:00:00. > :00:20.A 20-year-old student who planted a home-made bomb on a busy tube
:00:21. > :00:26.Damon Smith - who has Asperger's - was caught on CCTV leaving
:00:27. > :00:29.a rucksack filled with ball bearings in a carriage last October.
:00:30. > :00:32.The judge said that although he hadn't been motivated
:00:33. > :00:34.by terrorism the seriousness of what he did couldn't
:00:35. > :00:39.His mother insists he's a vulnerable young man.
:00:40. > :00:43.Damon Smith moved from Devon to study computer science
:00:44. > :00:50.Last October, he left his accommodation in Rotherhithe
:00:51. > :00:52.in South London and waited for the Jubilee line
:00:53. > :00:58.This CCTV shows him checking the rucksack,
:00:59. > :01:00.which had a bomb inside, made from ball bearings
:01:01. > :01:07.He later gets off at London Bridge, leaving the bag behind.
:01:08. > :01:12.His device was timed to go off a few minutes later, but it didn't.
:01:13. > :01:14.The train carried on to North Greenwich, where the alarm
:01:15. > :01:18.Counterterrorism police said his bomb was a viable device
:01:19. > :01:28.Damon Smith had previously posted images of himself with various
:01:29. > :01:35.He learned how to make a bomb from an extremist Islamist website.
:01:36. > :01:37.He also suffers from Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism.
:01:38. > :01:44.This is what he told the police after his arrest.
:01:45. > :01:47.I was on the Tube, I realised it was going to Stratford.
:01:48. > :01:53.I thought, it would be a good time to leave my bag, for my prank.
:01:54. > :01:56.Following a trial at the Old Bailey, Damon Smith was found guilty
:01:57. > :01:59.of possession of an explosive substance with intent
:02:00. > :02:04.and today he was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
:02:05. > :02:07.Damon Smith sat smiling in the dock during sentencing.
:02:08. > :02:10.Judge Richard Marks addressed he and the court and said,
:02:11. > :02:13.although he had an interest in Islam he did not believe the defendant
:02:14. > :02:19.But, he said, I am driven to treat you as a dangerous offender
:02:20. > :02:22.and the seriousness of what you did cannot be overstated.
:02:23. > :02:27.The judge also spoke of the fear in which we all live
:02:28. > :02:30.in and the recent terrorist attack in Manchester.
:02:31. > :02:33.At his family home in Devon, his mother told the BBC
:02:34. > :02:38.she believes his Asperger's influenced his actions.
:02:39. > :02:40.I'd just say, could you try to be a bit more lenient
:02:41. > :02:44.He's never been in trouble with the police before,
:02:45. > :02:50.He's just a vulnerable little boy who needs a bit of help, not prison.
:02:51. > :02:59.Damon Smith will serve his sentence at a youth offenders institution.
:03:00. > :03:01.Turning to the election and education has become a key
:03:02. > :03:06.All the main political parties are promising more
:03:07. > :03:11.A series of eye-catching policies have also been announced to try
:03:12. > :03:13.and improve the life-chances of the most disadvantaged pupils.
:03:14. > :03:15.Our education reporter Marc Ashdown has been looking at what
:03:16. > :03:34.For the first time ever an equal number of pupils from
:03:35. > :03:36.disadvantaged backgrounds are starting at University at the same
:03:37. > :03:38.time as their better off classmates...
:03:39. > :03:46.Now that is an education policy maker's dream.
:03:47. > :03:49.But back to today's reality and for too many pupils the idea
:03:50. > :03:52.of studying in a place like this, Oxford, is just that -
:03:53. > :03:56.So how can the next Government change things?
:03:57. > :04:01.Sarah, Dhanya and Josh are pioneers of sorts.
:04:02. > :04:04.Pupils from their areas of London that have historically never really
:04:05. > :04:10.I was one of the first people in my school to ever even get
:04:11. > :04:14.through to the interview and then get the offer.
:04:15. > :04:16.Me being here symbolises rising up from any disadvantages I may
:04:17. > :04:22.have faced in my school, in that area.
:04:23. > :04:25.I was one of two people who have for the first time been admitted
:04:26. > :04:27.to Oxford from my school, Kingsadale.
:04:28. > :04:29.When the e-mail came through it was more of a whole
:04:30. > :04:34.The manifestos are full of big education policies.
:04:35. > :04:36.The Conservatives believe Grammar schools will help
:04:37. > :04:40.They will also scrap universal free school meals,
:04:41. > :04:43.Labour wants to keep free school meals and would
:04:44. > :04:49.The Lib Dems would also keep free meals and want to triple
:04:50. > :04:53.I wouldn't have necessarily gone to a grammar school.
:04:54. > :04:57.And if the talent at my school had been sucked up by a grammar school,
:04:58. > :04:59.I don't know whether I would have had people that I could
:05:00. > :05:04.You get the criticism that grammar schools are meant
:05:05. > :05:08.for working-class kids to get better opportunities, better resources.
:05:09. > :05:12.It now that goes to people that can afford so much tuition from the ages
:05:13. > :05:17.I think if they overhaul that testing system.
:05:18. > :05:18.I think tuition fees are problematic.
:05:19. > :05:20.You're just saddling young people with more and more
:05:21. > :05:27.So I think that even if the tuition fee system is not revised,
:05:28. > :05:30.the maintenance grant and loan system has to be because it's
:05:31. > :05:44.The big issue at the moment is funding.
:05:45. > :05:46.Parent protests like this one in East London have been
:05:47. > :05:49.They are well attended and have the same message.
:05:50. > :05:53.The cuts have already affected us all.
:05:54. > :05:56.The resources, the teachers are already finding it difficult
:05:57. > :06:00.The less funding that we have actually stops the children
:06:01. > :06:02.from being able to achieve what they need.
:06:03. > :06:05.Now in primary school it is not getting from that.
:06:06. > :06:09.What if I get to my secondary school and it's even worse?
:06:10. > :06:11.The Conservatives will invest an extra ?4 billion over
:06:12. > :06:16.Labour and the Lib Dems say that should be more like 6 or 7 billion.
:06:17. > :06:18.These three are working hard towards their degrees.
:06:19. > :06:20.It's up to the next government to make sure more students
:06:21. > :06:28.That's it for now from me, but lets find out what the weather's
:06:29. > :06:38.It has been another warm, sunny day. Things are looking a little little
:06:39. > :06:43.mix through the bank holiday weekend. Here is the sunset,
:06:44. > :06:47.captured by one of the weather watchers across the Thames. Clear
:06:48. > :06:50.skies through this evening and overnight. Creeping into the early
:06:51. > :06:54.hours of Saturday, one two showers heading in behind me through the
:06:55. > :06:59.course of Saturday morning. Temperatures are round about 16 or
:07:00. > :07:02.17 degrees. Many of us will see some of the showers, perhaps even a
:07:03. > :07:07.rumble of thunder for a tiny early on Saturday. Then they clear away,
:07:08. > :07:12.not a bad day. It will feel warm, with temperatures again into the
:07:13. > :07:17.middle high 20s. Sunday, a decent day. Fresher than it has been, not
:07:18. > :07:20.quite as hot and muggy. The chance of one or two thunderstorms late on
:07:21. > :07:24.Sunday and overnight into bank holiday Monday. We are not all going
:07:25. > :07:28.to see them but The Met Office has warned of some potential heavy rain
:07:29. > :07:32.down to the isolated thunderstorms. I will leave you with an outlook of
:07:33. > :07:34.the weather in the capital and pass you to my colleague for the National
:07:35. > :07:44.forecast. Good evening. It is as if the
:07:45. > :07:46.weather knows there is a bank holiday weekend