:00:47. > :00:52.Welcome to Wales Today. Our top story: A lucky escape for a five-
:00:52. > :00:55.year-old after a tree fell on this conservative rate. Storms lash the
:00:55. > :01:00.country, causing thousands of pounds of damage.
:01:00. > :01:05.I just cannot believe that the tree landed two or three yards away. If
:01:05. > :01:10.it had landed near to the house, the house would have gone.
:01:10. > :01:14.Pathologists tell the inquest of MI6 officer Gareth Williams that
:01:14. > :01:18.poisoning or asphyxiation were the two most likely causes of his death.
:01:18. > :01:24.The family of a pensioner with learning difficulties murdered at
:01:24. > :01:28.his home paid tribute to a man with a brilliant brain.
:01:28. > :01:33.Confidential records sent to the wrong person - a Welsh NHS Trust is
:01:33. > :01:39.the first Elf body to be fined. Wide the local elections this
:01:39. > :01:43.Thursday won't be a four-horse race. In sport, Swansea City are safe,
:01:43. > :01:53.now Cardiff City take a huge step towards joining them in the Premier
:01:53. > :02:00.
:02:00. > :02:04.League - it is the play-offs for Good evening. A clean-up operation
:02:04. > :02:10.is under way tonight after storms caused disruption across parts of
:02:10. > :02:13.Wales. Homes have been flooded and fallen trees brought down power
:02:13. > :02:17.cables in South Wales, causing thousands to lose electricity
:02:17. > :02:20.supplies. There is a warning of more bad weather tonight. Our
:02:20. > :02:25.reporter, Jenny Rees, is in Mountain Ash for us this evening.
:02:25. > :02:28.Jenny. We are at their home of the Thomas
:02:28. > :02:32.family. If you look behind the, you will see that the tree from
:02:32. > :02:36.neighbouring land has fallen into their garden and completely
:02:36. > :02:45.destroyed the conservatory. You can just about make out the boundary of
:02:45. > :02:48.where the conservatory was. You can even see a the furniture. There are
:02:48. > :02:53.branches and leaves everywhere. In a moment, we will speak to the
:02:53. > :02:56.family left with the job of cleaning up this mess, but first I
:02:56. > :03:01.have been having a look at the devastation the weather has caused
:03:01. > :03:07.in other parts of Wales. On Saturday, four trees stood in
:03:07. > :03:11.this part in Cardiff. By Sunday, they had all been blown down. In
:03:11. > :03:16.Cardiff alone, more than 100 trees have fallen over the last two days,
:03:16. > :03:20.engulfing cars in their wake. The operation to fell dangerous trees
:03:20. > :03:26.and remove those that have fallen is under way. For many, it meant
:03:26. > :03:30.delays on the roads as routes became impassable. The library was
:03:30. > :03:38.closed in Cowbridge. The branch of a tree is currently embedded in its
:03:38. > :03:43.roof. Newport University's city campus had to close after a whole
:03:43. > :03:50.lot -- after a whole was blown and its roof. Residents in Cae Bracty
:03:50. > :03:59.are having to dry out their homes. At about four o'clock there was a
:03:59. > :04:09.surge of water. Volunteers brought these bags, sandbags. They are
:04:09. > :04:14.plastic. Only for the volunteers, it stopped some of the water.
:04:14. > :04:19.was frightening, very frightening. I was shaking, felt sick, I got a
:04:19. > :04:23.headache. I felt marooned in my own house because I could not open the
:04:23. > :04:28.door because the water would have rushed in. I was leaning out of a
:04:28. > :04:32.window, talking to a fire man. Power has been restored to
:04:32. > :04:40.thousands of homes in south-east Wales that lost their power supply
:04:40. > :04:46.on Sunday after winds to down power cables. There have been some
:04:46. > :04:49.cancellations on the railways and major delays. The Environment
:04:49. > :04:54.agency has warned that further disruption as possible.
:04:54. > :04:59.A as I mentioned, there is more bad weather to come, so all the more
:04:59. > :05:03.reason to make sure that your property is completely watertight.
:05:03. > :05:09.I can speak now to Janine Thomas. Talk me through what happened
:05:09. > :05:17.yesterday. I was alerted by my granddaughter, she was crying and
:05:17. > :05:21.screaming that there was a tree in the conservatory. We all ran into
:05:21. > :05:28.the lounge, looked out of the window and could see that the tree
:05:28. > :05:36.had fallen into a conservatory, smashed it to smithereens. My
:05:36. > :05:40.granddaughter was hysterical. Our neighbour came across, took my
:05:40. > :05:50.granddaughter away because she was hysterical. Do you did not hear
:05:50. > :05:50.
:05:50. > :05:55.anything. No. Your neighbour heard that. Yes, I heard a crack, looked
:05:55. > :05:59.over and could not believe that the tree was falling into the property.
:05:59. > :06:04.Adrenalin kicked in and we had to get over to find out if anyone was
:06:04. > :06:09.in and -- injured. Everybody was in tears and shook up. The little girl
:06:09. > :06:13.was really shook up. My first instinct was to pick her up and
:06:13. > :06:17.taken to the house. My husband and the rest of the neighbours gathered
:06:17. > :06:20.together and check that everybody was OK.
:06:21. > :06:26.Jenine, it is your has been's birthday today, but instead you
:06:26. > :06:33.have been cleaning up. Who has been involved? We have three contractors
:06:33. > :06:38.here now. They have made the tree safe. We have an early expression
:06:38. > :06:41.here who is making the live wires saved. It is just a matter of
:06:41. > :06:44.waiting until tomorrow for them to come back to clear up the rest of
:06:44. > :06:49.the tree. Thank you. Of course, plenty more
:06:49. > :06:53.work to be done here. The inquest into the death of
:06:53. > :06:57.Gareth Williams, the MI6 officer found dead in his holdall in the
:06:57. > :07:01.bath of his flat, has heard that DNA evidence did not rule out
:07:01. > :07:05.someone else being there when he died. The inquest has also been
:07:05. > :07:09.told that Mr Williams, who came from Anglesey, did not die of
:07:09. > :07:13.natural causes, although three pathologists could not definitively
:07:13. > :07:16.save what was the cause of his death. Earlier, I spoke to our
:07:16. > :07:20.reporter at Westminster Coroner's Court. I asked him about the DNA
:07:20. > :07:25.evidence. The inquest was hearing from a
:07:25. > :07:30.forensic scientist who said that a huge number of samples were taken
:07:30. > :07:34.from Gareth Williams' flat. Very little DNA evidence was found other
:07:34. > :07:39.than that which game from Gareth Williams himself. There was a match
:07:39. > :07:43.made with a sample that was found in his bathroom. That matched with
:07:43. > :07:50.his sister, Kerry. Elsewhere, they found partial profiles of people
:07:50. > :07:54.that they were not able to identify. That prompted a question from the
:07:54. > :08:00.Williams family barrister. Was he surprised, she asked, that so
:08:00. > :08:06.little DNA was bound? She said no. If someone washed their hands they
:08:07. > :08:11.would not shed DNA, or if they wore surgical gloves or some other kind
:08:11. > :08:15.of protective clothing. She went on to say that DNA tests were still
:08:16. > :08:24.being carried out on a small green towel that was found in the Perth
:08:24. > :08:29.flat. -- in the flat. There have been three separate postmortem
:08:29. > :08:32.examinations in this case. The three pathologists were essentially
:08:32. > :08:36.looking at the cause of death and said they could not come up with a
:08:37. > :08:41.definitive answer because of the degree of comp -- decomposition
:08:41. > :08:44.that had taken place. They said that the most likely candidates
:08:44. > :08:47.were Ryder poisoning or asphyxiation. One pathologist went
:08:47. > :08:52.further and said that he believed that Gareth Williams was alive when
:08:52. > :08:57.he went into that holdall that his body was found in. He said he
:08:57. > :09:00.believed that because there were no signs of struggling, no bruising on
:09:00. > :09:05.the body. The question he could not answer was whether Gareth Williams
:09:06. > :09:10.had gone in willingly or whether he had been coerced in some way.
:09:10. > :09:14.What is likely to happen tomorrow? The coroner says that she hoped the
:09:14. > :09:19.evidence will conclude tomorrow and then there will be legal
:09:19. > :09:22.submissions. She says she hopes to be able to deliver her verdict on
:09:22. > :09:25.Wednesday morning. A convicted murderer has told a
:09:25. > :09:30.jury he strangled a man with a television flex because it was the
:09:30. > :09:36.only way he knew. David Cook is accused of murdering his 64-year-
:09:36. > :09:40.old neighbour Leonard Hill in Rhymney last year. Mr Cook was
:09:40. > :09:45.jailed in 1988 for strangling a Sunday-school teacher in Reading.
:09:45. > :09:49.He admits killing Mr Cook but denies murder.
:09:49. > :09:56.A scientist who advised on TB in cattle has it -- has resigned over
:09:56. > :10:02.the Welsh Government's decision to reverse a proposed badger cull.
:10:02. > :10:06.Professor Chris Pollock says -- said that he was not confident that
:10:06. > :10:10.day alternative of vaccination would work.
:10:10. > :10:16.Police are searching for the killer of a pensioner with learning
:10:16. > :10:22.difficulties who died in his home at the weekend. Peter Lewis was
:10:22. > :10:25.attacked in his home. His family said that he was a man with a
:10:25. > :10:29.brilliant brain. Police are trying to piece together
:10:29. > :10:33.exactly what happened here. 68- year-old Peter Lewis was found
:10:33. > :10:37.stabbed in the communal hallway of his ground-floor flat in Claude
:10:37. > :10:41.Road. Witnesses report seeing at white man wearing a light-coloured
:10:41. > :10:48.hooded top and strainers. Detectives are also keen to trace
:10:48. > :10:51.another man seen in the early hours of Saturday morning. A man has been
:10:51. > :10:56.described by local neighbours as being potentially under the
:10:56. > :11:01.influence of alcohol or drugs. We are particularly anxious to track
:11:01. > :11:05.this man down. We need a community's help. Eleanor Sanders
:11:05. > :11:07.knew Peter Lewis well, attending the same church as end, and said
:11:07. > :11:12.that all who knew him are devastated.
:11:12. > :11:16.He is, he had a disability, we were aware of that, but he never let
:11:16. > :11:22.that get in the way. My abiding memory is of a wonderful, friendly,
:11:22. > :11:28.warm person, always with a happy smile, and always just very happy
:11:28. > :11:34.to meet with people. He never had a bad word to say about anybody.
:11:34. > :11:37.They owes sentiments are shared by colleagues at Cardiff People First,
:11:37. > :11:46.a disability rights group where he was a founding member and trustee.
:11:46. > :11:50.He always had a smile on his face, as you can see. Peter used to say
:11:50. > :12:00.that it was disability, not inability. He was an inspiration to
:12:00. > :12:03.us. We always got on so well. Police say there is no apparent
:12:03. > :12:07.motive for the murder of this likeable but vulnerable man. A
:12:07. > :12:11.major incident room has been set up and more than 50 officers are
:12:11. > :12:16.involved in the hunt for his killer. His family say that, although his
:12:16. > :12:20.life was full of pain and suffering, he always kept a smile on his face.
:12:20. > :12:28.They described him as a very special man who will be sorely
:12:28. > :12:34.missed. Much more still to come before
:12:34. > :12:40.seven o'clock. It's the play-offs again - can Cardiff City go all the
:12:40. > :12:45.way and joined Swansea City in the Premier League next season?
:12:45. > :12:49.First, a Welsh Health Board has become the first NHS organisation
:12:49. > :12:52.to be fined following a serious breach of the Data Protection Act.
:12:52. > :12:56.The Aneurin Bevan Health Board, which covers much of south-east
:12:56. > :13:01.Wales, has been issued with a �70,000 penalty after a sensitive
:13:01. > :13:07.report containing details about a patient's health were sent to a
:13:07. > :13:11.former patient with a similar name. David Smith is deputy commissioner
:13:12. > :13:16.from the information commissioner's office, which impose this fine. Why
:13:16. > :13:21.have you taking this step now? Because it was a very serious
:13:21. > :13:26.breach. Sensitive information about a patient's health was sent as
:13:26. > :13:31.someone who was not entitled to have it. It was not just a one-off
:13:31. > :13:34.breach, human error - it was a lack of training and checking systems in
:13:34. > :13:40.the health board that was behind his, so we wanted to send a very
:13:41. > :13:46.strong message, particularly to help organisations that you must
:13:46. > :13:50.keep sensitive information about individuals, personal data, secured.
:13:50. > :13:54.The health board has apologised - what else should they do? Indeed,
:13:54. > :13:58.what else should other organisations learn from this?
:13:58. > :14:03.need to train staff properly to look up the information, not just
:14:03. > :14:06.take it for granted that that will happen. They need to sit Check
:14:06. > :14:10.Patient Record numbers to make sure that they have exactly the right
:14:10. > :14:13.name and address and have some monitoring, some cheques, in place
:14:13. > :14:22.to make sure that procedures and processes have been followed
:14:22. > :14:25.properly. Anyone who is watching tonight with NHS records, how
:14:25. > :14:29.confident should they be that their records are safe? People can be
:14:29. > :14:35.reasonably confident. The danger is that organisations concentrate too
:14:35. > :14:41.much on the technology - passwords and so on - and forget some of the
:14:41. > :14:44.basic principles. This is a basic check that should have been in
:14:44. > :14:54.place that any organisation could manage to get right. That is why we
:14:54. > :14:55.
:14:55. > :14:59.have imposed his penalty. It could have been worse, we could find --
:14:59. > :15:04.fine up to �500,000. A on Thursday, voting will take
:15:04. > :15:08.place in more than 1,000 wards across Wales. Who do you want to
:15:08. > :15:18.represent you at local level for the next five years? Betsan Powys
:15:18. > :15:20.
:15:20. > :15:25.I have been talking to candidates. They all want to win, of course, on
:15:25. > :15:30.Thursday. They are all aware they will be facing huge challenges set
:15:30. > :15:35.upon them not just by voters but also by the Welsh government with
:15:35. > :15:39.less money to spend than in a long time. I've been taking a look at
:15:39. > :15:46.the sort of targets and challenges those that will be celebrating on
:15:46. > :15:51.Thursday will be facing come Friday. It might not feel much like it but
:15:51. > :15:54.compared to the counterparts in England, Welsh council budgets
:15:54. > :16:00.haven't done too badly. Our councils will be responsible for
:16:00. > :16:04.spending around �4.3 billion of the Welsh government's 14.7 billion
:16:04. > :16:08.this year. The next five years will see them under more pressure than
:16:08. > :16:12.ever before. Voters are being warned bluntly by those who
:16:12. > :16:16.represent councils that what they are doing on Friday is this,
:16:16. > :16:20.directing the people they trust to cut in the right places and keep
:16:20. > :16:24.services afloat. It is about ensuring they have a
:16:24. > :16:28.clear mandate to move ahead but it's also the council's explaining
:16:28. > :16:33.to people that the next period is going to be very tough and we want
:16:33. > :16:37.to get people's views about how we move forward because if we don't,
:16:37. > :16:41.we will see problems. Just as those new councillors will
:16:41. > :16:46.be trying to balance the books, the expectation on them from government
:16:46. > :16:49.to provide better services will also be greater than ever before.
:16:49. > :16:54.Ministers have made it clear they are looking to councils to deliver
:16:55. > :17:00.and they have set them a series of stretching targets to hit.
:17:00. > :17:06.Recycling is one. By 2013, councils must hit a recycling target of at
:17:06. > :17:12.least 52%, rising to 70% by 2025. Take another huge area of
:17:12. > :17:15.responsibility, schools. Last week the Education Minister had some
:17:15. > :17:20.difficult messages for local decision-makers. Standards must
:17:20. > :17:26.rise and where people numbers are low, it is over to you. Deal with
:17:26. > :17:29.it. All in all, it add up to a tough few years ahead.
:17:30. > :17:33.All local authorities need to step up to the plate so there are some
:17:33. > :17:37.very well performing local authorities who don't need to be
:17:37. > :17:42.told what to do. There are other local authorities who like to be
:17:42. > :17:46.told by the Welsh government what to do. It is a time for all local
:17:46. > :17:50.authorities to raise their game, respond to the new environment and
:17:50. > :17:54.consider how services can be delivered in a new way.
:17:54. > :17:57.Delivery is a key word in Welsh politics these days. Those who come
:17:58. > :18:04.out on top in a few days' time will be rewarded with instant pressure
:18:04. > :18:06.to up their game. Local elections, historic --
:18:06. > :18:09.Local elections, more than any other election, is historically a
:18:09. > :18:14.forum for independent councillors to do very well. In 2008, they
:18:14. > :18:17.gained the second highest number of seats in Wales. But what do they
:18:17. > :18:19.represent and are some of them representing mainstream political
:18:19. > :18:29.parties under the guise of being independent. Our political
:18:29. > :18:43.
:18:43. > :18:47.correspondent Aled ap Dafydd And early morning canter on the
:18:47. > :18:52.gallops of Peter Berlin, not far from the Pembrokeshire coastline.
:18:52. > :18:57.Local elections are anything but four horse races. The favourite in
:18:57. > :19:02.many constituency races are often independent candidates. They come
:19:02. > :19:06.from no particular stable and have no obvious political pedigree yet
:19:06. > :19:12.still managed to win the majority of votes. Pembrokeshire council is
:19:12. > :19:16.the only wholly run independent counsel in Wales. It has been like
:19:16. > :19:19.that since its creation in 1995. The outgoing leader says the
:19:20. > :19:23.absence of a traditional party being in charge has reconnected
:19:23. > :19:29.people with politics. It gives you freedom of
:19:29. > :19:33.independence to deal with issues that are front facing to the public.
:19:33. > :19:39.Certainly, as foreign of county- wide, dealing with people rather
:19:39. > :19:49.than party politics. 279 independent councillors were
:19:49. > :19:53.returned in 2000 date. They lead nine of Wales 22 local authorities.
:19:53. > :19:57.There has been a general long-term trend in Britain and right across
:19:57. > :20:02.the democratic world of declining senses of support and loyalty
:20:02. > :20:07.towards major political parties. That does create some opportunity
:20:07. > :20:12.for people not attached to political parties to attach
:20:12. > :20:16.political -- particular scandals that can create damage.
:20:16. > :20:22.There was a famous victory for independence when John Malik became
:20:22. > :20:25.Assembly Member following his falling-out with the Labour Party.
:20:26. > :20:30.The political machine is still hard for some people to turn down.
:20:30. > :20:35.I personally preferred them to be of a party. I think to be honest
:20:35. > :20:41.there are too many independents in Pembrokeshire County Council.
:20:41. > :20:47.I wrote for the man every time. It is the person at the top can can do
:20:47. > :20:51.the work, not the party. In 2008, many voters electors
:20:51. > :20:56.independent councillors as a protest vote against Labour. Their
:20:56. > :20:59.hopes of being first past the post depend on how they have kept to the
:20:59. > :21:03.Independent promise, to put people before politics.
:21:04. > :21:10.You have been crossing the country in the countdown to Thursday's
:21:10. > :21:13.election. I'll we inspired and ready to vote?
:21:13. > :21:20.If you live in a ward that is hotly-contested, there will have
:21:20. > :21:27.been a lot of attention but if you don't, you went. Mainstream parties
:21:27. > :21:33.do not have the resources to spread themselves thinly at this selection.
:21:33. > :21:37.Do they want to win? Of course they do. They are also aware that they
:21:37. > :21:41.can't make big promises. There will not be a lot of money to spend and
:21:41. > :21:44.they will be some stretching targets. You heard the Welsh Local
:21:44. > :21:50.Government Association saying people need to vote because whoever
:21:50. > :21:55.is rooted in will need that mandate to know they are going to have make
:21:55. > :21:59.some tough decisions and people are behind those positions. They have a
:21:59. > :22:03.few days left, as do the independent candidates, to persuade
:22:03. > :22:08.you they are the right people come Friday and the week after to strike
:22:08. > :22:10.deals and make the right cuts. Thank you, Betsan Powys.
:22:10. > :22:14.With all the sports news, here's Claire.
:22:14. > :22:17.Good evening. Cardiff City will go into the plays off on the back of a
:22:17. > :22:20.10 match unbeaten run. West Ham stand in their way for a place in
:22:20. > :22:23.the final at Wembley. Meanwhile, Swansea City guaranteed their place
:22:23. > :22:30.in the Premier League next season, there were eight goals in a
:22:30. > :22:35.thrilling draw against Wolves. He knows all about big games with his
:22:35. > :22:40.team Manchester United staying down the road, Sir Alex Ferguson headed
:22:40. > :22:44.to the Liberty Stadium to I at what Swansea side he may face on Sunday.
:22:44. > :22:48.With two games left for Swansea City, their survival is safe and
:22:48. > :22:58.celebrations look like being topped off with a famous win. After 50
:22:58. > :23:05.minutes, they were three-0 up. Even when Danny Graham made it four-one,
:23:05. > :23:11.it seemed safe. Some questionable Swansea defence saw an end for all.
:23:11. > :23:18.It makes as guaranteed that next season, we are in the level. It is
:23:18. > :23:23.a fantastic achievement. When you have drawn a game four-four at home,
:23:23. > :23:26.it doesn't feel good. We will think more about the achievement and
:23:26. > :23:30.hopefully finish off with two really good performances.
:23:30. > :23:35.Cardiff City took a huge step towards joining Swansea in the
:23:35. > :23:42.promised land after a nail-biting afternoon. Their destiny is in
:23:43. > :23:48.their own hands, despite going 1-0 down. Peter Whittingham's free-kick
:23:48. > :23:53.smashed home to get the equaliser. It was followed up by a stunning
:23:53. > :23:57.shot from Don Cowley. His goal cemented their 6th place finish.
:23:57. > :24:01.We have been in a semi-final situation this year already. I have
:24:01. > :24:06.been through it many a time, as have many of the players. We are
:24:06. > :24:10.looking forward. Delighted and proud of the players today, they
:24:10. > :24:14.have got to that point. West Ham stand in their way of a
:24:14. > :24:19.Wembley final. The first leg is Thursday night at the Cardiff City
:24:19. > :24:23.stadium, followed by the second leg on Bank Holiday Monday. In the Blue
:24:23. > :24:25.Square Premier play-offs, Wrexham play Luton on the same
:24:25. > :24:28.400,000 tickets for Olympic football matches in Cardiff went on
:24:28. > :24:31.sale today until Sunday night. The Millennium Stadium is hosting 11
:24:31. > :24:32.games this summer, including the first action of the games two days
:24:32. > :24:35.before the official opening ceremony.
:24:35. > :24:37.Snooker and we're guaranteed Welsh interest in the semi-finals of the
:24:37. > :24:40.World Snooker Championships. Matthew Stevens will face Ryan Day
:24:40. > :24:43.in the last eight after beating Barry Hawkins this afternoon, 13-11.
:24:43. > :24:45.Two more Welshman could also make the quarter finals this evening.
:24:45. > :24:48.Jamie Jones, is leading Andrew Higginson 10-6 while Mark Williams