52, and stephen vaughan, who was 34. four—year—old knitsley had been crossing a pedestrian crossing when she was hit by the truck and the three men who died, mr parker, mr allen, and mr bourne, were all travelling in the same car. bristol crown court had heard that —— had heard the laurie's brakes had failed and it had clocked up almost 450,000 miles at the time of the crash. the owner of the haulage company, matthew gordon, who has been found guilty of four counts of manslaughter, was driving one lorry through a western village when he stopped, and then a second lorry driven by 20—year—old philip potter attempted to break to avoid a collision, but the brakes on that lobbied then failed. it hit several pedestrians, including four—year—old mitzi and her grandmother, margaret rogers, and then hit the car

containing the three other victims who died. the prosecuting qc said mr potter's laurie continued to career down the lane in western village out of control, and these are pictures from the time of the crash. because on the 9th of february last year. by the time the lorry came to a stop, four people had suffered fatal injuries, the four—year—old girl who had been crossing the road with her grandmother and three men who had been travelling together in the same car. this is a picture of the four—year—old victim, who died as she was crossing the road with her grandmother, margaret rogers, who was also injured. and three other victims as well, 59—year—old robert parker, philip allen, who was 52,

and stephen vaughan, who was 34. let mejust and stephen vaughan, who was 34. let me just repeat the findings of the court today, at bristol crown court, haulage boss matthew gordon and his mechanic, peter would, both haulage boss matthew gordon and his mechanic, peterwould, both found guilty of four counts of manslaughter following that crash involving the tipper truck in bath in february last year. but the driver of the truck, 20—year—old philip potter, who had only started working for the company a matter of days before the crash, found not guilty on all of those counts. clea red of guilty on all of those counts. cleared of all counts. the court heard that the firm did not carry out the recommended brake efficiency tests on the vehicle, and the

vehicle was described as an accident waiting to happen. tragically, on that day in february, those four people killed by that laurie. as the driver attempted to bring it to a halt, the breaks failed. we can cfoss halt, the breaks failed. we can cross to our correspondent outside bristol crown court, and who has been following this case for us. john, give us an account of what has been happening in court in the short while. well, first of all, we had those manslaughter counts for the jury to give their decisions on, the boss of a haulage company, matthew gordon, and his mechanic, peter wood, who faced those charges. they were convicted of all those counts. they we re convicted of all those counts. they were convicted on four counts each of manslaughter. the manslaughter of each of those for people who were killed by the tipper truck ploughing into them on an afternoon in

february last year, when the breaks failed just outside the city of bath. they will be sentenced in the new year in january, bath. they will be sentenced in the new year injanuary, thejudge bath. they will be sentenced in the new year injanuary, the judge will have to have a look at reports on those individuals beforehand. they will be walking out of the court in the near future, they will be walking out of the court in the nearfuture, they need will be walking out of the court in the near future, they need to return to face what could well be long custodial sentences. philip potter, the man at the wheel of the trip truck, he was not charged with manslaughter, but with causing death by dangerous driving, or careless driving. he said, i cannot be held responsible for the condition of the vehicle, that was not myjob. the jury vehicle, that was not myjob. the jury had described —— decide weather the way he drove that day contributed to the deaths of people. he will walk free from here, he will walk free man, he looked desperately relieved as he was allowed to walk free. thejudge said he could leave the court. he had looked desperately

paling shaking as he stood there waiting for the verdict come through. the two men next to him we re through. the two men next to him were convicted, but he was cleared. he has had this hanging over him for nearly two years. he is an innocent man in the eyes of the law and is free to go. let me bring you up to date with the background to this case, which goes back to fabry 2015. —— february. police described it as carnage. this 32 tonne truck had careered down a steep hill, it's brakes failing. it was school pick—up time, and this young girl was crossing the road with her grandmother when she was hit. she was just four years old. then the truck crashed this car, killing the men inside, robert parker and philip allen were heading back to south wales from a business trip. their driver, stephen vaughan, was 34 years old, and newly married.

the spark has definitely gone out in my heart. it has just been horrendous, would not wish it on anybody. this woman told me that being widowed so soon after her wedding day had left heartbroken. all the plans, the future we had together, has been taken away. we we re together, has been taken away. we were only married for six months, and especially having to spend your first wedding anniversary alone was so first wedding anniversary alone was so far removed from what we had planned. it has just been absolutely horrendous. the truck a if}? horrendous. the truck a if»: and hill towards the city windingbilltowardsftbecitylof catastrophic 4 : . ,,.,... mil-nm brake failure. the prosecution claimed it was not simply bad luck, but an accident waiting to happen. experts have examined the brakes since some of the parts was so roski

—— rusty and warned that it should not have been on the road. philip potter was at the wheel of the tipper truck. he denied causing death by dangerous driving and by careless driving. he claimed he was not aware of the dangerous state of the brakes. 19 years old at the time, he had only started working as a truck driver a few days before the crash. philip potter told the trial that as he sat here that afternoon, he tried to take in what had just happened, and his boss matthew gordon came over to him, grabbed him and said, don't tell the police about the brake warning light. matthew gordon denied that ever happened. he had been driving the truck in front. the prosecution claimed his business was a shambles. he denied 14 charges, including manslaughter. mechanic peter wood, employed to inspect the company's trucks, denied the four charges that he faced. the victims‘ families have

beenin he faced. the victims‘ families have been in court every day, sometimes in tears. trying to understand what happened on that afternoon 22 months ago. and we will bring you more on those developments at bristol crown court throughout the afternoon. it‘s reported from germany, that the fingerprints of the berlin lorry attack suspect, anis amri, have been found on the door of the truck that smashed into a christmas market and killed twelve people. amri is the subject of a europe wide arrest warrant and manhunt. it‘s emerged the tunisian was known for violent crime and islamist sympathies, and had been on a us no fly—list. german police have been carrying out search raids this morning. 0ur correspondent robert hall is in berlin. good morning from the market around kaiser wilhelm church. the target of monday‘s attack, crowded with passers—by, stalls still closed, at

least many of them. stallholders who are conscious of the fact they still wa nt to are conscious of the fact they still want to maintain a level of respect for those who died and who remain injured. away from here, as you have been indicating, that police operation is spreading, aided by pictures of the man they are now referring to as a prime suspect, which are on social media and have been circulated to police forces and security forces around europe. so, what do we know about anis amri? let‘s drink ourselves up to speed. he was born in tunisia, he comes from a poor family he was born in tunisia, he comes from a poorfamily in he was born in tunisia, he comes from a poor family in eastern tunisia. as a young adult, he had a reputation for being socially conservative. in an interview with the times newspaper, his father described him as a violent teenager. he was jailed forfour described him as a violent teenager. he was jailed for four years in italy for arson and theft. he had

been sentenced to five years in prison in tunisia, reportedly for aggravated theft with violence. his documentation shows he used six different names under three different names under three different nationalities. he moved to germany last year, at his asylum claim was denied. german officials did not have the correct paperwork to deport him to tunisia. local media are reporting that he had ties to the islamist preacher ahmad abdelazziz a, known as abu walaa, who was arrested in november, he was being investigated on suspicion of preparing a crime. anis amri‘s family have been talking a little bit about him. let‘s hear a short clip from his brother. iam clip from his brother. i am shocked like every tunisian citizen who heard about it. when the police came to the house to take my mum, we knew it was my brother. me and my other brother do not live here, we live in the capital, and

have just arrived back, here, we live in the capital, and havejust arrived back, we here, we live in the capital, and have just arrived back, we are all shocked. i want to show you where we are here, we are at the entrance to the market, where the lorry entered this market, where the lorry entered this market space on monday night. you can see the concrete blocks in the foreground, they have been placed here by civil defence teams in the last couple of hours, a reassuring effort, along with a high police presence, to make sure that people feel safe. there has been a lot said about perhaps a lack of preparation here. there is now a real effort to make sure that the people who are now crowding the market can do so in safety. the gap behind me is where market stalls were demolished as the lorry made its way through this pedestrian precinct. we have been talking to people visiting the area today, still services of remembrance being held, one has been held in the last hour or so, people coming to

stand quietly at the shrines of candles and flowers. but still a sense of positivity, a sense that people should come here, and that some degree of normality should return. let‘s hear from some degree of normality should return. let‘s hearfrom some some degree of normality should return. let‘s hear from some of the people we have been talking to. we are still kind of very scared because the other market in berlin, we never know what happens next, or what could happen here again. i feel safe, because we have all those policeman, and i think it is safe. i feel it is good that we start again, ithink i feel it is good that we start again, i think so. and also for the world to say, we go on, we are not afraid, we go on. it is important that we can go back outside, that nobody is afraid to go back outside, and that we stay strong. just to reiterate that the police

operation outside berlin, and within the city, is continuing. as you might imagine under these circumstances, with such a high—profile hunt going on, there is a lot of material and reports appearing on social media, some of them being denied, some receiving no comment at all from the police or the authorities. that is as you would expect. there is clearly a really intensive effort underway to find anis amri, and we‘re going to keepin find anis amri, and we‘re going to keep in touch, we will keep across that. if there are any further press conferences or developments we will bring them to you as soon as it happens. robert hall reporting from berlin. prince charles has spoken out about the danger of religious persecution, warning against a repeat of ‘the horrors of the past. delivering bbc radio 4‘s thought for the day, he spoke of attacks on christian people, jewish people and muslims. he had had a conversation with a jesuit priest who want him that in five years there may not be any

christians left in iraq. according to the united nations, 5.8 million more people abandoned their homes in 2015 than the year before. bringing the annual total to a staggering 65.3 million. that is almost equivalent to the entire population of the united kingdom. and the suffering does not end when they arrive seeking refuge in a foreign land. we are now seeing the rise of many populist groups across the world, increasingly aggressive towards those who adhere to a minority faith. all of this has deeply disturbing echoes of the dark days of the 1930s. i was born in 1948, just after the end of world war ii. my parents‘ generation had fought and died in battle against intolerance, monstrous extremism, and an inhuman attempt to exterminate the jewish population in europe. nearly 70 years later, that we should still be seeing such evil persecution is, to me, beyond all belief.

a woman awoman and a woman and child have died following a house fire overnight. a joint police and fire service investigation has begun. to women escaped from the house shortly after the blaze broke out and were treated for smoke inhalation. joining me from the scene is gareth george. is there any indication how this terrible tragedy unfolded 7 no, no indication at this stage. the fire investigation here is still at a very early stage, behind me the house where the tragedy took place. it went up late last night, and according to neighbours and eyewitnesses, it went up very quickly indeed. you may be able to see how badly damaged it is. the roof has been destroyed, both the upper and ground floors have been

com pletely upper and ground floors have been completely gutted. the fire service say they were cold around 11:45am. two women managed to get out of the property and before they arrived, they have been treated for smoke inhalation. but a woman and child we re inhalation. but a woman and child were trapped inside, and we understand they died at the scene. the family who lived here were polish, and a short time ago, members of the polish amenity came here and placed flowers and lit candles —— polish community. it is still not clear what caused the fire. investigators have been inside this morning, and investigations are very early at the moment. a very short time ago, a police spokesman said that the police and fire service are going to be making no further statements today because the investigation is at such an early stage, and perhaps it is proving so difficult to establish what caused the blaze. james cleverly, the local

mp, he said he had been briefed by police, and he said it is such sad and shocking news when members of young family lose their lives in any circumstances, and in these circumstances, and in these circumstances, just before christmas, it is absolutely tragic. the investigation goes on. thank you for that update. the headlines: a haulage boss and mechanic responsible for 32 tonne tipper truck which crashed and killed four people, including a four—year—old girl, have been found guilty of manslaughter. the trucks driver was cleared. police mount raids across germany for the main suspect in the berlin christmas market attack. it emerged anis amri used multiple identities, had islamist links, and was on a us no—fly list. in russia, a funeral is taking place for andrei karlov, the ambassador to

turkey. let‘s ta ke turkey. let‘s take a look at the sport. good afternoon, wales will end the ear 12 good afternoon, wales will end the ear12 in the good afternoon, wales will end the ear 12 in the fifa world rankings. 0ne place ahead of england. they reached the semifinals of the european championships in france this summer. northern ireland at 32nd, scotland 67. argentina are still top ahead of brazil. 0ne 32nd, scotland 67. argentina are still top ahead of brazil. one of the pivotal members of that welsh squad wasjoe allen. he makes his first return to anfield next tuesday in stoke‘s premier league match. manager mark hughes expects him to receive a warm welcome, and he is happy he signed when liverpool let him go in july. it is only by virtue of the fact that he was not playing week in week out that we had an opportunity to bring him here. it was on the back

of the outstanding european championships as well. we are quite surprised after the european championships, they would be prepared to let him leave, because there was a worry that maybe his performances in the europeans may well have made liverpool think again. alistair cook has been named captain of the international cricket council‘s test team of the year, despite leading england to victory to just despite leading england to victory tojust one of despite leading england to victory to just one of their last eight matches. he is considering his future as skipper after the 4—0 series defeat in india. england have four representatives in the team, more than any other nation, withjoe root, johnny bairstow and ben stokes also included. george north will not play in northampton‘s match tomorrow, as an investigation found north should not have been allowed to play on the following a head injury in since‘ match against leicester. there has been called for

a change in player protocols. it is shared by a former medical adviser in world rugby, who said care does not count for anything but a player is allowed to return to the field. an awful lot has been done with concussion. the way they have looked after them, but they have got to start at the crucial point, they have got to keep them off the field. the rest is trying to play catch—up. that is all the sport for now. the next update is around 1:30pm. thank you very much. a memorial service for the russian ambassador to turkey, andrei karlov, has been held in moscow. he was shot three days ago in ankara by an off—duty turkish policeman, apparently in protest at russia‘s involvement in the battle for the syrian city of aleppo.

tributes have been made at a ceremony at the foreign ministry — before a funeral service at the cathedral of christ the saviour. 0ur moscow correspondent sarah rainsford has been watching the ceremony, where many tributes have been paid, and she gave us this update. the civil part of the ceremony was held at the foreign ministry here in moscow, and we saw a long stream of very senior officials here in russia coming to the ministry to pay their respects, some of them to speak a few words at a podium set up next to the open coffin of andrei karlov. his family were sitting to one side of that, his widow and other relatives. a whole stream of officials, including the prime minister and president putin himself. they did not speak, but the foreign minister, sergei lavrov did. he talked about andrei karlov, describing him as a great friend, a great professional,

a great man. he also described how he died, calling it a vile and despicable terrorist act. very strong words beside the coffin. that was before the coffin was then taken across town to the cathedral, where the religious ceremony is taking place at the moment. that is being led by the patriarch of russia, another sign of the significance that russia is placing on this funeral. it is a major state event, and president putin postponed his annual press conference, a marathon event which takes many hours, and he put that off till tomorrow so that he could attend the funeral service for the ambassador. this killing appears to be drawing moscow and ankara closer together. it does, almost counterintuitively, because there was much concern after the murder on monday night. there was concern that this could drive a real wedge between moscow and ankara,

and that could have dangerous consequences. instead, both countries have made a concerted effort to say and act together, to say that this was a terrorist act, they described it as a provocative act intended to drive them apart. instead, the foreign minister of turkey was here in moscow, and the two countries side—by—side announcing a new peace initiative for syria. they say that together they can help bring the warring sides together, to help to conclude a peace deal. the important thing about that is that the united states was not at that table. the suggestion, they are saying, russia and turkey are saying that the murder was committed to prevent that process taking place. but they are insistent it will go ahead. drivers are being warned to expect heavy delays after a multi vehicle accident on the m6 motorway left one man with critical injuries. the incident occured

on the southbound carriageway betweenjunctions 1 and 2 at around 5.30 this morning. the carriageway has now reopened. traffic conditions are not expected to get back to normal until after 4pm this afternoon. firefighters are warning about the risks of carrying e—cigarette batteries, after one caught fire in somebody‘s pocket. the man suffered minor injuries when the device caught fire while he was out shopping in leeds. investigators say he was keeping batteries in his pocket unprotected, and that people should avoid storing them alongside other metal objects such as keys and coins. the government is to reinvest more than 440 million pounds to improve high—speed broadband coverage across the uk. it has been recouped from bt

extension programme. connecting rural homes across the uk to fast broadband has meant an investment of £1.7 billion of public money. and nearly all of that has gone to bt. the company‘s contracts with councils or local authorities mean it has to return some of that money if more than 20% of homeowners sign up when the fast broadband service arrives. now, the government says that this cash clawback, coupled with efficiency savings, means another £440 million can be reinvested in the programme. there is a target of reaching 95% of homes with superfast broadband by the end of 2017. ministers believe that is within reach, and that up to 600,000 more homes and businesses could be hooked up with the new programme. but critics say bt has been using the wrong technology, connecting homeowners via a copper wire to a cabinet, rather than laying fibre—optic cables straight into homes. rivalfirms, including sky and talktalk, are now promising

that they can deliver faster fibre connections than bt, and without needing public money. earlier, i asked the culture secretary karen bradley whether she was frustrated at the rate of progress delivering superfast broadband speeds to all of the uk. no, i‘m not frustrated, we should put this in context. as a result of government actions, we‘ve connected 4.5 million homes and businesses to superfast broadband that would not have been connected without this activity. of those, 1.5 million have taken up the option of accessing superfast broadband, that has resulted in this gain share, which means money has been reinvested back to local authorities so that they can connect to those hard to reach areas. as a constituency mp for a rural area, i know how many people living in hard to reach towns and villages really do want access to superfast broadband as quickly as possible.

this money will help us to achieve that. what is your time frame to ensure those people, whether in your constituency or other areas, that do not have the speeds they want, what is the time frame to make sure they get what they want? as soon as possible, which is why the money is going to local authorities. but this is not going to solve the problem completely, that is why we are legislating through the digital economy bill, to introduce the universal service obligation, so that nobody is left behind, and that by 2020 everybody will be able to access 10 megabits per second. the superfast roll—out is for 24 megabits per second, which is more than enough that most homes would need with current technologies. time to look at the weather

forecast. the view from here is not as glorious as it is on the balcony. but some disruptive weather on the way, it is snowing down to quite a low level across scotland at the moment. bright and breezy further south, it will stay that way as we head into the night. wintry showers will continue overnight for the north, and by the time we reach tomorrow morning on the strength of the wind, it will soon turn into a wet and windy morning, gales blowing. along that line, potentially some disruptive wins all the way down towards the south—east. it brightens up tomorrow afternoon, but only half the story. storm barbara arrives on our doorstep, expected to increase further later on and into the night. peak gusts across the far north, the western

and northern isles, disruption to transport networks, and quite possibly power as well. and amber warning in place, be prepared for storm barbara as it arrives over the next 24, 48 hours. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: two men are found guilty of manslaughter over the tipper truck crash in bath that killed four people, including a 4—year—old girl. reports in germany say the fingerprints of anis amri, the tunisian suspected of carrying out the deadly attack in berlin, were found on the lorry used to hit the christmas market. the prince of wales warns about the growing danger of religious persecution in a bbc radio 4 thought for the day broadcast. tributes are being paid at the funeral of the russian ambassador to turkey, which is being held in moscow three days after he was assassinated in ankara. a pledge to improve fast broadband

services in rural areas with a £400—million investment from the government. more now on the latest from germany where police raids have been taking place across the country in the search for the suspect of the berlin christmas lorry attack. the operations have been carried out in dortmund and emmerich in the west of germany, where anis amri is said to have had links. 0ur europe reporter gavin lee is in the town of emmerich, with the latest. this is the building that was at the centre of the main police operation this morning, this is emmerich refuge centre and dozens of officers this morning came here and search the premises, certain number of rooms, took one of the migrants away from this refugee centre. he was not arrested we were told and came back

inside a short time ago. this is where anis amri stayed a short time ago, back in 2015, the site manager told me he suddenly disappeared after a few days but he recognised his face straightaway. when i showed him the footage of the european arrest warrant, he said so few people stay here, 16 to 20 people, and some of the migrants said they did not know him, they were shocked, but they believed there were islamist extremist groups in this area and they were not surprised by the fact that he may have had jihadists links somewhere around here. the other sense i get is the local dissatisfaction with this place. there are graffiti swastika signs on the walls, some of the migrants say that was done two months ago by some of the locals here. there was a brief search, a big surge, but my sense is now this area may have gone cold in the trial, but one of many places the suspect was trial, but one of many places the suspect was seen. us president—elect donald trump has

chosen the economist peter navarro to head the newly—formed white house trade council. mr navarro has written a number of books describing china as a threat to the us economy, while mr trump has threatened to hit china and mexico with high tariffs once he takes office. 0ur washington correspondent laura bicker has more. donald trump‘s transition team praised peter navarro as a visionary economist. he has authored several books, including death by china: how america lost its manufacturing base, which was made into a documentary film. mr trump has threatened to hit china and mexico with high tariffs once he takes office, and this appointment is another sign he intends to shake up relations with beijing. mr navarro has argued china has more to lose in a trade conflict, because they depend so much on the us market. other leading economists have described his thinking as "flawed." the chinese ministry

of foreign affairs held a briefing this morning. i asked our correspondent in beijing, steve mcdonnell, about their reaction to peter navarro‘s appointment. it was pretty interesting. naturally we asked about peter navarro‘s choice as trade adviser and the chinese foreign ministry could have just said, we will work with anyone, or donald trump can choose who he likes, but instead the answer came along the lines of, well, we‘re watching very closely who donald trump appointed to his team, and then she went on to emphasise that cooperation is the only way forward for china and the us, and for world peace. i took from that that there is some concern in beijing about this appointment, and i suppose some of the other appointment as well to donald trump‘s team. steve mcdonald. the queen and duke of edinburgh

are continuing to recover from heavy colds which have prevented them travelling to a christmas break in norfolk. the queen and philip were expected to travel yesterday from london to king‘s lynn by train, and on to their private sandringham estate. 0ur correspondent sangita myska gave us this update from buckingham palace. the royal standard is still flying, we know her majesty is in residence, we know her majesty is in residence, we also know the duke of edinburgh is with her. very little other information other than that which was published by buckingham palace yesterday, which was that very simple statement saying that the royal couple are suffering from heavy cold and as a result were postponing their travel plans to go up postponing their travel plans to go up to sandringham. sandringham of course is their private estate and it is there every year that they host christmas for the royal family, very traditional royal christmas. a tree is cut down, 20 feet in height, from the estate, brought into the drawing—room, that is then decorated by the royal family. drawing—room, that is then decorated

by the royalfamily. presents drawing—room, that is then decorated by the royal family. presents are opened on christmas eve, which is a german tradition that the royal family have kept going. then on christmas morning they all go off for a service, a christmas day service, at st mary magdalen, the church on the estate, so no fresh statement from buckingham palace today but i have to say we probably wouldn‘t expect one, it is very unusualfor unusual for the palace to give a running commentary on anything that is going on. suffice to say that the queen is 90 years old, the duke of edinburgh is 95, and any of that age suffering from a heavy cold will be closely monitored by their doctors, but, as i say, so far there appears no cause for concern. winds of up to 90mph are forecast to batter parts of the country, when storm barbara hits on friday. scotland is expected to be worst affected and swathes of the north and west of the country are also braced the wild weather in the run—up to christmas. a little earlier i spoke to our weather presenter ben rich, who showed me the path the storm is likely to take.

all the isobars on the charge, that shows as we have a storm that really means business, some very strong winds, but you can see the way the storm is passing well to the north of the british isles. this isn‘t a direct hit, it is passing to the north but close enough to bring very strong wind. how strong‘s 80 mph gusts for the northern western isles of scotland, maybe the odd place up to 90 mph wind gusts. further south, exposed coast of the irish sea might get 50, 60 mph gusts, for much of northern england, then there is some rain to come but the good thing about that is it will move through fairly quickly said the wind in northern areas will be the biggest effect, and further south, gas, will be blustery but we are not expecting much in the way of particularly severe weather. barbara will pass through before christmas day? barbara will be passing through friday night into saturday morning, christmas eve, and christmas eve is an opportunity for us to draw

breath, a much quieter day, still quite blustery compared with the weather we have had recently, a very different feel, blustery, showers in the north—west, but not a bad day. then we get to christmas day... and the potential, you are tellingly, potential for a record to the potential, you are tellingly, potentialfor a record to be broken? absolutely, let me show you the setup, it does not look much different, it looks like another storm barbara on the way. this is not barbara, this is another area of low pressure which is going to pass close to the north of the british isles, it will bring windy weather but look at these temperatures, easily 13 or 14 degrees. the record warmest christmas is 15.6 degrees, at gillett and in devon and lease in midlothian in scotland, both record set a long time ago, and there is a chance we could break that record this christmas day, but then, here is the sting in the tail, once all of that has been said and done, we could get some cold air into northern scotland by the end of the day and we could get some snow there

by the end of the day, somewhere like aberdeen could get 15, 16 degrees by day and then get snow in the evening and have a white christmas, and that would be pretty extraordinary. there have been efforts across part of the uk ahead of christmas to build bridges and understanding between different faiths in the community. in manchester, a group of muslim friends have been handing out hundreds of christmas gifts to homeless people. it‘s as the charity shelter estimates that more than a quarter—of—a—million people are homeless in england alone. anisa kadri reports. just some of the hundreds of guests mohammed and his friends have been handing to the homeless in time for christmas. in manchester, if you walk around, it is not long before you pass a homeless person. if you are ina you pass a homeless person. if you are in a position to help people, i think you should help people, because the only way we will get help and stuff as well, and if you look at these people they are really nice and it is unfortunate they don‘t have anywhere to go. nice and it is unfortunate they don't have anywhere to go. giving charity is one of the requirements

of the islamic faith. how are you, 0k? it has led to these young muslims developing a good relationship with some of those sleeping rough in manchester. when i was a kid, i would sleeping rough in manchester. when i was a kid, iwould not sleeping rough in manchester. when i was a kid, i would not have gone up toa tramp, was a kid, i would not have gone up to a tramp, you know what i mean? editor ron fought, you know what i mean? now, the way the world is turning, young kids will come up to people on the street, there is tenby. you know the person who lives here quite well? yes, we have seen him afew here quite well? yes, we have seen him a few times, exchange conversations, given him tea, coffee, hot food, so we will be something in his tent because he is not here. it is great for the asian muslim community going out of their way at christmas and helping people from all backgrounds who find themselves homeless this time of the year. with the charity shelter estimating more than a quarter of a million people are homeless in

england alone, mohammed says the festive period is a good time to bring people together. we are going to return to bristol, if you were with us a short while ago you will have seen the verdict coming from bristol crown court in the case of two men both found guilty of four counts of manslaughter following a tipper truck crash in bath last year in which four people were killed, including a four—year—old girl. haulage boss matthew gordon and mechanic peter would both found guilty of four manslaughter counts, while the driver of the truck, who had only been working for the firm a couple of days, has been cleared of all counts. di richard poole kone from avon and somerset police has been speaking outside the court in the last few moment and we can listen now to what he had to say. philip potter, the driver, of the 32

tonne scania lorry, just 19 years of age at the time of the incident, had driven from the base in wiltshire that day. the fact of the matter is that day. the fact of the matter is that the two men failed in their duty of care to the public. matthew gordon was the transport manager who effectively flouted every regulation laid down for safety. peter wood signed off the cars are safe when they clearly were not. many of the fourth of the time of the crash were long—standing. both were aware of previous problems of the brakes on this vehicle and did not take action when they had a duty to. if there was a message which needs to come from this tragic incident it is that company owners must adhere to their duty of care. the public have an expectation to trust that businesses ensure they are operating safety. regular maintenance and servicing of all vehicles, especially heavy goods vehicles, is vital. i would like to thank the investigative team who have supported me during this complex investigation over the past

22 months, but finally i hope that the conviction today of these two men bring some sort of closure to a difficult period of the family and friends of those who died and those seriously injured on the 9th of february last year. thank you. do you have a statement on behalf of the families? rain baker will be releasing those, it will not be read by me, no. that was detective inspector richard 0cone reacting to those verdicts in the tipper truck case at bristol crown court today. a reminder that haulage boss matthew gordon and mechanic peter wood were both found guilty of four manslaughter counts following that crash in bath last yearin following that crash in bath last year in which four people were killed, including a four—year—old girl. de—ice 0cone saying the two men found guilty did not take action when they had a duty to and emphasised the importance of regular

maintenance and servicing of vehicles. the fragmented nature of mental health and social care services can cause problems and provide some is arguing over who has responsibility for looking after people, according to watchdogs. in a report, the ombudsman says poor communication is leading to complaints from family members about ca re complaints from family members about care services. it is calling for a more integrated complaints process. ikea is urging teenagers to stop creeping into its stores and having illegal sleepovers. the furniture giant says it has blogged about ten non—sponsored sleepovers in stores around the world this year, most recently two 14—year—old girls were caught after spending the night in a store in sweden. ikea has said the safety a nd store in sweden. ikea has said the safety and security of staff and customers is their highest priority and staying the night in store isn‘t permitted. the craze is thought to have been started by two belgian

teenagers who posted a video of their exploits on youtube. we can speak to one of them now, in northern belgium. 0bvious speak to one of them now, in northern belgium. obvious question first of all, why did you do it? my best friend and i, we graduated last year and we wanted to do something crazy to celebrate our graduation and we were thinking about something we could do that not many people had done before. bram, can you hear me? we decided to sleep in ikea and made a video... we are having problems with the sound on this, u nfortu nately. we with the sound on this, unfortunately. we will try to see if we can fix the problems with the sound. we are seeing the video that bram and his friend made in the ikea store as they slept over. let‘s see

if we can talk to bram again. can you hear me? we are having problems with the sound, hopefully we will continue to hear you are ok. tell us more about why you did this, why you chose this as a way to celebrate your graduation7 chose this as a way to celebrate your graduation? we just wanted to do something crazy not many people had done before. wejust got the idea to try and sleep in ikea, we both like the store and we just got the idea to do it, so we did it. did you want to start a trend, a craze7 no, we never meant to start a hype or something, we also didn‘t really know the video was going to go viral and we were about to start a hype. it is really insane how all the things just it is really insane how all the thingsjust happened. i'm sure you understand the power of social media, did you really not think that when you posted this online that it perhaps could start something7 when you posted this online that it perhaps could start something? we

received a lot of messages of people saying they liked what we did and they thought it was cool, and a lot of people said they were going to try it, but i never knew people who told us they were going to do it actually did it. you are 18, people much younger then you have been doing this. do you regret starting this trend? yeah, a little bit. i don‘t want to be the guilty person who made people do it, you know? i never meant to bring people in a bad position or do harm to ikea, i never expected this to happen. 0k, bram, thank you for talking to us. in a moment a summary of the business news this hour but first the headlines on bbc news: a haulage boss and a mechanic responsible for a 32—tonne tipper truck which crashed and killed four people, including a 4—year—old girl, have been found guilty of manslaughter. the truck‘s driver was cleared.

police mount raids across germany in the hunt for the main suspect in the berlin christmas market attack. it‘s emerged anis amri used multiple identities, had islamist links and was on a us no—fly list. in russia, the funeral has been taking place of andrei karlov, the assassinated ambassador to turkey. police across the uk are preparing for a possible spike in crime across christmas. previous years have seen rises in abuse, public disorder, burglary and sexual assault. steph mcgovern has been behind—the—scenes at the new headquarters of durham police to find out more. what you are seeing there is one of the cool handlers, this is one of the cool handlers, this is one of the team who will deal with the 999

calls that come in and they will decide how to dispatch and who to dispatch to the differentjobs that they deal with. i‘m pleased to say it has been fairly quiet for them overnight but i have also been told not to say the quiet word, someone just said in the background, she said quiet! 0n the whole, a lot of crime is falling but one area seeing a rise in violent crime and thatis seeing a rise in violent crime and that is what we are going to talk about now with mike barton, chief co nsta ble of about now with mike barton, chief constable of durham police, janet tells, president of the black police officers association, and cats need, youth violence consultant and campaigner. mike, why do you think violent crime is on the rise? two things, the first is that violent crime encompasses a wide area, so harassment, stalking things like that are included, and 60% of violent crime does not involve any injury, but when we look at the top end, which is knife crime, if you ask offenders what induces them to

still committed that crime, it is the fear of getting caught, so if they don‘t fear getting caught then they don‘t fear getting caught then they are more likely to commit that sort of serious crime. you work with young people who have been involved in gangs and knife crime, what would you say to what mike has said there? i would say it is the need for better partnerships with the community and with services that will prevent a young person from even having a knife. i think it is prevention, getting into the minds of young people as to why they feel the need to carry a knife in the first place. you don't think stop and search is good? i think it is necessary but the challenge for the police is that they never got the proportionality and necessity right and it breaks down communications with the community. janet, for someone who has been on the front line as a police officer by the 20 yea rs, line as a police officer by the 20 years, what do you think?|j line as a police officer by the 20 years, what do you think? i think young people carrying weapons, some

of them are carrying for protection, there is a gang culture at the moment which actually people feel they need to be safe leaving their homes and all the rest of it, and when it comes to stop and search i agree that it is necessary, however it needs to be intelligence led, so we need to have the intelligence there to be stopping the right people with regards to the crimes we are looking at. mike, there has been are looking at. mike, there has been a fall are looking at. mike, there has been afall in are looking at. mike, there has been a fall in stop and search cases by about a quarter, do you think that has made a difference? the evidence isn‘t there to be able to answer that question, but what i am really pleased with is four out of ten stop and searches now result in an arrest and searches now result in an arrest and further action, so it‘s very clear that police officers are listening to the sort of advice that janet and kads are talking about, that it has to be fair. if the public can see that stop and searches are done with fairness, it

is that officers are acting in a fairway, a proportionate way, it will help the police, and we don‘t wa nt will help the police, and we don‘t want young people to be carrying knives, we want the community to help us to dissuade kids from carrying knives in the first place. you are all talking about the partnerships, relationships between the community and police officers. kads, do you see that being a reality, that there could be a relationship there7 reality, that there could be a relationship there?|j reality, that there could be a relationship there? i would like to hope there could be won, but i don't see one at present. what would change it, what would make the community happy to liaise with the police7 community happy to liaise with the police? the sergeant superintendents, the borough commanders actually having conversations with the mentors and youth workers working within their areas, within their bowlers, and understanding that young people. once that's done then i think we can say safely that we are building better relations. and also for the police, when they are stopping and

searching, it is not what is being done but how it is being done, and aggression or condescending tones, sarcasm used against the young people is what makes young people and the police not have the relationship that they could have, and that results in lower convictions, because if you are dealing with young people in a particular way and unfortunately one of their peers get murdered, to then get them to come and give evidence, to cooperate with the police, is going to be few and far between. janet, there is a diversity issue as well, how do you get the police to better reflect the communities they are serving? you have to have an engagement at the root of it but also there needs to bea root of it but also there needs to be a long—term plan around diversity. at the minute it is a bit ad hoc, from constabulary to constabulary with different measures being put in place, positive action potentially isn't being used as effectively as it could be, and they're just needs to be a plan, long—term, which is consistent

across all constabularies, because theissues across all constabularies, because the issues that black and asian office rs the issues that black and asian officers and community space within the uk are more or less similar up and down the country but there is nothing in place to address those issues. that was janet hills, president of the black police officers association speaking to steph mcgovern. and massive evacuation operation is entering its last day today in the besieged city of aleppo, according to the un. a very large, dangerous, difficult and complex evacuation is going into its final phase today, mainly from eastern aleppo and from the two villages. this morning, we reckon

some 35,000 people will have left east aleppo in well over 200 buses. it was 750 cars and trucks that have left through the gate where the un is observing. it will probably be more than a thousand cars and trucks altogether, cars that have flat tyres, not fuel, that are full of people, it is very complex. yan edlund. in a few minutes, the bbc news at one. first, the weather withjohn bbc news at one. first, the weather with john hammond. disruptive weather just when we don‘t need it, a lot of people on the move in the run—up to christmas.

we have had fog, snow in some places but the main focus of attention will be barbara over the next 204! was also as it intensifies in the atlantic, heading in our direction. very windy northern areas this afternoon, scotland in particular. further south, a quiet end to the day and maybe a quiet night with a touch of frost. further north never really quietened down, wet weather to the west of northern ireland, western scotland as we start the day with temperatures not far off freezing so watch out for eyes. barbara is closing in on the far north—west of the uk, always the more northern parts of the uk which will bear the brunt of barbara as it whistles through the course of friday. torrential rain across scotland, northern ireland, a band of very heavy rain and scrawny winds spreading southwards and eastwards across the whole of the uk during the course of the day on friday. technically at least mild across the south—east, the strength of the wind

and rain it will not feel all that clever. let‘s concentrate on the wind from barbara. the peak of the wind from barbara. the peak of the wind on friday evening, at night, dust as high as 80 mph across the far north—west of scotland, the western and northern isles, significant disruption likely hence the amber warning significant disruption likely hence the amberwarning in significant disruption likely hence the amber warning in force from the met office. be prepared for that disruption. it stays windy on christmas eve, with further snow showers to quite low levels here. further south, breezy but bright. by the end of christmas eve, further rain into the far west of the uk, as the next system arrives. this one, we think, won‘t be as intense as barbara, we are keeping a close eye on it, though, a similar track towards the far north—west of the uk, very heavy rain, but briefly within this system some very warm airforthe time of within this system some very warm air for the time of year, so for a time on christmas day temperatures could be approaching the mid teens. it is not going to last that long because the cold front on that system will spread south eastwards

across the country, bringing a spell of rain and then behind that the temperature falls quickly and the showers once more across northern areas over the high ground could turn wintry. after all that, things settle down, boxing day onwards much quieter, drier, with lighter winds. two men are found guilty of killing four people in a tipper truck crash last year — the boss of a haulage company and his mechanic. mathew gordon owned the truck which had faulty brakes — the jury cleared the vehicle‘s driver. three men and a four—year—old girl were killed when the truck careered out of control. both men failed in their duty of ca re both men failed in their duty of care towards the public. matthew gordon effectively flouted every rain laid down to ensure safety. peter wood signed off vehicles as safe when clearly they were not.

we‘ll have the latest from our correspondent who was in court. also this lunchtime... the first footage emerges of anis amri, the chief suspect in the berlin christmas