:00:14. > :00:17.Good evening. Avon and Somerset police say it's been a record year
:00:17. > :00:20.- with more than four million pounds worth of property and cash
:00:20. > :00:23.being seized from convicted criminals. Yachts, jewellery and
:00:23. > :00:28.cars have all been handed over. In the past, convicted offenders would
:00:28. > :00:30.have kept the items - but that's all changed. Our Home Affairs
:00:30. > :00:36.Correspondent Steve Brodie reports. Just some of the yachts, expensive
:00:36. > :00:38.cars and assorted jewellery confiscated and sold in the West.
:00:38. > :00:44.These luxury items belonged to members of organised crime gangs -
:00:44. > :00:47.but not any more. Under the Proceeds of Crime Act, a court can
:00:47. > :00:54.calculate how much illegal benefit a man or a woman has made from his
:00:54. > :00:58.or her criminal lifestyle. All the trappings of a life of crime can be
:00:58. > :01:02.seized and sold off. Quite simply, the law can now ensure that crime
:01:02. > :01:05.doesn't pay. It's now quite normal for the prosecution here at the
:01:05. > :01:08.Crown Court to tell the judge after he has passed sentence that there
:01:08. > :01:17.will be a confiscation hearing to investigate how much cash and
:01:17. > :01:21.assets a criminal has managed to stash away over the years. The aim
:01:21. > :01:24.of this is to take a cash out of crime and to make sure that people
:01:25. > :01:28.that commit the crimes that affect our communities are not allowed to
:01:28. > :01:33.come out of prison and enjoy the lifestyle but they committed the
:01:33. > :01:36.crimes to have. They will not drive in luxury cars and living nice
:01:36. > :01:39.houses. Over the last nine months, criminals jailed for various drug
:01:39. > :01:41.and fraud offences have been ordered to pay back �4.2 million.
:01:41. > :01:50.And since 2006, 720 successful confiscation orders have resulted
:01:50. > :01:52.in more than �12 million being retrieved by the Crown. James
:01:52. > :01:57.Waithe, an organised crime gang enforcer and former judo champion,
:01:57. > :02:02.was hit with a million pound order. And drugs dealer Damien Ramsey was
:02:02. > :02:12.forced to pay more than half a million pounds. Both were also
:02:12. > :02:17.jailed. We look at their finances when we execute search warrants. We
:02:17. > :02:20.look for high-value assets, and the evidence of money-laundering, we
:02:20. > :02:22.look at bank accounts and we applied to the court to take away
:02:22. > :02:25.any assets that they have. Money recovered through confiscation
:02:25. > :02:28.orders is firstly used to compensate victims of the offences
:02:28. > :02:36.and some of what's left goes to the police to fund operations against
:02:36. > :02:39.crime. A candlelit vigil is to be held in
:02:39. > :02:43.North Somerset in memory of a young soldier who died after being hit by
:02:43. > :02:47.a car on Christmas morning. Edward Heal was based at Tidworth in
:02:47. > :02:50.Wiltshire and was due to go to Afghanistan in March. Candles will
:02:50. > :02:55.be lit in Clevedon on Saturday, to highlight what friends and
:02:55. > :02:58.residents say is a lack of street lighting in the area.
:02:58. > :03:01.And tributes have been paid to a promising young rugby player from
:03:01. > :03:06.Wiltshire who was killed in a road accident just two days after his
:03:06. > :03:11.17th birthday. Toby Hearne was knocked down after leaving a
:03:11. > :03:15.Christmas party in the village of Stanton St Quintin last week. His
:03:15. > :03:18.family say he was a generous and sensitive young man.
:03:18. > :03:23.The family and friends of two west country servicemen killed in
:03:23. > :03:25.Afghanistan have begun a 300 mile cycle ride in their memories.
:03:25. > :03:28.Lieutenant Daniel Clack who was based with 1 Rifles in
:03:28. > :03:33.Gloucestershire and Lieutenant David Boyce from Bath died within 3
:03:33. > :03:39.months of each other. Their friends are raising money for Army
:03:39. > :03:43.charities - as John Maguire reports. Several hours in the saddle down,
:03:43. > :03:46.but many more ahead. The group will spend three days on two wheels,
:03:46. > :03:52.including this Boris bike - built for many things but not long
:03:52. > :03:58.distances. Their marathon effort is in memory of two soldiers who died
:03:58. > :04:08.in separate bomb blasts just months apart in Afghanistan. Lts Dan Clack
:04:08. > :04:08.
:04:08. > :04:14.and Dave Boyce, who were friends from the University of Exeter.
:04:14. > :04:19.inspirational chaps, great characters. Has it been so far?
:04:19. > :04:22.Very cold, but a great experience. We have not done much training.
:04:22. > :04:25.Also riding from London to Cornwall is Dave Boyce's younger sister
:04:25. > :04:31.Charlotte - three weeks to the day since her brother's funeral.
:04:31. > :04:34.last few weeks, obviously Christmas is an odd time, especially the
:04:34. > :04:39.first one we allowed them, but it has been good to have the bicycle
:04:39. > :04:42.ride to focus on and everyone has been very supportive. It is nice to
:04:42. > :04:44.give something back to the charities. And they are the Army
:04:44. > :04:47.Benevolent Fund and the Rifles' charity from Dan Clack's regiment.
:04:47. > :04:52.Under the title Dave and Dan's Memorial Cycle, their online
:04:52. > :04:56.donations have already doubled their �1,000 objective. And as they
:04:56. > :05:06.clock up the money and the miles - with aching muscles and bottoms -
:05:06. > :05:10.their targets draw ever closer with their friends as their inspiration.
:05:10. > :05:14.The NHS in the West is warning that blood stocks may be hit by major
:05:14. > :05:16.events in 2012 - like the Olympics and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.
:05:16. > :05:19.Staff at the NHS Blood and Transplant Centre at Filton say
:05:19. > :05:23.there could be a significant drop in donations because of extra bank
:05:23. > :05:31.holidays and a hectic sporting calendar. Most people usually give
:05:31. > :05:35.blood during the working week. the UK, 2012 will be an exciting
:05:35. > :05:38.period and we are concerned that stocks may drop in this period.
:05:38. > :05:42.There is the culmination of a sporting event and the Queen's
:05:42. > :05:45.Jubilee, so we want to raise awareness in terms of donors are
:05:46. > :05:48.not being around to give blood during the normal period of time.
:05:48. > :05:52.The Olympic bob skeleton gold medallist Amy Williams is a
:05:52. > :05:55.registered donor and is the face of the campaign in the South West.
:05:55. > :05:58.One of the longest in-situ roman mosaics in Britain is to go on
:05:58. > :06:01.display in Gloucestershire for the first time in 150 years.
:06:01. > :06:09.Archaeologists uncovered the 35 metre long work at Chedworth Roman
:06:10. > :06:19.Villa as part of a �3 million redevelopment.
:06:20. > :06:20.
:06:20. > :06:23.Time for the weather now and Jemma It is a windy picture for the next
:06:23. > :06:29.few days and for the end of the year and beginning of next year,
:06:29. > :06:35.the wind will dominate. Some cloud moving away, and clear skies, so
:06:35. > :06:39.temperatures well below with a cold night ahead and a cold start. The
:06:39. > :06:42.wind will dominate, Thursday, showers propelling him and
:06:42. > :06:47.temperatures remaining in single figures through the day. Unlike
:06:47. > :06:53.today, we will not see any brakes, blue or brightness. There was some
:06:53. > :06:58.nice sunshine this afternoon, not tomorrow. Some showers of the back
:06:58. > :07:02.of the westerly wind which will give gusts of over 35 mph. Cloud,
:07:03. > :07:07.showers, wind, mixing together to give a date with highs in single
:07:07. > :07:13.figures. Colder than a mile to run of Christmas, but a subtle change
:07:13. > :07:17.on the way. Tomorrow night, cloud, showers and wind. Eventually it
:07:17. > :07:22.will swing around and come from the south-west signalling a very subtle
:07:22. > :07:27.change and a gradual warming trend in to Friday. Friday will be windy
:07:27. > :07:31.and at times West. The air from the south-west would bring the moister
:07:31. > :07:36.and it shows temperatures by Friday creeping back up and continuing the
:07:36. > :07:42.mild weather of the autumn and winter. New Year's Eve, the same,
:07:42. > :07:45.temperatures a little bit better. The first step 2012, the mild run