08/11/2017 Points West

In Points West tonight:

Welcome to BBC Points West,

with Liz Beacon and David Garmston.

An acid attack murder trial.

This woman is accused of throwing

acid at her former boyfriend -

to stop him seeing anyone else.

We heard how the victim ended up

asking a doctor to take his life.

Our other headlines tonight:

No place of their own -

new figures suggest 8,000 people

in the west are homeless.

The old soldier who won't give up -

Stan Tooze is still

selling poppies aged 94.

I don't feel the cold.

Too young for that!

And from Salisbury Plain

to the South Pole.

We catch up with the Ice Maidens

chilling before their

record breaking attempt.

Good evening.

A court heard today how a man

was left "grotesquely scarred"

after his ex-girlfriend threw acid

over him as he slept.

Mark van Dongen ended his life

in a clinic in Belgium,

15 months after the alleged

attack in Bristol.

His former lover is accused

of murder and throwing a corrosive

substance with intent to harm -

charges she denies.

Our Home Affairs Correspondent

Charlotte Callen is in

Westbury Park tonight.

For the first time today we heard

what is alleged to have happened

here on Ladysmith Road in Bristol on

the 22nd of September 2015. The

victim had moved here a few years

before they attacked and that they

were a couple, they lived together

in this flat. That relationship was

turbulent and competent catered --

complicated. The couple had

separated, and Mark had got a new

girlfriend. We also heard that big

-- the ex-girlfriend had threatened

the couple. He wanted the police to

do something about it. At that time,

we also heard evidence from the

prosecution claiming that she had

bought sulphuric acid online from

Amazon, and also had been looking up

on the Internet acid attacks. In

what was described as a shocking

video, the victim in his hospital

bed outlined what he says happened

here that night. He says he had come

here to stay and gone to sleep, and

that Ms Wallace had told him she was

going to stay at a hotel. He woke

up, she was standing at the end of

his bed, he claims that she laughed

and shouted, if I can't have you, no

one will! She then threw acid over

him. He then left the flat and

randomness Road shouting, I'm

burning, and asked for help. -- ran

down this road.

What did the defence have to say

today?

In what was described as an unusual

case, the defence outlined their

side of things today. They claim it

was the victim who put the acid in

the glass that night, and that he

was going to try and poison Ms

Wallace. And that in a fit of rage,

she had picked up the glass,

thinking it contained water, and

threw it over him.

What is unusual about this case is

that the alleged victim did not die

straightaway, what happened?

That's right, what we heard today

was about Mark's catastrophic

industries -- injuries as they were

described. He had lost one of his

eyes, he was paralysed from the neck

down. He has claimed to have said

his life was just not worth living,

he had phoned his father and said

please can you send a private

ambulance to bring me back to

Belgium, where euthanasia is legal?

When he got back there, three

doctors assessed and said he was

suitable for euthanasia. And on the

2nd of January, this year, his life

was ended. Ms Wallace denies both

those charges, and the case is due

to last for three weeks.

Thanks very much.

Over 200 people attended

the funeral of the former

Bristol Rovers chairman

Geoff Dunford this lunchtime.

Mr Dunford passed away last month

after a long-term illness.

Former players and managers joined

family and friends in Keynsham

to pay their respects.

He'd been involved with Rovers

for 30 years, saving the club

from going out of business

in the mid 1980s.

As a true Gashead,

I know what he means to me,

and he's the first fellow

who believed in me enough to see

someone bigger than just a lad

who worked hard,

and I will be forever grateful.

Geoff was a driving force behind

saving Rovers and doing

what they needed to do at the time,

and I don't know if the fans

know how bad it was.

I feel very humble,

very privileged, and also

I want to say to the family,

from the Bristol Rovers family,

thank you for what you did for us.

A very full life he led.

More than 20 people are believed

to have been injured and one man

is in a life threatening condition

after a collision involving a double

decker bus in Bristol.

Emergency services were at the scene

in Blackberry Hill after

The FirstGroup bus collided

with a car yesterday afternoon.

The 52-year-old car driver was taken

to Southmead Hospital.

A public consultation is under way

which could see that sector me

operations only carried out in

exceptional circumstances.

There are around 150 men in Bath

and North East Somerset who have

vasectomies each year,

and about six women who go

for sterilisations.

Now the NHS wants to save £200,000

a year by cutting the funding

for these operations,

apart from exceptional cases.

They also want to reduce the age

women can get IVF from 40-35.

The GP in charge of making this

decision says the NHS isn't getting

enough money to carry on providing

all services for free.

This is a really tough discussion to

have, but this is the reality where

we find ourselves.

of where we find ourselves,

with the budget that we have

not meeting the needs

that our population has.

So, again, get on there,

complete the questionnaire,

let us hear your views.

So what would be

an exceptional case?

Well, the NHS has not

yet made up its mind -

it could mean they're free for women

with cancer, or who are obese

and smoke who cannot take the pill.

As you heard, they want your views.

I visited a parent and toddler group

today in Bath, who had mixed

opinions.

I think the risk to people's health

of being on the contraceptive pill,

and in terms of, you know,

risk of clotting, all sorts of other

health risks of being on that,

that actually people might decide

to go for sterilisation

because they are concerned

of the risk to their own health,

and I feel really they

should have that choice.

They have got to make cuts

somewhere, and wherever

they are going to make cuts it's

going to be tricky for whoever

is going to be affected.

So what could be the

implications of all of this?

It could mean men having to pay £500

for a vasectomy for example.

The GP in charge of the existing

service has told me he thinks this

is yet another sign of the NHS only

being able to provide

the essentials.

He also thinks it could lead

to a rise in unwanted pregnancies.

The vasectomy is a very effective

form of contraception.

Some couples who are not able

to have a vasectomy in the future

may use other forms of contraception

such as the pill or the coil,

which are unfortunately less

effective at preventing pregnancies.

People in the area have

until the end of December

to make their views known to the NHS

either by phone, online or email.

It's a chilly Wednesday evening,

so stay warm with us

watching BBC Points West.

And we've much more

still to bring you,

including another

honour for the young

soldier from World War One

who was incredibly brave.

And the famous Bewick swans begin

to fly in to Slimbridge -

is this the real start to winter?

Ian's here very shortly.

Last night was the coldest

of the autumn so far,

which was pretty grim for anyone

without a roof over their head.

Today a new report has said

the number of homeless

in the South West has

now reached over 8,000.

It's not just rough

sleeping that's rising -

there are also many more people

in temporary accommodation.

Paul Barltrop's been taking

a look at the figures

and is at a shelter in Bristol.

Good evening, there are 18 beds in

here, 17 shelters across Bristol,

they will all be filled this evening

because more and more people are

ending up on the streets. Many, many

more have been accommodated in

places like bed and breakfast and

hostels. Let's look at some of the

figures the charity Shelter say that

homelessness has risen up to 11% in

the past year. The worst place as

Bristol, 2600 in temporary

accommodation. 74 people sleeping

rough. It is followed by Swindon.

And in Gloucester, the figure is 423

rough sleepers -- 400, with 23 rough

sleepers. Let talk to Ben

Richardson. How much have you

noticed this big increase over the

past few years?

It has been hugely significant

recently. After a child -- arrow --

fellow charities, we have

traditionally been at the Christmas

shelter with thousands of

volunteers, at since March we have

been running a shelter in the centre

of town with 15 beds. Money is

tight, we are very reliant on money

to keep our doors open.

There are ten or 15 times as many

people being accommodated

unsatisfactorily. How much of an

issue is that?

It is very significant, and it gets

much worse the longer people are

hidden. Either time they are

visible, they have more issues and

they are more difficult to help.

Charities have to step up and

innovate. Caring in Bristol is

running very exciting projects,

using rooms in the community with

volunteers. We are very interested

in finding ways of getting people in

the community to help us.

Thank you very much. One of the

striking things about this is it is

not just in the cities, even in

rural areas there has been a big

increase in homelessness. Have a

look at this report from Dan who has

been to the relatively affluent town

of devices.

This homeless charity

is serving up hope -

as well as a meal.

And it's much-needed.

I think, in the mornings,

I just think, what's

the point of getting up for?

I mean...

Now the weather is getting colder,

I don't know what I'm going to do.

The arrival of bacon butties,

one of the ways the Open Doors

charity provides welcome relief

from life on the streets.

Right now I'm staying in a wooden

shed, and it's just,

it's absolutely freezing.

It's really, it's

diabolical, really.

A lot of...

What, just like a garden shed?

Just like a garden shed, yeah.

Across the West, the number of rough

sleepers counted by our councils has

more than doubled since 2010.

The next count takes place

in the coming weeks.

Before people even end up needing

the help of homeless

charities like this one,

next year the law will change,

forcing councils like Wiltshire

to provide more help for more people

more quickly than they do now.

The change is already putting

pressure on council bosses.

The homeless reductions act will

give us the requirement to actually

look after people earlier.

Up to now it has been

28 days, now it is 56.

Now, just by the sheer numbers

involved, that is going to double

the caseload we have every year.

For Jen in Devizes, help

can't come soon enough.

And where would you be

without facilities like this

and charities like this?

Well, to be fair, I'd probably end

up being dead, to be fair.

I would have just gone over the top.

But they have opened

their doors to everybody,

and they don't judge anybody,

and they are just fantastic.

Charities like this

one rely on donations.

As winter draws in,

they also need coats,

socks and sleeping bags.

Help from the community

as well as the government.

What amazing work those shelters do.

A man from Wiltshire -

who's losing his voice due

to motor neurone disease -

says new technology is helping him

preserve his own voice.

Jon Stephens has recorded hundreds

of words and phrases which he can

then turn into messages to play

to people via a tablet.

He's the first patient

at Swindon's Great Western Hospital

to use the software.

Here's Laura Jones.

Back at hospital, a chance

for John to catch up

with speech therapist Lucy.

Hi, how are you?

I'm all right.

Good to see you again.

The pair have been working closely

together for more than a year

since John received his devastating

diagnosis of motor neurone disease.

My speech had become

a little slurred, so I just

went to the doctors,

who then referred me to the hospital

where I was told I had

motor neurone disease.

That must have been a huge shock.

Yeah, it was, yeah.

Motor neurone disease affects

the nerves in the brain

and spinal-cord that

tell your muscles what to do.

It can affect the way you walk,

talk, eat a drink and breathe.

In John's case, at the moment,

it is affecting his speech.

But thanks to some clever

new software, and a lot of hard work

here at the Great Western Hospital

in Swindon, he is not

losing his voice just yet.

This piece of software

is called Model Talker,

and John has spent more than 14

hours over two months recording over

1600 phrases onto it so that he can

continue to communicate with people

even if his speech

deteriorates further.

Our voice is our being,

isn't it, it's our identity,

so to be able to give John

a replacement, albeit not

exactly like his own voice,

but quite a close approximation

to how he sounded, I think it's

fantastic and I'm so thrilled

we are able to do this

here in Swindon for people, yes.

Out of the hundreds of phrases John

has recorded so far, he reckons this

will be his most used.

A cup of tea, please.

So you get them running

around making...

Yeah, off they go.

Make me a cup of tea.

At the moment Jon is doing well,

and whilst there are no clues

as to how his disease will develop,

at least he will be able

to have a say about his future

using his own voice.

For those of you watching last night

you'll remember the dad from South

Gloucestershire who made a plea

for burglars to return his

daughter's computer.

Kellin, who is 13 years

old and severely disabled, relies

on the device to communicate.

Thankfully for the family,

after our programme last night

a member of the public found

the stolen computer so police

are able to return it.

It is not yet known if it still

One man's been arrested and released

as part of the investigation.

A blue plaque was unveiled

in Bristol today at the home

of a 21-year-old soldier,

awarded the Victoria Cross

for his outstanding bravery

during World War One.

Hardy Falconer Parsons was a medical

student at Bristol University

when he volunteered to fight

and was enlisted.

To tell us more about his gallantry,

we're joined by historians

Jeremy Banning and Clive Burton.

Thank you for coming into night.

First of all, Jeremy, tell us about

this amazing man and his bravery in

World War I.

He was a young junior officer who

went out in March 1917 with the

Gloucestershire Regiment, and was on

the Somme in August 19 17. It was a

critical position, really important

for the observation. The British had

captured the Hindenburg line and the

Germans wanted it back. In the

middle of the night, just after

3:15am, everyone else eat a retreat,

but he stayed on and managed to hold

the Germans at bay by throwing hand

grenades at them. A 20-year-old lad,

burned so badly in that moment that

he later died of his wounds. But for

his bravery in saving the situation,

he has been awarded the Victoria

Cross.

He was a medical student, wasn't he?

Yes, and the Sun of a minister. A

really interesting family. When you

look at his family history, you can

see how much that sense of duty and

caring for others was passed down to

not only him but his other brothers

as well.

And Clive, today he was awarded this

blue plaque which went up in his

honour. Why is that significant?

There were about eight Victoria

Cross holders associated with

Bristol. Only about four were

actually born here. The government

has funded blue plaque stood go to

the homes of where these people were

born. His commemorative stone went

up to like Byrne in Lancashire. He

felt strongly that his blue plaque,

there ought to be a service here in

Bristol to recognise where he lives,

and people in the Redland area did

not know this Victoria Cross holder

was living in our midst. The people

who came today to the unveiling were

absolutely astonished.

He was so brave and so young, you

can imagine the burns he would have

received from that flame. And then

his items were returned to his dad.

Yes, in a way you don't really want

to think about the state he would

have been in afterwards. All that

was returned to his father was an

identity bracelet and a couple of

wristwatches. And then the family

have said goodbye to him and never

seen him again.

But there was an engraving, wasn't

there?

Yes, on the back of his cap adage.

-- hajj.

Irene. We don't know who she was, or

what the connection was, we just

don't know. But it gives you an

indication of how sad that would

have been for her and the Parsons

family.

Thank you very much.

Now in Somerset another veteran,

this time of World War Two,

is doing what he can to make sure

the sacrifices of his generation

are never forgotten.

At 94, Stan Tooze braves

all weathers to sell poppies

in the run up to Remembrance Day.

And he has no intention

of stopping any time soon.

Our Somerset Correspondent, Clinton

Rogers, has been to meet him.

According to Stan, a hat's

all you need even if it did drop

below freezing last night.

Nothing deters this 94-year-old war

veteran from his outdoor day shift.

Thank you, Madam.

And so, on duty, as he is most days,

in a Taunton supermarket.

No, I don't feel the cold.

Too young for that!

I'd like to know

what your medals is.

Just the Second World War.

Modest as well - but always

the main attraction here.

Somebody asked for his

autograph the other day.

He gives us 100% support,

he is there for everything,

and come rain, wind,

sunshine, you know,

he is always there.

Stan Tooze was part

of the 6th Airborne Division

of the Parachute Regiment.

He saw active service

in Belgium towards the end

of the Second World War.

We went out to the Ardennes,

Christmas Eve...

Inevitably the memories

are still vivid.

One day, my mate was there,

one second, the next thing

he was knocked right down dead,

and I was still there.

It is why he feels a duty

to help raise money

for the Royal British Legion,

to honour the memory

of his fallen colleagues.

How long do you think

you will carry on selling poppies?

Well, 94...

Give it another six years!

At the very least, I'd say!

You are a trooper, and I'm sure

everyone is very grateful for the

work that you do. Our previous

guests put their poppy in this, an

ex-World War one shell.

After two years of getting ready

the Ice Maidens are in Antarctica

waiting for a snow storm to pass

to then start their bid for a place

in the history books.

The group of six women

soldiers have swapped

training on Salisbury Plain,

for the South Pole, to race

against the clock to try to complete

the journey in the fastest possible

time while finding out how women's

bodies handle conditions

on the challenge which so far has

only ever been done by men.

Lee Madan reports.

The Ice Maidens have hit

the ice in Antarctica.

And when the weather clears -

their mission will begin.

Our determination is unquestionable,

everybody wants to make sure

that we successfully complete

the expedition but also do it safely

so that the team finish in a good

state and we're all fit and well

at the end.

These pictures are from a recent

training expedition in Switzerland -

making sure they know how to get out

of crevasses and can last the 75

days it's expected to take to trek

coast-to-coast across the continent

via the South Pole.

After leaving Heathrow airport

and their loved ones 11 days ago -

the Ice Maidens headed south.

First to Chile - where they told

me on Skype just how

they're going to cope.

It's definitely going to be

repetitive and that's one

of the harder elements

of the expedition, is, you know,

day in day out your body aches,

you've still got to get up the next

day, whether you want to or not,

noone's coming to get you, you've

got to carry on with the journey.

Everyone's got different

ways of coping.

I like to break things down

into little sections.

You know, when I'm having a bad day

it might be hour by hour,

if I'm having a good day it might

just be the next day.

And we've got each

other to help as well.

The six soldiers are the first

all-woman team to take

on this challenge -

and will be monitoring

how their bodies change compared

to men's in conditions of up

to minus 40.

There's a really good

medical research element

towards Ice Maidens,

so we're going to be looking

at how our body consumes energy now

and then what it does at the end

of the expedition,

if that changes at all.

We've also got these sensors that

are detecting our heart rate,

our breathing rate, how hydrated

we are and that sort of thing.

So there's a lot of medical data

being captured and then there'll be

a lot of analysis done

when we're back.

250 soldiers applied

to become an Ice Maiden.

Gradually, they got whittled

down to the final six,

who have now spent two years

training for this moment.

The race to the finish line

is about to get under way.

Now, the much awaited first Bewick

swan of the season flew

into Gloucestershire earlier today.

It arrived in the Wildfowl

and Wetland Centre in Slimbridge

just before midday, making it

the second one in of

the winter season.

The mild weather across Eastern

Europe is thought to be the reason

for their delayed mass migration.

Beautiful birds, aren't they?

Well, Ian is up on the roof,

and Ian, is that cold weather

the swans are leaving behind set

to follow them here?

Thanks very much. Turning colder

over the migration route for those

swans out of parts of the tundra of

Russia over the next few days,

across Scandinavia your going to see

some unsettled in snowy conditions

as well. It was certainly a chilly

start this morning for us. A number

of you probably trying to find where

the icy scraper was. We would have

found a lot of cloud invading

overnight from the North West, weak

front bringing that, drizzly rain

for some of us to rain the first

part of tomorrow. Slowly conditions

will start to brighten up through

the course of the afternoon.

Comparatively mild. Here is a wider

look at how things are shaping up at

the moment. Those weak fronts moving

in from the North West during the

course of tonight. Some of the

drizzly rain, but then gradually the

cloud will break up as the afternoon

wears on, that process continuing

into the first-half of the following

night as well. For the rest of this

evening, clear skies remaining for

longest, the further south East you

are. Arts of Wiltshire and down into

Dorset. Conversely out into the

Northwest, cloud will thicken and

will lower through the course of the

night and reducing catchy outbreaks

of light rain -- introducing.

Temperatures will reach their

coldest weather clear skies remain.

It could be very chilly down in

parts of south Wiltshire, for

example. But by tomorrow morning

that process will be firmly arrested

fangs to the cloud cover and

generally milder conditions

prevailing over the course of

tomorrow. A few breaks in the cloud

during the first-half of the day

which will become more substantial

past lunchtime. So, temperatures

tomorrow ultimately as high as 14

Celsius in urban areas such as

Bristol. Any of you in the range of

11-13 Celsius. It will turn chilly

under clear skies for a while

overnight towards Friday, showery

rain to contend with first light on

Friday. Looking decent thereafter

until the night-time, with heavy

rain from the West.

until the night-time, with heavy

rain from the West.

Thanks, Ian. Don't mind it being

chilly if the skies are lovely and

blue.

That is just about where we have to

leave. There is an update at 10pm,

otherwise the whole team returns

tomorrow. See you then. Goodbye.