08/01/2014 Spotlight

goodbye from me. On BBC One we now join the BBC's news teams where

The sex offenders, including rapists, who have received a police

caution instead of going to court. Good evening. Devon and Cornwall

Police have defended the action, but tonight there's anger from victim

support groups. It does send out a disturbing message.

Also tonight: The full scale of trouble at Eden, but now the

attraction's fighting back and says it's turned a corner.

And the lowest supplies of fish in years lead to the highest prices, as

trawlers shelter from the storms. Victims groups have voiced concern

at the number of police cautions given for sex crimes in Devon and

Cornwall, instead of taking the cases to court. The BBC has found

more than 500 cautions have been given in the past six years. 28 were

for rape. The police say cautions are only given in a minority of

cases, and taking into account the victim's wishes. Our home affairs

correspondent Simon Hall reports. The police have previously been

criticised for using cautions too readily in dealing with serious

crimes when taking an offender to court may be more appropriate. That

debate has been reopened. The Government says cautions should be

used for minor crimes like graffiti. An offender must admit the crime.

Cautions aren't criminal convictions, but are recorded and

can be used as evidence of bad character. Using the Freedom of

Information Act, we found cautions have been used more than 500 times

in the last six years. By Devon and Cornwall police for sex offences.

Almost 30 of those were for rape cases. These crimes have the most

devastating impact on the victim and in all of these discussions that we

have, it is so often the victim who is forgotten and it is the victims

who live with the consequences of these vile crimes committed against

them. We need all of us to be treating this situation more

seriously. A caution in this situation does not convey the

seriousness of this crime. The head of public protection in Devon and

Cornwall told me only senior officers could authorise the use of

cautions and only after careful examination of a case. All of these

crimes are treated very seriously. When we talk about rape, we are only

talking about three offences last year. I have to say that we only use

cautions in the minority of offences and would have to take into

consideration all of the details of the offence, the offender's

background and the victim's wishes. Once we have considered all of that

we will only make the decision then. We `` can you can you guarantee

these cases are all invested seriously? We will look at all

cases. The government has announced an overhaul of the policy on

cautions, saying they should no longer be used for serious cases and

that includes rape and a range of sexual offences against Jordan. ``

against children. One of the South West's most well

known tourist attractions has reported its worst ever financial

loss for the year up to March 2013. The Eden Project is blaming London

2012, a bad summer and the economic climate. But as our business

correspondent Neil Gallacher reports, it says it is now back in

profit. The tour season has fewer low points than a wet Wednesday in

January. Even today was as quiet as you would expect and its latest

account for the past year shows it has had some very quiet times. The

headline figure shows a loss of ?6.3 million but the underlying position

isn't that bad. The key figure is a trading loss of 1.3 million, the

worst ever, but crucially even says that this year there will be a

trading profit of at least ?2 million. Eden's badly needed

turnaround has been achieved by painful belt tightening. It has cut

jobs and moved people do flexible contracts, sold some surplus land

and it has found ways to get more spent per visitor out of the 900,000

or so who did come. Eden's bosses say they have made it through a bad

patch. It was our most difficult period that we have had, the

blackest period since the project was born. We have learnt from it and

we are now in a much more solid state going forward. Eden was built

on vast sums of public money, over ?100 million of grant at the turn of

the century. Amongst some other tourist attractions in Cornwall,

there is scepticism about how cost`effective Eden has been, but no

one we spoke to today would like to see the back of Eden. I think it is

time they stood up on the Rome, the same as any other business. You

wouldn't want to see them closed? I wouldn't. I think with a slightly

different approach to what they are doing, they could attract more

people. Even at around 900,000 visitors a year, Eden is bringing in

more than any other Southwest attraction has done. I think Eden is

a fantastic success story. We are all aware of the modern problems but

it has been good for Cornwall, it has identified Cornwall as a massive

attraction and extended our season. Eden's days of multi`million`pound

grants looked to be over but it is still alive and kicking.

A man working for South West Water has been found dead at a sewage

works in Cornwall. 54`year`old Robert Geach from Falmouth was found

in a filtration tank at the town's sewage works on the 30th of

December. A joint police and Health and Safety Executive investigation

is under way. South West Water says it's working with the authorities

and its thoughts are with Mr Geach's family and friends.

Plans for a new homeless hostel in Cornwall are likely to be shelved

because of budget pressures, according to the council. The number

of people sleeping rough in the county has risen by 50% since 2012

and places such as churches have been used as temporary night

shelters. The hostel would have annual running costs of half a

million pounds, and some councillors argue the money would be better

spent on homeless charities. Coming up, a helping hand from actor

Nigel Havers for a scheme to encourage older people to make new

friends. The next challenge for sailor Sir

Ben Ainslie, which will take him all over the world.

And singer Seth Lakeman, drawing inspiration from the region's most

colourful characters. Tonight there's a severe weather

warning still in place for rain, with more concern over flooding on

already saturated ground. It comes as homes and businesses right across

the region try to clear up from the storms that have battered the south

west over the past few weeks. The entire coastline has been hit hard.

In Porthtowan, where coastal erosion is already a problem, there are

calls for more to be done to shore up the dunes, and protect the

village. Inland near Staverton, work has started to repair a steam

railway which was damaged in a landslide. But first to Plymouth,

where only one trawler ventured out in the stormy seas this week. And as

Anna Varle reports, it's resulted in some cashing in on the bad weather.

The first troll to return to Plymouth in only a week. The Miranda

went out three days ago and has been the only fishing boat from the

south`west at sea. Is that one of the worst kept you have known? No.

We weren't risking anything stupid. It is a safe sea boat. If fishing

was any worse we would have come into shelter but myself and the crew

agreed to stay out. It was OK. This market is the busiest in the South

West. This morning this is all that was on sale. Leaving buyers with

virtually nothing. For us, it means limited stocks,

first and foremost. It means we have to sell frozen, which is something

we try not to do. What we do have to sell is more expensive. The poor

supply of fish has also meant prices have troubled. `` have trebled.

Prices are sky high. Only because there is such a small quantity. It

is all very well selling at ?10 per kilo but it doesn't pay the wages of

the staff we have to get in. This fish market says it hasn't seen

supplies this low in years. Last year they spilled 30 tonnes of fish,

this year much worse. Just 17 of these crates. It is hoped that the

dramatic rise in prices won't be passed onto the consumer. Most chip

shops sell fish caught at sea. It should not have too much of an

effect on smaller fish and chip shops, as opposed to retail outlets.

Three days at sea has paid off for the Miranda. They hope this catch

will get ?25,000. The Plymouth Fishermen's Association says that

this means that supplies won't rise dramatically any time soon.

Work is being carried out to try to clear a heritage train line which

has been blocked since Christmas due to a landslip. Residents at

Porthtowan are now being urged to take their old Christmas trees to

the beach to tackle the corrosion. For years these dunes at Porthtowan

have been on the move. Sam has been blown onto the beach, blocking

drains. People are being asked to bring their Christmas trees out to

plant on that beach. The hope is that in the spring they will be able

to plant grass in between, which will provide stability. This idea

has been used with some success elsewhere in the country and on

other beaches in the country. At the moment this sound blows straight

onto the sand dunes across the road so the hope is the Christmas trees

will track the sun, start to form a sand dune and then an April May,

grass will hold the sand dune and stabilise it. But some local people

say the dunes need more than Christmas trees. They say part of it

should be sectioned off for protection and the area should be

properly managed. We should remove the sand so you have a fantastic

view of the beach. You can see the level over there was a natural level

and if we manage that, it would mean fencing off areas with walkways and

planting it up. Cornwall Council say this is just the start of a

long`term management plan. Meanwhile trees have been arriving in this

weekend they want volunteers with spades to come to bury them.

Work is being carried out to try to clear a heritage train line which

has been blocked since Christmas due to a landslip. The South Devon

Railway lost out on lucrative trade over the holiday, and is now facing

large bills, after mud and trees came crashing down on the line near

Staverton. Our South Devon reporter John Ayers has more. This is what is

left of the line for the landslip happened before Christmas. Water

soaked through the growing above the line and pressure built up, sending

trees and mud crashing onto the line. Work is taking place to try to

clear it. Two more trees will have to come down because they are now

unsafe and they will fall down if we don't chop them down. Once we have

got rid of all the timber we can then start digging away at them at

which has swamped the railway line. The railway is insured against

landslides and lost business but there are still heavy excesses.

There is always the cost of putting everything right and one thing and

another, time taken dealing with this when we could be dealing with

something else. Of all the places we have where we keep a careful eye on

what is happening, this is the last place we expected this to occur. The

trees and not have to be removed, and the ground underneath need

shoring up. There is a huge amount of work to be carried out here

between Buckfastleigh and Stirton at the railway is adamant it will be

open in time on February 15. A scheme has been launched to reach

isolated older people and help them access local facilities. Age UK

Plymouth's valuing lives project uses a befriending service to

encourage lonely people to meet others. It was launched by

celebrities Lee Mead and Nigel Havers. Jenny Walrond was there. A

rather oversized knife from the stage, along with two panto starts

launching today's project. Valuing life enables people to access their

committee, `` community. People that are isolated and lonely at home who

may not have seen people for a long time will be befriended on a weekly

basis. Someone will come around and chat and take them out and help them

to a bus or to access different services, or perhaps they can come

into our local centres. It has already moved people `` helps people

like Perl, who was planning to move home. A volunteer helped her to a

club. It is the satisfaction of knowing I am helping someone change

their life and a lot of them have a lot of life experience, so for me it

is inspirational to hear their stories. I think it is important

they realise having a mum of a certain age you need to get out and

about and not be stuck at home, otherwise I think you start to

budget and it's a bad thing, so this is an important service. My two

nouns, who aren't here any more, they came here in the last years of

their lives, so it is a great place to come and be together. Age UK

Plymouth already has 22 volunteers and it is hoped it will attract

others. The Cornwall sailor Sir Ben Ainslie

is to compete in the 20`14 Extreme Sailing Series. It's a global event,

taking place in eight different venues around the world. Ainslie

will sail in a 40`foot multi`hull, as Spotlight's Dave Gibbins reports.

Sir Benes Lee has proved he is the most formidable sailor in the world.

His exploits helping team USA win the America's Cup last year. It

showed he can handle the biggest and the fastest yacht on the planet.

While at the London boat show, a 36 rolled, who learned his trade in

Cornwall and was brought up in Truro, announced another challenge.

This one with the extreme series for a 40 foot multihulls, as opposed to

the 73rd votes he claimed in San Francisco Bay last September. It is

a different type of racing, short courses and close to the shore so it

is good for the spectators, and we do a lot of races, so I guess it is

a high impact type of racing. We also have some Olympic team`mates

with me, so a good team and we are very much looking forward to getting

back out and racing again. After sailing around by yourself it is

quite refreshing to go sailing with a bigger team, so all of last year

sailing in different boats with different croak, so I am looking

forward to being part of this one. Singapore will host the first of the

eight stages in their break, with Cardiff hosting the UK leg in

August. Cornwall's historic Jamaica Inn has

gone on sale because the couple who've run it for the past 40 years

are planning to retire. The pub at Bolventor, was immortalised in a

novel by Daphne du Maurier and is on the market for ?2 million. It was

built in 1750 and it's thought smugglers used it to hide their

contraband. It's taken two years, and a lot of

conversations. Devon folk musician Seth Lakeman's latest project has

involved him talking to some of the South West's colourful characters

and turning their personal stories into songs. From tales of

Bal`Maidens, young women who worked in the tin mines of Cornwall, to

accounts of the Tolpuddle Martyrs from Dorset, and memories of the

last surviving witness of the ill`fated Operation Tiger at Slapton

in Devon, the result is a new collection of songs entitled Word Of

Mouth. BBC Radio Devon's John Govier met up with Seth on a cold, wet and

windy Dartmoor to find out more. Seth, you have been taking

inspiration from the moors since you started? I have, yes.

Past a sinking bridge, the surging river... I was born and bred here on

Dartmoor and I have always taken it as an inspiration for the work I do.

This is the start of one of the first way markers, the crosses that

marked a medieval track all the way across the murder. `` the murder.

That definitely inspired the chorus markings down.

There is a cross he must find... So this new album is not all about

Dartmoor. You have found the net a bit wider. Yes, I been reaching out,

talking to people all over the South West. I have been two pubs, on the

street and into churches, and it is a way of preserving people's stories

and their voices. They are modern day stories but they take us back in

history. Yes, like Reg Hannaford, the last surviving witness of

exercise Tiger, who kindly gave me an interview that was very powerful,

and a very powerful story. Let's go and see him. Hi, Reg. This is John.

Please to meet you, John. Reg, what is it like to know your story is now

captured in one of Seth's songs? I was quite shocked, I suppose. ``

quite chuffed. You can hear that Tiger when he moves... The first we

knew about it was when fishermen were here and Mellor `` American

military police were asking them if they had seen bodies in the sea. I

was only a lad and it is embedded in me forever. Now it will evolve in a

song as well. Yes, very nice. Now, last year Devon and Cornwall

police decided to start breeding their very own canine recruits and

in June, the first litter was born. Since then, the seven puppies who

make up the A litter have been put through a gruelling selection

process. Yes, we're following their training right through to the

passing out parade. Well, now, hot on their heels is the B litter, and

Spotlight's Andrea Ormsby couldn't resist an invitation to meet the

latest police dog recruits. We're all starving. Lunch is served and

there are eight hungry mouths to feed. Hungry and noisy. Here we go.

Nice and orderly. This is the litter born in November, this second wave

of canine recruits bred by and for Devon and Cornwall police. We insist

each pup has its own bold to eat from, so we don't get a situation

where the bigger pups are pushing the smaller pups away, and we

introduce mincemeat, which they love, into the food bill why the

eating to let them get used to a human hand being around their food

bill, and they don't think humans are trying to take their food away

from them. After lunch, time for exercise with their mum Molly. She

is the second serving police dog to build is `` to breed a letter. I

don't remember much about the last few weeks, it is time consuming, but

I still feel that is the best way to get the most out of your dogs. Of

course not all forces can breed them at home. This police handler's dog

retires next year so there is here to find his replacement. He is

excited and so is his family. They are looking forward to it. Quite

daunted but really looking forward to it. The puppies will soon be

handed over to their walkers who will put them through as many

different experiences as possible. Some will be taken on a boat. The

litter is ready to take land and sea by storm.

They are so cute. Hard to believe they will soon be huge. They grow

very quickly. Spring is on its way because Rita has e`mailed us to say

the daffodils are up in her garden. But there is more rain to come.

the daffodils are up in her garden. But there is Some mild temperatures

but a long wait to go of winter yet. Tomorrow we have some slightly

calmer conditions. We will have showers through the day but some

sunshine, starting to feel a little cooler through the day but for

tonight, we still have a weather warning from the Met Office for

further downpours of heavy rain across the south`west. This is the

radar from earlier. That main area of rain moved through quickly but it

was followed by heavy rain which is making its way across the region at

the moment so heavy downpours still to come tonight. You can see this

cloud moving up from the south`west with some clearer skies behind it

but another area of cloud set to head our way by Friday. For now we

have this low pressure moving away as we do through tonight, so for

tomorrow a few showers but I think some sunshine as well, clearer skies

through the afternoon. Just a temporary ridge of high pressure so

by the time we get to Friday this weather front has swept in from the

west, not earning too much heavy rain but more wet weather to end the

week, winds increasing by Friday evening. For the moment we still

have this area of heavy downpours to clear, the risk of thunder at times.

Later tonight, still cloudy, just a few light showers in the early hours

of tomorrow and also the winds increase especially along the south

coast, gusty winds here by first thing tomorrow, but minimum

temperature is still quite mild for the time of year, down to around

five or six degrees at their lowest inland. Tomorrow morning some cloud

and showery rain to clear away to the East, followed by decent spells

of sunshine tomorrow afternoon. Still a few showers on that breeze

but some brighter weather tomorrow as well, with the wind is perhaps

easing off as we head to the end of the day tomorrow, but temperatures

again during the day up to nine or 10 degrees, perhaps feeling a little

cooler in that breeze. For the Isles of Scilly team might catch some

showers tomorrow but also some sunny spells and moderate to fresh winds.

For the surfers are, about four to six foot waves around the coast but

generally choppy and messy conditions, and the coastal waters

forecast how the wind from the west or north West, backing

south`westerly with some showers out at sea, so moderate or good

visibility through today. We continue `` throughout the day.

Sunshine and showers on Friday, a dry start that we see some rain

arriving from the West. On Saturday we will have sunshine but it will

feel cooler, and on Sunday more wet and windy weather arrives. Not quite

spring, then. That is all the news and weather this evening. I will be

back at 10:25pm.