Other News In Brief

Man Convicted Of Benefit Fraud

A man has been convicted for claiming benefits he was not entitled to at Belfast Crown Court.

Stephen Lewis claimed Income Support, Rates and Employment and Support Allowance totalling £29,609 while failing to declare capital. He was given a 12 month probation order.

Mr Lewis has repaid in full the money wrongfully obtained to the Department for Communities.

NI Water Issues Apology Following Fish Kill In Co Down

NI Water has issued an apology following a pollution incident that killed around 1,600 fish at Carrig River in Newcastle, Co Down.

The company confirmed it was caused by an accidental discharge of polyelectrolyte.

Polyelectrolyte is used in the sludge thickening process from Annsborough Water Treatment Works.

There is no further risk to the river.

A spokesperson from NI Water said: "The immediate focus now is on working with Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) and local anglers to assess the impact and the needs of the river in terms of re-stocking the fish.

"NI Water manages and maintains over 1,000 wastewater treatment works and over 1,200 wastewater pumping stations and we collect and treat approximately 330 million litres of wastewater every day and return it safely to the environment. The collection, pumping, treatment and disposal of sewage sludge is a complex and energy intensive operation. The failure of any of these elements can cause a pollution incident.

"It is always our aim to protect the environment we operate in. When an incident such as this occurs, our primary aim is to investigate what happened and identify how we can prevent it ever happening again."

Call For Clarity On Air Passenger Duty

Ulster Unionist economy spokesperson, Steve Aiken OBE MLA, has called for clarity from the Executive regarding their policy on Air Passenger Duty, in wake of the comments from the Economy Minister at Question Time, when he said "I think that APD should be scrapped".

Mr Aiken said: "I was slightly surprised that Economy Minister Hamilton was so definitive in his answer to my question on APD at Stormont. Up to now, the Executive has set its face against the proposal to seek the devolution and abolition of Air Passenger Duty for all flights in and out of Northern Ireland.

"There were no ifs, buts or maybes in his answer, but is his clear position of scrapping APD the official policy of the Executive? In this new era of Sinn Fein/DUP government we are told that Ministerial solo runs are things of the past, therefore I assume he was speaking with the authority of the full Executive. If so, surely we can expect a fully costed policy to be presented to the Assembly in the near future."