21/12/2016 Spotlight

Good evening. for the news where you are.

The Royal Marine who was jailed for the murder of a Taliban fighter

has been refused bail today pending a new challenge to his conviction.

Sergeant Alexander Blackman who's Taunton-based, and has served

with the Plymouth-based 42 Commando, shot the insurgent in 2011

He'd hoped to be out for Christmas but as Clinton Rogers reports

the Court Martial Appeal Court in London decided he

Surrounded by vocal support, Alexander Blackman's wife walked

in to the Court of Appeal with high hopes her husband might

Two hours later she emerged disappointed but still hopeful

We must remember that earlier this month the Criminal

to the Appeal Courts and this is the most important step

to getting the conviction and sentence overturned.

Blackman's legal team had applied for bail pending that hearing,

which could be as soon as late January.

But we now know that until it's heard the former

will stay in Erlestoke Prison in Wiltshire.

An MP who has been part of the campaign of support

for Marine A and has visited him several times

He will go to bed tonight not an entirely happy man,

but at least he knows a few weeks' time this could be all over

We have to take the emotion out I think.

A former Royal Marine colonel told me this afternoon that

unquestionably Blackman had made a mistake in shooting dead

the wounded Taliban insurgent, but others may need to take some

Yes, he has failed, but I think to an extent the system has failed.

Did he know exactly what you could and couldn't do

there's a failure in the system because we should have

made sure that he did, and if he was under stress,

as some of the reports suggest, then the system I think should have

picked him up and supported him before.

So Claire Blackman will spend another Christmas

without her husband but there are hopes that 2017 could produce

Former Royal Marine, Lord Bennett, who's based in Devon has been

following Sergeant Blackman's case and has been talking

I spoke to him earlier and he says they remain optimistic,

He's been an exemplary prisoner, but apparently that's not the score.

The important point apparently is that there hasn't been precedent

in a case like this for bail and the judges have

I mean Alexander Blackman and his wife, his loyal

and courageous wife, must be bitterly disappointed

but every cloud has a silver lining and the Lord Chief Justice who gave

the judgment on the bail hearing has said that he will hear the case,

expedite the case, and hear it in just over a month's time.

So are you confident on bail his murder conviction

Yes, I am absolutely confident of that.

They have three independent psychiatric reports,

three different psychiatrists have said that Alexander Blackman must

have been under the most immense and intense pressure.

No one who hasn't actually been on a battlefield

knows what this entails, what fighting like that entails.

Six 6-month tours that man had in eight years.

No one is complaining, that is what the Royal Marines

are for, they are fighting troops, our elite fighting troops,

probably the elite fighting troops of the world.

I've visited him in prison and I know him.

At worst it's manslaughter and if it had been manslaughter he would have

got three years reduced to 18 months.

Why do you think all this didn't come out at the time

That is a very good question and obviously there are going

to have to be questions made and asked of his initial legal team.

I'll say no more about that but I suspect that is the case.

Two men have been jailed for the murder of a pensioner in Cornwall.

72-year-old David Alderson was found dead in a pond at a disused mine

Kevin Cooper from Carharrack was given a 28 year jail sentence

while Trewen Kevern from Falmouth was sentenced to 20 years.

Devon and Cornwall Police are investigating allegations

of historic abuse within football clubs in the South West.

They relate to non-league and junior sides.

Plymouth Argyle, Torquay United and Yeovil Town say

they're not aware of any allegations involving them.

That's also understood to be the case at Exeter City.

An IKEA store is to be built on the outskirts of Exeter

after councillors gave it the go ahead.

The city council has approved plans for the Swedish furniture store

to be built south of the A379, near Newcourt Way.

Plymouth Argyle has set up a lucrative FA Cup third tie with the

Premier League giants Liverpool after winning in extra time. They

needed a penalty to add more than three hours of stalemate, as Andy

Burkett reports. Plymouth

And as John Ayres reports it's not clear who's responsible.

When drivers, with their sat-navs or the maps they are following,

come down this road, they suddenly find

And getting to the other side of this fence is quite some detour.

Well, that was the shortest way around and it was

Don't know where to go for this part of Carhaix Way.

People on this side who have small children, there is a little hole

in a hedge which is actually very tricky to get through.

That is what they have to come through to be able to walk.

Otherwise, if they have transport, they have to get in their vehicles

A number of different developers have built on this estate

with their own individual planning permissions, but even though these

neighbouring developments are meant to join the two ends of Carhaix Way

up, there's approximately a one foot difference

Buses, bikes and pedestrians are supposed to be able

Both developers insist they carried out their developments exactly

as stipulated in their planning permissions, to the letter.

So I asked Teignbridge planners, how could this happen?

They did not really answer that question but they did tell me

that they are meeting with Devon County Council,

the highways authority, in the new year to discuss how

For now, and certainly this Christmas, delivery drivers

are going to have to cope with what is in front of them

Good evening. I think we are now Good evening. I think we are now

pretty confident we will not get a white

mild with high temperatures for the mild with

time of year. We are waking up to a time of year. We are waking up to a

frost tomorrow in places with some sunshine and also showers dotted

around. We have lost a weather front around. We have lost a weather front

but we get a ridge of high pressure but it is only for one day. In

Atlantic there is a fast moving area Atlantic there is a fast moving area

to the north of Britain but for us to the north of Britain but for us

it will be quite windy and there will be some rain as well. Dry

frost is the bigger of the deals. frost is the bigger of the

parts of Somerset and East Devon and parts of Somerset and East Devon and

it could even get down to zero. Cold start and the day is bright, mainly

dry. Of few showers passing by. Temperatures lower than they have

been. The winds are mainly Westerly. Friday starts off Brighton dried up

quite quickly a line of rain will come in and accompanying it will be

some gale force winds. It stays mild as we head through Christmas Eve and

Christmas Day. Have a good evening. Thank you very

much. That is it from us and the next update is from the spotlight

team at 6:25am tomorrow morning. Good night.

good for us. Mild by the time we reach Christmas Day.

Hello there, there is wet and very windy weather on the way in the

run-up to Christmas. The worst of the weather to the northern half of

the UK. We have a strengthening jet out of North America that is

propgating across the Atlantic. Rushing our way. Picking up low

pressure, deepening them, tracking them to the north-west of Scotland,

hence the wind and rain. Tonight, we have gale force winds in the

north-west of Scotland. Wintry showers here. There is still come

rain to clear from the