08/02/2017

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:00:00. > :00:07.Here on BBC One, it's time for the news where you are.

:00:08. > :00:12.A woman from Coleraine has won a landmark legal case over

:00:13. > :00:16.the pension rights of unmarried couples in the public sector.

:00:17. > :00:19.Denise Brewster was denied payments from her late partner's pension

:00:20. > :00:25.After today's ruling, she will now receive that money.

:00:26. > :00:30.Denise Brewster had lived with her partner

:00:31. > :00:38.In the early hours of Boxing Day 2009, Lenny died suddenly, aged 43 -

:00:39. > :00:42.just two days after the couple had become engaged.

:00:43. > :00:46.Mr McMullan had paid into a pension scheme for 15 years

:00:47. > :00:52.But Denise was denied a survivor's pension as the couple

:00:53. > :00:56.were cohabiting and not married - but she didn't give up.

:00:57. > :01:03.We planned for our future, we planned for our death,

:01:04. > :01:10.we planned to grow old together and I think this case was about

:01:11. > :01:14.fighting for us and fighting for what we were to each other.

:01:15. > :01:18.The Local Government Pension scheme that Mr McMullan paid into allowed

:01:19. > :01:23.a surviving partner to be paid a pension in certain circumstances.

:01:24. > :01:27.One of those circumstances was that Mr McMullan would have filled in

:01:28. > :01:31.a nomination form indicating that Denise was to receive his pension

:01:32. > :01:35.if he died - but there was no trace of this form

:01:36. > :01:41.Denise argued against this and today the Supreme Court in London

:01:42. > :01:51.We decided that no justification for the interference was shown and

:01:52. > :01:56.that therefore refusing this pension was unlawful discrimination.

:01:57. > :01:58.We say she is entitled to receive her pension and

:01:59. > :02:00.the nomination requirement should no longer apply.

:02:01. > :02:08.As it went on, you realise you're fighting for other families

:02:09. > :02:14.who have also been wrongly treated through these flawed pension schemes

:02:15. > :02:19.and I think when you know in your gut and your heart that

:02:20. > :02:22.you're making the right decision, you have to just go with it

:02:23. > :02:25.and I know Lenny will be looking down on me and saying,

:02:26. > :02:34.The Attorney General has said he may take a case which challenges

:02:35. > :02:37.the legality of the entire Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme.

:02:38. > :02:40.John Larkin told a judge he is reflecting on whether to bring

:02:41. > :02:43.the case against the Department for the Economy about a failure

:02:44. > :02:46.to put the non-domestic scheme before the full Executive

:02:47. > :02:52.His intervention came as boiler owners cleared the first stage

:02:53. > :02:55.in their High Court challenge to ensure lucrative payments

:02:56. > :03:02.A South Armagh woman who was abused by her brother has waived her right

:03:03. > :03:04.to anonymity to encourage other people in the same

:03:05. > :03:10.Her abuser, Gavin Paul Ferguson from Forkhill, was given a two-year

:03:11. > :03:18.Linda gets a hug from her three-year-old daughter.

:03:19. > :03:20.Her own childhood was initially happy.

:03:21. > :03:25.Linda was fostered and then adopted when she was 14 months old.

:03:26. > :03:32.I remember being this wee half Indian baby with big brown eyes

:03:33. > :03:35.and I was put into Little Miss competitions, Little Miss Forkhill,

:03:36. > :03:39.Little Miss Slieve Gullion, and I won them all and then

:03:40. > :03:46.I suppose that childhood was short lived and everybody from the outside

:03:47. > :03:49.From the age of nine she was abused by her brother,

:03:50. > :03:57.The abuse continued and then I met my partner and he

:03:58. > :03:59.asked me one day if something happened and I told him.

:04:00. > :04:03.A life-changing event was the key to her reporting

:04:04. > :04:08.I had my wee girl and something changed.

:04:09. > :04:12.I remember looking into her eyes and thinking, if anyone ever

:04:13. > :04:16.hurt you, I will protect you with all my life, and I suppose

:04:17. > :04:22.that's the reason I went forward, because my daughter gave me

:04:23. > :04:26.the courage to do it, and it's the best thing I ever did.

:04:27. > :04:28.I will thank her some day when she reads the paper

:04:29. > :04:35.Linda has waived her right to anonymity to encourage others

:04:36. > :04:38.who are being abused to come forward.

:04:39. > :04:42.I knew that my face and my name would be out there about being this

:04:43. > :04:46.victim or survivor of sexual abuse but I felt it was so important

:04:47. > :04:53.to move on for me and for other women and men and whoever has been

:04:54. > :04:59.a victim of abuse to feel brave to come forward.

:05:00. > :05:06.The last couple of years have been tough and I am so thankful

:05:07. > :05:08.for my partner and my kids and my partner's family because

:05:09. > :05:14.they've stuck by me and that's what a family is,

:05:15. > :05:18.Details of organisations offering information and support

:05:19. > :05:22.with sexual abuse are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline,

:05:23. > :05:25.or you can call for free at any time to hear recorded information

:05:26. > :05:35.The inquest into the death of a 22-year-old man

:05:36. > :05:38.who was found in the grounds of the Ulster Hospital

:05:39. > :05:42.has heard conflicting evidence about the way he was cared for.

:05:43. > :05:44.James Fenton's body lay undiscovered for ten weeks after he

:05:45. > :05:48.climbed over the fence of a mental health unit in July 2010.

:05:49. > :05:54.How was 22-year-old James Fenton cared for at the Ulster Hospital?

:05:55. > :05:57.And how was he able to leave the smoking area

:05:58. > :06:01.The inquest heard that Professor Seena Fazel

:06:02. > :06:05.of Oxford University wrote a report suggesting the South Eastern Trust's

:06:06. > :06:12.He thought James should have been diagnosed as clinically depressed,

:06:13. > :06:14.and put on a high state of observation

:06:15. > :06:17.so he was always accompanied - and probably could

:06:18. > :06:23.Professor Fazel gives evidence tomorrow.

:06:24. > :06:25.But two other senior psychiatrists giving evidence

:06:26. > :06:33.Dr Neta Chada from the nearby Southern Trust agreed

:06:34. > :06:34.with the diagnosis made by the junior doctor

:06:35. > :06:37.who spoke with James at length, and with the level

:06:38. > :06:41.Another psychiatrist had the same opinion.

:06:42. > :06:44.That was the South Eastern Trust's own Director of Mental Health,

:06:45. > :06:49.But he went on to describe Ward 27 at the Ulster,

:06:50. > :06:52.and the eight attempts by patients to leave it via the smoking area

:06:53. > :06:56.in the year before James' disappearance.

:06:57. > :06:59.Dr Quigley agreed that Ward 27 is

:07:00. > :07:05.Dr Chada called the smoking area "grim" and

:07:06. > :07:08."not appropriate at all", but added, "We're not building

:07:09. > :07:14.In fact, it's five years since the Trust presented

:07:15. > :07:17.the Department of Health with a business case for

:07:18. > :07:23.But then, it's almost seven years since James went missing,

:07:24. > :07:26.and his family still knows neither the cause nor

:07:27. > :07:38.228 candidates will contest the Assembly election next month -

:07:39. > :07:42.Only 90 will be returned to Stormont compared to

:07:43. > :07:49.Voters with the largest number of candidates to choose from

:07:50. > :07:52.are in West Tyrone, East Londonderry and East Antrim.

:07:53. > :07:56.The constituency with the fewest is Newry and Armagh.

:07:57. > :07:59.A European Arrest Warrant has been issued for a suspect charged

:08:00. > :08:02.in connection with the murder of David Black.

:08:03. > :08:05.The prison officer was killed on his way to work in

:08:06. > :08:11.40-year-old Damien Joseph McLaughlin, from Kilmascally Road

:08:12. > :08:15.near Ardboe in County Tyrone, was due to stand trial this month

:08:16. > :08:32.Gorgeous day today, blue skies, sunshine and light winds. We will

:08:33. > :08:36.still have clear skies for a while tonight but the breeze will pick up

:08:37. > :08:43.where some cloud from the West so it will not be as cold but it will stay

:08:44. > :08:51.mostly dry, tomorrow morning any frost will be more patchy so not as

:08:52. > :08:55.sharp but it will feel cold due to this south-easterly breeze and there

:08:56. > :08:59.will not be as much sunshine tomorrow with large areas of cloud

:09:00. > :09:06.at times. And icy start across the East of Britain with some sleet and

:09:07. > :09:11.snow flurries over eastern Scotland and North East England, perhaps as

:09:12. > :09:14.far as East Anglia and London. Further west it's dry with some

:09:15. > :09:20.brightness across Northern Ireland and the Republic, temperatures

:09:21. > :09:24.tomorrow afternoon down onto Dave and it will feel cold in the breeze

:09:25. > :09:31.but there will still be a bit brightness and it will be mostly

:09:32. > :09:34.dry. The drive but cold weather continues into Friday, still that

:09:35. > :09:39.cold breeze and temperatures not much higher than three or four so

:09:40. > :09:45.it's getting colder, quite a lot of cloud on Friday will make it cold as

:09:46. > :09:51.well. The dry cold weather continues into the weekend, one or two wintry

:09:52. > :09:55.flurries but most places stayed dry and there will be a little sunshine

:09:56. > :09:56.from time to time but also some frost.

:09:57. > :10:00.Our next BBC Newsline is at 6:25am during Breakfast here on BBC One.

:10:01. > :10:03.You can also keep updated with News Online.