24/03/2014 Spotlight

chilly old week, George. Rais thank you. That's all from the BBC news

"Ad hoc and inconsistent", that s how some of the nursing card given

to a teenager at a mental hdalth unit has been described at `n

inquest. 18`year`old Ben Cowburn was found dead with a plastic b`g over

his head in December 2010. David George reports from the inqtest in

Truro. Ben Cowburn's parents and older

sister Amber arriving for the sixth day of the inquest which today

further elements of his card at this mental health unit did not leet the

expected nationally agreed standards. The assessment of his

risk of suicide was often not updated, even after his manx

attempts. The inquest jury were told that nurses often made `` rdmained

in their room, and it was the poor practice that remote areas of the

ward were not observed with greater vigilance. The evidence was given by

Richard Edgeworth, a recognhsed expert in mental health nursing He

said the nurses approach to care planning was ad hoc and

inconsistent. Ben Cowburn's named nurse who should have been

responsible for the update hardly appeared in the documents, he said.

The inquest previously heard that some nurses did not have access to

the care plan in the computdr system. The expert said he was

satisfied that the NHS foundation trust had made changes as a result

of its own serious and untoward incident report. The inquest has

been told the young man's problems appeared to start after he loved to

London where he met an openly gay TV celebrity who took him to p`rties

and bought presents. The Cornwall coroner has ruled that the name of

the celebrity was not important to the inquest and would not bd

revealed. But there has been widespread speculation, and when

asked directly by journalists if publishing the name would affect the

inquest, the coroner said it was not for her to comment on what the press

publishers. She did warn thd jury not to be influenced by any

publicity. `` what the press publishers. The inquest is due to

continue for another two daxs. A shop assistant is tonight said to

be very badly shaken after she was tied up by a robber as he stole

jewellery thought to be worth hundreds of thousands of potnds The

woman was grabbed by the rahder as she opened up an antique jewellers

in Honiton on Saturday. Polhce are appealing for anyone who can

identify the man from CCTV pictures to come forward. Hamish Marshall has

the details. Captured on CCTV, the moment a man

grabs a shop assistant as hd robs an antiques shop. The woman was opening

up on Saturday when she was grabbed before being tied up. She h`s been

attacked from behind the sooner she was opening the door, then taken

into the shop, bundled into the shop and grabbed by the offender. The

door has been closed behind them. She has been taken to the s`fe and

has been forced to open the safe. And then she has been tied tp using

masking tape and cable ties. The exact value of what was stolen is

still being worked out, but it is believed to run well into shx

figures. The list includes 30 semiprecious and diamond set

pendant, around 300 rings sdt with diamonds and semiprecious stones and

an 18 carat gentleman 's solitaire diamond ring. It is thought the man

ran down the alley where he could have gone into a waiting car. The

owner of this cake shop thinks she saw him on Friday and also `s he

fled. I was at my Caulker whll stop I was standing there, and somebody

at about quarter past nine came whizzing through the alley way `` I

was at my Caulker. I went to the back window, and all the windows

were steamed up so I did not have a chance to look at him, but H was

definitely sure it was a male figure. Jon and Kate Spencer only

antiques shop next door and used when the shop that was raiddd. It's

easy to sell. A gold chain, going to the pub, you can be in the pub in

Bristol selling the cash, and in the worst case scenario, the cost of

gold is high, and you could send it to a bullion dealer and get the

money and there's no danger of it being traced. I spoke to thd owner

of the shop today and he told me that the staff members are shaken by

what happened on Saturday. He hopes to reopen the shop in some form

later this week. A district judge has described a

town councillor as "despicable" for stealing more than ?1,200 from the

Royal British Legion. Peter Brock who was the branch chairman of the

Legion in Yeovil wrote out 23 cheques to cash while he was a

signatory. He's been ordered to pay the money back and carry out 15

hours of community service. From Yeovil, Spotight's John Ayrds

reports. As we commemorate the start of the

First World War, to be given a British Legion, and the chahrman he

wrote out checks to cash le`ving the stubs of the cheque`book bl`nk. All

of this only came to light because he had not paid his club

subscription. He was asked to hand in the paperwork. In court he

pleaded guilty to three counts of theft and asked for 20 others to be

considered. Yeovil town Council told the BBC that the sentence p`ssed was

into `` insufficient to automatically disqualify hil from

holding public office and hd was free to return to the town council

if he wished, although the council reiterated that the charges did not

relate to his role as a town councillor. I spoke to some of the

town council members today, most of them refused to appear on c`mera but

two of them did admit that his position was untenable now. I think

he will have to resign. To be a counsellor you are in a poshtion of

trust. He has broken that trust to be a council member. I think he will

resign, and I can't see any other way. In court, he was told that the

British Legion was not therd to help them through financial diffhculties

and that people would be rightfully horrify. You were effectively

putting your hands in the thll and stealing from a charity. Th`t makes

this all the more despicabld. He has to repay the money to the British

Legion plus costs and do 150 hours of community service.

For the first time, trains can now run along the main line at Dawlish.

Overnight a temporary track was put in place. It means ballast can now

be transported for work to continue on the section which was washed away

back in February. A permanent track will be laid ahead of the official

opening on fourth April. South West MPs today demanddd

assurances that the region would not be neglected as the governmdnt

updated its plans for the multi`million`pound High Spded two

rail link to the north of England. Our Political Editor Martyn Oates

joins us now from Laira rail depot in Plymouth.

HS2 is a controversial subjdct in the South West, isn't it? Yds, and

today the government announced some changes to the plans, but the main

thrust of the message was that everything is going remarkably

well. HS2 should be deliverdd on time, if not early. One Southwest

Devon MP asked for assurancd that the investment would not be to the

detriment of the south`west. My right honourable friend knows that

the people of the far south`west don't speak much about high`speed

rail, it is on the rail in the first place, ie getting reconnectdd to

London since the storms over the winter. Can my right honour`ble

friend assure us that at thd same time are spending all of thhs money

on the North and Midlands there will be sufficient investment in the

alternative and additional route between Plymouth and Exeter as soon

as it is identified by Network Rail? Gary Streeter did not get the

assurance he was looking for from the transport secretary who just

reminded us that network rahl are conducting a report into possible

alternative routes and it whll retort `` report back in thd summer.

But Gary Streeter is one of a number of MPs from the south`west

threatening to vote against the whole HS2 project if the government

does not deliver something substantial for the south`wdst

first. One MP suggested that HS could be good for the region. Sarah

Newton said there could be benefits for Cornwall if the old Oak Common

rail depot in London were rdlocated to the end of the great Western

track at Penzance. The transport secretary thanked her for r`ising

and said it had a great futtre as a transport hub. He had nothing to say

about Penzance though. OK, Lartin, thank you very much.

Poldark Mine in Cornwall has gone into administration. It's bden

confirmed a team of insolvency practitioners have been appointed

for the site near Helston. The tourist attraction was rescted from

receivers in 2000 by local lining heritage enthusiasts.

Dorset County Council estim`tes it would cost at least ?12 million to

repair all the damaged roads in the county. Almost ?6 million h`s been

given by the government. Thd money is an emergency payment which must

be spent by the summer. The local authority said it would continue to

call for further funding to make up the shortfall.

Plymouth City Council have hssued an Interim Management Order ag`inst a

city landlord and taken over the management of a large house in Stoke

due to poor living conditions. The council says the house was not

licensed for multiple occup`nts it didn't have sufficient fire

precautions and was in a poor condition.

Coming up later in the programme: on your marks, get set.

Thousands of people pound the streets to raise money for Sport

Relief. And washed up in thd storms: the seal pup nursed back to health.

What's being described as an epidemic of loneliness and hsolation

is affecting many older people in parts of the region. Now a charity

is planning to bid for up to ?6 million to help tackle the problem.

If successful the money frol the Big Lottery Fund would be used to

provide affordable transport and set up social groups and activities to

help older people get more hnvolved in the community. Chloe Axford has

been finding out more. Mary's husband Ivor has sevdre

dementia. She says caring for the once active former Navy offhcer

full`time can be an isolating experience. There are two of you.

How can you be isolated? Th`t because the communication problem is

there, I am isolated. And I think either is isolated in his own world.

He doesn't talk `` I think Hvor is isolated. There is very little

conversation, it all comes from my side and he will say yes or no and

that's it. Mary says she has gradually had to give up much of her

social life to look after ehther. I can't go anywhere on my own. I've

lost my independence and although it is Ivor who is dependent on me, I

have lost my independence bdcause I need to be here for him. About 0%

of people over 65 in the UK are lonely most of the time. Now the

Plymouth Guild charity wants to use lottery funding to set up a social

enterprise to tackle isolathon amongst elderly people in the city.

They can include affordable transport, information sharhng and

new social groups. This isn't about the local authority providing

services, this is about people in the city, older people doing

something with other people which is for them and run by older pdople.

Plymouth will have to wait tntil July to find out if you're fat has

won the funding but according to Mary varies or `` to find ott if if

`` to find out if it has won the funding.

The predicted increase in the number of people suffering from delentia is

now considered to be one of the biggest challenges facing the NHS.

As Leigh Rundle reports, it's prompted a Somerset based charity to

take its dementia workshop hnto schools to try to raise awareness of

the condition and find ways of coping with it. Teachers drdss up as

scarecrows. And it's up to pupils to choose

their outfits. What's the significance of scarecrows? Well,

Archie is one. He is the ch`racter who connects everybody to the

subject of dementia. It's good to learn about it. You know how to

cope. I think it would be nhce to learn how to really communicate with

people who have got dementi`, because if you don't know how to,

you might speak to them in ` different way and they might get a

bit upset. Fiona Mahoney developed the Archie project will stop she

wrote a children's book to dxplain the condition in simple language. We

have the most amazing story book, but at the end of the project this

little boy who was about seven years old said, I took the book home and I

read it to my mum and dad and we all realised that grandad had the

symptoms of dementia. It is early diagnosis, that's what we'rd trying

to get. See you again. Goodbye. It feels very nice to be here. And we

feel very welcome. This assdmbly marks the official launch of the

Archie project here at Welldsley Park. I think it will be re`lly good

for the children to get amongst the older people and do things together

and realise that they are rdal people out there, and just to learn

how to talk with them and ldarn things from their past, hear about

their history, and just get together really. So, keep an eye. Archie

might be visiting a school xou soon. `` keep an eye out. Archie light be

visiting a school near you soon A former top racehorse is hdlping a

Royal Marine from Lympstone recover from the strains of militarx

service. Sergeant Major George Beilby struggled to re`adjust

following his last tour in Afghanistan. He says he's ddveloped

a special bond with the horse, known as Monkey, and it's changed both

their lives. Janine Jansen has been to meet them. This sergeant major

has been onto two tours of Afghanistan, and his return to

normality has been tough. Btt his journey has been helped by his

unique relationship with Monkey After a life racing at the top

level, he too has been findhng his feet looking for a new caredr.

George says the life of a r`cehorse is very similar to that of `

soldier. They live a similar life to worse. A disciplined, structured

life `` to us. They are trahned to a high level, physically. Thex are

expected to give everything when they perform and they have the most

to lose the least again. Sole of them sadly pay the ultimate price as

well. And that the end of their career there is considerabld doubt

to what will happen afterwards, and I think that's a perfect mirror of

the life of a soldier who h`s devoted his life to his work as

well. They get a bit of a rough deal, ex`racehorses, and sole of

them find themselves on the wrong hands or in a bad way. The same can

be said for some soldiers as well. At the height of his career, he had

a huge fan club. He is 17 ydars old, and he was recently training with

Philip Hobbs in Minehead and he spent most of his racing career

there. Some of his big victories, the Gold Cup. That's one in

particular. He put lot of great performances in in the Cheltenham

Gold cup, the King George as well and he won something in the region

of around three quarters of ?1 million in prize money. Monkey was

given a second chance, and ht seems these two were made for each other.

To the sport now, and there were mixed fortunes for our football

teams this weekend, with thd only win in League Two coming cotrtesy of

Exeter City. They celebrated their first victory at St James P`rk since

early October. In the Champhonship, Yeovil Town missed the opportunity

to climb out of the bottom three at Huish Park, as Andy Birkett reports.

It all started so well for Xeovil town. Ishmael Miller's a ne`t finish

gave them the lead and Kevin Dawson doubled the advantage to give the

home fans plenty to cheer bdfore half`time. Bolton Wanderers pulled

one back in the second half, but when Alex Baptiste saw red with ten

minutes to go, Miller squandered the chance to put the game to bdd. And

they were made to pay. When this looping header beat the str`nded

goalkeeper to level things `t 2`2. When you are down at the bottom it

can feel like everything and everyone is against you. Krhsta

Brodsky returned to rip `` return to haunt his former employers, and

things went from bad to worse when Goodwin was shown a straight red

elbow. Ten man Torquay Unitdd nearly forced the draw but it wasn't to be

and the defeat leaves them six points adrift of safety at the foot

of the table. Exeter city h`ve relegation worries of their own

They were given a helping h`nd when Jon Parkin bundled the ball into his

own net. Elliot Richards made it to `` two goals before there w`s

another gift, and Richards doubled his tally. The 3`0 win over

Fleetwood moves Exeter five points above the drop zone. Plymouth Argyle

have their eyes on the other end of the table, and when this fine strike

gave them the lead Accrington, the good form looked set to continue.

But Tom old red's powerful header meant to point was all they would

take from their travels `` Tom Aldred.

Exeter Chiefs were brought back down to earth with a bump followhng last

week's Anglo`Welsh cup win. They were thrashed 45`15 by reigning

champions Leicester Tigers `t Welford Road. The only highlights

for the Chiefs were tries in each half for hooker Jack Yeandld and a

club`record equalling fourth Premiership try in four gamds for

centre Ian Whitten. In the Championship, the Cornish Phrates

beat Nottingham 17`11 at thd Mennaye. Plymouth Albion lost 4 `10

at Rotherham and Jersey went down at Ealing Trailfinders 25`23.

Sport Relief has broken all records again this year. On Friday night the

television appeal raised more than ?50 million, and the fundrahsing

continued here in the South West over the weekend. Thousands of

people took part in events `cross the region and it's hoped the amount

raised will smash the regional total of ?120,000 raised two years ago.

One of the main events was `t the University of St Mark and St John in

Plymouth from where David Fhtzgerald reports.

Sunday saw the return of thd sport relief mile in Plymouth. On a chilly

morning on the campus of thd University of Saint Mark and St

John, hundreds warmed up for the task ahead.

Since 2002, sport relief has raised a staggering amount of monex to help

people and communities both in the UK and abroad. Mac `` Sport Relief.

It saw a record total of ?50.2 million. No records were broken but

there was a personal achievdment or two as the first of the 500 or so

competitors collected their medals. Not as good as fighting crile, but a

good way to raise money. Th`t was good, the fastest I've ever run Two

years ago I had never reallx run. He walks. I did not walk. I sthll beat

you. Some were using it as ` warm up to the Plymouth half marathon but

others were happy to have t`ken part, got some exercise and raise

money for a great cause. `` raised money. I liked the argument between

the Father and son. Very chhlly up their, but fantastic to everyone who

took part. The winter storms hit the hdadlines

by wrecking the region's rahlway line and closing many seafront

businesses but the wind, high seas and rain also had an effect on the

south west's wildlife. Dozens of seal pups were washed`up on beaches

around our coastline, many of them so young they had to be hand reared.

Today the RSPCA released three of them in North Devon as Emma

Thomasson reports. It didn't take much to coax Asteroid

out of her travel box. Admit a blaze of publicity, she and two other seal

pups were released. The question on everybody's lips was would they

stick around. It is possibld they might head towards Woolacombe or

Ilfracombe and there is a grey seal colony there, just to the ldft of

the coast as you look out to the sea now. It's possible we might get a

sighting from the wildlife group who do the photo identification of the

grey seals, but as we have the seal tag we will be able to zoom in on

the tag number and referencd it to us, and then we can see which seal

it was. The pups were found on beaches in Cornwall earlier in the

year. They had been separatdd from their mothers during the storms For

those who came to watch thehr release, it was a moment to

remember. It was amazing. I really enjoyed it. I would want to see them

again. Whether that will happen is another matter, as within a few

seconds she was gone. Lovely. They know where to go, don't

they? Time for the weather `nd it has been a bit chilly today.

Let's look at what is happening through the week. We have a fair

amount of cloud at the moment which has produced some pretty awful

weather this afternoon. Windy, cold in the rain. Later this week it s

largely dry but still quite cold because we have easterly winds and

maybe showers around and thd risk of more persistent rain on Friday. But

until then, with the easterly winds we tend to get dry weather. But not

right to `` not dry tonight and it was very cold this morning. The

lowest temperatures we have seen this winter, `4 in Exeter fhrst

thing this morning which is a pretty cold start to the day. The cloud has

come in and I don't think wd will have any overnight frost. The cloud

is extensive and producing outbreaks of rain but it will be repl`ced by

showers and briefly temperatures will be as low as two or three

degrees but nowhere near as cold as last night. That band of cloud moves

away over the next 24 hours, but notice that the movement is pretty

slow as it goes into eastern parts of England. Another area of low

pressure develops and runs down to Spain or Portugal, giving us a few

showers in West Cornwall first thing in the morning. Once those love out

of the way, we tend to get `n East or north`easterly wind from

Wednesday until the end of the week, which for us is generally qtite cold

direction, so the temperatures are down to single figures later this

week. There is the band of rain that's been giving us an awful

afternoon. The rain is moving but it's a slow process. I think we will

eventually get some clear skies across parts of East Devon, into

Dorset and Somerset in the small hours. But showers are returning to

West Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. The lowest temperattres will

be where we get the clear skies around zero. Most of us shotld be

two or three degrees above. The showers will be with us first thing

in the morning across West Cornwall but they will move out of the way

and for much of the day it hs a decent day with sunshine, the wind

from the North and you will probably need to wrap up warm, but more

showers returning from the dast It is the same weather system coming

back from the East. 11, possibly 12 is the top temperature, so warmer

than today. The northerly winds will slowly come

round and become north`eastdrly later.

The outlook is for us to relain basically dry on Wednesday. Small

chance of a few sharp showers, some on Thursday, then the risk of

widespread showers on Fridax. Temperatures hovering betwedn nine

and ten or 11 degrees. Have a good evening. If you want to see the

lovely seal pup again or sh`re reports with friends, it's on our

Facebook page. 2500 people have watched it already. We will be back

tomorrow at 6:30pm. Good night. Goodbye.