20/12/2016 Points West

The cost of being scammed. is illuminated with the colours

The elderly people who've lost so much money they can no

They go on to a list and their data is sold to the criminal fraternity

all round the world. police say 16,000

people had a motive. And rain tonight will query tomorrow

morning but more in the afternoon. -- we'll clear.

Trading Standards officers are warning the state may end-up

paying to look after more and more people in their old age -

because they're losing their life savings to scams.

The victims are often elderly, and are vulnerable

to fraudsters who target those who are isolated and lonely.

Raymond Rose is a full time carer for his disabled wife.

A vulnerable target for the fraudsters.

The letters promise him lottery draws and prizes.

So Raymond has sent - and lost - more than ?3,000.

Very sick about it, it's brought me down a lot because with the small

amount of money that we get, really can't afford it.

So there's probably about 60 letters there.

Yes, that's one man's mail over a two-month period.

A typical case - but just the tip of the iceberg.

The concern for us is that because people are ashamed

and embarrassed when they realise they've been scammed,

And they'll go to huge effort to not tell the family about it.

What sums of money have you seen that have been lost?

Anything from a few hundred, to a few thousand.

And in the worst case scenario, 150,000.

All this has a massive impact on the victims.

And their ability to look after themselves in old age.

You see depression, you see a lack of trust in their own judgment.

You see people change their mind as to whether they want

to live alone any more and independent any more.

So you find that our older residents are more likely

to go into a nursing home, care arrangement.

The people who could fund their care have lost the money to scammers

who are abroad and now the state will have to pick up those costs.

They do often have certain characteristics of being elderly,

sometimes living alone, isolated, looking for companionship.

And these unscrupulous fraudsters will absolutely target these

individuals as they feel that is where they get

Stopping the scams at source is very difficult.

So tackling the root problems of social isolation

This English language class is one of 50 projects in Bristol running

When people are more socially isolated, they have

fewer social contacts, they are a lot more vulnerable.

If people improve their well-being, they are less likely

And especially something where somebody is improving

their language skills, that increases awareness.

But speaking out means others might not fall victim

to a problem that in the end, affects us all.

The jury in the trial of three men over the tipper truck crash in Bath

which killed four people has retired to consider its verdict.

Four-year-old Mitzi Steady and three men died after being hit

by a 30 tonne lorry on a steep hill in Lansdown Lane in

The driver Phillip Potter, the owner Matthew Gordon

and mechanic Peter Wood, who are all from Wiltshire,

The police have admitted they're "no closer" to finding out who killed

Bath conman John "Goldfinger" Palmer.

He was shot six times in the chest at his garden in Essex last year.

The BBC's Gareth George was at today's hearing in Chelmsford.

He got the nickname amidst rumours he'd melted down gold bullion

But speaking to reporters at the time in Tenerife,

where he was operating a timeshare scam, he denied having

I'm completely innocent of anything to do with this so called

In June last year, shortly after these CCTV pictures

were taken, Palmer was shot six times at his home near

For days police didn't realise he had been murdered,

thinking he had died as a result of gall bladder surgery

A mistake they have since risen apologised for.

Today an inquest into his death was held here in Chelmsford.

The Coroner, Caroline Beasley-Murray, concluded he had

There was only one member of John Palmer's family present

at the inquest and that was a man called Ashley Thilthorpe.

He's the partner of John Palmer's daughter.

He is seen here on the right leaving the hearing with

Detective Chief Inspector Stephen Jennings.

DCI Jennings gave evidence and said the murder investigation is ongoing.

One problem detectives have is the sheer number of people

who might have had a motive to kill Palmer.

In relation to his fraud conviction in 2001, there were listed anything

Again there could be 16,000 motives why he was killed just

And then of course his criminality regarding Brinks Mat,

we know a number of people involved in that subsequent to that crime

taking place who have been either killed or have died.

Again that was very much a consideration.

And Hatton Gardens as well, possible involvement there?

Possible, it was a line of inquiry that we took and we know that John

had associated in the past with some of the people responsible for that

Police say someone involved in the criminal underworld knows

who killed John Palmer and after today's inquest,

officers renewed their appeal for anyone with information

A wheelchair invented by a North Somerset charity to help

people in developing countries has been recognised as one

25 years after being set up, Motivation has seen one

of its models added to the Design Museum in London.

David's charity has helped tens of thousands

But it all began when his own life changed forever.

When I was 21 I had a diving accident.

I dived into a shallow pool of water in Australia.

And broke my neck, which left me paralysed from the shoulders down.

With no hand function and ability to walk.

And so from that day I needed to use a wheelchair.

So the old chrome wheelchair was designed in 1932

And we see this all the time in developing countries,

people given a one size fits all solution.

That stunts them, you see the wheelchair before

So he set about to change that - he and a friend spent six months

in Bangladesh producing a wheelchair for rough terrain.

From Bangladesh to Backwell in Somerset - in 1991

he set up the charity, Motivation.

So it is again a three wheeler to get over rough terrain.

But it is made of tubular steel, it is repairable locally.

The chairs are flat-packed, making it cheaper to ship them.

But staff also visit the countries to help fit them -

Lots of houses have not been modified for wheelchair users,

But also the stigma and discrimination against people

So unfortunately there is lots of people actually trapped

in their homes unable to participate in social life.

And back in the UK - their work's being recognised.

The Design Museum's just opened in London and displays

the best inventions from across the centuries.

Among them - one of Motivation's chairs.

I never thought this would happen when we started Motivation.

A lot of team effort and great staff, and I'm very proud of us.

As he looks back on 25 years - the charity's also looking forward -

developing chairs for different activities and areas,

allowing thousands more the powerful freedom

A Gloucestershire conservationist has been at Downing Street today -

Sasha Dench flew her paramotor more than 7,000 kilometres

from Russia to Slimbridge following migrating Bewick swans.

She wants the government to do more to protect the species

as their numbers have dwindled in recent years.

There's more news on the BBC Website and on your local BBC Radio

We're back with you in breakfast tomorrow.

But for now I'll say goodnight and leave you with Ian

Good evening. High-pressure slips away and we are now in a much more

changeable pattern. There is some rain about tonight, and once that

clears the way tomorrow we have some brighter weather but further rain

spreading in during the course of the afternoon and that could be

heavier. Temperatures tonight ranging up to around 5 degrees. By

first light tomorrow morning we have the last of the rain clearing away

and then we see this brighter weather emerging for a time. But

further rain beginning to come in for the afternoon. Clearing away

later into the evening. Turning colder into the evening but prior to

that comparatively mild at around 10 Celsius. By Thursday morning there

could be some patches of fog and frost around. Then we have another

unsettled pattern through Friday as the next named storm, Barbara, is up

to the north-west of the British Isles.

making a journey elsewhere in the country it's worth knowing the

national forecast. Over now to Tomasz.

So, the weather's going to blow a few cobwebs away in the coming days

and maybe a few other things, as well. How stormy is it going to get?

For most of us probably not too terrible. It is, however, going to

be very nasty across parts of Scotland on Friday. The clouds are

racing across the Atlantic and we will see a storm by the time we get

to around about Friday and then Friday night.

At the moment we have a weather front crossing the country, we have

had dreadful weather in the north-west, it was cold and raining

in Northern Ireland and western Scotland. This band of rain will be

somewhere here by the end of the night. Behind it