| More than 1 in 20 badgers took more than five minutes to die after being shot by government contracted marksmen. After the badger cull also failed to meet its target number of kills, can the policy proceed? With your help, Karl Mathiesen investigates |
 Broadcaster pleads not guilty to 20 counts of rape and indecent assault relating to two girls, and will stand trial in May The veteran broadcaster Stuart Hall has pleaded not guilty to raping two young girls. Hall, 84, is accused of committing a string of historic sexual offences. He will go on trial at Preston crown court on 6 May. Hall, of Wilmslow, Cheshire, is alleged to have committed seven counts of rape against one complainant in Manchester between 1976 and 1978, five of them while she was aged under 16. Hall is also accused of two counts of indecent assault against the same complainant within the same period. In addition, he is charged with eight counts of rape against a second alleged victim between 1976 and 1981, at various locations in Greater Manchester and Cheshire, in one instance when the complainant was aged under 13. Hall is also accused of three counts of indecent assault against the same alleged victim. Answering to his full name of James Stuart Hall, the defendant entered not guilty pleas to each of the 20 counts. He answered the clerk firmly with each plea as he stood in the dock with his hands clasped in front of him. The former It's A Knockout presenter was a familiar face and voice in British broadcasting for half a century, and his eccentric and erudite football match summaries made him a cult figure on BBC Radio 5 Live. The trial is expected to last seven days. theguardian.com © 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds |
| Andrew Sparrow's rolling coverage of the Ukip spring conference in Torquay, including Nigel Farage's speech |
| Andrew Sparrow's rolling coverage of the Ukip spring conference in Torquay, including Nigel Farage's speech |
| Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence party, speaks to Ukip's spring conference |
| Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence party, speaks to Ukip's spring conference |
 Lady Lawrence says BBC needs to do more than scheme to hire 20 people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds The mother of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence has called on the media industry to do more to reflect Britain's black and Asian population, saying change had to happen "at the top". Lady Lawrence, who on Friday called for a public inquiry into the use of undercover police, welcomed a BBC initiative to increase the diversity of its workforce but said more needed to be done. She said a corporation scheme, in association with the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust, to take on 20 people from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds to learn broadcasting and production skills, was a "great idea" but added: "I think it should have happened a long time ago." "If you truly want to reflect society you have to put things in place to make it happen," Lawrence told an audience at a New Broadcasting House event organised by the BBC and the Royal Television Society on Friday. "They majority of people do have qualifications, they do have everything they need and yet there is still a barrier. If you look at the top level, who is at the top? That needs to change. Once you see all these changes, you will begin to see people want to come here. "If you see nobody reflecting you, you feel there is no point in trying, they won't accept me." Lawrence pointed out that all the camera operators at Friday's event in the BBC's Radio Theatre were white, which she said was reflected across UK TV. In the whole of the UK media industry, an estimated 5.4% of people are from BAME backgrounds. "If you look around, all the camera people are white," said Lawrence. "You think about the TV, how many people watch TV. You need to see that reflected and you don't. Across the media, whether it be journalists or within the TV, you just don't have that, and that really needs to change. "I know there are a couple of actors here, and sometimes actors have to go abroad to get those big [roles]." Her comments follow a call by actor and comedian Lenny Henry for broadcasters to take immediate action to reverse the number of black and Asian people in the creative industries. His proposals, dubbed the "Henry plan", were outlined in a summit called by culture minister Ed Vaizey last month. Henry is due to return to the topic when he gives the annual Bafta TV lecture next month. The BBC director general, Tony Hall, has indicated that he intends to make the diversity of BBC employment, both on-screen and behind it, a priority of his tenure. Lawrence said the media had initially not been interested in the murder of her son and compared it with the media's treatment of a white teenager in London around the same time, in 1993. "I would always say Stephen was black and no one was interested in his murder," she said. "Not long after a young boy was killed in Camden, that was all over the papers, either from the prime minister to whoever, recognising what happened to that young man. "That never happened around Stephen and many other young blacks murdered at that time." • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email media@theguardian.com or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication". • To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook. theguardian.com © 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds |
