the long road to old trafford starts in st helens.7 champions will be crowned. and you can find live commentary of st helens against leeds rhinos tonight on radio 5 live from 8pm. british sprinter james ellington says he‘s determined to race at the highest level again, despite being involved in a serious motorcycle accident last month. he‘ll undergo surgery at the princess grace hospital in london tomorrow, and faces three months in a wheelchair. it‘s the first time he‘s spoken in public since the crash, which happened on a sightseeing trip during a training camp in spainjust over three weeks ago. i was coming down a mountain, i saw headlights coming towards us in our lane. i think nigel tried to swerve, there was nowhere else to go into there was nowhere else to go into the big name. as we swerved the car went back into the lane and took us out. the crazy thing is, i didn‘t get knocked out. at the time i wa nted get knocked out. at the time i wanted to be knocked out, because when i was on the floor and there was blood everywhere, an

st helens with the slender victory but the optimism for the season ahead remains firmly intact.firmed that the roof will be open for the big six nations match between england and wales on saturday. that suits england, who asked for that to be the case. 0ur sports correspondent, joe wilson, spent the day at england's base. another training session for england as they look to stretch this winning run in cardiff over the weekend. another change in the starting line—up. jack clifford comes in to start in the back row in that area of the forward packis back row in that area of the forward pack is where england are so inexperienced in comparison to wales. 0ut inexperienced in comparison to wales. out on the wing, jack noble start this match. a key element of the preparation do is that england should not be daunted by that special cardiff atmosphere. england must indeed expect the unexpected. we are prepared to win, we are prepared for any shenanigans that might go on, and we are looking forward to it. it is a great opportunity. we were disappointed with how we played against france la

a new season of rugby league's superleague is underway, and in a tight game st helens just edged outs at castleford. and ronnie 0'sullivan is out of the world grand prix in preston after a 4—1 defeat by fellow former world champion neil robertson. robertson was then beaten in his quarter—final by barry hawkins. and heather watson has put great britain1—0 up in their final fed cup tie against turkey in tallinn. there's more sport after 10. thank you. it's all glitz and glamour on the red carpet this weekend as the awards season continues. sunday sees the grammy music awards in america and back in the uk, the stars of the silver screen are in town for the ee british academy film awards, or the baftas as they're known. the hollywood musical la la land is up for 11 gongs, but a much grittier british movie — i, daniel blake — is up for 5 awards. the film tells the story of a joiner called daniel blake, who needs help from the state for the first time ever following an illness. he crosses paths with a single mum katie and her two children who have moved 300 miles away as their only chance

coming up in sportsday on bbc news: find out if the leeds rhinos could hold onto the lead, and beat st helenst match of the new superleague season. good evening. record numbers of patients spent more than four hours in accident and emergency units in england in january, according to figures leaked to the bbc. during a difficult winter for the nhs, january seems to be the worst performing month in the past 13 years. the figures also suggest record numbers of people waited longer than 12 hours for a hospital bed, once they'd been seen. the doctors‘ union, the bma, has accused the government of failing to grasp the seriousness of the situation, as our health editor hugh pym reports. scenes like this on bbc news this week have highlighted the immense strain being felt across the nhs. here at royal blackburn hospital, rated as good by inspectors, some patients waited up to 13 hours in a&e. some had to sit on the floor. official figures have confirmed that it was the worst decemberfor waits since modern records began. today at hillingdon hospital in west london, things were a bit calmer, but manage

season is underway, with leeds rhinos trying to put their problems of last season behind them at st helens minutes in, both sides are feeling their way to the new season and have yet to score. in rugby union, there is potentially good news for the welsh team, head of their six nations match against england on saturday. george north has been named in that tea m george north has been named in that team for the match in cardiff. they are both hoping that he and fly—half dan biggar will be fully fit. two experienced players, the experienced players first, george in the wide channels, and dan, you know, through his experience and leadership. we are giving them every opportunity to be fit. england have also made two changes. harlequins flankerjack clifford, will make, just his second start, replacing tom wood who drops to the bench. clifford will be part of an inexperienced back row which will have a total ofjust 20 caps to its name. jack nowell also comes in. forjonny may on the wing. great britain play turkey in the fed cup tomorrow, looking to make it three wins out of three, in their round r

over in napa county, the sheriff's office sent out an alert saying st. helen is due to flooding.lot of people are getting used to all of this weather. >> it's wet. but it's great. it's what we needed. so i think it's a good thing. >> you're not sick of it yet? >> no. we barely get it. we haven't it for years. enjoy it while we've got it. >> a little annoying but you get used to it after a while. bundle up and go out. >> reporter: now, back in sonoma county, the rain and flooding is causing mudslides at sunset drive which is closed. mud, rocks and several large trees and power lines are covering the roadway. more trees at the top of the slide that may come crashing down. for that reason, crews are out assessing those areas and other places to make sure there's no threat to danger to people. state route 128 north of old redwood highway in santa rosa also closed in sonoma. windsor and santa rosa already got more than 14 inches of rain last month alone. it won't take much to cause any major issues. as you come back out here live, this is the major issue. this is a roadway where peopl

we can look at places like barnes speak, st helens, rutland, towards the end of last year they we reabinet office is driving a review with the relevant departments to find a sustainable solution which the labour party ducked for far too long. my question was whether they had been a special deal done for surrey. the leader said they had had many conversations with the government. we know they have because i have been leaked copies of text sent by the tory leader david hodge intended for somebody called mick, who works for ministers in the department for communities and local government. these text reads, "i am advised that dc lg officials have been working on a solution and you will be contacting me to agree a memorandum of understanding". will the government now publish this memorandum of understanding and, while they are about it, we'll all councils be offered the same deal? what we have given all councils is the opportunity to raise the 3% precept on the council tax for that to go into social care. he talks about understanding, what the labour party fails to understand... order! th

st albans crown court. ian stewart was accused of drugging his fiancee, helen bailey, with sleeping tablets prescribed to himf the home they shared in royston, hertfordshire. the jury has already heard that forensics experts could not be sure that she was dead when she was put in the pit. for four weeks, ian stewart has listened silently in the dock as the prosecution outlined the case against him. today he arrived at court knowing it would be his turn to speak. as he took the stand in his own defence, he was asked directly by his barrister, simon russell flint, "it is alleged you murdered helen bailey, did you do so?" "no," he replied. mr russell flint continued, "did you play any part in her death?" "no," he replied. mr stewart also denied fraud, preventing lawful burial, and lying to the police. ian stewart broke down several times while giving his evidence and had to be handed a box of tissues as he described the death of his wife diane in 2010. it was via an online forum for widows and widowers that he met helen bailey, whose husband had just had died. earlier the court had heard that late in 2015, hele

helen bailey before smothering her. earlier i spoke to our correspondent mike cartwright, who was in court at st albans when the sentencesaid that she was at the height of her success when you brought her life to a cruel end. and dumped her beloved boris and her any foul smelling cesspit. as you say she was worth around £3 million and he said he was not content to share the wealth is a husband, he wanted it all for himself he said. the judge told him it was difficult to imaginea judge told him it was difficult to imagine a more heinous crime to plan the premedication. he went to considerable lengths to cover the bodies and he said he had told callis lies. sitting in court behind me wasjamie, ian callis lies. sitting in court behind me was jamie, ian stewart's sun and yesterday well the verdicts were read out he did not look at his father at all. today he just sat there motionless and behind him was john bailey, helen bailey's brother. the two sat there listening to the comments. ian stewart applied —— life to his family and helen ba iley‘s life to his family and helen bailey's family and to the police. the family sittin

ian stewart, 56, spent weeks poisoning helen bailey before smothering her. 0ur correspondent mike cartwright was in court at stbe present while the sentencing took place but judge andrew bright directed his comments toward him anyway. he said that whilst alan bailey was excitedly planning your wedding, you we re excitedly planning your wedding, you were planning to kill her. he said she was at the height of her success when you brought her life to a cruel end and dumped her beloved red boris and her in a foul smelling cesspit. she was worth around £3 million and he said he wasn't content to share her wealth as a husband, he wanted it all to himself, he said. the judge told him it was difficult to imaginea judge told him it was difficult to imagine a more humorous crime. it took planning and premeditation. he went to considerable lengths to cover the bodies and said he told kalas lies. sitting behind me in court was jamie, kalas lies. sitting behind me in court wasjamie, ian kalas lies. sitting behind me in court was jamie, ian stewart's son. yesterday, while the verdicts were read out, he didn't look at his fa

helen bailey. he says she was abducted by two business associates of her late husband. 0ur correspondent has been following this case at stbailey had been taken by two men, joe and nick he named them as and said they made contact with him after she had disappeared, told him not to tell the police and told him to take her phone down to broadstairs in kent. he says, explains why her barrois phone briefly connected with the wi—fi about property on the 16th of april, five days after she had disappeared. under cross—examination the prosecutor has been focusing on alterations and changes he made to his story between police interviews he gave last year and the evidence he gave last year and the evidence he gave last year and the evidence he gave in the witness box here at court. he talks about a sleeping drug that had been prescribed to ian stewart but traces of which were found in helen bailey's. it is the prosecution's case he had been drugging her and then smothered her and put her them either cesspit of the homes they shed. he said she saw that he'd been prescribed and saw it was a bad bad for a man with his medical conditio

we can now go to st albans crown court where we are awaiting the police response to the guilty verdict for the murder of helent for one day effectively, they went out about this time yesterday, the judge telling them as they send them out, to take their time and not to rush to verdict but to be fair. the evidence against ian stewart was pretty overwhelming. there were all sorts of things that he was just unable to explain, despite the long and convoluted and frankly implausible story that he tried to spin when he was in the witness box. for an example, traces of the sleeping drug zopiclone that have been described to him were found in his body when a postmortem examination was carried out, and yet thejury had been examination was carried out, and yet the jury had been told repeatedly that there was lots of evidence that she had been confused and wondering why she felt so drowsy in the days and weeks before her death. she had complained to her mother about it and complain to friends about it and she had been looking on her own ipad, googling why she might be tired. the story from ian stewart was that he had ——

ian stewart killed helen bailey at their home last year, dumping her body in a cesspit, in the hope of inheriting millions of pounds. we'll have the latest from st albans crown court. also this lunchtime. the supreme courts says income rules which prevent some people bringing a foreign spouse to the uk are lawful. the british is fighter who carried out a suicide bombing duped the state. the bbc is to create a new television channel for scotland, it will have a £30 million budget and begin broadcasting next year. a convicted murderer is on the run, after armed men helped him escape during a hospital visit in liverpool. and fit for a princess, many of diana's most beautiful and famous dresses go on public display. and coming up in the sport on bbc news. jose mourninho doesn't rule out manchester united captain wayne rooney leaving the club, after he's linked with a move to china. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. the fiance of the children's author, helen bailey, has been found guilty of murdering her and dumping her body in a cesspit under their home in hertfordshire. ian stewart, who's 56, drugged ms bailey over several months,

st albans crown court. well, in the dock ian stewart shook his dead and blinked. in the public gallery helens the jury came back after six hours of deliberations and gave their guilty verdict. it took them six hours to see through the elaborate tale of lies that ian stewart had tried to tell them, the twists and turns he had tried to do to explain away what was in reality an avalanche of evidence against him. as our home affairs correspondentjune him. as our home affairs correspondent june kelly him. as our home affairs correspondentjune kelly now reports. police recorded ian stewart's arrest at his home. we're arresting you on suspicion of the murder of helen bailey. you're joking! he was stunned he'd finally been caught out. for three months, he'd been living with the body of his wealthy partner buried under the garage. why? i don't understand. my name is helen bailey and i'd like to introduce you to my new book which is called when bad things happen in good bikinis. helen bailey was a successful author. as well as murdering her, stewart also killed her dachshund boris, whom she doted on.

st albans crown court. yes, for more than four weeks iain stewart has set in the dock listening as the prosecution outlined why they believed that he drugged or other helenhe took the stand he was asked immediately if he had murdered helen bailey. no, he replied. did he have any part in causing her death? no. did he have any knowledge of death? no, he said. he denies fraud and lying to the police. he said he had various health problems of his own. he broke down when he was talking about the death of his own wife, diane, in 2010. he met helen bailey through an internet forum. we just clicked, he told the jury. he said she and person was the character from her novels, electra brown. they were almost autobiographical. unlike her first husband, suave and sophisticated, he was not, he said. nonetheless, they clicked together. he was asked whether he would have killed her, and he said, absolutely no way. ben ando. in a moment, a summary of the business news this hour. but first, the headlines on bbc news: the government says both houses of parliament will get a vote on the final brexit deal — labour have described it as a huge and important concession. the lor

st alba ns crown court. yes, for more than four weeks iain stewart has sat in the dock listening as the prosecution outlined why they believed that he drugged author helen? no, he said. he denies fraud and lying to the police. he broke down when he was talking about the death of his own wife, diane, in 2010. he met helen bailey through an internet forum. he said at first they were just friends and then one evening, that they called fraud case friday, he decided to drive down unannounced to her home. he pulled up outside and she came out and both agreed that they were both nuts, people driving down at herfor leading him into her home. at the end of the evidence today he was asked his lawyer, it will be suggested that you killed her. no way, he replied. he said he‘d come to realise that helen bailey was the character electra brown from the well—known teenage novel. there were almost i‘ll —— autobiographical, he said. ian stewart continues to give evidence tomorrow. england is being promised a million new homes by 2020 under plans published by the government. the secretary of state for communities and local government, sajid javid, announced a number of me

st albans. what has the court been hearing today? this is the second day that iain stewart has faced cross—examination by the prosecutor. iain stewart is saying that when helene and nick. they visited the house on a couple of previous occasions and their manner had been threatening. after she disappeared he sent a series of text messages to her phone. the prosecution asked why her phone. the prosecution asked why he sent those messages to her if he knew she was in the hands of kidnappers, why did he urge her to contact the police when he presumably knew she could not, and he replied, you might not believe this but my mind was totally messed. he was asked why he sent a text message saying, i have respected your wishes. he said he thought that might bea your wishes. he said he thought that might be a message tojoe and nick at the prosecutors said she was continuing the lies. if she was never known all we would know that you had done your best to find her. stuart was also asked about £400,000 standing order that was changed in her name to his —— £4000. he said that she did not do that change, that she did not do that change, that she did not do that change, tha