25/01/2017 Spotlight

The sacrifice of a husband to save his wife.

Emotional moments in court as a woman from Cornwall recounts

the day of a Tunisian beach massacre in which her husband was killed.

Also tonight: a bus carrying school children has crashed in Cornwall

An investigation is under way after the coach left

the road near Penzance, the driver was taken to hospital.

Staff left stunned and a charity out of pocket, as one of the regions

There was no money on the safe, no stock on the train so they set about

trashing things and stealing what they could.

a warning to poultry owners who don't follow the rules

And we have a cold feeling day tomorrow. Because of the strength of

wind it will feel like -2 four minus three. I will have all the details

later in the programme. "I am only here due

to the bravery of my husband - The words of a woman from Cornwall

at the inquest into the death of those killed by a gunman

in an attack on a beach in Tunisia. Cheryl Mellor was on holiday in 2015

with her husband Stephen and today the inquest was told he died trying

to save her. Hamish Marshall was at

the Royal Courts of Justice The couple had been

married for ten years. They were having a morning

of the beach, they'd been doing a crossword and were looking forward

to lunch, but then they were alerted by a booming sound and a gunman

came closer to them. Stephen Mellor said this is real,

get down, if either of us survives The couple were clutching

each other in fear. She said please don't

shoot, I've got a family. The gunman paused and then

he shot that woman. Stephen Mellor was shot trying

to protect his wife. Cheryl Mellor was also

shot but she survived. And in her evidence what did

Cheryl Mellor say about the gunmen? She said he was looking

straight at them. She thought he was enjoying looking

at them and making them squirm. She said, I believe the gunman

wanted to kill me but he didn't succeed because she pretended

to already be dead in the hope She said of her husband,

I'm only here today And I understand Stephen

Mellor's mother was also Yes, Dorothy Ingram took

to the stand and spoke She said they moved to Cornwall aged

14, he was a wonderful person She said he was an excellent family

man who enjoyed motor sport, She said he was a wonderful son

who was always at the end of a phone and available

to help her whenever he could. This is the second week of these

inquests into the deaths We're not expecting them to conclude

for about another five weeks or so. Hamish Marshall at the Royal Courts

of Justice, thank you. A coach carrying school children

crashed in West Cornwall today. All the children are safe and none

needed hospital treatment. Police say the coach left the A30

near Penzance between the Newton The coach was carrying 28 children

and a teacher from St Ives School to a swimming gala in Penzance

and was just a few miles from Eyewitnesses say the vehicle crossed

over the opposite lane It's clear from the tracks

that the coach came over the grass verge, over this public footpath

and then came to rest, destroying fencing here

at the entrance to this field. The children were described as upset

and shocked but unhurt. The driver was taken

to the Royal Cornwall Hospital No-one would be interviewed

from the school but in a statement it said none of the children

were injured and they were brought back to school

on a replacement vehicle. It also said the coach

was travelling at a low speed The coach is owned

by Williams Travel. They haven't as yet

commented on the accident. The coach was towed away and will be

tested and examined to find out A court has been told the former

boss of the NHS Trust that runs Torbay Hospital committed an extreme

breach of trust for giving work to her husband without declaring

a personal interest. Paula Vasco Knight denies two counts

of fraud while she was the chief executive of the South Devon NHS

Trust. John Henderson reports

from Exeter Crown Court. Paula Vasco Knight with her husband

Stephen, wearing a green He denies one count of fraud,

she denies two counts of fraud while she was the boss of NHS

services in South Devon, including Torbay Hospital

where she was based up to May 2014. The prosecution alleged

the frauds total about ?20,000 and centre on two contracts

authorised by Paula Vasco Knight for a firm run by her husband,

a graphic designer. One was for newsletters

for ?9,000, and others The court heard Paula Vasco Knight

was also the national lead for Habib Natalie denies two counts

of assisting an offence. Gareth Evans told the court

that the prosecution's case is that is that Paula Vasco Knight

with the assistance of Natalie avoided any declaration of interest

when her husband was contracted to carry out the production

of newsletters for The court was told that the work

on the document was never completed, even though Paula Vasco Knight

authorised a payment Mr Evans described that work

as a complete sham and he told the court that when a MacBook pro

was returned by Knight, all the graphic design software

she had asked for had been deleted and the computer had been reset

to its factory settings. A look at some of the other

stories making the news A Plymouth Argyle footballer

who was declared a rapist following a civil action in Scotland

has left the club. David Goodwillie and a former

Dundee United team-mate, David Robertson, were ordered to pay

damages to the woman. The striker has now left Argyle

after asking to be released from his contract to focus

on a potential appeal The union Unison is taking

legal action over workers who lost their jobs when the NHS 111

service in Devon was transferred from South Western Ambulance

to the company Vocare which was subcontracted

by Devon Doctors. Unison says their terms

and conditions should The case is ongoing and Vocare,

Southwestern Ambulance and Devon Doctors are yet to respond

to Unison's claims. Truro is to bid to become

a European Capital of Culture for 2023 after Cornwall council's

cabinet voted in favour of spending Officers believe, if successful,

it could bring ?100 million to the county, but critics say it's

the wrong time with so many Politics is defined by highs

and lows and in the South West the Liberal Democrats have

experienced both in recent years. With plenty to celebrate

as they created a stronghold here at the 2005 general election,

ten years later their faces told a very different story

as they were wiped out in Cornwall - some well-known MPs

losing their seats. But their current leader insists

the party is staging a fightback. Tim Farron is in Cornwall

to launch their campaign ahead of local elections in May,

and Tamsin Melville has spent the day with him,

and joins us now from Truro. Yes, it has been a lovely day to be

out and about across Cornwall. Tim Karen's team started in Redruth and

ended up in Lawrence and this evening knocking on doors, and it is

this pavement politics that the party says is staging a revival in

its fortunes. It is one council by-elections in recent months but is

that enough to say things are on the up? Here is what Tim Farron said.

The gains we have made since the summer have been staggering, Ford

gains on Cornwall Council. The membership of the party has doubled

in the last 18 months in Cornwall, and every election starts at zero,

zero, you have to start and go out and earn the vote. So what was the

mood on the doorstep? I would say it was mixed. Brexit was the hot topic.

The Lib Dem 's have pinned their pro-EU colours to the mast and that

goes down in the next way. In Cornwall, where the majority vote

was to leave, is that a risky strategy? Having the courage of your

convictions is risky but not doing it is riskier, and saying to British

people who voted to leave or remain, it is right for one party to

challenge the government to say people may have voted to deed the

youth but is it really right to extract is from the single market?

So there will be local elections here at Cornwall Council in May. Tim

Farron says he will be back in the region and he could be coming to a

doorstep near you soon. And you can hear more

from Tim Farron on this That's here on BBC One

at 11am this Sunday. Volunteers and staff at a heritage

railway have been left shocked and upset after vandals broke

in and damaged some The charity which runs

the South Devon railway says the cost of repairing the damage

will run into As John Danks reports, a police

investigation is now underway. It's the second time in less

than a year that vandals have struck But this latest attack has

been more extensive. Repairs have already been carried

out on the window of this 1930s coach as volunteers and staff tried

to keep the elements out. We've had to replace

five train windows. That's 350 quid a pop

for the glass alone. They stole a pair of two way radios,

that's about ?700 worth They can't use those

either because they're They even stole a bar

of chocolate which belonged It was a big trail of damage

and it's about ?5,000 all in. The break-in happened

last Thursday evening. Thieves smashed a window

to access the booking office, No arrests have being made

but police are studying CCTV footage It's a damn shame when something

like this happens because it undoes all the good work and really

cheeses people off. We've had great support

from members of the public, a lot of donations from people,

a lot of offers of volunteer help to This coach had only

recently been used as part The railway is planning to reopen

in February as planned. The South Devon Railway is a charity

and it says thousands of pounds worth of criminal damage is a cost

it could do without, especially at a time when it's not

even open for business. It's the end of an era for two men

crucial to the smooth running They've got more than 85 years'

experience between them. We'll meet the two admiralty pilots

who're about to retire. Now, they may not seem all that

similar but there is one major challenge which connects

all the following places - the blocks, avenues and streets

of the Big Apple, the burgeoning skyline of Melbourne,

Australia and somewhere They've all been named as markets

where prices for typical houses far outstrip what families on middle

incomes can afford. Dorset is also mentioned

in the research which focussed on different areas in

a range of countries. Janine Jansen has been to see

what effect it's having on those Lucy Stokes is an estate

agent in South Brent. All day long she sells houses

but she's also trying She has just moved here

from Worcester and she There is a huge

difference in the prices. Up there you'd be looking around 150

as a first-time buyer for a three-bed and down here you'd

be looking to start from about 250. The US property consultancy says

the least affordable place to live in the world out of nine countries

surveyed was Hong Kong, with houses at 18 times

the average household income. Second was Sydney,

with prices at 12 times. Listed tenth most unaffordable place

was Bournemouth and Dorset, nine times the income,

with Plymouth and Devon coming 14th. This survey focuses

on the middle of the market - housing affordability

for average households. So in Devon and Plymouth the average

house price is ?215,000 - the average household income

is just over ?30,000. This means house prices are seven

times the average household income. The authors of the report say

the answer is to build more houses, something the British Government

says it is doing. The government's made some steps

in the right direction recently with some changes to buy to let

mortgages and tax and stamp duty by investors, but they're

fiddling around the edges. We need a massive increase

in supply, a sustained increase in supply, building 300,000 homes

a year to meet projected household demand and backtrack

on all the unaffordability that Lucy and her boyfriend bring

in the so-called average household income of ?30,000 but she can't buy

what she wants. You have a guide price

of 245 for this one. How does that fit

in with your budget? Slightly out of my reach

unfortunately, we're only Lucy regularly hands over keys

to new buyers and she's waiting for the day she gets

to keep her own. If she would like to comment on that

story, please send us an e-mail. If you let your birds run free

you could face jail. The warning to owners who still need

to keep their birds undercover in a bid to prevent the spread

of avian flu. Only yesterday the virus

was confirmed in a flock of 10,000 But as our environment

correspondent Adrian Campbell reports, not everyone

is following the rules, despite a warning of

fines or even jail. Nigel Stevens is very

careful about bio-security He has put up a poly tunnel

to ensure they can't come into contact with wild birds

or their droppings which might Defra introduced strict

controls in December - they're still in force but Nigel

says they are very confusing. As to whether you should keep them

in cages but have a roof properly plasticed over,

it's all a bit of guesswork really. We went out and put up

a temporary poly tunnel to house ours in which does the job

and still gives them You don't have to look far to see

there is widespread confusion We filmed these birds

a week ago in east Devon. They should have been covered over

to protect them from the virus. Their owners told us they have

since been advised by trading standards that everyone must comply

with the law. The Government's chief

veterinary officer agrees. This particular strain isn't

a problem for people or for the food chain but it is very severe

in birds, especially chickens and turkeys but also potentially

ducks and geese causing severe It's not just hens and it's

not just in East Devon. Birds which should be undercover can

easily be found in the countryside. We just happen to be in the area

filming nearby and noticed this comic geese left out in the open

unattended. No evidence of any covering for these birds to keep

them separate from wild birds. The owners of these birds told us

they needed to be outside But even people like Nigel

who are doing the right thing say I don't think I know

who is policing it at all. I don't know whether Defra

know who is policing it. But Defra insists we all

have an obligation to inform Trading Standards where the law

is being broken. It was their first job

after leaving school, and now with more than 85 years

service between them two admiralty The men have helped

guide ships in and out They've seen plenty of changes

in Devonport as David found out when he met them on board HMS

Sutherland during their The World Pilot Gig Racing

Championships, but it wasn't In the 1800s there were lots

of square riggers coming into port and they needed the local knowledge

of a pilot to come alongside. The pilots race in their gigs to get

the work, and a fast crew Today's pilots do the same job

but it's no longer a race. When we first started

there was very little on the bridge to give you a hand,

you had a radar and now you have GPS, electronic charts,

you can see exactly where you are. Why does the captain need to have

one of you guys on board? We're there to give the captain

as much advice as we can, the support of Plymouth,

local conditions which The wonderful thing about our pilots

here in Devon Port is they know every inch of the river

inside and out. For us to be able to tap

into that experience For us to be able to tap into that

experience is hugely Is it a lot of pressure,

do you feel the pressure and stress? Yes, it's pressure but it's job

satisfaction to feel that you moved a ship 200 metres in length

in perhaps a ninth and a half metre draft from the sound

to the dockyard alongside, We've had some close shaves,

you are bound to over 26 years but we've never any major incidents

in this port in a long time. Presumably if it's really blowing

a gale and there's a big sea running, it's quite a hard

thing to do. Actually getting on and off

the ships, particularly at night on big ships you can go up to 9

metre ladders and a big swell running, it gets very difficult

and as you get older it gets What are you going to do now you're

going to retire, what's the plan? I've got a boat with a friend that

we've got a partnership in so I'm going out,

doing a bit more fishing. I think that was they know they're

at the end. You didn't take them a bottle, then?

They're leaving do is tonight so I hope they enjoy themselves.

Do you think we will clock up 85 years between us?

We probably nearly have! It feels like it. They do a fantastic service

and people do not always realise what goes on outside Plymouth Sound,

all weather, if the wind is up at night they still have to do it. It

looks like we will see a change in our weather pattern in the next 24

hours. We have some cold weather tomorrow but you have been out

catching a glimpse of some interesting weather. This is a

picture of a formal bow, a rainbow created by sunshine and fog. We have

also had some lively winds across parts of Cornwall. It is the wind

that is a feature of the weather, especially tomorrow, and it is a

cold winter so we will see more clout by the start of the day, it

will feel a truly cold with high wind-chill because of low

temperatures out of Europe but also strengthening winds which could

reach gale force for the western end of the English Channel. Those

weather fronts are out to the west, they creep a little closer during

tomorrow but at the same time they squeeze those isobars, that is why

they have such a strong wind, especially for Cornwall where it

will be at gale force, then we see weather fronts of the Atlantic,

slowly opening the door to milder error, and by Saturday we are back

into Atlantic air and temperatures hopefully back up into double

figures. At the moment it's bitterly cold. It will be a cold start

tomorrow with a widespread frosts but the wind-chill there are real

feature, you end up with temperatures feeling like -2 4-3

tomorrow morning, so some very cold conditions. This is Karen Cross,

many of our wind turbines have been pretty busy this afternoon because

winds have increased. It has been a fine day but feeling cold and it

will get even colder tonight, so despite the fact we will have a

breeze and more cloud in the second half of the night, we will see

temperatures plummeting, getting as low as zero 4-1 in a few places.

There is more cloud creeping in from the south-east, just about it enough

for a few showers and with these low temperatures one or two of those

showers could be wintry. Winds increase and we start tomorrow

morning wintry, cold, even frosted with temperatures starting from

three or 4 degrees above freezing to as low as -1 or minus two. So cold,

cloudy, gradually it will brighten up but for all of us it will not

feel warm. We may see temperatures of five or 6 degrees but it will

feel colder than that because of the wind. That is the forecast for the

Isles of Scilly, gale force winds and feeling cold. Times of high

water that Penzance and Plymouth, and this fight that -- and for

surfers there could be some good wins, messy along the south coast,

and the Met Office has winds of occasionally gale for

straightforward Cornwall, then the outlook for the weekend, it looks

milder, less frost but not what everyone wants because there is a

lot of cloud and the potential for some rain. On Friday, some Shari

outbreaks, on Sunday the cloud is that enough to produce some light

rain or drizzle but the big story is that we lose the night-time frost

and daytime temperatures get back up into double figures.

On tomorrow's programme we'll be marking the 100th anniversary

of the destruction of a Devon village which was washed

Homes in Hallsands had been left vulnerable after shingle

was dredged from the area for the new dockyards at Devonport.

A high spring tide and easterly gales on January 26th 1917 destroyed

Tomorrow we'll find out more about the history, and the concerns

Just before we go, you know, good to talk to you on BBC Radio Devon. I

promised I would show you my work shoes. I hope you approve. Good

night.