed to see you with your arm in a cast,

what happened and will you be ready for the north-west? Yes, I will be

ready. It comes off in two week, we have a month of physio to get

through. I fell off my bike, as preparation I have done for the last

ten years, and that is preparation, I am not a gym person, I like to go

out on the bike, and hit a great big boulder that has been there for

millions of years and it stopped me and I bust my scaphoid. There is no

way that is going to stop me, I will be here in a few weeks and tearing

round this famous circuit. Good to hear for your 20th North West 200. I

don't really want to remind you about the dreadful rain last year

but you have done lots to enhance enjoyment of the event. We, some of

the races are under seven lap, we are introducing an extra screen, so

good for spectators and the fans who come to the event. Thank you. It

will be a busy night. Take a look at that the place is

starting to fill up. We will stay here for the rest of the sport

The NI Football League has condemned the actions of a small minority of

fans following crowd trouble in the aftermath of Saturday's game between

Linfield and Cliftonville. They will await the match observers' report

before making any further comment. Cliftonville won the game 3-1 to go

a point ahead at the top of the table. Chris Curran, a chance for

Cliftonville and he takes it. In the build up to this game, both managers

refused to see it simply as a title showdown. With hugely significant

matches still to come, over the next month.

Cliftonville strike force of Boyce and Gormley was a difference.

Linfield captain Michael guilty reduced the deficit to 2-1. But

Boyce found the net again to set up a Grandstand finish to the league

campaign. People think about last week, we had

a good first half there, a lot of chances and we came back in the

second half a bit subdued. We were disappointed with the result. So we

were afraid of that happening again. We got ourselves together and

thought keep doing what we are doing. Be composed when we get in

those area, when you have Liam and Joe in your side you have the

chance. Crusaders stepped closer as they defeated Portadown.

Derry's Gaelic footballers are top of Division One but Tom Mac-Niblock

starts his round up of a busy football. The. Despite three

unanswered scores Tyrone conceded an early goal.

Back to his very best was Coney, this one of nine points he scored in

yesterday's game. However another player back from

injury is O'Neill and he looked to have given Cork the lead and the

win. What a fantastic goal. But Tyrone came back, primarily through

Cavanagh, he won a late free and O'Neill converted it to give tire

rope a draw: Down conceded a second half goal, although Ambrose Rogers

on his come back from injury pulled one back. Roger has rifled it home.

They finished the stronger of the two sides and won by four points.

Ulster didn't have the ideal preparation for the big Heineken Cup

clash on Saturday against Saracens. Mark Anscombe's side lost to 28-23

to Cardiff on Saturday night in the RaboPro12, and to say the coach was

unhappy is an understatement. Question some of the guys where

their head space was, maybe they were thinking next week. We lost the

game in the 15 minutes at the half-time when we conceded 19 points

and it was poor, the discipline was weak, we had conceded nine penalty,

we can't afford do that when you a goal kicker like this, then, when

they scored their try, we should have been scoring down the other

end. We chased well, turned it over, only had to pick the ball up and off

load it and we couldn't handle the ball. They scored, so that the game.

It will be a big night here, all of these lucky people are going to get

a chance to meet their motor cycling heroes, an event in coun --

conjunction with the BBC. They can't wait for it to get started so it is

a goodbye from all of us. THEY ALL CHEER.

They are very well behaved! I had to do battle with a wasp today, perhaps

a sign of the season. Angie is here with the latest weather forecast. We

are in for a wet spell tonight, so the insects might not particularly

like that. Once we get past that rain, tomorrow, generally, a mainly

dry day again, maybe the best day to get things down outdoor, the rest of

the week is unsettled. The clouds will bring more rain or shower, not

bad for Northern Ireland today. Up to 15 degrees in the bright spells

but cloud has been gathering across the Republic of Ireland, spells of

rain starting to move their way in, and they will gradually spread up to

Northern Ireland, as you can see bright spots there, that is an

indication some could be heavy this area of rain and the Met Office has

a warning in place. There is potential for some surface water

flooding, so that is something to be aware of. So that rain, it continues

before easing off later on, turning patchier and lighter. It is still a

damp end to the night. A mild one as well. Temperatures no lower than six

degrees. Tomorrow, it is looking better again, it will dry up and we

will see brightness developing, but probably it is going to be a bit of

a slow start, we will still have patchy rain and drizzle round,

particularly in the north. That will start to fade away. We will start

off with a lot of low cloud and mist and murk. But that cloud will start

to thin out, so as we head into the afternoon for inland area, we should

see bright spells, even hazy sunshine getting through and

temperatures decent as well. 13 or 14 degrees. If you are on the

coastline we have mist and sea fog threatening to come in. It will feel

cooler there. Into tomorrow night, we have that mist on the east coast.

It will move inland as mist and low cloud. Again, it should be staying

frost-free, we head into Wednesday, dry and maybe a few bright spells to

begin with, we have another area of rain that will move in. It is

probably going to be lingering along the slow-moving weather front as we

head into Thursday as well. And that was BBC Newsline, thanks

for watching. Goodbye.