Comedian and entertainer Rod Hull is accidentally killed in a fall aged 63 outside his home in Winchelsea, Sussex, after trying to adjust his television aerial. 21 March – Comedian Ernie Wise, who formed one-half of the Morecambe and Wise comedy double from 1941 to 1984, dies of a heart attack aged 73 at Wexham, Buckinghamshire. 24 March – Ross Kemp, who has achieved TV stardom with his role as Grant Mitchell in EastEnders, signs a £1million deal with ITV, meaning that he will leave EastEnders this autumn after nearly 10 years. 26 March – A total £2 billion in compensation is paid to 100,000 former miners who are suffering from lung disease after years of working in British coalfields. 29 March – The family of James Hanratty, one of the last men to be executed in Britain (for the A6 murder 37 years ago), are given the right to appeal against his conviction by the Criminal Cases Review Commission. April April – Vauxhall launches its Zafira, a compact MPV which makes use of the Astra hatchback's chassis. 1 April A minimum wage is introduced throughout the UK – set at £3.60 an hour for workers over 21, and £3 for workers under 21. Anthony Sawoniuk, 78, becomes the first person convicted of Second World War crimes in a British court when he is sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of 18 Jews in his native Belarus. He has lived in Britain since 1947. 6 April - Gaurav born (Yahoo!) 14 April – Edgar Pearce, the so-called "Mardi Gra bomber", convicted for a series of bombings and sentenced to 21 years in jail. 17 April – A bomb explodes in Brixton, South West London, and injures 45 people. 24 April – A second bomb explosion in Brick Lane, east London injures 13 people. 26 April – TV presenter Jill Dando, 37, dies after being shot on the doorstep of her Fulham home. 30 April – A third bomb in London explodes in the Admiral Duncan pub, in Old Compton Street, Soho, London – the centre of the London gay scene – killing two people (including a pregnant woman) and injuring over thirty. David Copeland, a 23-year-old Farnborough man, is arrested hours later in connection with the three explosions. May 3 May – David Copeland appears in court charged with the recent bombings in London. 6 May 1999 Scottish Parliament