:00:00. > :00:00.Hello and welcome to the Look East late news.
:00:00. > :00:08.A coroner records a verdict of unlawful killing
:00:09. > :00:14.Detectives say they haven't given up the search for his killer.
:00:15. > :00:16.Described as a gradual lightening of the load,
:00:17. > :00:20.the Queen hands over her honorary roles
:00:21. > :00:22.at some charities, including one in Newmarket.
:00:23. > :00:25.And a man of many talents, broadcasting legend
:00:26. > :00:28.Clive James talks to us about his illness,
:00:29. > :00:45.An inquest into the death of a notorious Essex criminal
:00:46. > :00:51.has returned a verdict of unlawful killing.
:00:52. > :00:54.John Palmer, who was nicknamed Goldfinger, was shot six times
:00:55. > :00:56.at close range in his garden in South Weald.
:00:57. > :00:58.Detectives say the killing had all the hallmarks of a professional
:00:59. > :01:01.hit and are continuing to search for the killer.
:01:02. > :01:06.Our Essex reporter Gareth George was at today's inquest.
:01:07. > :01:10.John Palmer, AKA Goldfinger, he got the nickname admidst rumours he had
:01:11. > :01:18.melted down old bullion from the Brink's-Mat heist in 1983.
:01:19. > :01:21.But speaking to reporters at the time in
:01:22. > :01:23.Tenerife, where he was operating a time-share scam, he denied having
:01:24. > :01:26.I am completely innocent of any thing to
:01:27. > :01:29.do with this so-called Mat-Brink bullion raid.
:01:30. > :01:33.In June last year, shortly after the CCTV
:01:34. > :01:36.pictures were taken, Palmer was
:01:37. > :01:42.shot six times at his home near Brentwood in Essex.
:01:43. > :01:44.For days, police didn't realise he had been murdered,
:01:45. > :01:47.thinking he had died as a result of gall bladder surgery
:01:48. > :01:49.A mistake they have since apologised for.
:01:50. > :01:52.Today, an inquest into his death was held here in
:01:53. > :01:57.The coroner, Caroline Beasley-Murray,
:01:58. > :01:59.concluded that he had been unlawfully killed.
:02:00. > :02:01.There was only member of John Palmer's family
:02:02. > :02:05.present at the inquest and that was a man called Ashley Thilthorpe.
:02:06. > :02:07.He is the partner of John Palmer's daughter
:02:08. > :02:08.and he is seen here on the
:02:09. > :02:11.right leaving the hearing with Detective Chief Inspector Stephen
:02:12. > :02:17.DCI Jennings gave evidence and said the murder investigation is
:02:18. > :02:20.One problem detectives have is the sheer number of people who
:02:21. > :02:23.might have had a motive to kill Palmer.
:02:24. > :02:27.In relation to his fraud conviction in 2001, there were
:02:28. > :02:32.listed anything up to or above 16,000 victims.
:02:33. > :02:34.Again, there could be 16,000 motives as to why he was
:02:35. > :02:38.And then, of course, his criminality involving
:02:39. > :02:45.a number of the people involved in that, subsequent
:02:46. > :02:47.place have now been either killed or have died.
:02:48. > :02:49.So, again, that was very much in consideration.
:02:50. > :02:51.Police say someone involved in the criminal
:02:52. > :02:54.underworld knows who killed John Palmer and after today's inquest,
:02:55. > :02:55.officers renewed their appeal for anyone with information
:02:56. > :03:03.The wife of a man from Suffolk who went missing in France
:03:04. > :03:06.this summer says the thought of Christmas without him is agony.
:03:07. > :03:09.David Wood, who's from Woodbridge, disappeared in August
:03:10. > :03:15.while walking in the French Alps near the couple's holiday home.
:03:16. > :03:17.For Valerie Armstrong, the past four and half months have been
:03:18. > :03:20.Unable to face Christmas at home, she's staying
:03:21. > :03:27.We have nothing, we don't know if we're grieving.
:03:28. > :03:30.There are four stages of grief, we go through every stage
:03:31. > :03:32.and back again and back again and back again.
:03:33. > :03:36.David Wood went missing on August the 2nd
:03:37. > :03:39.while walking on a path between the villages of Marie
:03:40. > :03:42.and Clans, a distance of six kilometres.
:03:43. > :03:46.An exhaustive search over ten days found nothing.
:03:47. > :03:50.He was last seen by a couple heading the wrong way.
:03:51. > :03:53.Dave was going very fast towards Clans, the wrong way.
:03:54. > :03:56.He stopped this couple and said, in French,
:03:57. > :03:58."Could you tell me the way to Marie?"
:03:59. > :04:06.Because he knew, he knew the way to Marie.
:04:07. > :04:08.A Facebook page has had a huge response.
:04:09. > :04:09.She says officers from Suffolk Police have
:04:10. > :04:12.David's dental records and fingerprints
:04:13. > :04:14.and are working with French investigators.
:04:15. > :04:17.There are plans to contact his Californian-based employer
:04:18. > :04:23.Meanwhile, the couple's friends in France are distraught.
:04:24. > :04:26.They're very kind people and this is hurting them all and the
:04:27. > :04:31.The police in France have been good, very good.
:04:32. > :04:33.I hope the New Year will bring some closure,
:04:34. > :04:40.You know, we love him so much and we miss him so much
:04:41. > :04:49.It's been announced today that the Queen is stepping down
:04:50. > :04:51.as patron of more than 20 organisations, including the Animal
:04:52. > :04:57.It's being described as a "gradual lightening of the load"
:04:58. > :05:00.for the monarch who is, of course, now 90.
:05:01. > :05:03.The news comes as the Queen prepares for her Christmas holiday
:05:04. > :05:12.at the Royal estate in Sandringham from where Mousumi Bakshi reports.
:05:13. > :05:14.It's been a momentous year for many reasons,
:05:15. > :05:15.not least because of the
:05:16. > :05:21.It has been a year of parties and pageant
:05:22. > :05:23.that will surely be reflected upon when the Queen arrives
:05:24. > :05:26.here for her annual Christmas break in Sandringham.
:05:27. > :05:28.In October, she became the world's longest
:05:29. > :05:36.But today perhaps a sign of the Queen stepping back.
:05:37. > :05:39.It is an association that has spanned almost 60 years but at
:05:40. > :05:41.the end of the year, the Queen will stand
:05:42. > :05:45.down as the patron of the Animal Health Trust near Newmarket.
:05:46. > :05:53.It is renowned for its work fighting disease and injury in animals.
:05:54. > :05:55.It was in urgent need of renovation...
:05:56. > :05:58.Her daughter, the Princess Royal, is still president and continues to
:05:59. > :06:01.The trust says it will discuss the patronage with her
:06:02. > :06:05.As her 90th year ends, the Queen is keen to cut
:06:06. > :06:16.A patron of more than 600 bodies, she will
:06:17. > :06:21.This is all part of the gradual lightening of the load for the Queen
:06:22. > :06:24.to give her a workload which, as officials will say, is more
:06:25. > :06:26.appropriate to someone who is 90 years old.
:06:27. > :06:29.The Queen will also hand over her patronage of the Wildfowl and
:06:30. > :06:33.Wetlands Trust in Welney, famous for the annual swan migration.
:06:34. > :06:39.She will be continuing to support the
:06:40. > :06:40.Sandringham Flower Show alongside her
:06:41. > :06:45.son, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall.
:06:46. > :06:47.Well, reaction tonight from the Animal Health Trust
:06:48. > :06:52.in a statement publicly thanked the Queen for her dedicated support
:06:53. > :07:06.is the current president of the charity, is likely to become its
:07:07. > :07:08.patron and suggestions tonight that Prince Charles will be the new
:07:09. > :07:10.patron of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust.
:07:11. > :07:12.Mousumi Bakshi, BBC Look East, Sandringham.
:07:13. > :07:14.Six years ago, the writer and broadcaster Clive James
:07:15. > :07:16.was diagnosed with leukaemia, kidney failure and lung disease.
:07:17. > :07:19.Not long after that, he told the BBC he was nearing the end.
:07:20. > :07:21.Then, last summer, he said he was slightly embarrassed
:07:22. > :07:25.He's been receiving treatment at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.
:07:26. > :07:27.Today he talked to us about his illness, his career
:07:28. > :07:37.At home in Cambridge today, Clive James surrounded by books.
:07:38. > :07:41.His volumes of autobiography, novels,
:07:42. > :07:44.travel writing and poetry has secured his reputation as a major
:07:45. > :07:49.I have got a few books done in the last few years
:07:50. > :07:53.First of all, I didn't expect to live to write
:07:54. > :07:55.them and second, I never expected to finish them.
:07:56. > :07:58.And if you read the last chapter in each of them, you
:07:59. > :08:05.He has continued to write ever since he was diagnosed
:08:06. > :08:09.He says he is not in pain and praises
:08:10. > :08:12.the care he receives at Addenbrooke's Hospital.
:08:13. > :08:14.New drugs were invented and I'm testing them
:08:15. > :08:22.I go to Addenbrooke's, the hospital here, all the time and
:08:23. > :08:24.there's a lot of people there who aren't going
:08:25. > :08:26.to come home who are in
:08:27. > :08:35.It is a reminder that I have actually had it lucky.
:08:36. > :08:38.But it was talent rather than luck that earned him the title
:08:39. > :08:42.Clive James came to England in the 1960s, he went to
:08:43. > :08:44.Cambridge University and then became an award-winning TV critic
:08:45. > :08:53.A medium that couldn't get enough of him in front of the camera.
:08:54. > :08:55.He is a curious mixture, journalist, poet, critic, lyricist
:08:56. > :08:57.he was once dubbed, and he's still blushing,
:08:58. > :09:06.Shooting from the lip, he was the perfect guest on dozens of
:09:07. > :09:12.Here he is on Did You See in the mid-80s, the subject,
:09:13. > :09:17.I want to turn the show on to get something unique
:09:18. > :09:21.I won't turn it on at night to see, say, some American
:09:22. > :09:23.who is starring in the London production of 42nd St singing
:09:24. > :09:26.Lullaby Of Broadway out of tempo before segueing into a clog dance.
:09:27. > :09:29.As a lyricist, Clive James has worked extensively down the years
:09:30. > :09:43.There's quite a good chance now, actually,
:09:44. > :09:46.as I drop off the twig, as we say in Australia,
:09:47. > :09:50.If you look up Pete Atkin, you find him
:09:51. > :09:55.singing our songs, pages and pages of them.
:09:56. > :09:59.It is a terrific reservoir of what we have done, I'm so thrilled
:10:00. > :10:03.Now though, it is the writing that takes centre stage.
:10:04. > :10:10.That's all from me, coming up now, the weather with Alex.
:10:11. > :10:15.But from the rest of the late team, goodnight.
:10:16. > :10:23.Thank you. We're recording some pretty chilly temperatures across
:10:24. > :10:26.the region right now, some places close to freezing. The risk of frost
:10:27. > :10:29.but as we go through the night, increasing cloud from the west with
:10:30. > :10:33.light and patchy rain will help you can to recover as we get to the
:10:34. > :10:37.early hours of tomorrow morning. The wind is picking up a little bit,
:10:38. > :10:41.breezy to the day tomorrow. This weather front close by so some early
:10:42. > :10:43.rain to clear. It does like there will be some drier interludes
:10:44. > :10:48.throughout the middle part of the day with some brighter spells. Quite
:10:49. > :10:51.a brisk breeze and into the afternoon and evening, another spell
:10:52. > :10:55.of rain expected to come through. Could be on the heavy side. Highs
:10:56. > :11:00.around 10 Celsius. The national weather is coming up but here is the
:11:01. > :11:01.outlook. A lovely day expected on Thursday, chilly, sunshine and
:11:02. > :11:03.turning making a journey elsewhere in the
:11:04. > :11:09.country it's worth knowing the national forecast. Over now to
:11:10. > :11:13.Tomasz. So, the weather's going to blow a
:11:14. > :11:18.few cobwebs away in the coming days and maybe a few other things, as
:11:19. > :11:22.well. How stormy is it going to get? For most of us probably not too
:11:23. > :11:25.terrible. It is, however, going to be very nasty across parts of
:11:26. > :11:27.Scotland on Friday.