Father-of-three Patrick Maloney was dragged under a van driven at him as two traveller families clashed, a jury has heard.

Prosecutor Miranda Moore told Luton Crown Court Mr Maloney and his family trashed a BMW that had been left at their plot at Toddbury Farm in Little Billington, Bedfordshire. 

It belonged to Thomas and Christopher McCarthy, of the adjacent Greenacres site, who confronted Mr Maloney on 2 August last year – the former allegedly punching him in the face.

Following the attack on the BMW, a VW Golf was allegedly attacked by the Maloney group – which included Patrick Maloney holding what looked like a tree lopper. Christopher McCarthy then drove a van at Mr Maloney, who later died while being driven to hospital, the court was told.

Christopher McCarthy denies murder and his brother Thomas denies causing actual bodily harm.

More to follow...

A man accused of attacking a fellow traveller was "aggressive and threatening" when he went to his plot on the Toddbury Farm site near Leighton Buzzard, a court heard.

Prosecutor Miranda Moore told the jury at Luton Crown Court that Thomas McCarthy, 24, from the neighbouring Greenacres site, had driven his BMW X5 to Patrick Maloney's plot at 22:30 on 2 August last year with the intention of picking a fight with him.

She said Mr McCarthy, who denies causing actual bodily harm, punched the 43-year-old victim twice, causing his nose to bleed. He then ran off with his brother, Christopher McCarthy, 22, who denies murder, and a cousin.

The court heard that later the same evening Mr Maloney was dragged under a van. 

More follows...

Katy Lewis
BBC Local Live

A "simmering feud" between two traveller families led to a 6ft 4in tall, 20-stone "gentle giant" being killed when he was dragged under a van, Luton Crown Court has heard.

Image source, Bedfordshire Police

Christopher McCarthy, 22, from the Greenacres traveller site, has denied murdering Patrick Maloney (above) at the neighbouring Toddbury Farm site at Little Billington, near Leighton Buzzard, last August.

His brother Thomas McCarthy, 24, also from Greenacres, has denied causing Mr Maloney actual bodily harm on the same night.

At the opening of their trial today, the court heard Patrick Maloney was hit by a van that then pulled his body across the gravel on a vacant plot at the site. 

The father-of-three suffered a huge number of injuries and there was nothing medical staff could do for him, the jury was told. 

More follows...

Or a niqab? Or neither?

Geoff Doyle
BBC Three Counties Radio sport

I've been talking to Watford manager Walter Mazzarri today ahead of the Hornets' match against Arsenal on Tuesday night.

Image source, Getty Images

I asked him if he should acknowledge fans after games, to which he replied:

"If it's like this then I'm sorry but I never did it [in my career].

"I have never done the walk around the pitch after the game in my whole career, but if this is what they want then I can do it.

"Through you I thank the fans. I've done it every game. I'm always saying how good they've been. I always tell my players too." 

David Sillito
Media correspondent

New technology appears to show that St Albans is one of the most relaxing cities in the UK to walk through.

National Geographic explorer Daniel Raven-Ellison has visited 69 of the UK's cities, walking 2.5 million steps, equipped with new emotion-tracking technology strapped to his head.

Wearing an EEG monitor, he collected millions of snapshots of the activity in his brain as he visited the cities over seven months from June last year.

He found Aberdeen scored highly for "excitement", Stoke was "interesting" and St Albans "relaxing".

All the information is now going online, external.  

Katy Lewis
BBC Local Live

Bedfordshire's police and crime commissioner has been forced to scrap plans to make late night pubs and clubs pay extra for policing.

Kathryn Holloway wanted a night-time levy enforced for licensed premises in Bedford, Luton and Dunstable that are open after midnight, but she's been forced to change her plans because you can only introduce a levy "over an entire borough" and not certain towns.

"I said I would investigate it and see if it was fair and we concluded it wasn't fair," she said.

Watford loan striker Alex Jakubiak to League Two side Wycombe Wanderers until the end of the 2016-17 season.

Adam Jinkerson
BBC Local Live

You may have seen the story on Friday that the 07:55 Cambridge to King's Cross departure board used the word "thence" to describe the journey the train would be making.

Image source, Dominic Smith

We put the story on the Look East Facebook page, external and it appears the general consensus was that it was a great use of the word and should be used more...

• Sylvia Bettsworth - Would be great to see old words used and cheer us all up bit.
• Holly Ruston - I've got no issue with it, what's the big deal? 

• Sue Day - Wonderful! There should be more like this.
• Tim Young - I think it is lovely to see a broader range of vocabulary used. I would encourage them to use as many different words as possible. (As long as the average traveller can make sense of them of course).
• Maggie Parker - I think it's really charming - wish we had 'thenced' to Durham from x's cross the other day.  

A spokesman for Greater Anglia, which runs the station, said: "The word 'thence' was added to one destination board. It is the first and last time it will be used at a Greater Anglia station."

Which may come as a disappointment to some...

Katy Lewis
BBC Local Live

We've been telling you how Muslim women who have been victims of hate crime have been reluctant to report it to the police.

Bedfordshire Police said it was rare for them to come forward, but the force was working towards changing this with different community groups.

Sgt James Hart said it was "really concerning".

"We've been doing a lot of work in the community to increase knowledge amongst Muslim woman and other races and religions about reporting this crime," he said.

"Bedfordshire Police understand the impact it has on victims, we take it extremely seriously, it's prioritised."

An 18-year-old fashion student has told how she was verbally abused for wearing a niqab.

Nishrat Islam, from Luton, said the comments were made by three men on the one occasion she wore the niqab - a headscarf which covers a woman's face, leaving just her eyes showing.

She asked people in Luton to see what they thought...

Katy Lewis
BBC Local Live

Muslim women in Bedfordshire who've been abused for wearing a face veil have told the BBC they're reluctant about going to the police.

It comes as the Bedfordshire force is encouraging more victims of Islamophobic hate crime to come forward. 

One woman told the BBC she had been left "upset and angry" after attacks including "swearing, shouting, [and] calling me names" and once somebody threw a can of drink at her.

She said she never told police about hate crimes because they are "having a bigger crime every day".

"Cars are stolen, this and that, do you think they will really be able to do something? I don't see any point," she said.

Bedfordshire Police said it was working towards changing this attitude with different community groups.

Katy Lewis
BBC Local Live

The University of Bedfordshire has announced it's part of an international team developing a robot that's "culturally aware".

It means the robot - which would help care for the elderly - would match the culture and etiquette of the person they're looking after.

Image source, University of Bedfordshire

Principal lecturer, Dr Chris Papadopoulos, called it a "truly ground-breaking" project.

"Building culturally aware Pepper robots that can autonomously re-configure their interactions to match the culture, customs and etiquette of the person they're caring for, means that they are more likely to be accepted by elderly clients," he said.

"The impact upon wellbeing we hope to observe includes boosting independence, reducing loneliness and ultimately improving quality of life."

Its capabilities will include:

• Communicating through speech and gestures
• Assisting in performing everyday tasks such as helping with to-do lists, keeping track of bills, suggesting menu plans
• Reminding an individual to take their medication or do physical exercise
• Raise the alarm in emergencies 
• Read aloud, play music and games

BBC Weather Watchers

The photos from our BBC Weather Watchers in the area today show a very similar picture - dull and grey - although there is rather a lovely dog in Milton Keynes to brighten things up...

Katy Lewis
BBC Local Live

A man has denied killing another man in Luton who was left in a coma for nearly two years.

Henry Huggins, 48, was attacked outside his home in Whipperley Ring, Farley Hill, on 8 August 2013 and died in June 2015.

Stuart Doherty, 42, formerly of Townsley, Luton, pleaded not guilty at Luton Crown Court to murder. 

James Early, 42, of Whipperley Ring, Luton, faces a manslaughter charge. He has been bailed and another hearing for that charge will be held in March.

The trial is due to take place in June.

Katy Lewis
BBC Local Live

The trial of the man accused of murdering Royston author Helen Bailey has been adjourned for the day due to a juror being ill.

Ian Stewart denies killing his partner, Ms Bailey, at their Hertfordshire home last April.

The case will resume at St Albans Crown Court on Tuesday.

Katy Lewis
BBC Local Live

So, what does a Hollywood director do in his downtime when he's been in London to record the score for his latest blockbuster?

Go to a Hertfordshire wildlife park, of course.  

After the recording for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 at Abbey Road, director James Gunn spent time at the Paradise Wildlife Park in Broxbourne, where he tweeted, external he had an "amazing time hanging out with lemurs".  

He also had this cheeky meerkat to deal with...

Meanwhile, Aza Whitnall, who works at the park, said, external he "had the pleasure" of showing the director and actress Jennifer Holland around.

Given that the main character in the first film was a talking raccoon - maybe he was getting some inspiration for new characters?  

BBC Sport

Watford were knocked out of the FA Cup after a 1-0 defeat to League One side Millwall on Sunday.

It was Steve Morison's 85th-minute volley that sent the Lions into the last 16 of the competition.

The Hornets rotated their squad, making seven changes.

Manager Walter Mazzarri said he was "sorry" and referenced a focus on Tuesday's Premier League trip to Arsenal, adding: "I want a team that in the next 16 games fights for every ball."  

BBC pundit Alan Shearer has criticised clubs for making big changes for the FA Cup, saying they were "cheating fans" out of a cup run.

The 13 Premier League clubs in the fourth round made 98 changes to their line-ups, an average of 7.5 per team.  

"Clubs care about money while fans care about trophies. That's very unfortunate," Shearer told BBC Sport.

Katy Lewis
BBC Local Live

Two men accused of killing a man in Luton are due to enter pleas at Luton Crown Court today.

Image source, South Beds News Agency

Henry Huggins (above), 48, was assaulted in October 2013 outside his home in Farley Hill and was left in a coma. He died in June 2015. 

Stuart Doherty, 42, of Townsley in Luton, is charged with murder. James Early, 42, from Whipperley Ring, is accused of manslaughter.

Katy Lewis
BBC Local Live

The Conservative MP for North East Bedfordshire said the government should delay Donald Trump's state visit to Britain, following the US president's controversial travel ban imposed on people from mainly Muslim countries.  

Image source, Conservative Party

Alistair Burt, a former Foreign Office minister, said it might be better if it's postponed.

"I think this looks too uncomfortable and I wonder if they will find a diplomatic excuse to delay this, such as wanting the EU negotiations to go a little bit further down the line so a trade conversation can be a little bit more structured," he said.

"But at the moment, the idea of having a visit would seem very uncomfortable to both sides."