:00:00. > :00:12.Good evening. A motorcyclist is in hospital after crashing at the North
:00:13. > :00:15.West 200 earlier today. The French rider Franck Petricola crashed just
:00:16. > :00:18.minutes before the first day's practice session was about to end.
:00:19. > :00:26.Stephen Watson reports from the course.
:00:27. > :00:32.Franck Petricola was making his debut here at the North West 200 and
:00:33. > :00:36.after his high-speed crash he was treated at the scene by doctors,
:00:37. > :00:39.before being transferred by helicopter to the Royal Victoria
:00:40. > :00:44.Hospital. I'm joined by the race director, Mervyn Whyte. What is the
:00:45. > :00:51.latest on Franck Petricola's condition? The latest information we
:00:52. > :00:55.have is his condition is critical. He was airlifted to Royal Victoria
:00:56. > :01:00.Hospital after the accident. That is the information we have at this
:01:01. > :01:04.present point in time. Is it fair to say the safety measures you put in
:01:05. > :01:10.place here saved his life today? Yes, I would say that. He came off
:01:11. > :01:15.at high speed at Primrose Corner, over 800 miles an hour. He went into
:01:16. > :01:21.the baleful the side of the track. They are there to prevent major
:01:22. > :01:27.injuries. Yes, it probably saved his life. We carried out numerous risk
:01:28. > :01:31.assessments of the corner and as a result with the barriers and fencing
:01:32. > :01:38.and whatever else is in place there, the protectors, we probably reduced
:01:39. > :01:41.his injuries. We will continue to bring you all the latest here from
:01:42. > :01:45.the North West 200 on BBC Newsline. It has emerged that the gun used in
:01:46. > :01:49.the first fatal shooting by the PSNI more than ten years ago has been
:01:50. > :01:52.destroyed - ahead of an inquest into the death. The Police Ombudsman's
:01:53. > :02:00.Office, which returned the gun, accept the handover was a mistake.
:02:01. > :02:06.Julie McCullough reports. 21 you roll Neal McConville from
:02:07. > :02:11.County Armagh was shot dead after police pursued the car he was
:02:12. > :02:15.travelling in near Lisburn in 2003. They had suspected he was carrying a
:02:16. > :02:19.gun and opened fire, because they were concerned he was about to drive
:02:20. > :02:25.over an officer, who had already been knocked down. He was shot three
:02:26. > :02:33.times and came the first person to be killed by the PSNI. And unloaded,
:02:34. > :02:36.sawn off shotgun, was later recovered from the car. An
:02:37. > :02:40.investigation by the then Police Ombudsman found the officer who
:02:41. > :02:45.fired the fatal shots had been justified, but there was some
:02:46. > :02:48.criticism of senior officers' management of the operation. The gun
:02:49. > :02:53.used by police in the shooting had been taken away to be forensically
:02:54. > :02:59.examined, but was returned to them by the Police Ombudsman's Office in
:03:00. > :03:03.January 2010. The PSNI has confirmed it has since destroyed the weapon.
:03:04. > :03:08.Lawyers for the dead man's partner are now pressing for further answers
:03:09. > :03:12.why and how this happened. A spokesperson for the Police
:03:13. > :03:15.Ombudsman's Office has said they have revised their processes to
:03:16. > :03:19.ensure such mistakes don't happen again.
:03:20. > :03:22.A 55-year-old Belfast man has appeared at the Special Criminal
:03:23. > :03:25.Court in Dublin in relation to the discovery of a car bomb at the
:03:26. > :03:29.weekend. Samuel Devlin's address was given as the Finnstown Hotel in
:03:30. > :03:32.Lucan, where the bomb was found. He's charged with membership of an
:03:33. > :03:36.unlawful organisation, and having explosives. He was remanded in
:03:37. > :03:39.custody. The former First Minister and Ulster
:03:40. > :03:43.Unionist leader David Trimble has said he was shocked and hurt that
:03:44. > :03:49.Tony Blair kept him in the dark about a secret process to deal with
:03:50. > :03:51.On the Runs. Lord Trimble has told Westminister's Northern Ireland
:03:52. > :04:04.Affairs Committee that he felt deceived. Vincent Kearney reports.
:04:05. > :04:07.Hundreds of Republican and loyalist paramilitaries were released early
:04:08. > :04:11.as part of the Good Friday agreement, signed by David Trimble.
:04:12. > :04:15.He won the Nobel Peace Prize and worldwide acclaim for his role in
:04:16. > :04:18.the agreement. But he insists he knew nothing about a secret scheme
:04:19. > :04:23.that resulted in letters being sent to almost 200 On the Runs, telling
:04:24. > :04:27.them they were not wanted by questioning for police for offences
:04:28. > :04:31.committed before the agreement was signed. David Trimble said the first
:04:32. > :04:35.he knew was when a judge ruled that John Downey would not stand trial
:04:36. > :04:39.for the murders of four soldiers because he was sent one of the
:04:40. > :04:43.letters. At no time was any hint dropped to us about the existence of
:04:44. > :04:49.this scheme. He was asked for his response to not being told. When you
:04:50. > :04:55.see what has happened and when it was happening and overlay your
:04:56. > :04:58.involvement in the significant political development of Northern
:04:59. > :05:01.Ireland at that time, do you feel betrayed by Tony Blair and those
:05:02. > :05:10.players at that time? I must confess I was quite hurt by the fact that
:05:11. > :05:12.there we had so many meetings with secretaries of states, speaking to
:05:13. > :05:19.the Prime Minister, and we approached those meetings in a
:05:20. > :05:23.candid manner, to find out that they were deliberately keeping something
:05:24. > :05:27.from us. The committee will travel to Stormont next month, for a
:05:28. > :05:31.two-day evidence gathering session. They will question First Minister
:05:32. > :05:35.Peter Robinson, who has described the letters as get out of jail free
:05:36. > :05:39.cards, and also criticised the government for keeping his party in
:05:40. > :05:43.the dark. Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and Justice
:05:44. > :05:46.Minister David Forde will also give evidence. The committee will also
:05:47. > :05:51.question the Director of Public Prosecutions, Barra McGrory QC,
:05:52. > :05:55.about his involvement in the scheme. In his previous role as a
:05:56. > :05:59.solicitor, Barra McGrory acted on behalf of Sinn Fein and met a senior
:06:00. > :06:03.police officer in charge of a specialist PSNI team setup to deal
:06:04. > :06:08.with the On the Runs. They discussed the legal mechanics the process and
:06:09. > :06:12.his law firm later admitted a significant number of names to the
:06:13. > :06:15.police during that legal status -- to get the legal status clarified.
:06:16. > :06:19.The committee is trying to finalise arrangements to take evidence from
:06:20. > :06:23.Tony Blair, whose government set up the scheme.
:06:24. > :06:25.Three people have been arrested after police officers seized 4,500
:06:26. > :06:29.suspected ecstasy tablets in Waringstown. Two men, aged 18 and
:06:30. > :06:35.56, were detained along with a 39-year-old woman after searches in
:06:36. > :06:39.Main Street this afternoon. The Princess Royal has helped launch
:06:40. > :06:43.a plan for a new wood to commemorate the centenary of the start of the
:06:44. > :06:46.First World War. As our north west reporter Keiron Tourish reports, 53
:06:47. > :06:55.acres near Glenshane Pass will become one of four memorial woods
:06:56. > :07:02.across the UK. This is the very picturesque setting
:07:03. > :07:06.which Princess Anne visited this afternoon. In the next few years
:07:07. > :07:09.this area will be completely transformed, when tens of thousands
:07:10. > :07:14.of trees will be planted by the Woodland Trust. That is all part of
:07:15. > :07:19.the centenary project to mark the First World War. Those trees will be
:07:20. > :07:23.dedicated to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. The Woodland
:07:24. > :07:28.Trust will plant many of those trees, but the public are being
:07:29. > :07:31.encouraged to get involved as well. The Woodland Trust very much wants
:07:32. > :07:36.the public to embrace this whole idea. This can be an area for quiet
:07:37. > :07:42.reflection and enjoyment. Princess and today met around 80 people,
:07:43. > :07:47.including some of those volunteers from the trust, who will be taking
:07:48. > :07:50.part in the project. This is a project that will be repeated on the
:07:51. > :07:55.other countries across the UK. The significant difference here from
:07:56. > :07:59.Northern Ireland is that our project in this beautiful valley is an all
:08:00. > :08:04.Ireland project. It is here to commemorate the lives of all those
:08:05. > :08:09.40,000 men who lost their lives in the First World War. After her visit
:08:10. > :08:12.here this afternoon, the Princess Royal left for the day. It is
:08:13. > :08:17.understood she has another busy round of engagements tomorrow.
:08:18. > :08:19.Here's Cecilia Daly with a look at what the weather has in store for
:08:20. > :08:29.the day ahead. Hello, most of the day's showers
:08:30. > :08:34.have gone, so it should stay dry for the rest of the night. Clear skies
:08:35. > :08:37.in the east. It could get chilly, especially in the countryside.
:08:38. > :08:41.Cloudy weather is moving in from the west. The cloud will increase
:08:42. > :08:46.tomorrow. Maybe some early brightness tomorrow across parts of
:08:47. > :08:49.County Down, otherwise quite a cloudy morning. Damp weather moving
:08:50. > :08:54.in from the West to affect many places for a time. Most of the rain
:08:55. > :08:57.will be fairly light away from the hills and perhaps over Donegal and
:08:58. > :09:02.into the West of Scotland there will be heavy bursts of rain. This is a
:09:03. > :09:05.weather front, slowly coming eastwards but weakening. Many parts
:09:06. > :09:08.of eastern Scotland, England and Wales will be dry and there will be
:09:09. > :09:15.sunshine with pretty decent temperatures. Up to 90 degrees
:09:16. > :09:19.across parts of south-east. We could squeeze 16 or 17 Celsius over parts
:09:20. > :09:22.of Wicklow and Wexford. It will be damp for a while tomorrow afternoon
:09:23. > :09:27.but the rain moves away. It dries up by the end of the day. A slightly
:09:28. > :09:31.warmer feel to the day. That will be a theme that continues into
:09:32. > :09:35.Thursday, with temperatures up to 16 or 17 Celsius. A dry day. Some
:09:36. > :09:40.dampness tomorrow for the Balmoral show, as it kicks off, but fairly
:09:41. > :09:44.dry over the next few days. That will be good news as the practice
:09:45. > :09:47.sessions continue in the north-west. On Thursday, a decent
:09:48. > :09:53.day everywhere. A risk of rain as we get on to us today, especially in
:09:54. > :09:58.the Northwest. The next local news is that 6:25am.
:09:59. > :10:00.That is it from me, good night and take care.