29/09/2016 BBC Wales Today

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Welcome to Wales Today. ?65,000 for this wall?

Bogus builders behind bars after conning vulnerable pensioners.

Kris Wade murdered his neighbour in a sexually motivated attack.

It emerges he'd previously been sacked from his job over

claims of sexual assault.

And a homecoming to remember - celebrating Welsh athletes

success at the Rio Games.

Good evening.

They preyed on elderly, vulnerable people right

across South Wales - conning them out of more

than ?70,000 for fake building work.

Now, father and son - Jeffrey and James Tawse

from Cardiff are behind bars - the judge labelling them "inhuman."

They charged one disabled pensioner ?65,000 to build

a small garden wall. Jordan Davies has more.

They posed as builders.

Preying on elderly home owners across South Wales.

Jeffrey and James Tawse. Their oldest victim was 97.

This, an example of their "shoddy" work.

It may not look like much - a garden wall - but the Tawse

charged a 71-year-old disabled man nearly ?65,000 for the work.

The price of a small house in some places.

The man - referred to in court as "Mr P" -

had suffered a brain injury in a cycling accident.

Police were alerted to the fraud by his bank manager -

after he withdrew ?100,000 over the course of a year.

Damp inside the home of another 84-year-old victim

in Rhonnda Cynon Taff.

The Tawses were paid ?1,000 to weatherproof

the other side of the wall. But it isn't just the poor work.

They were aggressive and intimidating.

This victim doesn't want to be identified for fear of reprisals.

His words are spoken by someone else.

I should have been wiser but I was conned, wasn't I?

He had no intention of doing the job properly because if he had,

there would be no need to come back.

He was creating a situation where he could return

and possibly get more work.

This weed-proof drive - another one of their jobs.

They simply threw sand into the cracks - which blew away.

They were caught after a two-year investigation by Trading Standards.

We see the people who have been taken advantage of and we see

the effect it has had on those people and to bring the perpetrators

before a court, I think that gives certainly us,

some satisfaction and them, some closure on what

has happened to them.

Jeffrey and James Tawse conned their way across the country,

from Carmarthenshire to Monmouthshire.

They'd been convicted several times before.

Jeffrey Tawse used the bank account of a young relative to "hide"

his victims' money.

The judge described Jeffrey Tawse as inhuman.

He said the men preyed on people in a cold-blooded way.

He sentenced this father and son to a total of eight years in prison.

Police have charged 20-year-old Andrew Saunders from Castleton

near Newport with the murder of two people in Cardiff city centre.

21-year-old Zoe Morgan and 33-year-old Lee Simmons

were found stabbed to death on Queen Street

early yesterday morning.

Zoe's family have described her as "a beautiful daughter, sister,

granddaughter and aunty who had a heart of gold and would do

anything for anybody".

Floral tributes have been left at the Matalan store

where they both worked, and friends have set up a Go Fund me

page to raise money for the funerals.

He was very quiet, kept himself to himself.

Lovely, genuine guy, wouldn't hurt a fly.

I only saw them last week as the couple.

I saw a few months ago they'd put on Facebook they were in

a relationship, which I thought was lovely and she was his

Tinkerbell.

It was so sweet, it was so nice to see them happy.

A 24-year-old kayaker who died following an incident on a river

near Beddgelert in Snowdonia has been named as Thomas Lloyd

from Whittington in Staffordshire.

The Bangor University student was reported missing

on Tuesday afternoon.

His body was recovered yesterday following a major search operation.

He's been described as an experienced outdoor pursuits

enthusiast.

It's emerged that a killer - jailed for the sexually-motivated

murder of his neighbour in Cardiff Bay - had been previously

sacked from his job over allegations of sex assaults.

Three people with learning difficulties accused Kris Wade

of assaulting them - while employed as a support worker -

though no prosecution was ever brought.

Disability campaigners say those with learning difficulties

often struggle to get justice. Nick Palit reports.

In the waterside apartment she had lived in for just a few months,

Christine James was brutally murdered by the neighbour

who lived upstairs.

The 65-year-old grandmother died from a cut throat in February

and was discovered a few days later in her Cardiff Bay flat.

Kris Wade admitted the murder and last week the judge

at Cardiff Crown Court said he'd targeted Mrs James because

of his sexual desire. Now it's emerged he'd already been

investigated for a series of alleged sexual assaults.

Those incidents were when Kris Wade was employed as a health care

support worker at this special centre in the Ely

district of Cardiff.

Abertawe Bro Morgannwg Health Board confirmed complaints

about Kris Wade's conduct here at Rowan House first

emerged in January 2012. Eventually there were allegations

he had sexually assaulted three patients with learning difficulties.

In October 2012 he was suspended while a multi-agency protection

of vulnerable adults review was carried out,

including a criminal investigation by South Wales Police.

Although no prosecution followed, the health board's own disciplinary

procedures resulted in Wade being sacked for gross misconduct.

But that wasn't until earlier this year, nearly four years after

the first allegations were reported.

South Wales Police say the allegations surrounding

Rowan House were fully investigated but in each case no further action

was taken, following advice from the Crown Prosecution Service.

Campaigners working for those with learning difficulties say

such people often feel they are denied justice.

I think there is a stigma associated often with being a person

with a learning disability, in that your opinions,

your comments, your views are not valued or taken seriously

and I think it's well documented that there have been

a number of instances where Crown Prosecution Services

have looked at issues of serious allegations of abuse or other

offences, but have felt there wasn't enough evidence to proceed.

We need to know how they were communicated

with when evidence was being gathered and what credibility

was given to the concerns that they raised, very serious

concerns, people who said they had been sexually assaulted by somebody

we now know has subsequently been convicted for murder.

Christine James' family are painfully aware that had

there been enough evidence to prosecute Kris Wade

for the sexual assaults when they first arose in 2012,

he wouldn't have been living in these flats next

to the grandmother he went on to murder.

The former Economy Minister - Edwina Hart - has been accused

by the Welsh Conservatives of breaking the ministerial code.

She approved more than ?3 million to support the firm Kancoat -

near her Gower constituency - despite a warning that

its business plan was weak. The company later went bust.

The Welsh Government says the code wasn't broken,

as the firm was outside her constituency.

Tributes have been paid to former union leader Terry Thomas -

who's died aged 78.

He was Vice President of the South Wales National Union of Miners,

during the miners' strike, and was instrumental

in leading the return to work.

Ceredigion Council has decided to keep the job

of Aberaeron Harbourmaster running.

Almost a thousand people signed a petition to save the role -

after concerns the council was considering cutting

the full-time post.

The local authority also employs harbourmasters in Aberystwyth

and New Quay - and had said it needed to respond

to the "tough financial climate".

Celebrations have taken place at the Senedd to mark the success

of Team GBs Welsh athletes at the Rio Olympic

and Paralympic Games.

They won a record ten Olympic medals - Welsh Paralympians won seven.

Tomos Dafydd has more.

It was an unforgettable summer of sport.

Rio lit up the Games and with a backdrop of colour

and music, our athletes did not disappoint either.

The medals kept coming.

Ten in all for Team GB's Welsh Olympians, surpassing

the seven won in London.

So tonight, a chance to meet our sporting heroes and get

close to those medals. Between them, cyclist Becky James

and sailor Hannah Mills returned home with two silvers and a gold.

Years of hard work and sacrifice paid off.

Each Olympics is four years and once every four years is your shot to do

it on the biggest stage in the world, so there

is an awful lot of pressure, a lot of time and commitment

and you just pray it comes together on the day.

Take us back then.

For you, it was a great family moment - they were all there

sharing in your success.

It was incredible, my whole family had never been to watch a race

together so there were ten of them there, which was just

absolutely amazing.

Team GB's 67 medals surpassed the haul of four years ago,

but could the Paralympians do the same?

The pressure did not seem to affect Aled Sion Davies -

the shot putter from Bridgend broke the world record three times

on the way to winning gold.

Aled, you broke the world record three times and got the gold,

but still you were not entirely happy, were you?

No, I wasn't, I went there to execute a process,

you know and we had distances in our head.

I've worked so hard for the last two, three years and after London,

it was hard to get back but I worked so hard to be in such

good shape for this, I wanted to get close,

if not over 70 metres. But it didn't happen and I'm over it

now but at the time, I was a bit frustrated.

A great Games for you, a great Games for Paralympics GB.

How do you think history will judge the Games, considering

Russia were not there? I think it is something that...

As great a success as it has been, you really have to take it

with a pinch of salt because as Paralympics GB,

we won a lot of medals and, like you said, Russia were not

there so it's going to be very hard to beat that medal tally ever again.

And this is what it means to win on the biggest stage.

Gold for Robert Davies in the table tennis and Hollie Arnold

in the javelin helped Paralympics GB bring home 147 medals.

More than they won in 2012.

Time for a look at the weather now. Here's Derek.

Henffych, greetings.

There is a chance tonight that we may see the Northern Lights,

especially in North Wales, so keep your eyes peeled.

Weather-wise, some dry and clear weather tonight but a few showers

dotted around as well. Heavy showers in places.

And cooler and fresher than last night.

Temperatures in mid Wales falling as low as 7 or 8 Celsius.

Now, the umbrella may come in handy tomorrow morning,

there will be further showers about and again, sharp

showers in places.

But some dry and bright weather and sunshine as well

and less windy than today. Across the rest of the UK,

a mixture of sunny spells and scattered showers.

Showers are heavy in places, a risk of hail and thunder,

although some spots will stay dry.

Lighter winds in Scotland tomorrow with top temperatures

of 12 Celsius in Glasgow and up to 19 in London.

Closer to home, a few showers tomorrow afternoon but these hit

and miss so you may be lucky and stay dry.

There will be some sunshine as well.

Temperatures a little lower than today -

14 in Aberystwyth, 16 in Newport and the wind less gusty.

Tomorrow evening, a few scattered showers.

Dry for a while and then more showers and rain will spread

from the west after midnight. That sets the scene for Saturday.

Low pressure over the UK and that means showers or longer spells

of rain, heavy showers in places.

A few bright, sunny intervals as well with temperatures

on the cool side.

Becoming dry and chilly on Saturday night but much nicer on Sunday.

A couple of mist and fog patches perhaps in the morning.

These will clear, leaving it dry and there will be some sunshine

and light winds.

If you are taking part in the Cardiff Half Marathon

on Sunday or watching, the weather should be ideal.

So, Sunday, the best day of the weekend.

Monday, dry, too, with a south-easterly breeze.

I will see you soon.

We're back in Breakfast with updates from 6.25am.

But for now, from all of us on the programme, thanks

for watching, goodnight.