23/01/2014 BBC Points West

shaking your head. That is horrible. That is all from the

Welcome to BBC Points West. Our main story tonight: A detective

superintendent who broke the rules keeps his job. His actions meant a

killer couldn't be charged with the murder of a second young woman. Her

parents have different reactions. It is a joke. The police are a law unto

themselves. Gross misconduct, anybody else would have been

sacked. They have done themselves a big favour because he is a

superhero. We'll be asking an MP whether justice has been done.

The other stories in the news tonight: A young man dies after

falling into a river in Bath. The police see him drown but it's too

dangerous to jump in. It is very cold, fast flowing, and I am certain

that if our officers had gone in they would have found themselves in

difficulty very quickly. The boy who died after heart surgery

at Bristol Children's Hospital. The coroner speaks of missed

opportunities to help him. And that's one way of getting out of

your homework. The schoolboy who walked to the South Pole flies home.

Good evening. A detective from Wiltshire who led a double murder

investigation has been told he can keep his job despite breaking police

rules. Steve Fulcher's been found guilty of gross misconduct for not

cautioning Christopher Halliwell three years ago when the suspect

took him to the bodies of two women he admitted killing. It meant one of

the murder charges, relating to Becky Godden, had to be dropped

I cannot believe it. That is fantastic. The mother of murder

victim Becky Godden. Elated Detective Superintendent Steve

Fulcher gets to keep his job. They have done themselves a big favour

because he is one superhero and when he gets his medal I am going to pin

it on his chest because if it had not been for him I would never have

known about Beckie. Steve Fulcher made mistakes during a murder hunt

in Swindon in 2011. He arrested taxi driver Christopher Halliwell, who

started to confess. Taking Steve Fulcher first to the body of Sian

O'Callaghan. Then to the place he'd buried Becky Godden years earlier.

But Halliwell wasn't cautioned, so his confessions didn't stand up in

court. He did eventually plead guilty to murdering Sian O'Callaghan

and was sentenced to 25 years. But without evidence, the case against

Becky Godden was dropped. He broke the rules but he broke them for good

reason and I stand by him and I will continue to stand by him. I have

always said he did what he did to bring two girls back to their

family. View is not shared by her former husband. They are a law unto

themselves. This is the biggest pitch up I have come across. He is

furious that his daughter's murderer was never brought to court. He

cannot believe that the Detective Superintendent has kept his job

Gross misconduct, anybody else would have been sacked. There is a new

team on this case, my trust is gone. The Chief Constable said it has been

an emotive issue and points out murder investigations are often

fast`paced and admits there is national concern about the integrity

of the police and he expects the highest possible standards from his

officers. He went on to pay respects to the families. The rules of arrest

are being looked at. It might be that one day officers will be able

to interview suspects on the road rather than in a police cell. Steve

Fulcher was also guilty of gross misconduct in dealings with the

media, including the BBC. He said in a statement today that he wanted to

do the best for victims, their families and Wiltshire Police. And

he hoped to move on from this upsetting and stressful episode

We're joined now by the Swindon MP Robert Buckland, who's also a

barrister and is in Westminster tonight. He was asked to look into

the rules that police have to follow when they are dealing with suspects.

What have you concluded? I think that the law needs to keep pace with

technology. In serious investigations such as this one

there should be a variation to the code of practice to allow interviews

to take place other than in the police station. Then for flexibility

to be built into the system with the use of technology so that we can

rely upon that evidence, that it can be safe evidence and admissible in

court. It would have covered the particular circumstances of this

case and I think we need to keep pace with technology. Were the

judges more concerned in this case with legal process than about the

rights of a murdered woman? The judge had to follow the law as it

applied and I think she did know quite properly. `` she did so. The

disciplinary proceedings which concluded had to be followed. The

overall result and the reinstatement of that officer is a just result. Is

there any possibility charges might be brought against the suspect? The

investigation is still a live one but there is one person who has the

answers and he is in prison for one murderer. Although the changes I

propose would apply to the future, the fact that this case is still

live should make that person think very carefully about the

consequences of his actions on the family who are left. In your opinion

it is too late for these changes to be backdated as it were in this

case? Yes, I think so. You have to look to the future. I know that the

mother is thinking positively and I am supporting her in her campaign to

get the law changed so that this situation does not have to arise

again. A care worker has pleaded guilty to

raping three vulnerable women in a care home in Gloucestershire. Colin

Stokes, who's from Dursley, admitted the attacks on the women over a 16

month period. Our Gloucestershire reporter joins us now from

Gloucester Crown Court. Many people will be shocked by this case. Yes,

this is the had a wing and difficult and emotional case for everybody

involved. `` a Halloween. He admitted that he reaped three

vulnerable women in his care. Some of the relatives of the victims were

in court to see Colin Stokes admits his crimes. We have spoken to the

mother of one of them who said she was pleased he had admitted his

crimes because they do not have to go through a trial but she said

seeing him in the dock was awful. Her daughter was the youngest

victim, she has in her early 30s but has the mental age of six. She

cannot talk, dress or wash herself properly and needs rain that ``

round`the`clock care. A person from social services came out and told us

my daughter had been sexually abused. It was one hell of a

surprise. It came out of the blue. One hell of a bombshell. You cannot

get your head around that. She is so vulnerable. I had to trust every

member of staff that nothing would happen to her. It is horrendous I

would have gone straight down and killed him, no hesitation. You

cannot physically think what he has done to her. You think you have it

all wrong. Something like that cannot happen to heart and the

others. What have other people been saying? The big question is how was

Colin Stokes able to get away with these crimes over these honourable

people who should have trusted him? The council including the care home

have `` the council have issued this statement.

A strong statement from the County Council about the future of the care

provider. I tried to speak to the manager but they were not available.

We are chasing them. Colin Stokes will be back in March to be

sentenced and between now and then the judge will be watching video

interviews with the victims before he makes up his mind about how long

the inevitable jail term will be. Police searching a stretch of river

in Bath where a man was seen struggling and calling for help say

they've now found a body. The man was seen in the water early this

morning, but officers say it was too dangerous to get to him.

Rescue teams had been searching the River Avon since the early hours of

this morning. A young man had been seen struggling in the freezing

water. The police say they could see and hear him. But they couldn't

reach him. It is very difficult They had to make a very difficult

decision. The officers did not go into the water and that was the

right decision. It is very cold very fast flowing, and I am certain

that if the officers had gone in they would have found themselves in

difficulty very quickly. An RAF helicopter was also brought in to

help search the fast flowing water. But it wasn't until midday, eight

hours after the man disappeared that a body was found. About 5am

this morning I was aware of the helicopter hovering and Ireland did

was some distance away. I realised it was probably larger than a normal

police helicopter. A helicopter was flying around at my partner heard it

when he got up at 630 AM. We thought something was going on. We found out

that yet another person seems to have apparently vanished into the

water. New rails have been put in place along this stretch of water

because there have been a number of recent deaths. The police set

remains an open and dangerous stretch of river. They are trying to

work out how this young man ended up in the water in the early hours of

this morning. The police say they now know who the man is and are

contacting his family. An inquest into the death of a

four`year`old boy who had heart surgery in Bristol ruled today there

were missed opportunities in his care, but there was no gross

negligence. Sean Turner died at the Children's Hospital two years ago.

Sean had suffered complications after surgery. His family maintain

he should have been in a high dependency bed, rather than on Ward

32. He was very dehydrated and he was

demanding drinks and he was only allowed ten millimetres of fluid. He

was grabbing the tissues and sucking the water from them. He kept saying,

clean my teeth, mummy, because he wanted to suck the water out of the

toothbrush. Eventually they put a fluid back up but it was too little,

too late. For Sean Turner's parents, hearing evidence over the past nine

days have brought back haunting memories. He developed a

life`threatening blood clot after surgery, a complication which could

have been avoided according to one expert haematologist at this week's

inquest. Sean died after spending weeks on Ward 32. His family said

they were misled, believing it had a high dependency unit. The Coroner

said there were missed opportunities in the treatment of Sean after his

operation. One was about the management of his blood. She

referred to the expert haematologist who said for many days they didn't

check levels of anti coagulation and that may have prevented him from

developing this clot. The other was in failing to offer him another type

of operation to reduce the blood flow in his heart, to lower his

blood pressure. But she said there was no gross negligence in his care.

We believe we could still have shone and we have to live with that, those

missed opportunities to have him. Since Sean's death, changes have

been made at Ward 32, but today the chief doctor at the Trust

apologised. We feel deeply sorry about shone's best and want to take

every opportunity to take every opportunity to learn from this to

prevent a similar happening full is It was three weeks after Sean died

that another child, seven`year`old Luke Jenkins, also died after being

treated on Ward 32. The Coroner said there was no gross negligence in his

care. But this will not be the end of the story for the Children's

Hospital. His family are also taking legal action along with several new

cases that have just come to light. We have not seen enough evidence to

persuade us the lessons have been learned. There is a suspicion that

the trust was prepared to take unacceptable risk with children s

care until they were caught out One of them involves the death of baby

Lacey Poton in July. The family of the four`month`old claim she was

discharged from Ward 32 a day after an operation when Lacey was

vomiting. This is a normal picture of my daughter. This is a picture

when she was discharged from the hospital. She looks really pale Her

chest is tightening. The hospital said doctors did not expect a heart

attack to happen after she was discharged. An inquest will be heard

later in the year. Tonight the CQC said they will continue to monitor

the hospital. If there was anything that gave them cause for concern

they would take swift action. Homeowners on the Somerset Levels

are being told to prepare for further flooding tomorrow. The Met

Office has issued an amber warning for heavy rain overnight with plenty

more expected over the weekend. The Environment Agency has also upped

its warning, meaning the flooding is expected to worsen. So how much rain

is anticipated? Ian has been looking closely at the forecast. It sounds

as if there could be more problems in Somerset. It is looking highly

likely. A yellow warning has been raised to Amber specifically for the

Somerset Levels. Rain would normally not warrant a warning, a 30% chance

of 20 millimetres, but because of the existing sensitivities that is

why the warning has been raised to amber. We have another repeat

performance on Sunday. More later. And of course Ian will have a full

forecast later in the programme and we'll be reporting from the Levels

tomorrow night. New figures have revealed more

complications with the badger cull. The two pilot culls in

Gloucestershire and Somerset were set up to see if killing badgers by

controlled shooting could be done "safely, humanely and effectively".

But the government's own figures reveal only a quarter of the badgers

were shot in the open by a marksman. More were shot after being trapped

in cages. Are incredibly proud. To share a

room and a ceremony with the other great names of the game, very proud.

The Bristol teenager who last week became the youngest person ever to

reach the South Pole has flown home. Lewis Clark is only 16. Andrew plant

went to meet him at Heathrow airport. 48 days on the coldest

continent in the world. A warm welcome for them is Clark, now back.

It is more than seven weeks since he seen his family. This schoolboy took

a break from his GCSEs to what his way into the history books. Before

leaving he was in double meals and put on three stone. Since he has

been away, he has lost the whole lot. 27 kilos. You have lost that?

Oh, my God! I am so proud. I just want to hear the stories about how

difficult it was. I'm sure there were times when he was desperate to

stop. And how he kept going, to hear about that, it was amazing.

Incredibly proud. He arrived at the South Pole on Saturday. Six weeks

and six days of solid walking, fighting temperatures of minus 0.

It is the most difficult thing I have ever done and it may be the

most difficult thing I will ever do. The hardest time was right at the

end, I was completely knackered It was almost sad to get back because

it has taken up so much of my life for the past two or three years It

is the goal that has always been there and everything has been going

towards it. My GCSEs are the first priority. Along the way he has kept

in touch via satellite. Speaking to school friends. His challenge has

meant more than one sleepless night for his family. No word on what is

next for this intrepid teenager looking forward to his first night

at home in almost two months. The latest addition to the Royal

Family has got a name. Zara Phillips and make Tindall had a little girl

on Friday. The early betting was for the couple to decide on a

traditional men likely Tory award and, however the Queen's fourth

great`grandchild will be called Mia Grace. A photograph is expected to

be released in the next few days. You cannot shorten that.

An amber warning on the Somerset Levels and rain expected.

You have just done the forecast Tomorrow is not looking particularly

good. It is going to be changes in the amounts of rain. The rainfall

amounts will not be torrential. If it had been any other day you would

wonder what the fuss was about. Day after day there is quite a lot to

make a fuss about on the Somerset Levels. That is why the Met Office

have raised the alert to amber for Friday and Sunday specifically for

the Somerset Levels. 30% chance it could get close to 20 millimetres.

Sunday we are looking at greater amounts of rain. The rest of you

with the exception of northern parts of Gloucestershire are under a

yellow warning for Friday but for Sunday that is for the whole of the

region and is pretty much the whole of the British Isles. That will be

toned down as we get more detail. At the moment it is a largely dry

picture and it will stay that way for the first part of the night

before this band of rain brings in subtropical air which is bringing

moisture. A complex structure of warm fronts embedded. There will be

a movement of the heavy rain to the south`east. By the end of Friday,

the last of the rain has not cleared away, so the whole day will be wet.

Already we are seeing showery outbreaks of rain through parts of

Devon. It will take a while for those to start to die out. As it

marches across, it will turn heavier, and around daybreak and the

start of the rush hour, Western and southwestern areas will be seeing

moderately heavy rain by then and the temperatures will be dropping to

two or three degrees Celsius. Tomorrow, a wet start. Some of these

will be slightly drier patches. Do not take that too literally. It will

be tricky to pin down the exact amounts of rain. It looks

bothersome. Temperatures will be mild. Sunday is the next focus of

attention. You are already putting that on

Twitter. We will see you at 10pm. Goodbye.

A star will be born on The Voice 2014!