this is bbc news. i'm rachel schofield. the headlines at 3:00pm: a rock star, jailed for depraved child abuse, could have been caught years earlier if a key witness had been believed. the singer's former girlfriend reported him to the police many times, but she was never taken seriously. she, time after time asked them to look at her laptop where she had an e—mailfrom him with photographs of children and they didn't want to look at it. a warning of potential major disruption on the railways and the roads this weekend as millions prepare for the bank holiday amid engineering works on some of the country's busiest routes. a south korean scandal as the heir to the samsung empire is sentenced to five years in prison for bribery and embezzlement. at least 1a people have been killed

in violent protests over the rape it's due to hit the sourthern united states tonight and is set to be the worst hurricane since katrina. at least 1a people have been killed in violent protests over the rape conviction of a popular religious leader in north india. a south korean scandal as the heir to the samsung empire is sentenced to five years in prison for bribery and embezzlement. wifi controlled convoys of lorries could be on major british roads by the the end of next year — as part of a plan to cut emissions and reduce congestion. and england struggle as they lose three wickets on the first morning of the second test against the west indies at headingley. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. 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 lost prophets 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. our wales correspondent sian lloyd reports. 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 police 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 years longer than he need 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, 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'd time after time went to her local police station,

operating them the chance to look at her laptop where she had any know from him attaching photographs of underage children and they didn't want to look at it. she 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 ipcc 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 take to the roads instead. adina campbell reports. 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 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 work's expected to benefit millions of passengers. the work will see platforms extended to make way for longer trains as well as improvements to platforms and and preparation work for hs2. i think it is absolute madness because people will struggle. i think it is really mental 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 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, not just 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 peak 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 or in airports are being advised to give themselves plenty of time to travel to avoid disruption. with the disruption on the railways there's expected to be increased

pressure on motorways. earlier our reporter dan whitworth sent us this update from the m6 near knutsford. i must mirror what adina was just saying in her report, we've been here for a couple of hours now and the traffic really starting to build up, really starting to get heavy. the rac is actually broadcasting that the busiest times this weekend will be between three and seven this afternoon, all day on monday, when it's expecting around 5 million cars to be on the road. the highways agency is aware of this, of course. it's been planning for this for many weeks, for many months. as such, it has actually removed around about a50 miles worth of roadworks. key stretches have had to stay in place for safety, though. this stretch here on the m6 about 20 miles of roadworks from junction 16 to 19, that's effectively right the way from crewe all the way through to manchester, 26 miles on the a—1 north of leeming, the m1, the m60

and the m62 all still affected by roadworks. 0ther pinch points that motorists should really be aware of, the m5 towards exeter, the south—west of england, all routes and out of the lake district and indeed the m1 and m3 motorways out of london. now, don't worry, if you missed any of that, as adina said, one piece of advice to take from this is check yourjourney, check your route, before you travel. if you have got one of these, and you probably have, search bbc august bank holiday travel. you'll have all the information you need at your fingertips. frank bird from highways england says there'll be fewer road works on motorways this bank holiday weekend to help ease journeys. it may surprise some of the viewers to know that actually we've been working very closely with network rail. they advised us some time ago of the closures that they planned for this bank holiday weekend.

so we set about removing 90% of the roadworks on the network, paying specific attention to those between birmingham and london, so that people had an alternative to the train this weekend. there are reports that at least 1a people are dead and scores injured in north india in riots after a popular and controversial 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. violence has been spreading every hour since that verdict came in in this court in the town of panchkula. gurmeet ram rahim singh convicted of raping two of his followers, a case which dates back to the year 2002. as you have already mentioned, several hundred thousand, in fact 200,000 of his followers had already taken up position near and around the court. as the verdict came,

they resorted to violence and attacked police lines and vehicles. they set public property on fire. we are hearing reports that buses and train carriages have been set on fire. since the verdict, the violence has actually spread across several towns in the northern state of punjab. the state of haryana which dorders delhi and within the past couple of hours, we are hearing reports of violence here in the capital as well. at least one bus set on fire and at least a couple of train carriages, we understand, have been attacked by his followers. several thousand police and armed security personnel had been placed in position before the verdict. they started by resorting to using tear gas shells to try and get some semblance of order and when that failed, they used live ammunition. that's when we understand some of the deaths took place. gurmeet ram rahim singh is a very controversial spiritual leader. he is often known as the guru of bling. he has the personality of a rock star. he is often seen wearing outlandish clothes and ornate jewellery. he has performed in a number of music videos as well as at least three films, one of which was called messenger of god.

he has several million followers around the world. if you see some of his public performances you can see it almost has the atmosphere of a rock concert. hundreds of thousands of followers gathered, many of them very devoted to him. that's what we are seeing now by way of reaction to this verdict. he has now been moved to prison. we will be expecting sentencing on monday, but the biggest concern now is to try and get some sense of control back on the streets. thank you. a man who murdered his brother by setting fire to him as he slept is to appeal against the length of his sentence. blair logan was given a life sentence after admitting murdering his brother cameron, who was 23, and attempting to murder cameron's 25—year—old girlfriend rebecca williams. the incident took place on new years day at the family home

in east dunbartonshire. 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 is 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. through trials and demonstrations, 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 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 looking at how people will behave when confronted by the 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 compere real delivery journeys made by platoon trucks with one made in the traditional way. andy gill, bbc news, lancashire. the headlines on bbc news: the police watchdog has said that the paedophile ian watkins could have been arrested nearly four years earlier if south wales police had investigated numerous tip—offs. passengers have been warned by rail

operators to expect delays over the bank holiday weekend due to engineering works, with roadworks also affecting some journeys. at least 1a people have been killed in violent protests over the rape conviction of a controversial religious leader in north india. the headlines on bbc news: in sport... england lead the series at headingley1—0. the hosts are currently 147—5. real madrid's gareth bale is back after serving a one match ban. chelsea's amadou has also made the team for the first time. megan jones will search also made the team for the first time. meganjones will search the by time. meganjones will search the rugby cup final against new zealand.

with emily scarratt moving to full—back. more on those stories just after 2:30pm. —— 3:30pm. texas is preparing itself for hurricane harvey — which could be the worst storm to hit the us mainland in 12 years. the category—three storm is expected to make landfall along the state's central coast tonight. there are concerns that torrential rain could bring life—threatening flooding to some parts. bill hayton has more. the big concern is the strengthening storm off the coast here in 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 years. take a look behind me. the waves here here at the corpus christi bay are already whipping up, but we are seeing some wind and rain, but this is really just a taste of what is ahead. not only over the course of the next few hours, but over the course of the next few days. harvey will be a long duration storm in this region. flooding is a very big concern here. places here could see up to 30

inches of rain by the end of the storm. the 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 storm surges of up to six to 12 feet from this storm. earlier, our weather presenter nick miller gave us this update on the pa rt miller gave us this update on the part of the storm. it is clearly wet and windy along the coastline in texas, but things are only going to get worse. gusts around a0 mph, but we will increase the sustained wind and gusts as a get closer to landfill which is expected to be either this evening or the earlier

hours of saturday local time in texas. there are several elements of this. we talk about the wind speed. currently sustained wind of 110 mph close to the centre of this powerful hurricane. it is expected to strengthen to a major storm. we heard mention of the storm surge and the flooding. the storm surge of the higher than normal amount of water that will pile on the coastline into areas that would normally be expected to be dry. the rainfall numbers are quite staggering. he said 30 inches of rainfall is expected widely. there could be up to 35 inches of rainfall. that is 900 millimetres of rain. i will put that in context. that is expected between now and next wednesday. that's a little bit more than the annual rainfall average in manchester, which some of us might say is a fairly wet place.

not dry! there is some debate about that. that puts it in perspective how much rainfall is expected. there's some evidence the storm is not going to move through fast? that is one of the most troubling aspects. it will meander near orjust inland at the middle texas coast through the weekend. some hurricanes when the hit they coastline or continue moving through they will weaken quickly and move on somewhere else and become nothing after time. this just gets closer to that coastline and lingers which means it rains, rains, rains. i think flooding will become a huge issue. flooding normally gets worse even when the rain is worse, so i would expect flooding to be a major issue continuing well into next week. if we do realise the sort of totals

we're talking about here. we'll have more from texas when we speak to a professor of meteorology in the next half hour or so. in other news... 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, jae—y lee. lee was found guilty of making inappropriate donations worth around $6 million in exchange for government favours. there is flash photography in our report from yogita limaye. 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 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. 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 months 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. 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 atjunction ten 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.

that have a look at the weather. key afternoon. a bank holiday weekend for some of us and it doesn't look like a wash—out at all. some sunshine in the forecast. the further south you are, doing the best for the brightness. the further south and east, you can see here on the satellite the best of the brightness. as we move through the rest of today and overnight, showery

outbreaks of rain across northern ireland, scotland and northern england. it will tend to ease from way westward dry intervals pushing in. for much of england and wales, a largely dry night. tomorrow, and improved day for northern ireland and scotland. rain clearing to the east and we will so to see greater intervals and sunny spells developing. just the chance of one 01’ developing. just the chance of one or two isolated showers which could be heavy be further north you are. england and wales will see plenty of dry weather. cannot rule out the odd shower. temperatures up on today. hello. good afternoon. this is bbc news with me rachel schofield.

it is exactly half past three. the police watchdog has said that the paedophile ian watkins could have been arrested nearly four years earlier if south wales police had investigated numerous tip—offs. years earlier if south wales police travel delays are expected over the bank holiday weekend as engineering and roadworks take place on some of the country's busiest routes. there are reports that at least 1a people have been killed in violent protests over the rape conviction of a controversial religious leader in north india. texas braces itself for hurricane harvey, the worst storm to hit the us mainland in 12 years. the billionaire chairman and heir of samsung has been jailed for five years for corruption. 0ther cd in the world of cricket, and for the rest of the sport, let's join the sports centre. west indies have so far had the better of the first day of their second test against england at headlingley. choosing to bat first may not

have been the best idea forjoe root as his side lost four early wickets. a short time ago england were 153—6. chris coleman's announced his wales squad for the world cup qualifiers next month against austria & moldova. gareth bale will make a return after missing the 1—1 draw with serbia injune because of a one match ban. ethan ampadu — just 16 years old — is also in the squad for the first time after his move from exeter to chelsea. the draw for the group stages of the europa league — arsenal will face bate borisov of belarus, the german side cologne and serbia's red star belgrade in group h. everton are in group e with lyon, atalanta and apollon limassol of cyprus. let's look ahead to the early kick—off in the premier league for you.

bournemouth take on man city at the vitality stadium — manager eddie howe says his team needs to kick—start their season fast after losing both of their opening league games and he isn't impressed with his players. not great. the results are one thing but the performances have been the most disappointing factor in that. i do not believe we have got it going yet. we need to make sure that this weekend we really do fire. because if we don't, it will be another difficult afternoon. jurgen klopp has admitted before that he doesn't keep totally up to date the the news here in the uk. but it seemed he was caught out somewhat at his press conference ahead of liverpool's match against arsenal on sunday, when he was was asked about a new arrival for gini wijnaldum. after the child is born. thank you for the message. congratulations, gini!

a little boy? so he called all of you but not me? hejust he just text hejust text does. that's good. so last week the thing i said was that i don't read the english press. but you know i do not read it. facebook is a good way to inform me. west brom have signed scotland winger 0liver burke from german club rb liepzig on a five—year contract. burke became the most expensive scottish player ever when he joined the bundesliga side for a fee of about £13 million last year. burke could make his west brom debut on sunday at home to stoke in the premier league. f1 has returned after the summer break and lewis hamilton has set the pace ahead of this weekend's belgian grand prix. after being pipped by kimi raikkonen in morning practice,

the three time world champion was comfortably quickest in his mercedes this afternoon, nearly half a second ahead of championship leader sebastian vettel. and finally, there's new on england's rugby world cup team for tomorrow's final against new zealand. megan jones will start tomorrow's final she's replacing danielle waterman whose out after suffering concussion from their semifinal match with france. so with a bit of a reshuffle in mind emily scarratt will be moving to full back. and it means bristol's amy wilson—hardy comes onto the replacements bench. there's full commentary of the final on bbc radio five live on saturday — kick off at 7.45pm. that is all from me. more now on hurricane harvey — which could be the worst storm to hit the us mainland in 12 years. the category—three storm is expected to make landfall along texas's central coast tonight. we can show you some of the live pictures now. you can get a sense of the darkening skies, the rain already coming down heavily, can barely see the skyline there through the mist and mark. let's speak to robert korty who is associate professor of meteorology at texas a & m university. hejoins me on webcam from the city of bryan, which isjust under 100 miles outside of houston. thank you very much for being with

us. thank you very much for being with us. what is the latest update, do we know when the hurricane will it? we expect to reach as overnight here in texas. the winds have increased in the centre. we are having a bit of trouble hearing you clearly. we will stay with it for now. when we talk about categories of how mccain, the feeling now it is a hurry akin to, it may become a category three. how do these categories work? categories are based on house to rock the wind fielders. anything that is stronger 110 miles an hour is a category three. it is around the threshold of that. there is a category four and

five beyond. but anything that is three or stronger is what we consider to be a major and again, capable of structural damage. and is also accompanied by a strong storm surge. given that, what sort of preparations are being made in texas in order to keep people and as is as safe as possible? a lot of the counties along the coastline and a lot of the towns on the barrier islands have evacuation orders. manda toady in many cases. and i think a large number of people understand the severity of the storm. —— mandatory. there is a second threat from this which will continue beyond tonight and through the weekend and into next week, that is the rainfall from theirs. that will affect not only the coastline but a large part of in—line texas in the south—eastern part of the estate and we're worried about the flooding

that may result from that also. how unusual is it to see this prolonged rainfall, the senses the hurricane will not move through quickly and therefore the problem with the amount of rain? that is right. it is unusual. most storms continue their momentum and so they make landfall and progress inland. but harvey is going to get caught in a situation where once it makes landfall, the winds are stealing it. it will relax and it will get left along the coastline and meanders for a bit. that is an unfortunate situation here in texas because while it has made landfall, it will be sitting over the same area as it is raining for a potentially 3—5 days. over the same area as it is raining for a potentially 3-5 days. here in the uk, the hurricane lodged in our minds so strongly as hurricane katrina. what comparisons can may

make? katrina and harvey at way have probably about the same winfield at the time that they make landfall. katrina, the real devastation came from flooding in your lives, which lies below sea level and it was a breach of the levies and systems to keep out water. so we hope we do not have a situation that is similar, it would be for different reasons here. it would be rainfall that accumulates over several days, but we are very concerned about the flooding. even when the rain ends, we will likely be dealing with river flooding is all this water drains out over the next week. we are very grateful for your time, professor. thank you for talking is through that. let's return now to our main story. the police watchdog has said the paedophile ian watkins could have been arrested nearly four years earlier, if officers in south wales had properly investigated numerous

tip—offs about him. michael wolkind qc defended watkins' ex—girlfriend, who had to clear her name when she was accused of sharing watkins' indecent images. mark lobel has been speaking to him. south wales police haven't had the grace and integrity to apologise to her, so they have to admit their failings and yet she remains a marginalised figure. throughout this investigation, the police didn't believe joanne, didn't believe that she was a credible witness. they didn't. they had some false information that she had once been sectioned, they had some true information that she used to be a sex worker, so what? all they had to do was check her claims about ian watkins and they never did, and that's the remarkable thing in this so—called investigation. she, time after time, went to her local police station, offering them the chance to look at her computer, her laptop, where she had an e—mailfrom him, attaching photographs of an underage child and they didn't want to look at it. and they never did.

and yet she provided the police with evidence on four different occasions. what difference would it have made if the police had listened tojoanne? oh, it would have stopped the danger to young children. i haven't got the time line, but somewhere in the report it says it may have made a difference for some months to one child. it's much wider than that. they could have stopped this much earlier. after all, she started complaining in 2008. year after year after year of her complaining, her doing right thing, the police doing nothing and then doing the wrong thing. how damaging was being ignored to joanne? even to this day, she is trolled online as if she is a bad person. here is someone who once was infatuated with him, discovered what he really did. immediately reported, persistently reported, even warned them that if anything else happens, then it will be on your head, not mine because she gave them every opportunity to do their job, to investigate. they weren't interested. well, clearly a mistake was made.

but the south wales police have said sorry, is that enough? not quite. they've said sorry because they are forced to face up to their own ineptitude. they have not had the grace or integrity to apologise to her. i wonder why? in fact, she was prosecuted. she was prosecuted because she became noisy. in public, she was interviewed on television, still talking about the lost opportunity that the police had and their inaction. and that made her feel bad that she hadn't been listened to, as if she was asking herself, could i have done more? actually, she couldn't have done more. but they did nothing. to south africa now, where a court has found two white south african farmers guilty of attempted murder after they pushed a black man into a coffin and threatened to burn him alive. willem 0osthuizen and theo jackson filmed themselves abusing victor mlotsha who they said needed to be taught a lesson after he had trespassed on their land.

the judge said it was clear that the convicted men intended to kill the victim. supporters of the victim burst into song when the verdict was read. we'll be live in at the court in south africa in the next hour. well, this is a story that has been closely watched here in south africa, after a video showing two white farmers attacking a black man and forcing him into a coffin and saying that they would douse him in petrol and put snakes in that coffin. the video went viral, it was widely circulated on social media late last year and it led to the arrest of willem 0osthuizen and theo martinjackson, and today finally the verdict was heard here at the middleburg magistrates' court, where we heard the judge saying it was clear that the accused were intending to kill the victim and found them guilty of attempted murder, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm and also defeating

the ends of justice. but they were found not guilty of one charge, of the illegal possession of a firearm. and shortly after the verdict was delivered, i was able to speak to the victim himself, mr victor mlotsha, and asked him how he felt. and he was visibly emotional, with tears in his eyes and he told me that he was relieved thatjustice had finally been served, and i also managed to speak to his mother who says that she will not rest until the two men who attacked her son are jailed for what they have done. we also heard from the prosecutor who said that there is a possibility that the two men who have been convicted could face a jail sentence of about ten years, but the sentencing itself is only expected in two months' time and that will be around 0ctober. there was a packed courtroom here full of supporters

of various political parties, all of them waiting with bated breath, wanting to know what would happen. and they were all saying that they were relieved that justice has been served, but they still insist that the two men need to go to jail. we had heard earlier from the testimonies of the two accused saying that they admitted that they had forced victor mlotsha into the coughing because they wanted to teach him victor mlotsha into the coffin because they wanted to teach him a lesson because he was trespassing on theirfarm, but meant him no harm. but earlier we heard the judge saying that their actions were sadistic and racist. in a moment a summary of the business news this hour but first — the headlines on bbc news: the police watchdog has said that the paedophile ian watkins could have been arrested nearly four years earlier if south wales police had investigated numerous tip—offs. at least 28 people have been killed

in violent protests over the rape conviction of a controversial religious leader in north india. passengers have been warned by rail operators to expect delays over the bank holiday weekend due to engineering works, with roadworks also affecting some journeys. hello. in the business news this afternoon. the boss of mobile phone giant samsung has beenjailed forfive years for corruption. lee jae—yong was found found guilty of giving donations worth £29 million to non—profit foundations linked to south korea's former president in return for political favours. shares in british supermarkets have fallen on the prospect of a price war with amazon. it has announced that its going to slash prices at its whole foods grocery chain in everything from bananas to salmon. it will complete its take—over of whole foods on monday

which it has bought for almost £11bn. british airways has called on the uk's border force to tackle ‘serious inefficiencies' at uk airports. the airline says routinely at heathrow‘s terminal 5, only a third of the 29 electronic gates are open and are usually shut early at 11pm. it causes massive queues and frustrating delays. it said that with brexit just round the corner the uk needs to show that it's an easy place to travel to. we are rounding up a week—long series on death. benjamin is franklin famously said that nothing could be certain except death and taxes. many countries death taxes are an absolute certainty, but in others like israel, australia and sweden, tax has been abolished. it isa sweden, tax has been abolished. it is a good time for the economy. a fair way to distribute wealth or a final injustice? we have two views

of uk tax experts here. i would say that yes inheritance tax is good for the economy. it puts money into the treasury which obviously pays for various things including various necessities. but inheritance tax has alan in—built protection for businesses. good point. i do not think it reasons that much money. it isa think it reasons that much money. it is a few billion pounds. actually what you get now is a chance tax, only those people who do not have the knowledge or a large estate to pay for the accountants and wealth managers to hide it for them. i do not think it works. if people see that 40% of what the leavers going to be effectively taken by the revenue, it does encourage them to live their lives, enjoy themselves and go unspent and clearly that is good for the economy. and go unspent and clearly that is good for the economylj and go unspent and clearly that is good for the economy. i think in town since taxes really marginal to

business owners. —— inheritance tax. it removes the potential investment capital from the economy. if you're to receive a few hundred thousand pence, there is something you could potentially invest. i do not think it takes it away from business. somebody has a wodge of cash which if they die, it will be subject to 40 if they die, it will be subject to a0 pretence —— percent inheritance tax, i think that the regime can encourage investment into business. i think inheritance tax should be abolished. for the amount of revenue in reasons for the treasury, it is not worth it. i do not think inheritance tax should be abolished, it makes its contribution to the treasury and it is better than some of the alternatives which is effectively paying more tax during your lifetime when you should be

enjoying your money and what you have earned. on that surely not, let's have a look at some other business stories. we've heard lots about self—driving cars being tested on our roads, well, next year self—driving lorries will be tried out. small convoys of partially self—driving lorries will be tried out on major british roads by the end of next year. up to three lorries will travel in formation, with acceleration and braking controlled by the lead vehicle. they don't look too hard to spot! spotify has signed a new licensing deal with warner music group. it's the last of the three big record labels to agree to make its catalogue available to spotify‘s 1a0 million users. with the deal, it makes it increasingly likely the company will float on the stockmarket. qantas airline says it will offer the first ever direct flights from sydney to london by 2022 — if airbus or boeing can deliver planes capable of travelling the distance without refuelling. next year it aims to fly direct from perth to london. shares in lender provident financial

have risen for a third day in a row now following a 66% plunge on tuesday. the company have said they're going to shake up management so that's helped the stock recover considerably. on tuesday they issued a profit warning which prompted that plunge. wpp arent doing too well either — theyre a big advertising and marketing company. it reported big losses this week and saw 11% wiped of its share price on wednesday. 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. police in northern india say at least 28 people have been killed in clashes after a self—styled, controversial religious leader was convicted of rape. gurmeet ram rahim singh, who claims to have millions of followers, was found guilty of raping two women fifteen years ago. security forces have used live ammunition to control angry supporters, who have attacked vehicles with me now is my colleague anbarasan ethirajan,

south asia editorfor world service. give us some sense of who he is and what power he has. people always seek some spirituality and answers to the problems from their spiritual leaders. he is one of them. how they become popular? they connect with people because they go into areas where the government does not go. guru ram rahim singh has established a number of hospitals, schools, he also conducts wedding circular people. you establish a connection with poorer people and people are concerned with a lack of government in some areas where these religious leaders, because they collect money from different parts of the country. the second thing is also the caste system in india where people are

categorised by birth, upper caste and lower caste, when people from the lower caste, when they do not find a place in the religious establishments like hinduism and the seek religion, imported and religious places. he was able to get the attention of these people, galvanise them and see i am here for you people. then it was more of a political, nonreligious, we can bring it together. then they start wielding enormous influence and power and that is why people look up to them. many of their followers say, there was a hospital i was given free treatment for my son. the establish a link with these people and the hugely popular. across the country, it is notjust northern india and this region of punjab, in the rest of the country there are a number of people. at the same time,

a number of them accused of mismanagement, this time accused of rain. he appealed to people. he was not teaching yoga are teaching peace, he was wearing colourful clothes, riding a quad bike and wrapping and acting in movies. he was appealing to his own people. and the youngsters, they all look up to him, so he was also media savvy. at the same time he was also very aware of what he was doing. what you expect to happen now? having been convicted of these two convictions of rape, will he spent time in prison? if so, how do we expect the situation to play out with people being so can bit —— angered? situation to play out with people being so can bit -- angered? the sentence is expected on monday. now he will be underjudicial custody for the next two days and he will be brought to court on monday. what

people are asking is how come tens of thousands of people, you are talking about 100,000 people, converging in this small town in the last few days, why did security forces not anticipate this? lots of people were waiting for this to happen. the number of people killed is already going up to 28 now. there is already going up to 28 now. there is violence, train services have been altered, bus services have been altered. the town were shut down for two days, no mobile and internet services. until this religious leader, he issues another appeal asking the supporters to come down, the violence is likely to continue at least for the rest of the day. thank you very much forgiving as the to that. let's get that at the weather. here is lucy martin. a north—south split to our weather today. the further south we have more in

the way of brightness, some sunny spells sent in by weather watcher in kent. that is how we go into the weekend, we will see some sunshine around, there is the risk of seeing one or two isolated showers the further north you are. there is the chance of outbreaks of light rain in the north west on sunday. here is how we were looking earlier, more in the way of cloud and sherry outbreaks of rain pushing across northern ireland and the north of england. as we go through this evening and overnight, staying clear, skies clouding over, becoming drive from the west across northern ireland and western parts of scotland. temperatures falling to an overlay lull between 12 and 15 celsius. it will feel humid in the south east. and then restart the day on saturday with more in the way of

sunshine around. i vastly improved dever northern ireland and scotland, we will see sunny spells developing. there is the chance to see the odd isolated shower, especially the further north you are. they be very —— heavy. an improvement on today for northern ireland and scotland. temperatures in the upper teens. good spells of sunshine, a chance of the odd isolated shower, with a chance they could be heavy. becoming drive the very decide you are. we cannot rule out the odd isolated shower. temperatures in the south east reaching a maximum of 25 celsius. we will see more cloud in the south than we saw today, but still plenty of brightness and good spells of sunshine. that takes us into sunday, more in the way of cloud and the north. some sunshine in the south east for parts of england and wales, with highs of 26

celsius. that takes us into bank holiday monday, looking dry in the south, getting wet and breezy in the north. this is bbc news. the headlines. major travel disruption expected over the weekend as millions prepare for the bank holiday getaway amid engineering works on some of the country's busiest routes. police in northern india say at least 28 people have been killed in violent clashes after a self—styled controversial religious leader is convicted of rape. a rock starjailed for depraved child abuse could have been caught years earlier if a key witness had been believed. also in the next hour, texas braces

itself for hurricane harvey. it's due to hit the southern u states tonight and is set to be the worst hurricane since katrina. here is the scene live on the texas coast.