08/11/2013 Spotlight

We will keep you updated on the Typhoon as it heads towards Vietnam

this weekend. Good evening. And based Royal Marine

faces a life sentence. Tonight, we'll hear from one ex`commando

about the battlefield as senior officers condemn the actions of the

guilty man. It is a matter of regret that, in

this isolated incident, this Marine failed to apply his training and his

responsibilities. Also tonight: Fares please ` how

some free bus pass holders in Cornwall, could be asked to pay for

their travel to save routes. And the rare birds facing a winter

without food, after their habitat was destroyed.

A Royal Marine from Plymouth`based 42 Commando has been found guilty of

murdering an Afghan insurgent. The marine, who cannot be named, faces a

mandatory life sentence for the execution of the man in Helmand

Province two years ago. Two former colleagues, known as Marines B and

C, were found not guilty. John Danks reports.

Marine B had filmed the murder on his camera, and it was this footage

that was shown to the court. We cannot show the footage, but we can

show the audio. The Marines are heard discussing

what to do with the injured man. Later, Marine a Mac `` Marine a is

heard to shoot the man. Today, the action was judged as murder.

In a war situation, when adrenaline is pumping through the body, people

do perhaps make errors in judgement. One former commando has told the BBC

about the pressures. With the powerful adrenaline going

through the body and with a firefight, when it peaks, you are

buzzed up. The Ministry of Defence says that,

whatever the circumstances, the man is guilty.

It is a matter of regret that in this circumstance one Marine did not

do his duty. What we have heard is not consistent with the values and

standards of the Royal Marines. Of all these services, I think the

Royal Marines Warfield this most acutely, because they say that their

people are very educated. `` will feel this. They will try not to do

this and be accused of these things. The man was from 42 Commando. A MP

says that people will feel this throughout the community.

I think that people will be sad, because the Marines are part of our

community. To find that these Marines were accused and found

guilty of this act will concern people.

The Marine A will be sentenced. Marines B and C were found not

guilty and will return it to the services.

This is the first time that the British Forces have been put on

trial for murder during the 12 year campaign in Afghanistan. Our

correspondent Andy Moore has been following the case in court.

Earlier, I asked him what happened in court when the verdicts came in.

A very short hearing, but it was emotional. A military panel was

there. The three men were asked to stand behind the screens. The

families linked arms. The panel declared Marine A guilty and the two

other men not guilty. There was no reaction from behind the screens.

The families cried. The judge said that this sentence had a mandatory

life sentence, but the court will be adjourned. He said that Marines B

and C were free to go back to their bases. The court was cleared so that

Marine A could spend time with his family before being taken away.

What will happen in regards to custody?

Marines B and C go back to their lives as Royal Marines. For Marine

A, there will be reports done. The judge said that he wanted a report.

They will go back for sentencing on December six. There will be a

mandatory life sentence, but with a minimum term set. Also, there will

be talks about the anonymity of that men. The judge said that he wanted

the anonymity to be there whilst the trial was on, but he might lift it

afterwards. There will be discussion over whether the men can be named.

There will be more analysis of that case on the BBC News website.

People with free bas passes could be asked to pay their bus fares, if

they can afford to. It's just one proposal being put to Cornwall

Council in an attempt to help protect rural bus routes. The

council says it will have to make some cuts to subsidised bus services

next year. Bus passes are not means tested, you get one when you reach

60. One councillor says some pensioners can afford to pay for

their travel. Eleanor Parkinson reports.

Villagers here say that there daily bus service is a lifeline for people

who do not drive and want to go to local towns. But this village has

just had its bus service cuts. It has lost its evening and Sunday bus

services. This lady has not drive `` has not driven since her car

accident. She says that it will be difficult for her to get home.

I will be getting back at 9pm, how? I will not be able to do it.

I use the bus service a lot, and on Sunday I go to a Quaker meeting, and

I cannot get there. What has happened is that members of the

meeting have kindly said that they will drive me.

Many bus routes are subsidised by the council. One councillor has

suggested that pensioners could be at to pay for their journeys if they

can. I know that there are lots of people

who use free bus passes who cannot afford to pay, and we do not want to

penalised them. But we can say to people that, if they can afford to,

maybe they can keep the bus pass in their pocket and pay for the adult

fare. I think that would be sensible, as

long as people on low incomes would go for free.

Everyone I have spoken to would be happy to pay for the trip. They

would be happy to do that if they get to keep the bus.

I think many people would be able to pay a small amount for the journey.

The council is obliged to provide free bus travel to people over the

age of 60, so free bus pass travellers can only be asked to pay

for their fair on a voluntary basis. Plans to cut bus services across

Dorset are being revised following public opposition. The ?850,000

reduction to services was deferred by the County Council in July for a

public consultation. A report on that includes concerns over access

to medical services, the isolation of some communities and the economic

impact. A final decision on the cuts is expected next month.

The region's Police and Crime Commissioners have raised concerns

with the government over policing cuts. PCC Martyn Underhill is

warning that Dorset's council tax precept could rise by up 3% next

year. He says it's due to the cost of expanding the Independent Police

Complaints Commission. The RSPB says it's shocked by the

removal of an important habitat which is used by one of the

country's rarest birds. Cirl buntings have been coaxed back to

the South West in recent years, but the ones at Exminster in Devon have

now lost their food supply for the winter, after crops were cut back

and the land ploughed over. Our Environment Correspondent Adrian

Campbell reports. There were still some cirl bunting

left today on this field, but what has happened here as `` has

devastated those involved in bringing back the birds to the

south`west. We have put in a lot of work onto

this site. To see its like this is terrible.

This woman has worked hard on this land on behalf of the RSPB, but the

land is owned by the NHS Trust. We have ten pairs of cirl buntings,

and two of them have been nesting on this site, but other pairs, and

winter here. This is where they get their winter food. Without it, they

haven't got any food. Nobody has been available for

interview from the Devon NHS Trust. They say that they are sad about

what happened and they are looking for a way forward and what to do

next. It takes 20 years for the hedgerows

to have the right nature for cirl buntings.

One of the local people is Diane. She is with a group who get involved

with the nature of the area. There is no overall total effect of

all the action is taking place. This may be only one site, but the number

of cirl buntings sites are affected. Everyone has agreed that this is an

unfortunate incident that will be difficult to put right.

Coming up next: A very special challenge for Children in Need.

Plus: The young racing driver going places.

Could he be a Formula 1 champion of the future?

And poems from the front line ` the letters giving an insight into life

during the Second World War. Well, a week today is the big day `

Children in Need 2013. Each year, you raise thousands of pounds to

help disadvantaged children and young people in the UK. The charity

is funding 73 projects in the South West and has granted more than ?3

million in the region. One of those projects is

Penhaligon's Friends in Cornwall, which helps people with bereavement,

including 17`year`old Peter Birkett. He's taking part in the One Show's

Rickshaw Challenge in memory of his mother and sister. He and his dad

Geoff are now preparing for their 700 mile journey across the UK to

raise money for BBC Children in Need.

When we first found out about it, that was quite exciting that friends

thought of us. To do something as amazing as this challenge is

exciting. We have been training, going to work, going to the gym. It

has been like that for the past few months, trying to do as much

training as we can, to do the challenge.

It will definitely be a challenge, but that is what it is meant to be.

We want to raise as much money as possible to support as many

charities as possible. The charity has been valuable. I don't know

where we would be today without it. Six years ago, my son was in a car

accident in which his sister died. Quickly after the accident, there

was a lot of problems. Very angry, upset is, regretful, feeling a lot

of the most because he survived and his mother and sister did not. I was

grieving as well. It was a difficult time for us.

I could not deal with it. The charity was there when I needed

help. As a parent, watching your child go

through something like that, you feel hopeless. There is nothing you

can do or say. You just can't make it better.

None of my friends had been through anything similar, so they could not

understand. I would be on my own. I went to youth groups and understood

that other people know what it is like to go through this. I

understood that I am not on my own. I would like to do this challenge

every year for the rest of my life. The charity is so valuable. Life

would have been so much harder for both of us if they were not around.

So, Children in Need really does make a difference, and this year the

South West's Party for Pudsey is at the National Maritime Museum

Cornwall next Friday night. So if you've been fundraising and would

like to come along just go to [email protected] and we'll

send you some tickets. Onto the sport now, and Dave's been

to meet a highly`rated welterweight boxer from Devon, who's preparing

for his first professional fight later this month.

This is a boxing gym in Torquay, where Freddie Hewitt is doing some

shadow`boxing. He is preparing for his first professional boxing match

after his amateur career. And there will be the quest to win

the Anglia cup tomorrow. There is more reason for the Chiefs to do

well this year, because their home stadium has been chosen to have the

final in March. And three teams hope to win `` to

get to the final of the FA Cup. One team will play Peterborough,

Plymouth Argyle have a new striker in time for their match against

City. And Paul McCallum is eligible to play against Rochdale.

This story is about the breeding ground for Formula 1 drivers, and

the next one could be from this area. Would he overtake him ``

players like Lewis Hamilton one`day?

And maybe a schoolboy, but Alex is making a big name for himself in

motorsport. He is only 12, but he is going to the next stage. He is

ranked number two in the country, and has already joined a racing

team. However, his performances this season have also attracted attention

from beef or RE `` from the top of the karting groups.

Top races from Formula 1 have been Carters in the past.

He has become a prolific winner. There is the championships and the

British open Championships and the Grand Prix, which is to events, and

I was lucky to win both of them. And the first winner of the Grand Prix

championship? Lewis Hamilton. You only have to

look at Alex's room to see that there is more than luck involved. In

fact, she has achieved all this against the odds. Despite receiving

some sponsorship, other opponents have a full`time teams. Luckily for

Alex, his dad is a mechanic. It is an expensive sport and we need

more help. We are reliant on the bank of mum and dad. It is every

boy's dream to get to Formula 1, and the karting is a stepping stone.

Winter testing with his new team and his new cart begins tomorrow, just

after his final cadet phrase. He has already been over to Italy for a

test drive, and there are talks that he might go back in the future.

I want to go into Formula 1, but everyone wants that. But I think

anything with four wheels and an engine would be good for me.

Freddie, are you ready for your professional career after only four

years as an amateur? I can't wait to get in the ring. I

just want to do it now I am here. Have you done enough in your amateur

career? 11 wins. I started boxing late, when I was

18. I did mostly knockouts as well. I think my boxing style suits the

professional style. I am ready. What do you think your strengths

are? I think it is these. People always

find it hard to get speed. I am a faster. My goal is to keep

improving. I will see how I have done in two years.

If you cannot beat them, then joined them.

Great work, loved every minute! Now, as the nation prepares to mark

remembrance weekend, new light has been shed on the life and work of a

Second World War poets. John Jarmain saw action at the Battle of El

Alamein, and was killed in 1944. His letters from the front line to his

wife in Dorset contained much of his poetry. Now, those letters have been

donated to the University of Exeter. Simon Clemison has the story.

We have seen sand frothing like the sea in our wheels, wrapped in the

dust from Sun and sky without a mark to guide them by.

The words were written by her father. She always knew that he was

a published war poets, but she did not know that her mother had kept

let after letter, revealing his character as well as his poems.

It gave me an insight into my Father, which I had not thought of

before, as I had never known him. He became a person.

He was killed in 1944 when Janet was very young. He was a significant

Second World War poet, and there are not many poets from that era. Why

are the First World War poets more non`quiz`macro it could be that the

First World War poets had already written about much of the

experience. But the Second World War poets could

write about the sand and the desert. The environment was even more

hostile for a lover of green landscapes.

James is a poets who has written extensively about Dorset. He tells

me that whilst poets may have written about their surroundings, it

is the country that they are writing `` fighting for that is prominent in

their writing. I think you get that from all war

poets. They are describing the landscape that they are fighting in,

but their memory takes them back to where they come from.

It is the collection that we have been given from John Jarmain.

Janet has now parted company with most of the correspondence. It is

now in the University. The letter is in the middle with more words in the

margin. It is fantastic to receive these

letters. John Jarmain was a local writer. We have a horrific resource

here `` a fantastic resource here. John Jarmain is at home, surrounded

with other great writers here. Students may discover more about the

poetry of the Second World War, from these same letters that helped Janet

discover more about her family. I wish everyone could read these

letters, because they are a wonderful love story.

It is remembrance weekend. Is it looking like a good weather for

Sunday? I think so. Most of the morning

services should be dry. Saturday might be quite wet, but it

should be brighter on Sunday. The rain will be quite heavy tomorrow

morning. There will be quite a lot of cloud, according to the satellite

picture. All of this cloud is moving our way, but briefly, we will get

some breaks in the cloud. This weather will move in towards dawn to

give this some wet weather at first thing. There will be a risk of some

hail and under, turning more showery. Then we will be between

weather systems. This line of cloud and rain will move in during Sunday

afternoon. It will not be dry all day. But hopefully in the morning it

should be dry. That first rain will move away, and we will have clear

skies overnight and in the morning to drop the temperatures into single

figures. Some it will be cold. By morning, there will be thicker cloud

and more rain. It will all move quite fast. The wins `` the wins

will be quite strong originally. The temperatures will be as low as

three degrees. Quickly, the cloud and the rain will march in. The

temperatures will be between five and seven degrees. It will move

eastwards and then will go brighter. You will notice another band of blue

going across. This will be the rain that goes in during the early

evening. If you pick your times tomorrow, it could be sunny. But

there will be rain later in the day. The breeze will fall over the

evening, though in some areas it will be slightly stronger. The

temperatures will struggle tomorrow. Ten or 11 degrees. For the Isles of

Scilly, it could be quite windy. The times for Hyde water `` for high

water. With onshore winds, none of our beaches will not be very good

for surfing. For the coastal waters, the wins

will may be `` mainly be from the west and north`west. The high

pressure will come our way Saturday night.

Probably on Saturday night, the first proper frost of the season.

And Sunday will largely be dry. For most of us, it will be a dry day

until the afternoon, when there may be some rain. And it will be a wet

day tomorrow. Our Sunday Politics will be looking