05/08/2014 BBC Points West

Convicted of murder ` the man who killed his ex`wife, put her body in

Their relationship, we understand, were subjected to abuse throughout

the years and that was reported to the police and through family

members. We have the Deputy Prime Minister

live on our sofa talking 300 workers at a factory in Somerset

are screened And walking in their shoes `

the remarkable story of Cheltenham A jealous man with a history

of violence against his ex`wife was Jane Wiggett was found hidden in her

bed at her flat after going missing. Her former husband, Danny Spencer

from Cheltenham, lied to her family and the police about where she was

before trying to flee the country. Our Gloucestershire reporter,

Steve Knibbs, has followed the case This is a Mendip house, where Jane

Wiggett lived, at where Danny Spencer murdered her. They had been

married for and 30 years but divorced in 2005 and on a number of

occasions Jane complained to friend Stanley had assaulted her and on two

occasions it also went as far dollars `` as far as the police. It

was a history of violence that ended in tragedy here last summer.

Despite their divorce, Jane Wiggett still saw Danny

Spencer, mainly on family occasions, but sometimes on their own.

On the 22nd of July last year, CCTV, them shopping in Cheltenham

when Spencer bought her a pink dress, a dress she's seen wearing

The following night Danny Spencer visited Jane in her flat in Whaddon

and, for a reason only he knows, he strangled her and hid her body

in her bed, covering it with a duvet and pillows.

He hid her so well that, two days later when family came

Spencer then tried to cover his tracks, telling friends

and family who were looking for Jane that she was away and that

It was caught on camera driving her car, which he later sold for ?2,500.

Police said it was to make people believe she'd taken it somewhere.

But, as concern grew, Jane Wiggett's family reported her missing.

They told police Danny Spencer had been in contact with her so they

called him, but he lied because he knew he had already killed her.

She is supposed to be calling me tonight around ten o'clock.

And why is it she is not speaking to anyone else?

Have you got a telephone number for her?

Because she has been reported as a missing person to us.

The next day, police found Jane Wiggett's body in her flat three

Danny Spencer had gone to ground so they immediately issued

Police are looking for a man from Cheltenham they believe

Tonight police want to locate Danny Spencer.

They are concerned he may try to leave the country.

Spencer was arrested at this hotel near Birmingham

Airport after a member of staff recognised him from the appeal.

He had his passport with him and a hunting knife.

Forensic analysis found his blood under Jane Wiggett's

fingernails, but it was also his lack of phone calls to

The family and friends were continuing to make contact with Jane

via her mobile phone and landline, but Daniel Spencer in fact stopped

making any form of contact with Jane in this way from around that date,

the 24th of July, and that is why we feel he knew she

didn't need to be phoned because he had been responsible for her death.

Danny Spencer now faces a life sentence for killing

a woman he had been violent to in the past, but a woman, it

Danny Spencer never took the stand during the trial, instead asking his

son to speak in his defence, effectively trying to convince the

jury his father had not murdered his mother. The jury took less than

three hours today to come up with a unanimous guilty verdict. Jane

Wiggett's family issued a statement saying she was private, popular,

funny and sensitive, we hope she can rest at peace knowing she has been

listened to and justice has been done. Tomorrow the judge will

sentence Danny Spencer cometh he faces a mandatory life sentence but

the judge will decide what the minimum term will be before he is

considered for parole. It was said today that because of

his age and his ill`health comment is unlikely he will liberty again.

`` because of his age and his ill health, it is unlikely he will enjoy

liberty again. The Bishop of Gloucester has been

interviewed by police on suspicion of indecently assaulting a woman

and a girl more than 30 years ago. The right reverand Michael Perham

was not arrested. On Saturday it was announced he

would be standing down from May 2004 and the new Bishop

of Gloucester is enthroned. The Right Reverend Michael Perham

had previously been Dean of He was also a well known figure

nationally ` a member of the House of Lords and of the House

of Bishops' Standing Committee. Today

in a statement the Metropolitan police said that they could confirm

a 66`year`old man had been interviewed on suspicion of indecent

assault on a child aged under 18 years, and indecent assault on

a second female aged over 18 years. The alleged incidents are said to

have occurred between 1980 and 1981. Bishop Michael was due to have

retired this November, But on Saturday it was announced

that he would be standing down with immediate effect

for personal reasons. Today, the diocese of Gloucester

released a statement saying, "This is a police matter, we have

no further comment to make." The process is now underway to

enable the Bishop of Tewkesbury, the Rt Rev Martyn Snow,

to take up the duties of the Bishop You are watching BBC points West. It

is great to have your company this evening, we still have lots to bring

you come including... Home`grown talent ` the brothers

hoping to take Swindon town to another league.

First, the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg

is in the west tonight, in fact he's right here in the studio.

For the moment the West Country is still his party's bedrock with nine

MPs, but the European elections here were a disaster for him.

I'll be talking to Mr Clegg in a moment,

but first let's hear from our political reporter, Chris Brierley.

The good old days ` if you are a liberal. Election night is used to

be such fun as seat after West Country seat felled to them.

You could see it is the bedrock of support built up here in the west

that propelled the new party 26 years ago into the party it is

today, one of government. But four years in coalition, can the party

still rely on the voters in its heartland?

In the key Liberal Democrat conservative battle grounds, there

are thought is around 15%, and of the Liberal Democrat voters in 2010

come around 15% have gone into labour come around 13 or 15% have

gone to UKIP and around 11% have gone to the Conservatives.

If they are struggling there, can they rely on the once loyal student

vote? There is no easy way to say this. We

made a pledge, we did not stick to it, and from that I am sorry.

That definitely is still fresh in students' minds, that he made a

promise he could not keep. He let us down. When someone does

not do something they said they would, you will always feel

mistreated and that will be represented in the elections.

Who might be getting worried about next May? There are nine Liberal

Democrat MPs in the West, four of their seats are being heavily

targeted by the coalition partners. They are Tories `` the Tories have

their sights set on Cheltenham, Chippenham, Wells and Somerton and

through them. But does that mean that `` the other five MPs have safe

seats? I have never taken my seat for granted, I always fight every

election as if it was the first time round and the nature of my

constituency means the population changes quite a bit, so we have to

start fresh each time. I never take the voters for granted

and always work hard for every vote and all other candidates should have

the same attitude. In 2010, Nick Clegg would us all,

but May two now will agree with Nick vision Mark `` Nick Clegg charmed us

all. As as Kim.

`` who now will agree with Nick Clegg?

Let's ask him. Is this the start of the campaign? Not quite yet.

But one of the things is we know when the election will happen, one

of the changes I introduced, the then Minister cannot fiddle with the

election date. As a party we have a record of what we have done in

government, which I'm very proud of and we want to set out our

commitments for what to do in the future.

If you do come in the same way you did in the European elections, you

were toast in the West Country. I think we have to get out and

explain to people what we have done. Even after four and explain to

people what we have done. Even after four people that their taxes are

lower, over 23 million people on lower and middle incomes...

At the back is against the wall? We have to explain that we have

giving tax cuts and people are enjoying those because of us in

government. We have more apprenticeships than ever before

because of Liberal Democrats in government. The state pension has

gone up more than ever before because of the Lib Dems. These are

things that people can touch and feel and make a difference to their

lives. We need to get out and say this is

what we have done for you, apprenticeships, better pensions,

fairer taxes. Do you accept your backs are against

the wall? Clearly, as your piece rightly

demonstrated, the difficult decisions we have had to take in

government as a coalition to repair the terrible damage done to the

economy and the state of the economy we inherited into thin than ten

means we had to do some unpopular things. But I feel very vindicated

that, notwithstanding the short`term effect on our popularity, we have

done it for the right reasons. The economy is growing faster than

anywhere else in the world, more people are in work than ever before.

If you think back to what it was like in 2010, there was a feeling we

were teetering on the precipice as a country.

Your MP in Taunton wrote a book recently, have you read it? No, I

have not. A sickly, he said, what is the point

of the Lib Dems if all you are going to be is either a break on the

Conservatives or on labour, what have you got to offer? What are you

for? I completely disagree with Jeremy

Browne. Does anyone seriously think conservatives left to their own

devices would have delivered huge tax cuts for people on low incomes?

It was not, you benefit from the ?10,000...

We have taken over 3 million people...

But you have benefited, too. We have taken over 3 million people

on low pay out of any income tax and VAT is only happening because of the

Liberal Democrat campaign. It has now made its way into the pay

packets of millions because of this. There are so many things I could

point to. In September I was talking to people about this, in September

the 1st three years at primary school pupils will receive free

launches... You had a list. It is not a list.

Don't dismiss healthy lunches for children, fairer taxes, better

pensions, more apprenticeships, those are the things that matter to

people and we have delivered to them.

I wanted to pick to you, what your critics say is that you have enabled

a Conservative government that has put in place and austerity regime

paid for by the poor and people on middle incomes while the fat cats

have been very much business as usual.

That is simply not true. The rich are paying more every year

of this government than they did under any year of labour. It is

simply a myth propagated by many of our critics, that we have somehow

let the rich off. We have done quite the reverse. Actually the top rate

of tax, 45p come is 5p higher than it was for almost all the time it

was under Labour. We have done this as fairly as possible. It has been

difficult, it has been controversial, but we have put the

country before the party, so that the country can recover from the

terrible economic shock suffered in 2008.

We are out of time, thank you very much indeed for coming in.

More than 300 workers at a Mulberry factory

in Somerset have been screened for tuberculosis after two staff were

Public health officials say anyone at the luxury fashion

brand who tests positive will be referred to specialists.

A company best known for high`end handbags,

Mulberry has confirmed today they have had two cases of TB here at

One was diagnosed in January, the other one in May,

and we are told both members of staff are making a good recovery.

But it does mean that consultants from Public Health England have

had to come here to the factory to make sure that TB has not spread.

Public Health England screened 300 staff at the mulberry factory.

Those who test positive will see a specialist, but most positives

are found to have latent TB and they will not go on to be ill.

And in all cases, the infection is treatable with

TB per se is not dangerous in the UK.

Public health consultants say they carry out TB mass screenings

like this about every six months in the region, mostly at factories,

otherwise after TB infections in schools or pubs.

As a general rule in the UK, in a place like Somerset,

we would say that in a screening exercise I would expect less than

Nonetheless, Mulberry staff in Chilcompton will be worried.

TB is an infection we link historically to high def rates.

In 1915 in England and Wales, consumption, as it was known then,

Today, there are about 8,000 cases a year in England

The West went dark last night to mark 100 years since Britain

Many of us turned out the lights at 11 o'clock to mark that fateful

As part of the BBC's World War One At Home we're

exploring what was happening here during those terrible years.

Pupils at Cheltenham Ladies College have been looking

They were privileged, afforded a lifestyle on the finer side of the

class divide. But, with the great War, that division was shattered and

the girls of Cheltenham ladies College join the war effort.

Their preparation for World War I really began before the war, didn't

it? They formed a Red Cross detachment

in 1910, as early as that, and certainly by the start of the war in

1914 over 400 girls had already gained certificates in nursing. That

is incredible. Then they were probably facing the horrors of war,

because the men were starting to come back, wouldn't they? As a

result of that they set up their own hospital in one of the former

boarding houses. Time has raced much of what happened

here, but to capture the spirit is just a costume change away.

Let's have a look! Look at you! Fantastic. How does it feel?

It is that liquid comfortable. It is from nearly 100 years ago but it

does not look very old. It looks quite nice. Emma, your uniform is

striking because it is quite formal. It is actually quite comfortable

side from the fact the waste is a bit tight. This one is probably just

a general tidy, but there are house ties.

I love the hat! This is what they would usually wear

in gin and doing sports. In terms of how it makes you feel,

does it help you to empathise with the girls from 100 years ago?

Definitely. It makes everything seem a lot more real wearing this and

thinking of people actually doing things in this same uniform.

As I see some of the girls finishing after Sportsday can it really

strikes me that 100 years ago the girls who were studying there had no

idea how their lives were going to change so dramatically. In fact,

sport was largely stopped because there were more important things to

worry about. Even this field ` and dug it up to make allotments to feed

the school. This record of some of the letters

that came back from the western front. Yes, they are really

interesting because the girls made of comfort boxes to send to the

troops, which contained a variety of things to make their lives more

comfortable in the terrible conditions they were fighting in.

As I unpacked the cases and saw one thing after another appearing on it

absolutely took my breath away. Look at this one ` in your letter you

asked what sort of whether we were having out here.

It is quite civilised, very English start to a letter, almost.

I am sorry to say, it is simply awful.

On the road in the distance one can see the ambulance slowly passing

along, some are going up empty to do their duty under the cover of

darkness, others are returning, loaded.

That is very moving and isn't it? Did they have a childhood friend,

ordered that all have to go and they had to grow up? No, I think the

principle of the time, living faithful, really believed the girls

should have `` principle of the time really believed the girl should have

a childhood. She very often had to break bad news

to girls. One day, I heard the news of the

death of a student's brother and realising what it would mean to the

sister I was so much of a coward that I feared to send for her. I

need not have been afraid. One hour afterwards she passed me in the hole

and, as I called to her, she turned around, her face alight and smiling

and all she said was, I am far too proud to be sad.

Very moving isn't it? Yes, very progressive, that place,

as well. There is a special BBC Two are

coming to them Bristol balloon fully a star at the end of the week. There

will be talks and performances about the effect the war had on our area.

Stay tuned to BBC points West throughout the week and we will let

you know more. It's four days and counting until

the new football season is here. Tonight we're looking

at the prospects for Swindon Town, who finished in the top half of

the League One table last season. Here's Ali Durden to tell us

about their prospects. It has certainly been an interesting

summer at the candy ground, where ownership of the club was finally

settled in the High Court. `` the County Ground.

But the chairman Lee Power says that case has put Swindon

on the back foot in terms of recruiting new players `

so far only two have arrived. Manager Mark Cooper is in charge

for a second season ` last year he guided his team to eighth place,

probably above many's expectations. This time

the bookmakers have Swindon at 9`1 to win promotion ` with most

predicting a mid`table finish. Well two of the club's stars

are homegrown talents. Nathan and Louis Thompson have

worked their way up through Swindon's academy to become

key members of the first team. Will Glennon caught up with them.

This is Nathan Thompson, 23`year`old defender, and this is his brother,

Louis, aged 19, a midfielder. They are fast becoming fans'

favourites and the ones to watch at Swindon Town this season.

But while they worked together on the pitch, off it there is no

denying a brotherly rivalry. I met them for some golf challenges.

Off the pitch on the golf course, cycling, whatever we are doing we

are keenly competitive. I was second best to him for some

years, so maybe this year is the first time I have started to put

pressure on him at different sports. I think I have overtaken him

on golf. The brothers lived in Wiltshire and

play for Swindon's youth academy. Defender Nathan joined the

first`team in 2009, Louis followed two years later.

For me it was a dream come true. At the moment we line up in the tunnel

at Sheffield United alongside each other extremely proud, we have not

looked back since. The hardest thing is that you don't really know what

is going to happen on the pitch, so if he makes a mistake you kind of

want to correct it yourself. It is having that self`discipline

just to let him get on with his game and try and detach yourself as

brothers when you go to the pitch and be team`mates.

Swindon have a young squad this year. They might struggle, what then

they might play beyond their potential.

It will be the first season for some, and that takes a bit of

getting used to, but I can see why we cannot improve on last year.

I think people will be doubting us, but there is good team unity amongst

the boys and I think we will surprise a few and I think we'll be

up there towards mid`season. Swindon's season starts at home to

Scunthorpe on Saturday. Four days, unbelievable. And the

weather is changing. Now all eyes will be looking to

the skies over Bristol this weekend The weather wasn't kind this morning

as the mass assent to mark Yes, the pesky showers. Thursday is

now looking with confidence to be a decent day to get the fiesta

underway, so the ascent at six o'clock in the afternoon is looking

safe. It could get tricky after, but we

will worry about that later in the week.

Tomorrow there will be some rain, once that clears it will be a decent

day. Some showers around, but fairly dry and warm.

Tonight The Met office has a yellow warning out, a marginal decision on

whether to issue this or not, but a fair amount of rain around through

the night with some tricky conditions on the way with surface

water, that sort of thing. The rainfall radar has been showing

already some heavy showers today for some of you. And the South West were

watching developments, this outbreak getting closer to parts of Somerset

with a gap in the middle. If I zoom out you will see the developments

into the course of late evening and tonight, as a more widespread area

of rain, some of it quite heavy. By Rush hour tomorrow it will clear out

of the way and behind that, some showers but many areas will avoid

them. Generally a sunny day. The rest of this evening it is a

question of clearing the first swathe of showers, some of this

developing turning heavier in places as the night wears on, a lot of

variation on how much rain is falling, and by daybreak into

rush`hour tomorrow starting to dry up towards the south`west,

temperature mild up to 17 Celsius. Tomorrow will be a wet start for

some of you, things start to improve readily with brighter and drier

conditions taking hold, and for many that is how the day remains. Some

showers around but the probability of those in any one spot is pretty

low so I could number of you will be dry to the evening. Temperatures

tomorrow into the low 20s, maybe 24 in some spots.

Thursday is looking a good day for the balloon Fiesta, it gets tricky

on Friday and Saturday, especially Sandy Kirkton `` courtesy of

remnants of ex`hurricane Bertha. We will talk about that later. I feel

for people who want to go along. If you want to watch the forecast

again you can on our Facebook page. Some people will probably watch

again and again! I know that I will. And you can

watch the whole programme again on the BBC iPlayer. If you cannot get

enough? !