29/12/2016 Points West

Hello from Points West. on the BBC News Channel,

A man charged with the murder of his baby daughter in Bristol

on Christmas Day has made his first appearance in court.

Britton Gardens, in Kingswood, where six-month-old Aya Parker died

on Christmas morning. Police and paramedics were called

here in the early hours, but could not revive her.

Aya's death was treated as unexplained, at first,

until the results of a postmortem examination.

Her father, 33-year-old Lee Parker, was arrested.

Yesterday, he was charged and, today, he was in court.

Lee Parker's appearance here at Bristol Magistrates' Court

He confirmed his date of birth and his address.

He was told that he had been charged with the murder

of his baby daughter and that his case would be taken

Because of the Christmas break there, in practice,

that means he will be back here tomorrow morning,

Andy Howard, BBC Points West in Bristol.

A woman from Gloucestershire has described a new law to protect

the victims of domestic abuse as a "life saver".

Mandy Scrivens, from South Cerney, suffered terrible emotional abuse

for 12 years, at the hands of her ex-partner.

The Coercive Control Act came into force exactly

a year ago today and, because of it, Mandy's

She has been speaking exclusively to our reporter, Laura Jones.

Looking forward to a brighter New Year

For Mandy and her four children, it is a fresh start,

away from her abusive and violent ex-partner.

So, Zack was about four and Lee smashed the door on Zack,

He hurt Zack. He would sometimes pick

up Leon and throw him at the top of the stairs.

He would not even have to touch you for you to be terrified.

His language and his body language. He is just so big.

Although Mandy's former partner was a very angry man, he was

controlling every detail of Mandy and the children's lives.

It took years, and many attempts, before she finally

The thing with the control thing is that

they get in your head and convince you that you would never be able

to have another partner. I am actually struggling.

He said that I could never cope and look

I would never have any money and all that sort of stuff.

I never had a car. He used to take the car.

I couldn't have a car, because he put it in his name.

Christmas and New Year can often be a difficult, and often

dangerous, time of year for those living with domestic abuse.

But this year, for the first time, something has changed.

It means the sort of behaviour Mandy is describing is now

That new law is called the Coercive Control Act

and it is because of it that Mandy's ex, Lee Coleman, is now

serving three years in prison for his bullying and controlling

It is a good result for Gloucestershire Police,

but investigating this sort of activity is tough.

It is a very different matter for the police to understand and get the

head round. If someone is injured and it is tangible, we can ask that.

We can deal with it then. But it is much more difficult when someone is

being controlled, maybe in terms of the money and what they are doing on

the computer, that is much more challenging in terms of

investigating. It has been a very difficult year for Mandy but she is

determined to pick the past behind her and focus on the future. They

speaking out, she is hoping to help others in the same situation have a

happier Christmas and New Year. And if you need any support

and advice about coercive control, you can call

the Gloucestershire Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre on 01452

526770, or the police, on 101. A man who was jailed for leaving

bacon at a Bristol mosque has died in prison.

Kevin Crehan, who was 35 and from Knowle, was given

a 12-month sentence in July. It followed an incident

in which rashers of bacon were placed on the mosque door

handles in Totterdown. We understand there were no

suspicious circumstances An appeal to build a new base

for Weston-Super-Mare's lifeboat station has raised

more than ?500,000. The organisation has being trying

to find a permanent home 12 possible sites have been

rejected, but the RNLI says it hopes to make an announcement

in the New Year. Finally, a gull that fell into a vat

of curry near Tewkesbury has been listed by the RSPCA

as one of its top ten most The bird's feathers were dyed

orange, after it slipped into a container of chicken tikka

masala, while trying to scavenge a piece

of meat in a food factory. Staff at the Vale Wildlife Hospital

used washing-up liquid to clean his feathers -

and nicknamed him Gullfrazie! Now what has the weather

got in store for us? A much reduced chance of seeing mist

and fog tomorrow. The reason for that is a much more in the way of

cloudi our own. If we look at the chart, it is rather be named. The

fog towards eastern parts of southern England tonight. Sue the

course of tomorrow, it is looking effectively dry and rather a quiet

day for the weather. A quiet night coming up tonight. Some areas

getting down to below freezing. The odd bit of fog forming during the

evening. That should be restricted tomorrow morning. For most of us, a

lot of cloud our own. That sets the tone for Friday. A few spots of

drizzle possibly in the north of the region. Temperatures tomorrow

ranging between 6-9 C. Talking about a change of temperature, as we head

into Saturday night, we can see this weather front pushing in from the

North into the region in the first part of Sunday. Much colder by the

end of Sunday and as we head into the start of the new week.

I am back with another update at 11.10pm.

In the meantime, have a lovely evening.