15/05/2014 BBC Newsline

Good evening. All 12 men accused in connection with the death of a

community worker in Coleraine five years ago have now had charges of

manslaughter and attempted murder dropped. Kevin McDaid who was a

catholic died after he was attacked outside his home. Kevin Sharkey was

in the court. There have been tensions about flags in the days

leading up to Kevin McDaid's death. tensions about flags in the days

the victim's home. A high profile pleased investigation followed and

12 men were arrested and charged accused with the attempted -- the

murder of Kevin McDaid and the attempted murder of his friend,

David Fleming. The manslaughter and attempted murder charges were

dropped against seven of the three years after they pleaded guilty to

less serious charges. This week, though manslaughter and attempted

murder were dropped against three other defendants. All ten are on

bail. Two men were due to go on trial but walked free as all charges

against them were dropped. The prosecution told the court that

having reviewed the evidence against the two men they

having reviewed the evidence against no evidence against the man. When

addressing them, he said, "you may leave the dog." . He asked the

victim's wife if they wanted to make victim statements? They are aware of

the obstacles being encountered and he said they may not understand why

this is happening. The prosecution said they would be speaking to the

family. Kevin McDaid's family will appear in court next month. A man in

his 30s has been stabbed in the stomach in south Belfast. Police say

he was involved in a row with another man somewhere in the area of

Donegall Road, Donegall Avenue and Tates Avenue. Two people were taken

to hospital after a heifer bolted while it was being exhibited at the

Balmoral Show. It struck one of its handlers and a member of the public

yesterday afternoon. The extent of their injuries isn't known. In a

statement the RUAS which runs the Show said best practice was being

employed at the time and a review of the incident has begun.

Three Londonderry men have been sentenced to a total of 30 years in

prison for having a mortar. It was discovered by police when their car

was stopped in the Creggan area of the city almost two years ago. Julie

McCullough reports. The court heard the device found in the car the men

were travelling in wasn't -- was an explosive projectile, capable of

killing or causing serious injury to those inside. Jason Lee, Damian

Harkin and Neil Christopher Hegarty all admitted transporting the bomb.

They also admitted to having an item likely to be of use in an act of

terrorism which was a walkie-talkie radio. When they were stopped, they

were wearing dark clothing and two of them had a pair of gloves over

latex gloves. The bomb was found in a foot well along with a detonator.

Each of the men were sentenced to ten years in prison, five of which

will be spent in custody, the rest on supervised license.

An elderly woman needed hospital treatment after being pushed over by

two men who stole her handbag. The incident happened yesterday

afternoon in Edgecumbe Gardens in East Belfast. The woman who's in her

80s has a suspected broken elbow and pelvis. One of the men is described

as being in his early 40s with dark hair and the police are appealing

for witnesses. A nine-year-old boy who lives here

with his mother should be returned to Lithuania where he was born, the

Supreme Court in London has ruled. The child lived there with his

grandparents for seven years while his mother worked here. The court

has ruled his removal from Lithuania was unlawful and that he should be

returned to his grandparents immediately.

Coming up after this bulletin our political programme The View will be

looking at how our politicians will ever sign off on a budget. That's

here on BBC One. Invest NI says it had the best year

in its history in 2013 when it promoted almost 11,000 new jobs.

That's an improvement of 49% on the previous year. Almost 6,000 of the

jobs are to be created by local firms. Invest NI's Chief Executive

says he is confident that most of the jobs will be created in the next

five years. I can tell that there will be some changes but I am

confident the majority of the jobs will be created and we can analyse

that and report on it. It's been a thrilling opening night of racing at

the North West 200. Stephen Watson joins me now live from Portstewart.

After last year's wash-out, descended showing here on the North

West 200. Thousands of people flocked to see a breathtaking

night's racing and what an evening it was for our home-grown talent.

Alistair Seeley Twenty20 races. There was a very first Northwest 200

successful Lee Johnson to complete a remarkable hat-trick.

Two winds tonight for Alistair Seeley. It was a magical night. He

found himself in 15th place after getting caught up with Lee Johnson

on the first corner of the first race but he weaved his way through

the race to take the lap. After a strong challenge from Guy Martin, he

held on to record his first victory of the evening. I picked them off

one by one. I caught the leading bunch. It was a good race. Testament

to the team and the boys around me. He made up for his super sport

mishap. He appeared He made up for his super sport

victory secured as he led by more than four microseconds. Johnson

moved into the lead to capture his win. I had to pay the boys back with

a bit of a win. I have always complained about not enjoying riding

it but I have worked hard. It is working a treat. He held off Michael

Rutter and Michael Dunlop in a thrilling race to edge closer to

Robert Dunlop's whim of 15 Northwest 200 winds. Robert Seeley is that

biggest winner. He will be a big favourite to secure even more

victories on Saturday. You can see highlights at 10:35pm on BBC One.

Let's see if the sun is going to continue to shine.

It has been the warmest day of the year so far. There is another fine

day on the cards tomorrow. It will stay dry tonight. The low cloud will

disappear quickly tomorrow morning and we can once again expect

temperatures to get close to 20 Celsius. Lots of sunshine developing

quickly tomorrow morning and it will warm up quite quickly. It is pretty

much a fine picture across many parts of Britain and Ireland. There

is some fog here hugging the coast of Wales and south-west England. A

weather front will bring some rain to the north-west Scotland. That

area will emerge slowly southwards tomorrow. Temperatures should get

close to 21 Celsius. That weather front in the north-west will

gradually come south during Saturday but for much of the day, many parts

of Belfast as obese -- and the south-east will stay dry. There

could be a future was for the big race on Saturday. For the rest of

the weekend, we have rain for a time but it should dry up. It will feel

fresher by the end of the weekend. We are back in the morning at

6:30am. Thanks for watching. Good night.