26/09/2013 BBC Channel Islands News

Good evening. The headlines: French prosecutors to appeal the court

verdict which spared two guilty Condor crew jail after their ferry

hit a fishing boat killing its captain.

Parents battling to save their childrens primary school claim

they're being treated unfairly. If we don't make these cuts, 31 million

we are trying to save, as an island, what is the alternative?

And living in pain — why walking down the stairs used to be agony for

this man and what doctors are doing about it. It makes you physically

and mentally exhausted. The Condor captain and first officer

who were found guilty of manslaughter after a fisherman died

after being hit by a passenger ferry could still face jail. Former

Captain Paul Le Romancer and First Officer Yves Tournon walked free

earlier this month with suspended prison sentences of a year and six

months respectively. But tonight, prosecutors are asking a higher

French court to reconsider that. Found guilty but set free. Relief

for the former Condor captain and first officer as the court in

Normandy spares them jail. But anger outside the court. The family of

Philippe Lesaulnier, the fisherman killed by their negligence, demanded

justice. TRANSLATION: We were at least expecting they would go to

prison so that people understand you cannot kill people like that. You

have to be careful. The original trial found Le Romancer and Tournon

weren't paying enough attention when the Vitesse they were in charge of

crashed into Mr Lesaulnier's boat in March 2011. The father of four was

killed instantly in the collision. The ferry was on its way to Jersey

from St Malo in thick fog. Now the French prosecutor who called for

them to spend time behind bars, is now appealing the decision to give

them suspended sentences. Condor Ferries is not facing criminal

prosecution, but a civil court hearing in December will hear claims

for compensation against the company.

Meanwhile, an investigation into the death of a French sailor who went

missing from a yacht in Guernsey waters has closed. Three other crew

members onboard the Jouvente were arrested and later released on bail

after the body of the missing man washed up on a beach in France two

days after his disappearance on the twelfth of May. Guernsey Police say

the investigation has now been closed after law officers decided

there was insufficient evidence to proceed.

Parents battling to save their children's primary school in

Guernsey say the way they've been treated is unfair. After public

consultations on dozens of issues, from recycling to taxation, there's

anger that the possible closure of St Sampsons Infants and St Andrews

Primary hasn't been put to the public. Mike Wilkins reports.

Learning all about the English language, and soon these children at

St Andrews Primary School will learn more about their fate. The States is

trying to eliminate its multi—million pound deficit. So

every government department is under pressure to make savings. For the

Education board that means closing two schools, St Sampson's Infant

School and St Andrew's Primary School. Sarah Barrett's children

attend St Andrews. She says closing the school will affect the whole

island. I think, there to say that it is not just about our two schools

closing, it is about... It affects the whole island and all the primary

schools on it. This threat of closure is nothing new. The

Education Department tried to close them four years ago, but the States

threw it out, so why try again? There is a seven, 8000 saving, and

we as an island have to make the savings. We don't think it affects

the educational outcome of our children. But if we don't make these

cuts, it is 31 million we are trying to save, as an island, what is the

alternative? Do we have more taxes, to islanders want to do that? A

difficult place to be and a difficult decision to make, and one

that the States will have to make next month.

The States of Guernsey's overall revenue is down by £10 million this

year. The Treasury Minister told States members at today's meeting

that falling income tax receipts and stamp duty on property sales are to

blame. It come as the Treasury warns some of the major capital projects

on the States' to—do list may not happen. Deputies are debating the

governments top spending priorities — from rebuilding schools, to buying

a new sea fisheries boat. Funding is a key part of the issue. We have

already said that we will need to return to the States with proposals

on how to fund it. That will have to recognise what our income

expectations are next year as well. Imagine having someone shadow you in

your job, only to step into your shoes once you have to leave because

your housing licence has run out. That's what's happening at some

businesses in Guernsey. The "stepping in" programme is aimed at

getting more local job—seekers into long—term work. And its getting more

and more popular, as Penny Elderfield reports.

A good hotel is only as good as the staff that help run it. For this

one, that means bringing in around a dozen seasonal workers. They are

keen to get more local people and those jobs, managers have signed up

to a new scheme. It allows someone to shadow a licence holder while

being paid by the States, so they can learn the tricks of the trade.

We have seen that it is quite difficult for people to get

interested. They may be do one day and they don't get a true feel for

what you can offer them. We know that they are keen to work, they

want to get themselves back into the workforce. This gives them an

opportunity, and hopefully, it will help both employer and employee. It

appears to be another way of filling all these jobs while bringing down

unemployment figures. Initially, take—up was not great. It is quite

hard to get the right kind of employers. It is definitely picking

up momentum now. We have currently got for job—seekers in secured

employment. Two are currently on the scheme. We have already held three

interviews this week. When booking is coming, we need to cancel... The

numbers may be smaller the moment, but it is important.

With one in ten people suffering from chronic pain in Jersey, health

professionals are increasingly looking to treat them. Top doctors

are meeting in the Channel Islands this week to discuss what they are

calling a pain epidemic. Pam called field has been to meet one man who

is looking to beat his agony one day at a time.

This part of Michael's day used to be agonising for him. He had to give

up being an activity instructor when he got arthritis in his knee and

suffered with chronic pain for years. It draws you, it makes you

physically and mentally exhausted. It is with you all the time and,

just walking a few steps, it kicks in. Sitting down, getting in the

wrong position, lying in the wrong position right. It wakes you up, it

woke me up constantly at night. And that sort of chronic pain is

something around one in ten people in Jersey are living with. Today,

doctors from across the British Isles gathered on the island — to

discuss how they can provide more specialist treatment. Getting access

to this expertise is difficult. We have got quite a small team in

Jersey, but we have got massive population problems. It is epidemic

chronic pain. 10,000 people on the island are affected by chronic pain.

We are just a small team. It is a big problem. We need to train

primary care to better deal with this and realise the limitations of

the prescription pad. That could mean relying less on opium—based

drugs such as morphine, which can be addictive. As well as medicating,

doctors are hoping to encourage a change in attitude. People tend to

take a slightly more passive approach to their health. We are

trying to inspire and activate them. There are things you can do to

assist yourself to improve your quality—of—life and live more

positively. A lot of that is around lifestyle change, partly what we are

assisting people with. That's the sort of help Michael got when he

visited the pain clinic in Jersey, and it's worked for him. They have

been right all the way along. Exercise has really helped me a lot,

got me back to a reasonable level of fitness. I am back to doing kayaking

again. Recently he had a knee operation, and while he's still in

pain at times, now it doesn't stop him from doing what he loves. Thanks

to Michael for sharing his story. Let's get the weather forecast. Good

evening. We have got reasonable weather to look forward to as we

head towards the weekend. There are front or bands of cloud around,

that. Produced the odd shower every now and then, but for the most part

tomorrow, after a cloudy start, there will be some sunshine. The

breeze picks up which lifts all that low cloud, mist and fog. This low

pressure has been around for most of the week, it is closer over the next

24 hours, drifting towards us, and some quite frequent showers are

possible for the start of the weekend. Overnight tonight, aspect

of drizzle but is turning a bit misty as well with the low cloud

returning and fog coming back as well. It will not be as thick as it

has been because the breeze picks up overnight, and easterly wind which

will freshen through the night. It will be a keen feature of the

weather tomorrow. Hopefully it will chase a lot of that low cloud out of

the way. Temperatures pretty high, 22, possibly even 23, despite that

breeze. Perhaps a little bit cooler on the east facing coasts. On the

coastal water forecast, times of high water as well. Most of our east

facing ports will be on the choppy side. The beaches in the West should

have opted to back feet —— up to two feet. Sunshine but also some

scattered heavy showers on both Saturday and Sunday. Come Sunday,

the winds are dying down, but with a risk of some showers around. What's

more persistent rain turning up on Sunday —— Monday. Temperatures still

above average for the time of year. Goodbye. Typical, rain for the

weekend. That's all for now. Time to join the team at Spotlight.

project that had already made fibre broadband available to the first

time is a business is three months ahead of schedule. Pete and others

will be watching further progress closely.

A year since work started on a scientific dredging trial in

Falmouth Harbour, the BBC has learned any resolution is still

months away. The trial is looking into whether a deeper channel should

be dug to allow larger ships to use the port. Those who claim it's vital

to secure the harbour's economic future say they are frustrated with

the delays. People opposing the dredge on environmental grounds say

they still aren't getting answers to crucial questions.

The South West Ambulance Trust is failing to meet its targets for the

most serious callouts. The trust says that, in particular, ambulances

are getting backed up at local hospitals, which in turn affects

response times. A national indicator of the pressure services are under

July. Level six is described as a July. Level six is described as a

potential service failure. Shelterbox says it was among the

first to respond to Tuesday's Pakistan earthquake, which killed

more than 300 people. The Cornish—based charity already had

aid boxes in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, to help families

displaced by recent flooding. Next, we'll look at Sir Ben

Ainslie's triumphant transition from dinghy sailing to the Formula One of

yachting. Also still ahead: The new breed of sheep in demand and causing

a stir in the farming world. And piecing together Exeter's

multicultural history. South West sailor Sir Ben Ainslie

has taken his skills onto another level by masterminding an incredible

victory for Team USA in the America's Cup. As Spotlight's Dave

Gibbins reports, Ainslie's transfer from dinghy sailing has been one of

the most successful of all time. Ben Ainslie, seen here on the left,

has become the first British sailor to add success in the America's Cup

to an Olympic title. He won four Olympic medals and a silver in

dinghy sailing and was knighted for his services to the sport. The

36—year—old was called up as the tactician when the defence of the

trophy, the Formula one of the trophy, seemed to be heading for the

rock is. But with him on board, team USA —— staged one of sailing's

greatest comeback is to win 9—eight after they were trailing numeric

mine—1. We were still alive but we knew we had to get ourselves alive.

The sailors and designers did a great job. They did an amazing job

to get the boat round the track. We had one of the biggest fightbacks in

sport but it's an amazing achievement to add to what has

already been an incredible couple of years for Ben so I'm very thrilled.

Ben Ainslie was brought up and educated in true rogue and honed his

skills at a local sailing club. He also has strong links with a yacht

club in Falmouth. There is no question Ben's arrival changed the

chemistry completely and the Americans have hung on to the cup.

I'm not sure I wouldn't have preferred their opponents to hang

onto the cup, to be honest. Then now wants the America's Cup to be held

in Britain as he claims there is enough talent here to warrant a tilt

at the coveted trophy. Who is to say he won't succeed at that reject?

Somerset have avoided relegation from cricket's County Championship

Division One. One of their rivals in trouble, Derbyshire, were heavily

beaten today and they've gone down with Surrey. Somerset's final match

of the season against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge saw

them close day three 173 runs behind Notts. James Hildreth hit 161 for

the Cidermen. A group of farmers in the South West

have created a new breed of sheep and it's selling all over the

country. The Exlana grows a much thinner fleece which self moults.

It's been bred to save farmers the costs involved in shearing — and

demand for it is so high, orders stretch into next year. Anna Varle

reports. It has taken Peter almost a decade

to develop this breed of sheep. He's just one of six farmers who got

together and decided to create the Exlana, a sheep which doesn't need

cheering. To do it, they used to genetics of breeds from around the

world. We've introduced five breeds and cross them with the existing

breed and over nine years, we've stabilised the breed to produce the

sort of sheep you see here, which are quite uniform and very high

producing. The aim of the new breed is to save farmers money. The price

amongst the highest it's ever been amongst the highest it's ever been

but it still doesn't cover the costs of sharing. —— for wall. That is why

this group of farmers have developed a new breed of sheep. It takes away

all of the costs. The breeding programme involves recording 10,000

sets of data and farmers say the end result is an animal which produces

more lands and takes up less of their time. It takes a lot of the

day—to—day drudgery out of keeping sheep and we're now thinking there

keep a lot more sheep. I jokingly keep a lot more sheep. I jokingly

say that I think keeping 2000 sheep will be a part—time job. This year

there will be a total of 5000 Exlana use in existence, mainly in Devon.

The demand has been so high that orders are stretching into next

year. A group of researchers in Exeter

have been working together to unearth the city's multicultural

history. The project, called Telling Our Stories, Finding Our Roots, is

the culmination of a year's work to produce a website which people can

add to or learn from. John Danks reports.

They've grown up in Exeter but how well do they know its history? This

is one of the ways pupils are learning the stories of different

cultures, past and present. Some of the things are quite surprisingly I

didn't know pig hunters had links with Devon. I didn't know people had

done things in Exeter. They are interested to learn more about their

own city, the diversity, interesting things. Their history curriculum is

a set curriculum but this is expanded their local knowledge. The

school is not only using the history project but adding to it. Some of

these former pupils contributed their own stories, which will be

archived. My mum was a nurse in Singapore and then because Singapore

used to be part of England, she got a job here in the UK and then I

moved here aged eight and I've been here ever since. This woman is one

of the local researchers. She helped to create some of the stories. I

think there is still a perception that Exeter is all white. There is a

perception that it is all white English and that is not actually the

truth. That's been one of the important things about this project.

This spire from a church that once stood on what is now Cathedral Green

is a significant marker for the cultural heritage of the city. The

earliest record we know of a black person in Exeter was in the 1600.

There was a boreal of someone called Thomas who was described as being

the son of a Blackmore. There is a wonderful mystery. Who was Thomas?

How old was he? Where did he come from? It's hoped the project, called

Telling Our Stories, Finding Our Roots, will be rolled out across

other schools in the city. Plymouth's Theatre Royal has

reopened its doors again tonight after closing in April for a £7

million regeneration project. The Drum lifts its curtain first tonight

with a political drama — and tomorrow night's opening on the main

stage has been completely sold out. Johnny Rutherford has been to see

the revamped theatre. This is a five—minute call.

Stand—by, box office. Contractors, leave the site please. We have five

minutes till the opening of the Theatre Royal. It's had more than

just a face—lift — it's had major surgery. There are last—minute

touches but it is ready to receive its audience. There is a new

entrance area and box office, a bigger lobby and shop, a new cafe

and an extended restaurant with an outdoor terrace for summer evenings.

It may look shiny and new but it is still the old Theatre Royal

underneath. It is the Theatre Royal of 1982 with a twist. There are

several finishes. The ceilings came down and we put the same ones back

up because we are very fond of the building and the period it

represents, which is when theatres really started to be built with

larger for yeas, in the 1980s, to be more than just a performance space

but a community space where people can gather, relax and take time out.

The entire theatre has been given an upgrade and installation and will

soon has three stages. This performance area will be able to

seek an audience of 100 as part of the second phase in the £7 million

project. It will be used for community and education work. The

main stage gets a new name, the Lyric, and there is still the Drum.

So the stage is set for tonight's first performance, Fight Night,

here. Tomorrow night, they open with War Horse. We'll bring you more on

that tomorrow. That is what is happening at the

Theatre Royal but onstage now with the weather is David.

You won't need to turn your heating on this weekend. It stays relatively

warm. Good evening. We've got some showers to come our way as we head

into the weekend. Some will be quite heavy but look at the temperatures.

Pretty much above average for the time of year. Even if we do season

rain, the temperatures will stay into next week. —— see some rain.

I'm just going to get the right graphic up... Justin, stop making it

all go wrong! Let's look at tomorrow's forecast. Much brighter.

The breeze is the key because we'll see a change in the wind strength,

which was to the air. The air has been stagnant over the last few

days. This low—pressure is drifting towards us and squeezes up the

isobars to give us a bit more wind. Showers on Saturday, some of them

turning out to be heavy. Overnight the night, a chance of the odd

shower but not much. The skies clear later in the night and although

there will be shallow mist patches, we went to see the fog. NEC fork

left behind will be in the far west of Cornwall, near the Isles of

Scilly, but they will be moved away as the wind increases. A few showers

left behind towards the north of Devon towards the Somerset levels,

but they will move away towards the morning. Tomorrow, expect a lot of

cloud to start the day but through the morning and into the afternoon,

the sunshine will work through the cloud. The breeze is easterly, which

tends to give dry weather so we should cease in sunny spells. The

exception is in West Cornwall and around the Isles of Scilly where

more cloud will be coming our way and it will be thick enough here to

give showers later in the day. And easterly breeze right along the

English Channel and across the Channel Islands. In easterly wind on

the coast and in Torbay and Portland, it may not feel as warm as

the temperatures show. South of the breeze, we should see temperatures

of 20. Here's the forecast for the Isles of Scilly. A breezy day with

cloud and showers. Here are the high water times. The surf this week has

been pretty good with very light winds. Some lovely clean waves. A

bit more of a stir in the air which will change the structure of the

waves. The north coast has the cleanest to serve but becoming a bit

choppy along the south coast. —— the cleanest surf. Here is the coastal

waters forecast. I mentioned the rain as we move into the weekend.

Saturday's forecast is rather cloudy. Some of the showers could be

quite heavy but since both the brighter weather in between,

generally through the day on Saturday. Quite a cloudy day with

keen winds. Why Sunday, the winds begin to drop. There will be breaks

in the cloud and we will see some widespread and persistent light rain

or drizzle through the day on Monday. Quite a lot happening over

the next few days but the good news is, night—time temperatures not

really falling very much, and daytime temperatures holding up

quite well. Have a good night. Before we go, a reminder that we're

looking for our Unsung Sporting Hero of 2013. Do you know someone who

voluntarily gives up their time to encourage others to participate in

sport? If you do, now is the time to nominate them. There are two ways of

doing that — you can either go to our website bbc.co.uk/unsunghero —

or you can call 0845 308 8000 to ask for a nomination form to be posted

to you. Calls cost up to 5p per minute from most landlines, and

calls from mobiles may cost considerably more. Full terms and

conditions for the awards are on the website.

The main stories again: The former chairman of the Royal Cornwall

hospitals trust, Martin Watts, caused a boardroom drama by turning

up at a meeting vowing