09/04/2014 BBC Points West

happened at Government House in Good evening. The wife of a Royal

Marine from Taunton who was jailed for life for murdering a Taliban

fighter is hoping his conviction will be overturned. Tomorrow

Sergeant Al Blackman, who w`s known as Marine A, will appeal ag`inst his

sentence. He is the first British serviceman to be convicted of murder

since the Second World War, and tonight a BBC documentary examines

his case. Here's Sarah Jane Bungay. Once a warrior, now a criminal. The

man referred to as Marine A, with both his identity and crime on the

battlefield exposed. These stills from a helmet camera recorddd

Sergeant Al Blackman's murddr of a wounded Afghan insurgent. And after

his shot, his chilling words. There you all, shuffle off this mortal

coil. An act his wife says doesn't reflect

the real man. Speaking out for the first time since he received a life

sentence. He was a big softx. Is your husband a murder request `` is

your husband a murderer? Absolutely not. In no way.

This case has already sparkdd a fierce debate. In 2011 Sergdant

Blackman was among marines on the front line in Helmand fighthng a

ruthless enemy, and whilst he's been convicted of murder, his falily

believe he, too, has become a casualty of war. It is war. It is

every shade of grey. I'm not ashamed of him, because he was doing his job

and doing his duty. That is what he was sent out to do, to get rid of

the insurgents. The trouble is we are trying very hard to rathonalise

something that happened in ` war zone in a different country on the

other side of the world in circumstances that none of ts will

ever begin to understand. Yet it was a panel of fellow marines

and sailors which found him guilty. Britain's most senior soldidrs

called it a heinous crime. It's now up to the Court of Appeal

to decided if Al Blackman h`s been judged fairly.

And you can see that documentary here on BBC One in just a fdw

minutes' time. A trainee solicitor from Brhstol who

locked her pet dog in a kitchen without food or water and ldft it to

die has been jailed for 18 weeks. Katy Gammon has also been b`nned

from keeping animals for life after the court said it was one of the

most serious cases of animal cruelty they have ever seen. Michelle

Ruminski reports. This was the moment RSPCA officers

untied the rope to the kitchen where Roxy had been locked inside. You

were aware of the stench. It had ripped the Dawn French piecds where

it had chewed and scratched trying to get out. The dog was lying there

and decaying on the floor. We can't show you the next pictures.

They are too upsetting. Roxx died after being left no food or water.

Her owner, Katy Gammon, had moved out ten weeks ago. A postmortem

examination found Roxy suffdred a "prolonged and painful" death. The

court heard Roxy was only found because neighbours spotted flies at

the window of the house she was in. At a previous hearing, Katy Gammon

pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to thd dog and

failing to prevent causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.

The prosecuting lawyer told the court that when anyone asked her

about Roxy, she lied and sahd her ex`boyfriend was looking after her,

who she no longer lived with. I burst out crying when I first found

out, but I didn't know it w`s this bad until I found out from the

police. Today her defence lawyer sahd that

Gammon was a young lady who was not coping well with the stressds of

life and that Gammon had trhed to rehome Roxy. There were statements

from family and friends sayhng her actions were completely out of

character. Outside court, animal rights groups called on the court to

ban Gammon from keeping anilals for life. The RSPCA says it's pleased

with the 18`week sentence. Ht was the most she could have been given.

It has made it quite clear that society won't accept that. The RSPCA

will always prosecute such things. Chair of the bench Rod Mayall said

Katy Gammon had showed limited remorse and had given up two offers

of alternative accommodation for the dog. He went on to say that this is

one of the most serious casds of animal cruelty that they have ever

encountered in these courts. Michelle Ruminski, BBC Points West.

A man jailed for murdering ` Wiltshire solicitor has been found

dead in his prison cell. Michael Chudley was sentenced to 28 years

for shooting Jim Ward at his office in Devizes. Last week Chudldy failed

in a bid to clear his name. A Bristol MP has apologised for

breaking Parliamentary rules after not declaring donations properly.

Charlotte Leslie, who's MP for Bristol North West, received

donations to her constituency office totalling ?17,000 from the Bristol

Port Company. They weren't declared on the Register of Members'

Interests, but Ms Leslie spoke on matters relating to the port in

Parliament. It's Isambard Kingdom Brunel's

birthday today. That's right, the man who designed Clifton Suspension

bridge was born in 1806. He was a genius, but he may have been

surprised to learn that it's been agreed today that the toll on his

bridge is to rise from 50p to ? . The trustees say the money hs needed

to pay for the upkeep. Mr Brunel would have been 208 years old today!

On that note I will say good night. A choice of viewing here. On BBC One

there's that documentary about the Royal Marine, and on BBC Two it s

Newsnight. But first of all, let's check out the weather with Han.

Thank you. Many areas will see a dry day tomorrow. Variable amounts of

cloud around them is sunshine. Temperatures down to three or four

sources tonight. `` Celsius tonight. A few showers tomorrow, fairly light

in nature. Temperatures will be on a p`r with

today. Fairly typical. And similar as we head through towards the

weekend. Sunny spells quite widespread at times.

weekend. If you are travelling further afield here is a look at the

National pig genome. -- National picture.

Most of us will be dry and bright with some sunshine coming through.

That goes for the weekend as well. Look out for some chilly night.

Certainly tonight in the South temperatures falling away under

those clear skies. As low as two or three degrees in rural areas. Still

some patchy rain through parts of southern Scotland and Northern

Ireland early on in the day. But most of England and Wales have a dry

start. Some spells of sunshine especially across the East, but some

mist and fog patches around. They should not last too long. The main

change tomorrow is this rain slowly creeping across North West England.

And eventually we have rain across North Wales. To the north of that

brighter skies follow. Along with a sprinkling of showers.