30/04/2012 BBC Wales Today

Welcome to Wales Today. Our top story: A lucky escape for a five-

year-old after a tree fell on this conservative rate. Storms lash the

country, causing thousands of pounds of damage.

I just cannot believe that the tree landed two or three yards away. If

it had landed near to the house, the house would have gone.

Pathologists tell the inquest of MI6 officer Gareth Williams that

poisoning or asphyxiation were the two most likely causes of his death.

The family of a pensioner with learning difficulties murdered at

his home paid tribute to a man with a brilliant brain.

Confidential records sent to the wrong person - a Welsh NHS Trust is

the first Elf body to be fined. Wide the local elections this

Thursday won't be a four-horse race. In sport, Swansea City are safe,

now Cardiff City take a huge step towards joining them in the Premier

League - it is the play-offs for Good evening. A clean-up operation

is under way tonight after storms caused disruption across parts of

Wales. Homes have been flooded and fallen trees brought down power

cables in South Wales, causing thousands to lose electricity

supplies. There is a warning of more bad weather tonight. Our

reporter, Jenny Rees, is in Mountain Ash for us this evening.

Jenny. We are at their home of the Thomas

family. If you look behind the, you will see that the tree from

neighbouring land has fallen into their garden and completely

destroyed the conservatory. You can just about make out the boundary of

where the conservatory was. You can even see a the furniture. There are

branches and leaves everywhere. In a moment, we will speak to the

family left with the job of cleaning up this mess, but first I

have been having a look at the devastation the weather has caused

in other parts of Wales. On Saturday, four trees stood in

this part in Cardiff. By Sunday, they had all been blown down. In

Cardiff alone, more than 100 trees have fallen over the last two days,

engulfing cars in their wake. The operation to fell dangerous trees

and remove those that have fallen is under way. For many, it meant

delays on the roads as routes became impassable. The library was

closed in Cowbridge. The branch of a tree is currently embedded in its

roof. Newport University's city campus had to close after a whole

lot -- after a whole was blown and its roof. Residents in Cae Bracty

are having to dry out their homes. At about four o'clock there was a

surge of water. Volunteers brought these bags, sandbags. They are

plastic. Only for the volunteers, it stopped some of the water.

was frightening, very frightening. I was shaking, felt sick, I got a

headache. I felt marooned in my own house because I could not open the

door because the water would have rushed in. I was leaning out of a

window, talking to a fire man. Power has been restored to

thousands of homes in south-east Wales that lost their power supply

on Sunday after winds to down power cables. There have been some

cancellations on the railways and major delays. The Environment

agency has warned that further disruption as possible.

A as I mentioned, there is more bad weather to come, so all the more

reason to make sure that your property is completely watertight.

I can speak now to Janine Thomas. Talk me through what happened

yesterday. I was alerted by my granddaughter, she was crying and

screaming that there was a tree in the conservatory. We all ran into

the lounge, looked out of the window and could see that the tree

had fallen into a conservatory, smashed it to smithereens. My

granddaughter was hysterical. Our neighbour came across, took my

granddaughter away because she was hysterical. Do you did not hear

anything. No. Your neighbour heard that. Yes, I heard a crack, looked

over and could not believe that the tree was falling into the property.

Adrenalin kicked in and we had to get over to find out if anyone was

in and -- injured. Everybody was in tears and shook up. The little girl

was really shook up. My first instinct was to pick her up and

taken to the house. My husband and the rest of the neighbours gathered

together and check that everybody was OK.

Jenine, it is your has been's birthday today, but instead you

have been cleaning up. Who has been involved? We have three contractors

here now. They have made the tree safe. We have an early expression

here who is making the live wires saved. It is just a matter of

waiting until tomorrow for them to come back to clear up the rest of

the tree. Thank you. Of course, plenty more

work to be done here. The inquest into the death of

Gareth Williams, the MI6 officer found dead in his holdall in the

bath of his flat, has heard that DNA evidence did not rule out

someone else being there when he died. The inquest has also been

told that Mr Williams, who came from Anglesey, did not die of

natural causes, although three pathologists could not definitively

save what was the cause of his death. Earlier, I spoke to our

reporter at Westminster Coroner's Court. I asked him about the DNA

evidence. The inquest was hearing from a

forensic scientist who said that a huge number of samples were taken

from Gareth Williams' flat. Very little DNA evidence was found other

than that which game from Gareth Williams himself. There was a match

made with a sample that was found in his bathroom. That matched with

his sister, Kerry. Elsewhere, they found partial profiles of people

that they were not able to identify. That prompted a question from the

Williams family barrister. Was he surprised, she asked, that so

little DNA was bound? She said no. If someone washed their hands they

would not shed DNA, or if they wore surgical gloves or some other kind

of protective clothing. She went on to say that DNA tests were still

being carried out on a small green towel that was found in the Perth

flat. -- in the flat. There have been three separate postmortem

examinations in this case. The three pathologists were essentially

looking at the cause of death and said they could not come up with a

definitive answer because of the degree of comp -- decomposition

that had taken place. They said that the most likely candidates

were Ryder poisoning or asphyxiation. One pathologist went

further and said that he believed that Gareth Williams was alive when

he went into that holdall that his body was found in. He said he

believed that because there were no signs of struggling, no bruising on

the body. The question he could not answer was whether Gareth Williams

had gone in willingly or whether he had been coerced in some way.

What is likely to happen tomorrow? The coroner says that she hoped the

evidence will conclude tomorrow and then there will be legal

submissions. She says she hopes to be able to deliver her verdict on

Wednesday morning. A convicted murderer has told a

jury he strangled a man with a television flex because it was the

only way he knew. David Cook is accused of murdering his 64-year-

old neighbour Leonard Hill in Rhymney last year. Mr Cook was

jailed in 1988 for strangling a Sunday-school teacher in Reading.

He admits killing Mr Cook but denies murder.

A scientist who advised on TB in cattle has it -- has resigned over

the Welsh Government's decision to reverse a proposed badger cull.

Professor Chris Pollock says -- said that he was not confident that

day alternative of vaccination would work.

Police are searching for the killer of a pensioner with learning

difficulties who died in his home at the weekend. Peter Lewis was

attacked in his home. His family said that he was a man with a

brilliant brain. Police are trying to piece together

exactly what happened here. 68- year-old Peter Lewis was found

stabbed in the communal hallway of his ground-floor flat in Claude

Road. Witnesses report seeing at white man wearing a light-coloured

hooded top and strainers. Detectives are also keen to trace

another man seen in the early hours of Saturday morning. A man has been

described by local neighbours as being potentially under the

influence of alcohol or drugs. We are particularly anxious to track

this man down. We need a community's help. Eleanor Sanders

knew Peter Lewis well, attending the same church as end, and said

that all who knew him are devastated.

He is, he had a disability, we were aware of that, but he never let

that get in the way. My abiding memory is of a wonderful, friendly,

warm person, always with a happy smile, and always just very happy

to meet with people. He never had a bad word to say about anybody.

They owes sentiments are shared by colleagues at Cardiff People First,

a disability rights group where he was a founding member and trustee.

He always had a smile on his face, as you can see. Peter used to say

that it was disability, not inability. He was an inspiration to

us. We always got on so well. Police say there is no apparent

motive for the murder of this likeable but vulnerable man. A

major incident room has been set up and more than 50 officers are

involved in the hunt for his killer. His family say that, although his

life was full of pain and suffering, he always kept a smile on his face.

They described him as a very special man who will be sorely

missed. Much more still to come before

seven o'clock. It's the play-offs again - can Cardiff City go all the

way and joined Swansea City in the Premier League next season?

First, a Welsh Health Board has become the first NHS organisation

to be fined following a serious breach of the Data Protection Act.

The Aneurin Bevan Health Board, which covers much of south-east

Wales, has been issued with a �70,000 penalty after a sensitive

report containing details about a patient's health were sent to a

former patient with a similar name. David Smith is deputy commissioner

from the information commissioner's office, which impose this fine. Why

have you taking this step now? Because it was a very serious

breach. Sensitive information about a patient's health was sent as

someone who was not entitled to have it. It was not just a one-off

breach, human error - it was a lack of training and checking systems in

the health board that was behind his, so we wanted to send a very

strong message, particularly to help organisations that you must

keep sensitive information about individuals, personal data, secured.

The health board has apologised - what else should they do? Indeed,

what else should other organisations learn from this?

need to train staff properly to look up the information, not just

take it for granted that that will happen. They need to sit Check

Patient Record numbers to make sure that they have exactly the right

name and address and have some monitoring, some cheques, in place

to make sure that procedures and processes have been followed

properly. Anyone who is watching tonight with NHS records, how

confident should they be that their records are safe? People can be

reasonably confident. The danger is that organisations concentrate too

much on the technology - passwords and so on - and forget some of the

basic principles. This is a basic check that should have been in

place that any organisation could manage to get right. That is why we

have imposed his penalty. It could have been worse, we could find --

fine up to �500,000. A on Thursday, voting will take

place in more than 1,000 wards across Wales. Who do you want to

represent you at local level for the next five years? Betsan Powys

I have been talking to candidates. They all want to win, of course, on

Thursday. They are all aware they will be facing huge challenges set

upon them not just by voters but also by the Welsh government with

less money to spend than in a long time. I've been taking a look at

the sort of targets and challenges those that will be celebrating on

Thursday will be facing come Friday. It might not feel much like it but

compared to the counterparts in England, Welsh council budgets

haven't done too badly. Our councils will be responsible for

spending around �4.3 billion of the Welsh government's 14.7 billion

this year. The next five years will see them under more pressure than

ever before. Voters are being warned bluntly by those who

represent councils that what they are doing on Friday is this,

directing the people they trust to cut in the right places and keep

services afloat. It is about ensuring they have a

clear mandate to move ahead but it's also the council's explaining

to people that the next period is going to be very tough and we want

to get people's views about how we move forward because if we don't,

we will see problems. Just as those new councillors will

be trying to balance the books, the expectation on them from government

to provide better services will also be greater than ever before.

Ministers have made it clear they are looking to councils to deliver

and they have set them a series of stretching targets to hit.

Recycling is one. By 2013, councils must hit a recycling target of at

least 52%, rising to 70% by 2025. Take another huge area of

responsibility, schools. Last week the Education Minister had some

difficult messages for local decision-makers. Standards must

rise and where people numbers are low, it is over to you. Deal with

it. All in all, it add up to a tough few years ahead.

All local authorities need to step up to the plate so there are some

very well performing local authorities who don't need to be

told what to do. There are other local authorities who like to be

told by the Welsh government what to do. It is a time for all local

authorities to raise their game, respond to the new environment and

consider how services can be delivered in a new way.

Delivery is a key word in Welsh politics these days. Those who come

out on top in a few days' time will be rewarded with instant pressure

to up their game. Local elections, historic --

Local elections, more than any other election, is historically a

forum for independent councillors to do very well. In 2008, they

gained the second highest number of seats in Wales. But what do they

represent and are some of them representing mainstream political

parties under the guise of being independent. Our political

correspondent Aled ap Dafydd And early morning canter on the

gallops of Peter Berlin, not far from the Pembrokeshire coastline.

Local elections are anything but four horse races. The favourite in

many constituency races are often independent candidates. They come

from no particular stable and have no obvious political pedigree yet

still managed to win the majority of votes. Pembrokeshire council is

the only wholly run independent counsel in Wales. It has been like

that since its creation in 1995. The outgoing leader says the

absence of a traditional party being in charge has reconnected

people with politics. It gives you freedom of

independence to deal with issues that are front facing to the public.

Certainly, as foreign of county- wide, dealing with people rather

than party politics. 279 independent councillors were

returned in 2000 date. They lead nine of Wales 22 local authorities.

There has been a general long-term trend in Britain and right across

the democratic world of declining senses of support and loyalty

towards major political parties. That does create some opportunity

for people not attached to political parties to attach

political -- particular scandals that can create damage.

There was a famous victory for independence when John Malik became

Assembly Member following his falling-out with the Labour Party.

The political machine is still hard for some people to turn down.

I personally preferred them to be of a party. I think to be honest

there are too many independents in Pembrokeshire County Council.

I wrote for the man every time. It is the person at the top can can do

the work, not the party. In 2008, many voters electors

independent councillors as a protest vote against Labour. Their

hopes of being first past the post depend on how they have kept to the

Independent promise, to put people before politics.

You have been crossing the country in the countdown to Thursday's

election. I'll we inspired and ready to vote?

If you live in a ward that is hotly-contested, there will have

been a lot of attention but if you don't, you went. Mainstream parties

do not have the resources to spread themselves thinly at this selection.

Do they want to win? Of course they do. They are also aware that they

can't make big promises. There will not be a lot of money to spend and

they will be some stretching targets. You heard the Welsh Local

Government Association saying people need to vote because whoever

is rooted in will need that mandate to know they are going to have make

some tough decisions and people are behind those positions. They have a

few days left, as do the independent candidates, to persuade

you they are the right people come Friday and the week after to strike

deals and make the right cuts. Thank you, Betsan Powys.

With all the sports news, here's Claire.

Good evening. Cardiff City will go into the plays off on the back of a

10 match unbeaten run. West Ham stand in their way for a place in

the final at Wembley. Meanwhile, Swansea City guaranteed their place

in the Premier League next season, there were eight goals in a

thrilling draw against Wolves. He knows all about big games with his

team Manchester United staying down the road, Sir Alex Ferguson headed

to the Liberty Stadium to I at what Swansea side he may face on Sunday.

With two games left for Swansea City, their survival is safe and

celebrations look like being topped off with a famous win. After 50

minutes, they were three-0 up. Even when Danny Graham made it four-one,

it seemed safe. Some questionable Swansea defence saw an end for all.

It makes as guaranteed that next season, we are in the level. It is

a fantastic achievement. When you have drawn a game four-four at home,

it doesn't feel good. We will think more about the achievement and

hopefully finish off with two really good performances.

Cardiff City took a huge step towards joining Swansea in the

promised land after a nail-biting afternoon. Their destiny is in

their own hands, despite going 1-0 down. Peter Whittingham's free-kick

smashed home to get the equaliser. It was followed up by a stunning

shot from Don Cowley. His goal cemented their 6th place finish.

We have been in a semi-final situation this year already. I have

been through it many a time, as have many of the players. We are

looking forward. Delighted and proud of the players today, they

have got to that point. West Ham stand in their way of a

Wembley final. The first leg is Thursday night at the Cardiff City

stadium, followed by the second leg on Bank Holiday Monday. In the Blue

Square Premier play-offs, Wrexham play Luton on the same

400,000 tickets for Olympic football matches in Cardiff went on

sale today until Sunday night. The Millennium Stadium is hosting 11

games this summer, including the first action of the games two days

before the official opening ceremony.

Snooker and we're guaranteed Welsh interest in the semi-finals of the

World Snooker Championships. Matthew Stevens will face Ryan Day

in the last eight after beating Barry Hawkins this afternoon, 13-11.

Two more Welshman could also make the quarter finals this evening.

Jamie Jones, is leading Andrew Higginson 10-6 while Mark Williams