a rock star, jailed for depraved child abuse could have been caught years earlier if south wales police hadnt missed a series of opportunities to stop him. lostprophets singer ian watkins was jailed for 29 years after a campaign of abuse — a damning report's says a key witness had been believed. the singer's former girlfriend reported him to the police many times, but she was never taken seriously. time after time, she went to her local police station, offering them the chance to look at her computer, laptop, where she had an e—mail from her computer, laptop, where she had an e—mailfrom him attaching photographs of an underage child and they did not want to look at it. south wales police has accepted the criticism and assurances have been given to the public that if they come forward with credible concerns about abuse, they will be taken seriously. also this lunchtime: a warning of potential major disruption on the railways and the road this weekend as millions prepare for the bank holiday getaway

amid engineering works on some of the country's busiest routes. the acting chairman of samsung, the world's largest smartphone maker, is sentenced to five years in prison for bribery and embezzlement. driverless lorries will be trialled on our roads by the end of the year. wi—fi controlled convoys are part of a plan to cut emissions and congestion, but there is concern about the risk to drivers. residents along the texas coast prepare for what could be the deadliest storm to hit the us since hurricane katrina. and coming up in the sport on bbc news: double success for great britian. mo farah takes gold in his final track race over 5,000 metres, and cj ujah runs a personal best in the 100 metres. good afternoon.

welcome to the bbc news at one. a rock starjailed for child abuse could have been stopped nearly four years earlier if numerous allegations against him had been investigated properly and if a witness had been believed. the independent police complaints commission says south wales police missed a series of chances to stop the lostprophets singer ian watkins' abuse of children. watkins was jailed for 29 years in 2013 after admitting sexual offences, including the attempted rape of a baby. 0ur wales correspondent, sian lloyd, is in cardiff. a rock star, whose music earned him fa ns a rock star, whose music earned him fans around the world, but in private, ian watkins was a paedophile. his behaviour was described as having plumbed the depths of depravity. he was convicted in 2013, but according to the police watchdog, the independent pleats complaints commission, he could have been stopped sooner if

reports about his sexual interest in children had been followed up. bias, whether unconscious or conscious has no place in 21st—century policing. it doesn't matter who someone is, what someone is. what is really important is what that person is saying. that's what was missing in this case. that is what meant that ian watkins was free to offend for yea rs ian watkins was free to offend for years longer than he needs have been, and that is what so important to put right. joanne mjadzelics had first reported ian watkins to the authorities. she had worked as an escort and had been in a relationship with the singer. she had messages on her phone in which he spoke of wanting to abuse children, but officers didn't think she was the right sort of complainant and she wasn't taken seriously. but she wasn't a lone voice. between december 2008 and june 20 12, voice. between december 2008 and june 2012, six people raised concerns. it led to eight reports, and three intelligence logs. but during that time, ian watkins wasn't

arrested, questioned or even required to respond to the allegations. today, joanne mjadzelics's barrister said she hoped lessons have been learned. she gave them every opportunity to do their job gave them every opportunity to do theirjob to investigate. they weren't interested. south wales police didn't begin investigating ian watkins until four years after they were tipped off that he was a danger to children. he was arrested during a drugs raid at his home here in pontypridd. what they then found on his mobile phones and computers showed that those earlier warnings should have been acted on. south wales police accept the report's findings, and admit they failed to listen or investigate properly. they say they are truly sorry. last week, the ipc see also accused the south yorkshire force of inaction in investigating watkins. he manipulated fans to get access to his victims. the extent of his abuse may never be known. major disruption on the railways

will peak this weekend as millions prepare for the bank holiday getaway amid engineering works on some of the country's busiest rail routes. key stations in london and services to and from wales and the north of england and scotland will be heavily affected. road users have also been advised to expect longerjourneys as people then take to the road instead. with the queues building here at euston station, it is set to get even busier as millions of us prepare to travel over the bank holiday weekend. this station will com pletely holiday weekend. this station will completely close from tomorrow, affecting passengers up and down the uk. with no trains to london from the west coast mainline. there's never an ideal time to carry out these railway improvement works, but we carry out 15,000 projects every year, and most of those happen overnight. during bank holidays, fewer people are travelling and we can deliver much bigger projects for

passengers. this will be the biggest ever august bank holiday engineering project by network rail. costing more than £130 million, involving 17,000 engineers. the works expected to benefit millions of passengers. the work will see platforms extended to make way for longer tails as well as improvements to platforms and and preparation work for hs2. as improvements to platforms and and preparation work for hszi as improvements to platforms and and preparation work for h52. i think it is absolute madness because people will struggle. i think it is really metal to do that. it is going to cause some disruption, but they have planned for it. people know. obviously, they will take alternative routes. ijust think it isa alternative routes. ijust think it is a failure of important public service for londoners and for people around the country. rail services in the midlands, wales, and across the north will also be disrupted. transport campaigners say it is well overdue. there has been historic

underinvestment in the railway going back decades, and some of what is going on this weekend, notjust at euston, but at waterloo, london bridge, and elsewhere on the rail network, is about putting that right and actually providing better and more reliable services. euston isn't the only station affected in london. work will also be happening at waterloo, london bridge, liverpool street, and paddington. roads are also expected to be busier than normal, especially on monday. traffic is going to build through the course of the weekend, it is actually going to pick on monday with around 5 million leisure journeys on our roads. that is people headed back after the school holidays ahead of the new school term starting but also people looking to enjoy day trips. passengers on roads, railways are in airports are being advised to give themselves plenty of time to travel to avoid disruption. 0ur correspondents adina campbell is at euston station and dan whitworth is on the m6 near knutsford.

and our correspondent adina campbell is at euston station. euston is going to be closed, but disruption will be felt across the whole country. that is right. in the last couple of hours, it has got so much busier here at euston station. doubled the number of people arrived since we got here this morning, and many other stations across london and another part of the country will be feeling this rush as we head into the bank holiday weekend. the advice is simple. give yourself plenty of time and check before you travel. all right, thank you. our correspondent dan whitworth is on the m6 near knutsford. it is looking busy there already. what advice for the impact on major road routes? well, the rac is forecasting that the biggest time will be between 3pm and 7pm this afternoon and also on monday when it is forecasting around 5 million cars to be on the roads. the highways agency is aware of this and had been

planning this for many weeks, for many months, and as such has removed around about a50 miles worth of roadworks, a couple of key stretch is still in place, though. 26 miles of road works on the a1. you can also see around 20 miles of roadworks on the m6. that is right the way through to manchester. the m1, the m60 and the m62 all affected by roadworks to other key pinch bolts that you should be aware of is the m5 and all routes in and out of the m5 and all routes in and out of the lake district and indeed the m1 and mthe motorways heading out of london. a key piece of advice, take your journey before london. a key piece of advice, take yourjourney before you travel, check your route, and if you have one of these and you probably have, ta ke one of these and you probably have, take bbc august bank holiday weekend travel, you will have all of the information at your fingertips. before you drive, of course. thank you very much indeed. thank you. the billionaire boss of the samsung

empire and south korea's third richest man has been jailed for five years after being found guilty of bribery, embezzlement and perjury. in a scandal that has already toppled a south korean president, jay y lee was found guilty of making inappropriate donations worth around six million dollars in exchange for government favours. 0ur correspondent in the south korean capital seoul, yogita limaye, reports. jae—yong lee is one of the most powerful businessmen in the world. now he's facing a jail sentence that is among the longest ever given to a top executive in south korea. mr lee has been found guilty of paying bribes to the previous government here. his lawyers say they will go to a higher court. translation: as a lawyer, i cannot accept any of the legaljudgment, or the fact—finding in the ruling. we will make an appeal immediately and we are confident the ruling will be overturned. the case is part of a major corruption scandal which erupted in south korea late last year and evoked public anger. tens of thousands came

out on the streets. and that triggered the removal of the country's president park geun—hye. she was accused of allowing her close friend to accept donations from south korea's large conglomerates in return for government favours. 0utside court on friday, anti—corru ption protesters gathered once again as the verdict was being delivered. "samsung is evil, " one woman shouted. but there were others who were unhappy with the court's decision. she, and a group of park geun—hye supporters, think the whole verdict is part of a government plan to eventually prove that the former president is guilty too. the verdict that's come from this court room is about so much more than just one company.

if mr lee's sentence is upheld, and one of the most powerful businessmen of this country actually has to spend a significant amount of time injail, it could be a turning point for the relationship between south korea's big firms and the government here. large conglomerates like samsung dominate south korea's economy and so, even when they've been found guilty of corruption in the past, they've been let off easily. the country's new government, though, has promised to take on unethical businesses. and jae—yong lee's trial could be just the start. yogita limaye, bbc news, seoul. here, the government has announced that convoys of partially driverless lorries will be tried out on major british roads by the end of next year. the lead lorry would have a driver at the wheel and those behind would be connected by wireless technology. the aa says it's concerned the trials present a risk to other motorists, as our correspondent andy gill reports. they call it platooning,

trucks travelling in wi—fi connected convoy, with much less space between them than normal. this dutch project is with two vehicles. the trial just announced here will be with three. they'll be more efficient, take up less space on the network, improve fuel efficiency and hopefully pass on those cost savings to the consumer. each lorry has a driver, but the lead cab has control. to think about how three trucks can travel down the road in a platoon, imagine that the lead truck is a giant wi—fi hub, sending out signals on the precise distances and speed the other two need to travel at. and the wi—fi on the trailing two trucks can react much more quickly to signals than a human being can. the funding announcement was made at a lancashire truck factory. researchers say because vehicles in platoon are in each other‘s slipstream, fuel consumption and pollution fall.

we predict, through trials and demonstrations on the road, we will see perhaps up to 10% efficiencies. that's10% savings in fuel and that's going to translate directly to 10% reduction in co2, for example. so some real benefits to operators and society. but one road user's body is sceptical. the uk motorways are the most congested in europe, we have more entrances and exits. and if you have a platoon of driverless lorries, it's very difficult to see road signs, it will be difficult to exit the motorway. but highways england, which is also funding the project, says it will examine how other drivers interact with the convoys. we will not ask anybody to be particularly changing their behaviour. the normal rules, the laws that apply today, will apply in the future. this is really looking at how people will behave when confronted by these situation so we can help to either eliminate the problem

or manage the situation effectively. there'll be rigorous safety checks before any platoons are allowed on the road. then they'll compare real delivery journeys made by platoon trucks with ones made in the traditional way. andy gill, bbc news, lancashire. our top story this lunchtime... a rock starjailed for depraved child abuse could have been caught years earlier if a key witness had been believed. and still to come... in less than 12 hours, harvey will hit the sourthern united states and is set to be the worst hurricane since katrina. coming up in sport, we'll bring you the latest from the europa league draw. everton are in the pot after this brilliant goal from gylffi sigurdsson. arsenal are also in the pot. it's a week since the terror attacks in barcelona and on the costa brava which killed 15 people.

the initial unity between the spanish government in madrid and the autonomous government in catalonia, which wants to hold a referendum on independence in a month's time, has been replaced with finger—pointing over which police force missed information about the terrorist plot. tom burridge reports from catalonia. still bustling. tourists and locals on las ramblas paying their respects. in the town where the attackers lived, a father, brahim aallaa, insisting he never saw any sign that two of his boys were planning to kill. one of his sons looking relaxed here, shopping. hours later, said aallaa and those alongside him would attack tourists in a coastal resort. the football pitch they used to play on. opposite, the family house of the ramblas van driver younes abouyaaqoub. some of those who knew the men didn't want to go on camera. this man grew up with one of the group.

he was a colleague until the attacks. all of those who ended up as terrorists spent their afternoons here, he told us. they seemed like normal guys. there was nothing strange. we have spoken to a group of women who have just come out of the family home of younes abouyaaqoub. in fact, the women's own children went to the same mosque and were taught by the same preacher — abdelbaki es satty. and they say they never heard or saw anything to suggest he was the ringleader of a terror plot. but es satty was known to the authorities in belgium. in spanish and catalan newspapers this week, recriminations. spanish sources blaming catalonia's own police force for not sharing information. catalan sources suggesting the fault lies with the national security agencies in spain. if i was the mother of one of the children there, for example, i would be so, so cross to sit down in front of the television and watch the police fighting between each

other, and doing these playground conflicts. we have to be united and not show this image of a lack of coordination and division. because the terrorists want this exactly. pro—independence catalan flags hang in barcelona. one month before the autonomous government here plans what spain says will be an illegal independence referendum. a city and a country united in grief, but political divisions have revealed cracks in policing. tom burridge, bbc news, in barcelona. florida state prison has executed the white supremacist mark james asay, the first white inmate put to death for killing a black man since florida reinstated the death penalty in 1979. the lethal injection included a drug never used before in the us. asay was sentenced to death in 1988 for killing two men in separate incidents on the same day.

there are reports that at least four people are dead and scores injured in north india in riots after a hugely popular religious leader was found guilty of raping two female followers. more than 200,000 of gurmeet ram rahim singh‘s supporters flocked to the city where he was convicted. 0ur delhi correspondent sanjoy majumder is in delhi with the latest. give us an explanation and the background to this case first of all. gurmeet ram rahim singh is a very popular spiritual leader, a self—styled guru, if you like. his organisation claims he has a million followers, some say well beyond that, not just here followers, some say well beyond that, notjust here in india but around the world. he is often called the guru of bling because he is often seen wearing ornate jewellery and colourful clothes. he has acted ina number of and colourful clothes. he has acted in a number of movies, he has

scripted and directed them himself. 0ne scripted and directed them himself. one was called messenger of god. he has a very passionate following. earlier today when he was convicted of raping two of his followers, and this is a case that dates back to 2002 when the letter was sent to the then prime minister of india alleging he had raped one of his followers and several others in the sector that he runs, it took federal police five years to begin investigating the case and collecting evidence, and finally it has taken 15 years for him to be convicted. the violent reaction you have seen since that is spreading. it started in the town where the hearing took place and is actually spreading right across a number of states in north india. now we have been hearing that it's states in north india. now we have been hearing that its spread to the capital, delhi, where i am. is it fed by the anger we have seen in recent weeks and months over so high profile sexual offences cases. there have been calls for many more convictions from the courts. that's right. laws against sexual violence

in india have been strengthened over the past few years. therefore these cases tend to go through trial white swiftly. that hasn't been the case in this one. the particular problem here is that the person who was convicted has a tremendous following. that's been a problem for the authorities. they knew all along this was likely to be a very controversial verdict. certainly for his followers who had gathered en masse ahead of the hearing, something like 200,000 of them had gathered at this town north of delhi. 20,000 police were deployed, but despite that they were not able to bring the situation under control and wants the verdict was out his followers basically started attacking the police, started attacking the police, started attacking media personnel, setting buses on fire. there have been reports attacks have spread to a number of states. the situation is very tense because of what happened

earlier today. we will be following that on the news channel. thank you. a viscount has abandoned his appeal against conviction after posting malicious facebook messages against anti—brexit campaignerjean miller. rhodri phillips was given a sentence last month but he was told this morning that his sentence could be increased if he went ahead with his appeal. after their emphatic win at edgbaston last week, england's cricketers will seal a series victory against the west indies if they can win the second test, which got underway this morning in leeds. batting first, england have reached 61—3 at lunch. from headingley, here's patrick gearey. etched into headingley‘s memory, great west indian cricketers of the past, men of shock and awe. caribbean test cricket burned so bright, you notice its fading all the more. the scale of england's

victory in the first test has raised questions, not just about west indies, but about test cricket in general. make no mistake, people here want england to win, but they also want a contest. one problem — this huddle is missing some of the caribbean's best players. they have stars playing in other shirts, on other shores. england's are all here. alastair cook, for one, and he normally get many more than one. not this time. just 11. shannon gabriel into the windies' team, into the wickets. now, they had at the crease, two england batsmen unsure of their places. this won't help tom westley, lbw. headingley was a little taken aback, but at least they got a yorkshireman out there nice and early. joe root, england captain, dependable when others are unreliable. and the windies were up. charging in with bygone energy, mark stoneman out, 37—3, a start to thrill west indians and australians. the ashes are only three months away. gabriel kept digging. it seemed he had turned up the route. powell spilled it onto the grass, agonising. an escape to end an unnerving morning for england, but for some watching, it was strangely reassuring.

at least, we have a contest. patrick geary, bbc news, at headingley. tomorrow, defending champion's england will play new zealand in the women's rugby world cup final in belfast. they'll do so without full—back danielle waterman who has been ruled out because of concussion. the final line—up has been named in the last few minutes and our sport correspondent sara orchard is outside the team hotel in belfast. what do we know? the standout selection that we just found out in the last half an hour is the 20—year—old megan jones the last half an hour is the 20—year—old meganjones will be starting at outside centre for england, coming into the starting 15. there is also a change as the regular vice captain for england emily scarratt moves to full—back. 0nly emily scarratt moves to full—back. only one change to the team that beat france it is semifinal, bristol's amy wilson—hardy coming onto the bench. this final between two sides that have a rivalry that could be described as one of the greatest in women's sport. they have

actually met three times previously in world cup finals, with new zealand's black ferns coming away the victors on every occasion. that's a statistic england would like to start changing back in their direction. the tournament itself, the final will be played at ulster‘s kingspan stadium, a capacity of 18,000, although not quite all the tickets for the final have been sold yet. there have been record tv viewing figures across the whole world with 3 million tuning in in france for the semifinals. but for england, this is their chance with a match on saturday night on terrestrial television, to show that fa ns terrestrial television, to show that fans what they can do. they need to defend the title bay won in 201a. it's one of the busiest motorway junctions in the country with more accidents than any other in england. but plans to improve the m25 at junction 10 could threaten a number of rare trees and plants at the historic wisley garden. highways england says the upgrade will make the road safer but campaigners, including alan titchmarsh, are calling for british gardeners to take a stand against the plans. tim muffett reports.

traffic versus tranquillity. at the royal horticultural society garden at wisley in surrey, a row is taking root. it seems a mad proposal to be taking down some of these trees as has been suggested, because we're never going to be able to replace them. and they are wonderful, we should be really nurturing these and looking after them for the future. it's madness to be taking them down. the problem is this nearbyjunction where the m25 meets the a3. it's often congested. highways england says it has the highest accident rate of any motorwayjunction in the country and that improvements are needed. but the rhs fears one proposal being considered will see the a3 expanded and two and a half acres of its woodland destroyed along with 500 trees. it has high profile support. this is a giant redwood.

you've heard of these, massive. over 100 years old. one of several down this great strip. this, along with rhododendrons, magnolias, camellias, would all go. other options, which would have less impact on these gardens, are being considered, but the road improvements are imminent. it's widely accepted by all sides that changes to thejunction need to be made. the road behind you, though, needs improvement, doesn't it? the junction needs improving. it does need improving. i use that road every day, too. i'm also a commuter, coming from london, and it's not perfect. but there is a brownfield site on the other side of the road where this extension could take place that wouldn't involve taking some 100 years of heritage. and these trees, like the redwood next to me, will go on to live for hundreds more years. it's not just about the here and the now. it's for many future generations. highways england said in a statement that it cares about the environment and protecting the special habitats

around wisley is a priority. upgrading the junction will, it says, improve people'sjourneys and make both roads safer. a decision is expected in the next few weeks. concerns over these trees have stepped up a gear. tim muffett, bbc news. evacuation is underway in texas as communities there prepare for what could be the strongest storm to hit the us coast since hurricane katrina 12 years ago. hurricane harvey has been upgraded to a category two and forecasters warned that the 130 mile per hour winds are expected to hit in about 12 hours' time. cbs correspondent don champion is in corpus christi in texas. how are people preparing? the big

concern is the strengthening storm off the coast here at texas. harvey is still a category two storm right now but is on the verge of becoming a major hurricane, a category three storm. it would be the first hurricane to make landfall here along the texas gulf coast in nine yea rs. along the texas gulf coast in nine years. looking behind me, the waves at the corpus christi bay are already whipping up. we have seen some wind and rain, but this isjust a taste of what's ahead. not only over the course of the next few hours, but the next few days. harvey will be a long duration storm in this region. flooding is a very big concern here. many places he could see up to 30 inches of rain by the end of the storm. storm surge is also a very big concern. in fact, the spot i'm standing in will likely be under several feet of water by the end of the weekend. they are expecting a storm surges of up to 6-12 expecting a storm surges of up to 6—12 feet from this storm. you

mentioned the wins, it will be destructive. a statement from the national weather service this morning did not mince any words saying there could be substantial property damage once the storm makes landfall. thank you forjoining us from texas. time for a look at the weather — here's lucy martin. you have the latest for the satellite figures for the hurricane. harvey tracking its way towards texas and is expected to make la ndfall texas and is expected to make landfall at midnight hour time bringing heavy rain with it. gusts of up to 150 mph and potentially life—threatening storm surge. here in the uk, a much quieter picture. we have seen blue skies around this morning. this photo sent in by a weather watcher in suffolk. it looks like the blue skies will last as we head into the weekend. it will not be wall to wall blue skies