:00:10. > :00:18.The cost of being scammed. is illuminated with the colours
:00:19. > :00:20.The elderly people who've lost so much money they can no
:00:21. > :00:31.They go on to a list and their data is sold to the criminal fraternity
:00:32. > :00:33.all round the world. police say 16,000
:00:34. > :00:45.people had a motive. And rain tonight will query tomorrow
:00:46. > :00:47.morning but more in the afternoon. -- we'll clear.
:00:48. > :00:51.Trading Standards officers are warning the state may end-up
:00:52. > :00:54.paying to look after more and more people in their old age -
:00:55. > :00:56.because they're losing their life savings to scams.
:00:57. > :00:58.The victims are often elderly, and are vulnerable
:00:59. > :01:00.to fraudsters who target those who are isolated and lonely.
:01:01. > :01:07.Raymond Rose is a full time carer for his disabled wife.
:01:08. > :01:10.A vulnerable target for the fraudsters.
:01:11. > :01:17.The letters promise him lottery draws and prizes.
:01:18. > :01:21.So Raymond has sent - and lost - more than ?3,000.
:01:22. > :01:28.Very sick about it, it's brought me down a lot because with the small
:01:29. > :01:33.amount of money that we get, really can't afford it.
:01:34. > :01:42.So there's probably about 60 letters there.
:01:43. > :01:45.Yes, that's one man's mail over a two-month period.
:01:46. > :01:49.A typical case - but just the tip of the iceberg.
:01:50. > :01:52.The concern for us is that because people are ashamed
:01:53. > :01:57.and embarrassed when they realise they've been scammed,
:01:58. > :02:02.And they'll go to huge effort to not tell the family about it.
:02:03. > :02:04.What sums of money have you seen that have been lost?
:02:05. > :02:08.Anything from a few hundred, to a few thousand.
:02:09. > :02:11.And in the worst case scenario, 150,000.
:02:12. > :02:14.All this has a massive impact on the victims.
:02:15. > :02:19.And their ability to look after themselves in old age.
:02:20. > :02:23.You see depression, you see a lack of trust in their own judgment.
:02:24. > :02:26.You see people change their mind as to whether they want
:02:27. > :02:29.to live alone any more and independent any more.
:02:30. > :02:31.So you find that our older residents are more likely
:02:32. > :02:34.to go into a nursing home, care arrangement.
:02:35. > :02:39.The people who could fund their care have lost the money to scammers
:02:40. > :02:45.who are abroad and now the state will have to pick up those costs.
:02:46. > :02:47.They do often have certain characteristics of being elderly,
:02:48. > :02:51.sometimes living alone, isolated, looking for companionship.
:02:52. > :02:53.And these unscrupulous fraudsters will absolutely target these
:02:54. > :02:55.individuals as they feel that is where they get
:02:56. > :03:04.Stopping the scams at source is very difficult.
:03:05. > :03:07.So tackling the root problems of social isolation
:03:08. > :03:14.This English language class is one of 50 projects in Bristol running
:03:15. > :03:21.When people are more socially isolated, they have
:03:22. > :03:24.fewer social contacts, they are a lot more vulnerable.
:03:25. > :03:26.If people improve their well-being, they are less likely
:03:27. > :03:31.And especially something where somebody is improving
:03:32. > :03:34.their language skills, that increases awareness.
:03:35. > :03:39.But speaking out means others might not fall victim
:03:40. > :03:48.to a problem that in the end, affects us all.
:03:49. > :03:51.The jury in the trial of three men over the tipper truck crash in Bath
:03:52. > :03:54.which killed four people has retired to consider its verdict.
:03:55. > :03:56.Four-year-old Mitzi Steady and three men died after being hit
:03:57. > :04:00.by a 30 tonne lorry on a steep hill in Lansdown Lane in
:04:01. > :04:07.The driver Phillip Potter, the owner Matthew Gordon
:04:08. > :04:09.and mechanic Peter Wood, who are all from Wiltshire,
:04:10. > :04:18.The police have admitted they're "no closer" to finding out who killed
:04:19. > :04:20.Bath conman John "Goldfinger" Palmer.
:04:21. > :04:23.He was shot six times in the chest at his garden in Essex last year.
:04:24. > :04:26.The BBC's Gareth George was at today's hearing in Chelmsford.
:04:27. > :04:32.He got the nickname amidst rumours he'd melted down gold bullion
:04:33. > :04:38.But speaking to reporters at the time in Tenerife,
:04:39. > :04:40.where he was operating a timeshare scam, he denied having
:04:41. > :04:48.I'm completely innocent of anything to do with this so called
:04:49. > :04:54.In June last year, shortly after these CCTV pictures
:04:55. > :04:58.were taken, Palmer was shot six times at his home near
:04:59. > :05:02.For days police didn't realise he had been murdered,
:05:03. > :05:05.thinking he had died as a result of gall bladder surgery
:05:06. > :05:11.A mistake they have since risen apologised for.
:05:12. > :05:14.Today an inquest into his death was held here in Chelmsford.
:05:15. > :05:15.The Coroner, Caroline Beasley-Murray, concluded he had
:05:16. > :05:21.There was only one member of John Palmer's family present
:05:22. > :05:25.at the inquest and that was a man called Ashley Thilthorpe.
:05:26. > :05:28.He's the partner of John Palmer's daughter.
:05:29. > :05:30.He is seen here on the right leaving the hearing with
:05:31. > :05:35.Detective Chief Inspector Stephen Jennings.
:05:36. > :05:38.DCI Jennings gave evidence and said the murder investigation is ongoing.
:05:39. > :05:41.One problem detectives have is the sheer number of people
:05:42. > :05:44.who might have had a motive to kill Palmer.
:05:45. > :05:49.In relation to his fraud conviction in 2001, there were listed anything
:05:50. > :05:54.Again there could be 16,000 motives why he was killed just
:05:55. > :06:03.And then of course his criminality regarding Brinks Mat,
:06:04. > :06:06.we know a number of people involved in that subsequent to that crime
:06:07. > :06:08.taking place who have been either killed or have died.
:06:09. > :06:10.Again that was very much a consideration.
:06:11. > :06:12.And Hatton Gardens as well, possible involvement there?
:06:13. > :06:16.Possible, it was a line of inquiry that we took and we know that John
:06:17. > :06:19.had associated in the past with some of the people responsible for that
:06:20. > :06:22.Police say someone involved in the criminal underworld knows
:06:23. > :06:24.who killed John Palmer and after today's inquest,
:06:25. > :06:26.officers renewed their appeal for anyone with information
:06:27. > :06:35.A wheelchair invented by a North Somerset charity to help
:06:36. > :06:37.people in developing countries has been recognised as one
:06:38. > :06:45.25 years after being set up, Motivation has seen one
:06:46. > :06:48.of its models added to the Design Museum in London.
:06:49. > :06:51.David's charity has helped tens of thousands
:06:52. > :07:00.But it all began when his own life changed forever.
:07:01. > :07:02.When I was 21 I had a diving accident.
:07:03. > :07:05.I dived into a shallow pool of water in Australia.
:07:06. > :07:08.And broke my neck, which left me paralysed from the shoulders down.
:07:09. > :07:11.With no hand function and ability to walk.
:07:12. > :07:14.And so from that day I needed to use a wheelchair.
:07:15. > :07:19.So the old chrome wheelchair was designed in 1932
:07:20. > :07:22.And we see this all the time in developing countries,
:07:23. > :07:26.people given a one size fits all solution.
:07:27. > :07:28.That stunts them, you see the wheelchair before
:07:29. > :07:33.So he set about to change that - he and a friend spent six months
:07:34. > :07:36.in Bangladesh producing a wheelchair for rough terrain.
:07:37. > :07:39.From Bangladesh to Backwell in Somerset - in 1991
:07:40. > :07:44.he set up the charity, Motivation.
:07:45. > :07:48.So it is again a three wheeler to get over rough terrain.
:07:49. > :07:51.But it is made of tubular steel, it is repairable locally.
:07:52. > :07:56.The chairs are flat-packed, making it cheaper to ship them.
:07:57. > :07:58.But staff also visit the countries to help fit them -
:07:59. > :08:02.Lots of houses have not been modified for wheelchair users,
:08:03. > :08:07.But also the stigma and discrimination against people
:08:08. > :08:15.So unfortunately there is lots of people actually trapped
:08:16. > :08:19.in their homes unable to participate in social life.
:08:20. > :08:23.And back in the UK - their work's being recognised.
:08:24. > :08:26.The Design Museum's just opened in London and displays
:08:27. > :08:30.the best inventions from across the centuries.
:08:31. > :08:34.Among them - one of Motivation's chairs.
:08:35. > :08:37.I never thought this would happen when we started Motivation.
:08:38. > :08:48.A lot of team effort and great staff, and I'm very proud of us.
:08:49. > :08:52.As he looks back on 25 years - the charity's also looking forward -
:08:53. > :08:56.developing chairs for different activities and areas,
:08:57. > :08:59.allowing thousands more the powerful freedom
:09:00. > :09:07.A Gloucestershire conservationist has been at Downing Street today -
:09:08. > :09:13.Sasha Dench flew her paramotor more than 7,000 kilometres
:09:14. > :09:17.from Russia to Slimbridge following migrating Bewick swans.
:09:18. > :09:20.She wants the government to do more to protect the species
:09:21. > :09:24.as their numbers have dwindled in recent years.
:09:25. > :09:32.There's more news on the BBC Website and on your local BBC Radio
:09:33. > :09:35.We're back with you in breakfast tomorrow.
:09:36. > :09:38.But for now I'll say goodnight and leave you with Ian
:09:39. > :09:51.Good evening. High-pressure slips away and we are now in a much more
:09:52. > :09:58.changeable pattern. There is some rain about tonight, and once that
:09:59. > :10:02.clears the way tomorrow we have some brighter weather but further rain
:10:03. > :10:06.spreading in during the course of the afternoon and that could be
:10:07. > :10:15.heavier. Temperatures tonight ranging up to around 5 degrees. By
:10:16. > :10:21.first light tomorrow morning we have the last of the rain clearing away
:10:22. > :10:26.and then we see this brighter weather emerging for a time. But
:10:27. > :10:38.further rain beginning to come in for the afternoon. Clearing away
:10:39. > :10:43.later into the evening. Turning colder into the evening but prior to
:10:44. > :10:50.that comparatively mild at around 10 Celsius. By Thursday morning there
:10:51. > :10:55.could be some patches of fog and frost around. Then we have another
:10:56. > :11:01.unsettled pattern through Friday as the next named storm, Barbara, is up
:11:02. > :11:02.to the north-west of the British Isles.
:11:03. > :11:06.making a journey elsewhere in the country it's worth knowing the
:11:07. > :11:12.national forecast. Over now to Tomasz.
:11:13. > :11:15.So, the weather's going to blow a few cobwebs away in the coming days
:11:16. > :11:20.and maybe a few other things, as well. How stormy is it going to get?
:11:21. > :11:25.For most of us probably not too terrible. It is, however, going to
:11:26. > :11:33.be very nasty across parts of Scotland on Friday. The clouds are
:11:34. > :11:37.racing across the Atlantic and we will see a storm by the time we get
:11:38. > :11:40.to around about Friday and then Friday night.
:11:41. > :11:43.At the moment we have a weather front crossing the country, we have
:11:44. > :11:45.had dreadful weather in the north-west, it was cold and raining
:11:46. > :11:49.in Northern Ireland and western Scotland. This band of rain will be
:11:50. > :11:51.somewhere here by the end of the night. Behind it