01/04/2014 BBC Channel Islands News

pollution levels will be that little bit lower. Thank you.

People in Jersey can find now out if their partner has a violent past. A

UK scheme commonly known as Clare's Law has been introduced in the

island. The Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme came into effect

in England and Wales last month. It's intended to provide information

that could protect someone from being a victim of abuse or attack.

The number of domestic violence incidents in Jersey has been

steadily rising over the last few years. In 2009 there were 231 cases

of domestic abuse. That increased to 270 in 2011, and last year saw 327.

That means domestic abuse accounts for 14% of all reported crime in the

island, compared to 8% in the UK. In a moment we'll hear from Jersey

Police's Domestic Violence specialist, but first Jen Smith has

the background. Clare's Law was named after

36`year`old Clare Wood who was murdered by her ex`boyfriend in

Greater Manchester five years ago. The Domestic Abuse Disclosure

Scheme, to give it its full name, is intended to provide information that

could protect someone from an attack. In Clare's case, her ex had

a history of violence against women and her dad believes she'd still be

alive today if she'd known about his past. The lad that killed my

daughter had already done five years in prison for holding a young lady

at knife`point at eight `` right for eight hours in Newcastle. Had my

daughter known that she was not that stupid to put herself and her

daughter in harms way and she would have been out of there in an

instant. The scheme is being welcomed in Jersey. However, there

are some resonant `` reservations. This is convicted perpetrators of

abuse and we do know it is heavily under reported as a crime and many

women might feel shame and stigma attached to it and not want other

people to know or become involved. There might be some information but

it might not actually give them what they need.

The law was introduced in England and Wales last month after four

pilot schemes provided more than 100 people with potentially life saving

information. Detective Chief Inspector Dave Oakley who worked in

Jersey for three years was responsible for the roll out of

Clare's law in Sussex. In Jersey you have quite a large transient

population, people who come onto the island to work, whether it be in

agriculture or financial services industries. That information might

not be naturally sitting with the Jersey police and this scheme gives

people the right to come in and ask and it starts the involvement the

agencies. The scheme is under consideration in

Guernsey, but police there can notify new partners of issues if it

is legal and proportionate to do so. Clare's law is intended to protect

both men and women from domestic abuse. Jersey Police says the term

abuse doesn't have to be physical but can be mental and emotional too.

And while the scheme can't prevent abuse, it's hoped it will enable

people to make an informed decision before entering a relationship.

Detective Chief Inspector Alison Fossey is Jersey Police's Domestic

Abuse specialist. I asked her why Jersey needed to take on the scheme.

It is needed in Jersey as much as it is in the UK because it gives

individuals another option here to take preventative action before an

abusive relationship ends in tragedy. It will work in Jersey the

same as in the UK, there are two aspects including the right to ask

which is the individual's right to ask and the right to know where the

police can proactively disclose information to protect the safety of

an individual. There are always issues around data protection so how

do we make sure those laws are not breached? Once the individual comes

for the information we will run various checks to verify who they

are and we will check the individual they are talking about and we will

balance both party's human rights in terms of the right to life against

the right to her private life and confidential information. We will

only disclose what is necessary and proportionate in order to ensure

that individual's safety. It is always a sensitive issue so how

would you advise someone to act if they find that their partner has a

violent past. I would ask them to take whatever support is offered to

them. When we make the disclosure at that time we will always offer the

discipline `` the support and services of winning was 's refuge

and outreach workers and I would advise them to take that support and

leave the relationship safely because we know it is a time of high

risk in any relationship. Jersey police officers who are qualified to

use firearms will be able to use an electrical stun gun in future. The

states have agreed to use the Taser which capacity is `` incapacitates

people by giving them an electric shock. Police in Guernsey already

use them. Guernsey Police are appealing for

witnesses to come forward following a road traffic collision this

morning. It happened at the junction between L'Ancresse and Chouet. A

female driver had to be treated for injuries at the scene and had to be

cut out of her car by the Fire Service.

We all know having a healthy lifestyle and getting exercise is

something we should do but a new campaign in Guernsey is raising

awareness of why it could help prevent bowel cancer. It's the

island's third most common cancer, With around 40 to 45 new cases a

year. Latest research shows your chances of getting it could be

halved if you're a healthy weight. And our own Penny Elderfield's been

set the challenge of living a healthy April to give it a go.

A lot of these. Plenty of this.

And five volunteers. And I'm one of them. Over the next

30 days I've been challenged to stick to a diet and exercise plan to

try out the changes you can make to your lifestyle to reduce your

chances of getting bowel cancer. Research shows if you're a healthy

weight your chances of getting it are halved. You will see it start

climbing. So let's start with exercise. The most important thing

is that they learn to enjoy exercise. It is spring and summer so

it is time to get out and enjoy the cliff path is that we have around

here. Go for walks and time yourself and get in with yourself. `` get in

competition with yourself. And it's about combining that with a

healthy diet. You need to avoid processed meat and reduce alcohol

and increase fibrous foods such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains

and pulses. Through lifestyle changes and changes to your diet 43%

of bowel cancers can be prevented in the UK every year so this is an

important message to get out there. If you have a healthy lifestyle and

you eat well and you feel better. The implications are going to

benefit you obviously. So I'd better get on with it. And

the charities behind this are hoping more of public will join me in

having a healthy April. Now here's a little fact for you

about our next story. Did you know the girl guiding group Brownies were

originally named Rosebuds? Well, it was changed shortly after they were

formed in 1914 and this year they celebrate their centenary. Over the

last 100 years Brownies have become so popular, that in Jersey girls are

on waiting lists to join. Emma Chambers has been finding out why

Brownies are still thriving today. They have been serving their queen

and community for a century. Promising to do their best and help

others since 1914. And today Brownies are still going strong. The

girl guiding group has grown from just under 2,500 to over 200,000

across the UK. In Jersey leaders say the secret to their success is

adapting to modern changes, which is now attracting more girls than the

island can cope with. We are constantly having girls on waiting

lists and what we do need is adult leaders over 18 to come in and then

we can offer places to these girls who are on the waiting list and we

have waiting lists in all of our sections across the island.

And it's not surprising when you see how much fun these Brownies are

having making Easter bunnies. But each girl has her own reason for

joining. My Nan suggested it because she had been a brownie when she was

a little girl and I had been to another group before so I thought it

would be fun. I was looking forward to doing all the activities and

meeting new friends. I went for a trial to see if I liked it and I

liked all the activities we do and all the badges that we get.

Jersey Brownies are celebrating their 100th birthday with a a host

of activities this weekend. A landmark occasion these girls will

be part of. I think that the Brownies do understand but I think

it will be when they are a little bit older and they look back and

they think, wow, I was a brownie when we were 100 and it may not even

occur to them until they are mothers and they are sending their daughters

to Brownies and they can say that they were a brownie when they were

100 and they had a fantastic party. The uniforms may have changed over

the years but the promise to do a good turn every day still lives on.

And a happy birthday to them. We will turn our attention now to the

weather. will turn our attention now to the

It has been a pleasant day today. It has been 18 debt # 18 degrees, a

lovely day and very springlike. Tomorrow we will have a similar

temperature with more cloud around. There is the potential for that

clouds to bring us showers. That is the forecast with some sunshine and

it still feels warm with an increasing risk of showers

developing. This area of low pressure that is trickling up and

thrown a lot of clouds towards us recently. It will produce showers

later on tonight. The whole lot is moving a bit closer in the next few

hours and by midday on Thursday we have a weather system close to the

islands that is keeping us cloudy and the threat of showers along the

weather system as well. Not for the first half of the night it is a

lovely end to the day and we have a fine evening. There are increasing

amounts of clouds turning up, probably when most of us are asleep

we will see some showers. By early tomorrow morning they will become

quite widespread. Temperatures do not drop below 10 degrees. Tomorrow

showers early in the day until about the middle of the day. In the

afternoon sunshine will return and it will be pleasant in the sunshine.

16 or 17 degrees. Quite a breeze with the southeasterly wind which

will slowly dropping the second half of the day. Also those Britons ``

those winds will bring some showers as I mentioned. The main theme is a

dry day. Most of our beaches will not have

very much surf at all. As we move into Thursday it is a different

story with a lot of cloud around and how breaks patchy rain. Much

brighter on Friday. The temperatures are starting to come down. Perhaps

we have seen our warmest day because later this week it will get cool but

stay bright. Thank you. We will see you later.

That is it for now. I will hand you over to Justin and

the team at cap next spotlight. to normal service is reached soon.

?750,000 is to be spent on saving greater horse shoe bats in Devon.

They're at risk because they're losing their habitats. Now

landowners are being encouraged to help with money from the Heritage

Lottery Fund. Our Environment Correspondent Adrian Campbell has

been to a secret location in Devon with Colin Morris from the Vincent

Wildlife Trust where we had to have a special permit to film the bats.

We are very fortunate, we have the largest colony in Western Europe. We

have over 1500 bats here during the summer. During the winter, we have

1000 to 1200 bats. We may be fortunate enough to see one or two

bats here today. Yes, there is the species that is most important, the

greater horseshoe bat. It is hanging up their fast asleep. It is in a

state that we call torpor. Lovely animal. There are hundreds of bats

like this, and they have been having problems across the country, haven't

they? Yes, they have. Changing farming practices means the habitat

that they once used has now disappeared. The insect prey that

they would like to feed on and the places they visited had disappeared.

When they take flight from their roost, the bats are simply stunning

to see. They dart through twilight into the darkness of night. This

sort of woodland hedge habitat like this is absolutely fantastic for the

bats. Peter's from the Devon Wildlife Trust and says he is

delighted that ?750,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund is coming to

Devon to help the bats. Some of that will be used to help farmers

re`establish bushy hedgerows, grazing pastures and roosts for this

remarkable mammal. It is the most important area for the bats in the

whole of northern Europe. They are centred here in Devon, especially in

South Devon, so this is a real boost for the bats. It is also a way for

communities to engage and be involved in this project. We take

pride, really, that the bats are using the landscapes on people's

doorsteps. Mind your head as you go. Our infrared camera could not get

inside the cave network where hundreds of bats roost. But we were

able to see inside this man`made roost, now with the help of the

lottery, greater horseshoe bats will hopefully go from strength to

strength in the South West. Cycling's Tour of Britain is coming

to Devon for the eighth year in a row and it's hoped Sir Bradley

Wiggins will return to defend his title. Last year, the stage from

Sidmouth to Dartmoor attracted a record 250,000 spectators, and it's

thought that brought an extra ?6 million to the economy in the South

West. This September, the cyclists will contest a gruelling 106`mile

course from Exmouth to Exeter via Haytor, Okehampton and Crediton. The

toughest section of the route is across Dartmoor. Anna Varle is there

for us this evening. Come September, you will see where

I'm standing, 120 of the world's top cyclists will go past me. The Devon

stage of the route is up to 170 kilometres long, it is fifth stage

of the competition. I do not normally dress like this when I'm

working but today I gave the route to go. It is the largest event in

Britain, and this year is expected to be more spectacular than ever

before. The route from Exmouth to Exeter will be longer, with a large

part of it over Dartmoor. Keen cyclist Alex Partridge took me out

to samples sections. How hard is it? It is gruelling. This is probably

the steepest hill. By the time they get here, they have travelled a long

distance. They have to go all the way back to Exeter, too. One quarter

of women `` 750,000 watched it last year and this September the turnout

is expected to be bigger. `` 250,000. There will be so mitigating

things that we have to do such is the capacity of car parks and

exactly where the route is going. I don't think we will have to do too

much to restrict the public, there is a lot of space and as was proven

two years ago it was one of the busiest days of the year.

On the longer `` the longer route means that some villagers will get

extra trade. People will hopefully come and I will like it and come

back. It was brilliant couple of years ago. It was a flash, but it's

brought so many people out. It was great to see. The economy is not the

only thing to benefit, cycling shops in the event encourages more people

onto their bikes. A lot of cyclists are taking up the sport and there is

a lot more on the leisure and, two, on the racing side there is also an

expansion as a direct result of people getting on a bike. Two to

three cyclists are expected to compete from Devon, but it is on

loan # unknown whether Radley Wiggins will return to defend his

title. I have been told by a professional cyclist that it is the

Devon part of the route that some international cyclists find the most

attractive. But to say some parts of it is challenging `` are challenging

is an understatement. Well done for giving it a go.

What a nice way to spend the day. It looked lovely.

Model plane enthusiasts have flown into a row over the noise generated

by their aircraft. The group fly their planes on Dartmoor, but have

now been banned after some people living nearby complained that the

methanol`powered engines frighten walkers and animals. Julie Fisher

has been to meet members of the flying club to find out why they've

been grounded. After two decades, the pilots of

this club have hit a bit of turbulence. They are using methanol

powered planes under licence from the national Park two days a week

for more than 20 years, but now they have been grounded. Members can only

use battery power, it cost around ?600 per plane to convert them and

the club is breaking up. We come and do a bit of flying, we sits down as

you have seen, have a bit of banter, but it is all gone now as the

majority of us have disappeared. The club's last application for

permanent permission to fly planes was turned down. The council

objected saying that sheep, cattle and riders were being terrorised.

The complaints are spurious and spiteful. There are no livestock

around. One person who wrote the objection did not want to be

identified, but told me that the bylaws do not allow model planes to

fly at all. The authority insists that the more must be capped

tranquil. One of the key attributes is that people can come here and

enjoy the beautiful scenery and enjoy the quiet and the removed the

nests of the area. The flying club hopes that planners at the 30 will

eventually allow all of their planes back in the air.

More than 1,000 schoolchildren from across Devon today converged on the

University of Exeter sports park. It was the county's first school games

of the year with the biggest participation to date. Spotlight's

Dave Gibbins went along to see what it was all about.

There was a musical start to the Devon School Games. The opening

ceremony woke up the 1000 or so schoolchildren. The special guest on

the day was from the Team GB women's beach volleyball squad. It made its

debut in the London 2012 Olympic Games. It is definitely good for

volleyball and all sports. Not many kids get the chance to compete on a

weekly or monthly basis at different spots. `` sports. This way, they can

compete and get the juices going and enjoy sport and enjoy huge occasions

like this. It is great. The whole event is arranged by Active Devon.

There was a whole range of sports and which the children represented

the different regions. The facilities at the Sports Park are

fantastic. We have brilliant indoor facilities, a good range of outdoor

facilities, too, and when you run an event like this with ten or 12

different sports involved all on the same day to be able to have

everything in one place really adds to the festival atmosphere. Oh, it

has been brilliant. Everyone has enjoyed it. It has been a fantastic

day. Everyone has enjoyed a day off school, but everybody's having fun

and doing their favourite sports. I think it is really good that they

have managed to organise this and great that everyone is having fun

doing them. It is really nice seeing all of different schools playing. I

am glad to be part of it. What is your favourite sport? Hockey,

probably. Hockey. There are five events in total throughout the year.

The next two are at the Plymouth Life Centre in June and then will be

back here at the University Sports Park. Of course, it will be summer,

so it will be bigger, brighter and even more popular.

We have seen some blue skies and some reports, but when we were live

it looks like the weather was closing in.

Good evening. It has been another lovely day with the sunshine. Some

pretty good temperatures, 17, 18 Celsius. Not quite so warm tomorrow,

quite a bit more cloud around, and the cloud will produce showers. Some

early in the day, they will gradually clear, dryer for a time

and then some persistent rain returning. The satellite picture

shows a lot of cloud now across us, so we have seen the last really fine

day for the rest of the week, there is a lot more cloud around and it

will produce a few showers. One system trickles past us overnight.

That has some light showers on it. By the time we get to the end of the

day, a second weather system is much more active, it will produce more

persistent rain during the course of the evening and overnight. It should

be clear of most of us by the middle of the day. It is on improving day

on Thursday after the morning rain clears. It should become dry. The

cloud has been drifting up from the South today, and there has been some

outbreaks of rain on that line of cloud that is coming in over the

last couple of hours. This was earlier today where we did have some

fine weather. Actually, spring really showed its hand. The warmth

of the sunshine over the last few days has done wonders for the

blossom and that boss is coming out just about everywhere across the

South West of England, so it is looking quite come out in the also,

the Hawthorn are starting to come out in the overnight tonight. They

will drift away from us, but more will come from the South over the

second half of the night. Expect/ weather for a time, then showers

will develop and they will be with us first thing tomorrow morning

let's look at the detail, because we have showers around overnight

tonight. They will drift away from us, but more will come from the

South over the second half of the night. Expect/weather for a time,

then showers will develop and they will be with us first thing tomorrow

not everywhere, but the showers by early in places. This line of

showers could have some thunder in it. Temperatures would be to lower

overnight. Tomorrow we have a cloudy start with Shari outbreaks of rain.

It will then Britain for a time. `` showery. Top temperature tomorrow am

probably 16 or 17 Celsius. Cooler further West. The Isles of Scilly

are stuck with cloud for much of the day. Misty conditions here, too.

Times of high water. For our surfers, not a grey deal on the

South that it `` North coast. It is a bit brighter as we move into

Thursday, Friday is cloudy, further outbreaks of rain on Saturday. Back

to you. Thank you very much, just as the weekend arrives

All across the country, millions of families are waking up to a Britain

in which they find it harder to get on. Whilst the Government keeps

telling people everything is fixed, many are finding that hard work no

longer stops the pound in their pocket getting smaller, or the bills

getting harder to afford. Under David Cameron, gas and electricity

bills have increased by more than ?300 for an average family, whilst

the energy companies are making huge