Eleven children bitten by dog in Blyth playground
Shane Tunney trial: Two teenagers found guilty of murder
Second man faces murder charge
Updates on Thursday 19 May 2016
Rebecca Turner
BBC North East
Updates for the North East have now finished here for the day - thank you for joining us.
We'll be back from 08:00 tomorrow with more news, sport, weather and travel updates and hope you can join us then.
If you'd like to get in touch you can tweet us, external, email us, or contact us via our Facebook page, external.
A band of rain will clear to the east during the evening leaving just a few showers overnight.
These will become increasingly light and largely confined to the Pennines.
Most places should be dry overnight with variable cloud.
BBC Bitesize have been to Northumberland, as their educational aliens "beam down to Kielder Reservoir" to talk to young campers about looking after water on Earth:
Nyomi Fee, who insisted she could have done nothing to prevent Liam's death, said her phone was damaged with the screen held together by sticky tape.
Nyomi Fee and Rachel Fee, originally from Ryton, deny killing the two-year-old at a house near Glenrothes in Fife on 22 March 2014.
They also face charges they neglected Liam and abused two other children.
Image source, The Shields GazetteEleven children were injured when a dog attacked them in a playground in Blyth, Northumberland, on Wednesday evening.
Parents and some of the children described what happened.
The Journal
Newspaper
Image source, The Journal
Matthew Raisbeck
BBC Newcastle Sport
Gateshead have signed a number of new players:
Hartlepool Mail
Newspaper
Image source, Hartlepool MailShadow Europe Minister and north west Durham MP Pat Glass has apologised for describing a voter in Derbyshire as a "horrible racist" during an EU referendum campaign visit.
She had been knocking on doors in the village of Sawley in Derbyshire as part of the remain campaign.
At the end of an interview with a BBC Radio Derby reporter, Pat Glass can be heard on the recording telling him: "The very first person I come to (sic) is a horrible racist. I'm never coming back to wherever this is."
The man she is believed to have been referring to didn't want to be interviewed by the BBC, but denied being a racist.
She has since apologised, saying "The comments I made were inappropriate and I regret them.
"Concerns about immigration are entirely valid and it's important that politicians engage with them.
"I apologise to the people living in Sawley for any offence I have caused."
A support worker at Newcastle University will take part in the Great North Run in memory of her best friend who died in a motorbike crash last year.
Image source, GNAASNicola Hawdon, 25, will raise money for the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS), which airlifted Gemma Kay after the crash in Washington.
Miss Kay, 23, was riding pillion on her boyfriend’s motorbike when they were involved in a collision with a car.
Miss Hawdon says: “I just wanted to thank everyone for everything they did for Gemma, it wasn’t the outcome we all wanted but their efforts were fantastic.”
BBC Sport
Rafael Benitez's decision whether to stay on as Newcastle manager will depend on the amount of funds he is given to strengthen the squad.
Benitez took over in March but could not stop the club being relegated, despite the Magpies winning three of their last six league matches.
He could now activate a clause in his deal which allows him to leave.
However, he has held talks with the Magpies hierarchy, with talks described as positive.
Image source, Getty ImagesFollowing the verdict in the Shane Tunney trial which saw two teens found guilty of murder and five others guilty of manslaughter, Cleveland Police have spoken of the group's "appalling actions".
They were also convicted of attacking Mr Tunney's friend Anthony Kirk, who was with him at the time.
In a statement they said: "Those responsible acted in a pack, carefully coordinating their attack on Shane and Anthony.
"They were viciously assaulted with a metal bar for no reason. The victims were simply going to pick up food and did not ask for a fight".
Kearan Terry Davis and Kieran Harry Davis, both 18, (pictured below) had denied killing him but were found guilty of murder.
Image source, Cleveland PoliceBrandon Pitt, Danile Hunt and Jake Douglas, all 18, (pictured below left to right) and two other teenagers who cannot be named, were cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter.
Image source, Cleveland PoliceA cystic fibrosis sufferer from County Durham has become the first person living with the condition to reach the top of Mount Everest.
Image source, Nick TalbotNick Talbot and his team conquered the world's highest mountain late last Thursday night and are currently making their way back down.
This is his second attempt, having tried last year, when an earthquake in Nepal triggered an avalanche which he says almost claimed his life.
Apart from a small chance of a light shower it will be mostly dry with some bright spells for a while this afternoon.
However, rain will spread from western parts by early evening.
Maximum Temperature: 17C (63F).
Image source, Shields GazetteAllow Twitter content?
This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
The partner of a man who died after a "savage" street attack by a group of teenagers has spoken of their final moments together.
Shane Tunney was left in a coma after being beaten up while walking to a pizza shop at Norton, near Stockton, with a friend last year.
A jury at Teesside Crown Court convicted two 18-year-old cousins of murder and five other teenagers were found guilty of manslaughter.
Image source, Family photoNow Mr Tunney's partner, Vix Cooper, (pictured with Shane Tunney) has described his five week fight for life as surgeons battled unsuccessfully to save him.
She said: "Once the sedation had been taken off, I remember he looked at me and we made eye contact.
"For the first time he lifted his arm up and he held my hand and I saw a tear come down his cheek.
"And for the first time I knew he was there."
A witness in the Shane Tunney trial told the court of the attack, saying Mr Tunney was being kicked while his friend Anthony Kirk was beaten with a pole.
Image source, Family photo / Cleveland PoliceAt one point, Shane Tunney (pictured) had managed to get up and, in the words of the prosecutor, "run for his life."
Cleveland Police believe having frantically flagged down a passing taxi, he opted not to leave the scene and instead went back to help his friend only to be attacked again.
Another witness said the gang were "hyper, jumping around as though they were boxers," and two of the defendants were alleged to have high-fived each other saying it showed "not to mess with them."
Peter Harris
BBC Look North
The seven teenagers convicted of the killling of Shane Tunney will be setenced in June.
Kearan Terry Davis and his cousin Kieran Harry Davis, both 18, were found guilty of murder.
Jake Douglas and Brandon Pitt, both 18, and three teenagers who cannot be named for legal reasons, were found guilty of manslaughter but were cleared of murder.
