:00:00. > :00:00.Our top stories: Once all smiles, but they're not smiling
:00:07. > :00:10.Tonight party leader Leanne Wood on Dafydd Elis Thomas' departure.
:00:11. > :00:13.And this is Esther Hoad in Carmarthenshire in the 1970s.
:00:14. > :00:34.Today the taxi driver who abused her is sent to prison.
:00:35. > :00:38.It's the political divorce that has rocked Plaid Cymru.
:00:39. > :00:40.But tonight the party's leader has hit back at her former
:00:41. > :00:42.colleague Lord Elis Thomas, after he dramatically left,
:00:43. > :00:46.over the way she was running the party.
:00:47. > :00:49.Leanne Wood has told BBC Wales a deal struck with the Welsh
:00:50. > :00:53.government over its forthcoming budget shows just how co-operative
:00:54. > :00:59.Lord Elis Thomas is now sitting as an independent Assembly Member.
:01:00. > :01:02.Here's our Political Editor Nick Servini.
:01:03. > :01:05.Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas, a former leader of Plaid Cymru
:01:06. > :01:09.with vast experience within the party has
:01:10. > :01:11.never embraced the views of the current leader,
:01:12. > :01:15.It was all smiles back in May as Plaid,
:01:16. > :01:18.fresh from the assembly election, became the second biggest party, but
:01:19. > :01:21.Lord Elis-Thomas became increasingly frustrated with Plaid's robust
:01:22. > :01:27.He believes it should be more focused upon building another
:01:28. > :01:30.coalition, like the one the two parties formed nearly a decade ago.
:01:31. > :01:32.Today Leanne Wood hit back at the accusations levelled
:01:33. > :01:42.We have sought to be constructive in our opposition, we have worked to
:01:43. > :01:45.try and get our manifesto priorities in.
:01:46. > :01:49.We have tried to influence the Welsh Government's responds
:01:50. > :01:51.to Brexit and we will continue to do that.
:01:52. > :01:53.But he has been nothing but trouble for you,
:01:54. > :01:56.you must be glad to see the back of him.
:01:57. > :02:08.There is an element of relief that I do not have to deal
:02:09. > :02:10.with that difficulty now, but there is an element
:02:11. > :02:13.of disappointment and sadness that it has had to come to this.
:02:14. > :02:16.Dafydd Elis-Thomas has become one of the most recognisable faces
:02:17. > :02:20.Here, rubbing shoulders with Anthony Hopkins.
:02:21. > :02:22.He has rejected claims he let his constituents down having
:02:23. > :02:25.left the party so soon after fighting the election
:02:26. > :02:32.I do not understand what morality has to do
:02:33. > :02:38.The constitutional argument for holding a by-election,
:02:39. > :02:41.I have never seen one and I haven't seen one in the last few
:02:42. > :02:54.But the implications of this followed a far
:02:55. > :02:56.But the implications of this fall-out are far
:02:57. > :02:59.greater than the internal relations of Plaid Cymru, it means that
:03:00. > :03:02.precious votes at the Senedd are up for grabs.
:03:03. > :03:04.Following the assembly election in the month of May, Labour
:03:05. > :03:07.were the biggest party with 29 seats, they have since brought
:03:08. > :03:09.the sole Lib Dem Kirsty Williams into the cabinet.
:03:10. > :03:12.But to pass votes it was expected they would need to negotiate
:03:13. > :03:16.The Conservatives have 11 and Ukip at seven, but Dafydd Elis-Thomas
:03:17. > :03:19.and Ukip's Megan Gale have become independents now.
:03:20. > :03:30.If the Labour Party can get in their support,
:03:31. > :03:31.it effectively gives them a working majority.
:03:32. > :03:34.This decision reduces the ability of Plaid Cymru to play hardball.
:03:35. > :03:36.They will not be able to hold the governance to
:03:37. > :03:40.ransom because they have other choices that they can now pursue.
:03:41. > :03:43.That said, Plaid have formal mechanisms to feed into government
:03:44. > :03:45.decision-making, liaison committees, and could become a more important
:03:46. > :03:56.channel for influencing government policy.
:03:57. > :03:59.All this talk of stiff opposition comes on the eve of one
:04:00. > :04:02.of the big days of the year at the Senedd, budget day.
:04:03. > :04:05.Ironically, we learn tonight that both the Labour Party and Plaid
:04:06. > :04:07.have agreed on a deal to get the budget through.
:04:08. > :04:09.The first big test of the relationship passed.
:04:10. > :04:11.A 71-year-old man from Carmarthenshire has been sentenced
:04:12. > :04:13.to three years in prison for indecently assaulting
:04:14. > :04:17.Evan Heddwyn Jones was employed by the local authority to take
:04:18. > :04:19.children to their nearest bus stop in his taxi,
:04:20. > :04:24.Esther Hoad has waived her right to anonymity so this programme can
:04:25. > :04:30.This was Esther Hoad as a young girl growing up
:04:31. > :04:37.In the years that followed, a much darker chapter
:04:38. > :04:42.Between the ages of 14 and 16, she was indecently assaulted many
:04:43. > :04:55.When the abuse first started, I just felt wretched.
:04:56. > :04:58.I felt confused and guilty that I had somehow attracted all this
:04:59. > :05:02.From the onset and the escalation of the abuse, I just cringed
:05:03. > :05:04.in the school taxi every time Heddwyn Jones touched
:05:05. > :05:12.My feelings were very much of guilt and self-loathing,
:05:13. > :05:15.confusion and powerlessness to allow this to happen to me.
:05:16. > :05:25.Farmer Evan Heddwyn Jones was today sentenced to three years in prison
:05:26. > :05:27.after he was convicted of four counts of indecently
:05:28. > :05:31.The court heard that between 1976 and 1978,
:05:32. > :05:34.Evan Heddwyn Jones was employed by the local authority to pick up
:05:35. > :05:37.children from their farms in the local area and take them
:05:38. > :05:41.The Judge Keith Thomas said that Mr Heddwyn Jones took advantage
:05:42. > :05:43.of the situation because his victim was the last drop-off
:05:44. > :05:51.In the 1970s, Evan Heddwyn Jones operated a school taxi
:05:52. > :05:59.The court heard that when he was alone in the vehicle
:06:00. > :06:01.with his victim he put his hands inside her clothing
:06:02. > :06:07.Esther has said that he told others about what was happening
:06:08. > :06:10.to her at the time but that nothing was done about it.
:06:11. > :06:13.The police said the investigation relied on the strength of statements
:06:14. > :06:15.from the victim and her diary entries which contained
:06:16. > :06:23.The impact child sexual abuse has had on my life will
:06:24. > :06:27.I mean, I live in the countryside and at the age of 54 I still gag
:06:28. > :06:31.Following the sentence today, Esther's husband said he hoped it
:06:32. > :06:34.would bring closure for his wife but that this would never go away.
:06:35. > :06:38.It has been with us from the start of our
:06:39. > :06:44.She told me about it early on and at times it
:06:45. > :06:48.Esther Hoad now lives with her family in Ireland
:06:49. > :06:53.her story, she did not want to appear on camera.
:06:54. > :06:56.She wanted to show the face instead of the young girl that was abused
:06:57. > :06:58.and whose life was changed forever by that experience.
:06:59. > :07:06.A committee of MPs has heard claims the Cardiff City manager
:07:07. > :07:08.Neil Warnock made players pay to be selected for games.
:07:09. > :07:10.The allegations were brought-up by the MP Damian Collins
:07:11. > :07:21.The claims were made in tweets, later deleted, by Jason Puncheon,
:07:22. > :07:26.who used to play for Warnock at Crystal Palace.
:07:27. > :07:28.The Cardiff City manager says the allegations are completely
:07:29. > :07:29.false, and an FA investigation had concluded
:07:30. > :07:38.A British director has won the top prize at the leading
:07:39. > :07:46.international lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender film
:07:47. > :07:50.Balcony, by Toby Fell-Holden, won the Iris Prize at the awards,
:07:51. > :07:54.The film tells the story about a teenage girl who falls
:07:55. > :07:59.in love with a girl who's an Afghan immigrant.
:08:00. > :08:14.Hello. Tomorrow is Saint Luke 's Day and warm weather around this time of
:08:15. > :08:17.the year is sometimes called an Indian summer. Temperatures today
:08:18. > :08:22.have been around the seasonal average but tomorrow it will turn
:08:23. > :08:26.cooler, typically 11 to 14. Tonight we start with scattered showers but
:08:27. > :08:31.then after midnight the cold front will bring more widespread rain.
:08:32. > :08:37.Breezy, especially on the coast. The lowest temperatures are seven to 11.
:08:38. > :08:42.First thing we start off with Raven but it will clear away and then it
:08:43. > :08:46.will dry and brighten up with some sunshine and just one or two
:08:47. > :08:52.showers. Across the rest of the UK rain will clear and many places will
:08:53. > :08:57.be dry with sunshine but showers are likely in the North. It will be cold
:08:58. > :09:01.enough on the Scottish mountain skeletal snow. In Wales tomorrow
:09:02. > :09:07.afternoon a few showers about but most places dry with sunny spells.
:09:08. > :09:13.Temperatures lower than today and feeling chilly in the breeze. Values
:09:14. > :09:18.between 11 and 14. Tomorrow evening and overnight the wind will blow a
:09:19. > :09:22.few showers across the country. Dry and clear whether as well,
:09:23. > :09:27.especially in the south. On Wednesday we have high pressure
:09:28. > :09:31.beginning to no from Ireland and there will be some showers about on
:09:32. > :09:35.Wednesday and some heavy ones in the north-east. Some sunshine as well
:09:36. > :09:38.and the whole country should be dry by Wednesday evening. Beyond that it
:09:39. > :09:44.is looking dry and settled for Thursday and Friday with sunshine
:09:45. > :09:49.and light winds. A few morning mist and fog patches and cold at night
:09:50. > :09:50.with a touch of frost in the countryside. I will see you soon and
:09:51. > :09:55.I wish you a good night. From all of us on the
:09:56. > :10:01.programme good night.