26/06/2013 BBC Channel Islands News

islands. Our headlines: Condor officers face French court - after

their ship crashed into a fishing boat, killing its captain.

Plus, road safety in the spotlight - as speeding and accidents increase

in Guernsey. And dressed for success - our Island

Games teams unveil their winning new The captain and first officer of a

Condor ferry have gone on trial in France charged with manslaughter.

They were in charge of the Condor Vitesse when it ran over a fishing

boat skippered by french fisherman Philippe Lesaulnier. The official

report into the incident said they were going too fast in foggy

conditions, not paying enough attention and failed to switch on

the fog horn. Mike Wilkins has been in court in Coutances.

In the court room men, the captain and his first officer, have faced

three charges, those being manslaughter, unintentional wounding

and a failure to comply with maritime regulations that are

designed to prevent collisions at sea. After more than two years since

the incident and the family of the dead man arrived earlier at court to

see justice served. Afterwards the man who was the captain on that day,

Philippe Lesaulnier seen here on the right, also arrived, shortly

followed by his first officer. The proceedings are being held in this

building in the small town of Coutances but its outcome could have

implications for these men and their employer. It was in March a couple

of years ago when a passenger on this ship heard a loud bang as the

ferry passed on its way to Jersey. Two fishermen were spotted clinging

to the wreckage and were brought aboard Condor. A third man, Philippe

Lesaulnier was later pulled to a fishing boat. He was later

pronounced dead. The Norman fishing community is very angry about his

death and today in court more than a dozen of his family and friends were

present. When quizzed by the judge the captain said as far as he was

concerned the boat was working properly and he did not understand

how it happened as he had been sailing for 25 years. The first

officer added he was happy the radar was working and said there was a

blind spot around the boat. They also turned the fog horn off when

they went into open seat as they did not want to upset passengers. The

court was shown a radar recording and had the conversation on the

bridge. As the recording made the point of impact, Philippe

Lesaulnier's Ridout was moved to tears. Outside she said she was

disappointed by today's proceedings. Translation for children are left

behind. I thought they would recognise they made a mistake.

incident came as a big shock. It will be up to the court to decide

whether these two men are truly to blame or not. The court has also

heard from an maritime expert who helped compile a report following

the accident. He concluded the Condor Vitesse was travelling too

fast in thick fog and that the crew was too busy talking about a film

involving Catwoman and had not noticed the fishing boat even though

it was on their radar. The defence who applied for more time and the

judge has suspended the proceedings until September.

Safety on Guernsey's roads is a growing challenge for Guernsey

Police. The force's annual report shows that their overall rate of

solving crimes is up 15% on last year. But policing the every day

motorist is taking up more and more of their time, as Pam Caulfield

reports. Patrolling the roads is a high

priority. Three people have died in accidents since last December, the

animal police report highlights some of the problems. The major one is in

attention by drivers and speeding. As you know, we deploy covert and

marked speeding detection methods throughout the whole of the area and

will continue to do so. Last year nearly 300 people were caught

speeding, up by 25%. The number of accidents were up to nearly 700 and

the number of people getting a verbal caution was up by 30% to over

1400. Road campaigners say this is a popular rat run and want to create

extra traffic calming measures. Perhaps include a one-way system.

But they can be ignored so the focus now is on educating drivers.

cannot keep putting roars into place because they are often disregarded.

We have to get into the mind of people using our roads. Police will

also be on the streets tackling litter and vandalism. Whether it is

someone having their wing mirror broken, shop premises vandalise, we

take it seriously. While figures suggest more criminals are being

caught and more speeding tickets are being handed out, measuring the

success of the force cannot be done by numbers but by how safe road

users really are. With Guernsey's population at a

record high - the States' today started a major debate on how to

control it in future. Key to the proposals is a move away from the

current housing licence system. But major decisions don't come quickly,

as Penny Elderfield reports. And island with limited space and a

population that has been growing. Figures show nearly 63,000 people

now live in Guernsey and today in the States' , rules to control the

population where the issue of the day. A move away from housing

licences to work permits is key. One, five and eight year permits

will be handed out to key workers. After eight they can stay in the

island for good. For short-term workers permits will be issued from

one to a maximum of three years and there will be restrictions on when

they can return. 45 proposals in total all with the same aim. We need

to manage those who need housing licences. It will give us a better

handle to manage the population. has been a busy day of debate here

at Guernsey States' but with the official proposals for population

facing around 20 amendments, it does look like we could have another long

day of discussions tomorrow. Heather Watson has been knocked out

of the ladies doubles at Wimbledon. The Guernsey tennis player and her

partner lost in straight sets 6-2 6-0 in the first round. It follows

her first-round defeat in the singles event yesterday.

Jersey's cricketers have been testing themselves against

professional opposition from England. They lost a Twenty20 match

to Middlesex yesterday. Today's invitational match is underway at

Farmers field. The Middlesex coach says the island side are putting up

a good performance. I thought the Jersey bowlers came back well in the

second half of the innings. A decent score. I just hope they had good

practice out of it. You would expect a professional side to be in good

shape as we are. Hopefully the players and coaches will benefit

from experience. The countdown to the Island Games is

on and Guernsey and Jersey's teams are being kitted out today - ahead

of travelling to Bermuda in a fortnight. Our reporter Amy Harris

is at the Merton Hotel in Jersey where in the next half an hour we'll

get a first glimpse of all that all important team kit. Amy.

You join me here at the Merton Hotel. It is all quiet at the moment

but soon it will be transformed into an Island Games catwalk. The Jersey

team will model for the first time that all-important kit they will

wear in Bermuda. Earlier in Guernsey, we caught a first glimpse

of what the team will be wearing. It has been specially designed to cope

with the climate in Bermuda, like refractive, white tracksuits and

hat. -- light reflective. But the question is will they be winning

wardrobes? I joined by the chairman of Jersey's Island Games

association. You did well in the Isle of Wight. How many medal

hopefuls have you got? We are all very excited going over there and we

have a lot of medal winners from the Isle of Wight games. We hope they

will have a repeat performance in Bermuda. I am sure dressed to

impress to, they will do very well and indeed go for gold.

It is time to see what the weather It is time to see what the weather

closer to home is doing now. A lot of dry weather to look forward to

for the next few days. Sadly the sunshine may be blotted out by a

fair amount of cloud. The high-pressure is just weakening the

little bit allowing some weather systems to come around the top.

Cloudy tomorrow, mainly dry and warm although there is the possibility of

Microsoft in the evening. Here is our area of high pressure. As it

weakens it allows these weather systems around the top, introducing

more cloud and by Friday the high-pressure has moved away to

allow this warm weather fun to come in from the north-west. Initially

tonight there will be a fair amount of clear sky. Cloud will melt away

and for a while the skies will be clear. Winds are from the north and

are light to moderate. Tomorrow, morning sunshine replaced by rather

cloudy conditions through the afternoon and by the end of the day,

there is the possibility of the few showers. Temperatures of 16 or 17

degrees. The winds will be north-westerly. There is our coastal

waters forecast. Mainly fair with generally good visibility although

the possibility of some drizzle in the evening. The times of high

water. And for surface it is likely to be choppy on the north coast but

most of us seeing 1- to feed. A cloudy day on Friday and the