20/11/2015 BBC Wales Today

Welcome to the programme. Tonight's headlines:

Jay Liptrot is a firefighter but a blaze at a house he rented

out killed five people.

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

And they claim it's making it difficult

for older people to recycle, hundreds protest after a council

changes their collection system.

Good evening.

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

in an arson attack.

Part-time firefighter Jay Liptrot failed to make basic improvements

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

niece and nephew. Matthew Richards reports.

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,

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

Bailey and two-year-old niece Skye 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,

trapping the five inside.

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

tried in vain to smash.

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 two children, his sister and nephew

in the fire, he read a statement in court acknowledging

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

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

they hoped Jay had learned his lesson, not just for himself

but for all landlords.

"To them it's a business, but for us, it is a home.

"They should ask themselves whether they want their family or children

"to live there. Is it safe?"

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 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 as opposed to making sure that

their properties are up to standard.

The Welsh Government says the Renting Homes Bill,

passed this week, means greater clarity in relation to landlords'

responsibilities including requirements surrounding

smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

Melanie Smith was jailed for a minimum of 30 years

for murder in 2013.

The judge Mrs Justice McGowan said though Smith started the fire,

Jay Liptrot's failings meant it was able to spread undetected causing

incalculable harm.

He was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment.

A former butcher from Pontypridd who killed and

dismembered a 47-year-old woman has been sentenced to life in prison.

Christopher May will serve a minimum of 28 years after being found guilty

of murdering Tracey Woodford.

Her mutilated body was found in his flat in April.

A former South Wales Police officer has been charged

with two counts of rape.

44-year-old Jeffrey Davies will appear before

Cardiff Magistrates' court on Monday.

The alleged offences took place in 2002 and 2003 when Mr Davies

was a detective constable.

Two inmates from Swansea Prison have been taken to Morriston Hospital

after two cell fires.

Emergency services were called at around six o'clock this evening.

The Ministry of Justice says there was no wider disruption

to the prison regime.

There are concerns that Swansea and the Valleys could miss out on

electrification of the rail lines.

A committee of MPs has branded the increased cost of electrifying

the line from London to Cardiff, "staggering and unacceptable".

The Public Accounts Committee accuses Network Rail

of planning failures that could double the budget to ?2.8 billion.

Network Rail says it has now made changes.

There is also a very important review that's about to come out

by Sir Peter Hendy who is now the chair of Network Rail, which will

look in more depth than we have had time to do at the future of these

major infrastructure projects.

I fear it may not be good news but I'm hoping, we hope as a

committee that will give some honest approach on delivery and cost.

A coroner at the inquest of a man from Gower who died after

being hit by a coach on Swansea's Kingsway in 2013, has ruled that

the layout of the road and the speed limit were factors in his death.

Following a narrative verdict, Daniel Foss's family said they're

relived the lay-out has now changed.

Swansea Council will consider the findings to determine

whether more action is needed.

Hundreds of Blaenau Gwent residents protested today

against a new system for collecting household recyclable waste.

They claim elderly residents will struggle to carry boxes of rubbish

down steep steps to the roadside.

The local authority has vowed to help residents.

All: What do we want? Black back.

When do we want them? Now.

They're missing their old bin bags here in Blaenau 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 carry boxes weighing over 20kg.

People want the bags, not the boxes.

There's too many people that are struggling.

A lot of collections used to be up the old alleys.

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

and the back of their houses.

It is not suitable.

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

The old system used to work...

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

of those affected.

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

in the most unusual of places.

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

got three different bins.

As we 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.

Blaenau Gwent is the joint third worst performing authority in Wales,

recycling just 51% of its waste.

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

Government target of 58% next year.

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.

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.

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

so important.

We must recycle.

But they are making it physically impossible to do

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

The changes here in Blaenau Gwent also mean that black bag rubbish

will only be collected once every three weeks.

Protesters believe that's also not acceptable

and constitutes a health hazard.

Well it's turning colder this weekend.

Here's Derek now with the forecast.

Hello again.

The winter woollies will definitely come in handy this weekend.

Arctic winds are sweeping south across the UK bringing a big drop

in temperature.

And the wind a big feature tonight.

Gale force winds could cause some disruption.

Gusts around 60mph in the north and west, some wintry showers

spreading southwards as well.

A mix of rain, hail, sleet and snow in places.

We could see a few centimetres of snow on some hills and mountains.

Tomorrow morning, there will be some dry, bright whether an sunshine.

But still a strong and cold wind, a few showers towards the west coast.

Across the rest of the UK, there are yellow warnings

in force for both gales and snow.

Icy patches as well.

Most of the wintry showers in the north, a few in the west

and towards the east coast.

Otherwise, a lot of dry, bright weather tomorrow

but feeling cold everywhere, only three Celsius in Glasgow.

In Wales tomorrow afternoon, some dry, bright weather

an sunshine but also some showers, some heavy showers in the west

spreading further inland and there could be some snow in places too,

for example on the Carmarthenshire hills.

Feeling very cold tomorrow, the wind slowly easing

and temperatures below average.

Tomorrow night, there will be clear spells, less windy

and also further wintry showers.

Again, some snow in places mainly on higher ground.

Some frost and icy patches.

On Sunday, a few more showers, some heavy showers in Pembrokeshire

but most of the showers will clear leaving many places dry, bright

and crisp with some sunshine.

Temperatures still on the cold side but the wind lighter.

We are in for a taste of winter over the weekend.

Gales for a time, wintry showers, snow in places,

some sunshine as well.

The cold snap short lived, turning mild again next week

with some rain on Monday.

And that's Wales Today.

We're back at 5.50pm tomorrow evening.

For now from all of us here, have a good weekend.

MUSIC: Boombastic by Shaggy

MUSIC: Boombastic by Shaggy