WHAT HAPPENED ON 18th January 2001?

17th January 2001

WITNESSES TORN APART BY DEFENCE LAWYER

The lawyer representing the two Libyans accused of the Lockerbie bombing has attacked two main prosecution witnesses Bill Taylor QC said Abdul Marjeed Giaka was a "man who told lies for a living" and Edwin Bollier was "thoroughly unreliable" & "motivated by money". The testimony of Giaka is central to the theory that the accused started the case on its journey in Malta. Giaka said he saw the accused arrive with a brown suitcase & one of the accused kept explosives in a drawer.

18th January 2001

12 AFGHANS FACE STANSTED HIJACK CHARGES

Twelve Afghan men have gone on trial accused of hijacking a plane & threatening to blow it up on UK soil. The hijackers were armed with guns & warned passengers they would kill them during a three-day stand-off at Stansted Airport Essex it was alleged The Old Bailey heard an internal Afghan flight had been hijacked by men eager to escape the ruling Taleban regime. Bruce Holder QC said they later gave up after last February's incident.

18th January 2001

GROBBELAAR TO GO TO LORDS TO CLEAR NAME

Bruce Grobbelaar's solicitor has said he will be "petitioning the House of Lords" to clear his client's name after a libel verdict was reversed. The soccer star has been denied an #85 000 award from the Sun won in 1999 after it accused him of match-fixing. He also faces a legal bill of over £1m. But today's Court of Appeal hearing was "not the end" said lawyer David Hewitt. He claimed it was "quite wrong" to overturn the jury's original findings.

17th January 2001

COURT TOLD OF "BLINDING INCOMPETENCE"

Anna Climbie to return to the home where she would die was described in court as "blindingly incompetent". Police Complaints Authority probe. A social worker has also been suspended pending disciplinary proceedings. The Old Bailey heard that at one point a social worker & a police officer refused to visit Anna's flat for fear of contracting scabies.

18th January 2001

12 AFGHANS FACE STANSTED HIJACK CHARGES

Twelve Afghan men have gone on trial accused of hijacking a plane & threatening to blow it up on UK soil. The hijackers were armed with guns & warned passengers they would kill them during a three-day stand-off at Stansted Airport Essex it was alleged The Old Bailey heard an internal Afghan flight had been hijacked by men eager to escape the ruling Taleban regime. Bruce Holder QC said they later gave up after last February's incident.

18th January 2001

GRAFFITI ROW LED TO STUDENT'S STABBING

A row between graffiti artists led to the death of a promising computer student the Old Bailey has heard. Devon Allen 18 was stabbed to death last July by a 15-year-old rival. The youth had been enraged when his signature design on an estate in Swiss Cottage north London was defaced. The youth who is now 16 but cannot be named for legal reasons denied murder but was convicted of manslaughter. Sentencing was adjourned until March 2.

17th January 2001

FOOD AGENCY SEIZES CONTAMINATED BEEF

Contaminated beef destined for butchers' shops has been confiscated by UK officials carrying out BSE controls. The Food Standards Agency has said its officers impounded 41 000 kilogrammes of German beef at an abattoir in Newry County Down. It acted after spinal cord was discovered in two consignments. The discovery is the first of its kind and the agency says it shows the importance of robust BSE controls.

18th January 2001

12 AFGHANS FACE STANSTED HIJACK CHARGES

Twelve Afghan men have gone on trial accused of hijacking a plane & threatening to blow it up on UK soil. The hijackers were armed with guns & warned passengers they would kill them during a three-day stand-off at Stansted Airport Essex it was alleged The Old Bailey heard an internal Afghan flight had been hijacked by men eager to escape the ruling Taleban regime. Bruce Holder QC said they later gave up after last February's incident.

18th January 2001

SHARE PRICES