Image copyright Met Police

The Metropolitan Police have defended a decision to downgrade an inquiry into one of the men who carried out Saturday night's terror attack.

They said Pakistan-born Khuram Butt, 27, of Barking, London, was known to police and MI5 in 2015, but there had been no evidence of a plot.

The two other perpetrators were not known to security services.

All 12 people arrested on Sunday after the London attack have now been released without charge.

Two of the three men behind the attack, in which seven people were killed and 48 injured have been named by police.

The other attacker was Rachid Redouane, 30, from Barking, who police said had claimed to be Moroccan-Libyan. He was a chef, who also used the name Rachid Elkhdar.

All three men were shot dead by police within eight minutes.

The attackers drove a hired van into pedestrians on London Bridge before stabbing people in the area around Borough Market.

• Latest updates
• In pictures: Tributes to victims
• How are UK extremists radicalised?

Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Mark Rowley said an investigation into Butt began in 2015, but "there was no intelligence to suggest that this attack was being planned and the investigation had been prioritised accordingly".

The inquiry was "prioritised in the lower echelons of our investigative work", Mr Rowley added.

Asked if that had been a poor decision, Mr Rowley said he had seen nothing yet to suggest it, according to the BBC's home affairs correspondent, Danny Shaw.

At any one time there are around 500 active counter-terrorism investigations concerning 3,000 people of interest.

Mr Rowley said work was continuing to understand more about the attackers, "their connections and whether they were assisted or supported by anyone else".

TV Jihadist

Butt featured in a Channel 4 documentary last year about Islamist extremists with links to the jailed preacher Anjem Choudary.

The married father-of-two could be seen in the programme arguing with police officers in the street, after displaying a flag used by IS in a London park.

Two people in Barking, east London, had also raised concerns about Butt, the BBC's home affairs correspondent Dominic Casciani said.

One man called the anti-terrorism hotline in 2015, and a woman went to the local police because she was scared Butt was trying to radicalise her children.

Khuram Butt showed his extremist colours

By Dominic Casciani, BBC Home Affairs correspondent

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It's still not clear when Khuram Butt got involved in radical Islamist politics, but there is ample evidence that he was involved in the al-Muhajiroun network - certainly in 2015 and potentially at least two years earlier still.

The main evidence comes from his appearance in a Channel 4 documentary, The Jihadis Next Door, broadcast last year.

The film was a close encounter with part of the ALM network and one of its subjects was Siddhartha Dhar, one of Anjem Choudary's right-hand men.

Dhar later skipped bail for Syria. Once there, he appeared in a black mask in an IS execution video.

Butt's links may go back further still. Mohammed Shafiq of the Manchester-based Ramadhan Foundation, an anti-extremism group, says that he believes he was verbally assaulted by Butt in 2013 - the day after another ALM follower killed Fusilier Lee Rigby in Woolwich, south-east London.

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A vigil was held at Potters Field Park near London Bridge on Monday evening to remember the victims.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan led the short ceremony. Addressing the attackers, he said: "We will defeat you. You will not win."

On Tuesday, there will be a minute's silence at 11:00 BST in memory of those who lost their lives and others affected by Saturday night's events.

A book of condolences will open on Tuesday at Southwark Council's headquarters in Tooley Street.

Prime Minister Theresa May, who has already signed it, said in her message that British values are "superior to anything offered by the preachers and supporters of hate".

In the days since the attack, Labour has been targeting cuts to the Home Office's policing budget, accusing Theresa May of "letting austerity damage her ability to keep us safe".

Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said Mrs May, who was home secretary before becoming PM, had allowed officer numbers to fall in recent years.

The Conservatives said Ms Abbott had "dangerous" views on protecting the public.

NHS England said 36 people remained in hospital, with 18 in a critical condition.

Canadian national Chrissy Archibald, 30, was the first victim to be named. Her family said she had died in her fiancé's arms after being struck by the attackers' speeding van.

The sister of 32-year-old James McMullan, from Hackney, east London, said he was believed to be among those who died, after his bank card was found on a body at the scene.

A French national was also killed in the attack, according to foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.

Barriers have been installed on Westminster, Lambeth and Waterloo bridges following the attack to stop vehicles from mounting the pavement.

The Met Police has set up a casualty bureau on 0800 096 1233 and 020 7158 0197 for people concerned about friends or relatives.

Image copyright Devon and Cornwall Media

Thousands of police officers across the UK have not had up-to-date background checks to ensure they are suitable to serve.

Figures reveal 90% of officers employed by one force have not been vetted in line with current policy.

Vetting aims to help prevent corruption in the police by checking an officer or potential officer's background.

Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary Mike Cunningham said forces "need to address this matter urgently".

Responding to a request from the BBC under the Freedom of Information Act, Northumbria Police admitted almost 3,000 or nine out of ten of its officers still had not been vetted in line with the most recent policy.

Sex-on-the-job PCSO 'would have been rejected'

Peter Bunyan was a PCSO employed by Devon and Cornwall Police.

He was jailed for misconduct in 2013 after a court heard he used the police database as a "dating agency" and turned down his police radio on shifts while he had sex with women.

He was employed in 2003, three years before Devon and Cornwall Police set up its Central Force Vetting Unit, and nine years before the Association of Chief Police Officers' National Vetting Policy was introduced.

A subsequent investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission revealed that if Bunyan had gone through the current vetting policy used by the force "he would have been rejected".

But by the end of 2016 there were still 62 PCSOs employed by Devon and Cornwall Police who had not been through the vetting process and 181 police officers.

Devon and Cornwall Police said it was working hard to tackle the delays and had reduced the backlog to 73 police officers and 55 PCSOs.

Mr Cunningham said the "unacceptable" backlog was down to a lack of resources and needs to be given "higher priority".

He said: "I think it is simply a question of volume outstripping the supply of people to do the tasks.

"There is no doubt that forces who have not vetted or re-vetted large numbers of their staff are subject to a vulnerability."

Out of 48 police forces in England and Wales, 17 responded in full to the Freedom of Information Request. Around 14,000 police officers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland had not undergone up-to-date checks.

Reducing backlog

Vetting aims to help prevent corruption in the police service by checking an officer or potential officer's background.

The process, which can take several months, looks at an individual's finances, employment history and family associations, as well as a detailed search for any convictions.

Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) are also affected by the delays.

Chief Constable Martin Jelley, from the National Police Chiefs' Council, said forces were "working hard to reduce any backlog".

The Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, said it was disappointed to see such huge backlogs in vetting.

Its chairman Steve White said: "Police officers are privy to an enormous amount of confidential data and information.

"What we can't risk is the prospect of dishonest people abusing that position and being able to access this information or exploit situations for their own ends."

The figures show the number of officers still waiting to be vetted under the current policy at the end of 2016.

Northumbria Police said there was "a planned programme of retrospective vetting for all officers and staff, who are not vetted at the 2012 standards due to start".

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A man has been found guilty of trying to cause "maximum damage" by making a bomb filled with ball bearings and leaving it on a Tube train.

Damon Smith put his homemade device into a rucksack and left it on a Jubilee line train in October.

The 20-year-old had admitted perpetrating a bomb hoax but claimed it was a prank.

Had it worked, the bomb would have exploded just as commuters were leaving the North Greenwich station platform.

Former altar boy Smith built the device with shrapnel and a £2 clock from Tesco after Googling an al-Qaeda article on bomb-making.

The Old Bailey was told the student, who has an autistic spectrum disorder, had a keen interest in guns, bombs and other weapons, which may have been a function of the condition.

His lawyer told the trial he was no "hate-filled jihadi" and never meant to harm anyone.

However, the jury convicted him of making or possessing an explosive substance with intent to endanger life after two hours of deliberations.

The Met said he was not charged under the Terrorism Act because there was not enough evidence that his crime was politically motivated.

On 20 October, the defendant - then aged 19 - left the rucksack containing the bomb on the train.

Passengers handed it to the driver who then realised as he was approaching the station it contained explosives.

Smith then went to university and when he returned home that evening, checked the internet for news reports about what he had done.

When he was arrested, he admitted making the bomb, but said he had meant for it to have been a Halloween prank and that he had been inspired by a YouTube video.

Jurors were also told Smith had professed an interest in Islam as he felt it was "more true" than Christianity.

He "did not really practise Islam, although he read the Koran and sometimes prayed in the morning when it was convenient but did not hold extreme views", lawyers said.

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Jurors heard he had posed next to an image of the Brussels-born Islamic terrorist alleged to have masterminded the attacks in Paris in November 2015, but had denied being an extremist.

His lawyer, Richard Carey-Hughes QC, said there was "no evidence that he changed from clinging to his mother's apron strings to a soldier of Islam and a would-be soldier".

The court heard Smith had been interested in making bombs since the age of 10 and said it was "something to do when he was bored".

He was also shown the Anarchist Cookbook at 14 by a friend.

During a search of his home in Rotherhithe, south London, officers found a shredded article on how to build a bomb and a "shopping list" of bomb materials was found on his iPad.

A blank firing pistol, a BB gun, a knife and knuckleduster were also discovered.

Cdr Dean Haydon, from the Met's Counter Terrorism Command, said: "It is hard to believe that leaving what has been described as an improvised explosive device on a Tube train, on a weekday morning, can be construed as anything but an attempt to endanger life.

"It is fortunate that the device failed to work and that no-one was injured."

Smith will be sentenced on 26 May.

Three women have been arrested in connection with last week's anti-terror operation in London in which a woman was shot by police.

The women, two aged 18 and one 19, were arrested on Monday on suspicion of the commission, preparation and instigation of terrorist acts.

It follows a counter-terror operation on Thursday in which a woman, 21, was shot at a house in Willesden.

The three arrested women are in custody outside London, police said.

The arrests were made as part of an ongoing intelligence-led operation in connection with an address on Harlesden Road, officers said.

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Social media firms are "shamefully far" from tackling illegal and dangerous content, says a parliamentary report.

Hate speech, terror recruitment videos and sexual images of children all took too long to be removed, said the Home Affairs Select Committee report.

It called for a review of UK laws and stronger enforcement around illegal material.

And the government should consider making the sites pay to help police what people post, it said.

The cross-party committee took evidence from Facebook, Twitter and Google, the parent company of YouTube, for its report.

It said they had made efforts to tackle abuse and extremism on their platforms, but "nowhere near enough is being done".

'Meaningful fines'

The committee said it had found "repeated examples of social media companies failing to remove illegal content when asked to do so", including terrorist recruitment material, promotion of sexual abuse of children and incitement to racial hatred.

It said the largest firms were "big enough, rich enough and clever enough" to sort the problem out, and that it was "shameful" that they had failed to use the same ingenuity to protect public safety as they had to protect their own income.

• Social media firms face huge hate speech fines in Germany
• Facebook, Twitter and Google grilled by MPs over hate speech

The MPs said it was "unacceptable" that social media companies relied on users to report content, saying they were "outsourcing" the role "at zero expense".

Yet the companies expected the police - funded by the taxpayer - to bear the costs of keeping them clean of extremism.

The report's recommendations include:

• The government should consult on requiring social media firms to contribute to the cost of the police's counter-terrorism internet referral unit
• It should also consult on "meaningful fines" for companies which failed to remove illegal content within a strict timeframe, highlighting proposals in Germany which could see firms fined up to £44m and individual executives £5m
• Social media companies review urgently their community standards and how they are being interpreted and implemented

"Social media companies' failure to deal with illegal and dangerous material online is a disgrace," said committee chairwoman Yvette Cooper.

"They have been asked repeatedly to come up with better systems to remove illegal material such as terrorist recruitment or online child abuse.

"Yet repeatedly, they have failed to do so. It is shameful."

Ms Cooper said the committee's inquiry into hate crime more broadly was curtailed when the general election was called and their recommendations had to be limited to dealing with social media companies and online hate.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd said she expected to see social media companies take "early and effective action" and promised to study the committee's recommendations.

Facebook, Twitter and Google did not respond to a BBC request for comment on the committee's findings.

The firms had previously told the committee that they worked hard to make sure freedom of expression was protected within the law.

Child protection fines

Last week, the NSPCC called for fines for social networks which failed to protect children.

NSPCC chief executive Peter Wanless said social media sites should face penalties if children saw inappropriate material.

He also said the government should consider age-rating sites in the same way as the British Board of Film Classification rates films.

Internet companies' voluntary regulations on child protection were "not up to scratch" , he said.

"Online safety is one of the biggest risks facing children and young people today and one which the government of the day needs to tackle head on," he added.

A man has been arrested by armed officers after an incident in Whitehall, near Parliament, police have said.

A witness described seeing two knives on the ground, one of which he described as a large bread knife.

A Metropolitan Police statement said there were no injuries.

Security remains tight outside Whitehall buildings following the terror attack on Westminster Bridge and the entrance to Parliament on 22 March.

Image copyright PA

The Prison Service and the police are to pool intelligence to tackle the problem of drones flying drugs and mobile phones to prisoners in jails.

They will forensically examine captured drones to try to find out who was flying them.

The invention of easy-to-fly, remote-controlled aircraft has caused a huge security headache for prisons.

The national initiative will involve police and prison officers from all around England and Wales.

They will share information about the types of quadcopters and methods used, in an attempt to curb the problem.

Prisons Minister Sam Gyimah said: "We are absolutely determined to tackle the illegal flow of drugs and mobile phones into our prisons and turn them into places of safety and reform.

"The threat posed by drones is clear but our dedicated staff are committed to winning the fight against those who are attempting to thwart progress by wreaking havoc in establishments all over the country.

"My message to those who involve themselves in this type of criminal activity is clear: we will find you and put you behind bars."

Recent successes

The Prison Service could not give details about how many officers would be involved, or how big the budget for the project is.

BBC home affairs correspondent Daniel Sandford says prison walls are now not much of a barrier for those wanting to smuggle contraband into jails.

There have been some recent successes in finding and punishing those who are behind the drone flights, says the Ministry of Justice.

In December, Dean Rawley-Bell, 21, was jailed for four years and eight months after he used a drone in attempts to smuggle drugs and mobile phones into Manchester Prison.

Renelle Carlisle, 23, was sentenced to three years and four months in October after he was caught outside Risley Prison in Warrington with a drone in his bag, trying to smuggle drugs inside.

In July, 37-year-old Daniel Kelly was jailed for 14 months for trying to supply contraband to offenders in Elmley and Swaleside Prison in Sheppey, Wandsworth Prison in London and the Mount Prison in Hemel Hempstead.

Image copyright PA

A full police funeral for PC Keith Palmer, who was killed in last month's Westminster attack, will take place in London's Southwark Cathedral later.

PC Palmer was guarding the Houses of Parliament on 22 March when he was stabbed by Khalid Masood.

Thousands of officers will line the route as the coffin of PC Palmer, a 48-year-old father, is taken from a chapel at the Palace of Westminster.

His body has been lying in rest there by special permission of the Queen.

His coffin was taken to the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft on Sunday and received by a guard of honour from his police branch, the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command.

• Victims of the London attack
• London attack: What we know
• What we know about Khalid Masood
• In depth: Westminster terror attack

PC Palmer was married with a five-year-old daughter. The Charlton Athletic season-ticket holder had served in the Metropolitan Police for 15 years.

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Members of his family attended a short private service in the chapel on Sunday, before officers watched over his coffin throughout the night.

The funeral cortege will make its way from Westminster, via Lambeth Bridge, to Southwark Cathedral for a service at 14:00 BST.

Two thousand Met officers will be on duty for the funeral in policing and ceremonial roles.

Sara Thornton, who leads the National Police Chiefs' Council, told the BBC that officers from all over the country were travelling to London to line the funeral route, while others will hold a two-minute silence outside police stations at 14:00 BST.

'Sadness and loss'

"I don't think we will have ever seen a police funeral of this size," she said.

"Keith didn't hesitate to act when confronted by a terrorist - his bravery and his courage are something that all officers are very proud of, but also there is a tremendous sense of sadness and of loss."

The hashtag #StandForKeith is trending on Twitter as police officers from other UK forces tweet to say they are travelling to the funeral.

BBC News correspondent Daniella Relph said "bus loads" of police officers had already arrived in Southwark.

The Reverend Andrew Nunn, the dean of Southwark Cathedral, told the BBC that it was important for the family to grieve privately and for the public to pay their respects.

"I hope for the family they receive the comfort that they need through the service, because they're having to grief publically and that must be a very, very difficult thing," he said.

"But then the rest of the nation needs to pay its respects and say thank you for what PC Palmer actually did in defending in the place where he was serving."

PC Palmer's name has also been added to the National Police Memorial, which records the names of officers who have been killed in the line of duty, during a special ceremony in London.

The funeral will be the first engagement for new Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick.

The Metropolitan Police said that its flags were flaying at half mast above New Scotland Yard to honour PC Palmer.

Ken Marsh, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that although he had not known PC Palmer personally, the officer had been an "absolutely top cop" and a "hero".

He said that while there were questions to be answered about how the police respond to incidents following PC Palmer's death, he said he was not sure the situation would have been dealt with differently if PC Palmer had been armed.

Before attacking PC Palmer, Masood had driven his car into crowds on Westminster Bridge, causing injuries that have resulted in four deaths.

Romanian Andreea Cristea, 31, who fell from the bridge into the River Thames, died in hospital on Thursday.

Aysha Frade, 44, who worked at a London sixth-form college, US tourist Kurt Cochran, 54, and retired south London window cleaner Leslie Rhodes, 75, were also killed.

Masood was shot by police officers in New Palace Yard, inside the Westminster estate, after he had fatally stabbed PC Palmer.

Image copyright Devon and Cornwall Police

A police officer has published a damning resignation letter on social media criticising police for "putting their employees last".

Laura Beal has served with the Devon and Cornwall force for 13 years as a police constable and even featured in a force advertising campaign.

In her letter she says inadequate staffing has made it "impossible to do her job to the best of her ability".

It comes as inspectors warn police cuts are putting the public at risk.

Speaking to the BBC, Ms Beal said she was prompted to put her resignation letter on Facebook after her sergeant told her it was unlikely to be seen by the Chief Constable, Sean Sawyer.

More on the policing story and other Devon and Cornwall news

She said she followed her father into the police when she was 19 and had always been proud to say she was a PC, but now felt "embarrassed at the way everyone is being treated".

In her letter she claims she was expected to go on patrol covering Mid Devon with one other officer most days.

"This is meant to be adequate and safe. How this can be acceptable is beyond belief", she wrote.

Ms Beal's letter comes as the police standards watchdog warned some forces are putting the public at risk by rationing responses as they struggle with cutbacks.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary said some forces had "downgraded" 999 calls, in order to justify responding to them more slowly.

Its report found most of the 43 forces in England and Wales were providing a good service. But that others have let victims down.

'Buck stops'

Ms Beale said the job had left her suffering from stress and anxiety in her letter.

"Your staff are not coping, and are suffering because there is no one looking out for them.

"Front line response is where you need to focus your time and money. This is where the buck stops", she added.

Chf Supt Jim Colwell said: "I would like to formally thank PC Beal for her loyal service, hearing of an officer resigning is sad, particularly when this is done so publically.

"We do hear concerns from officers and staff and recognise where they are feeling the strain.

"Being a police officer is not easy. It requires skills and personal resilience which are often unique to the role. We are a supportive force and will always assist an officer needing help or guidance."

Last month Devon and Cornwall Police announced it would be employing nearly 100 additional police officers into local policing in an effort to relieve pressure on front line staff.

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Theresa May says she will directly oversee work on a new law to tackle domestic violence amid concerns victims are being let down by the legal system.

Downing Street said it was "unacceptable" some areas of England and Wales were putting more effort into tackling the problem than others.

The Domestic Violence and Abuse Act aims to address an inconsistency in the use of existing offences and measures.

Mrs May said tackling such abuse was a "key priority" for the government.

As home secretary, Mrs May introduced a new offence against controlling and coercive behaviour and domestic violence protection orders.

Domestic violence prosecutions and convictions have started to improve in recent years, and the prime minister said "no stone will be left unturned in delivering a system that increases convictions, and works better for victims".

Mrs May added: "Domestic violence and abuse is a life shattering and absolutely abhorrent crime.

"There are thousands of people who are suffering at the hands of abusers - often isolated, and unaware of the options and support available to them to end it.

"Given the central importance of victim evidence to support prosecutions in this area, raising public awareness - as well as consolidating the law - will prove crucial."

Downing Street said work on the legislation would be co-ordinated by the Home Office and Ministry of Justice, although other departments would be involved.

'Sea change'

Experts working with victims will also be invited to contribute ideas and proposals.

Charities and groups supporting victims welcomed the plans.

Women's Aid chief executive Polly Neate said there was "scope to make the legal framework surrounding domestic abuse clearer and more comprehensive", while the NSPCC called for the needs of affected children to be prioritised.

Refuge chief executive Sandra Horley said she hoped the new law "will bring the sea-change that is needed to give victims the protection they need and deserve".

Mark Brooks, chairman of the ManKind Initiative charity, called for a "real step change" in supporting and recognising male victims of domestic violence, saying they made up a third of all victims.

Victims' Commissioner Baroness Newlove said: "These long awaited changes will ensure those vulnerable victims and survivors are listened to and that they feel able to come forward and speak out against their abusers."

Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders said: "A domestic abuse case is more likely to be prosecuted and convicted today than ever before.

"However, we know this crime is often under-reported and therefore any new initiative which encourages victims to come forward is to be applauded."

Cressida Dick is the new Metropolitan Police Commissioner, the first woman to take charge of London's police force.

She succeeds Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, who led the force from 2011 until announcing his retirement last year.

Ms Dick was previously the national policing lead on counter-terrorism, but left the Met for the Foreign Office.

She said she was "thrilled and humbled" to be appointed, and was looking forward to "working again with the fabulous women and men of the Met".

Her statement said: "This is a great responsibility and an amazing opportunity.

"I'm looking forward immensely to protecting and serving the people of London...

"Thank you so much to everyone who has taught me and supported me along the way."

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The quality of forensic science work in England and Wales is putting the integrity of the criminal justice system at risk, an expert has warned.

Forensic Science Regulator Gillian Tully said some police forces were not committed to meeting the required standards, and there was a significant risk of DNA contamination.

She wants statutory powers to enforce standards "as soon as possible".

The National Police Chiefs Council said it had secured extra funding.

The government's Forensic Science Service was closed in 2012. Since the closure, forensic science work has been carried out by private firms and police laboratories

This is the third time in two years that serious concerns have been raised about the work, following critical reports from the National Audit Office and MPs on the Science and Technology Committee.

'Minimum standards'

In her second annual report, Dr Tully said the main challenge to achieving quality forensic science had been financial, and called on police forces and the Legal Aid Agency to make more funding available.

Funding "must be at a level that enables the standards to be met," she said.

"Otherwise we will face the costs, both in criminal justice terms and financially, of quality failures and loss of confidence in forensic science."

She cited "concerning" contamination-related issues in police custody and at Sexual Assault Referral Centres, which provide support for alleged victims of rape and sexual assault.

She said a rape investigation had been "compromised" after samples taken from an alleged victim were found to be contaminated with DNA from an unrelated case. An inquiry is under way.

She said there was a timetable for forensic science activities within policing to comply with the regulator's code of practice.

But she said not all police forces were "fully committed" to reaching the required standards, with some failing to recognise the impact of failures in the area.

"The standards are not an unachievable 'gold-plated' ideal - they are the minimum standards expected of any reliable forensic science," she said.

Forensic science carried out by instruction from defence lawyers had also been under financial pressure because of the current legal aid funding, she said.

There was a risk that some forensic medical examiners being commissioned did not have the required level of training and qualification.

And there was a risk of incorrect classifications by investigators who classify firearms to establish whether they were illegal weapons, she said.

'Not optional'

The government has committed to giving the regulator statutory powers to enforce standards by the end of this Parliament.

Dr Tully told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that she had been calling for the powers "for some time", but the process had been "very slow" and she wants them in place "as soon as possible".

Debbie Simpson, the National Police Chiefs' Council lead for forensic science, said the police were "committed" to improving standards and had secured more funding from the Police Transformation Fund.

Dr Tully's report had highlighted "key priority areas" for the police, she said.

"Nationally, we will continue to work in partnership with forces, forensic service providers and the forensic regulator to deliver the forensic strategy and respond to the challenges faced by the service."

The government has already launched a review of the internal governance of forensic science, said policing minister Brandon Lewis.

He said: "Controlling the quality of evidence is critical to reducing the risk of miscarriages of justice and criminal trials collapsing, as well as maintaining public confidence in the system."

He said he fully supported the timetable the regulator had set out, and said this must be met by all organisations providing forensic services.

Suspected firearm found in car carrying Yassar Yaqub, who was shot in police operation near M62, watchdog IPCC says

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Image copyright Devon Johnson/@Devyhope

A man has died after being shot by police during a "pre-planned operation" near a motorway.

West Yorkshire Police said the man was shot at about 18:00 GMT near the M62 in Huddersfield.

The slip roads east and west bound at junction 24 of the M62 remain closed.

The force said the case has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission. No further details about the man or incident have been released by police.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: "During a pre-planned policing operation near to the M62 in Huddersfield a police firearm was discharged and a man has died.

"An immediate referral has been made to the Independent Police Complaints Commission who are in attendance in West Yorkshire and West Yorkshire Police are fully cooperating with their investigation."

Five men have been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving after a girl aged 12 was killed in a hit-and-run crash in Oldham.

Helina Kotlarova was killed by the driver on New Year's Eve. Her cousin Zaneta Krokova, 11, is critically ill in hospital.

The men - aged 23, 59, 48, 38 and 18 - remain in police custody for questioning.

Doctors should stop providing life-support treatment to a police officer who has been in a coma since 2015, a judge has ruled.

Paul Briggs, 43, suffered a brain injury in a crash while he was working for Merseyside Police in July last year.