08/07/2011 Spotlight

Imprisoned for 10 years for a series of sex attacks on young

girls in Torquay. Good evening and welcome to

Spotlight. More on Jake Ormerod's sentence and the effect his crimes

had on his victims and their families in just a moment.

Also tonight... Anger from second home owners.

Outrage after Cornwall Council says it wants to charge them full

council tax. And a hi-tech approach to weed out

The dreadful impact of a paedophile's crimes was made very

public today as a Torquay man who groomed and sexually abused a

series of girls was sentenced for his crimes. Jake Ormerod, who is 20,

was jailed for ten years. He admitted 13 charges of sexual

abuse against eight girls as young as 12 in Torbay. His case is part

of a widespread investigation into child sex abuse in Torbay, which

police today revealed they now believe involved 140 children. Our

Home Affairs Correspondent, Simon Hall, was at today's sentencing at

The effect of Jake Ormerod's cranes was starkly outlined by the

prosecution. But they topped of lives shattered, people suffering

so much they will probably never get over it. They talked of. We

have been speaking to one mother about what happened to her daughter

and have disguised her identity to protect their goal.

She was only 14 years old, and I have spoken to her about it since,

about what scuppered telling me, and it was mainly that it was a

shame. She felt responsible for it. The court heard distressing details

of the impact of Jake Ormerod's crimes on his victims. One

attempted suicide, another spoke of family breakdown. Another spoke of

depression and being unable to go out for weeks. One girl wrote of

Manipulative, predatory paedophile, someone that preys on children that

go missing in the very vulnerable stages of their lives, often plies

them with alcohol and has sex with them when they are clearly drunk.

He has gone through the years perpetuating that sexual

exploitation of young, vulnerable girls, whether they are vulnerable

or just because they happen to be young teenagers. All teenage girls

go through phases and stages of being unsure of themselves.

Insecure, am I unattractive? Others have issues in their life, there

may be bereavement. Of these things make these children's soap

vulnerable and he has cherry-picked them and work firm and sexually

exploited them. What do I think about Jake Ormerod? I think he is

scum. Some of his victims faced him in

court today. Several cried their way through the hearing.

Jake Ormerod showed no reaction as he was sentenced to ten years in a

Young Offenders' Institution. The police tell us this case is part of

a wide-ranging investigation into a paedophile gang operating in Torbay.

They now believe they are dealing with 140 victims. They expect more

arrests, charges and more cases Owners of second homes in Cornwall

say they are angry about plans to charge them full council tax. The

council is calling on the Government to bring in new

legislation to allow it to scrap the current discount.

It says everyone who has a home in Cornwall should contribute the same

as full time residents. Eleanor Parkinson has been speaking to some

second home owners about the effect Philip Bond has warned his wooden

chalet in Cornwall for 12 years. He uses it in the summer but says it

is not habitable all year round. He says he should not be forced to pay

full council tax. It is impossible to live here all year. We have no

means service come apart from water, no electricity, no heating. Even

the water has to be turned off in the winter otherwise the pipes

freeze, it is impossible to live. Another holiday -- holiday hotspot,

this time on the north Cornwall coast, added Jane inherited a house

from her parents. It is used by the extended family during the summer.

She says the business puts money back into the economy and they

should not be penalised. I understand people resent second

homeowners, but if it was not for the second homeowners in this area,

for example, there would be little employment.

But the council is adamant. It says asking these residents to pay the

same as everyone else is not a lot to ask.

No one is vilifying second homeowners, we're just asking them

to invest in the community they are living so we can keep it

sustainable. This is one of the most deprived counties in the

country. Cornwall may not be the only county

are looking at this. Northampton Council have also commissioned a

report into the impact. Seoul, for some, enjoying their favoured few

may cost a little more than the future. -- their favourite of the

you. Our political editor will be

discussing this issue more on the Politics Show on Sunday.

We have talked to a range of people with a wide spectrum of views. One

of those was the shadow housing minister, Alison Seabeck, buttock

to her about the Labour decision to slash housing benefit in 2004. --

slash the second, as discount in 2004. Up until then, homeowners had

the opportunity to have a 50 % discount, and then they gave local

authorities the ability to lower that to 10 %. She said keeping the

10% was important so that councils could identify which homes are

second homes and how many there are. Her can say that -- Conservative

neighbour in Plymouth said that local authorities should be given

complete freedom to have a discount or no discount at all.

Some think that second homeowners should pay more than the rest of us.

This is an idea that some Lib Dems have talked about. We spoke to a

Lib Dem councillor who thinks second home owners should pay 200 %

council tax. People think that reflects the impact the second

homes make on the affordable housing crisis.

I am the Politics Show on Sunday at Shelterbox has said it stands ready

to respond to the deepening humanitarian crisis in East Africa.

It is now assessing the situation to see what practical help it can

give. The charity, based in Cornwall, says this year has been

the driest in the Eastern Horn of Africa since 1995. Shelterbox says

that as the crisis deepens it is important that aid agencies work

together to provide emergency help to the people most in need.

We are in contact with all our people in that part of the world,

so we are talking to the Kenyan Red Cross and people in Ethiopia and

Somalia. We have offered assistance, if they require emergencies shelter

we will stand by and ready to respond.

The South Western Ambulance service has apologised after a patient was

transferred to the A&E department in a mail van. The incident

happened at the Royal Cornwall Hospital this morning. The

ambulance service say a rescue helicopter arrived earlier than

expected and the ambulance which was tasked to meet it had to been

sent to another emergency call. In the meantime, the helicopter pilot

commandeered a delivery van to take the patient the short distance from

the helipad to casualty. The ambulance service says it is sorry

Bus drivers in Plymouth who work for First Devon and Cornwall have

voted to strike over the withdrawal of the staff bus in the city. The

RMT union says many of its members rely on the bus to get to work and

the company has refused point-blank to talk about it. In a statement,

First said it was deeply disappointed by the vote for

industrial action and it believes What would you do if the plants in

your garden started to go missing? In East Devon, green-fingered

thieves have been stealing so many shrubs and flowers from the

district council's gardens and floral displays that the authority

is taking action. It is actually microchipping the plants to deter

I have come to Connaught Gardens to dig the dirt on plant thieves. They

are not only ruining the beautiful displays but costing the council

time and money. East Devon District Council has come up with this

solution - a microchip which they are using to help identify stolen

plants. We provide the parks and gardens as

amenity. People travel here from all over the country and the world

to look at our beautiful parks and gardens, and when they find the

vault -- this almost vandalism or theft going on, it is not very nice,

and it is disheartening to the parks and gardens staff who look

after all these beautiful plants. The chips are similar to the ones

used in Peps and are embedded in the plant's roots, so even if they

are dug up they can be identified. We have a special scanner, and we

can quickly scanned the plant like this and it comes up with an

identifying 14 digit number of unique to this particular basket,

and we can identify where the plant was stolen from, the exact location.

Flower beds have been plundered throughout the district.

It is disgusting. Why do you think it is disgusting?

Anything like that is bad, isn't it? It is stealing, and the thing

is, they are stealing from themselves, because the council

presumably paid to plant them, and we pay their council, so it is a

little silly, isn't it? The trip lasts even if the plant

dies, so if these are caught there is no way they can bury the

Earlier this week we reported on a survey about the number of empty

shops in the region and we asked what your town centre was like.

Some viewers got in touch to say there were lots of empty shops in

Liskeard in Cornwall. Traders there have hit back.

Rik from the chamber Of Commerce says we have 95 shops in the town

centre. Of these, a total of just seven shops are empty. Lin in

Liskeard says, over the past two years I have visited several small

towns and believe you me, ours is by far much more healthy than some

I have visited. We are keen to hear what your town centre is like and

we plan to visit some of them over Later in the programme...

The moment a swimmer from Cornwall broke his second world record in a

week. Plus Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie helps launch a

prestigious competition. And the monster from the deep which

has attracted the attention of Sir If you have never known anything

about fossils it is thrilling, and if you know just something come it

is hugely thrilling, because you realise this is the biggest skull

There are major delays on the A38 this evening following an accident

on both sides of the carriageway. One line has now reopened on each

of the carriageways, but delays are continuing.

BBC local radio will keep you up- to-date with that throat the

evening. A Devon salt marsh has been

returned to the way it was in the 18th century following a three

hundred thousand pound restoration project. The Environment Agency has

designed a special gate for the South Efford marsh to allow the

tide to cover the lowest-lying areas. Spotlight's Heidi Davey

reports. The rain held off just long enough

for everyone to make their way down the path to one of Devon's newest

the nature reserves. The Environment Agency acquired the

site at South Efford, and over the past few months has fitted a new

tidal gate. He is a sight we have had our eyes on for a long time,

and today is the end of that, although in some ways it is just

the beginning. We have allowed the tide it to

return to a site that has had the tide excluded from it. Since around

1770. They date is designed to steadily

control the amount of water allowed into the marsh land, and will

automatically close to avoid the threat of flooding to neighbouring

land and properties. The marsh land has already started

to flood a nicely, but the responsibility of looking after

this land will now fall to the Devon Wildlife Trust, who have

taken it over on a 21 year at least. We have not managed salt marsh

anywhere, and not a project like this, where it has gone from

grazing marsh to salt marsh. It is a long-term partnership, and the

local school and residents are keen to see how the site progresses.

Members of the local community are impressed with what is on their

doorstep. The value of this to the parish

will be really significant and I hope it will mature beautifully in

the next 15 or 20 years. And I found it quite interesting.

It is really fascinating, because I really didn't know anything about

this before. As the site develops and matures

over the coming months and years, the Devon Wildlife Trust hopes to

successfully managed and area that will be renowned for its salt marsh

and nature. It is 25 years since the Lynx set

the helicopter speed record of 400 kmph over the Somerset Levels.

After a four year restoration at the Agusta Westland factory in

Yeovil, the aircraft is again running in its record breaking

configuration. Apprentices have been carrying out the work on the

helicopter which, a quarter of a century on, remains the official

holder of the speed title. We knew it would probably stand for

a while because it was quite a step up. We beat the last triggered by

something like 33 kilometres per hour. Normally world speed record

score up by one or 2%. We knew it So a sports news now come and a few

champions coming up. We are all champions, are that we?

Staff at Plymouth Argyle have described the first half of 2011 as

"six months of hell". It comes on the day the Pilgrims have announced

season ticket prices for the new season. Office workers will be

remunerated in full, although the payments will come over a period of

Triple Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie has today been back in the

county where he learned to sail. The 34-year-old was at the Royal

Cornwall Yacht Club launching the Finn Gold Cup, which Falmouth has

won the rights to stage next May. Ben Ainslie, back where it all

started. He was brought up in west Cornwall, honed his skills at a

local sailing club, and his parents still live in the county. One of

the most famous sailors in Olympic history has officially started the

campaign for the 2012 Gold Cup, or with Falmouth's Royal Cornwall

Yacht Club chosen to hold the event. I have to give Phil Slater and a

few of my old mates are called to try and work out what is going on

out in the bay and which side of the course is going to pay, but it

will be great to spend some quality time down here at near my parents.

He won gold members -- gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, after

stepping up from winning gold at Sydney.

The Gold Cup is perfect timing for the forthcoming Olympics in this

country, and it will see Ben go for gold No. No. Four.

It is perfect. For me it will be incredible to race in such a

prestigious event near where I grew up, and it will be good preparation

for the Olympics next year. It could be another golden year for

Benn in 2012, and the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club will be one of

his biggest supporters. In this evening's Twenty20 cricket,

Somerset can steer themselves towards the quarter-finals by

The latest scores... Marcus Trescothick was bowled

Cornish swimmer Jonathan Fox has set a second world record in a week.

Fox, from the Newquay Cormorants club, smashed the one hundred metre

backstroke record at the European Paralympic Swimming Championships

in Berlin. Brent Pilnick reports on Jonathan Fox powered his way to a

second European title in a week and topped it off by smashing the world

record for his category, 100 metre backstroke.

I am not being too cocky, but I normally blast the first 50 metres

anyway. I always knew he was right behind me and I just ticket for the

last 50 and smacked the ball. So, as he celebrated his second

gold medal of the championships, he will be hoping he can turn this

European medal into a Paralympic Finally tonight, Plymouth Devils

try to move off the bottom of speedway's Premier League if they

beat Newport Wasps at the St Boniface Arena this evening. Cheer

them on at 7:30pm. A brilliant achievement by Jonathan

Fawkes there. The doyen of natural history broadcasting, Sir David

Attenborough, has described the discovery of part of a huge marine

reptile as one of the most exciting things he has ever seen.

Sir David today got up close and personal with the jaw of a 155

million-year-old pliosaur which has gone on display in Dorchester. The

fossil, which was found off Dorset, is believed to have possessed the

biggest bite of all time. Hamish It is not called the Jurassic Coast

for nothing. Over a five-year period, fossil bones were recovered

after being washed out of a landslide. When assembled, if the

pliosaur skull impresses this man it must be a bit special.

You do not have to be hugely interested to look at those jobs.

Imagine what this creature must have been like through the seas. If

you have never known anything about fossils it is thrilling, and if you

will just something it is hugely thrilling, because you realise this

is the biggest skull you have ever seen and probably the biggest

debate there has ever been. The pliosaur would have looked like

this in action, probably the most powerful predator that ever lived.

It measures about 2.5 metres, but that is just one-fifth or one-sixth

of the size of the scooter, which would have been around 16 metres

long. The largest piece of skull

collected weighed 80 kilograms. In two years it has gone from this to

a viewer-friendly exhibit. Only the dark brown parts are not the

genuine article. Here we have teeth for grabbing

prey. Further back we have great big teeth for slicing up prey,

further back we have teeth which had backwards and stop anything

getting out. Grab, slice and swallow, and nothing would escape.

Still, could the body still be on the Jurassic Coast? That is the

holy grail for the man who discovered that the skull.

If that creature was a wound, it would fill the whole museum. -- if

that creature was around. Mind- blowing. But never mind, we have

got a piece of it. There are a lot of fossils of

marine reptiles all over the place, but nothing that compares to this.

That is why museum bosses hope people will flock from all over the

country to see their exhibition's I cannot think from all -- of a

lick from old fossils to David, so let's see what the weather has in

We have had some sharp showers today, thankfully this weekend they

should be later. Some sunny spells, and it will feel warm work with all

of us seeing temperatures up to 21 Celsius. Lots on the satellite

picture to look at, but the best thing would be the fine weather,

this clear sport out to the West. I know it seems a long way off, but

slowly it will move closer. Several weather fronts still wrapped around

the area of low pressure of generating showers tomorrow, but

come Sunday I think we will start to lose those showers, Sunday the

better of the two days of the weekend.

Earlier today, some of the showers along this line from Norfolk to

Devon have been very heavy. Either side, we have had a reasonable day.

Here there was a very blustery wind, but for some that wind is a perfect

wind to enjoy, enjoying the waves and the strength of the breeze.

Quite a stiff south-westerly today. Overnight tonight it will drop a

little bit. If you are a sufferer, tomorrow is the best day to enjoy

some sizable waves. Showers I mentioned will fade away

tonight, and in the early hours of the morning, apart from one or two

light showers coming into the Bristol Channel, many of us getting

away with a dry night. Temperatures down to 11 Celsius, probably the

lowest, along the coastline 13 or 14 Celsius. Tomorrow is reasonable,

a lot of cloud with some light showers, but nothing compared to

today. By the afternoon, more breaks in the cloud, more sunshine,

and more pleasant feeling because the winds will not be a strong as

today, temperatures ranging from 16 or 17 Celsius along the coast line

to as much as 20 Celsius in the sunshine. For the Isles of Scilly,

the risk of showers early in the day then sunny spells come up winds

later than they have been. The Are the forecast for coastal waters

has the wind west, being north- westerly, four auf That is all from

us for now, goodbye. -- four or five in the morning, dropping to a

force four by the end of the day, mainly fear with good visibility.

Sunday not too bad, are largely dry, bright die, as -- bright day, more

cloud on Monday, a little cooler, cloud on Monday, a little cooler,

but staying find through to Tuesday. Have a lovely weekend.