30/03/2017 BBC Wales Today

are out of the way, will the EU start pursuing

are out of the way, will the EU start pursuing a

are out of the way, will the EU start pursuing a common

are out of the way, will the EU start pursuing a common defence

start pursuing a common defence policy?

start pursuing a common defence policy? Join

start pursuing a common defence policy? Join me

Welcome to the programme.

Tonight's headlines, it's believed a husband and wife,

named locally as Kevin and Ruth Burke, were killed

in the helicopter crash in Snowdonia, alongside three

members of their family.

As Cardiff and Swansea both bid to be Wales' first

major trauma centre, senior doctors say it's

embarrassing that we don't have a dedicated unit already.

And the increase in number of reported offences

of domestic violence.

Good evening.

Five members of the same family were in a helicopter which crashed,

sparking a major air and land search across North Wales.

Their bodies were found earlier.

One couple has been named locally as Kevin and Ruth Burke.

The privately-owned helicopter vanished yesterday evening, en route

to Dublin from the Luton area.

The wreckage was found in the Rhinog Mountains

in Snowdonia National Park.

Roger Pinney reports.

Narrowing the search to South Snowdonia allowed

a concentration of effort.

The military joining civilian volunteer teams

from Aberglaslyn and Ogwen Valley.

It must have felt like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Mid-morning, they found the crash site and the five bodies.

The news was given at a police press conference.

Poor weather has been hampering the search,

with horrendous conditions reducing visibility to less than

ten metres at times.

I can sadly now confirm that a crash site has been located and that five

people have lost their lives during this incident.

I am sure you will appreciate this is an agonising time

for the families and friends of all involved.

Our thoughts are very much with them at this time.

This is as close as we can get to the crash site.

It is in the area behind me in the mist.

It is a mountainous area, stretching from the A470 the coast

at Harlech and Barmouth.

The terrain there, we are told, is extremely hazardous.

Carol Jarvis was camping in the area.

Conditions for the search teams were appalling, she told me.

The conditions around the lake have been absolutely shocking.

I've been camping for a couple of weeks and it has been quite nice

but it has just got really, really quite bad the last couple

of days, especially last night.

You can't really see the top of any of the hills.

Yes, and the weather doesn't look like it is going to calm down yet.

The helicopter is a Twin Squirrel, manufactured by Airbus.

It had a range of 500 miles.

It took off from the Luton area yesterday afternoon to make

a journey to Dublin.

At some stage, it disappeared from the radar.

I did some of my helicopter flying training in Snowdonia.

It is awesome scenery but you don't go up there lightly

if the cloud is low, you can't see, you don't go

because obviously the higher you get, the more the cloud

is going to be and you can't see forward and there are big lumps

of granite in the way and you don't really want that.

So you have to take the weather very much into account in North Wales.

It does surprise me that an experienced pilot would be

in that position in that weather at that time.

The helicopter was owned by Kevin and Ruth Burke

from near Milton Keynes.

They are among those who died.

Mrs Burke is believed to come originally from Dublin.

Mr Burke from Manchester.

Conditions on the ground improved marginally during the day.

The investigation into what happened will have already begun.

The wreckage and the bodies yet need to be recovered.

139 jobs are going at the University of South Wales, that's

around 5% of its staff.

It says costs are rising and it expects student recruitment to fall.

The institution was formed four years ago, following a merger

of Glamorgan and Newport universities and has

around 30,000 students.

The university is not giving a breakdown of how many staff

in each area will be affected.

We are aware that yes, within the number of staff that

will be cut, it looks proportionately like senior

managers, however, this is on the back of year-on-year cuts.

Front line staff have already been affected,

so we really don't have any more space for any more cuts.

The mother of a man who died after he killed a 22-year-old woman

in a hostel has told an inquest the two would still be alive

if a police officer had got the psychiatric appointment promised

for her son when he was released from prison.

Matthew Williams attacked and killed Cerys Yemm in Argoed in 2014.

He died after being tasered by police.

Wales is about to get its first specialist major trauma unit -

to treat patients with life threatening injuries.

Senior doctors say the NHS here has fallen behind many developed

countries when it comes to treating the most serious injuries -

describing it as "embarrassing" that we don't have a dedicated unit

already.

Two hospitals are now in the running.

Our health correspondent,

Owain Clarke, has this exclusive report.

This is where my car was actually on its side,

in between two trees.

This is where I was cut out of the car.

Sarah Williams can't remember much about the 10th of June 2015.

After her horrific crash, the air ambulance was sent

with a doctor on board.

They worked on the side of the road.

When I wasn't starting to regain conscious,

that was when the doctor who was the flying doctor,

started to realise that maybe something wasn't quite right and it

may involve a head injury.

The doctor also decided not to take the nearest A,

as would have happened if a road ambulance had turned up.

Instead, she was flown straight to Wales' biggest hospital to have

surgery to relieve pressure on the brain.

The decision is likely to have saved her life,

but it's not always obvious wary seriously injured patient

like Sarah should be sent.

Major trauma affects everybody but is the leading cause

of death in people under 40.

We do have all of the constituent parts of the major trauma centre

throughout South Wales.

What we don't have is them concentrated on a single site,

where we can manage these patients sufficiently.

In North Wales and part of mid Wales, there is a system which means

patients with life-threatening injuries are taken across

the border to Stoke.

There are around two dozen major trauma centres

established around England.

At these hospitals specialist teams are on stand-by 24 hours a day.

And survival rates increased dramatically.

But there's no such system in Wales.

It's actually embarrassing to be part of a system that doesn't have

regionalised network trauma care.

We are falling behind, as you said, the rest of the modern world.

The University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff and Morriston in Swansea

want to become dedicated major trauma centres.

But at the moment, neither has all the specialisms.

Each has been making its case and a recommendation is due soon.

Morriston is one of the leading centres in the UK, treating burns,

wounds and limb injuries.

It has 55 acres of available land to expand and one of its bosses

says its location is key.

Because Morriston is sitting on the motorway at the M4,

it means that it is much easier to access and you can get

to the other side of Haverfordwest, the other side of Brecon,

to the other side of Newport, easily within an hour.

But Cardiff argues it would serve a bigger population.

It is home to Wales' Children's Hospital

and the only one in Wales that performs brain surgery.

We aim to provide a fully comprehensive neurological service

and I think one of the examples from the data we submit

to the National registry is that of those patients affected by severe

trauma, 70% of those patients are going to

have a significant head injury.

Southmead Hospital just across the Severn Bridge in Bristol

is one of two major trauma centres in the south-west of England.

Staff here say the benefits of having all the expertise

in one place are clear.

We thought we were trauma experts.

We thought we were excellent.

But we know now that we were OK at it and now we really are excellent.

Swansea and Cardiff in many areas of life have often been fierce

rivals but choosing a major trauma centre, it is argued,

shouldn't be about winners and losers if patients

across South Wales benefiting the end.

The number of reported domestic violence offences in Wales increased

by more than 20% between 2013 and 2015, according to new figures.

Legislation which encourages victims and perpetrators to seek support

was introduced two years ago.

The Welsh Government says campaigns to raise awareness of it are making

good progress but there are calls for greater awareness

of the guidelines.

Ben Price reports.

Controlling, threatening or violent behaviour.

It can cause emotional, psychological or physical harm.

A couple from Swansea told me about their own experience.

We've agreed to protect their identity.

For Sarah, increasingly regular arguments with her partner

eventually turned violent and she was assaulted.

It just got worse and worse.

Things just escalated and, you know, it would be something little

and it would get worse.

The last time, he grabbed my neck, it was like the final straw.

That was it.

I could have been killed.

We could have been arguing and I could have hit my head

and then obviously my daughter would have been without a mother.

Not wanting to get her partner arrested, the couple sought help.

They turned to a local domestic abuse hub which provided

guidance and support.

Her partner, Mark, says he deeply regrets his actions.

I feel terrible for the way that I treated my partner.

There are no words to explain how how bad I felt straight after.

But obviously it happened again.

I didn't learn from my mistakes but now I have.

Figures from North Wales, Gwent and Dyfed-Powys Police

forces show that in 2015, more than 10,000 domestic violence

crimes were reported, compared to more than 8000 in 2013.

That's an increase of more than 23%.

Data from South Wales Police was not comparable.

But the force said it also saw an increase of 48%

during a similar period.

Two years ago, a legislation was introduced by the Welsh Government

to improve the prevention of gender-based abuse and to protect

those affected by it.

A national framework has since been published but there are calls

for greater awareness of the guidance.

We need the Welsh Government and we need the local authorities

to learn about the act, understand what their duties

are and start using the guidance as it comes out, so that we know any

survivor, anywhere, or their children, can get that

support that they need.

Today, new proposed sentencing guidelines have been published

for domestic violence offences.

They say that abuse in a domestic setting should be regarded as more

serious than in a non-domestic setting, as it's likely

to be a repeated offence, which can have a lasting impact

on both women and men.

World football's governing body, Fifa, has opened proceedings

against Neil Taylor following the Wales full-back's

challenge on Republic of Ireland defender Seamus Coleman.

The Everton player suffered a broken leg in a tackle that saw Taylor sent

off during last Friday's World Cup qualifier in Dublin.

Time for a look at the weather now.

Here's Derek.

A big contrast in the weather today.

Wet in parts of the North and west.

Dry and bright in the south-east and in Cardiff, the temperatures

soared to 18 Celsius, making it the warmest

day of the year so far.

For tonight, we've got more rain on the way.

Some of this rain on the heavy side.

Drier in Flintshire and another mild night.

Tomorrow morning, cloudy, some rain and showers

spreading north-eastwards.

Again, some heavy rain in places.

But it should brighten up in Pembrokeshire

later in the morning.

Across the rest of the UK, rain and showers will spread

north-eastwards during the day.

Some heavy rain in parts of Scotland.

Behind the rain though, dry and brightening up.

The sun will come out.

Showers approaching Northern Ireland later in the afternoon.

Slightly cooler and fresher than today.

But still up to 17 Celsius in Liverpool and Norwich.

In Wales tomorrow afternoon, better than today.

Dry and bright with some sunshine.

A few showers spreading from the south-west by evening.

Temperatures 12-16 Celsius with a southerly breeze.

Tomorrow night, yet more rain and showers will spread

across the country.

Heavy in places.

For Saturday, a mixed bag.

April showers, heavy in places.

Maybe a bit of hate and Thunderbird some dry weather

and sunshine as well.

Sunday dry and more settled, thanks to a ridge of high pressure.

There will be some cloud around but sunny spells as well

and with light winds, it will feel pleasantly warm.

A mixture of sunshine and showers over the next few days.

Chilly on Saturday night, next week more dry weather to come

thanks to high pressure.

We'll be back from around 6.25 in the morning

with updates in Breakfast.

But that is Wales Today.

From all of us on the programme, good night.