the former post office boss paula vennells has completed three days of public questioning at the inquiry into the horizon it scandal — in which more than 900 sub postmasters were wrongly prosecuted after faulty software said money was missing from their accounts. her answers included more than 20 apologies, four tearful moments and boos from the gallery. our international business correspondent theo leggett has more on how it unfolded.

after years of keeping a low profile paula venables was thrust into the spotlight this week and making her way through a scrum of cameras may have been the easy part. she started with an apology. i would just like to say, and i'm gratefulfor the opportunity to do this in person, how sorry i am for all that subpostmasters and theirfamilies and others have suffered as a result of all of the matters that the inquiry has been looking into for so long. there were tears as she was asked about the death of a subpostmaster who took his own life after being financially ruined by the post office. and i mentioned that... i'm sorry. i imagine that i was probably... just pause. try and compose yourself if you can, and then continue your evidence, please. she defended her role. she may have been the boss, she said, but she wasn't responsible for everything. and she wasn't told everything either. you are not responsible for everything that happens underneath you.

you have to rely on the advice of internal and external experts. by day three of hearing her evidence, the lawyers for the subpostmasters were clearly unimpressed and they went on the attack. i didn't know. nobody told me. i can't remember. i wasn't shown this. i relied on the lawyers. i have tried to do this to the very best of my ability. it is extraordinary, though, isn't it, because cartwright king, your external lawyers, know all about it, and yet you're saying that you didn't. the board didn't. i mean, this is la la land, isn't it? and the subpostmasters who were watching also seemed unconvinced. the crocodile tears did not faze me whatsoever. i was sat right at the front with my solicitor and i just wish she'd answer the questions instead of going round and round in circles with the same answers. i think she's she knows a lot more than what she's letting on. and i think basically she's lying. after three days of testimony,

paula venables left flanked after three days of testimony, paula venells left flanked by police, the end of another major chapter in one of the biggest scandals the uk has ever seen. theo leggett, bbc news. earlier i spoke to former sub—postmaster, tim brentnall to gauge his reaction to paula vennell�*s evidence. i thought she might approach proceedings with some openness and contrition but it's just more of the same from what we've come to see from post office witnesses at the inquiries. lies and deflections. she made 20 apologies. that wasn't enough and she said she was not responsible for everything. i suppose what they are trying to establish is who knew what and who is responsible, who is taking responsibility in all of this? who is more responsible in a company than the ceo?

she was quite prepared to take the salary for the year she the salary for the years she was in that position but when anything awkward was put to her, she to her, she seemed to deny she was across the detail of absolutely anything. how do you feel more generally about this inquiry and its ability to achieve anything? i've got confidence in the inquiry. from what i've seen of the lawyers and councils they are really across the issues. it started off and is called the post office and horizon it inquiry and it seems now that it was more about the culture in the post office than this. could you remind us what happened to you because it was a £22,000 shortfall that was... that you were accused of. can you explain your situation?

i was audited in late 2009, a £22,500 shortfall which the post office demanded i paid back immediately. as soon as i did so, i was charged with false accounting and my barrister advised me to plead guilty to. they said that in a crown court, a jury wouldn't believe me and that the post office didn't provide any kind of disclosure to mount any kind of offence. i stayed out of prison but i had a suspended sentence for two years. for the last decade, i haven't been able to gain any kind of meaningful employment because my conviction wasn't quashed until 2021. have you had any money back? i've had a small interim payment. because i've got an overturned conviction,

we are going on to sue the post office for malicious prosecution but they are insisting that we evidence and document every loss we claim for and that has taken three years for that to build. let's return to the general election and take a closer look at scotland where both rishi sunak and sir keir starmer have been trying to convince voters to move away from the snp — who have been the dominant party in scotland since 2007. let's go live to glasgow and speak to james walker — political reporter at the pro—independence newspaper, the national. everybody is out and about today. talk us through what angle they are all going for. here starmer says scotland will be central to a labour government. scotland will be central to a labour government-— scotland will be central to a labour government. from a labour point of view the polls _ government. from a labour point of view the polls are _ government. from a labour point of view the polls are suggesting - government. from a labour point of view the polls are suggesting that i view the polls are suggesting that evenin view the polls are suggesting that even in scotland they are very much have the momentum and i think that is something they will want to keep

on trucking with. their message is that they are trying to get the tories out but also the snp. the message is that both are dysfunctional parties. on the snp's front, meanwhile, ithink dysfunctional parties. on the snp's front, meanwhile, i think there are several different messages they're trying to get across. one of them is the unity, john swinney as the new leader and also this understanding in the smp right now that if they are losing votes to labour and they are losing votes to labour and they are not losing them because they think that labour are going to get independence then you can see them really trying to nail certain messages down, go back down to the issues which we will see from john swinney today on his so—called day of action across scotland. i see that keir starmer is trying to

create a real divide, isn't he? yes. i think when it comes to starmer and the scottish labour leader, the polls are suggesting that they could at least be mp —wise could deliver a significant chunk that labour needs uk- significant chunk that labour needs uk— wide. the idea is to put the foot in. uk- wide. the idea is to put the foot in. �* , , ., uk- wide. the idea is to put the footin. fl, .,, _ uk- wide. the idea is to put the footin. v , ., , , ., foot in. it's been a busy time for ou foot in. it's been a busy time for you guys. _ foot in. it's been a busy time for you guys. you _ foot in. it's been a busy time for you guys. you read _ foot in. it's been a busy time for you guys, you read political- you guys, you read political reporters in scotland at the moment. how are the electric feeling —— electorate feeling? are they energised?— electorate feeling? are they energised? electorate feeling? are they eneraised? ., ., �* ~' , energised? no. i don't think they are. our readers, _ energised? no. i don't think they are. our readers, i— energised? no. i don't think they are. our readers, ithink- energised? no. i don't think they are. our readers, i think they'rel are. our readers, i think they're

still very much pro independence but they don't know where necessarily they don't know where necessarily the snp stands and there are other pro—independence parties that are smaller and then... i don't think they are as energised by keir starmer. it's a general election so this time to go now and i guess we will see what happens. it this time to go now and i guess we will see what happens.— this time to go now and i guess we will see what happens. it will be an interestin: will see what happens. it will be an interesting one, _ will see what happens. it will be an interesting one, anyway. _ will see what happens. it will be an interesting one, anyway. thank - will see what happens. it will be an| interesting one, anyway. thank you for talking to us, dave walker. increasing numbers of england and wales' most vulnerable children are being detained in sometimes unregulated conditions by local authorities under measures known as deprivation of liberty orders. the use of them has increased twelvefold since 2017 with over 1,200 applications in the last year. for the first time young people who have lived under these orders have spoken publicly to our reporter ashleyjohn—baptiste.

i remember being hungry, see my mum get beaten up. have a deep dog food. stuff like that. a decade of fame. placements followed, she repeatedly ran away, putting herself at risk of criminal and sexual exploitation. when she was 13, her local authority applied for a deprivation of liberty order. i was locked away. that's not how you deal with someone who's gone through trauma.

this allows local authorities to take away vulnerable children's most basic freedoms. it was meant to keep her safe but she said it did anything but. it was literally horrible. i felt trapped. i couldn't do anything. everything i was doing, they were there, when i was going to the toilet, cooking something, just going down to the kitchen, they were watching. she was detained in a care home 16 miles away. she wasn't allowed a phone or internet access. two workers, often male would observe her 2a hours a day. i could be restrained simply for going into crisis. they would restrain you even if you cried. if they thought you were going to be of harm to yourself. they would put you on the floor. i don't think a teenager who is being

sexually exploited should be restrained on the floor by two males. ., ., , ., , males. throughout her life, she has onl had males. throughout her life, she has only had one _ males. throughout her life, she has only had one consistent _ males. throughout her life, she has only had one consistent adult. - males. throughout her life, she has| only had one consistent adult. when her placement broke down, this person stayed in touch. i felt her placement broke down, this person stayed in touch.- person stayed in touch. i felt i could trust — person stayed in touch. i felt i could trust her. _ person stayed in touch. i felt i could trust her. i _ person stayed in touch. i felt i could trust her. i knew- person stayed in touch. i felt i could trust her. i knew she . person stayed in touch. i felt i l could trust her. i knew she was alwa s could trust her. i knew she was always there. _ could trust her. i knew she was always there. how _ could trust her. i knew she was always there. how does - could trust her. i knew she was always there. how does that i could trust her. i knew she was i always there. how does that feel? it's a compliment in terms of what the professional role should be but in the _ the professional role should be but in the care, — the professional role should be but in the care, there were gaps. what do ou in the care, there were gaps. what do you think _ in the care, there were gaps. what do you think about _ in the care, there were gaps. what do you think about the _ in the care, there were gaps. “twat do you think about the fact that in the care, there were gaps. kwiegt do you think about the fact that she was restrained by men christmas absolutely disgusting.— was restrained by men christmas absolutely disgusting. she's been let down multiple _ absolutely disgusting. she's been let down multiple times. - absolutely disgusting. she's been let down multiple times. when i absolutely disgusting. she's been. let down multiple times. when the hi . h let down multiple times. when the hiuh court let down multiple times. when the high court meant _ let down multiple times. when the high court meant to _ let down multiple times. when the high court meant to issue -- - when the high court first issued these orders, it was meant to be as a last resort but they use has rocketed in the last seven years.

the government recently started a task force. this is a national scandal. some of our most vulnerable children. been affected in terms of their lives now, often isolated, locked up, taken away from their families but also affected in longer term. some people would say that this is a necessary resort, what would you say to that? ifa if a child is going to harm themselves, or others, we might have to protect _ themselves, or others, we might have to protect them but i can't help thinking — to protect them but i can't help thinking there are better ways to achieve — thinking there are better ways to achieve this.— achieve this. some children are removed from _ achieve this. some children are removed from their _ achieve this. some children are removed from their families. i achieve this. some children are - removed from their families. that's what happened to katie who spent more than two years in her mid—teens separated from her nan and sister. she lived near the play so i used to run off because i didn't want to be in a care home but with my family. i

ran off and i remember getting literally dragged, i didn't know they were hiding around the corner for a. they were hiding around the corner fora. —— they were hiding around the corner for a. —— from they were hiding around the corner fora. —— from me. iwas in they were hiding around the corner for a. —— from me. i was in the shower and i was 1a at the time and this guy is supervising me which is a bit weird. he“s knocking on the door saying, a bit weird. he“s knocking on the doorsaying, if a bit weird. he“s knocking on the door saying, if you don't come out i'm going to bust the door down. then hejumped on me when i was naked. then he “umped on me when i was naked. , . , . then he “umped on me when | was naked. , ., k, ,, then he “umped on me when i was naked. , ., ., ~ , then he “umped on me when i was naked. , .,~ , ~ naked. this was a worker? yes. a su ort naked. this was a worker? yes. a support worker- — naked. this was a worker? yes. a support worker. why _ naked. this was a worker? yes. a support worker. why did - naked. this was a worker? yes. a support worker. why did you - naked. this was a worker? yes. a support worker. why did you do i naked. this was a worker? yes. a - support worker. why did you do that? because it's — support worker. why did you do that? because it's about _ support worker. why did you do that? because it's about power. _ support worker. why did you do that? because it's about power. -- - support worker. why did you do that? because it's about power. -- why - support worker. why did you do that? because it's about power. -- why did | because it's about power. —— why did he do that. children services say they only use this when a child is extremely vulnerable and this is because of children with serious need entering the care system at a greater volume. while zara views being deprived of

her liberty adding to her trauma, she still had werner. she her liberty adding to her trauma, she still had werner.— she still had werner. she is genuinely _ she still had werner. she is genuinely saved _ she still had werner. she is genuinely saved me. - she still had werner. she is genuinely saved me. you . she still had werner. she is - genuinely saved me. you have! i promise you i would have been dead. i haven't been loved. you taught me what it feels like to be loved and this is real. i“m what it feels like to be loved and this is real. i'm grateful with it. i love you. this is real. i'm grateful with it. i love you-— this is real. i'm grateful with it. i love you. you can hear the full sto on i love you. you can hear the full story on detained _ i love you. you can hear the full story on detained and - i love you. you can hear the full. story on detained and restrained i love you. you can hear the full - story on detained and restrained on radio four which is available also on bbc sounds. manchester city are aiming to do the double double.

kick off is at 3pm and manchester united manager erik ten hag is preparing his side for the final with manchester city with reports swirling that he could be sacked whatever the outcome of this afternoon's match. united have refused to comment on the story and bbc sport understands there has been no contact with ten hag or his representatives by unitedas far as city are concerned they“re aiming to do the "double—double" — winning the league title and fa cup twice in a row. fans were still taking their seats in the wembley sunshine when manchester city“s captain had them on their feet again. and there's a good try. 0h, incredible. not many would bet against more of the same today, such as city“s domination after winning the league for the fourth successive time. they“re now attempting another historic feat. the first team in history to achieve back to back doubles this type this type of finals against teams like like united with united is always united and of course in the premier league would have been better than them. we are more consistent than them. but the one game, especially united“s season against top six important games always perform well. so and we spoke the players

feel it the players know so and we spoke, the players feel it the players know it that that will be completely completely different game that the fact the distance from the premier league. while city have continued evolving, united“s managerial door has been revolving and after a terrible season in which they saw their lowest placed finish in more than 30 years, erik ten hag“s future looks shaky with reports that today's match could be his last regardless of result. just give him another year, at least to be honest. see how it goes with the new ownership. and he's not really had a fair crack at the whip. really as it is to be honest. so yeah, hopefully we'll see how it goes in the future and see what happens. but i think give it a couple of years and we should be back up there.

we're going to work and i am nervous. i'll never go against my own team, but it's going to be hard. there are clearly a better team, i more talented team, but it's a cup finals, a one off. anything can happen. so we've just got to hope that looks in our on our side - and we can do the job. it's like a bit of glory- for ourselves for a change. united almost missed out on the final after chucking away a commanding three nil lead over championship side coventry city eventually needing penalties to scrape through manchester united. it was symptomatic of a season where injuries in key positions saw united leak goals for fun. no goalkeeper faced more shots than andre onana, who admits life has been tough. we have the opportunity to beat the blues, so we have to take it. but of course, obviously winning this game, you will not change that much because it has been a difficult season for all of us, for me, for my teammates. we learn from it and we move on. same teams, same venue, same outcome. united will be praying their season to forget doesn't end in a case of deja blue. natalie perks, bbc news, wembley. earlier i spoke to longtime manchester city fan, graham keller to see how he was feeling pre—match. there's always a bit of nerves before a big final, a big game. we've got every reason

to feel confident today. pretty confident. with that comes the pressure of the expectation, doesn't it? there's a lot of pressure on the team and we are expected to win by most people. if we don't win today, there will be a lot of criticism but we've got every reason to feel confident today. the double double would be really spectacular? it's not been done before. plenty of teams have done this before but to do it two years in succession would be in hell of an achievement. it's tough for manchester united, i imagine that you don't have much sympathy but all these rumours with the manager before the day of the match. pretty rough?

it happened to us back in 2013 when we played wigan. mancini was the manager at the time, and then a day before the final, we were told that he was going to be dismissed and pellegrino was coming in and so that ensued. it can disrail. it's not the best preparation, i would say. i know from our perspective when it happened to us, it wasn't great and it undermined a final if i'm being honest. it undermined all the preparations that had gone into the game. can you give me a score prediction?

i'm going to say 3—1 to city. we will see! applying make—up, eating fast food and using a laptop computer — these are just some of the activities drivers have been filmed doing while on the motorway. they were caught by warwickshire police officers in an unmarked lorry — and the footage was released by national highways ahead of a safety campaign. laura tra nt reports. we've got customers for you. car nearside, a lady is putting her makeup on while she's trying to drive. footage released by national highways has revealed just some of the reckless behaviour of drivers behind the wheel. so he is driving with no hands on the steering wheel. so van to the nearside, bloke is having his mcdonald's and he's got no hands on the steering wheel, he“s steering with his knees. so lane two, no control at all on the steering wheel, steering with his knees, he“s eating his mcdonald's. now he's picking up a drink. so drink in left hand,

chips on the right hand. these two offenses are among over 46,150 detected as part of national highways“ operation tramline campaign, which aims to improve safety on roads. the reason she keeps swerving is because she keeps looking at the mirror and not on the road. the rac says being distracted behind the wheel seems to be on the rise. this is unbelievably dangerous. having no hands on the wheel, it beggars belief. the dangers, the consequences are absolutely frightening. the latest government data shows there have been more fatal collisions due to distraction than at any other point in the last ten years. a58 people lost their lives due to distraction and we have this kind of behaviour on our roads. it is absolutely frightening. just don't need this kind of behaviour on our roads. driving is dangerous enough without people not properly concentrating and being distracted. on the m40, this driver was captured using her phone and laptop,

oblivious to her actions being caught on camera by the campaign's unmarked hgv. just scrolling through, hands on the phone. we“lljust pull off now so you can pull her over. it looks like she's updating some kind of messaging. the offence of using a phone behind the wheel carries six penalty points on the licence and a £200 fine. warwickshire police said their aim is to save lives, but while education of drivers is their priority, due to the high stakes involved in some driving offences officers will be robust in their actions. laura trant, bbc news. one way to help vulnerable children is to volunteer as a foster carer and provide them with a safe and stable home life when their own family can't. fostering groups say the experience can be challenging but also incredibly rewarding. our reporter debbie tubby has been speaking to one foster family about how it has shaped their lives.

my mother. i didn't know this at the time, but she wanted to keep me a little longer for christmas so we can have that last time. later on it was at school that i got brought home. there was some people. as clear as i can remember, they told me, just say bye to mum and everyone. give them a hug. michael was eight years old when he was taken into foster care. he's now taking gcse art and hoping to study at college. he prefers to concentrate on the present than talk about his past. six years ago he was fostered by clive and his husband. i never thought i could do that actually, because as a gay man

you weren't allowed to. but things changed, society changed, and that's where the opportunity came from. myself and my husband considered it and thought, yeah, we've got a room, we've got love to give. he's really pushed himself forward and dedicated himself to kind of learning and stuff like that. so really proud of him. so there are two brothers, but she doesn't know what the long term plan is going to be for them and they are looking to separate them. at the local charity break, they“re discussing the latest fostering case. what would be the reason for separating them? - does she say? there are more children in the system wanting a home than foster carers. i think that's probably because there's lots of misconceptions about it and we know that people think about fostering for a long time, sometimes years before they finally take the take the leap. finding the right child to fit into the family is critical in us knowing that when they move there they can stay there forever. foster carers are paid around £660 a week, but it's not easy money.

it has its challenges and rewards. it wasn't about the rewards. it's about providing that opportunity for somebody. so regardless of what they bring to the door, we just hope that we've helped and provided that support that michael feels he can kind of explore the world. if you give it time, the things that have stopped them from living normally fade away. and when you foster it, it's going to be difficult at first. but when you get to know each other, you're going to be like a normalfamily. now it's time for a look at the weather with elizabeth rizzini. hello, there. plenty of sunny spells around at times this bank holiday weekend. today is probably the best looking day for the vast majority of the next few. a lot of sunshine to start off the morning here in north yorkshire. we will be seeing some showers. most of those showers will pop up on sunday and bank holiday monday and they could be heavy,

thundery and also slow moving too. a little bit of wet weather around, as well, this afternoon across parts of norfolk, into lincolnshire, stretching up through the east midlands with plenty of cloud here. another weather front out towards the south—west of england bringing outbreaks of rain here. but there will be a lot of dry weather around. one or two isolated showers. sunny spells developing, variable amounts of cloud and highs in the best of the sunshine of 20 or 21 degrees celsius. through this evening and overnight, outbreaks of rain will continue to spread their way further northwards. it's quite a wet night to follow with plenty of cloud, a milder night than we saw last night. temperatures for the most part will stay in double figures as we head into sunday morning. on sunday, well, it's quite a disappointingly wet start to the day. we've still got these weather fronts around, so we are likely to see further outbreaks of rain. we'll see some some thundery showers spark off where we get the brightest spells. for much of the northern half of the uk there will be a lot

of cloud around through the morning, with some outbreaks of rain. if we do see those brighter skies, then watch out for some cloud building, heavy, thundery downpours developing, but they will be mostly across the south of england and wales. some of those showers will be slow moving, as well. largely dry across the far north of scotland. here we could see highs of around 20 degrees celsius yet again. further south, of course, underneath the cloud and the rain it's always going to be feeling cooler. still that leftover weather front as we head into bank holiday monday, so again we“re expecting some heavy, thundery showers to develop as we head through the day, but also some sunny spells, it won't be raining all the time. in fact, a lot of those showers will be towards the north, they“ll track eastwards, so towards western parts of the united kingdom we could even see a mostly dry end to the day perhaps. another slight drop in temperature, but still round about the seasonal average, which is where our temperatures will probably stay as we head through the week. it“s half—term, of course. it won't be raining all the time, there will also be some sunny spells.

bye— bye. live from london, this is bbc news. party leaders hit the campaign trail in the uk“s general election — and there's a growing list of tory mps who say they'll be standing down. the eu“s top diplomat says the bloc will have to choose between supporting israel or international law — that's after the un ruled that israel must stop its assault on rafah. with south africa's general election just days away, will nelson mandela“s legacy be enough to secure another anc win or will voters turn away? we start this hour here

in the uk, where the former conservative ministers. michael gove and dame andrea leadsom have added their names to a list of more than 100 mps who say they won't contest their seats at the general election. the announcements came as the parliamentary session was officially closed last night, allowing full—scale campaigning to get under way. party leaders have already begun touring the country as they take their message directly to voters. our political correspondent hannah miller has the latest. through the brexit campaign, borisjohnson“s friend, but at times his greatest foe, michael gove wasn“t afraid to make enemies, pushing through education reforms and serving underfour prime ministers over nearly 20 years in parliament. but he says he's now concluded, "there comes a moment when you know "it's time to leave, that a new generation should lead. "rishi has the plan our country needs," he added, “'i will do everything i can to support him." but as rishi sunak toured the titanic quarter in belfast,

the list of mps jumping ship continued to grow.