:00:00. > :00:07.Here, on BBC One, it's time for the news where you are.
:00:08. > :00:10.The police are treating a fire which destroyed a family
:00:11. > :00:13.home in Rathfriland in County Down as suspicious.
:00:14. > :00:20.The blaze broke out and spread from a recycling centre
:00:21. > :00:24.The Peden family were woken up by a neighbour and escaped unhurt.
:00:25. > :00:27.Just ten minutes later the house was engulfed in flames.
:00:28. > :00:45.This was home to Rebecca, Andy and two and a half year old Daisy.
:00:46. > :00:47.Its roof now gone, its walls are unstable,
:00:48. > :00:49.and all their treasured belongings lost.
:00:50. > :00:51.Having left in only their nightwear, they sat this morning
:00:52. > :00:56.As soon as I opened the door, the embers and the heat just met me
:00:57. > :01:02.My immediate reaction was to grab the child.
:01:03. > :01:12.I grabbed her tight and bolted through the door.
:01:13. > :01:34.It seemed as if the gable of the house was on fire.
:01:35. > :01:36.But I just wanted my family to be safe.
:01:37. > :01:46.Safe and sound, all thanks to the neighbours across the road.
:01:47. > :01:51.I just ran to the door and I hammered on it
:01:52. > :01:56.And this is the recycling centre where the fire started,
:01:57. > :01:58.a fire that police are now treating as suspicious.
:01:59. > :02:12.At its height, there were seven fire appliances here,
:02:13. > :02:14.and 40 firefighters from across counties, Armagh and Down.
:02:15. > :02:17.The high last night and that several houses were also at risk
:02:18. > :02:22.If the fire has been a malicious act, I just want whoever has done it
:02:23. > :02:39.All our wee photographs, our wedding photographs.
:02:40. > :02:50.Things could have been very, very different.
:02:51. > :02:56.The police have apologised to a former officer
:02:57. > :03:12.who was seriously injured in a dissident republican bomb attack.
:03:13. > :03:14.A former Assistant Chief Constable Duncan McCausland has been told
:03:15. > :03:16.he will not face charges following an investigation
:03:17. > :03:18.into allegations of bribery and misconduct in public office.
:03:19. > :03:20.The allegations related to the awarding of police vehicle
:03:21. > :03:24.Mr McCausland will be on BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster
:03:25. > :03:27.The police have apologised to a former officer
:03:28. > :03:29.who was seriously injured in a dissident republican bomb attack.
:03:30. > :03:32.Peadar Heffron was the victim of a booby trap bombing
:03:33. > :03:34.near Randalstown in County Antrim nearly six years ago.
:03:35. > :03:37.A Police Ombudsman report found that four officers had failed to pass
:03:38. > :03:38.information to detectives investigating the attempt
:03:39. > :03:42.A meeting of the Policing Board heard today that two of the officers
:03:43. > :03:45.had not been disciplined as severely as the Ombudsman had recommended.
:03:46. > :03:48.The High Court has been told that a young father was beaten to death
:03:49. > :03:51.in retaliation for an earlier fight in West Belfast.
:03:52. > :03:53.20-year-old Christopher Meli was killed near houses in Twinbrook
:03:54. > :03:56.Today, a judge granted bail to one of three teenagers
:03:57. > :04:01.Christopher Meli's family and a group of friends were in court
:04:02. > :04:06.Stephen McCann, 18, denies involvement in the murder.
:04:07. > :04:12.He appeared at the hearing to a video link.
:04:13. > :04:14.Prosecuting barrister outlined how police believe events unfolded
:04:15. > :04:31.after a fight at a local kebabs shop earlier in the evening.
:04:32. > :04:33.Christopher Meli was in one of the two groups.
:04:34. > :04:35.The barrister said his group then left the scene,
:04:36. > :04:38.and the other group went off and told friends that they had been
:04:39. > :04:41.jumped on, and the bigger group was formed to get revenge.
:04:42. > :04:43.They said they then confronted Christopher Meli's group
:04:44. > :04:45.with the intention to cause serious harm.
:04:46. > :04:49.Today's hearing heard that Stephen McCann admitted to police
:04:50. > :04:52.that he was involved in a fight with Christopher Meli earlier on the
:04:53. > :04:56.Stephen McCann told police, "I was in the fight last night.
:04:57. > :04:58."I was fighting with the wee man who was murdered".
:04:59. > :05:00.However, Stephen McCann denies involvement in the murder
:05:01. > :05:04.The hearing heard that three people have been charged in connection
:05:05. > :05:06.with the murder and seven others have been released on bail.
:05:07. > :05:08.The defence barrister told the hearing that none
:05:09. > :05:12.of the witnesses so far had implicated Stephen
:05:13. > :05:18.The barrister added that Stephen McCann is prepared to be
:05:19. > :05:23.a witness during the hearing Christopher Meli's mother
:05:24. > :05:38.The judge has ordered Stephen McCann to live at an undisclosed address 30
:05:39. > :05:49.A little girl from Ballycarry in County Antrim has had pioneering
:05:50. > :05:53.Sophie Mathers, who is seven, has cerebral palsy.
:05:54. > :05:55.That means her legs are stiff and awkward, making walking,
:05:56. > :05:59.But doctors at Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool decided Sophie
:06:00. > :06:01.was suitable for a complicated operation and they cut nerves
:06:02. > :06:03.in her spine to alleviate the problem.
:06:04. > :06:06.Sophie Mathers and her parents played together on the morning
:06:07. > :06:11.Sophie was eight weeks premature, and has cerebral palsy.
:06:12. > :06:15.That means her legs are stiff and rigid.
:06:16. > :06:18.She is affected in her legs, so her legs are very stiff
:06:19. > :06:24.Day-to-day living is a struggle for her.
:06:25. > :06:28.Sophie can walk with a frame, but the stiffness makes it hard.
:06:29. > :06:36.This morning's operation is aimed at loosening her leg muscles.
:06:37. > :06:45.Give her more confident in herself, a wee bit more freedom.
:06:46. > :06:49.It is not a miracle cure that will mean she can walk unaided,
:06:50. > :06:51.but doctors say it can be life changing.
:06:52. > :06:54.Just to be made more comfortable, and hopefully gain more independence
:06:55. > :06:58.about the house, and do more for herself.
:06:59. > :07:08.Sophie knows how she wants the surgeons to make her legs.
:07:09. > :07:12.Alder Hey is the only hospital in the north-west where this
:07:13. > :07:15.It involves cutting nerves in the spine to relieve stiffness.
:07:16. > :07:21.We were nervous, yes, really nervous.
:07:22. > :07:24.But we had to do it because we have tried other solutions
:07:25. > :07:31.The surgeon uses a powerful microscope to carry
:07:32. > :07:37.She stimulates the nerves in Sophie's back.
:07:38. > :07:40.Another doctor can tell her which nerve roots to cut,
:07:41. > :07:50.We know that those roots are involved in the spasticity
:07:51. > :07:53.circuit, and if we cut some of them, the spasticity will get better,
:07:54. > :07:55.which is what we have just done on Sophie.
:07:56. > :08:01.When I see the parents, when they go home if he wants after,
:08:02. > :08:04.and they come to me and it is a different child,
:08:05. > :08:09.and they can't even say why, it is just better.
:08:10. > :08:23.Tomorrow, we will see how Sophie is progressing after the surgery.
:08:24. > :08:30.Next is Cecilia Daly with the weather forecast.
:08:31. > :08:35.lots of showers around a night-time quite blustery winds as well.
:08:36. > :08:39.Temperatures will drop below enough for Frost and I. There will be
:08:40. > :08:44.wintry nurse in the showers on the hills by the end of the night.
:08:45. > :08:49.Tomorrow is not looking too bad but you will have two wrapped up warm.
:08:50. > :08:53.Tomorrow night the area of low pressure which has been named a
:08:54. > :09:01.either, will bring wet and windy weather. Quite nasty first thing
:09:02. > :09:07.with the showers and ice but amid onwards it is drying up in the
:09:08. > :09:11.sunshine. Fine weather for the Republic of Ireland many parts of
:09:12. > :09:16.Britain as well. Snow showers over Scotland will move away and tomorrow
:09:17. > :09:21.night it turns wet and windy across north-west Scotland and western
:09:22. > :09:28.areas of Britain as well. An orange warning has been issued on the west
:09:29. > :09:33.coast of Ireland. Still dry and bright tomorrow afternoon. Cold and
:09:34. > :09:38.here is the rage knocking on the door to evening. There will be
:09:39. > :09:42.strong winds with it possibly bringing a few trees down. The worst
:09:43. > :09:46.of it is out of the way by the morning but a drop in temperatures
:09:47. > :09:51.mean frost and ice on Christmas Eve morning. A Christmas Day on
:09:52. > :09:55.Christmas Eve with a few snow showers around on the high ground.
:09:56. > :10:00.Christmas Day itself could could start frosty but it is likely to end
:10:01. > :10:03.up where it. That is it. Good.