this is bbc world news today. our top stories... this is bbc news. the indian pilot shot the headlines at eight. down and captured by pakistan is released — the government agrees to pay but will his safe return ease 33 million pounds to eurotunnel, to settle a lawsuit over extra ferry the tensions between the two nuclear neigbours over kashmir? services in the event the us offers a bounty of a ‘no—deal‘ brexit. of one million dollars for information about the son labour says the transport secretary, of the late al-qaeda chris grayling, must go. leader 0sma bin laden — saying he‘s a key figure he stumbles from catastrophe in the islamist militant group. to disaster, and it is just gross after months of checks and incompetence on an industrial scale. preparations on this robotic probe — scientists finally begin the first ever exploration below enough is enough and that this man the surface of mars. must be out of his post by monday. pakistan frees an indian fighter pilot, captured after his plane was shot down — amid rising tensions over kashmir. a man who gave his girlfriend hello and welcome drugs at a festival, and filmed her as she died, to world news today. has been jailed for eight and a half years. making landlords check tenants‘ immigration status, is ruled to be a breach of human rights.

and in half an hour here on bbc news — we hearfrom two men — who claim they were abused when they were children — by the singer michaeljackson. good evening. the government has been forced to pay 33 million pounds to eurotunnel, to settle a legal dispute over brexit contingency plans, in the event of ‘no deal‘. the department for transport had given ferry contracts to three companies, including one with no ships and no port. but eurotunnel said the process had been ‘secretive and flawed.‘ labour blames chris grayling, the transport secretary, who oversaw the contract process, and says he should resign. our business correspondent, joe miller sent this from the eurotunnel

terminal in folkestone. the department for transport has already had to walk away from one of its three no—deal brexit ferry contacts. but the government has now had to spend tens of millions of pounds to avoid a trial which would likely have uncovered how it went about awarding those lucrative deals in the first place. the beneficiary is at the company behind me, eurotunnel, which has now secured public funding to upgrade its facilities. remember this? the brexit contract for seaborne freight — a company with no ferries, based at a port which isn't ready. in order to make sure these ferries are still sailing after a no—deal brexit, the taxpayer is now facing a £33 million bill. rivals eurotunnel said they were unfairly treated and sued the department for transport over what it called a "secretive" approach to awarding

shipping contracts. the company, which has run ferries in the past, said it should have been considered as part of no—deal plans. labour says it's a disaster, calling on the transport secretary to resign. the country cannot afford chris grayling, he has got to go, for the credibility of our nation. and, my goodness me, the people working for him must be pulling their hair out. he stumbles from catastrophe to disaster and it's just gross incompetence on an industrial scale, enough is enough and this man has got to be out of his post by monday. chris grayling was nowhere to be seen: at his house, or his office, or his department today. but the government says its £33 million deal with eurotunnel was necessary to ensure vital medicines get through after brexit. the contracts and the ferries that are going to be available are critical for our contingency plans, so it's a good thing that the agreement

has been made today. sources close to the case say the government felt it was being held over a barrel by eurotunnel, and had it not settled, it could have faced seeing vital freight contracts cancelled and would have had to publicly justify why it only started no—deal planning late last year. today, the eurotunnel agreed it would spend some of the money on improving its terminalfacilities here in folkestone. but the scrutiny of mr grayling isn't over — his department will face an independent review and may yet be brought back to face the courts. joe miller, bbc news, folkestone. throughout the day on bbc news, we've been giving you, our viewers, the opportunity to contribute to our brexit coverage. we'll bring you a flavour of what's been happening at around 8.25. and you can find more information about today's events at the bbc, and on brexit

in, at bbc.co.uk/brexit. and you can find how brexit and many other stories are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:40 and 11:30 this evening in the papers — our guests joining me tonight are the deputy editor of the daily express, michael booker, and susie boniface, who's a columnist for the daily mirror. a man has beenjailed for eight and a half years, for the manslaughter of louella fletcher—michie, the daughter of the holby city actor, john michie. sion broughton supplied his girlfriend with drugs, then flimed her as she was dying, at the bestival music event in dorset in 2017. her family told winchester crown court, they'd been torn apart by her death, and their lives have been forever diminished. sarah campbell reports. wee!

louella, hours before her death. alongside her, her boyfriend, ceon. today, her mother described how the family's hearts and souls had been ripped out, her father said his daughter's life was cut cruelly short. regardless of the outcome of this harrowing trial, there were never going to be any winners. we began our life sentence on what would have been louella's 25th birthday. ceon's life sentence is knowing that he didn't help louella to live. the couple had travelled to bestival in dorset for her 25th birthday weekend. there, she took the drug 2cp, given to her by broughton, and suffered a fatal reaction to it. as she lay dying in this wooded area, broughton filmed her and failed to seek help until it was too late, despite the medical tent being just 400 metres away. sentencing him to 8.5 years,

the trialjudge said broughton had only been concerned for himself and didn't want to get arrested — at the time, he had a suspended sentence for possessing a knife. a statement read on broughton‘s behalf said... finally, an apology — but there can be little comfort for louella's grieving family. today, her sister told the court that she tries every single day to understand why ceon didn't help louella. sarah campbell, bbc news. after days of heightened tension, pakistan has released an indian fighter pilot whose plane was shot down on wednesday. wing commander abhinandan va rthaman was walked back over the border into india earlier. pakistan described the move as ‘gesture of peace‘. relations between india and pakistan, two nuclear powers, have plummeted in the last week. on tuesday, india carried out air strikes on what it said

was a militant camp in pakistan. the military action followed a suicide bombing that killed at least a0 indian troops in indian—administered kashmir in february. india and pakistan have fought three wars since 19117. all but one were over kashmir. from the india—pakistan border, rajini vaidya nathan sent this report. returning to india as a national hero. it was welcome home by crowds who gathered it in the apartment border with pakistan since the early morning. this comes out the back of a couple of weeks of high tensions between the nuclear neighbours in and pakistan. today there has been a real sense here our triumph and celebration and patriotism. wing commander abhinandan varthaman was ca ptu red commander abhinandan varthaman was captured after the fighter jets

commander abhinandan varthaman was captured after the fighterjets he was flying? down earlier this week. pakistan said he had violated their airspace. india says it was was running at the pakistani warplanes entered its territory. it is impossible to check the numbers of tanks. for decades, there have been tensions between the two neighbours. 0ver tensions between the two neighbours. over the disputed area of kashmir which both claim in its entirety. this recent military escalation following a suicide attack by a militant group based in pakistan. 0n the 14th of february. a0 militant group based in pakistan. 0n the 1ath of february. a0 indian soldiers were killed. in indian administered kashmir. india accuses pakistan of harbouring terror cells. today, at a rally ahead of upcoming elections, the countries prime minister take a tough stance. this is that any of that will return the damage done by terrorist he told the crowd. —— this is in india. for now, the nation attention is focused on their newly returned pilot. pakistan

said he was released as a gesture of peace. these two nuclear powers may have walked back from the brink of war, but peace here remains fragile. we can talk to our correspondent, anbarasan ethirajan, who‘s in delhi for us tonight. he is the hero, being described. how has the country been reacting? people have been celebrating since this evening after wing commander abhinandan varthaman walked across this border crossing in the state. and for the last two days, he has become the human face of this current face of tensions between india and pakistan. and the people have been praying and holding religious ceremonies for the last two days calling for his safe return and in many cities across india, people are bursting firecrackers and celebrating his release. it was a dramatic announcement by the pakistani prime minister. saying that they would voluntarily release

the wing commander because as a matter of good will gesture, they wa nted matter of good will gesture, they wanted to establish peace talks with the neighbouring india. he has become a national hero and celebrant leigh celebrity as a big relief or at the indian authorities. it was a bit of a human the thing event for them because they were the ones first who sent the fighter jets across pakistan to go and strike at what they describe as a militant camp. they never expected what are their own jets to be shut down. in their own jets to be shut down. in the pilot was captured and his release became the focal point of this current tension between india and pakistan. we heard in the report that a brief overview of the tensions between the two countries. what has been really interesting about what we saw over the last few daysis about what we saw over the last few days is how public opinion hasn‘t really ca m e days is how public opinion hasn‘t really came to before. —— has. the public opinion this what are this way. the whole thing started with

this attack on a military convoy in the india administered kashmir a few weeks ago. —— can suede this way are that way. that clearly triggered public anger within any get in the government was forced to act and the response came 12 days later when they sent about 12 jet fighters across pakistan to hit call it militant camp and they forget strike. but then pakistan was under pressure because the public wanted to show them how come the indian jets can come this far and hit targets insight pakistan so that pressure it was on the government and that is when we saw this aerial combat between pakistan and indian fighterjets combat between pakistan and indian fighter jets and one combat between pakistan and indian fighterjets and one of the jets we re fighterjets and one of the jets were shot down and the pilot was captured. now, the two governments are trying to take their own narrative to the people to influence public perception. the indian government says it was a diplomatic victory for them and put pressure on pakistan. in the international

community put pressure on pakistan and that is how the wing commander was a release. 0n the other side, the pakistan, not only for their own people and the outside world was to show it as a country which is offering dialogue and wants to establish peace with india and that is why they released the wing commander who was captured 60 hours ago. both countries are trying to give their own narrative so they can shape the public opinion. thank you for joining shape the public opinion. thank you forjoining us. the prosecutor‘s office in georgia, has told the bbc, it‘s received a request to extradite jack, the man convicted of killing a woman in a speedboat crash in 2015, on the river thames. shepherd handed himself in to police in georgia in january, after months on the run. 0ur moscow correspondent, steve rosenberg, has been given exclusive access, to the prison in the capital, where he‘s being held. 0n the edge of tblisi, this is penitentiary number eight. a high securityjail

with around 3000 prisoners. and one of them is british — jack shepherd. after months on the run, he is behind bars in georgia, pending extradition proceedings. we are the first foreign tv crew to be allowed inside the jail. what we are not allowed is any contact with shepherd, but this is jack shepherd‘s prison cell — room 101. he shares it with two other inmates. shepherd sleeps on this bed here. the prison authorities tell me that for security reasons, shepherd is under 2a—hour surveillance. jack shepherd surrendered to georgian police after ten months in hiding. he had fled britain to escape his trial for manslaughter. in his absence, he was sentenced to six years in prison for the death of charlotte brown.

she had been on a date with shepherd when his speedboat crashed on the river thames. today, georgian prosecutors confirmed to me that they have now received the official request from britain for shepherd to be sent home. how confident are you that jack shepherd will be extradited? i‘m very confident mr shepherd will be extradited to the uk. to this end, we will take every measure to convince the georgian judge that this person deserves to be extradited to the uk. the authorities say that jack shepherd could be gone from here within a month. but until extradition is approved, this is where jack shepherd will remain — on remand in penitentiary number eight, under lock and key, in a georgian jail. steve rosenberg, bbc news, tbilisi. the high court has ruled that part of the government‘s immigration policy, brought in when theresa may

was home secretary, is in breach of human rights legislation. the scheme, known as "right to, requires landlords in england to establish the immigration status of prospective tenants. judge martin spencer said the scheme had "little or no effect" on controlling immigration, and caused landlords to discriminate against potential tenants because of their nationality. let‘s speak now to lara ten caten who is a solicitor at liberty, an independent membership organisation that challenges injustice, defends freedom and campaigns to make sure everyone in the uk is treated fairly. what did you make of today pass ruling? fair? it was a fantastic ruling. the best feeling that we could have expected. we nowjust hope that the government will take heed of the ruling and will stop at the right to rinse game instead of just appealing which unfortunately

it appears they will do. it hasn't been scrapped entirely. no. it will continue. unless the government does the right thing. and stops it. what was the most the damaging aspect of this scheme because it seems that landlords were facing a hefty fine and of course people being effectively left homeless? yes, you imagine if you are a landlord, and have somebody who has a british passport, and somebody who has several other documents that the government said you could have come at which one would you choose? we all know the rental market is a truly hot, there are far more people looking for properties in the our properties, so that is why the judge said that it led landlords to discriminate because they went for the easiest tenant. people who were turned away as a result of this game, what alternatives were open to them? give us some case studies.

there was evidence heard. give us a flavour of what was heard. there are many people in charity for example who put evidence before the court. saying there were several people there were aware of who actually had there were aware of who actually had the right to rent, people from the wind rushing generation who were just left with nothing. it is unclear to some people who might have ended up on the streets orjust have ended up on the streets orjust have to stay with friends for a while but basically it would just com pletely while but basically it would just completely locked out of the rental market as a result. following on from the hearing today, as part of this evidence in the report that was submitted, there were some recommendations that were put forward by thejoint recommendations that were put forward by the joint council welfare forward by the joint council welfare for immigrants, a lot of it was towards educating landlords, do you think that is enough?” towards educating landlords, do you think that is enough? i don't think so. what thejudge basically think that is enough? i don't think so. what the judge basically said think that is enough? i don't think so. what thejudge basically said is

that this scheme causes discrimination. i cannot see a way and neither could the judge discrimination. i cannot see a way and neither could thejudge in which it could be made to operate in the fairway. thejudge was it could be made to operate in the fairway. the judge was so concerned about that over that he said that if the government shows to extend this game beyond england, it would still be this good minotaur because the same problems will be in place. that should still be a problem because. pa rt should still be a problem because. part of the 201a immigration act. isn‘t this particular scheme or more aspects of the act that organisations like like yourself are against in terms of what it does to immigrants because if you are a legal, then surely many people watching would say you should leave the country. yes. i'm sure there are some people who would say that but we need to think about which sort of country we want to live in. for example, last year, it was discovered that the government with sharing the data of patients with the home office for purposes of

immigration control. is that what we wa nt immigration control. is that what we want as a society? people going without treatment, there are now concerned for example of ron mri. what do people want. the people sincerely want migrants to stay away from health services? do they want migrants to be locked away from the rental market and therefore increase the homelessness problem ? rental market and therefore increase the homelessness problem? i don‘t think that is what people want. in fa ct, think that is what people want. in fact, thejudge said think that is what people want. in fact, the judge said that he thought that the mps who had debated and had passed the legislation did not foresee what the discrimination of this scheme would cause. and that was an important part of his reasoning. because the government just said no, we will issue guidance and everything will be ok. but the guidance of that did not work. thank you forjoining us. the headlines on bbc news... the government has been ordered to pay 33 million

pounds to eurotunnel —— in an agreement to settle a lawsuit, over extra ferry services in the event of a ‘no—deal‘ brexit. pakistan has freed an indian fighter pilot — captured after his plane was shot down in pakistan—administered kashmir. a man who gave his girlfriend drugs at a festival and filmed her as she died has beenjailed for 8 and a half years. sport now, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here‘s holly hamilton. hello. good evening.... at the european athletics championships in glasgow, katarina johnson—thompson has just finished competing in the long—jump — the penultimate event in the pentathlon, but it looks like a world record is now out

of reach after a no—jump in her final attempt on the runway. shejumped 6.53 in the second round, but would have needed around 6.80 for a world record. but she‘s still set to pick up that gold medal and is leading with 202 points, which means she‘ll have a buffer of around 13 seconds in the 800 metres. and laura muir was cheered on by a home crowd to win her 1500m heat in her first appearance of the championships — but she‘s not finished for the evening. the scot still has the 3000m final to run later on tonight. the final of the 1500m is on sunday evening. great britain‘s mark stewart missed out on a medal in the men‘s points race at the world track cycling championships. stewart — who won commonwealth games gold and took bronze in the event in 2018 — finished 8th. jan willem van schip of the netherlands took an emphatic gold with ireland‘s mark downey winning bronze scotland‘s women put in a confident performance but were beaten in their first match at the algarve cup as preparations continue for the summer‘s world cup.

they were under pressure for long periods but the only goal of the game came from the penalty spot in the 82nd minute... christine sinclair stepped up to sidefoot home after a foul by chloe arthur. scotland face iceland in their next game on monday. there is a big game going on this evening in the champioship. leed‘s could go top if they beat west brom at home. and they have started well — taking the lead after only 16 seconds, pablo hernandez the scorer. with patrick ba mford doubling their leading the last few minutes. work to do now for west brom — who are also chasing automatic promotion. new leicester manager brendan rogers has been speaking about the reasons by why he decided to leave celtic — with them top of the scottish premiership and still with a chance to win the treble treble — that is all three scottish domestic trophies three years on the trot — he says he understand celtic fan‘s frustration that he decided to leave for the premier league.

it all happened very quickly, i was presented with an opportunity that came to me, and of course, then, emotionally, you have to take the emotion out of the decision. and my decision was, after nearly three years, with everything we had achieved, the success we have had. i felt it was probably the time to move on to my next challenge. that‘s all the sport for now. i‘ll have more for you in sportsday at 10.30. thank you. has been completed, following the nerve agent attack on the former russian spy, sergei skripal, and his daughter yulia, almost exactly one year ago. military teams have spent 13,000 hours on the clean—up. wiltshire police said it was "an important landmark", but not the end

of the investigation. how has the salisbury property market been affected by the events of the past 12 months? dean speer is a chartered surveyor and works for an estate agent in salisbury. hejoins us from our southampton newsroom. thank you for speaking to us. how has it been, the property market over the last 12 months? good evening. clearly the events of a year ago were tragic for don sturges and her family year ago were tragic for don sturges and herfamily and life changing for the scribbles. but realistically, they have not had any significant impact on the local property market. still, a great place to live and work and people want to remain there. there was a report i think last year and this was following data from the land registry saying that there was a 10% drop. is that right. i don't think we have seen 10% of the result of what was

happening, there have been drops across the country. brexit is probably more a bigger impact on the property market then we saw at the events. in terms of interest from outside saulsberry, can you describe how that has been for us? from the outside world or in the property market? if people were looking to move into salsberry. what typical questions would you being asked and has there been an increase or a decrease in interest in the man?” don‘t think there‘s been any decrease in demand. it‘s always been a lovely place to work and live and still very attractive. the area affected around the back of was very small part of the city on the fringe of the city, so the majority of the city was completely unaffected by. i‘m sure the people who live in the immediate surrounding our pleas now that the clean—up has been completed on the house and they can‘t now move on the house and they can‘t now move on with their own lives and get on with things in the area. this is a significant statement that we fire

today from the police in terms of the clean—up. —— we heard. the investigation is still going on. but you cannot deny that there has been a negative impact on the image of salisbury. you put salisbury into google, the past it would‘ve been cathedral. now it is not a check. that is right. it had a big impact on things like visitor numbers and there was a fear around coming into there was a fear around coming into the city very early on but there has been tremendous work done by the council and other organisations in building that confidence back up and interestingly today, the city has seen a significant event with the business improvement district being re—balloting for another five years and getting a 90% approval rating, so things like that are really showing the city moving god. give us a quick example of how the council have been working to rebuild

confidence within salisbury for businesses and the property market. what sort of things have they done coachella the significant work going on at the moment with the council using government finance. to bring a new marketing initiatives to really put salisbury back on a positive fighting now. clearly it has become famous for the wrong reason so we need to remind people what is good about that. everybody knows we have about that. everybody knows we have a aoa foot tall asked by her and we really wa nt a aoa foot tall asked by her and we really want them to come see it. and the rest of our mediaeval city. —— aoa foot tall spire. the rest of our mediaeval city. —— 404 foot tall spire. thank you for your time. now a little earlier we told you about our special day of brexit coverage, all day bbc news, has been giving you, our viewers, the chance to contribute to, and shape, our brexit coverage across radio, online and tv. here are some of the highlights from the day. first of all, welcome to guests and members of the audience.

i feel i still don't know much about what's actually going to happen. if only we knew! i think the bbc should have been more positive on what we can get from the eu. i hope you guys have picked up a lot from it as well. we certainly have. i felt sometimes you were very biased with the presenters‘ opinions on brexit and things like that. but that‘s changed now. rachel is in the newsroom. rachel bergen... if there was one more thing you could say about the bbc's coverage you would like to see or a different kind of voice, what would it be? i think it would be really interesting for me to see where each and every fact comes from. let's not keep going to the businessman who is remain. i'm sorry, there's two sides to this. you are talking about positivity. where has the money gone and how has it been used?

the eu has put some money into this part of the world. out of this we are going to make some telly. plenty more online. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with stav danaos. hello there. after a quiet start to this week, things are set to turn very unsettled this weekend with spells of wind and rain and even a named storm on sunday. we have a band of rain spreading across the country tonight. it will ease down as it reaches eastern parts of the uk. behind it, something a little bit clearer and drier. but because there will be quite a bit of cloud cover, it should be another mild night. with a fairly mild start. into the weekend, spells of wind and rain, both saturday and on sunday, we have a named storm may be bringing some disruption to england and wales. but on saturday, this first storm will arrive across the northwest

corner of the country as the day wears on but we start off on plenty of sunshine but the winds will increase and the cloud will increase from the west, as this area of low pressure arrives and some heavy rain initially into northern ireland and then scotland and england and into wales. it will not arrive across the east until after dark but a gust of 50 to 60 miles an hour are likely. with him hello this is bbc news with lu kewsa burak. the headlines. the government has been ordered to pay 33 million pounds to eurotunnel, in an agreement to settle a lawsuit over extra ferry services in the event of a no—deal brexit. pakistan has freed an indian fighter pilot, captured after his plane was shot down in pakistan—administered kashmir. a man who gave his girlfriend drugs at a festival and filmed her as she died, has beenjailed for 8

and a half 5 years. the georgian authorities have been asked to extradite jack shepherd back to the uk, after he killed a woman in a speedboat crash on the river thames. this morning victoria derbyshire heard from two men, who claimed they were abused hundreds of times by the singer michaeljackson. wade robson and james safechuck who are now 36 and a0 are the two alleged victims of jackson at the centre of film maker dan reed s documentary leaving neverland which is being shown in the uk next week. the singer‘s family say there‘s not one piece of evidence to prove the claims made by the two men. also, to let you know, the interview we‘re about to show contains graphic content of a sexual nature, so if you are watching with young children or might find it upsetting or disturbing you may want to turn down the volume for the next 25 mins. thank you for talking to us wade and james,

i would like to ask you first of all why you have chosen to speak out now? for me, i couldn‘t do it any earlier time in my life. i wish that i could‘ve, you know? but there were a series of events in my life, most notably beginning with the birth of my son, which led to two nervous breakdowns. the second of which led to me disclosing the abuse from michaeljackson for the first time in my life. i had been keeping it silent for 22 or so years. once i begin that process of speaking out for the first time, into beginning the healing process, at some point in that healing process, this desire arose in me to try and take this horrible thing,

this bad thing that happened to me, and do something good with it. so the question for me was how could i find a way to tell the truth now, now that i can? to tell my story in a detailed way, that would help other survivors feel not so alone, to help others survivors stories feel validated. to raise awareness as to how abuse can and does happen. james, i can see you nodding there, what prompted your decision to speak out? sure, you know i was suffering for many years from symptoms, and i didn't know where they were coming from. hearing wade come out made me realise that there was a reason

for how i was feeling. that gave me hope and a sense that if you know what is causing it, then you can begin the path of doing something about it. so that's when i started reaching out to a therapist, and then after talking to the therapist i wanted to talk to wade, because i wanted to connect with someone who had been through what i had been there. that's what brought me into the court case, and i'm in the court case because i want to fight back for myself and for the little james, because nobody was there to fight for him. i'm old enough now to fight for him. my mother and father and sister got in for some group photo with michael, and then he and i took some shots alone.

i was in a full custom smooth criminal outfit. we showed him some tapes of dancing performances, things i‘d been doing over the last two years that he wanted to see. i think it was a friday, and he said you know, do you and the family, do you guys want to come to neverland for the weekend? what did you think about being two young boys brought into the private world the inner sanctum of michael jackson? yeah, so for me before i met michael i was already incredibly huge fan of michael‘s, i was obsessed with him. my walls were covered in images of michael my dance like him, i dressed like him, i had my hair permed and died to look like him. i wanted to be him.

i won a dance competition, and the prize was to meet michael, and then two years later, we met again, and that is when the relationship began and when the abuse began. before the abuse began, being brought into michael‘s world, being this little boy from the other side of the world and australia, being obsessed with this otherworldly figure, michaeljackson, and then meeting him, and then becoming his friend, him telling me he loved me, bringing me into his world, into neverland, which was you know, a place like no other, especially for a kid like me. it was just mind blowing, heart exploding, it was the most incredible thing that could‘ve ever happened to me, i thought.

then it, you know, the experience was, became something different than i ever could‘ve imagined. so we were like this married couple, i say married because we had this mock wedding ceremony, we did this in his bedroom, and we like filled out some vows, like we are bonded forever. it felt good, and the ring is nice. it has a row of diamonds with a gold band, the wedding ring. it's hard to go back to that moment. james, what was it like for you?

well, michael's the biggest star on earth, there weren't and haven't been stars like that, the whole world is in love with him. you're ten years old, and at that age, you are looking for attention yourself. so when the biggest star in the world starts to give you attention, and tells you that he loves you, and that your special, then the rest of the world is sort of reinforcing that michael is amazing, because everybody things he is. you are on tour, it's a surreal experience, and it's hard for a ten—year—old to process. the relationship changes over the years, the abuse starts to happen, and then it becomes more like a relationship between a couple. you both talk in the documentary in a very calm, low—key, way about some really shocking

and upsetting incidents of sexual abuse that you say you were subjected to at the hands michaeljackson. i wonder if i could ask you, if you would be comfortable talking to our audience about what happened, and how old you were, and over how many years this went on for? yeah so michael sexually abused me from the age of seven years old until 1a years old. the sexual abuse included, fondling, touching, my entire body, my penis. yeah, i was sexually abused from the age of ten until around ia, and the abuse was very similar to wade's. starts with him teaching

you how to masturbate, showing you this new thing that everybody does, and it will change your life. you start french kissing, he said i taught him how to do that. then oral sex starts, he also liked to have his nipples rubbed. yeah. he also attempted to penetrate me anally, i was 1a. it was one of the last sexual abuse experiences we had. could i bring in dan reed, the director of the film at this point, dan what do you think about the fact that james and wade have chosen to speak out together in this way? i mean, part of me is astonished that no one has made this film before.

cos it is so long since the abuse took place, and i thinkjackson had an entire career of having a little boys in his bed, and it seems to me astonishing that only now in 2019 we are really confronting this. i feel incredibly fortunate that wade and james have spoken out, so unflinchingly about what was done to them, and also it's unfolded, what the film is really about, the story of how they and their families came to terms with what had happened to them as little children. i think this is going to be, i mean it's obviously going to be big news for people who love michael's music, but i think it's also going to be an amazing inspiration for anyone out there who's been a victim of sexual abuse, or families who have been preyed upon by

predatory paedophiles. you include a lot of archive footage of both james and wade, alongside michaeljackson leaving hotels, getting into limos, going to neverland and so on. why do you think no adults at the time ever question this, ever thought it was odd or unusual? i'm astonished, i mean you know, this is significant that bothjames and wade mums were drawn into this abnormality. michael projected an image of childlike innocence, and made it kind of a peer routine that he should always have a little boy in his hand, and he spent night after night with little boys in his bed, different little boys. do you know how many times michael jackson abused you ? cou ntless. yeah, countless. there‘s no way to... every time i was with him, every sickle time i stayed the night

—— single. with him, he abused me. i think that was the same forjames. yeah, i mean, iwas with him alone for long periods of time, over many years, and it was constant. so that is hundreds and hundreds of times? mm hmm. yeah. you go from your normal lifestyle, day after day, everything‘s the same to this big star calling your house, wanting to come to your home and have dinner in your home, wanting to spend the night in your little house. he could be anywhere with anybody in the world, and michael wanted to be with our family. this was all so overwhelming, and like a fairy tale. and i got lost in it. i know my husband

got lost in it too. your mum‘s trusted him, broadly speaking your families trusted him. your mum‘s let you sleep in michaeljackson‘s bed with him. sometimes when your mum was sleeping next door. can you describe how michaeljackson got them to trust him like that? michael, you know, there is a long grooming process, where michael you know inserts himself into your family and becomes a part of your family, and you know, he grooms the children, and he grooms the parents as well. so, you know, it's a meticulous sort of build—up for him to be able to do that, and it takes him a while to build the trust, it doesn't happen overnight. so, you know, not, not letting our parents off, or saying that it's not their fault,

but i think people need to understand that this just doesn't happen right away. you know, the parents, and he's also a major star, they know him already as well. so there are years of them feeling comfortable with this star they have seen on tv. it's also kind of shows how you know, michael groomed the world as well. i think most of the time, the sexual abuser is not the scary guy in the van in the alleyway, of course that happens sometimes, but i think it‘s the minority of the case. most of the time it‘s the coach, the teacher, the uncle, the stepfather, the father, the mother, whoever, somebody who is absolutely trusted. 0r who has gained trust of the child first and foremost, and the whole family, and this was the case. michael made sure from day one that he had, of course, a very special relationship with me,

and then he made sure he had a really special separate relationship with my mother, and with my sister, and not my father. right from day one in an unnoticeable at the time way, he started driving this wedge between myself and my father, my mother and my father, so that it was just he was a master manipulator. yeah i agree, it doesn‘t let my mother off the hook, my gosh, i wish. especially as a parent now, and of course because of what i‘ve been through, i can‘t imagine all of the red flags not going off for me, i may not ever let my son, of course now, because i have been through this ever sleep in any other person‘s bed that i know even. yeah, she was also absolutely groomed and manipulated by michael. you use the phrase, that‘s not

to let her off the hook, and in the film you say you don‘t really have any feelings for your mum now. do you believe she bears partial responsibility for what you say happen to you? yeah, absolutely there is. there is absolutely responsibility at my mother‘s door. there‘s no denying that. you know, my relationship with my mother, thankfully is continuing to evolve, and we have been going through a lot of healing together, and a lot of honesty, and a lot of hard stuff. so that relationship is getting better every day. but there is responsability at my mother‘s door, there is response ability first and foremost at michael‘s door. the door of all the other people, all the other employees that were around michael and me and james, all the time. that looked the other way. i think to speak to that too,

you can correct me if i'm wrong, but you know michael, he does, he makes a wedge between you and your parents, and he isolates you from everybody else, and so, and then at the same time when you're being abused, part of you was dying. so you're not connecting with your mum is all of that sort of working together, so it's not like, it's not that you are blaming them, that's why you're disconnected, it's all of those, it's all of those different ingredients working together sort of pulling you away from the world, disconnect you from your parents, and you're starting to die. emotionally. so i think all that goes with it. one of the most poignant lines in the film is when wade tells his mother about the abuse, you know two decades later, and she turns to him and she's

in tears and she says how could you not have told me? and that is one of the most tragic lines in the film, because joy, wade's mama, trusted her son, because she had a very close relationship. to tell her if anything was wrong, and what the predator does is inserts himself into the relationship as a sort of parent figure, as a mental, and creates a deep attachment with the abuse victim, and that is what people don't understand. you know that the jackson estate have put out a statement in response to your film, denying your claims. i will read it in full. michaeljackson is our brother and our son, we are furious that the media, who without a shred of proof or single piece of physical evidence chose to believe the word of tubac admitted liars over the word of hundreds of family and friends around the world who spent time with michael. many at neverland, and experienced his legendary kindness and quibble generosity. we are proud of what

michaeljackson stands for, people have always loved to go after michael. he was an hazy target, because he was unique. he was subjected to a thorough investigation which included a surprise rate of neverland, and other properties, as well as a jury trial, when michael was found to be com pletely trial, when michael was found to be completely innocent, and that is in capital letters. there has never been one piece of proof of anything, yet the media is eager to believe these lies. michael always turned these lies. michael always turned the other cheek, and we have always turned the other cheek when people have gone after numbers of our family, that is the jackson way. we cannot just stand by whilst this public lynching goes on, in the vulture tweeters and others who never met michael go after him. michael is not here to defend himself, otherwise these allegations would not have been made. the creators of this film were not interested in the truth. they never interviewed a single solitary soul who knew michael, except the two perjurer jurors who knew michael, except the two perjurerjurors and their who knew michael, except the two perjurer jurors and their families. that‘s not journalism, perjurer jurors and their families. that‘s notjournalism, it‘s not fair, yet the media perpetuates the

stories. the truth is on our side. go do your research about these opportunists, the facts don‘t lie, people do. michaeljackson was and a lwa ys people do. michaeljackson was and always will be 100% innocent of these false allegations. wade, you defended michaeljackson twice in 1993, when you were 11, and then again in courts in 2005 when he was acquitted of sexual abuse charges. why did you tell the world than that he had done nothing to you? so from day one of michael sexually abusing me, he immediately started to tell me and train me on how to lie about what was happening between us. first, he would tell me that what this is, this sexual activity is because he and i love each other, and this is how we show our love.

then he would immediately follow that up with, but if anybody else in the world ever found out what we we re the world ever found out what we were doing, people are accurate, they wouldn‘t understand, and what would happen is, that you and i would happen is, that you and i would go to jailfor the rest would happen is, that you and i would go to jail for the rest of our lives, and our lives would fall apart. he and i would be pulled apart, all of this was terrifying to me, and so one, of course the idea of going to jail two, the idea of being pulled away from michael now, this man, this are otherworldly figure, this guide to me who had become my best friend, no way was i ever going to do anything that would pull me away from him. so, that training started day one, it continued all the way through, all through years and years, and when the first allegations popped up in 93, i was already ready for it, but

as soon as the allegations popped up, michael you know up to his training of me tenfold, and was calling every day, would coach me for hours as to what the cops are going to say, how they will try to do it, how they will try to break you down, they don‘t have anything. it is all lies, this is what you say, this is what you don‘t say, every day. so when the first cop showed up at my house, i was ready. i was ready to defend michael, and myself, because i was at that point, when i was 11, terrified that i would go to jail also for the rest of my life. that‘s what michael told me. anything michael told me was gospel me. anything michael told me was gospel. so i was ready to defend michael and myself to the end of the earth, andi michael and myself to the end of the earth, and i did that, and the only way, the way michael taught me to do that was to lie. this is the truth now. this is the truth. that michael sexually abused me for seven years.

the second case, the criminal trial in 2005 -- the second case, the criminal trial in 2005 —— trial, was a similar thing, i was terrified at the idea of people finding out what happened between michael and i, because michael always made me feel that i was complicit in it, that i wanted it just as was complicit in it, that i wanted itjust as much, if not more than him. so the idea of people finding this out, i was about to get married at the time, the idea of my wayfinding outcome i thought, i guess i was a freak too if that‘s what people thought michael was, than i would be a freak too, so maybe my wife would leave me, my career would fall apart, my life would fall apart. also, i still loved michael, and i was still ready to do anything i could to protect him. what hasn't been like for both of you to talk to each other, to connect with each other? when it premiered at sundance, we finally got to spend some you know, sometime together, and connect, and

it's indescribable. it's just sometime together, and connect, and it's indescribable. it'sjust like you're alone, and then you're not alone. you know? to finally, after you know whatever it‘s been, six years or so since we started this process with the case, to finally be able to talk, to be together for any length of time, there‘s just an unspoken leg, technically we don‘t know each other that well. we have not been around each other that much in our lives at all. but it‘s like i know you. deeper than a know anybody else in my life. because of what we share. what we unfortunately share, and also, what we share in healing, and beginning the healing process. writes, we understand what we are going through along the process. thank you all of you very much for talking to us, think of gentleman. and for talking to our audience, we really appreciate it. thank you. thank you. that was victoria derbyshire

talking to wade robson and james safechuck you can read more on that story, you can call for free at any time, to hear recorded information, that is the number on the screen. victoria derbyshire there talking to wade robinson, the leaving neverland documentary maker dan reid, and if you missed those numbers, or you wa nt to you missed those numbers, or you want to read more on the story, do head online, lots of other stories to read and catch up on bbc.co.uk/news now it‘s time for a look at the weather with stav danaos after a quiet start to this week things are set to turn very u nsettled things are set to turn very unsettled this week, with spells of wind and rain, and even a main storm on sunday. and of rain spreading

across the country tonight, it will use down as it reaches eastern parts of the uk, behind it, something a little bit clearer and drier. because there will be quite a bit of cloud cover, it should be another mild night, with a fairly mild start to saturday. into the weekend event, spells of wind and rain, both saturday and on sunday, we have got a main storm which is likely to bring the potential of some disruption to england and wales. 0n saturday, this first storm will arrive across the northwest corner of the country, as the day wears on. we start off on if i know with plenty of sunshine around, the winds will increase, the clouds will increase from the west, as this deep area of low pressure arrives and heavy rain reaching northern ireland and then into western scotland and western england and into wales. it wont arrive across the east until after dark. that‘s a 50—60 mph are likely.