:00:09. > :00:12.You're watching BBC Channel Islands. The headlines this evening.
:00:12. > :00:15.Guilty of abusing children in Guernsey 40 years ago. The law
:00:15. > :00:21.catches up with Alasdair Garven. Plus following an extensive air and
:00:21. > :00:23.land search police find the body of a missing man in Jersey. And the
:00:23. > :00:33.plan which it's hoped will sort out Guernsey's schools and education
:00:33. > :00:38.
:00:38. > :00:41.A man's been found guilty of sexually abusing children in
:00:41. > :00:48.Guernsey 40 years ago. 65-year-old Alasdair Garven denied all along
:00:48. > :00:53.that he'd indecently assaulted four young girls between 1970 and 1977.
:00:53. > :00:56.Mike Wilkins was in court. He denied it right up to the end,
:00:56. > :01:01.but today Alisdair Garven was found guilty of sexually abusing four
:01:01. > :01:11.children. He lived in Guernsey before moving to the UK in 1976 but
:01:11. > :01:12.
:01:12. > :01:16.was arrested when he returned to the island last October. Alasdair
:01:16. > :01:21.Garven moved to here and it is in one of these houses that for girls,
:01:22. > :01:25.aged between four and seven, were repeatedly sexually abused. One of
:01:25. > :01:30.them told the court that she is now happily married with two sons who
:01:30. > :01:34.know nothing about it. She said, I did not take him when I was little
:01:34. > :01:37.but I hate him now. Questions were raised in court why it had taken
:01:37. > :01:40.the victims so long to come forward. One said she thought it would be
:01:40. > :01:43.impossible to prove, another said she didn't want to re-live any of
:01:43. > :01:46.the memories. When the guilty verdict was delivered, Mr Garven
:01:46. > :01:49.who was sitting behind this glazed screen and was wearing a red fleece
:01:49. > :01:56.with an open shirt and jeans, showed no emotion, staring at the
:01:56. > :01:58.floor. The Court was then told that Mr. Garven had a previous
:01:58. > :02:08.conviction from 1984 for having sexual intercourse with a 14-year-
:02:08. > :02:12.old girl in Bath and north east Somerset. It does happen and what
:02:12. > :02:17.we would like to send the message of the is no matter how long ago
:02:17. > :02:22.the abuse happened, victims can come forward and abusers will be
:02:22. > :02:26.dealt with accordingly. After two hours of considering the evidence,
:02:26. > :02:31.they Durer's unanimously found Alasdair Garven guilty of all 10
:02:31. > :02:35.counts against him. Those accused five of gross indecency and five of
:02:35. > :02:44.indecent assault. What price he will have to pay remains to be seen
:02:44. > :02:50.and he is due to be sentenced at the end of May.
:02:50. > :02:54.The police have found the body of a missing Swedish man. There has been
:02:54. > :03:04.an extensive land and their search for Gustav Floven who was last seen
:03:04. > :03:06.
:03:06. > :03:10.at the weekend. His death is not being treated as suspicious.
:03:10. > :03:14.Just minutes after this, police found the body of a man they were
:03:15. > :03:18.looking for. It was that of 29- year-old Gustav Floven. Gustav
:03:18. > :03:27.Floven went missing on Saturday night. And was last seen here at
:03:27. > :03:32.the Black Dog Pub. He said, I am diabetic and need a job. I said I
:03:32. > :03:35.cannot help you. That was the last time he was seen alive. Over the
:03:35. > :03:38.last few days, rescue teams have carried out a huge search of the
:03:38. > :03:42.area around Bouley Bay. It included the Channel Islands air search
:03:42. > :03:45.plane, sniffer dogs and St Catherine's lifeboat. The police
:03:45. > :03:49.say Gustav had been working in Guernsey and he arrived in Jersey
:03:49. > :03:55.on Saturday night. It's thought he'd come over to try and find work
:03:55. > :03:58.in a hotel. The manager of this hotel, the Water's Edge, said Mr
:03:58. > :04:04.Floven was an ex-member of staff. And he'd worked here three years
:04:04. > :04:14.ago. Tonight, police are continuing their investigations to establish
:04:14. > :04:18.
:04:18. > :04:21.exactly how Mr Flovae died. Police have carried out house to house
:04:21. > :04:24.enquiries in Guernsey after a 26- year-old man was seriously injured
:04:24. > :04:27.in an attack in St Peter Port. Police say the assault, with a
:04:27. > :04:30.bladed weapon, took place at a private address in Mont Durand at
:04:30. > :04:33.around 5am yesterday morning. Two people have been arrested in
:04:33. > :04:36.connection with the incident. A new men's refuge is opening in St
:04:36. > :04:39.Helier. This is the site in New Street where men who have fallen on
:04:39. > :04:42.hard times can stay. It's being launched by the charity Caring
:04:42. > :04:45.Hands which runs a similar hostel in St Aubin. The charity have had
:04:45. > :04:48.to expand their operation because of growing demand.
:04:48. > :04:54.Deputies Shona and Trevor Pitman have been unsuccessful in suing the
:04:54. > :04:56.Jersey Evening Post and Broadlands estate agents for defamation. The
:04:56. > :05:02.case related to an advertisement published, which they felt did not
:05:02. > :05:05.portray them correctly. It was poor GCSE results that
:05:05. > :05:09.highlighted the low standards at Guernsey's high schools and now
:05:09. > :05:11.there's a plan for how to solve the problem. Education has today
:05:11. > :05:17.published a report containing nearly 50 recommendations for
:05:17. > :05:20.improving the Island's schools. I spoke to our reporter Penny
:05:20. > :05:30.Elderfield earlier from our Guernsey newsroom. I began by
:05:30. > :05:31.
:05:31. > :05:36.asking her, with so many recommendations, which were key?
:05:36. > :05:40.They are all sorts of suggestions. As to quality of teachers, the
:05:40. > :05:44.department wants to ensure the good ones can stay longer. At the same
:05:44. > :05:48.time, it is about rooting out those not up to the job and introducing
:05:48. > :05:52.more of a link between pay and performance. Work also take place
:05:52. > :05:56.to see how schools are managed to give head teachers more of a say.
:05:57. > :06:00.More information will be made public. While the 11-plus system is
:06:00. > :06:08.not going anywhere just now, they will try to improve it to make the
:06:08. > :06:12.process quicker. How long will this take? Some of the ideas have
:06:12. > :06:19.already been implemented. There is already more implement --
:06:19. > :06:23.information out there with school reports on line. At the three high
:06:23. > :06:28.schools were reports -- results were disappointing, help is being
:06:28. > :06:33.brought in to try to bring standards up an English and maths.
:06:33. > :06:36.Education says there will is there to make the changes. It has been
:06:36. > :06:40.fantastic to see the professionalism and dedication
:06:40. > :06:46.among schools and staff and head and within departments. It was
:06:46. > :06:53.quite traumatic at the beginning of the year. Morale has improving and
:06:53. > :06:56.there has been a drive to ensure we can deliver going forward. Like all
:06:56. > :06:59.States departments, Education is facing budget cuts, can it achieve
:06:59. > :07:02.all of this without overspending? Well, with a target of finding �1.6
:07:02. > :07:04.million worth of savings, there's no denying it will be challenging.
:07:04. > :07:14.But that said, the department is confident that by using existing
:07:14. > :07:17.resources more effectively it can, and will deliver.
:07:17. > :07:19.Well, what do you think of this story? What should Guernsey's
:07:19. > :07:29.states be doing? Share your thoughts with us on Facebook and
:07:29. > :07:30.
:07:30. > :07:40.Later in Spotlight with Justin and Victoria: Why the flowers and the
:07:40. > :07:42.
:07:42. > :07:47.bees are being confused by our Toxic ash produced by Jersey's new
:07:47. > :07:56.incinerator could be treated to make it safe to bury. At the moment
:07:56. > :07:59.it's stored in sealed bunkers or pits. The equipment to turn it into
:07:59. > :08:04.harmless glass-like beads could cost up to �5 million. The Minister
:08:04. > :08:07.in charge says it's just one of the methods being considered. All the
:08:07. > :08:11.solutions are out there but some of them are unproven. We are
:08:11. > :08:15.investigating to see which is the best option for us. What I do not
:08:15. > :08:18.want to do is leave the ash around for a children and grandchildren.
:08:18. > :08:21.It was part of my election pledge to deal with it.
:08:21. > :08:24.There'll no longer be a Miss Junior Battle of Flowers in Jersey. Each
:08:24. > :08:27.year a girl between eight and 12 years old is chosen to represent
:08:27. > :08:30.the island. She usually shares centre stage with Mr and Miss
:08:30. > :08:34.Battle during the August parades. But the organisers say there's not
:08:34. > :08:37.enough interest in the role to continue it.
:08:37. > :08:41.In sport, Guernsey's Alison Merrien has won the Bowls World Cup after
:08:41. > :08:47.beating New Zealand's world number one Jo Edwards 7-6 9-5 in the final
:08:47. > :08:57.in Australia. Merrien secured her eighth title in 12 years when she
:08:57. > :09:03.beat Edwards this morning. I played a really good game yesterday
:09:03. > :09:10.against the Australian girl. My confidence grew one side beat Heart
:09:10. > :09:15.and I felt I could beat anybody. It was hard going this morning.
:09:15. > :09:23.Feeling relaxed which makes a change because usually I'm nervous.
:09:23. > :09:26.The I felt good. Fantastic news for ha and Guernsey. It was not as cold
:09:27. > :09:36.as we expected today and has been quite sunny here in Jersey. Let's
:09:37. > :09:42.
:09:42. > :09:45.find out what will happen with the Temperatures will recover tomorrow
:09:45. > :09:50.and into the weekend. Some showers around which will continue over
:09:50. > :09:54.night tonight. And the rear of although pressure is close to the
:09:54. > :10:03.islands just now. That will slowly still and later this evening and
:10:03. > :10:08.overnight. Lunchtime on Thursday, little changed. By Friday, we have
:10:08. > :10:13.moved away from that with a weaker Reg of high pressure. There should
:10:13. > :10:17.be some sunny weather to enjoy it with temperatures recovering nicely.
:10:17. > :10:22.Nothing compared to the temperatures of last week. Tonight,
:10:22. > :10:26.a continued risk of showers and those will occasionally be heavy.
:10:26. > :10:30.Winds from the east and temperatures down to 4 Celsius.
:10:30. > :10:34.Actually started the morning tomorrow. A scattering of showers
:10:34. > :10:39.as well and it will feel pretty raw. You will have to wrap up warmly
:10:40. > :10:46.tomorrow. It will feel cold with temperatures up to 11 Celsius. The
:10:46. > :10:50.wind and the showers will make it feel decidedly chilly. There is a
:10:50. > :11:00.coastal waters forecast. Winds from the north-east. Showers and
:11:00. > :11:02.
:11:02. > :11:07.moderate visibility. Here other times of high water. For a surfer's,
:11:07. > :11:15.for most of the sheltered westerly beaches the staff will be Claire --
:11:16. > :11:22.clean. Into the weekend, Friday is a bright and dry day with sunny
:11:22. > :11:25.spells. At that four will Celsius. Saturday, a 11 Celsius and Sunday
:11:25. > :11:35.are rather cloudy with a risk of some patchy rain. He does the
:11:35. > :11:39.
:11:39. > :11:42.Before we go, a quick reminder of today's top stories.
:11:42. > :11:45.65-year-old Alastair garden has been found guilty of sexually
:11:45. > :11:49.abusing young children in Guernsey 40 years ago.