09/03/2016 BBC Wales Today

Sarah's been on anti-depressants

She's one of a rising number of young people

Tonight, concerns are raised by the Children's Commissioner.

It seems to be doled out to me like Smarties by doctors and

psychiatrists. I particularly despise the drug.

A former soldier tells the inquest into Cheryl James' death he was told

to "keep quiet" over his concerns she hadn't committed suicide.

We go underground in London to find out how 40 Welsh companies have

benefitted from the city's newest transport system.

A service is held in Wrexham to remember four children who died

in an explosion, exactly 100 years ago.

We go on the ice as the Cardiff Devils prepare to host their first

game at this new arena in Cardiff Bay.

A rise in the number of young people in Wales being given

anti-depressants has prompted concern from the Children's

New research, seen by the BBC, shows a 30% increase

in anti-depressant prescriptions, between 2003 and 2013,

despite concerns over the risks of suicide.

The study has triggered a warning to all doctors,

to think carefully about the treatments they offer.

Hywel Griffith has this exclusive report.

Every day since the age of 16, antidepressants have been a constant

But six years of medication have brought

I have a whiteboard on the back of my door which I have to write

Now aged 22, she works with other young people in mid-Wales

She's concerned too many are being put on medication.

It seems to be doled out to me like Smarties

Warnings over the safety over some antidepressants in 2003 led

to a drop in their use but new research commissioned

by the Welsh government shows that by 2013

use had risen by 30% and it is in the poorest communities

What we need to ensure is that when children and young people

require pharmacological medication we

are also putting into place those talking therapies,

we are also thinking about their education

and their wider social circumstances.

The Children's Commissioner says the findings are troubling,

she fears the problems may be down to a

What we do know is that there are very

long waiting lists for psychological therapies in many parts of the UK

What our concern would be is whether this rise

in antidepressants is being used really as a shorthand.

The clinical guidelines on using antidepressants

for children here in the UK are clear.

They shouldn't be offered initially

In more serious cases, they should only be used alongside

While each doctor is free to prescribe what they think works

best, the guidelines say there are some drugs

that shouldn't be used with children.

In October, a letter was sent to doctors across Wales warning

that when prescribing for depressive illness in children and adolescents,

only fluoxetine has been shown to be effective.

For some, the real concern is that relatively little is known

about the impact of antidepressants

My concern is that antidepressants were developed for use in adults

so using them in children I think has unpredictable

effects given how much change is going on in the brain

and the fact that it hasn't fully developed and new connections

are being made or pruned all the time.

For Sarah, writing has been a way of expressing how

antidepressants made her feel that she fears too many other young

patients are being left without a voice.

Katie Dalton is from the mental health charity Gofal.

Thank you for joining us tonight. Personally your reaction to this

rise in the number of young people who are being prescribed

antidepressants. The rise is concerning because the guidance

states that antidepressants should not be used in the initial treatment

of depression. It is concerning to see such a ride over the last ten

years. You work with people without problems everyday, why do you think

that has been this rise? Is there a greater awareness of having to help

people are these drugs being handed out to freely in your opinion? I

think it is a mixture of two. Is a greater awareness of mental health

but the feedback that I get from people with mental health problems

is that too often they go to their doctor and they are offered

antidepressants before any other form of therapy and it Israeli

important that when people going get help they are given a full range of

treatment options so they can make the right choices. In the example of

children and young people, they should be offered psychological

therapies first and foremost and the guidance says that antidepressants

should only be offered with caution. What would those psychological

therapies in tail? There is a range of different psychological therapies

and somewhat better for others. They can be individual one-to-one

counselling or group therapy but it is important that those discussed

with both young people and their parents and carers and make sure

they are making an informed choices possible. What also is important

that Welsh government and health boards start a record outcomes we

want to know where funding is going into services that they are

delivering the best outcomes for people and that the lights can be

transformed for the better. Oh, my God! The Welsh government say they

have invested in the therapies that you talk about. What more could be

done? The full range of services or offer to all forms of children to

adults as well. Most importantly, they are delivering outcomes that

improve people's eyes stop thank you very much.

Concerns have been raised about how well a crime scene was protected,

during the investigation into the death of a Welsh soldier

The new inquest into the death of Private Cheryl James

from Llangollen, has been told areas of Deepcut Barracks were not taped

Some witnesses have questioned the army's original

Private Cheryl James found dead from a single bullet wound initially

thought to be suicide. There are now conflicting views about her state of

mind at the time. And now questions about whether those who were first

at the scene were as thorough and careful as they might have been.

Military police were gathering evidence here at Deepcut Barracks

are mock street where she was found. But the man who identified her body

was concerned, evidence at the scene, he said, wasn't being

preserved. Ballmer staff surgeon told the coroner it was as if they

had already made up their mind that it was a suicide and they were just

walking around. He also had questions about whether Cheryl had

killed herself because of where the gun was found but I was told if I

didn't have any positive evidence I should keep quiet about it. He told

because senior officers told him to think of his retirement, big about

his pension time. The inquest also heard today from the civilian GP

based at the cut at the time of Cheryl's dap. She said it was a

place but within decline, is young soldiers were coming to her

depressed and demoralise. She said young female solders were coming to

her regulate to ask for the morning after pill and sexual transmitted

diseases. She had spoken to Cheryl and had got the impression she

wanted to leave Deepcut. She said on the day of Cheryl Jones's dad, she

was surprised that the number of blue flashing light but also at the

numbers of hangers on around the area where her body was found. She

was surprised that the area had not been taped off by military police.

We have had four weeks of evidence so far into Private James's death,

several more weeks of evidence to come. The correlator indicating

today that he could come to a conclusion by the middle of May. --

the coroner. In the last half hour,

the UK Government has been defeated over its plans to relax Sunday

trading in Wales and England. Ministers had wanted to give local

authorities the power to allow large shops to open longer

than the current six hour limit. But MPs voted 317 to 286

to scrap the proposal. The number of child sex allegations

reported to police in Wales rose to just over 1,700 last year Figures

obtained by the charity Gwent Police saw the most

significant increase, It's more than 100 miles from Wales,

but its' supporters say it will be London's newest transport system,

Crossrail, is being led by an engineer from Cwmbran and more

than 40 Welsh companies It'll speed up journeys from

Paddington station across London. Our correspondent David Cornock

has been 35 metres underground This is no ordinary building site,

more than 10,000 people are currently employed on Crossrail,

building work started seven years ago and it is two thirds complete.

This is your's largest construction project. When it is finished, trains

200 metres long, each carrying up to 1500 passengers will make their way

through these massive tunnels. It's an impressive civil engineering

project but at ?15 billion, roughly the equivalent of the Welsh

Gutmann's annual budget, it does not come cheap. There are 26 miles of

new tunnels along the 62 mile routes. Terry Morgan is in charge,

he started his working life as an apprentice at a car parts factory.

You tell somebody travelling from Cardiff to Swansea and then they

have to go on the Underground, then they had to change some of. It's a

very short walk and a lovely new station and you go on Crosswell and

you can get to Canary Wharf in 15 minutes. Politicians often dear hide

those dear at the drop of a hat but he believes this is a success story.

With Welsh companies providing the concrete cages and the traffic

signs. 40 Welsh businesses have delivered critical work to make this

project happen, including a steel factory in Cardiff, providing 50,000

has a Welsh steel into this project. Into the future, what this project

does, it binds even closer together marketing Cardiff with London and

one of thing that is really driving the growth of sectors is its

proximity to London. And unlike the project to a lecture by trains,

Crossrail is on-time and on budget. The first should run in December

2018 on what will be known after the Queen as the Elizabeth line.

We're in Little Haven in Pembrokeshire,

the first beach in the UK where smoking is being stubbed out.

And after a 10-year wait, the Cardiff Devils are wedded to

welcomer 3000 and three mac fans into the ice arena.

A service has been held in Wrexham to remember four children killed

when a First World War bomb exploded in their home a century ago.

The girls died when a shell, brought back from the Front

as a souvenir by Private John Bagnall, detonated after falling

A hundred years on, a headstone has been unveiled at their

previously unmarked graves. Matthew Richards reports.

As we gather together this afternoon to remember the tragedy

A service to remember those who died touring the Great War but not

After 18 months at the front, Private John Bagnall

must've thought he had left the horrors of war behind.

But he brought a deadly memento with him.

He was cleaning the unexploded German shell like this one at home

his return when it fell and detonated.

His one-year-old daughter Sarah died, along with his nieces,

seven-year-old Violet, four-year-old Mary and one-year-old

His sister-in-law Sarah Roberts was badly hurt.

She lost both of her legs and of course two children as well.

I have lots of wonderful memories of my nana,

As devastating as the explosion was, the death toll could have been much

Mrs Roberts' young son was outside the house at the time

and it was only because he was so small

according to the local paper that he was sheltered

A woman living in the room upstairs had a narrow escape when shrapnel

Local historians began to research the story and realise that the four

victims were buried in unmarked graves at this churchyard a few

It's been their mission ever since to provide

You are there to collect information and photographs,

stories about people but then if you can actually make

a difference and mark your spot as it

were, as we have done today in this graveyard,

that gravestone will last 400 or 500 years and people will be

100 years have elapsed and the cottage

no longer stands but for Private Bagnall's family,

it is only now that the gaps in his story are starting

It was sort of little bits and pieces and

We didn't really know the truth until the historical

society started looking into it and they have helped us immensely.

They have been finding out the facts.

For a century, the four young victims of the explosion lay

here with no clues to their identity or their fate but thanks

to historical detective work, their sad story has a more

People suffering with flu symptoms, or the winter vomiting bug,

Norovirus, are being urged to avoid going into hospitals

Wales' Chief Medical Officer, Dr Ruth Hussey, is urging people

to seek advice from NHS Direct Wales, or to contact

Plans for a 42-storey tower in Cardiff city centre,

which would be Wales' tallest building, have been approved

The 132 metre high building would provide accommodation

The developers say the building will be completed in 2018.

Pembrokeshire has become the first place in the UK to ban smoking

To coincide with National No Smoking Day, the council is launching a 12

The ban will be voluntary and also apply to e-cigarettes.

It's the latest in a series of measures to stub out smoking

in public areas, as Abigail Neal reports.

It's not about the mess left in their wake, more the impression

Out here in the fresh sea air of Little Haven,

passive smoking may not be a public danger but the council believes

the example it sets can be just as damaging.

Let's drown one myth straightaway, this is not about second-hand smoke

This is about the denormalisation of tobacco smoking for

We have the only coastal National Park in the country,

It's about creating a healthy environment

for everyone and this is the start of that where people can come along

and if they chose to come to this beach, they know that smoking

Next it'll be ten years since the UK wide ban on smoking

And although it has helped increase the numbers who have given up,

there is still around a fifth of the population who smoke and many

think the only way of tackling that now is to discourage people

Around half of them who start will go on to be regulars makers within

two to three years. From today, e-cigarettes wall so be off limits

here. It is a softly, softly approach. Abolish a softly, softly

approach. Abolishing banter there are no polities will stop. I think

it has got to come from the public, they have got to see the notices and

think, well, all right, I went smoke. And just hope that that does

work. Wales does have a slightly higher number of smokers than the

rest of the UK but it is the first to blaze a new trail with this new

band. It is a clear there are good idea. It breaks the link between

children smoking right now, it is a big problem in Wales. Obviously you

want people to be health-conscious and you don't want to get into bad

habits. You are there to enjoy yourself, the sand, the water and

the good weather and smoking, I did associate it with any of those

things. If it now seems odd to think of people smoking inside a public

place, health companies are hoping the idea will catch on her too. That

smoking also no longer belongs on beaches.

We start with some strong words from the Boss at UK Anti Doping.

Nicole Sapstead has said there's a big steroid problem within Wales,

with evidence indicating steroid use at the lower levels of Rugby Union.

Yesterday - it was confirmed that Adam Buttifant who played

for Bargoed RFC, has tested positive for an anabolic steroid.

He is banned from all sport for two years.

I don't know if it's the demographic in Wales,

what I can say is we are seeing intelligence that is indicating

there is a big steroid problem particularly within Wales

And it may be that inevitably that starts to encroach on the lower

levels of any sport and rugby union are just in the frame at the moment

Andrew Hore, is to leave his role as Chief Executive of the Ospreys.

He'll take over at the Australian Super Rugby side Waratahs in April.

The Ospreys' general manager and former prop,

Andrew Millward, will become Managing Director.

Wrexham Football Club look set to sign a 99-year lease to regain

Glyndwr University bought the ground, and the fans group,

the Wrexham Supporters' Trust took over the club, when it got

The trust board said it was the right time to re-acquire

the stadium, subject to the fans' agreement.

It was 2006 when the Cardiff Devils moved out of their ice rink

in the centre of the Welsh Capital - and into a temporary Big Blue Tent

Ten years later, after many delays, The Ice Arena Wales is ready

The doors open to the public on Saturday morning

with an all important League Match for the Devils in the evening.

On the eyes the Devils are traded hard. Testing their skills at a new

?18 million arena. Has been 15 years in the making, we are on that final

hurdle now. Oh, my God! Tellers more about the facilities here. It means

we can hold international tournaments and here, boxing events

and such. The great thing about the new arena is the second pad for the

public. In an America it is massive. This will be used for public

sessions and also figure skating and for the junior hockey team. We've

got a gem and a dance studio. We have got a physio Centre. A nice

large bar upstairs as well. We have got everything we have always

needed. As well as the being the first game at the new ring, the game

is massive for the Devils and their fans as they aim to finish this

season as lead champions for the first time in nearly 20 years. A 1-0

defeat against Doctor Kemp on Saturday was at blow. -- in

Nottingham. They do have five games to go, including a double-header at

home against the Belfast Giants this weekend. Winning the league, it

hasn't been done in years and years, it would be an amazing feeling and I

know how hard we have worked this season, what we have put in and what

we have sacrifice. I know we have the team to do it, we need to bring

our confidence and energy on Saturday night. I don't think we can

look to Sunday yet but it is an absolutely huge weekend. Following a

move from the city centre in 2006, the tent with the dub as temporary

home. Some say the unique atmosphere created at the old arena will be a

mess. A .com eight the tent as seen better days. The move is long

overdue. It fits what we are doing here. The tent was fun to play in

that sense we are a professional outfit now and things are run so

well, you need a rink like this to showcase the team. With the final

preparations are underway, the doors of I Serena Williams wore open to

the public at 9am on Saturday morning. Ten hours later, and the

professionals will take over. Face-off is at 7pm as 3000 fans

witnessed a new chapter in the hit this -- history as the Cardiff

Devils. And finally, snow caused the third

stage of the Paris-Nice cycling race Geraint Thomes then will stay

in fifth position, 19 seconds off Snow in France, let's get

the latest forecast for Wales, It has been a windy Wednesday with

gusts of 68 mph. Things are improving for tomorrow, I quieter,

drier day with sunny spells. Strong winds for a time this evening that

they will die down tonight, any showers will peter out. Some clown

lingering in the east that turning clear so nice. Temperatures hovering

around or just below freezing with a risk of frost and ice patches first

thing tomorrow. High pressure starts to build from the south-west

tomorrow and things really starting to settle down and winds beginning

to turn later. Some early frost and ice patches and then turning into a

largely dry day, just the outside chance of a shower, variable amounts

of cloud with some decent sunny spells. Generally bright as in the

west tomorrow. Temperatures starting to rise slightly. Tom Sheppard as of

eight Celsius, up to ten in Swansea. Tomorrow night, staying mostly dry

with clear skies but also turning colder with the frost and fog

patches developing overnight. Another cold one. Friday, looking

fairly settled, maybe a little cloudier time for the border

counties but sunny spells for most of Wales. Fairly light winds that

turning more south-easterly, during in that milder air is so top

cabbages on Friday between eight to 11 Celsius. High pressures build

survey from the south-west over the next few days. Introducing a

southerly winds, bringing in that milder air. It is not looking bad at

all as we head into that we can, largely dry, it is good to be milder

than recent days with variable and maps of clouds but plenty of sunny

spells. Today's picture is from Luke are. High winds and there. If you

have any photos to help tell the weather story, you can send them to

us by female or twitter. -- female. You can sign up and out load

pictures onto the website. Keep up-to-date with the detail on the

smartphone app and check out the laces video forecast online...

The main news tonight. Tributes have been paid to the music producer Sir

George Martin who has died at the age of 90. Paul McCartney described

him as the fifth Beatle, acknowledging his role at turning

the Fab four into a global sensation. Over seven decades he

worked with many other successful musicians the world.

A rise in the number of young people in wealth given antidepressants has

prompted concerns from the children's Commissioner. New

research seen by the BBC has shown a 30% increase in antidepressants

prescriptions between 2003 and 2013. I'll have a quick update

at eight and a full round up

after the BBC news at ten. But from me, Sue, Iwan,

and everyone on the programme, have a lovely evening.

Bye-bye.