0:00:08 > 0:00:09Good evening.
0:00:09 > 0:00:12The local news with Donna Traynor...
0:00:12 > 0:00:14The police have charged a 19-year-old man with
0:00:14 > 0:00:17the murder of 24-year-old Richard Miskelly yesterday.
0:00:17 > 0:00:20Mr Miskelly died after being assaulted at a house
0:00:20 > 0:00:25on the Bangor Road in Newtownards early yesterday morning.
0:00:25 > 0:00:27The man accused of killing him is also charged with perverting
0:00:27 > 0:00:30the course of justice and is due in court tomorrow.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33A second man who was arrested has been released by the police.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35Five men involved in a kidnap gang who threatened to cut off
0:00:35 > 0:00:38the victim's fingers have been given suspended jail sentences.
0:00:38 > 0:00:41The man, who was a cattle dealer, was tied up at gunpoint
0:00:41 > 0:00:47in County Tyrone and held captive for five days in 2012.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50Here's our south west reporter Julian Fowler.
0:00:50 > 0:00:53Paul Gogan, who is originally from County Meath, thought
0:00:53 > 0:00:55he was coming to Northern Ireland to see a meat factory.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58Instead the cattle dealer was kidnapped
0:00:58 > 0:01:01at gunpoint and held here - in an old refrigerated shipping
0:01:01 > 0:01:03container at a motorsport track near Castlederg.
0:01:03 > 0:01:09The location is so remote the gang couldn't get a mobile signal.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12They put Paul Gogan in the boot of a car
0:01:12 > 0:01:14and drove towards the border.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17They called his father Robert.
0:01:17 > 0:01:19He was told to pay ?400,000 or his son's fingers
0:01:19 > 0:01:26would be chopped off.
0:01:26 > 0:01:29He replied, "Cut away," hung up and alerted Gardai.
0:01:29 > 0:01:30Paul Gogan was eventually released after 100,000 euros
0:01:30 > 0:01:33was left in a hedge.
0:01:33 > 0:01:35He was accompanied on his trip by 59-year-old Robert
0:01:35 > 0:01:37Vevers from Dumfries.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40He pleaded guilty to kidnapping, false imprisonment and blackmail.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43The judge said in an idiotic moment he had taken the law
0:01:43 > 0:01:48into his own hands to recover ?200,000 he said he was owed -
0:01:48 > 0:01:52a debt which led to the collapse of his business and his marriage.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55The judge said he sold his soul to the devil when he contacted
0:01:55 > 0:01:57criminals in Dublin who in turn recruited some men from Omagh
0:01:57 > 0:02:01to assist in the kidnap plot.
0:02:01 > 0:02:0544-year-old Patrick Noel McCaul from Slieveard Rise and 27-year-old
0:02:05 > 0:02:09Matthew McLean from Glenpark Road pleaded guilty to conspiracy
0:02:09 > 0:02:12to commit blackmail.
0:02:12 > 0:02:1422-year-old Robert McLean from Deverney Park
0:02:14 > 0:02:16and Martin Arkinson, who's 21, from Ballycolman Estate
0:02:16 > 0:02:19in Strabane admitted assisting the blackmailers by buying food
0:02:19 > 0:02:23and telephone top-up cards.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26The judge said this was an unusual and indeed remarkable case.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29The victim and his family did not give evidence and the central
0:02:29 > 0:02:33players in the kidnap were not before the court.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36The five who admitted their role were given suspended prison
0:02:36 > 0:02:44sentences between 18 months and 2.5 years.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47Talks on a new single transfer test for P7 children are due
0:02:47 > 0:02:50to start next month.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53The organisations who run the current two academic selection
0:02:53 > 0:02:57tests are aiming to have a common exam in place by November 2019.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01Our education correspondent Robbie Meredith reports.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04For many of these P7 children at Andrews Memorial Primary
0:03:04 > 0:03:07in Comber, the transfer tests have come and gone, but
0:03:07 > 0:03:10the memory remains.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12Hard, long.
0:03:12 > 0:03:17It took ages and there were lots of practice papers.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21We could get some tests to keep going over the summer.
0:03:21 > 0:03:26The principal wants to see that testing system streamlined.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30Three Saturdays and potentially another one if they do the tests and
0:03:30 > 0:03:33then another familiarisation day.
0:03:33 > 0:03:38When you have that over the course of the autumn term,
0:03:38 > 0:03:42if there was a shortened version of that and just one test it
0:03:42 > 0:03:43would help everyone.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46A document drawn up for the Education Minister Peter Weir
0:03:46 > 0:03:49obtained by the BBC suggests what a common test could look like.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51It says...
0:03:51 > 0:03:54Children could sit three test papers, each lasting 45 minutes.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57Two papers will be in multiple choice format.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01The third paper will contain writing and maths exercises.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05The three papers could be taken on a single day.
0:04:05 > 0:04:07For a single test to happen, though, two significant hurdles
0:04:07 > 0:04:08have to be overcome.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11AQE charge a fee for entry to their test, PPTC don't -
0:04:11 > 0:04:14so who would pay for it?
0:04:14 > 0:04:16The tests are also very different, so what format
0:04:16 > 0:04:19would a common test take?
0:04:19 > 0:04:23And that means it's not a done deal.
0:04:23 > 0:04:24They are different types of tests.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27They are examined across a different number of days.
0:04:27 > 0:04:31There are significant differences as far as that is concerned.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33That still exists.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36We are going to have to be very resolved and very determined
0:04:36 > 0:04:39if we are to overcome those things.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42It's significant that the testers are getting round the same table,
0:04:42 > 0:04:45but it'll be November 2019 at the earliest before
0:04:45 > 0:04:54a single test is in place.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57A Londonderry man has been called a hero after rescuing a couple
0:04:57 > 0:04:59from a fire in their home at the weekend.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02The man and woman have been transferred to hospital
0:05:02 > 0:05:03in Belfast for treatment.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05Sean McLaughlin heard a fire alarm going off inside their house
0:05:05 > 0:05:12in Galliagh as he was going home on Saturday night.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16The man who was in the bungalow, he can't walk, so he was sitting
0:05:16 > 0:05:18on the bed and the flames were all around him.
0:05:18 > 0:05:20And his wee legs were starting to take on fire.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24His wheelchair was just outside the room, so I managed to get him
0:05:24 > 0:05:26off the bed and put him on the wheelchair.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28And I got him outside and I wheeled him outside
0:05:28 > 0:05:28in the backyard and asked him was anybody else in there?
0:05:35 > 0:05:38I went back in and to be quite honest the fire started getting
0:05:38 > 0:05:41a bit worse and thick black smoke and I couldn't really see her.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44I shouted her name and then I heard her, a soft toned
0:05:44 > 0:05:46voice shouting out to me, "Help!
0:05:46 > 0:05:48And when I got in, more yellow flames started coming out,
0:05:48 > 0:05:52so I got to see her again and I just asked her could she crawl
0:05:52 > 0:05:55towards me and she got a wee bit over towards me.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58And then I just managed to grab her arm and pulled her out.
0:05:58 > 0:06:00The political crisis at Stormont has stalled
0:06:00 > 0:06:04the recruitment of a new head of the Northern
0:06:04 > 0:06:05Ireland Civil Service.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08Arlene Foster and Martin McGuinness interviewed candidates last year,
0:06:08 > 0:06:10but when the renewable heat scheme controversy blew up,
0:06:10 > 0:06:11the process was halted.
0:06:11 > 0:06:12Our business correspondent Julian O'Neill reports.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14It is a key post at Stormont Castle.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17The head of the Civil Service acts as the principle policy advisor
0:06:17 > 0:06:22to the top two ministers.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25A failure to fill the job means this man, Sir Malcolm McKibbin, has
0:06:25 > 0:06:28temporarily put off his retirement to remain in charge of 23,000
0:06:28 > 0:06:35officials in government departments and manage a budget of ?11 billion.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38It is a powerful position at the heart of devolution,
0:06:38 > 0:06:41but replacing him has been delayed and the Executive will likely
0:06:41 > 0:06:45require legal advice to proceed.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49Last November, Arlene Foster and Martin McGuinness
0:06:49 > 0:06:51together interviewed two short-listed candidates.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54Rules were changed to allow it.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58They were given training in equality laws and an HR consultant
0:06:58 > 0:07:00sat in to ensure proper procedures were followed.
0:07:00 > 0:07:05The two men they interviewed were senior, experienced civil servants -
0:07:05 > 0:07:09David Sterling and Andrew McCormick.
0:07:09 > 0:07:11Both had worked with Mrs Foster when she was Minister
0:07:11 > 0:07:16at the Department of Enterprise and each has accepted responsibility
0:07:16 > 0:07:20for failures around the RHI scheme.
0:07:20 > 0:07:22The BBC understands the interviews produced a winner,
0:07:22 > 0:07:28but as the fall-out from RHI created a crisis, no appointment was made
0:07:28 > 0:07:32during a seven-week period before the collapse of the Executive.
0:07:32 > 0:07:37The recruitment process stalled and is now clouded by uncertainty.
0:07:37 > 0:07:42Having politicised the appointment, it needs a First and Deputy First
0:07:42 > 0:07:44Minister to complete - and no-one is confident those
0:07:44 > 0:07:49posts will be filled quickly after the election.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53A further complication is that Michelle O'Neill,
0:07:53 > 0:07:59having replaced Mr McGuinness, was not part of the interview panel.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02The Executive office will not comment on what it said
0:08:02 > 0:08:04is still a live recruitment process.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06No-one knows what the outcome will be - and it might even be
0:08:06 > 0:08:16an issue a London minister has to address.
0:08:17 > 0:08:22The latest weather outlook now, with Cecilia Daly.
0:08:22 > 0:08:23Hello, good evening.
0:08:23 > 0:08:24Another cold night coming up.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27Fairly clear skies around at the moment, but there is an ice
0:08:27 > 0:08:28warning now in force.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31Temperatures will fall to around freezing, maybe just below
0:08:31 > 0:08:33and there will be a few showers.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36But showers will become more frequent during the early
0:08:36 > 0:08:38hours from the northwest, hitting the cold air
0:08:38 > 0:08:41and folding as snow in places by the end of the night,
0:08:41 > 0:08:44particularly over high ground.
0:08:44 > 0:08:46So, tomorrow morning through the rush-hour,
0:08:46 > 0:08:49there will be the risk of ice in places and there will also be
0:08:49 > 0:08:50some wintry showers moving south.
0:08:50 > 0:08:51Just bear that in mind.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54It will feel much colder in the gusty wind.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57Most of the showers falling as rain, sleet or hail at lower levels,
0:08:57 > 0:08:59but over the high ground there could be a couple
0:08:59 > 0:09:01of centimetres of snow.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04So, you can see there is a little area of low pressure there moving
0:09:04 > 0:09:06southwards over parts of Scotland, towards north-west England
0:09:06 > 0:09:08and across Northern Ireland, which will bring quite
0:09:08 > 0:09:10frequent showers initially.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13Behind it, sunnier skies over northern and central
0:09:13 > 0:09:14areas of Scotland.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17Wintry showers for much of northern England.
0:09:17 > 0:09:19East Anglia and the south-east of England staying dry,
0:09:19 > 0:09:23at least until late in the day, and the Republic of Ireland seeing
0:09:23 > 0:09:25some sunshine and not too many showers until late
0:09:25 > 0:09:26in the day either.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29But it will be quite cold and wintry across Northern Ireland, gusty
0:09:29 > 0:09:30winds, fairly frequent showers.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32Some sunshine at times too, particularly in the afternoon.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36Now, is the last day of February, the last day of winter,
0:09:36 > 0:09:40and as March rolls in, which is the start of meteorological
0:09:40 > 0:09:43spring, still a bit unsettled, but it won't be just
0:09:43 > 0:09:44as cold and wintry.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47On Wednesday there will be a fair bit of dry weather
0:09:47 > 0:09:49through the morning, just one or two showers.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52Some rain though edges up from the south late in the day.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56And Thursday, we'll see a few showers, but also some dry spells.
0:09:56 > 0:10:02That's it for now.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17Less than a year since the last Assembly election,