this is bbc news. i'm carole walker. the headlines at 11am: three men have been found guilty of the murder of five people who died after an explosion in a shop in leicester in february. the music retailer hmv is about to go into administration putting more than 2,000 jobs at risk. after a surge in the number of migrants crossing from france — calls to step up patrols in the english channel. potholes are getting worse — more than half a million were reported for repair last year, according to research. and coming up — thousands more prisoners are to get phones in their cells under plans to tackle violence and re—offending. ministers say the measure will help inmates to maintain family ties and reduce tension on wings. and we look at plans to end climbing at one of australia's great natural wonders — uluru —also known as ayers rock. three men have been convicted

of murdering five people in a shop explosion in leicester. aram kurd, arkan ali and hawkar hassanwere also found and hawkar hassan were also found guilty of conspiracy to commit insurance fraud. the arson attack happened in february this year and was caused by petrol, demolishing a supermarket and two story flat above. mary ragoobar died together with her teenage sons shane and sean along with shane's girlfriend leah reek and arkan ali's partner, vi ktorija ijevleva. 0ur correpondent kathryn stanczyszyn is at leicester crown court and has been following the case. bring us up—to—date with all the

details. the families of both leah reek and the ragoobar family were in court today. the court heard this was a pure case of greed. they had carried out this insurance fraud to get thousands of pounds of money. the court heard it was a simple case of greed without any kind of regard for the lives lost. just a warning. my for the lives lost. just a warning. my report contained images some may find distressing. a massive explosion shatters a quiet sunday evening. shortly after 7pm on the 25th of february, this building on one of leicester's main roads was

com pletely on one of leicester's main roads was completely destroyed leaving five dead. mary ragoobar, two of her teenage sons sean and shane and his girlfriend leah reek who had been spending the evening in their flat. there other son was pulled from the wreckage and survived, which was described as a miracle. also killed in the polish shop below it, shop worker viktorija ijevleva. she had been conspiring with three men, aram kurd, arkan ali and is hawkar hassan. they had caused the fire as pa rt hassan. they had caused the fire as part of a fraudulent insurance claim. this cctv footage shows them are buying more than 20 litres of petrol debate before the explosion. they also bought other flammable materials to intensify the fire. there was clearly an element of planning, agrees, financial gain and

they were callous as to whether human life was affected by what they did. aram kurd ran the polish supermarket. he moved this cctv camera outside the shop to obscure the view. here he is at the scene seconds afterwards. he was in the basement when it happens and then was talking to police one hour later. i don't want to talk about it. the bbc spoke to him the day afterwards when it was unclear he was responsible. how are you feeling at the moment? never have i feel how lam at the moment? never have i feel how i am now. this was a cynically planned fraud with deadly consequences. the threats to people's lies callously disregarded. you saw there aram kurd talking to us you saw there aram kurd talking to us at the bbc in the immediate

aftermath. he also made comments to aftermath. he also made comments to a fellow prisoner while on remand and he said that they all believed if someone died in this fire or in the explosion they would get more money. they also heard that viktorija money. they also heard that vi ktorija ijevleva, money. they also heard that viktorija ijevleva, arkan ali's partner was deliberately left in the shop that day because she knew too much. we know the sentence and will ta ke much. we know the sentence and will take place at a later date, possibly later this month. all three men found guilty today on the charge of murder. thank you very much for the latest from the crown court. the music retailer hmv is at risk of becoming the first post—christmas high street casualty as it teeters on the brink of administration. the group, which has over 120 stores and employs over 2,000 staff, has filed a notice to appoint administrators and could go under as early as today. let's cross to milton keynes now where we can speak to diane wehrle who is insights director at springboard, the provider of retail performance insights. thank you forjoining us. hmv

clearly is in big trouble. this is not just a symptom clearly is in big trouble. this is notjust a symptom of clearly is in big trouble. this is not just a symptom of the clearly is in big trouble. this is notjust a symptom of the problems on the high streets, it is a problem on the high streets, it is a problem on the high streets, it is a problem on the type of business they were trying to run. yes. the problem that hmv has is that 99% is to do with the type of business they are running. retail is under pressure and facing trading challenges, spending at christmas has pulled back from last year. things are not easy for retailers but for hmv, the issues they are facing are around the evolution of their markets, their space and the move away from their space and the move away from the need to visit a bricks and mortar store to get music and cds. it isa mortar store to get music and cds. it is a business which is basically out of date? yes, i think it is actually. the market and the

streaming market in music has evolved so quickly over the last two yea rs evolved so quickly over the last two years that that has become so sophisticated and the dvd market which they use the sell an awful lot of, again, that is available on streaming and catch up far more than ever. there is no reason to go to an hmv and when you do go to one customer experience isn't very enjoyable anyway. so that exacerbates the issue. the prospects for those 2000 or so employees look pretty bleak. it does. it is very u nfortu nate for pretty bleak. it does. it is very unfortunate for them to go through a trading period at christmas and find out in the new year they are out of thejob. that is out in the new year they are out of the job. that is very unfortunate. but i don't think in 2019 it will be the first or the last of these occurrences. although there were particular problems with hmv‘s business, do you think we are likely to see more casualties on the high

street in 2019 was yellow i think we are. the level of discounting that has gone on over the past year before black friday. continuing after black friday and into christmas and three to boxing day has meant that a lot of retailers will be very tight on cash flow. their profits and margins have been squeezed enormously. when they released their trading results early in 2019 we will see some very poor results. thank you very much for joining us. a surge in migrants risking their lives crossing the english channel has increased calls for the government to step up border patrols. 66 people have reached the uk in the past three days. only one of the five boats operated by the border force is currently patrolling the channel between dover and the french coast. simonjones reports. risking their lives, attempting to cross the busiest shipping lane in the world. despite the warnings,

the attempts continue. this, one of four small boats used in the channel by migrants yesterday. it is totally unprecedented, what has happened over the last few days. perhaps it's understandable. it's the long dark nights, the weather has been relatively mild, there has only been a gentle breeze blowing. and the first few boats that made a success of it, the message gets back to the camps and then more and more people try. 23 migrants reached kent on thursday. that's in addition to a0 on christmas day. in total, at least 209 people have arrived by small boats since november. just one of the border force's five cutters is operational in the channel, along with two coastal patrol vessels. the former head of border force, tony smith, says that more resources are needed. and dover mp charlie elphicke has called on britain to get a grip. the home office says that the border force's deployments

are under constant review but bringing back a cutter from the mediterranean could encourage more people to make the perilous journey, as it may be seen as a rescue rather than a patrol boat. those who support migrants say they should not be demonised. a small number want to come here because maybe there is a community they wish to join or because they already have english as a language. but many more migrants and people seeking asylum are going to countries like germany. the national crime agency blames traffickers, organised criminals with a complete lack of regard for human life. it insists that by working with the french, a good number of crossings have been prevented. but it warns that more of these types of attempts to reach the uk are likely. many believe that if they continue, it is only a matter of time before there is a tragedy. simonjones, bbc simon jones, bbc bbc simonjones, bbc bbc news. joining me is conservative mp for folkestone and hythe, damian collins.

thank you for talking to us. what is going on here? is it the problem of a lack of resources and boats controlling the channel? it is a consequence controlling the channel? it is a consequence of security being much tighter in france, around the channel tunnel and the calais port. people used to try and get into the port onto lorries and get into the country that way. that has become much harder and we have had mild weather with full moons that makes the crossing easier, having said that, the crossing is very dangerous and we can see people are taking desperate risks to get into the country. are hearing only one of the five boats that should be patrolling that area are in action. women to look at what is patrolling the water. we are good at vessels that are approaching the uk and either exporting them in or having

authorities waiting whilst they land. it is the busiest shipping lane in the world and is closely monitored. what i don't understand is why we're not doing more to stop leaving france in the first place. in the past we have worked very closely with the french authorities andi closely with the french authorities and i would welcome a statement about what we're doing now with the french to identify suspicious activity and behaviour of people preparing to launch small crafts in the channel. have we got the right policy? we're hearing the concerns that if these people are confident they will be picked up and brought to the uk where they can claim asylu m to the uk where they can claim asylum that that would increase the likelihood of others taking that risk. but clearly you have very vulnerable people in small boats in a very busy shipping lane. we must remember the french take a very different view about boats in the mediterranean. they will often take back boats and saying they should go

to other countries. are you saying we should be doing that? we have to try and close this route because it is very dangerous what people are doing. there is a real risk they will lose their lives particularly in the winter months. we need to make it clear to migrants and gangs that if you try to do this you will be detected early, as you were preparing to leave or in the water, you will be returned to france. we should work with the french authorities to police that and make that happen. i don't understand why these people are not in the asylum system already. it is not always the case they just want to get to the uk. i visited the calais jungle when that was fully operational and often people there were just waiting to have their claims processed by the french authorities but were not being dealt with. we need to work with the french authorities to see if these people have a special claim to come to the uk and in which case we can process that. but what we

have to stop is these people crossing the channel in small boats. we are hearing that some traffickers are saying to these vulnerable people get into the uk before brexit. will brexit make it more difficult to detect these people? will it make the cooperation with the french more difficult? we need to work together whether inside or outside of the eu on these matters. i don't think brexit creates a moment in time when things get a radically harder. we should be being robust about this now. if there is more chaos and disruption at ports does that make it easier for people to get into the country? this sort of activity of crossing in small boats is very different to the problems we have had in the past with people breaking into lorries and getting access to boats and ferries or the channel tunnel. this isa ferries or the channel tunnel. this is a much more specific problem and it has partly come about because of the mild weather. you might expect a

spike in this activity before the start of winter as people try to make the crossing before it becomes too dangerous and usually we have seen it continue through winter as well. i don't think brexit should be seen as a reason for this. it is partly a consequence of the security being much tighter around ports as it was in the past and desperate people taking desperate measures. we need to identify these people, where they are in france and discover these plans and networks before they are put in operations and processing their claims are put in operations and processing theirclaims in are put in operations and processing their claims in france rather than picking people out of the water in the channel. thank you very much indeed forjoining us. a ship carrying more than 300 migrants has arrived in southern spain. the open arms vessel, run by a migrant rescue charity, has docked in the city of algeciras near gibraltar, after being turned away by both malta and italy. its passengers have been on board since being rescued off the coast of libya a week ago. they'll be provided with food, clothes and medical assistance before being moved to shelters. a man has been arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences,

after arriving on an inbound flight at luton airport. the 32—year—old is in custody at a bedfordshire police station on suspicion of preparing acts of terrorism. police say his arrest is syria—related, and not to do with any offences at luton airport. the investigation is being led by the metropolitan police's counter terror command. the government is to spend £10 million installing landline phones in prisoners' cells. the scheme, which aims to cut violence and re—offending rates, will be extended from 20 jails across england and wales to 50 by early 2020. john mcmanus reports. for years, the authorities have struggled to stop illicit mobile phones making their way into prisons. along with drugs, they are big business behind bars because they allow some offenders to maintain contact with criminal associates. some gangs have resorted to using drones to deliver

them over prison walls. stamping out their use has been a priority. hello. but now, the government says that thousands of prisoners will in future be able to make calls on landlines from their own cells. the scheme has already been tried at 20 prisons in england and wales, like here at 0akwood prison. that number will rise to 50 by march 2020. the government says it is vital that prisoners maintain contact with those most able to support their rehabilitation — theirfamilies. one of the things that helps reduce reoffending is maintaining family ties. i think it is really important that we allow prisoners the opportunity to maintain those family ties, maintain links with their loved ones, because, when they are released, those relationships are going to be really important in keeping them on the straight and narrow. but the idea of making prison life more comfortable has been criticised by the conservative mp and former shadow home affairs minister

andrew rossindell will, who tweeted he thought the idea of being sent to jail was to punish criminals and take away their freedom and creature comforts. his comments, though, have been challenged by the prison governors association. we would disagree with prison being a place of punishment. the fact that you are sent to prison is the punishment. we shouldn't further punish people whilst in prison. 0ur role is to reduce reoffending, so that when they go back into the community, they are able to integrate and there is less chance of them reoffending. the authorities say that prisoners will only be able to call a few approved numbers and conversations can be monitored at any time. it's hoped that violence within prisons will also fall — a problem the government has been struggling with. john mcmanus, bbc news. let's speak now to glyn travis — who is assistant general secretary of the prison officers association — which has 35,000 members working across the country.

thank you very much indeed for joining us. do you accept the government's argument that giving prisoners access to a phone will help prisoners and cut reoffending. we welcome the initiative. this is nothing new. it has been trialled already. the use of a landline phones in prisons has helped improve rehabilitation. we have some reservations over whether this project will be expanded and the cost of that. one moment they are saying it will be 10 million, maybe up saying it will be 10 million, maybe up to £17 million. before we start to introduce land lines we need to get basic facilities improved for prisoners. in many prisons across the estate we can't provide them with toilet rolls, clean socks and

underpants due to the chronic shortfalls in basic hygiene needs. we are hearing that the calls will be monitored but already we are hearing from campaigners for the rights of victims that it will have to be very strictly monitored to ensure that prisoners are not intimidating or harassing witnesses or victims. is there a danger that that will be an additional burden on your members? it shouldn't be an additional burden but what we do need to ensure is that the systems are robustly checked and monitored. prisoners will only be allowed to die or approved numbers so we should be able to minimise the risk. the problem is that are associated with any problem is that are associated with a ny co nta ct problem is that are associated with any contact with the outside world with prisoners is obviously asking people to do illegal activities which may include intimidating witnesses. there is always a potential risk but that risk should be minimalfor the potential risk but that risk should be minimal for the public. potential risk but that risk should

be minimalfor the public. we also have concerns over that if you have no contact to family outside that contacts no contact to family outside that co nta cts ca n no contact to family outside that contacts can become unwarranted and may jeopardise contacts can become unwarranted and mayjeopardise family contacts can become unwarranted and may jeopardise family ties. so they has to be a balance and some checks that need to be made to ensure that the system is fit for purpose. what about the concerns that have been raised by some mps that this makes the idea of being in prison sound like a softer option, unless other deterrents? prison is the last option for the public. people are only sent to prison once the judiciary determines that they have lost trust in that individual and a custodial sentence is the only resort to protect the public. when a prisoner is sent to prison we are not there to punish those individuals. 0ur role is to rehabilitate to ensure that we have got sufficient staff on wings and residential units to engage with

prisoners in purposeful activity and try and ensure that they lead normal lives when they come out. the introduction of telephones in cells may assist this. but we don't know if present landlines and will reduce violence or the current number of mobile phones currently in prison. so you have to ask whether this £70 million will be value for money in the long—term for the government and the long—term for the government and the taxpayer. thank you much indeed for joining the taxpayer. thank you much indeed forjoining us this morning. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. 0le gunnar solksjaer is urging romelu lukaku and alexis sanchez to follow the example of paul pogba and step up their performances for manchester united. both players have struggled for form this season and their new caretaker manager couldn't say if either will go straight back into the side once they're fit. united host bournemouth on sunday.

i cannot do anything for their performances on the pitch. paul has done it himself, the players have done the performances. my chats with anthony, romelu, alexis, they'd not felt they could produce the best football. i am here to guide them, help them on the path and it's up to them to do it on the pitch. staying with the premier league, and west ham moved into ninth position after coming from behind to beat southampton at st mary's. felipe anderson was the star for the hammers. after southampton took the lead, the brazilian scored from outside the box just two minutes later. west ham's most expensive signing really starting to show his worth... and if you thought that one was good, well his second wasn't bad either. an eigth goal of the season smashing the hammers into the top ten. and former arsenal chairman peter hill—wood, who presided over the appointments of george graham and arsene wenger, has died at the age of 82.

he became chairman in 1982 and was instrumental in the move from highbury to the emirates stadium. he stepped down from the role five years ago because of ill health. india are edging towards victory in the third test down under, despite a late fight back by australia. they're leading by 346 runs with two days to go. pat cummins has given the hosts a faint hope of a comeback after they were bowled out for 151. he took four quick wickets, including india's captain virat kohli for a duck, as the tourists ended the day on 54—5. the series is currently tied at 1—1 with just the sydney test to go next week. tournament favourite michael van gerwen is through to the quarter—finals of the pdc world darts championship. he beat adrian lewis by four sets to one at alexandra palace. also through to the last eight is gary anderson, who came through a final set decider against chris dobey. and finally, andy murray has arrived in australia where he's due to play

in the brisbane international as part of the build—up to the australian open — though he says he's still suffering from a long—standing hip problem. you can find more about the tennis and other sport stories the bbc sport website. that's bbc.co.uk/sport i will be back with more in the next hour. more than half a million potholes were reported to local councils in england, scotland and wales last year, according to the rac. it's calling on the government to spend money raised from fuel duty on tackling the problem. the department for transport says local councils have been given an extra £420 million pounds for road maintenance. simon williams is the breakdown spokesperson for the rac and hejoins me now from our bristol studio. thank you very much forjoining me. how serious a problem is this

causing? this is a very serious problem both from a vehicle damage point of view and also from a road safety point of view. every pothole if you hit it at speed you will cause damage to your vehicle. shock absorbers suspension and also distorted wheels and tyres. from a road safety point of view, if you are on two wheels, a motorcyclist cyclist, you could be thrown off your bike and all kinds of injuries could take place. 0r your bike and all kinds of injuries could take place. or so motorists steering to avoid potholes could cause accidents as well. councils have this extra money, should they use that to do the repairs? councils need to be given a long—term certainty of funding so they can carry out proper road maintenance over a period of time. we have had lots of difficult decisions to make from a council point of view. due to

austerity. they haven't spent as much as that discretionary spend on fixing the roads. what we have had is lots of short—term maintenance, fixing potholes temporarily and leaving them rather than fixing them permanently or resurfacing the road and that is causing problems for motorists around the country. people might think that with local authorities under pressure to provide help for elderly people, children's services and so on, potholes in comparison are a less significant issue. i think it is very difficult to disagree with that and that is why we are in the situation we are in. we are calling on the government to give councils long—term certainty of funding and we think that could happen through full fuel duty. the one—off cost of fixing the roads is £9.3 billion for england and wales. if we were to

ta ke england and wales. if we were to take just england and wales. if we were to takejust a england and wales. if we were to take just a small amount of fuel duty over a period of five to ten yea rs we duty over a period of five to ten years we could easily raise that. fuel duty creates over £20 billion a yearfor fuel duty creates over £20 billion a year for the fuel duty creates over £20 billion a yearfor the government fuel duty creates over £20 billion a year for the government which is charged for every litre of petrol and diesel we buy at the pumps. surely more of that should be dedicated to local roads. funding from the vehicle tax from 2020 will be ring fenced for the funding of major roads. wejust be ring fenced for the funding of major roads. we just need the equivalent for local roads. what advice would you give to motorists knowing this is a big problem in many parts of the country? we would encourage everyone to go on to the rac website and report potholes that they see. councils are obliged to carry out their own inspections but you can only claim compensation from a pothole the council is aware of. the best thing of all would be for the council to fix the roads so they we re the council to fix the roads so they were fit for purpose so there is no need to claim compensation but in

the situation we are in it is very important that the potholes get reported. simon williams from the rac, thank you very much indeed for joining us. the united states coastguard has suspended its search for a missing british cruise ship entertainer. 20—year—old arron hough from sunderland was working on the harmony of the seas. he was last seen on deck during the early hours of christmas day, but the alarm wasn't raised until nearly 10 hours later when he failed to turn up for work. media reports in iceland say that a bridge where three british tourists died in a car accident yesterday, does not meet current safety standards. the car ca reered through a barrier on a single track steel bridge and fell on to a dry river bed below. four other british people in the vehicle were airlifted to hospital in the capital, reykjavik, with serious injuries. the number of illegal knives seized at the uk's borders has more than doubled in a year. official figures show officers took possesion of more than 7,600 blades during the 12 months to september. it comes as knife crime in england and wales reaches an eight year high.

a fisherman who fell overboard off the cornish coast clung onto his nets forfive miles before being rescued. the alarm was raised when the fishing boat crashed into the south pier in newlyn yesterday afternoon. the solo skipper was rescued by lifeboat and taken to hospital with severe hypothermia. coastguards say he had fallen overboard whilst repositioning nets some five miles offshore but was able to hang on to netting over the side as his boat steamed along on automatic pilot. the man is now recovering at home. police in new york have sought to reassure residents after a bright blue light illuminated the night sky over the city. officials have explained the glow was not an otherworldly phenomenon but was caused by a transformer explosion,