we look at why it took so long to arrest iain packer, and how this bbc interview, helped convict him. the widow of alexei navalny tells the european parliament her husband was tortured for three years, then murdered, on vladimir putin's orders. we are not dealing with a politician, but a bloody monster. has mob rule replaced democratic rule in britain, following protests over the war in gaza? rishi sunak thinks so. quite a thing for a prime minister to say too. he is talking about those recent protests, what is right, what is wrong and what does it mean to be british? there's a full assessment of last week's first moon landing of a spacecraft built by a private company. and in the fa cup, chelsea leave it late to beat

leeds at stamford bridge, to reach the quarterfinals. we'll have all the results. and on newsnight at 10:30. we'll go deeper behind today's headlines and speak live to key players in today's big stories. plus, a first look at tomorrow's front pages. good evening. police scotland have apologised forfailings in a long running investigation that left a killer on the loose for almost 20 years. the hunt for the murderer of emma caldwell, who was 27 when she was strangled in south lanarkshire in 2005, was one of the longest in scottish history. today, iain packer, who's 51, was found guilty of her murder and jailed for life with a minimum of 36 years. he was also convicted of 11 charges of rape and multiple sexual assaults,

against 21 other women, making him one of scotland's most prolific sex offenders. lorna gordon has our top story. emma caldwell, a vulnerable young woman who was murdered in terrifying circumstances. her killer was this man, iain packer, who for a quarter of a century carried out a campaign of sexual violence. you would look for vulnerability and exploit it. you also abused women who were not necessarily vulnerable but were in a vulnerable position. your conduct has caused extreme and enduring suffering for so many women and their families. emma had a happy upbringing but when her sister died from cancer, in her grief, she turned to drugs and then prostitution. she'll always be in our thoughts. she'll always be there. she'll always be my emma. the trial heard of her mother's anguish, of how she and her late husband scoured the streets of glasgow searching

for emma in the weeks after their daughter went missing. packer was a jekyll and hyde character, a violent, obsessive user of sex workers. more than two dozen women told the court here in glasgow that packer had violently attacked them. one of them said that she thought the concerns she and other sex workers had about him were ignored by the police. i don't think i'll ever stop being angry at the police. i'm disgusted with how women were treated back then by the police. they made us fear them rather than see them as safe people that we could go to and make reports. emma's mother was in court to hear packer sentenced for her daughter's murder. afterwards, her solicitor said margaret caldwell had never given up fighting for her daughter and packer's other victims, too. police failed so many women and girls who came forward to speak against packer. instead of receiving justice and compassion,

they were humiliated, dismissed and, in some instances, arrested, while the police gifted freedom to an evil predator to rape and to rape again. police scotland today apologised and said those who spoke up at the time did not get the support they deserved. it is clear that further investigations should have been carried out into emma's murder following the initial inquiry in 2005. the lack of investigation until 2015 caused unnecessary distress to her family and all of those women who came forward to report sexual violence. as emma's killer was sentenced, thejudge praised herfamily for their courage. they now have justice, but say they will never have closure. lorna gordon, bbc news, at the high court in glasgow. well, five years ago, an investigative reporter with bbc scotland, samantha poling, carried out interviews with iain packer, which played a big part in his trial as evidence

of his lies. as samantha now reports, some of the other women who were raped and assaulted by him only came forward after seeing her investigation. this is iain packer, about to be confronted by me in 2019. i don't believe you've been telling me the truth. we discovered evidence he was a prolific sexual predator, a violent rapist and a killer. did you kill emma? no, i never. emma caldwell�*s killer. ithought, you know, isaid no. —— i can look you in the eye and say no. i had nothing to do with it whatsoever. all lies. this interview was used in court as evidence against him. today, the verdict? guilty. but why did it take so long? the bbc can reveal that information linking iain packer to emma's murder was available to police from the start. detectives who worked on the inquiry in 2005 have broken their silence. the girls were describing this guy who would go up

and regularly use prostitutes. he would be particularly rough with them, they would all identify him as someone they knew. that someone was iain packer. police would speak to packer six times between 2005 and 2007. the evidence against him, these officers say, was undeniable. packer admitted to taking women to the woods for sex. he admitted to taking emma there. he even directed police to the crime scene. and various women identified iain packer as a violent rapist who'd attacked emma in the months prior to her death. yet senior officers repeatedly dismissed him as a suspect. and i'm told at that point, "but, davey, when you get iain packerand bring him in, it doesn't matter what he tells you. doesn't matter what he tells you. he won't be an accused

on this case." instead, those senior officers spent millions wrongly pursuing four turkish men for emma's murder. when that case collapsed, the inquiry went cold. we asked police scotland for a statement. they said this... today's guilty verdict — justice for emma's family. but a justice perhaps delivered years later than it could have been. samantha poling, bbc news. samantha, your work became an important part of the prosecution case, how did all that come about?

2018, the beginning of 2018, iain packer contacted me out of the blue. we met a number of times and he said he wanted me to look into the murder of emma caldwell, and i said that i would. i interviewed him the first time, he told me he was not a violent man, he had never hurt a woman in his life and had certainly never killed emma caldwell. i went to investigate everything he told me in very quickly found overwhelming evidence that he was a violent sexual predator. i tracked down multiple women who said they had been sexually assaulted, attacked, raped by him, a number of women who were taken to the wordsworth emma's body was found and said they were forced to strip all be assaulted or raped by him. —— taken to the woods where emma because my body was found. i got another interview with him, i told

found. i got another interview with him, itold him he was found. i got another interview with him, i told him he was a found. i got another interview with him, itold him he was a rapist found. i got another interview with him, i told him he was a rapist and emma's ella and those interviews forms part of the crime case which helped to victim today. —— i told him he was a rapist and samantha's killer. . ~ him he was a rapist and samantha's killer. ., ~' , ., him he was a rapist and samantha's killer. ., ~ , ., ., ., ., killer. thank you, samantha poling in glasgow — and you can watch sam's investigation "catching a killer the murder of emma caldwell," on iplayer now, or at 11.15 tonight, over on bbc2. the widow of the russian opposition leader alexei navalny has made an emotional address to the european parliament in which she claimed her husband was tortured for three years on vladimir putin's orders and then murdered. the long—standing critic of the russian president died suddenly in prison earlier this month. nick beake reports. it's not even two weeks since she lost her husband, but yulia navalnaya says she has to keep fighting. the latest stop on her path tojustice, the european parliament, where she condemned vladimir putin for actions that had bereaved

russians, ukrainians and her own family. putin must answer for what he has done with my country. done to a neighbouring, peaceful country. and putin must answerfor everything he has done to alexei. alexei navalny died in his siberian prison, where he was serving a 19 year sentence that was widely seen as being politically motivated. his family say he was murdered. the russian authorities claim it was natural causes. yulia navalnaya said europe's leaders must stop treating vladimir putin like a normal politician and deal with him as a mafia boss. she said passing endless resolutions and the same old sanctions wouldn't have any impact. she said there needed to be a new effort to go after the money of his inner circle in the way you deal with organised crime.

but before that, alexei navalny�*s family say they want to bury him here in southern moscow on friday. it's unclear what sort of public display of grief the police will tolerate. putin is capable of anything. yulia navalnaya says she will now go and recruit yet more supporters to her cause, promising that russia does have a beautiful future once it is rid of evil. nick beake, bbc news, strasbourg. rishi sunak has claimed tonight that there's a growing consensus that "mob rule is replacing democratic rule" in the uk. it follows recent incidents of what he calls "intimidating behaviour" involving protests over the war in gaza. chris mason is at westminster. rather alarming words from the prime minister tonight? rather alarming words from the prime ministertonight? it is rather alarming words from the prime minister tonight?— minister tonight? it is quite a sentence. — minister tonight? it is quite a sentence, quite _ minister tonight? it is quite a sentence, quite a _ minister tonight? it is quite a sentence, quite a sentence i minister tonight? it is quite a - sentence, quite a sentence when you

realise it has been altered by the prime minister. the context is the government saying it will allocate more money for mps' security after the pro—palestinian marchers we have seen here at westminster and also outside some mps' offices and homes. the prime minister and the home secretary got together with senior police officers today to look into this and after they announced what they have called a defending policing protocol. a fair amount of thatis policing protocol. a fair amount of that is powers and laws the police already have two hands, although there are some tweaks in the guide and suggesting that the police should more easily move on protesters outside politicians�* homes, for instance. but there is a bigger argument from the prime minister, who has given a speech to a charity which supports jewish safety and he has said they should all amount to what it means to belong in britain. he says people

who climb on war memorials or block roads all project anti—semitic slogans on to parliament are the antithesis of that. labour says plenty of the policies from the prime minister are sensible but they think his language is not. thank ou, think his language is not. thank you. chris _ think his language is not. thank you, chris mason, _ think his language is not. thank you, chris mason, our - think his language is not. thank you, chris mason, our political. you, chris mason, our political editor, at westminster. the leader of hamas says the group is showing "flexibility" in negotiations with israel, but that it�*s ready to continue fighting. it�*s the first sign of any movement from hamas, which is designated as a terror organisation by the uk. the group is believed to be holding around 130 israeli hostages, and any deal to release them, is expected to be include transfers of palestinians being detained by israel. here�*s paul adams. back where it all began — families and friends of the hostages are on the march. this is where hundreds of israelis were killed on october 7th, where hundreds of others were dragged away into gaza. they�*re marching tojerusalem, demanding their government do more to bring the missing home.

hopes raised by talk of a ceasefire. 145 endless days and nights of yearning for our loved ones. we send them strength and ask them to hold a little longer. 0mer, just a little longer. a deal is possible. but what would that deal look like? it�*s thought a ceasefire could last for six weeks and could be extended. a0 israeli hostages would gradually be released — women, civilians and soldiers coming first. in return, 400 palestinian prisoners would be released from israeli jails. israeli soldiers might move away from some of gaza�*s most populated areas, and some of the 1.8 million palestinians displaced by the fighting might be able to return to homes in the north. how close do you think we are to a to a deal here? 0ne former israeli intelligence official with experience of negotiations says he�*s optimistic.

i think that we are pretty close. i�*m not saying that for sure we would see a release of hostages and palestinian prisoners necessarily, but i think that the negotiation is getting forward. and today, the first oblique hints of progress from hamas. translation: any flexibility - we are showing in the negotiations is to protect the blood of our people and to put an end to their huge pains and sacrifices in the brutal war of extermination against it. what hamas�*s leader in gaza thinks is not yet known. yahya sinwar was last seen in an underground tunnel, his guerrilla army slowly being annihilated above him. it�*s been almost three months since the last negotiated deal. dozens of israeli and foreign hostages were released,

but the deal broke down after a week. since then, conditions in gaza, for hostages and palestinians alike, have only got worse. the hunt for food and water never ends. hunger and disease, a growing menace. any ceasefire deal will have to offer meaningful relief. for now, the waiting and the marching go on. the families say they�*ll reach jerusalem by saturday. will good news be waiting for them when they get there? paul adams, bbc news, jerusalem. ajudge has ruled that the government should scrap plans to grant conditional amnesties for killings committed during the troubles in northern ireland. the high court in belfast found that the proposals were in breach of human rights law. the case was brought by relatives of victims who were angry at changes to the way investigations would be carried out. the government has indicated it plans to appeal. the boss of the red bull formula one racing team, christian horner,

has been cleared following an investigation into allegations of inappropriate and controlling behaviour towards a female colleague. horner, who�*s led red bull since 2005, denied the allegations. he�*ll remain in his role as team principal and chief executive. red bull says "the complainant does have a right of appeal." prince harry has lost his high court challenge against the removal of his police protection whenever he visits the uk. the duke of sussex took legal action when the government downgraded his security status four years ago, after he stopped being a "working royal." the home office says his security while visiting britain would be arranged depending on the perceived risk, as it is with other high—profile visiting dignitaries. prince harry�*s lawyers say he�*ll appeal. in america, the longest serving party leader in the senate in us history, mitch mcconnell, is to step down, after the next set of elections in november. he first became a member of the upper chamber of congress in 1985, and oversaw the confirmation of a vast number of conservative

judges, including three to the supreme court, under donald trump. gary 0�*donoghue�*s live in washington for us tonight. it is fairto it is fair to say that mitch mcconnell did not really see eye to eye with donald trump? h0. mcconnell did not really see eye to eye with donald trump?— eye with donald trump? no, he didn't. increasingly _ eye with donald trump? no, he didn't. increasingly over - eye with donald trump? no, he didn't. increasingly over the - eye with donald trump? no, he i didn't. increasingly over the years, didn�*t. increasingly over the years, the party that mitch mcconnell joined when he came into this and it in 1985, well, ronald reagan was president, increasingly that party has moved away from underneath his feet, increasingly to the right, turning from a conservative free trade internationalist outlook party, something much more akin to an isolationist protectionist party. mitch mcconnell did do a good deal of donald trump�*s bidding when he was president and he got through those supreme court nominations, bedding in a conservative majority on the supreme court for years to come but they fell out over the 6th of january, come but they fell out over the 6th ofjanuary, mitch mcconnell

come but they fell out over the 6th of january, mitch mcconnell saying the former president was morally responsible for what happened. he had a few health issues which may have contributed to the decision at 82 to step down from the leadership, and he once described himself as the grim reaperand and he once described himself as the grim reaper and the political situation has now caught up with him. we heard from the supreme court i wasjust mentioning, him. we heard from the supreme court i was just mentioning, that they will take up the case of donald trump�*s election interference and whether he enjoys immunity from prosecution for that, that is a huge step forward for donald trump and it means the arguments will not take place until the end of april, possibly not a decision from the supreme court untiljune which significantly delays any trial by the special counseljack smith into donald trump�*s attempts to overturn the election way into the summer and that could push it right back to the eve of the election. a big win for donald trump and a big headache for the special counsel.—

the special counsel. thanks for “oininu the special counsel. thanks for joining us- _ the company that made history by becoming the first from the private sector to land a spacecraft on the moon, has been giving more details about the mission. the 0dysseus space craft, made by a company in texas, touched down last week, but its not so smooth landing meant communications with mission control were limited. pallab ghosh has more. a perfect launch. a faultless separation. over comms: lunar lander separation confirmed. and a smooth journey to the moon. but landing is always the hardest part and so it proved. 0n the lunar surface, you can see one of the legs on the left broken. and this image shows a spacecraft leaning over. this evening, the head of the private company that built the lander explained why the landing was so hard. innovation came from being absolutely over constrained, where you didn�*t have enough time,

you didn�*t have enough money, and you were trying to tackle a problem that seemed almost intractable. so, what actually went wrong? an hour before landing, engineers announced that the lasers that measured the distance to the ground weren�*t working. as a result, flight engineers had to rapidly develop a back up system. unfortunately, the computer couldn�*t keep up, and it thought the spacecraft was 100 metres higher than it really was so it hit the ground harder than planned. one of its six legs broke and the spacecraft tilted with its main solar panel facing the ground. so, does this count as a success or a failure? fantastic success, you know, superb. first time a commercial company�*s ever managed to do this. and, you know, they�*ve done it right first time. the landing was a little bit wonky. it doesn�*t really matter in the bigger scheme of things.

they�*ve got all the data, so next time they�*ll get it 100% right. and i think they�*re ready to go again already. intuitive machines are scheduled to have a more ambitious moon mission in just a few months time. the company says it�*s learned from the experience and plans a faultless landing next time around. pallab ghosh, bbc news. the uk�*s ground—breaking laboratory that�*s tried to recreate the process that powers stars is closing down. thejet fusion lab in 0xfordshire was first conceived back in the 19705 and has played a leading role in the global effort to generate electricity, by creating mini—suns here on earth. here�*s justin rowlatt. the european fusion research centre at culham in 0xfordshire was opened in a blaze of publicity back in 1984. i have great pleasure in formally

opening thejoint european torus. the ceremony may not have gone exactly as planned... archive: eventually, - the cord was discovered... ..but the ambition of the project was stellar. its aim was to recreate the nuclear fusion reaction that powers the sun and all the stars. so, this is the reactor. when research was under way, the core was almost certainly the hottest place in the universe. scientists would heat hydrogen gas to temperatures of more than 200 million degrees celsius... ..to try and get the atoms to fuse together. that fusion would create helium and a huge burst of energy. the hope was to harness that energy to create potentially unlimited supplies of carbon—free electricity.

thejet lab did not achieve that, but during its 40 years of operation, it transformed the world�*s understanding of the physics of nuclear fusion. jet�*s pioneering work will be taken forward at a new and even bigger fusion reactor being built in the south of france — though, since brexit, the uk is no longer part of this international collaboration. we�*re very proud of what�*s been achieved here atjet and it�*s as a result of our decision not to reassociate that we�*re able to invest £650 million in this new pipeline of work, making commercialfusion a reality within the next 20 years here in the uk. and the research here atjet will not stop. the scientists say decommissioning what was once the world�*s biggest fusion reactor will yield valuable lessons for future fusion projects. justin rowlatt, bbc news, 0xfordshire. the skateboarder, sky brown, already britain�*s youngest ever olympic medal winner, is now turning her hand to surfing.

she�*s hoping to qualify for the paris 0lympics this year, and to become the first british woman in history to compete in two different sports at the same summer games. natalie pirks has been to meet her in puerto rico. she may still be a teenager, but her ambitions know no bounds. in the waves of arecibo, sky brown is trying to pull off something close to a sporting miracle. i have a lot on my bucket list, i love surfing just as much skating, and it was hard for me to pick, actually. and this time i want to do both. i�*ve been really enjoying it but i definitely, it comes with a lot of hard work. it�*s a long journey but it�*s a fun one and i never want it to end. she�*s the world number 3 in skateboarding, and became the park world champion last year, but in surfing, she�*s a relative unknown and the world�*s best are all here in puerto rico. there�*s not many teenagers

who can call something like us their playground, but sky is used to traveling all over the world. but let�*s not pretend that this is going to be easy — it�*s a huge step up in terms of competition. but sky is also well used to defying expectations. she began surfing as soon as she could swim, and skateboarding as soon as she could balance. daddy, look at this! she was signed to sportswear giant nike at 10—years—old and three years later in tokyo the talent came to fruition. sky brown will take bronze! some people might say this is impossible, does that spur you on? it puts a fire in me, it puts a fire in my heart, makes me really want to prove them wrong. not a lot of people believe in me, but i do believe in myself and i�*m going to try my best. sky is the youngest member of the british surfing team, but with other young prospects here... yes! ..the focus and funding is on the future. are we expecting people

to qualify for the olympics? i think that�*s a really big aspiration. the reality is we�*ve set ourselves on a journey and the journey is longer than here. the journey is heading to la. sky has grand ambitions of winning two golds in paris, but today she lost her round. she has another chance tomorrow, though. the coming days will then decide whether teenage dreams take flight, or are dashed in the surf. natalie pirks, bbc news, puerto rico. in the fa cup, manchester united will face liverpool in the quarterfinals. after beating nottingham forest 1—0. a a youthful liverpool side, eased past southampton 3—0. meanwhile, at stamford bridge, chelsea left it late to beat leeds. here�*s patrick gearey. football offers little time for reflection. just three days ago, chelsea lost the efl cup final. now, in the fa cup, they soon wandered into yet more trouble against second tier leeds united. mateo joseph�*s goal,

stamford bridge rocked. some from leeds still shocked. mauricio pochettino, chelsea�*s under—pressure manager, has asked for time. his side didn�*t need much of it before responding through nicolas jackson, a rallying cry for a troubled side and his team—mates came with him. that�*s a really good chelsea goal! mykhailo mudryk eased the panic. perhaps you can be too relaxed, especially when faced with leeds undoubted quality. a super equaliser! joseph again, 2—2. extra time and more stress loomed when finally chelsea settled it. conor gallagher firing them into the last eight — at last. an fa cup win once kept sir alex ferguson in a job at manchester united. maybe erik ten hag could take inspiration. that was in short supply until the final minutes against nottingham forest when casemiro flicked in what might be a big goalfor united. they�*ll play liverpool in the next round after a young team helped them win a trophy on sunday. jurgen klopp trusted the kids again, and 18—year—old debutant lewis koumas sent them

on their way against southampton. the future could be bright — red. patrick gearey, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here�*s louise. we have seen some record—breaking rainfall this month but we have had a chance to catch our breath in the last couple of days with some quieter weather but guess what, more rain on the way, moving in from the west, and as the rain continues to push its way steadily east, it is a cold front which means that behind the cold front we are going to see some colder air moving in. let�*s have a look at the pressure chart. the wind direction swinging round to a north—westerly which means all change as we go into tomorrow. we can split the country into three parts, sunny spells and scattered showers and gale force winds in the far north west of scotland and northern ireland, cloudy skies in england and wales, but milder and wetter weather will continue in the south—east of england, we might have double digits but it could stay

pretty grey and wet for most of the day. cooler conditions behind and that will lead into a pretty chilly night to come as we go into the early hours of friday morning, and that combined with a frontal system moving in once again from the west means on the leading edge we could have some snow, and it is likely it is just have some snow, and it is likely it isjust going to have some snow, and it is likely it is just going to be to have some snow, and it is likely it isjust going to be to higher ground but it is worth bearing in mind, the high ground of northern ireland, the scottish borders, across the pennines and north wales, we could have a few centimetres of snow accumulating through the morning. that could cause disruption and that this is the low pressure circulating around the low, sunny spells and scattered showers for england and wales, a drier scenario for scotland but will continue to be cold, the 1st of march, and those temperatures are slightly below par for the time of year. expecting highs of 5—9, and the cuda theme is set to continue into the weekend with a risk of snow

to higher parts of ground in