16/04/2012 BBC Points West

The headlines this evening: A would-be suicide bomber from

Gloucester is freed from prison. Saajid Badat planned to blow up an

aeroplane, now it's emerged he's done a deal to have his sentence

cut. The man who saw through the biggest

cuts in decades steps down as leader of Somerset Council.

Also tonight: Face to face - the Wiltshire man who wants a doctor to

end his life and the law lord who won't let him. There has to be a

line somewhere, and we believe that the line should be between you

taking your own life and that somebody killing you. We do not

think, that should be .(TRM), And from the very highs to the

lowest lows, how our trainers respond to the Grand National

Good Evening. A man from Gloucester, who was jailed for plotting to blow

up an aeroplane, has been a free man for the last two years. Saajid

Badat was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2005, but today it was

revealed that he did a deal with the authorities that saw his

sentence cut and his early release It is November 27th, at 2003. The

heart of Gloucester's Muslim community. It has been raided by

the anti-terrorism squad. People cannot believe that Saajid Badat,

educated in a respected grammar school, could be mixed up with Al-

Qaeda. But he had a dark secret life. He had dropped out of

university. He had started in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where he

came under influence of terrorists. In 2001, he was in training camps

in Afghanistan. We know he was given explosives, and that his task

was to bring down an aircraft between Europe and the United

States. After the terror attacks in 2001, he returned to Britain after

lying to get the passport. Inside his she was a bomb. He had tickets

booked to fly from Manchester to Amsterdam. His planned to detonate

the bomb on a flight on the US, killing himself and all those on

board. But on December 17th, he pulled out of the plot. His co-

conspirator it was overpowered by terrified passengers as he

attempted to blow himself up using an identical device. But Saajid

Badat was tracked down and arrested in Gloucester. He pleaded guilty to

conspiracy to block an airliner, and jailed for 13 years. He was

given credit for his guilty plea and the turning his back on

terrorism. Steve is with us now. What has happened here? The bottom

line is that Saajid Badat had become the first convicted

terrorist to do a deal with the British. He has traded in his

knowledge of a terrorist network in return for a reduction in his

sentence. The Crown Prosecution Service said he spoke freely, but

they are saying the decision was not taken lightly. This said it was

taken in the interests of international justice. What has he

told the security services? He has been speaking to Scotland Yard and

the FBI, while imprisoned in the UK. The information has been described

as overwhelmingly important. He is in the United States this week,

where he is appearing as a prosecution witness in the trial of

an Al-Qaeda opera to have accused of blowing up the New York subway.

What about his future? We were not be seeing him in Gloucester. There

has been a news blackout since 2009 on this. The security services will

give him a new identity, and keep an important intelligent asset

alive. The celebrations continued all

weekend in the Somerset village of Ditcheat. Neptune Collenges,

trained by Paul Nicholls, had won the Grand National, the only major

prize in the sport to have eluded him. But North of Cheltenham, the

stables of rival trainer Jonjo O'Neill have been in mourning after

Gold Cup winner Synchronised was put down after falling in

Saturday's race. His death and that of another horse has prompted

another review of safety and calls from some for the race to be

radically altered. Well, David Passmore is at the stable of

triumphant trainer Paul Nicholls and joins us now. So many great

horses have been trained here. But now, the name of Neptune Collenges

can be added to that list. He has given Paul Nicholls the one Trophy

missing from his cabinet. Many congratulations. What does it mean?

It is fantastic. It is the people's race. It is the world's greatest

steeplechase. This horse is brilliant. Did you think he had it

in him? He had a lot of class. He showed his class, came through on

the day. He ran very well in the trial. With our record, we did not

believe it, but he ran a big race. Sadness and disappointment as well.

Synchronised, one of two horses, had to be put down after Saturday's

race. This was Synchronised a month ago.

But today, the stables and trainer were still too upset to speak about

the loss of a horse in Saturday's's Grand National. Synchronised was

amongst the favourites, but had looked jittery before the race. He

unseated his jockey. And then, he jumped at the sixth fence, and

stumbled and fell. And Synchronised is down. This year's race was the

first to be run since a safety review, leading to changes to

fences. But the RSPCA is still urging for further action. Live has

risk, but human beings take whether -- choose whether to take that risk.

Animals do not have a risk. Let us cut the number of horses in the

Grand National, and letters but horse safety first and foremost.

The death of two horses overshadowed one of the greatest

pinnaces the National has ever seen. When Neptune Collenges was finally

confirmed as the winner, there was no hiding Paul Nicholls's delight

in securing his first Grand National title. In the 2012 Grand

National... But as the walls's name was being added to the winner's

board, questions being asked about the fatalities.

You have been vocal about the criticism of the race. What are

your views this evening? I was not intending to be vocal. In a lot of

ways, I feel it is sad he won a wonderful race, and we come back

here looking forward to good headlines, and yet they are on

headlines. You sometimes pop -- wonder if it was all worth it.

Awfully sad they lost Synchronised. In any race, there is a risk.

Everybody watches, but sit and follows it, and knows there is a

risk. No matter how hard we try to make things safer, it is the fact

of life. Has there been an over- reaction? It always is, every year.

The media build that up. When something goes wrong, or they want

to do is laggard of. It is over- reacting. The RSPCA are concerned,

and quite right as well. But you have got to take a balanced view on

everything. Congratulations. Another trophy to the Paul Nicholls

trophy cabinet. It's official - we're in drought.

Last month, parts of Gloucestershire and Wiltshire had

water restrictions imposed, but now the rest of the West is affected

too. Unless you're a Thames Water customer, though, you won't have a

hosepipe ban. Instead, what's been declared is an environmental

drought. Sarah-Jane Bungay reports on the effect that's having on the

West's landscape and wildlife. These wetlands are not as soggy as

the birds hoping to feed and breed here would like. It isn't

internationally important habitat for wading birds, and there is

water on the reserve but not enough. This is how the area should look.

Probably a third of the reserve, we will not keep as wet as we would

like. We have got areas where we can actually pump water to

artificially maintain the levels there. This is a second year we

have had to embark on those measures,. It is a prime breeding

time for lapwings and redshanks. the moment, it is just one solitary

male. This river is getting a helping hand. Wessex Water are

topping up the levels and easing conditions for fish and wildlife.

Pumping water and bringing it to the surface and putting it into the

river, and make sure we are supporting it the wildlife in the

river, and supporting agriculture. To me, the water levels looks like

it is associated with high supper - - high-summer, for example July or

August. But here we are, in the middle of April. Somerset wildlife

enthusiast and TV presenter, Michael, is doing his bit to

conserve water. He is painting a more positive picture of how what

level cope. Wildlife has been coping with their excessive rain,

droughts, it for centuries, millennia. It will always bounce

back. Long-term, it does not have any effect whatsoever. It is a fine

balance, meeting the water needs of people, agriculture, the

environment and businesses. And especially challenging when the

valuable commodity everyone needs is the one in short supply.

We will find out if there is rain on the way it

This is Monday's Points West with Alex and Will. It's good to have

you with us. Coming up in tonight's programme:

From battlefield to hospital ward - we meet the nurse who splits her

time between Afghanistan and Swindon.

And the young man who took this double decker bus on a joyride

A man's been charged in connection with four knifepoint robberies in

Wiltshire. Two garages, one in Swindon and one in Royal Wootton

Bassett, were targeted two weeks ago. Then, over the Easter weekend,

staff at two shops in Swindon were threatened. 18-year-old Joseph

Kingsley appeared in court today charged in connection with the

incidents. As part of their enquiries, the police have also

released an image of three men they'd like the public's help to

identify. The leader of Somerset County

Council has announced within the last hour that he's to leave the

job. Conservative Ken Maddock is stepping down so he can stand for

election as one of the country's new Police Commissioners. Well, to

tell us more, we can go live to County Hall in Taunton and talk to

our Somerset correspondent, Clinton Rogers. This has come as a bit of a

surprise, hasn't it? Shock, more like. A Conservative meeting is

just finishing here, at which he has delivered the news to his

colleagues. He has been leading here since the Conservatives took

control back in 2009, but today will be his last day. He has put

his hat into the ring. He wants to be the Conservative Party candidate

of the Police Commissioner. Earlier today, I asked him whether part of

the reason for giving up this job is that he was finding the going a

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds

He did not need to resign as leader of the County Council to put his

name forward, but told me he felt he needed to do that to give it his

best shot. The first thing he needs to do is convince the Conservative

Party he is their chosen candidate. He would be a pretty good favourite

for that job. Is he the right Manfred? That is a question I put

to one Somerset MP. An interesting choice. I had no idea. I do not

know and love will come out on behalf of the Conservatives. I am

sure there will be one or two independence. We will see what

happens. Interesting choice. He has been leader of the council, and

He soon moved on to a bigger chamber. He took charge of the

Conservatives and of the council, and set about making the biggest

cuts in decades. We are going to stop these cuts! He faced protest

as he arrived for the meeting which would avoid hundreds of

redundancies. This is completely unprecedented. Perhaps his hardest

battle was over libraries. He was never of Brega facing his opponents.

If you could find more efficiencies for us, that would be brilliant.

But the courts killed off his cuts, and the revolution will be left to

There are few people will not be sad to see him go. What is your

view of his years? Well, privatisation, it cost millions,

job losses which cost members and their families' income. Staff

morale is at rock bottom. But he had to do it? Sorry, we have a

problem with the link. I am sure we can rejoin him. We lost due for a

moment. Sorry for a technical glitches. Sorry, we had a few

problems. A difficult job he had to do. It is about his policies. We

would like to see a change in direction well we can work with the

council to improve services rather than selling them off to private

companies for cheaper. The new man or woman will takeover, what are

you hoping for? Constructive dialogue and better services for

our members and the residents of Somerset. OK, thank you. The

timescale, the Conservatives would choose the new candidate now. They

should be in place by the middle of May.

A Wiltshire man who is fighting for the right to be legally killed by a

doctor says the Commission on assisted dying has let him down.

Tony Nicklinson has locked in syndrome which means he is unable

to move, and can only talk with the help of a special computer. Today

he challenged the man who led the commission as the two came face to

face in Tony's home in Melksham. Hello, I have locked-in syndrome.

Recently I contributed to a report about assisted dying. It was

decided terminally ill people should die with dignity but it

cannot condone a doctor killing me. I will ask him why. Because

allowing in any circumstances one person to kill another would be a

massive change in the moral and practical view that the law takes

about taking other people's lives. You can take your own life, the

commission says you can be assisted but you should never be in a

position where there is a lawful means of being killed by someone

else. Do you think the law should leave me to suffer? It is not

because of any feelings the Law Commission has towards you or

people in your position, it is because of the ramifications. I

understand why you take a different view but it would be too dangerous

to allow. What you think should happen to people in my position?

you win your legal case, and I understand you are saying to the

courts, tell me whether or not it would be lawful in some

circumstances for somebody to take your life. As opposed to you being

assisted to commit suicide. It is for the courts to decide what view

they take but my own view is if they said it would be possible for

someone to take your life, as opposed to you committing suicide,

there would be a step too far. satisfied Lord Falconer has

answered my questions and we must agree to differ on the questions of

someone killing another. He sees dangers were I do not. There are

many grey areas which need clarification. Powerful and

articulate as he is, I still think the line has to be drawn were you

take your own life rather than somebody killing you. Because

someone killing you would be allowing that to be in accordance

with the law, it's too dangerous. This is a story we will follow on

Points West. A young man from Wiltshire explains why he took a

double decker bus on a joyride in a new BBC documentary tonight. Called

"Our Crime", Sam Hobson from Amesbury is among four young

drivers to tell his tale. The 21 year old was drunk when he stole

the bus and it ended with serious consequences. As Ali Vowles has

been finding out, it started as just a lark on a cold night.

We went out and there was no one about. It was dead that night. And

we were wandering around and it was quite cold outside. We thought we

would sit on the bus and decide what to do. I saw the key and

started driving. And that was the start of the 25 minute hair-raising

ride around Amesbury in the early hours of the morning in June two

years ago. Take this round about the wrong way round. Along with two

teenage girls, who also took to the wheel, Sam was videoing the whole

thing on his mobile phone. Keep going straight ahead and we were

dumb hit. No, outside your mum's house! I said I heard a buses come

up where we live and I hope it wasn't any of you. It was three

people. I asked if he was our last night and he said he was in bed.

think she knew, the way I was talking on the phone. A thing she

knew deep down. And in fact the whole world knew when the video

ended up on YouTube. The frightening ride ended in misery.

Thousands of pounds worth of damage was caused to the bus and two cars.

Luckily no one was injured. Sam was eventually sentenced to six months

in jail. And you can see more of the stories behind the crimes

tonight on BBC3 at 9 o clock. Lord Beaverbrook, the patron of RAF

reservists, has told Points West the air force can't now function at

full strength without the help of part-timers. His comments came as

four hundred RAF reservists spent this weekend training on Salisbury

Plain in preparation for active service on the front line. Scott

Ellis was with them. Saving lives on the front line in

Afghanistan. A role doctors and nurses from the NHS play a critical

part. And it's here on Salisbury Plain where the training's done.

Let's get you on to the bed. This is a mock-up. A chance for Cheryl

Kesler to hone her battlefield medical skills. The day job is

intensive care at Swindon's Great Western hospital. I wanted to take

nursing to a different environment, my last tour in the summer, I was

moving patients within theatre and strategic. It was a very

challenging time. But I still loved every minute. Cheryl was among 400

RAF reservists training in Wiltshire this weekend. The biggest

such deployment there has ever been. A clear sign that front line

operations now rely heavily on civilian back up. We can't afford

the defence of this nation that we would like so we have to find ways

of maintaining out that and reducing costs. With the reservists

it is a key way of achieving that at that -- that aim.

The figures bear that out. Full time RAF staff are being cut by six

thousand. At a time when the number of reservists is due to double. No

day off to recover for Cheryl today. She's back in Intensive care in

Swindon. You have the challenging role of being out in the field on

Salisbury Plain, freezing cold and he we are today. It is two

different worlds, it is challenging in both environments, working for

the NHS and working with the air force. The reserves is a rare

growth area for the military. One that Cheryl's proud to be a part of.

We will turn our attentions to the weather now. We were talking about

drought but there is rain on the way. Yes, a fair bit although it

will not alleviate longer term problems with the drought. Some

useful rain. Tomorrow, sets the scene for the rest of the week.

Only rain replaced by sunny spells. If we run through the week, low-

pressure developing being driven on eight-strong the jet stream.

Spilling down on Wednesday sitting over us and the wind will be slack.

Heavy slow-moving downpours and on Thursday the low migrates. Heavy

showers becoming a more flabby feature by the tail end of the week.

Further showers and so through the rest of this evening the rain is

some way off. Late evening and the outbreaks will arrive in the West

Somerset and spreading further in. Somerset and spreading further in.

A cold front comes in in the morning and we get heavy rainfall

spreading further east and clearing out of Wiltshire around the start

of the morning rush-hour. Gusts of 45 miles an hour. Temperatures

around fibre six else's. Tomorrow morning, the raid well clear, dry

and bright weather. The showers pack in from the West, fairly quick

moving on the brisk flow. Some sunny spells, some showers heavy.

In the bright spells, temperatures up to as high as 13 Celsius. There

will be heavy showers around by Wednesday. Thank you very much.