03/01/2017 Spotlight

The family of a Devon man shot in the head during an armed robbery

in the Caribbean are tonight at his bedside in Plymouth.

Chris Tester was visiting his parents at their cafe

An online appeal raised enough money for him to fly to the UK

He's now being treated at Plymouth's Derriford Hospital.

Our reporter Anna Varle is there for us tonight.

Yeah, Chris Tester was in Antigua at his parents' cafe. They had closed

for the night on Christmas when an armed robber threatened his mother

at gunpoint. He was initially flown

from Antigua to Guadeloupe for specialist treatment -

and his flight home has taken 19 hrs because of the short hops they have

had to make due to the nature It was also thrown at low altitude

because of the pressure in his head. -- slogan.

Chris's sister, Vicki Tester has been speaking today

He doesn't really obviously, you know, it took nearly a day

We don't really know the full extent, long-term,

I mean, have they given you any idea as to what might happen or how long

Because of the extent of his injuries, it is his brain

potentially, his eyes, also reconstruction to his face,

I think the main point is that he is stable

and there is nothing that they urgently need

to operate on when he arrived, which was a good sign.

How have your parents cope with all of this?

My mum is the strongest woman I think I have ever seen.

And my dad, he has been with him the whole way and sat with him

in that air ambulance the whole time.

As any parent would, they are doing everything they can.

There has been an incredible rallying around, hasn't there,

What would you want to say to the people that have helped?

All of us, we are so, so, so grateful.

And the people from, you know, Chris's life

that have known him, back at school, people that

know him now from his work, socialising when he goes out,

Brenton Henry is a journalist with the Antigua Observer newspaper.

He told us what reaction there'd been to the shooting.

Well, there has been a tremendous expression of goodwill

and sympathy towards the family, but also a level of shock

and disappointment, especially that this happened to a visitor

What sort of investigation is going on at the moment into the shooting?

Lawmen have appealed to members of the public who may know something

However no one has been charged in connection

with that crime as yet, and no one is in custody

at present assisting lawmen with the investigation,

And it appears that they have very few leads to follow so far, at least

I don't know if you know the cafe itself, but what about

Give us an idea of what that neighbourhood is like.

Antigua is a relatively small community, but even

by Antigua's standards, Old Road, the community of Old Road

would be considered far and rural part of Antigua and popular.

I mean, in terms of the level of this crime, the shooting,

how often does this sort of incident happen in Antigua?

I mean, Antigua has had a past where visitors have run into trouble

with local criminals, yes, but that sort of thing does not

happen often at all, and so that is why this particular

incident came as a shock to many residents and visitors.

It is largely unheard of here in Antigua that something

OK, Brenton Henry in Antigua, thank you very much indeed.

It's just a case of waiting at this point.

Chris is in a stable condition in intensive care.

A round up now of some of the other stories

Police are becoming extremely concerned

Clive Colling was last seen on New Year's day and is thought

to be wearing dark clothes and a dark woollen hat.

The family of a 46-year-old man who died after being in a collision

with a van in Plymouth last Thursday have paid tribute to him.

Kenny Elphick from Devonport died following the accident

Several sites in Plymouth have been chosen as part of a government

scheme aimed at building thousands of new starter homes.

A Government subsidy will allow the properties

to be sold at a discount, but only people aged between 23

Whitleigh and Bath Street are two of the sites.

Campaigners calling for improved rail services and cheaper fares say

the South West is being treated as "the end of the line".

Members of the trade union led campaign group "Action for Rail"

were at stations today calling on passengers to join their fight.

Hamish Marshall has been gauging reaction from passengers.

A train coming down the line from London today

but, for the passengers on it, the prices have gone up.

The average rise of more than 2% came into force yesterday.

Some fares here, though, are going up by 4%.

I think they've always been too expensive in England.

I come back every now and then, and it always strikes me how

expensive the train fares are in England.

I've come up from Cornwall, so it's costing me 20 quid,

so it would probably cost me more in car fares and petrol.

I think they are a bit much really for day-to-day travel,

For anyone coming to college it is a drain on their money.

These two sisters were flexible and booked online, and were happy

with their fare today, but even would like the fare

increase income spent on bringing the line from Okehampton

That would save a 50 mile round trip to Exeter to start her journey.

We desperately need that link of the rail to come up here.

Passengers arriving in Exeter St David's this morning

were met by these campaigners who are pushing for a better deal.

We need a second route to the south-west via Okehampton.

We need more work done on the Dawlish Sea Walk.

We need more investment into Cornwall.

We need better infrastructure in the south-west.

Well, this train is on its way to Glasgow.

I checked a few moments ago to see how much it would cost if I wanted

And if you say, well, what about booking in advance?

I checked the same train for a month's time.

For a comparison, you can find flights to Glasgow

The Government says the fare rises are funding investment.

Around the rail network, there is a lot happening.

I guess of course nobody wants to see a fare increase,

And right now fares are rising less faster than wages,

so at least that is a step in the right direction.

Campaigners are challenging the minister now to show that

Again, time for the weather. David's hair. How is it looking?

Still killed but perhaps not as cold as last night. Hello. We got down to

around -6 last night, now it's around freezing. We have these cold

fronts travelling down through the southern part of Britain now. They'd

drizzle as well. For the day tomorrow, it is cloudy but, as that

from clear to the west on Thursday, we'll have another frost overnight

to moral light into Thursday. Thursday is a return to the winter

sunshine. The crowd will be quite expensive. Later denied, most the

vehicles will fill in. The crowd is capable of producing some drizzle as

well. It will be close to freezing, we can't rule out grave frost but

nothing compares to what we saw this morning. A bit dumb little described

as well, on the alternate much cloudy days. Images between 7-8 C. A

brisk, north-westerly for the morning. A frosty start to lay on

Thursday morning. A good deal of sunshine. The only exception is the

far west of Cornwall which will have the same weather system. As we head

into the weekend, it is milder. But it's also rather cloudy. Have a good

night. Thank you very much. That it from us. From a of other New Age

team, have a peaceful night. Goodbye.

milder later in the week. That is it from me but coming up next is the

national picture. Good evening. But frost or not of frost, that is the

weather question for tomorrow and the answer is no, probably not

because of this weather front that is slipping south from Scotland,

maybe towards the south-west where we might have one