Stewart Found Guilty

Hazel Stewart has been found guilty of double murder at Coleraine Magistrates Court. The jury, consisting of five men and three women, began their deliberations on Wednesday morning. They unanimously convicted Stewart of the murders and she will find out on March 11th the minimum time she will spend behind bars. Stewart denied murdering her husband, Trevor Buchanan, and her ex-lover's wife, Leslie Howell, in May 1991. Stewart's ex-lover Colin Howell is already serving a prison sentence after pleading guilty to the murders. The mother-of-two did not give evidence in her defence in the trial, now in its 15th day. Her husband, PC Trevor Buchanan, 32, and Lesley Howell, 31, the wife of her lover, were found dead in a car filled with carbon monoxide fumes in a garage in the seaside town of Castlerock.

Robbers Foiled As Police Fire Shot

The PSNI have today fired a shot during an attempted robbery in east Belfast. It happened at 10.20am when a delivery van pulled up at a newsagents at Greenway, Cregagh. Four men approached the van, and police, who were in the area, intervened. A shot was discharged by police and three men made off on foot. No injuries have been reported. One man has been arrested and the Police Ombudsman has been informed as he was when 29-year-old Marc Ringland was shot and fatally wounded last month by an armed, off-duty officer at a garage forecourt on the Albertbridge Road, also east Belfast. See: Forecourt Victim Named As CCTV Probed

Bus Attack Pupil Unconscious

The attack on a Translink bus containing Girls and Boys Model pupils yesterday which resulted in a 13-year-old pupil being knocked unconscious and requiring hospital treatment after being hit on the head with a brick, has been condemned by North Belfast DUP MP Nigel Dodds. Dodds said: "This was an horrendous and appalling attack." Dodds went on to state that attacks on buses carrying Boys Model and Girls Model pupils coming down the Oldpark Road have been taking place for years. The police have got to grip on these attacks, there needs to be more monitoring and videoing and more vigilance in order There must be no tolerance of these sort of sectarian attacks which have no place in modern society," said the MP. The bus driver who responded to this emergency by taking the injured child straight to the Mater Hospital has been highly commended.

Childrens' Commissioner Re-Appointed

The Commissioner for Children and Young People for Northern Ireland, Patricia Lewsley, has been re-appointed. 
This is Lewsley’s second and final four year term in the role.

The Commissioner for Children and Young People is an independent body, the aim of which is to protect and safeguard the rights and best interests of children and young people living in Northern Ireland. A community advice worker prior to becoming involved in politics, the Commissioner was a co-founder of Shopmobility in Belfast, and introduced the post of the first Disability Equality Opportunity Officer in Local Government.

Coleraine Centre Opened

A £1.8million community centre in Coleraine was officially opened by Social Development Minister Alex Attwood. The Coleraine West Community Centre will provide a wide range of social and recreational facilities for the local community including a purpose-built boxing gym, indoor and outdoor football facilities and childcare facilities.

 Alex Attwood said: "The opening of the Coleraine West Community Centre is good news for local people. This new community centre is an example of statutory bodies working together to meet the specific needs of people living in Neighbourhood Renewal areas."

Farmer Fined For Pollution

Templepatrick farmer Daniel Bill was fined £500 plus £22 court costs at Belfast Magistrates' Court for making a polluting discharge to a waterway. A Water Quality Inspector acting on behalf of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency inspected an unnamed tributary of the Ballymartin Water at Ballyclare Road. The waterway was observed to have a brown discolouration and there was a distinct agricultural odour. The source of the polluting discharge was traced to a farm owned by Bill. A sample taken at the time of the incident confirmed that the discharge contained poisonous, noxious or polluting matter which was potentially harmful to fish life in the receiving waterway.

(JG)