after being blackmailed by alexander mccartney. police say mccartney posed as a young girl on the messaging site snapchat to target thousands of children. the bbc uncovers evidence of how people—traffickers store dinghies in germany for migrants to cross the english channel. after grenfell, questions about the safety of another type of flammable cladding being used to build flats in britain. i plan on continuing until the wheels come off. and bruce springsteen talks to us about touring at the age of 75. and coming up on bbc news, a big day of international football with england facing their european championship final opponents germany at wembley tonight.

good evening. one of the world's most prolific online abusers, who drove one of his victims to take her own life, has been jailed for life at belfast crown court. alexander mccartney admitted 185 charges involving 70 children, although the court was told the number of victims is actually much higher. mccartney, who's 26, posed as a young girl in order to befriend girls on the instant messaging service snapchat, before going on to blackmail them. the judge said mccartney had used social media on an industrial scale to inflict catastrophic damage. this report from chris page contains distressing details.

cimarron thomas lived thousands of miles away from the abuser who caused her death. why? "why" was the biggest question. why? this was the sunday we took her home before her passing. she has bright red lipstick on, getting into that stage of her life, to be a teenager. she almost was. alexander mccartney was blackmailing cimarron. he had initially pretended to be a teenage girl to trick cimarron into sending him explicit pictures of herself. he went through the same sickening routine with 3500 victims, telling them he would post the photos publicly unless they carried out acts of abuse for his sexual gratification. three minutes after mccartney's last message to cimarron, the emergency services received this call. what happened? she fell? shot herself? yeah, get her to get rags, put pressure on that to control

the bleeding as much as you can. i need you to secure the firearm. is it close by? 18 months later, cimarron�*s father ben took his own life without knowing what had led to his daughter's suicide. police and prosecutors on both sides of the atlantic worked to bring the manslaughter charge. mccartney targeted victims across the world over five years. he ordered some girls to film themselves abusing other children. you had little girls, _ sort of an average age of 10—12 years old many times, being threatened in. the most depraved way. when he got that first i photograph from them, he actually had a preprepared threat saved in his phone, which he wouldl cut and paste into the chat. his offending was round—the—clock, you know, and it was difficult - to know when he actually did anything else. - a number of victims were in new zealand. 0ne father said his family

had been devastated. it all happened for my daughter within minutes. you know, as soon as that first photo was sent, a sequence of events was in motion that, you know, could never be undone. and he'd obviously honed his craft over, you know, a significant period of time, and as soon as he had that power, she was playing by his rules. mccartney is now facing justice with a life prison sentence. the judge said the full extent of mccartney's crimes put the case on a par with murder. he told the court he couldn't imagine a more dangerous sex offender. the detective leading the inquiry said there'd never been an investigation like it. his offending was on an industrial scale. mccartney's actions have directly caused the death of a child. he may as well have pulled the trigger himself. mccartney must serve at least 20 years before he can apply for early release. the online killer is one of the most prolific child abusers ever to be convicted.

chris page, bbc news, belfast. 0ur correspondent angus crawford, who has reported extensively on child safety online, is with me — angus, what can social media companies do to stop this? i think this is a truly horrific case but it raises two really important issues. the first is, we must remember that mccartney's offences took place between 2013 and 2019, a time where it was the wild west on social media with no guard rails at all. anyone could set up an account, children's accounts were public by default, anyone could try to be their friends, public by default, anyone could try to be theirfriends, and he ruthlessly exploited those vulnerabilities. but thejudicial vulnerabilities. but the judicial land vulnerabilities. but thejudicial land state is different now. it is safer. —— digital landscape. this year, instagram and snapchat announced major changes to the platform is to protect children.

todayis platform is to protect children. today is the year anniversary of the passage of the online safety act in the uk. secondly, and possibly even more important, it's time for our national conversation, for parents, carers, guardians, it's time to talk to your children about this kind of issue, so called cat fishing. for young people, vitalfor them to remember that should they become victims of this online extortion, this bullion, it's a crime, it's not their fault. this bullion, it's a crime, it's not theirfault. they this bullion, it's a crime, it's not their fault. they are the victims of this. and finally, nothing is so embarrassing that it is worth taking your life over. embarrassing that it is worth taking your life over-— your life over. angus, thank you. anaus your life over. angus, thank you. angus crawford. _ if you've been affected by any of the issues raised, details of organisations which can offer support are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline. the bbc has uncovered how people are storing boats in germany which are used to move migrants from france to england. during covert filming, smugglers revealed that they store the vessels in multiple secret warehouses as they play cat—and—mouse games

with german police. this year as the deadly so far from migrant channel crossings. 0ur berlin correspondentjessica parker has this exclusive report. essen, west germany, a place many migrants come to or pass through. it's here ourjournalist is posing as a syrian man who wants to get to britain on a small boat. wearing a secret camera, he meets this man, a boat smuggler who says his name is abu sahar. these are videos from abu sahar — motors, dinghies for use in migrant crossings. this one, he's suggested, is being stored nearby, somewhere around essen, ready for the right price. they end up at a cafe. it's becoming clear someone else is coming. months of groundwork have led up to this moment.

0ur guy is just a couple of streets away, having a meeting with his contact. we've got a tracker on him. we're parked up here. we don't want to get too close. that could compromise things, but we've got to be close enough in case there's a problem and we have to get him out of there. they'rejoined by a man known as al hal — the uncle — a term of authority. due to strict german law, we can't record the sound of the meeting. so, right after, ourjournalist describes to me what happened. they tell me the equipment comes from turkey. they have about ten warehouses around essen. police raided one a few days ago, but they separate their stock and give bait to police. as our investigation shows, smugglers are moving boats from turkey into germany, now a central location for storing dinghies later used in channel crossings. because cities like essen

are near, but not too near, the calais region's more closely watched beaches, while, under german law, helping to smuggle people out of the eu to a third country like the uk isn't technically illegal, though raids have happened using european arrest warrants. back at the cafe, it's down to business. the smuggler says one option. "i can get you a boat. you will pay me 15,000 euros. you will get the boat with 60 life jackets and all the equipment. guaranteed delivery to the calais area." this testimony is backed up by videos, messages and voice notes from the smugglers. in various exchanges, the main contact, abu sahar, even discusses the merits of certain engine models and known migrant crossing points. 0n the beaches of north—eastern france, dawn breaks. responding to our report, downing street said enforcement must be stepped up.

the german government said close cooperation will continue, but the remnants of failed, even fatal crossing attempts still litter these shores as smugglers make big money from this misery. jessica parker, bbc news. an inquest into the death of three teenagers in south wales in the run up to the budget next week, the prime minister has been coming under pressure to define who fits the definition of �*a working person', because labour's election manifesto promised that a labour government wouldn't increase taxes on working people. let's talk to hannah miller at westminster. what's been said today? that phrase, no tax rises for working people, was very politically useful for labour during the general election. a lot of people might reasonably have heard it and thought that that meant for them there would not be any tax rises. it now appears, though, that the definition has narrowed quite significantly. keir starmer said that when he talks

about working people, he means people who go out, earn a monthly pay cheque but don't necessarily have huge amounts of money in the bank if they or their family get into difficulties, or there is something unexpected that they need to pay for. they might have some savings but not a huge amount. now, those are the people he says he has in his mind's eye when he is making decisions, the people he wants to protect. and he also suggested that he doesn't want to necessarily include people who get their income from assets. there was a sentiment there, and it tells us something about who the government is thinking about, the choices it is likely to make, who it sees itself as standing for. the rates of income tax, the national insurance that employees paid, and vat, are still not expected to go up. but it is likely, from what we are hearing, it points to the sense that there are a lot of

people that might find that they end “p people that might find that they end up paying a lot more tax.— up paying a lot more tax. hannah miller, thanks — up paying a lot more tax. hannah miller, thanks for _ up paying a lot more tax. hannah miller, thanks for now. _ bbc news wants to include you in our coverage of the budget. we'd like to know what you want to hear from the chancellor and which issues you'd like explaining. you can get in touch with us through the bbc news website, via email and on whatsapp. a man who stabbed an asylum seeker in the chest has been found guilty of attempted murder. leicester crown court heard that callum parslow, who has adolf hitler's signature tattooed on his arm, attacked 25—year—old nahom hagos at a hotel in worcestershire. graham satchell reports. right, stay where you are! stay where you are, do not move. show me your hands now! hands now! april this year and west mercia police are about to arrest callum pa rslow. parslow has just attempted to murder an asylum seeker at a hotel nearby. bleep got blood all over his hands. what's with all the money?

that's all my cash that i'm - going to take with me to prison. the attack happened at this hotel in worcester, which housed asylum seekers. 0ne cctv, parslow can be seen approaching a man having lunch. there is a conversation in a corridor, where parslow asks the man where he's from. moments later, he returns to the dining area and pulls out a knife. in the attack that follows, nahom hagos, an eritrean national who had been given leave to remain, in the chest but survives. he's obviously a very, very dangerous individual, not only because obviously of the offence that has occurred in terms of the intention to kill someone, and stabbing the victim twice with a knife, but also, it is premeditated, and there is some really careful planning that went into this attack. at his home, police found a swastika and other nazi memorabilia. parslow had tattooed on his forearm of adolf hitler's signature. in court, parslow claimed he was angry at the number of migrants crossing the channel but hadn't

intended to kill anyone. but he had written a manifesto where he said, i am but a gardener who tended to the great garden of england. i removed the weeds, i exterminated the harmful, invasive species. this selfie with parslow performing a nazi salute was found on his phone. parslow will be sentenced in january. graham satchell, bbc news. the time is 6:14. our top story this evening: one of the world's most prolific online child abusers is jailed for life, after one of his victims took her own life. and coming up: created in a lab — how new environmentally friendly materials are being developed. coming up on bbc news, wickets tumble in rawalpindi, and it's not to england's liking as they struggle to stay in the third and deciding test against pakistan at the end of day two.

this is a fire test in australia for a type of cladding called eps — it's banned there, but is widely used on flats in the uk. developers here say it meets safety standards because it's installed with fire breaks to contain any blaze. but the bbc has learned that inspections in the wake of the grenfell tower tragedy are discovering buildings where fire breaks haven't been installed properly — or are missing completely. phil hendry reports. this is a fire test carried out in australia for a cladding product. it's rendered eps. if they saw what was underneath the concrete render, most people would be fairly horrified. jesus. bleep. sorry, language. we've shown it to residents... it hasn't resisted anything. it's it hasn't resisted anything. “hust— it hasn't resisted anything. it'sjust gone up. it's just gone up. and _ it'sjust gone up. ..and an expert. this is richard hull, a professor of chemistry and fire science.

it's expanded polystyrene. it's expanded polystyrene. it burns more easily than the insulation that was on grenfell. you get this sooty flame, a lot of black smoke and a lot of that smoke is carcinogenic. so people who escape from a fire might then get cancer years later. the molten polystyrene... after failing this fire test, eps was banned in australia on new buildings over two storeys and removed from older ones. here in the uk, the construction industry says that test is unrepresentative because on tower blocks like these in south london, eps is fitted with firebreaks of non—flammable material between the floors, to inhibit flame spread. that's the theory. in practice, post—grenfell checks, including here, have found the fire breaks poorly fitted or missing altogether. george boyd has lived here for 20 years. that's like a fire lighter when you're starting a barbecue, except it's no sausages,

it's except it's no sausages, its people inside these buildings. your walls are lethal. i feel angry now, but ifeel angry now, but i'm also i feel angry now, but i'm also terrified. they must start to understand that this is really dangerous for us. the developer barratt has agreed to replace all the exterior walls at a cost of £13 million. so, behind the cement render, this is what the polystyrene looks like. and while it's been removed from these high—rise blocks, it remains the preferred method of insulating thousands of low—rise blocks of flats across britain. residents of this unassuming block of flats in macclesfield got a government grant to retrofit eps to improve its energy efficiency. but after grenfell, insurers consider it such a fire risk, the building's insurance has recently gone up from £2000 to £22,000 a year. this was a government scheme. it seems ludicrous that they're pushing this cost at us.

you can tell it's not concrete. sandra's and the other flats are leasehold and managed byjulianjones. and managed byjulian jones. this and managed byjulianjones. this product is still being fitted _ this product is still being fitted to buildings up and _ fitted to buildings up and down the country. the _ and down the country. the blocks might be uninsurable. i knew _ the blocks might be uninsurable. i knew it — the blocks might be uninsurable. i knew it was still being offered for sale, — i knew it was still being offered for sale, but to see it on the front pages _ for sale, but to see it on the front pages of— for sale, but to see it on the front pages of all— for sale, but to see it on the front pages of all these people that are offering eco grants, there _ are offering eco grants, there is_ are offering eco grants, there is not a single word on any of those — there is not a single word on any of those websites that state that this product is classified as a cladding. the _ classified as a cladding. the ministry of housing says they expect insurance premiums where eps is correctly installed to be priced appropriately. they told me: although eps cladding systems can meet current uk safety standards, ministers expect fire inspectors to properly assess if they've been installed to the required standards. phil hendry, bbc news.

next weekend, we'll find out who's been elected the next leader of the conservative party. whether kemi badenoch or robertjenrick is victorious, their challenge will be to persuade former tory supporters, who didn't vote for the party injuly�*s general election, to return. 0ur political correspondent alex forsyth has been to cornwall to assess the mood among party members. cornwall used to be a sea of blue in political terms, but the conservatives were wiped out here at the election, losing every mp. as they attempt to resurface with a new leader, there's one key question — which direction to head in. my first vote was for the brexit party. i really do get some of the concerns they have. ben worked for the former conservative mp here in st austell. he says people turning from the tories to reform uk was a factor in them losing to labour, but it shouldn't dictate where the party goes now. i don't think it's a case of leaning one way or further to the right or further to the left. i think it's coming back to common sense conservative values and, you know, even from,

you know, family values to, to lower taxation, to supporting the most vulnerable in society. i really think that's how we start to win back voters, particularly in this seat, and right across the country as well. across cornwall, the conservatives lost four seats to labour and two to the lib dems. and across the board, reform uk picked up votes, which poses a bit of a dilemma for the new leader. this place really highlights the challenge facing kemi badenoch or robertjenrick. this seat, north cornwall, is now held by the liberal democrats, but down the coast, the seat right next door is now held by labour, in part because voters switched to reform uk. so how does the new leader appeal to voters that turned away from them to parties with very different political perspectives? jenny and barry are both conservative councillors who've lived here for decades and know the complexities of this county. i think we have to face up to the fact that we lost a huge amount of our voters to reform, and we need to get those voters back. we need to show them that we will do

what they want us to do. how do you manage that, then, in a place like this, where the liberal democrats ended up winning the seat? well, the liberal democrats didn't win the seat. we gave it to them. we need to get back to basics — what the conservatives' values are — and that is the most important thing, whether it's a little bit to the right, a little bit to the left, straight down the middle, doesn't matter. we've got to incorporate all of that. kemi badenoch and robertjenrick, a lot of people say they are on the right of the conservative party. i don't think it's about being right. it's about being positive and about conservative values. in south east cornwall, nick and richard are among the members currently casting ballots in this contest, but whoever wins will soon have to turn their pitch from the party to people in the country. they're looking for people to take charge and reduce immigration and stop the boats, and reform have a very strong story for that. and whoever gets into the leadership position is going to have to come up with a new plan that will tackle that.

i'm nervous aboutjust chasing these reform votes. i don't think that's the answer. you're going to lose a whole load of other voters in the centre of the party to labour or lib dems. so uniting party members and appealing to voters, here and elsewhere, it might not be smooth sailing for the new conservative leader. alex forsyth, bbc news cornwall. an inquest into the death of three teenagers in south wales has heard that the car they were travelling in split in half when it crashed last december. the car was being driven by 18—year—old jesse 0wen, who was over the legal alcohol limit. the coroner recorded a conclusion of death by collision in all three cases. a man has admitted burning down a ukrainian—owned warehouse in east london in march

on behalf of russia. the blaze took 60 firefighters to bring it under control. 20—year—old dylan earl pleaded guilty to breaching the national security act and aggravated arson, but not guilty of assisting a foreign intelligence service. the prosecution said it wouldn't proceed with that charge. the king has told commonwealth leaders that "none of us can change the past" but countries could commit to learning from history. the king was speaking at the formal opening of a summit in samoa, where there's already been considerable focus on whether the uk should pay reparations for its role in the slave trade. none of us can change the past, but we can commit with all our hearts to learning its lessons, and to finding creative ways to right inequalities that endure. this might look like a regular handbag — but it was actually created in a lab. and that makes it more sustainable. this has been produced through what's called engineering biology — which it's hoped can be used to make an increasing

number of everyday items. 0ur science correspondent pallab ghosh has been finding out more. a designer handbag made with bacteria. they grow in a dish to produce this, which is a bit like wood pulp but much stronger. it's processed and dyed to create a material that looks and feels like expensive leather. and because it's not made from cows, it's much better for the environment. what we're looking for is terrific jobs making products that will be much less polluting and much more sustainable than their current equivalents, that will generate greatjobs, good environments, and prosperity. does this excite you? i think it does. yes, it does, it does. it really excites me because i feel like, um, i feel like we are seeing the beginning of a big revolution. researchers in bedfordshire

are using engineering biology

it is 60 years since he played his first gig in a small club. since then, he has sold 140 million albums and has sold out stadiums across the world. now for the first time, he has allowed a documentary team to film his preparations for going on the road again. at the age of 75. our correspondent has been to meet 0ur correspondent has been to meet him. why this term in particular to invoke amazon?— him. why this term in particular to invoke amazon? because i could be dead by the — invoke amazon? because i could be dead by the next _ invoke amazon? because i could be dead by the next one. _ invoke amazon? because i could be dead by the next one. let's - invoke amazon? because i could be dead by the next one. let's hope i dead by the next one. let's hope not. i'm 75 years old. if i wait ten years, i've decided i'm waiting to do things in that part of my life is over. they are grateful for having

this music. and you lost your voice at the end of it. yeah. what makes you keep going in conditions like that? well, i'm there to have a good time. i'm going to insist on it, whether it's raining or sunshining or whatever, because i'm there for the people that are there. it sounds corny, but you have to love your audience, you know? for the most part, i've never found that hard to do. in the documentary, springsteen is seen coming to terms with the idea of his own mortality, and it's revealed that his wife and band—mate, patti scialfa, was diagnosed with cancer in 2018. how is she doing? she's doing well. we caught it early. she's having a tough time at the moment because she needs to have a shoulder replaced and a hip replaced also.

we've been married for 34 years, and i love her to death. # no, i'm a man...# last night, springsteen appeared at a rally in atlanta to endorse vice president kamala harris as the next us president. how do you feel as the vote approaches? i think she's going to win. i tend to believe that there are still more americans than fewer who want to pay fealty to the constitution. # but tramps like us, baby, we were born to run...# but whatever happens in the election, springsteen says he has no plans to retire. i'm going to play until it makes sense. well, long may it continue. bruce, thank you so much for your time. thank you, my pleasure. bruce springsteen talking to mark savage there. we are edging up to the weekend, let's find out about the weekend, let's find out about the weather.

today was a mixed story. temperatures got very close to 20 celsius in the east. not bad at all for this point in october but for many other locations it was misty and murky with a little bit of rain around. you can see that from the swell of cloud on the satellite picture. instead of sweeping eastwards this low is going to retreat southwards as we head into the weekend. while we will see frontal systems pushing across the north of the uk, further south high pressure will start to exert its influence and sew across england and wales the weekend will often be dry and there will be quite a lot of sunshine. for scotland and northern ireland a different story, brisk winds and rain at times. now we have a band of rain pushing northwards. ahead of that parts of north—east england, scotland rather murky and misty at times but to the south of the band of rain this sky is clear. that will allow temperatures to drop overnight but it will also allow for

sunshine tomorrow morning. across the bulk of england and wales. the sunny start for scotland and northern ireland but it won't last. the band of rain will push in from the west with strengthening winds. parts of east anglia and the south here, an area of cloud will bring spots of rain at times but for many not a bad day. temperatures of 11 to 16 degrees, a touch above the average for this time of year. don't forget saturday night, the early hours of sunday morning, the clocks go back an hour. you get an extra hourin go back an hour. you get an extra hour in bed. pretty chilly as well on saturday night, sunday getting off to a cold start but sunny for many. 0nce off to a cold start but sunny for many. once again though if you are spending the day in northern ireland or western scotland you will see thickening cloud and rain. it will be feeling a little bit chilly around nine to 14 degrees. into next week, things looked largely dry. areas of mist and fog around at times, some signs that as we head towards the end of the week things might start to turn a little bit

colder from the north might start to turn a little bit colderfrom the north but might start to turn a little bit colder from the north but that is