20/11/2015 BBC Wales Today

Jay Liptrot is a part-time firefighter - but a blaze at a house

As he's jailed today, a warning to other landlords.

Our overriding hope is that each and every landlord will learn from

this tragic event and if not already in place, they will take immediate

steps to ensure properties are safe for the occupiers and comply fully

with fire regulations to prevent any other totally avoidable deaths.

Christopher May is branded "cruel and callous" by a judge -

sentencing him to life in prison for the murder of Tracey Woodford.

And could Swansea and the Valleys miss out on the electrification

Hundreds of people protest in Blaenau Gwent over changes to

But they are making it physically impossible to do so

and that is why people are so upset and angry about it.

And back in North Wales - the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visit

A judge has urged landlords to take steps to keep their tenants safe,

after she jailed a man who owned a property where five people died

Part-time firefighter Jay Liptrot failed to make basic improvements

which may have saved Lee-Anna Shires, her partner,

Jay Liptrot tried to save his tenants as one of the first

firefighters to arrive at the scene of the blaze in October 2012.

20-year-old Lee-Anna Shiers, her partner Liam Timbrell, 23,

their 15-month-old son Charlie and Miss Shiers' four-year-old nephew

Bailey and two-year-old niece Skye died in Prestatyn in 2012 when the

downstairs neighbour Melanie Smith set light to Charlie's pushchair

following a lengthy dispute with Lee-Anna Shiers.

The court heard how no fire door had been fitted which could have given

the victims an extra 30 minutes of protection from the flames.

The Windows were too small for people to escape through,

Liam Timbrell's hand prints were found of the glass he

Our overriding hope is that each and every landlord will learn from

this tragic event and if not already in place, they will take immediate

steps to ensure properties are safe for the occupiers and comply fully

with fire regulations to prevent any other totally avoidable deaths.

On the right, Steve Allen lost his two children, his sister and nephew

in the fire, he read a statement in court which acknowledged

his long friendship with Jay Liptrot, who remains his landlord.

He said this was not a case of their family pushing for a prosecution but

we felt it was the right thing for the police and CPS to do. They said

they hope he has learned his lesson, not just for himself but for all

landlords. For him, it is a business, but for us, it is a home.

The Residential Landlords Association says

its members can often be overwhelmed by the amount of regulations they

must meet and need more support to help them comply.

There are so many different areas for landlords to comply with these

days that it is very often that the really important ones like fire get

missed and actually what happens is the bureaucratic pieces of

regulation actually come to the forefront and people are more

concerned about filling in pieces of paper rather than making sure that

their properties are up to standard. Melanie Smith was jailed for

a minimum of 30 years for murder. The judge Mrs justice McGowan said

though Smith started the fire, Jay Liptrot's failings meant it was

able to spread undetected causing He was sentenced to 15

months imprisonment. A former butcher who killed

and dismembered a woman in Pontypridd has been sentenced to

life in prison, On Wednesday,

Christopher May was found guilty Our reporter Kate Morgan is

at Cardiff Crown Court for us now. Today in court, Christopher May was

described as a cruel, The judge, Justice Nicola Davies,

said May was a sexually motivated predator who'd

invited Tracey Woodford back to his flat after meeting in a pub before

strangling her and dismembering her body in a deliberate attempt to

conceal his crime. She added he did this without

a thought for the 47-year-old's family and sentenced him to serve

at least 28 years in prison before Tracey Woodford's family quietly

and collectively called out "yes" as the emotionless 50-year-old

was taken away. The Judge then thanked two police

officers who arrived at Christopher May's flat and found

the remains of Tracey Woodford. She says the impact

the gruesome scene had on the officers was still evident on

each of them throughout the trial. Finally, she addressed Tracey

Woodford's family who she said had attended court every day to hear

deeply disturbing evidence, with courage and dignity, adding that

she hoped that same courage could Searches are continuing

for the bodies of two men who died in an explosion at a Cardiff

steelworks on Wednesday. Tributes have been paid to

Peter O'Brien and Mark Sim, who were The company says supporting their

families, and those of the injured, A former South Wales Police officer

has been charged with two counts 44-year-old Jeffrey Davies

will appear before Cardiff The alleged offences

against women took place in 2002 and 2003 when Mr Davies was

a detective constable in the force. He is no longer

a serving police officer. There are concerns that Swansea and

the Valleys could miss out on the It comes as a committee of MPs

branded the increased cost of electrifying the line from London

to Cardiff - ?1.2 billion - Here's our business correspondent,

Brian Meechan. The plan was to see the line between

London and Cardiff electrified by 2017, but the cost is much higher

than 1st thought. It is now ?2.8 billion. The Public Accounts

Committee blames Network Rail for planning and budgetary failure is.

The prize of the litigation is a faster, more efficient service from

London to Cardiff, even if it is now clear that the price tag for it

would severely underestimate -- was severely underestimated. Given how

much emphasis is on it, though, it is still likely to go ahead. The big

question is what the spiralling costs mean for a litigation, which

in Swansea and the valleys is very important. There is a very important

review to come out which will look in more depth than we have had time

to do at these major infrastructure projects. I fear it may not be good

news but what we are hoping as a committee is that it will at least

give us an honest approach to the future and the cost. The South Wilts

metal is aimed at providing a more reliable transport system across the

Cardiff region. The line from Swansea was supposed to be

electrified by 2018. The Government says that remains a priority but has

admitted it could be delayed. It needs to come all the way to Swansea

and the Swansea City region because they have done some very good stuff

with infrastructure there are and litigation of the railway is all

part of that. The new electric trains are already being delivered.

The UK Government will have to pay up to ?400,000 per day for the

rental of them, whether or not they are fully in use. Transport experts

say any hold-up any litigation will cause problems. We may find that we

have trains which will take people all the way through to Swansea, no

changing at Cardiff involved, but these are slower trains, their

acceleration isn't as good, and they are much heavier. Therefore, there

is a chance that if we do have these trains, the time to Swansea will be

5 minutes more than it is now and we will not get the saving that was

intended from the electric only trains. Network Rail says it has

made changes and it now has a grip on costs. Commuters across South

Wales will be waiting to see what rising costs and potential delays

will mean for Swansea and the valleys.

Hundreds of residents of Blaenau Gwent protested outside their

Councils headquarters today, angry at a new system for collecting

Protestors claim many elderly residents will now be expected to

carry boxes of rubbish through their homes and

But the local authority say the change is vital to meet recycling

targets, and have vowed to help any residents facing difficulties.

They're missing their old bin bags here in Gwent.

They were replaced last month by a system of trolley blocks, a stack

of three recycling boxes for paper, metals, plastic and glass, but the

protesters are angry that big trucks picking them up want them at the

front of the house, and many elderly residents simply can't manage to

There's too many people that are struggling.

A lot of collections used to be up the old alleys where they used to

have the coal delivered and their ash bins taken away.

They have now put it to the front of the property.

They can't get these great big wagons up there.

You have got people with steps at the front of their houses

They haven't thought of the people's needs.

67-year-old retired factory worker Chris Meilleur is one

The new system means he is now forced to store much of his rubbish

The reason I put my bins in the bath is because the night before,

if it is raining, I don't want to drag wet bins through the house.

Maybe even three times I have to do this, because you have

As you get older, obviously, as you have seen with the stairs and

all the rest of it, it is going to be a little bit of a problem for all

of us, but then again, it is not only just us as older people, the

youngsters as well have got to suffer with these things.

Whereas the blue bags and the white bags were a lot

Blaenau Gwent is the joint 3rd worst performing authority in Wales,

They will be fined if they don't reach the Welsh

That is why this new system has been brought in.

However, they have vowed to help any residents struggling to cope.

For those that want a bag, we are offering a bag solution with

handles, which is easy to carry, or a box, or a combination of the two.

What we are saying is tell us what works for you, and if you still

don't think we've got a solution, our wardens will visit you and try

and make sure that we customise a solution so that everybody can

recycle, because that is what we want, everybody to be able

It isn't that we don't want to recycle, because recycling is so,

But they are making it physically impossible to do so

and that is why people are so upset and angry about it.

The changes here in Gwent also mean that black bag rubbish will only be

Protesters believe is also not acceptable

The Welsh government will try to opt-out

of UK ministers' plans to tighten trade union strike ballot rules.

First Minister Carwyn Jones is unhappy that key parts of the

Trade Union Bill relate to devolved public services such as health

A vote will be held in the Senedd next year that would try to

A woman in her 80's has died after being hit by a lorry on the A5

The emergency services were called to the Square in the centre

of Corwen at 11am this morning - the High Street was closed

North Wales Police are appealing for anyone who witnessed

An inquest into the death of a 37-year-old man on

Swansea's Kingsway has ruled that the main cause of death was that

he'd stepped into the path of a coach without looking.

Daniel Foss died in September 2013 after stepping

Recording a narrative verdict the Coroner said

the unconventional lay-out of the road and the speed limit of 30mph

Daniel Foss died from a head injury after he was hit

by a coach travelling on Swansea's Kingsway two years ago.

The inquest heard how an eyewitness described Mr Foss to

be looking in the wrong direction as he went across the road here.

He then stepped into the road, despite the red man showing,

in the way of the couch approaching from the other side.

Following the coroner's narrative verdict today,

a family liaison officer spoke on the half of the Foss family.

We have lost a beloved son, brother and uncle, and whilst

the inquest can never bring him back, we feel that it is incredibly

important for the factors which contributed to Daniel's death to be

Now that it is over, we can quietly get on with our grieving.

During the course of this inquest, the 30 mph limit of the Kingsway

was seen as the contributing cause in Mr Foss's death.

The coroner concluded that had it been 20 mph, the coach may have

stopped quicker and a fatality may have been avoided.

The former layout of this road was also described

The inquest heard concerns have been raised

about the road's counterintuitive design during a number of safety

It has has been put right and I congratulate the council leader, Rob

Stewart, and his officers and fellow councillors in having put it right

now, but it is unfortunate people have to lose their lives on a scheme

Changes have since been made to the Kingsway, with all carriageways

Swansea council says it will consider the coroner's findings

in more detail to determine whether more action is needed.

Coroner Colin Phillips expressed his condolences to the family

and thanked them for conducting themselves with

He also thanked the council for their assistance

Still to come in the programme tonight:

Preparing for the world series - rugby sevens teams from Wales,

England and Scotland have been training at the Millennium Stadium,

The coldest weekend of the autumn so far with sunshine, frost, snow

There was a return to North Wales for the Duke and Duchess

The couple began their married life on Anglesey

while Prince William was a search and rescue helicopter pilot there.

Today's visit took in Caernarfon, Snowdonia and Denbigh and featured

organisations which support young people with mental health issues.

2nd in line to the throne and hanging on an abseiling line. The

Duchess was in charge of the rope. How good is your insurance, someone

shouted. And then it was Catherine's turn. The couple have

got to know the mountains and valleys of Snowdonia during the

Prince's time as a search and rescue pilot. At this adventure centre,

they met students from Holyhead high school. But the day began perhaps

inevitably with a royal walkabout and these royals always seem to find

time for the crowds. Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, act as ever,

completely at ease today, and a handshake from the future king.

Prince William is now father of a growing young family. They were very

friendly and going round children. Holding hands with them. I have come

out of work today to see William and Kate and I thought they were lovely.

They went straight to the children. And there were also if you stories

of the Prince's time here. He used to come to the pub in my town so I

reminded him that he has and what did he say? Oh, yes, but don't tell

a lotta people that I have a drink. They explored the issues that many

young people face when they have mental health issues. This is run by

a branch of the mental health charity mind. The photographs depict

the theme of you being heard. Well, the royal couple it certainly seemed

to be listening today. Really nice to have them here just to raise

awareness with mental health and for everyone, not just young people.

They asked me if it was me and if it was a wig, and I said yes. They were

very interested in my concept of the project because everybody else as

more tranquil pictures and I decided to do it in a scrap yard, because

when you think of mental health, you think of mess and chaos, so I

thought it would tackle that straight on, do that, ensure that

there is beauty in the chaos. The day ended in a Denbigh with 8 visit

to a men's Project, a place were meant to meet and socialise. More

crowds, more handshakes, and again more time to chat.

Controversial plans to reorganise 6th form provision in Pembrokeshire

The council has confirmed it's looking to withdraw

its current plans and launch a third round of public consultation after

Proposals to scrape more of Pembrokeshire's 6th forms

prompted a huge public reaction, and now it seems that campaigners

The plan involved two secondary schools in Halford West merging,

replaced by one Welsh medium and one English secondary school,

along with a new post-16 centre of education on site.

But much of the land at one of those schools, Tasker Millward,

is owned by a trust, and they are proving a huge stumbling block to

The trust are unhappy about the new proposed 6th form

They have pointed out flaws in the procedure to halt the consultation.

We would like them to continue and build the school as it was

suggested initially in the first consultation and do it properly and

have continuous 6th formers in the school so that we don't have this

hodgepodge of a 6th form suggested college type organisation

Fears of a legal challenge means Pembrokeshire County Council are now

recommending the whole public consultation be

discontinued a second time and new proposals put forward.

Some, however, question how this process has been managed.

We have had stop-starts before on this project.

It has been a farce from start to now, when we thought

And also where is the accountability?

The director of education says they are determined to get this right for

An extraordinary meeting will be held next Thursday to decide

whether plans need to be dropped and restarted.

It's another big weekend of European Rugby for the regions.

The Blues kicked things off at the Arms Park last night.

A late try gave Harlequins a bonus point victory to severely damage

The Dragons travel to Castre tomorrow,

whilst Welsh lock Luke Charteris will start for Rasing against

And after a win over Exeter on the opening weekend in Europe,

The Ospreys face a stern test on Sunday at the home of last seasons

They know how to win these types of games, but then again I think they

will be relying heavily on their forwards to get them the pair that

they need and then they will get their backs across the game line and

they will try to pressurise us, put us into corners and then basically

hopefully live off our mistakes, so again if we know that that is kind

of how they're to go then we have just got to make sure we're accurate

so as not to give them those opportunities.

Staying with Rugby and the Sevens teams from Wales,

England and Scotland have been training at the Millennium Stadium

preparing for the World Series which begins in Dubai in a fortnight.

It was also a chance for players to impress coaches who'll be

in charge of the Great Britain Squad at the Olympics next summer.

And it seems the door is very much open for the stars of the 15-man

Training under one roof, but as three independent teams preparing

That tournament will come to an end in London at the end of May,

before the players unite under the GB banner, giving the Olympic

squad less than a few months to prepare for the real gains.

It puts the GB team at a distinct disadvantage,

It is not ideal, particularly when the other nations are bringing

in their world-class World Cup players that can play right

The standout player, who has turned his sights solely to sevens,

is the All Blacks centre and World Cup winner Sonny Bill Williams.

He will play the whole sevens series with New Zealand, but how practical

would it be for a star like George North to be released from club and

If the desire is there and certainly the conversations with

all the different home nations and with the respective coaches,

the head coaches of the national teams, has been very positive.

They will never want to hold anyone back from competing in the Olympics.

If the desire is there, the mechanics of it we have still got to

work through and that is something that I know the people above are

working very hard on right now, but the desire is certainly there.

The Welsh team came agonisingly close to a semifinal spot at

These specialised sevens players from England, Scotland, and Wales

will be the core of the GB squad, but there will be opportunities

for a couple of world-class stars to make that transition.

There will definitely have to be an agreed preparation period, but it

is always tough to prove that as well and that is a difficult factor

of when they get to prove their capability at the World Series or at

the international sevens level, so those are discussions that are

ongoing between the unions and the clubs.

The final make-up of the sevens GB team is far from decided,

but the door is open for those who have gold medal ambitions

Swansea City and Wales full-back Neil Taylor has

been named footballer of the year at the Asian Football awards.

His club manager Garry Monk insists Saturday's game

at home to Bournemouth won't "make or break" his future at the

Cardiff City go to Derby tomorrow - Manager Russell Slade says he's

confident of recruiting a striker before the emergency loan

Also tomorrow Newport County host fellow League 2 strugglers Yeovil

and Wrexham travel to Aldershot in the National League.

We've looked championship and we've looked Premier League.

We have a short list, obviously, but that list is not a long list

in terms of an emergency long list, and then of course there is

If we can find the right couple of players and get the support

It could get a bit colder for the weekend fixtures. Now it is time for

the forecast. I think the thermals will come

in handy this weekend. Arctic winds are sweeping south

bringing a big drop in temperature. This weekend the coldest

of the autumn so far! This picture is from 1 of our

weather watchers. The wind a big feature tonight

and for a while tomorrow. The Met Office warning of gales

in force. Some large waves too on the north

and west coast but with neap tides Wintry showers spreading south

as well which means a mix of rain, A few centimetres possible on some

hills and mountains. Temperatures inland falling

close to freezing. Tomorrow morning still windy

and cold. A lot of dry, bright weather

and sunshine but showers near the west coast will spread

further inland during the day. Some heavy showers with hail

and sleet. The Carmarthenshire Vans and

Black Mountain. The wind easing in the afternoon

and cold. Top temperatures only

4 to 7 Celsius. Some blue sky and sunshine on Pen

y Fan tomorrow but bitterly cold. Feeling more like-14

with gale force winds. Tomorrow night will be calmer

with clear spells and showers. The showers heavy and wintry

in places with a little snow. Heavy in Pembrokeshire

in the morning Much of the country having a dry,

bright and crisp afternoon. Temperatures on

the cold side with lighter winds. The first snow of the season so

far for some parts of the country. Mind you

the cold snap won't last long. Frosty on Sunday night but turning

milder on Monday with rain. Stay warm this weekend and

if you're weather watcher please You never know you may see

a few flakes of snow! Thank you very much. A reminder of

the main news from the BBC. It is thought more than 20 people have

been killed in west Africa after gun men throwing grenades stormed a

hotel in Mali this morning taking more than 170 hostages, all of whom

have now been freed and it is being reported that special forces have

now left the building. And that is Wales today. We'll have a quick

update at 8 p.m. And more after the BBC News at 10 p.m.. Thank you for

your company. Have a good weekend.