29/11/2013 BBC Points West

from the BBC News at Six. So, it's goodbye from me and,

Good evening. Our headlines: Let Karl the whole thing off. The

license to shoot badgers has been revoked after another failure but it

will resume next year. The plant chewed by Somali men to give them a

high, there is growing opposition to a ban. Let's start with regulation

rather than an outright ban. Let's not criminalise communities in

Bristol and elsewhere. He was cleared of murder six years

ago but today this man gets 16 years for building a drugs empire.

And I have come across this rather resealable number. Join me and a

very special guest later in the programme. Good evening. The badger

cull in Gloucestershire has been called off early. Shooting was due

to continue for another three weeks. But now the agency which grants the

licence for it ` has said targets cannot be met. Opponents of the cull

say the whole thing has been a "massive failure". Here's Andrew

Plant. Before the badger cull had even

begun passionate opposition was already on the move. High profile

supporters adding weight to a chorus of claims that the science behind

this cull was fundamentally flawed. It is the people on the ground who

have stopped this extension. Today protesters are already claiming this

entire trial has been a long and bloody mistake. The reason for it

ending is because they have not killed enough. They can see they are

not killing enough so it has been cancelled. Two cull zones, West

Somerset and West Gloucestershire. Each around the size of the Isle of

Wight. The aim ` to kill 70% of the badgers here. The hope ` that

killing badgers will help stop a disease that ravages farms across

the west and has cost hundreds of millions of pounds in the past ten

years. Both six week culls began a week apart in August and September.

Both were extended, Somerset for three weeks, Gloucestershire given

an extra eight. Somerset's finished on the first. Gloucestershire's will

now end 18 days early. This is a pragmatic response to changing

weather conditions, the behaviour of badgers in that locality. I think it

is a sensible decision to take. Estimates say Somerset saw 65% of

badgers in the cull zone killed The figures for Gloucestershire should

be released on Monday. Opponents have called it a fiasco that could

even spread rather than reduce the disease. This is just the end of

round one. Another cull is due to begin next year.

Well, earlier I spoke to the Farming Minister George Eustice and asked if

this had been a disastrous day for the cull. I don't accept that. The

reality is that the weather has deteriorated, the contractors say

they saw very few badgers at night because they were staying

underground. Given those circumstances, it made sense to

college to a halt a few weeks earlier than we had planned. We have

a significant reduction in the amount of badgers, this is a good

start towards our four year plan. Perhaps you have killed them all? We

don't think that is the case. We have estimates about the numbers of

badgers, we have fallen short of our target. This time of year, badgers

stay underground, don't see them as much. That is what the contract is

told us. You do know that if you do not killing of badgers, they simply

leave the area and spread disease elsewhere, so you may have made it

worse? This argument that badgers can move and spread disease is a

complex one. What we do know is that either way you have areas where you

get 30 or 40% reduction in the first year and have a slow start,

providing you sustain it in subsequent years, you still get a

big contribution to the reduction in incidence of the disease. You claim

it is a triumph? I am claiming it is to pirate movements. What we do know

is that there is no easy answer to tackling tuberculosis. We have to do

a range of things, deal with the wildlife population, vaccination,

and do more work on cattle controls. Thank you very much for joining us.

And if you want to look into the arguments surrounding the cull, go

to the BBC questions and answers page on the website.

A Bristol drug dealer who walked free from court six years ago after

being found not guilty of murder is tonight facing 16 years in jail

Rico Walker was cleared of shooting a teenager in a Bristol nightclub in

2006. But today, he was sentenced for drug

dealing after police found he'd supplied ?20 million worth of heroin

in just two years. Our Home Affairs Correspondent Steve Brodie reports.

Six years ago, Rico Walker was cleared of the murder of Dean Myles

who was shot dead in front of a crowd of 300 at Club UK in Bristol.

Today, though, he was back in court ` after police discovered he was the

head of a crime network. Over the last two years he supplied 400 kilos

of the drug to dealers around the country. We suspect that he has been

in receipt of just over 200 kilos of cutting agent. That would then be

adulterated into 400 kilos of heroin, significant amounts of

heroin. We suspect that would be in the region of around ?20 million

worth. Some of the money he made went on clothes ` ?20,000 worth `

including these baseball caps costing ?2,000 each ` and these

designer shoes worth 10,000 for his girlfriend. He used his reputation

to intimidate people. It seemed to be young females who needed money,

he was using his influence upon them to use them as safe houses and

effectively people who would hold and stashed drugs for him. But

unknown to him he'd been targetted by under cover officers from the

Zephyer regional crime unit. In January they arrested him Sevier

Street. And along with cutting agent, they found these improvised

explosives. Jailing Walker for who had previously convicted of

conspiracy to supply class A drugs for 16 years, judge Martin Picton

told him: "The scale of your endevour was breathtaking. Your

motivation is money in a drug which ruins lives." Gang member Siama

Clark, who was also convicted, was jailed for five years and Charmaine

Mcleod who had pleaded guilty was handed a sentence of fiove years and

eight months. `` five years. A fire at an industrial estate in

Swindon is expected to burn for another four days. It started on an

industrial estate on Wednesday night. 750 tonnes of building

materials and recycling are still alight. Firefighters are expected to

let it burn out because using more water could cause more damage.

If you have just joined us, a very warm welcome to Points West on

Friday evening. We will have the weather forecast later.

And we are waiting for Jenson Button. He is switching on the

Christmas lights in his hometown, with a few surprises in store. The

excitement is already building. And we will be there just as soon as we

can hear him approaching. That's all coming up. First, the government has

been told to reverse a decision to ban the herb khat. It is used widely

amongst Bristol's Somali community. The leaves, which are flown to the

UK from Kenya, are chewed and have a mild stimulant effect.

Home Secretary Theresa May intends to make it illegal in the New Year,

but today the home affairs committee says khat causes no harm and should

remain lawful. Scott Ellis reports. Government advisors say khat causes

no social or medical harm. Which is why the Home Affairs Committee today

called for a ban to be lifted. All we say to the government is calm

down, get some evidence, rivulet. But let's start with regulation

rather than an outright ban. These Somalis would welcome the licensing

of khat imports rather than an outright ban, announced in July by

Theresa May, criminalising a 1, 00 year old culture, they say. She

thought that the Somali community is small and insignificant enough, but

I think MPs have got it right today. Many MPs I have spoken to

have agreed with me privately that her rush to legislation can only be

catastrophic for a small community and can only cause further

marginalisation. Somali women we spoke to today still support a ban.

People chew it just to forget their problems, or if they have something

that happened to them, they just want to forget. Should it be banned?

Yes. Theresa May has another concern about khat. It's banned widely

across Europe, and the UK's become a hub for illegal trafficking. There's

also evidence khat production in north Africa is linked to terrorism.

It is a cash crop. It is a commodity, it is very useful to

people who need cash to purchase illegal munitions. We are trying to

reduce the funding going towards terrorism, and we have two look at

all of these aspects. Keith Vaz also warns a UK ban could lead to a rise

in membership of al`Shabab, a Somali militant group, by men here in the

UK previously employed in the khat trade.

It's been revealed tonight that ?100,000 has already been paid out

to victims of the former Gloucestershire coroner Alan

Crickmore. Yesterday he was jailed for eight

years for stealing ?2 million from clients at his law firm. He was

acting alone in a position of complete trust. So how can it be

stopped from happening again? Here's our Gloucestershire reporter, Steve

Knibbs. As coroner, Alan Crickmore's career

was unblemished ` his fraudulent work in his solicitors practice a

secret. Now he's a prisoner ` his reputation tatters for stealing near

?2 million, mainly from elderly and vulnerable clients. Like David

Wilson's aunt who had dementia ` she lost over half a million. It up all

is me and no longer surprises me these days that so many professional

people out there in a position of trust, for example, politicians

bankers, church ministers and solicitors, are prepared to abuse

their positions. The Solicitors Regulation Authority, who

investigated Alan Crickmore, have so far paid over ?100,000 through their

compensation scheme to claimants, including BBC Children In Need, who

lost money through his crimes. But what protections are in place to

stop this happening again? There are a number of registrations but

solicitors have to follow. For example, solicitors for the

elderly, people have to demonstrate they meet quality standards in the

way they look after older people. There are number of others, so do

your research. Follow your instincts. Solicitor Mark Paddison

often faced Crickmore in the Family courts. He describes him as a tough

adversary, but hopes that this extreme case doesn't affect public

trust in the profession. Lawyers do not have the best of publicity in

good times. And this will not help that. Whether it. Clients, I don't

know, but it is a massive breach of trust. 2 million is an awful lot of

money. After his arrest, and knowing he was guilty ` Crickmore continued

to claim his ?60,000 a year coroners salary from the taxpayer. He is

employed by the Ministry of Justice, who would not allow us to stop his

payment. I am very angry, we paid a criminal a lot of money to live the

life of Riley when he should have been in jail. Police have seized

around ?800,000 of Alan Crickmore's assets. He'll face a compensation

hearing next year as well as a disciplinary hearing from the

solicitors regulation authority which will decided whether or not

Alan Crickmore should be stopped from working as a solicitor ever

again. There was some trouble at the tills

earlier as people hit the shops for the annual sale day that has been

known as Lack Friday. And one supermarket, a shopper was tackled

to the ground and arrested. Discounts of up to 70% were offered

by some retailers. Bristol City have started the search

for their sixth manager in just three and a half years.

Tomorrow they play their first game since sacking Sean O'Driscoll. Ali

Durden is here. Ali, who are they going to appoint?

That is the million dollar question. Finding Mr Right has been a problem

for Bristol City. The managers' office has had something of a

revolving door of the last few years, since Gary Johnson was so

close to getting them into the Premier League. They tried a man

with a tried and trusted reputation, Steve Coppell, an internal

appointment, Keith Millen, that didn't work. And Derek McInnes, a

man with one of the reputations as one of the best coaches in football,

Sean O'Driscoll, none of those plans worked. What qualities does the new

manager need? The problem is these kind of financial restraints, they

have to be brave and stick to those. If you go for an experienced

manager, that will be difficult I young, up`and`coming manager would

find that easy. The other big decision is whether to go for a

manager who will drag the club forward, head coach, director of

football scenario which I don't think works. They need a manager who

is going to manage the football club properly.

Who's in the running? Well, there's a long list of

managers out of work. Former Rovers man Ian Holloway would be a

controversial choice with many City fans. I am not sure he would drop

down. Ex`Cheltenham boss Steve Cotterill is one of the bookies

favourites. Lee Johnson? Doing quite well at old, may be too early for

him. But the city board is still friendly with him. Paul Tisdale

who's been Exeter's manager for seven years, has a record of working

on a tight budget. As far as the fans are concerned, no obvious

favourite. I could question out there on social media this morning.

Just to give you a few responses. Whoever it is, the club want an

appointment within the next fortnight. For now coach John

Pemberton is in caretaker charge. I am happy to take it as long as I

need to take it. They are an honest group of players, they know the

situation, they want to do well I'm sure it will not be too difficult.

Preston away for Bristol City tomorrow. That game and all the

others covered on BBC local radio over the weekend. We'll have the

goals on Points West in our Sunday bulletins.

Well, another team desperate for a win are Gloucester Rugby club.

They're currently 10th out of 1 , with just two victories so far in

the Premiership. Tonight they host Leicester at Kingsholm, after a week

of straight`talking and hard training for the players. I think it

is fair to say that this week has been pretty brutal. It has to be.

This is a very important game for us. As it would have been regardless

of where we were. We need to turn things around. This team is better

than they are performing at the moment, so we are digging deep in

terms of that. It is about showing character.

Bath, with seven league and cup wins in a row, are at home to Exeter and

in the Championship Bristol play Leeds on Sunday.

What is the salary for the manager's job? He did offer last

night. You didn't include him. Well, Frome's big sporting star the

Formula one driver Jenson Button has just roared into town.

He's come back to the area where he grew up to switch on the Christmas

lights ` and he's also going promising to put on quite a show for

the crowds. Sarah`Jane Bungay is there now.

Yes, it is proving quite an exciting night. Are you all enjoying it?

There we are, quite a resounding answer. Jenson Button has been back

here several times, never with his card, and certainly never in his car

which is what is happening just after 7pm. He was given a really

large welcome just a few minutes ago when he went up onto the stage in

front of several thousand people in the marketplace. They do like the

local boy done good. His season has not gone particularly well this

year, and I think the home crowd here will forgive him that. I think

you can see that, what are welcome. In a moment I will be talking to the

man himself, at first let's take a little look back at his time, his

career through the years, and of course his connections to this town.

Not a nurse, a doctor, but a real`life Formula one driver on the

ward of Bath's Royal United Hospital this afternoon. It was in 1999 that

Points West first featured a West Country teenager, groomed as the

next star of British motorsport His dream then? To be a world champion

in Formula one, to be the biggest name ever in Formula one. There is a

long way to go, but that's my dream. And the dream came true in 2009 but

he never forgot his roots ` brought up on the outskirts of Frome ` he

went to school in the town. He's even had a road and a bridge name

after him. It is great for the town for him to be coming down and doing

this. It is very exciting, I have been waiting for him all day. It is

different for the town. It may not have been an F1 season to cheer

about for Jenson Button. But there's no shortage of people racing to

Frome to see the local boy done good.

I have come into the room which has turned into the McLaren garage for

the day. Here he is, Jenson Button, welcome back to the West Country.

What you think of the turnout tonight? Absolutely amazing. It is

great to come back and have the opportunity to turn on the Christmas

tree lights. I did not think I would be asked to turn on the Christmas

tree lights. We have another special surprise, I will be driving this

around the streets. You have kept that quite quiet but I think people

have got wind of it. You have not had the best season by your high

standards, next year, new car, new regulations, what are you going to

do to beat Red Bull? It has been a difficult year but it has been a

good year. It might sound strange but we have learned a lot this year.

We know what not to do for 2014 Everyone is working hard, the last

race was an OK result. We are working hard on developing at the

moment. As soon as I finish here, I am heading back and we will be

developing the car even more for next year. Very excited about 2 14

but more importantly, the last Grand Prix of the year is here. Tell us

more about what actually is going on because people, everyone back at

home, you will see these pictures in our late bulletin. I have been

travelling quite a bit around this area, I went into the hospital in

Bath and greeted a few kids going through a tough time. I was the

secret Santa. I was giving out gifts. It was really nice to see

smiles on their faces. I have been doorstepping people. I have to stop

you, thank you very much indeed You will be taking the car out on the

streets. If you can't get down here tune in at 10:25pm to see this man

in this card, very fast, very loud this evening.

Thank you very much for that. I bet no one else is just allowed to sit

on the card. Good luck on the one`way system as

well. Now to a ground`breaking new series made by a team from here in

Bristol. They've been to Myanmar, the country formerly know as Burma,

to film the countries remarkable wildlife.

It is one of the first times the cameras have been allowed in. And in

a moment we'll be finding out how they did it ` but first here is a

sneak preview of what we can expect. I feel very lucky. To actually see

them relaxed, axes. It is just magical. At herdlike this is a very

close`knit family. Here is the matriarch. Her daughters and her

grandkids. Well, we are joined now in the

studio now by the series director Anwar Mamon and the producer Susanna

Handslip. Thank you both for coming in. I am really excited, this looks

lovely. The fact that it has been such a secretive country is why it

lends itself, because it offered you so much, didn't it? We had genuinely

no idea what animals we were going to find, that is what is so

exciting. We were the first team of wildlife film`makers and scientists

allowed in the last 50 years. It has been closed off by a military

dictatorship. Genuinely excited And it exceeded your expectations,

didn't it? It did, we did not know what we were going to find, and

luckily, because it was a huge risk, luckily it paid off because we found

some amazing natural history. Some of the shots are absolutely

beautiful. A lot of people will think of Burma, the war, my dad was

there. But it is an amazing country. People think of it as lots of jungle

because of the war, but there are beautiful misty hills, gorgeous

There are wonderful temples and golden pagodas. A beautiful place to

visit. What can we look forward to tonight? Basically, the search for

whether Burma, western Burma, could hold Asian elephants. They are

endangered and are dying out, so our mission was to find out whether

there could be a healthy population previously unknown surviving in

western Burma. Congratulations, it looks like a wonderful series. pm,

BBC Two. We will be there. It looks absolutely stunning.

Shall we have a look at the weather forecast? Ian is up on the roof I

am, and wishing I was there with Jenson Button. Last weekend, the

track temperature was about 22 degrees and I thought that was cool

for Formula one. It is about two degrees tonight. Jensen, nothing too

clever. As far as the weather is concerned, we are in the same boat

as we run through this evening. And indeed through tomorrow, which is

going to be the brighter of the two days of the weekend. A dry weekend

right the way through, and as we head through over a chilly night

into Sunday, that is the day with more in the way of cloud.

Temperatures generally between six to nine Celsius. Before I get onto

the map graphics, we have upgraded the wayward `` the way we will be

showing these. We have upgraded to the Met Office was Mac best

forecast, very high resolution, four kilometres of the Earth's atmosphere

divided up into chunks. Hopefully we will be able to bring you much more

detail. How the changes of typography across our region will

show. You will see things speeding up because we will have much more

deep `` data. Let's start with that, this evening, the skies were clear,

as they will over tomorrow. As we head into Sunday after that chilly

night, high`pressure will balloon back from the West. Returning back

to square one of where we were this week. More cloud developing, and so

things will continue into next week as well. There has been one to light

showers lingering, they will fade away. Cloud type sinking away

towards the south. It has been quite breezy today, it will continue to be

that way as we head through tonight. That should help keep frost at bay.

Temperatures getting down to two or four Celsius. A good deal of

sunshine around tomorrow, more cloud flirting with eastern districts but

no threat of rain tomorrow. For many of us glorious sunshine. Perfect for

outdoor events, sporting events and the like. Temperatures tomorrow

somewhere around six, seven Celsius will be fairly typical. For Sunday,

broadly similar, eight or nine. There will be more cloud around

generally on Sunday, some brighter spells. Cloud returns at the start

of next week. Thank you very much. He is such a

Formula one fan, isn't he? So you, after seeing Justin button `` Jenson

Button. We had better say goodbye.