14/02/2017 Spotlight

A paediatrician who used to work at North Devon District Hospital has

pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of children.

47-year-old Doctor Jonathan Walsh from Barnstaple was immediately

sacked from his post when he was charged and the offences did not

involve any of his former patients. The police said he was a

professional paediatrician who had a duty to protect his charges.

Today in court, 47-year-old Jonathan James Walsh pleaded guilty

and ten offences of distributing indecent images of children.

The offences are said to have occurred between

When the investigation against Dr Walsh,

seen here in the red coat, began in September 2015,

he was excluded from working at the hospital.

When charged the following June, he was immediately sacked.

In a statement tonight, North Devon NHS Trust said:

In its own statement, Devon Cornwall Police said that

Walsh had been a respected paediatrician who had let himself

It said the police was determined to eradicate these kinds of crimes

Walsh, who now lives at Lytham St Annes in Lancashire,

Paul Brennan, BBC Spotlight, Exeter Crown Court.

A 58-year-old woman from Cornwall has been arrested after a car

was filmed driving the wrong way along the A30 near Camborne.

An off-duty bus driver filmed these pictures from a dashboard camera

They show a car travelling west on the eastbound

Police used a box manoeuvre to eventually bring it to a stop.

There's anger at plans to cut 11 bus routes in south Devon,

despite the fact they're well-used by passengers.

The cuts will leave some areas of Torbay with no regular service.

Bus operator Local Link is blaming increased overheads and a fall

in the amount of money it gets when people travel

Local Link run some of the more awkward routes in south Devon,

Many of these services link residential areas

with the hospital and supermarket, making them highly valued

by their users, especially among those who find it difficult

The number 25 serves the village of Stoke Gabriel.

42 buses a week to Paignton will go altogether.

My husband has got a car but we don't use it all the time,

because he has got MS, and this is my only access way

I'm learning to drive, so I haven't actually got a car yet,

and there is no way to get out of here unless you have a bus

More than 1,000 people live here and more homes are on the way.

News that this service is to go has horrified the community.

One of the reasons those houses were approved

was because we are classed as a sustainable village,

so we have the bus service, we have the pubs,

Take one of those away and we are not quite

South Devon has a high proportion of senior citizens

The bus companies are reimbursed by the Government through the council,

but Torbay picked up ?4 million of that bill last year

because there wasn't enough money to cover it.

The Government says funding of local bus routes is for local authorities

and it spends ?250 million per year supporting services.

Derek French, who runs Local Link, says it has become increasingly

difficult to operate in this marketplace with fare-stage routes,

due to increased overheads and reduced income, particularly

mentioning the concessionary fares and how much they're reimbursed.

He says the company will continue to operate in other parts

of the transport industry, and they'd like to thank

their customers for their loyal support over the last 13 years.

Pensioners in Stoke Gabriel have been canvassed in the past

about whether they would pay to safeguard the bus,

but the rules state there cannot be a contribution -

you either pay the full fare or use your pass.

Torbay Council is looking at ways of keeping these routes going.

Obviously, there are other operators in the bay,

and we are also working with the Community Development Trust.

They're currently building a business case to develop community

transport, and we'll be looking to assist them in any way

If there is to be continuity of service beyond April,

a new operator will have to be found in the next few days.

The Campaign For Better Transport says cutting bus routes

could have a big economic impact on Torbay.

I think the local council, now, is going to be

talking to other operators, but will have to think creatively,

perhaps resorting to community transport to keep

and also keeping in mind the benefits of local buses

and realising that local businesses, shops and pubs may

be facing a real downfall in customers unless they can get

something in place to keep buses on the road.

Looe in Cornwall is one of the region's most

Now a ?55 million flood scheme has been drawn up to protect

If it goes ahead, it could make conditions better for fishermen

Valentine's Day three years ago, a combination of high spring tides

and south-east gales, which forced a tidal surge

It was bad, but not out of the ordinary -

tides regularly thrust their way through the drains

Everyone in Looe agrees that something has got to be done.

Looe is the most flooded town in the country, do you know that?

Is that a fact? Mm-hmm.

In 2014, obviously, we had the major floods.

This is phase one, which is the lock gates, a walkway to Hannafore,

sealing the seafront wall, and an extension to the pier

with a outer breakwater to protect the lock gates.

And the lock gates will be here, and then, obviously,

with the south-easterly wind, you've got to stop that tidal surge

Time and tide wait for no man,

but now man can't wait to have its say.

Every household gets a questionnaire,

It's not just flood defence that's on the table -

the creation of an outer harbour would bring bigger business

This is the most important decision people in our town can make

in the last 50 years and then 50 years in our future.

If we don't have it, I believe that our fishing

And our fishermen, they have to go out on the tide and come

back in on the tide, but if we had an outer harbour

The floods of 2014 forced the Environment Agency

temporary barriers alongside the quayside that would cost

The Harbour Commissioners consider this won't work.

When the tide comes in, it comes up through the walls,

and it comes up through the drainage system, so raising the walls

and building a wall around the harbour wouldn't work.

The Environment Agency says it can provide some money to support

a scheme, but the rest will rely on Cornwall Council persuading

Christine Butler, BBC Spotlight, Looe.

It's St Valentine's Day and this earlier this evening Somerset's

only working gas light, known as the St Valentine's Day Lamp

was lit in Frome by the man who spent months restoring it.

At first the flame threatened not to burn at all...

..but it was soon aglow in a ceremony which has been taking place

for the last eight years and has included at least one proposal.

Reg Ling says he loves the now-annual tradition,

but is now looking for someone else to take over as lamplighter.

Our main football sides have all been in action this evening.

Plymouth Argyle were beaten 3-2 by Leyton Orient at Home Park,

dashing hopes of rising to the top of League 2.

Exeter drew at Notts County, ending their run of away wins.

Yeovil also drew at home to Cambridge United.

Now let's take a look at the weather.

How is it looking? Thank you. Good evening. A disappointing start to

things today but it did tend to brighten up and will the same

tomorrow. Some heart-shaped photographs from Weather Watchers.

That looks just like a heart, that cloud. Another lovely photograph

here. Into tomorrow, a wet spell. Turning bread into the afternoon but

the rain will be heavy at first. This front moves through and then

higher pressure built in, giving fine weather through tomorrow

afternoon and on to Thursday. Through tonight, the risk of mist

and fog, more so for Somerset and Dorset. Some showers and they turn

into persistent rain towards the end of the night, but it is mild with

lows around seven or eight Celsius. A wet start tomorrow morning, rain

could be heavy and thundery, and there could be some hail as well.

Not a nice start. But the good news is it turns through, and pushes

eastwards for something brighter from the West. Some sunshine. A

spring like veal into tomorrow afternoon, temperatures into double

figures and possibly the teams. Decent weather tomorrow afternoon

and four Thursday with sunshine and some mist and fog at first. We tend

to find more cloud thickening for Friday and Saturday.

weather into the weekend. A bit of fog around to watch out for. Jon

Hammond with the national forecast now.

Good evening. There is some rain in the forecast but not a lot. Plenty

of dry weather to look forward to as we head to the weekend. Cloud

delivering some rain but plenty of spaces in between, hence my

optimism. One of these blobs of cloud is producing dampness right

now. We could see a glancing blow across the far south-east through

the early hours and later some rain arriving across the far south-west.

In between some hill fog overnight, not desperately cold, for most a

touch of frost across the northern Glens of Scotland. At the other end

of the UK some wet weather first thing for breakfast, pushing through

Devon and Cornwall into South Wales. It won't hang around. Things will

brighten up later