27/01/2017 Points West

Good afternoon and welcome to BBC Points West.

Families of the victims break down in court as two men await

their sentences for the Bath tipper truck crash.

Remembering the revolutionary eye doctor from Cheltenham,

we look at the legacy this man has left behind.

Bristol City head to Burnley aiming for an FA Cup upset.

The families of four people killed in a tipper truck crash in Bath have

broken down in court as the men responsible await their fate.

Company boss, Matthew Gordon, and mechanic, Peter Wood,

were convicted after the brakes on a lorry failed on Lansdown Lane,

killing three men from Wales and four-year-old Mitzi Steady from

Our Bath reporter Imogen Sellers is outside court for us this lunchtime.

It has been a very emotional morning in court here in Bristol this

morning. Next month it will be two years since that 32 tonne truck

careered out of control down Lansdowne Lane, killing four people.

As we heard, three men from Wales old died and four-year-old Mitzi

Steady was also killed. Now after their two-year ordeal, the victims

families will soon learn the fate of two men who are held responsible

today those victims families told the court of the devastating

emotional and physical impact this accident has had on the. The owner,

Matthew Gordon and his mechanic, Peter Wood were both found guilty of

manslaughter last month. The driver of the truck on the day of the

accident was cleared of all charges. Today in court, Mitzi Steady's

mother spoke with huge courage on the Everest devastating impact of

this accident. This look of their lively, beautiful, vibrant little

girl will never have first day at school, never be allowed to learn to

read. She's folk of the impact the accident had had on her mother who

lost both of her legs during the accident. Matthew Gordon and Peter

would urge you to be sentenced for those charges of manslaughter after

lunch. Thank you very much for the update.

The Bristol West MP Thangam Debbonaire is to rebel

against her party's leaders orders by refusing to back Brexit in a vote

She says she is reflecting the wishes of her constituents

who voted strongly for remaining in the EU.

But her decision is made all the more complicated by the fact

she's a party whip and is meant to be telling other MPs

This lunchtime - she refused to say whether she'll resign her position.

I am making a difficult decision along with lots of other colleagues.

The Labour Party has got a really challenging job to do.

Kier Starmer is doing a brilliant job of trying to find a consensus

and away through this because we represent the 25 most

Remain constituencies as well as the 25

We have got to try and represent them all.

Every colleague is going to make their decision in a different way,

it's based on their understanding of the situation and

I am representing Bristol West and the people in Bristol West.

A group which supports young gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender

people in Somerset - will carry on running

2BU had been facing closure after the County Council

said it would be ending its contract with them.

But after a campaign to save it, the council has given the group

Family and friends will come together in Cheltenham this weekend

to celebrate the life and contribution of a man who's been

described as a rock star in the world of opthalmology.

Rob Johnston was a top eye surgeon and innovator based

at the Cheltenham General eye department..

He died last Autumn at the age of fifty -

and left an enduring legacy - as Amanda Parr reports.

His skill has saved the eyesight of thousands of patients.

Those he's helped, those he's worked with -

remember his rapport, his drive, his energy.

I mean, he was a surgeon to his core.

He had fantastic surgical results, but after friends and colleagues,

He came up with a new electronic patient record system

It was revolutionary - award winning - allowing teams

to record and analyse the results of treatments - improving

It's the only tool in medicine that I'm aware of that has been designed

purely by a clinician for other clinicians and it has the ability

with no extra effort on the part of the doctors,

who are seeing the patients on a daily basis, to actually

acquire that very important information and shape

Rob also transformed this place - the outpatient facilities.

Despite failing health he chased funding, helped plan the layout -

chose seat colours, flooring and artwork.

There's loads of space, the corridors are nice and wide.

It's really been thought out very carefully as an ideal environment

And a really special legacy from Rob, I guess?

Another one of this very special legacies.

Although you are looking after patients, obviously you want

the atmosphere and everything to be like this.

But staff were determined to surprise him on opening day -

sneaking a plaque onto the wall, to thank him.

Tomorrow many will gather to remember Rob Johnston.

A man described as unfailingly modest - but one of the most

influential opthalmologists of his generation.

Amanda Parr, BBC Points West, in Cheltenham.

A swimming pool in Wiltshire is to be renamed after the Paralympic

swimming champion Stephanie Millward.

The swimmer from Box won five medals at the Paralympics in Rio last year.

Her local pool in Corsham will change its name

to the Stephanie Millward pool the day before she receives

Bristol City can put their league troubles aside

for a few days as they head to Premier League Burnley

in the fourth round of the FA Cup tomorrow.

This week the club's owner and the players have been uniting

behind under-fire head coach Lee Johnson.

His job is under fierce scrutiny and Lee Johnson says

But after a club record eighth league defeat in a row,

City's owner has this week given the head coach his

He's never faltered or wavered from being as supportive

and as consistent as his message was to everybody.

I'm very, very resilient and I've got a belief in the squad,

a belief in myself and my staff, and we turn up every

He's also found an ally in star striker Lee Tomlin whose recent

absence from the team had sparked rumours of a major fallout.

There's no arguments like too far this way the other.

My performances have been nowhere near what I'm capable of.

For me, if I was on top of my game and he won't play me,

then I think everyone would know if we had had an argument.

Burnley's manager, Sean Dyche, knows all about knows all about

He traces his own success back to an ill-fated spell as a City

I learned more from two years of it not going right in my career

than I did for the rest of my career.

So it was invaluable to understand more about myself,

And Lee, I know what he's going through, what his team

is going through, but the challenges of a team is to be consistent,

Tuesday's league game will be more significant.

But tomorrow is a chance to show some strength of character.

Alistair Durden, BBC Points West, Bristol.

Time for the weather now with Dan Downs.

Well our weather turning more unsettled as we head

into the weekend, already seeing a lot of cloud across the region

and some patchy rain moving up from the south,

that spreading to more areas throughout the afternoon.

Not as cold as it felt yesterday but temperatures still struggling

today to get much above six or 7 degrees.

It stays rather cloudy overnight, still with some rain around,

As you would expect with that cloud and rain,

been during recent nights, down to

Where we do see some clear spells in Somerset for example,

maybe just the chance of some ice forming on those damp surfaces.

So a rather grey and damp start for tomorrow but that rain does

eventually clear away to the east, some brighter

Still the chance though of some showers, there could be some heavy

That is it from us for now. Join us again at 6:30pm as we take you

through to the weekend. Have The FA Cup fourth round,

next weekend, across the BBC. It's incredible, the changes that

have occurred in just 50 years. Oh, my goodness me,

I don't like the look of that. The Robshaws are going back in

time again... Feel a little bit

overwhelmed at the moment. How people did this every day,

I don't know. Calf's head. Leave the teeth

out of it, won't you? It's incredible, the changes that

have occurred in just 50 years.