0:00:00 > 0:00:00That's all from the BBC News at One - so it's goodbye from me -
0:00:00 > 0:00:11and on BBC One we now join the BBC's news teams where you are.
0:00:11 > 0:00:12Hello and welcome to Points West. news teams where you are.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15Our headlines this lunchtime: news teams where you are.
0:00:15 > 0:00:17A woman goes on trial in Bristol accused of murdering her
0:00:17 > 0:00:20ex-boyfriend in an acid attack.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23New technology gives a voice to motor nueron disease
0:00:23 > 0:00:26patients in Wiltshire.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29And the war veteran poppy seller from Taunton who says,
0:00:29 > 0:00:31"I'll still be doing this when I'm 100!"
0:00:37 > 0:00:40Good afternoon.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44A court has heard how a man was left grotesquely scarred
0:00:44 > 0:00:46after his ex-girlfriend threw acid over him as he slept.
0:00:46 > 0:00:49Mark van Dongen ended his life in a euthanasia clinic in Belgium
0:00:49 > 0:00:53at the beginning of this year, 15 months after the alleged attack
0:00:53 > 0:00:55took place in Bristol.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58Berlinah Wallace, who is 48 years old, is charged
0:00:58 > 0:01:01with murder and throwing a corrosive substance with intent
0:01:01 > 0:01:03to harm, both of which she denies.
0:01:03 > 0:01:13Our home affairs correspondent Charlotte Callen has been in court.
0:01:13 > 0:01:18For the first time today, we heard more details in this case. We heard
0:01:18 > 0:01:22how Mark van Dongen had moved to Bristol some five years before the
0:01:22 > 0:01:26attack and moved in with his then girlfriend, Berlinah Wallace, who
0:01:26 > 0:01:31were some 18 years older than him and from South Africa. We have the
0:01:31 > 0:01:34relationship was described as turbulence at times. Just a few
0:01:34 > 0:01:37weeks before the attack, they had separated and Mark had started
0:01:37 > 0:01:43dating a new girlfriend. He claims that she was jealous. Boro showed a
0:01:43 > 0:01:46video of Mark van Dongen, recorded in his hospital bed after the
0:01:46 > 0:01:51attack. In it's coming he outlines what he says happened on the night
0:01:51 > 0:01:58of the 22nd of September 2015. He says Berlinah Wallace says she was
0:01:58 > 0:02:03going off to a hotel, but had waited any part around the corner. Then
0:02:03 > 0:02:07came back in what he described as day close, and stood at the end of
0:02:07 > 0:02:13his bed and shouted at ten, if I can't have you, then no one will.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17She then threw a glass of acid over him. We then saw what was described
0:02:17 > 0:02:23as an unusual move from her defence team, they claimed it was in fact
0:02:23 > 0:02:26Mark van Dongen Crewe acid in the glass by the bed, and he was going
0:02:26 > 0:02:31to use that to poison Berlinah Wallace. So she picked up the glass
0:02:31 > 0:02:35in a fit of rage, thinking it contains water, and threw it over
0:02:35 > 0:02:40Hema. We as I had today how Mark's injuries were described as
0:02:40 > 0:02:48catastrophic. Everyone in court was moved today to hear how the last one
0:02:48 > 0:02:54eye and Lee site in the other. He was paralysed and had the bottom of
0:02:54 > 0:02:57his left leg amputated. His injuries were described as catastrophic and
0:02:57 > 0:03:02he decided he wanted to return to Belgium to have assisted suicide.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05Berlinah Wallace denies all the charges against her in the court
0:03:05 > 0:03:08case continues.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10A Wiltshire man who's losing his voice due
0:03:10 > 0:03:12to motor neuron disease says new technology is helping him
0:03:12 > 0:03:15preserve his own voice.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18Jon Stephens has recorded hundreds of words and phrases which he can
0:03:18 > 0:03:21then turn into messages to play to people via a tablet.
0:03:21 > 0:03:29He's the first patient at Swindon's Great Western Hospital
0:03:29 > 0:03:30to use the software.
0:03:30 > 0:03:31Here's Laura Jones.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34Back at hospital, a chance for Jon to catch up
0:03:34 > 0:03:35with speech therapist Lucie.
0:03:35 > 0:03:36All right?
0:03:36 > 0:03:37Good to see you again.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40The pair have been working closely together for more than a year,
0:03:40 > 0:03:44since Jon received his devastating diagnosis of motor neuron disease.
0:03:44 > 0:03:51My speech had become a little slurred, so I went to the doctors,
0:03:51 > 0:03:55who then referred me to the hospital, where I was told
0:03:55 > 0:04:00I had motor neuron disease disease.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02That must've been a huge shock?
0:04:02 > 0:04:05Yeah, it was.
0:04:05 > 0:04:07Motor neuron disease effects the nerves in the brain and spinal
0:04:07 > 0:04:10cord that tell your muscles what to do.
0:04:10 > 0:04:14It can affect the way you walk, talk, eat, drink and breathe.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17In Jon's case at the moment, it's affecting his speech.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20But thanks to some clever new software and a lot of hard work
0:04:20 > 0:04:23here at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon, he's not
0:04:23 > 0:04:25losing his voice just yet.
0:04:25 > 0:04:31This piece of software is called ModelTalker,
0:04:31 > 0:04:34and Jon spent more than 14 hours over two months recording more
0:04:34 > 0:04:37than 1600 phrases onto it so he could continue to communicate
0:04:37 > 0:04:41with people, even if his speech deteriorates further.
0:04:42 > 0:04:43Our voice is our being, isn't it?
0:04:43 > 0:04:44It's our identity.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48So to be able to give Jon a replacement, albeit not
0:04:48 > 0:04:54exactly like his own voice, but quite a close approximation
0:04:54 > 0:04:57to how he sounded, I think it's fantastic.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59And I'm so thrilled we're able to do this here
0:04:59 > 0:05:00in Swindon for people, yes.
0:05:00 > 0:05:04Out of the hundreds of phrases Jon has recorded so far, he reckons this
0:05:04 > 0:05:06will be his most used.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09A cup of tea, please.
0:05:09 > 0:05:13And off they go, get your tea!
0:05:13 > 0:05:16At the moment, Jon is doing well.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19And whilst there are no clues as to how his disease will develop,
0:05:19 > 0:05:22at least he'll be able to have a say about his future
0:05:22 > 0:05:24using his own voice.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31Vasectomies and female sterilisation will no longer be funded by the
0:05:31 > 0:05:34NHS in Bath and North East Somerset.
0:05:34 > 0:05:38That's if new cost cutting proposals go ahead.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41The clinical commissioning group also wants to bring down the age
0:05:41 > 0:05:45at which women can receive fertility treatment from 40 to 35.
0:05:45 > 0:05:50There would also be an upper age limit of 55 for men.
0:05:50 > 0:05:52Similar measures were proposed by CCGs in Bristol,
0:05:52 > 0:05:55South Gloucestershire and North Somerset,
0:05:55 > 0:05:59but were scrapped due to possible legal action.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02A Somerset veteran of World War II is doing what he can to make sure
0:06:02 > 0:06:05the sacrifices of his generation are never forgotten.
0:06:05 > 0:06:1094-year-old Stan Tooze is out in Taunton selling poppies.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13Our Somerset correspondent Clinton Rogers has been to meet him.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19According to Stan, a hat's all you need,
0:06:19 > 0:06:21even if it did drop below freezing last night.
0:06:21 > 0:06:27Nothing deters this 94-year-old war veteran from his outdoor dayshift.
0:06:27 > 0:06:34And so, on duty as he is most days, in a Taunton supermarket.
0:06:34 > 0:06:36No, I don't feel the cold.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40Too young for that.
0:06:40 > 0:06:42Yeah, I'd like to know what your medals are?
0:06:42 > 0:06:44Just the Second World War.
0:06:44 > 0:06:48Modest as well, but always the main attraction here.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50Sombody asked for his autograph the other day.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54He gives 100% support, he's there for everything.
0:06:54 > 0:07:02Rain, sun, he's always there.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06Stan Tooze was part of the sixth Airborne Division
0:07:06 > 0:07:07of the Parachute Regiment.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09He saw active service in Belgium towards the end
0:07:09 > 0:07:10of the Second World War.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13We went out to the Ardennes on Christmas Eve.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16Inevitably, the memories are still vivid.
0:07:16 > 0:07:25My mate was there one second, the next thing he was knocked
0:07:25 > 0:07:26down, dead by airburst.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29And I was still left.
0:07:29 > 0:07:31It is why he feels a duty to help raise money
0:07:31 > 0:07:34for the Royal British Legion, to honour the memory
0:07:34 > 0:07:35of his fallen comrades.
0:07:35 > 0:07:40How long do you think you will carry on selling the poppies?
0:07:40 > 0:07:4594, give it another six years.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48At the very least, I'd say!
0:07:53 > 0:07:56A blue plaque has been unveiled in Bristol at the home of a soldier,
0:07:56 > 0:07:58awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry during World War I.
0:07:58 > 0:08:02Hardy Falconer Parsons was a medical student at Bristol University
0:08:02 > 0:08:04when he volunteered to fight and was enlisted in
0:08:04 > 0:08:06the Gloucestershire regiment.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09In France, he held off a German flame-thrower attack
0:08:09 > 0:08:16almost single-handledly, armed only with hand grenades.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18Lets get a look at the weather with Alex.
0:08:18 > 0:08:20Thank you, hello, good afternoon.
0:08:20 > 0:08:21What a difference a day makes.
0:08:21 > 0:08:24After a chilly start to the day, most of us seeing
0:08:24 > 0:08:25plenty of bright weather.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28And that's thanks in this area of high pressure building in today,
0:08:28 > 0:08:30keeping things dry and settled.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33That's the way it continues for the rest of the day too.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36Plenty autumnal sunshine to enjoy, the light winds feeling pleasant.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40Maximum temperature today, 10 Celsius.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43Through this evening and overnight, dry for a time, but we'll see
0:08:43 > 0:08:46cloud coming in from the northwest.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50That brings outbreaks of light rain.
0:08:50 > 0:08:54Temperatures around three Celsius, so the possibility of some frost
0:08:54 > 0:08:57in rural areas overnight.
0:08:57 > 0:08:59A cloudy, grey start to Thursday.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03Patchy rain heading southwards through the morning.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07Improving into the afternoon, light winds and feeling milder
0:09:07 > 0:09:10tomorrow, highs around 13.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13For Friday, starting cloudy then brightening,
0:09:13 > 0:09:16but a noticeably cooler feel into the weekend.
0:09:17 > 0:09:19Have a good afternoon.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22That's all for now, we hope you can join us for your evening bulletin
0:09:22 > 0:09:23just after 6:30pm.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25Have a very good afternoon.