:00:09. > :00:09.Good evening and welcome to BBC Newsline.
:00:10. > :00:11.John Brown, the brother of Eurovision winner and former
:00:12. > :00:14.politician Dana Rosemary Scallon, has been cleared of all charges of
:00:15. > :00:16.indecently assaulting two young girls in the 1970s. The jury
:00:17. > :00:19.returned their verdicts this afternoon after two days of
:00:20. > :00:29.deliberations. Andy West was at Harrow Crown Court.
:00:30. > :00:37.Innocent on all charges. 60-year-old John Brown was tried for two weeks.
:00:38. > :00:42.To date, he wept in court as the jury read out their verdicts. Not
:00:43. > :00:47.guilty on all five counts of indecent assault on two young girls
:00:48. > :00:52.in the 1970s. I came here and here since man, I will be leaving here in
:00:53. > :00:57.innocent man. I want to thank my friends and family, those who have
:00:58. > :01:01.supported me with their prayers and support, and particularly my
:01:02. > :01:12.sister, and especially my wife and my children. Further support. -- for
:01:13. > :01:23.their support in a horrific three years and they have supported us
:01:24. > :01:28.through many challenges. Dana cried with her brother in court as he was
:01:29. > :01:31.cleared. The prosecution claims that she had helped to keep the alleged
:01:32. > :01:37.assaults Sigrid for more than 30 years. She always denied the
:01:38. > :01:42.allegations, and today she too was proven innocent. These allegations
:01:43. > :01:47.first came to light three years ago while Dana was running for the Irish
:01:48. > :01:52.presidency in 2011. At the time, she described them as vile, militias,
:01:53. > :01:58.and are untrue. Today, through tears, she managed a few words. He
:01:59. > :02:05.is a good man, a good and innocent man. This has been a comp and gays,
:02:06. > :02:13.at times and clear on the exact dates and locations. Worthy in a
:02:14. > :02:19.1970s or later? Were they in this particular town or that particular
:02:20. > :02:23.time? Was John Brown even there? The defence said the prosecution's case
:02:24. > :02:29.was absurd and surreal. John Brown said the last three weeks have been
:02:30. > :02:32.hell. What sustains me was my faith in God that through this darkness
:02:33. > :02:44.there was light. Thank you very much. Were going to go and get on
:02:45. > :02:48.with our lives now at last. As he left, John Brown said it was time to
:02:49. > :02:51.put his nightmare behind him. I want to be celebrating, he said, I just
:02:52. > :02:57.A woman and her four young children have been threatened in their home
:02:58. > :03:00.in Newry by a gang. Eight or nine people called at the house in
:03:01. > :03:03.Benmore Court, in the city, at around 8pm last night. The
:03:04. > :03:06.woman, who is a member of the Roma community, was threatened and told
:03:07. > :03:09.to leave her house. Police are treating the incident as a hate
:03:10. > :03:28.The bottom line is that those people are living in fear, so it is totally
:03:29. > :03:32.out of character. I would argue that this is one of the best cities in
:03:33. > :03:33.Ireland in terms of relationships and Jean Eastern Europeans and the
:03:34. > :03:38.local population. The programme director of the Marie
:03:39. > :03:40.Stopes clinic in Belfast, Dawn Purvis, has told a court she was
:03:41. > :03:43.left "extremely shaken and upset" following an alleged harassment
:03:44. > :03:46.incident outside her place of wo Pro-life campaigner Bernie Smyth is
:03:47. > :03:48.accused of harassing Ms Purvis on two separate occasions earlier this
:03:49. > :04:00.year. Michael Fitzpatrick was in The director of the precious life
:04:01. > :04:05.group, Bernie Smyth was at the court today to contest a charge of
:04:06. > :04:10.harassment. The 51-year-old from Ballymena denies harassing Dawn
:04:11. > :04:14.Purvis on two separate occasions in January and February. The court
:04:15. > :04:19.heard that the pro-life group have held regular protest outside of the
:04:20. > :04:24.clinic, which provides early medical abortions within the law in Northern
:04:25. > :04:27.Ireland. Under questioning from a prosecution lawyer, Dawn Purvis
:04:28. > :04:32.alleged that on one occasion she was heckled as he left the Marie Stopes
:04:33. > :04:37.clinic. When she told the protesters to stop harassing her, it was then,
:04:38. > :04:43.she said, that Bernie Smyth said, you haven't seen harassment yet,
:04:44. > :04:53.darling. They were also shown CCTV footage of the incident, and would
:04:54. > :04:57.-- the prosecution accused the defendant of dramatically putting a
:04:58. > :05:02.hand-out, a claim which he denied. In a second incident, she said that
:05:03. > :05:06.Bernie Smyth had laughed at her in an exaggerated manner as she led her
:05:07. > :05:11.son and a friend to the door. At one point, a defence lawyer put it to
:05:12. > :05:15.Dawn Purvis that she had set up the whole incident. He told the court,
:05:16. > :05:18.you went to the door to try to provoke a reaction from Bernie
:05:19. > :05:23.Smyth. Dawn Purvis replied, that is not true. After two-day's hearing,
:05:24. > :05:34.legal issues arose, prompting the judge to adjourn the case until
:05:35. > :05:37.September. A shotgun has been discovered at the office of Stewart
:05:38. > :05:40.Dickson. It was discovered this morning.
:05:41. > :05:43.The Ulster Bank has shown a major improvement in its performance in
:05:44. > :05:46.the first six months of this year. It's made a profit after a big drop
:05:47. > :05:50.in the amount of money its had to set aside to cover bad property
:05:51. > :05:53.loans. Although Northern Ireland is in recovery, our rate of growth is
:05:54. > :06:08.There are two points. We had much greater decline in output, so in
:06:09. > :06:12.what more do -- a lot more ground had to be made up than in the UK,
:06:13. > :06:14.and also our economy is growing more slowly than the UK average.
:06:15. > :06:17.Time now to head to Glasgow and to the Commonwealth Games, where
:06:18. > :06:20.Stephen Watson can update us on how Team Northern Ireland is getting on
:06:21. > :06:24.Northern Ireland's boxers have got off to a superb start at the Games.
:06:25. > :06:28.Three of the 11 fighters here in Glasgow were in the ring and all
:06:29. > :06:33.their opening bouts. Olympic bronze medallist Michael Conlan, Ruairi
:06:34. > :06:37.Dalton and Steven Donnelly all progressed to the next round with
:06:38. > :06:40.Donnelly producing one of the quickest wins of the day. Nial
:06:41. > :06:55.The walk to the ring at the Scottish exhibition and conference Centre to
:06:56. > :07:00.go longer than the boat for Steven Donnelly tonight. The 25-year-old
:07:01. > :07:16.needed just 37 seconds to see off his opponent in the fight.
:07:17. > :07:22.Donnelly's performance epitomised the Northern Irish boxers in the
:07:23. > :07:26.ring today. Michael Conlan got Northern Ireland off to a winning
:07:27. > :07:30.start this morning. The 22-year-old shrugged off a nasty cut to the head
:07:31. > :07:40.after a clash in the ring, but it did not stop him from cruising into
:07:41. > :07:47.the last 16. I couldn't see, and I thought he heard me, but it was his
:07:48. > :07:52.head. Delhi was a let down for me, and I cried in the airport I will
:07:53. > :08:00.admit that on television now, I was really disappointed, but now I am
:08:01. > :08:05.back in Glasgow for 2014 for gold. Ruairi Dalton made it 343 for the
:08:06. > :08:10.Northern Irish boxers after he defeated his opponent with a
:08:11. > :08:12.unanimous three nil scoreline. The boxers are certainly starting as
:08:13. > :08:17.Sean Duffy and Connor Coyle both fight tomorrow. Last night Lisa
:08:18. > :08:22.Kearney won Northern Ireland's first medal, a bronze in judo. And here
:08:23. > :08:25.was another chance of a medal in the same sport on what's been a busy day
:08:26. > :08:40.This was the most important fight of all in Fleming's career, but with
:08:41. > :08:44.the bronze medal at stake, he was beaten by his South African
:08:45. > :08:56.opponent. Still, at just 19, great experience. I am going to do my best
:08:57. > :09:05.and get as far as I can. It wasn't meant to be. Our net borrowers face
:09:06. > :09:11.Jamaica tonight. More tough opposition. Jamaica are ranked
:09:12. > :09:16.number four in the world. Northern Ireland lost for the second game in
:09:17. > :09:23.a row. But they have easier matches to come in the competition. Our
:09:24. > :09:31.shooting team including David Christie are still on course for
:09:32. > :09:40.medals. As our bowlers, the main one again. The women's for our out, the
:09:41. > :09:46.field to qualify for the next round. In the pool, Danielle Hill swum the
:09:47. > :09:50.biggest race of her life. She won a place in the semifinals at a
:09:51. > :09:59.personal best time. Then failed to progress further. In the velodrome,
:10:00. > :10:07.Paralympic cyclist James Brown finished fifth. That's all. More
:10:08. > :10:10.tomorrow. Thanks Stephen. Now, finally, here's
:10:11. > :10:22.Cecilia Daly with a look at the The hot weather will be moving away
:10:23. > :10:27.this weekend. It will turn much cloudier and temperatures will be
:10:28. > :10:33.falling, in fact on Sunday it will be a major contract with today.
:10:34. > :10:38.Today we had nearly 29 Celsius, making to date the hottest day of
:10:39. > :10:41.the year so far. The change will be coming in from the West. It is going
:10:42. > :10:46.to be a warm and humid night, but there will be rain edging and I
:10:47. > :10:49.morning. The dry weather will hold an further east, and tomorrow will
:10:50. > :10:54.bring the best of the sunshine in the east, and also a very humid
:10:55. > :10:58.start to the day, for a while, until that rain moves in from the west and
:10:59. > :11:02.it will start to beat a little cooler and fresher as the day goes
:11:03. > :11:07.on. It will be fragmented, but there will be some sharp Hearst 's,
:11:08. > :11:15.possibly some storms. Read on for the West of Scotland to, later on.
:11:16. > :11:21.For many parts of Britain, it will be fine and very warm. Temperatures
:11:22. > :11:25.in the high 20s. We will see a drop in the temperature tomorrow
:11:26. > :11:30.afternoon. 19 Celsius or 20 Celsius, perhaps 23 Celsius across
:11:31. > :11:34.the South East. Perhaps some rain during the course of the day. For
:11:35. > :11:39.Sunday, it will feel colder still. Look at the temperatures on the
:11:40. > :11:42.north coast. Way back compare to what we have had today. But there
:11:43. > :11:46.will be some decent sunshine in between, and the good news is that
:11:47. > :11:48.the weather will improve again next week, becoming drier and warmer.
:11:49. > :11:51.That's it for now. You can keep up to date with News Online and follow
:11:52. > :11:54.this programme on Facebook and Twitter. From all on the BBC
:11:55. > :11:59.Newsline team, goodnight and have a great weekend.