18/07/2011 Spotlight

Disabled by dementia - tonight Margaret Beardon's husband is

charged with her murder. $$newline Good evening. Neighbours of the

Beardon's described the couple as Also tonight...

Calls for an urgent plan of action at Newquay Airport. Who will fill

the gap left by Air Southwest? We will be there as managers discuss

the future. Appeals for your help as this horse

is killed in a random attack. Editor -- it is horrific, I don't

know what sort of person could do this will stop

And where in the world? The stunning show of wildlife right on

our doorstep. A pensioner who spent the past decade caring for his

disabled wife is tonight in custody charged with her murder. Malcolm

Beardon, who is 79, appeared in court earlier today accused of

killing her. Neighbours in the Somerset town of Wellington have

described the couple as devoted and say this is a tragedy which has

shocked the entire community. This is 78-year-old Margaret

Beardon, who in recent years had become disabled by dementia. This

is where she lived with her husband, Malcolm, who according to friends

spent the last ten years as her full time carer. But on Friday

police were called here to find Mrs Beardon dead. And today her husband

appeared in court charged with her murder. The hearing at Taunton

Magistrates Court lasted just a few minutes. Mr Beardon was not

required to enter a plea of either guilty or not guilty and was

remanded in custody to appear at Exeter Crown Court on Wednesday. In

Wellington this afternoon, neighbours reacted with shock and

spoke of a devoted couple. I believe she suffered from

dementia for many years, and he had looked after her for all that time.

It is very sad, because we realise the dedication a lot of people show

to loved ones and look after them for many years, and it is sad when

the pressure gets too much, and it appears perhaps in this case that

has what it -- that has happened. My thoughts go to the family and

anyone connected, because it is a very tragic time for everyone

concerned. Tonight the family issued a

Mr Breadon is due to appear at An urgent search is underway to

find airlines prepared to take on the routes to and from Newquay

which will be vacated by Air South West. Airport managers say there

has been interest from other airlines and they remain optimistic.

Air South West announced last week that it was pulling out of Plymouth

and Newquay earlier than planned. The company, which operated routes

from nine airports across Britain and Ireland will end all flights on

September 30th. In this financial year Newquay Airport predicts

330,000 passengers will pass through its gates. 25% were due to

travel with Air Southwest. Our court reporter -- Cornwall

reporter is that Newquay airport for us.

Yes, welcome to Newquay airport, where the advertising rates,

Newquay Cornwall airport, where the sky meets the sea. Today this guy

has been very grey, and that was a little like the mood when the

announcement was made. -- tonight Last week, the company announced

there will be no more flights after September 30th, effectively marking

the end of the Air Southwest brand. We need the transport facilities,

better business and tourism, and without it the economy can only

suffer. We are a little disappointed

because our son stays in Cornwall. I am horrified, I think it is a

great airport, a great service people have had over the years, and

I think it is tragic. But today, from the airport's

management, the possibility of better news from managers and

taxpayers. Another airline contacted us

following the arrest in from Air Southwest to discuss the route in

the future. A we all hear of the problems in

the airline industry at the moment, argued convinced there are other

companies that could go where Air Southwest could not?

Or all airlines have different working models, and we are

confident in terms of the economy we will recover, the aviation

upmarket is in a severe slump, but the fact we have spoken positively

over the last 96 hours with the 9th, shows there is a demand and

appetite for services out of the South West, and hopefully we will

be able to announce something in the coming weeks.

I am not surprised, because Cornwall is a popular destination,

and I am very encouraged by it. I did not think there was room for

two - back for too many airlines to compete on the smaller routes, but

now there are vacancies I am certain other airlines will step in.

Obviously everyone here is keen to talk up the possibility those other

airlines will step in and take over those seven routes, meanwhile Air

Southwest themselves are seeing any passengers that have booked in for

flights after September 30th will The RSPCA has described an attack

which left a horse dead as deplorable. 14-year-old Lucky was

either shot or stabbed whilst she was in her paddock at Churchinford

on the Devon and Somerset border. Her owner is appealing for anyone

with information to come forward. You may find some pictures in

Lucky was like a pet. But this morning when her owner, Helen

Salter, came to feed the 14-year- old horse she found her lying dead

in her paddock. Close examination showed up to six marks on the side

of Lucky. It is thought she had been shot, although police say the

marks could be stab wounds. But whatever the post mortem

examination shows, a serious crime has been committed here.

It is horrific, absolutely horrific. I don't know what sort of person

could do this. There is blood on the trees and all around, so it

looks as if the house was moving around before it died. We think it

has suffered. This was Lucky in happier times.

She wasn't often ridden but was a regular sight trotting around the

lanes here with her owner, who had had her since she was ten months

old. The order was too upset to speak

today, and is hoping that anyone will come forward to help track

down her killers. -- the owner was too upset.

She was absolutely distraught, she came down to feed the course as

normal and found it in this state. Police forensic experts are now

trying to find any clues which could help track down whoever did

this. Animal owners in the area are being warned to keep extra guard in

case this turns out to be more than Reserve armed forces like the

Territorial Army are set to double in strength, the Government

announced this afternoon. But the plans would also see a large

reduction in the number of Regular Army troops. Our Political Editor

Martyn Oates has been following the story in Westminster.

The plans announced by Dr Liam Fox, the Defence Secretary, would see

reserve forces rise from as low as 14,000 to 30,000, and at the same

time the Government is pledging money to train and equip these

people, who take on part-time military work alongside full-time

civilian jobs, to prepare them for the front line.

I am pleased to announce the Government will proceed with a �1.5

billion investment package over the next ten years to enhance the

capability of the reserves and increase their strength. �400

million of this will be spent in this Parliament.

A at the same time, the number of regular troops will be cut, by

around one fifth. Labour has latched on to that and said this is

slashing the army. I lit at the Territorial Army website earlier

today and they said that most jobs are open to territorial lists, and

I guess after this announcement a lot more will be on offer.

Police investigating a suspected double murder in Cornwall say

they've recovered two bodies. Human remains and a vehicle were

discovered on farmland near St Austell last week by police

investigating the disappearance of two men, David Griffiths and Brett

Flowernoy. Earlier today a 25-year- old man was arrested in the

Huddersfield area of West Yorkshire on suspicion of murder. 28-year-old

Ross Jan Stone from Cornwall has already been charged with disposing

A permanent memorial dedicated to personnel killed in action has been

unveiled in Afghanistan. The special site of remembrance at Camp

Bastion has been dedicated to members of the Royal Artillery

Gunners who have been killed during active duty. 17 Gunners have lost

their lives, including six from 29 Later in the programme...

Selecting pupils on academic ability - in a new series on

Spotlight we'll be looking at the role of grammar schools in the

It is not so much a tale of two cities, more a fight between two

sides of the same city. Independent traders at one end of Exeter say

they are being neglected, while at the other end of the city centre �2

million is being spent where a new John Lewis store will go.

Our correspondent takes up the story.

Richard Monk and his shop have been doing business here for more than

20 years, and did all that time he says the council has done nothing

to help him or any of the small independent traders who make up

this side of the town. It is a bit annoying. John Lewis

has come into the city and the council says how high can be jump?

Down this end of the time, we feel neglected, we feel that the council

needs to look at other areas of the city. We are suffering here,

everyone has a footfall, and we need help.

Just up the road in this cafe, and business is also suffering.

I am all for the council encouraging big companies to come

to Exeter, but they need to remember small businesses like us

and we need some attention, as well. There -- nothing seems to have been

done here since the war. These traders are angry the council

is investing �2 million on improving the other end of town

where John Lewis is setting up shop. The road layout will be changed and

a nearby car-parks kissed up. I think the traders need to be part

of the solution, not arguing against us while we tried to move

forward, and I told those traders who are critical will vote for the

bid, because that is the way to get a shared strategy which will work

for the future of the city centre. In this tale of two parts of the

same city, triggers of for St say this is the worst of times. --

traders on the street say this is If you are a parent, wou will know

that choosing a school for your child can be daunting, with league

tables and Ofsted reports to scrutinise. But things have changed

dramatically over the years. Unlike most of the UK, the south west

still has some grammar schools which are state run, but that

select pupils on the basis of academic ability. There are seven

left, all of them in Devon. More than two thirds of local

authorities scrapped them completely a generation ago. That

included Cornwall, Somerset and west Dorset. But three remained in

Plymouth, three in Torbay and one in Devon county.

It was more than half a century ago that the vision of freedom like

secondary education for all Education over the age of 14 was a

privilege then, one that had to be paid for.

This was to change. We aim to give every child over 11

some form of education. You could describe it as seismic.

It changed everything. It changed the way we look at what education

can do, the idea that education is for all, and the idea that it

should not matter what your family background, everybody should have a

right, an equal right, to a good education.

Ansell, the Eleven Plus became key Pupils who did well went to grammar

school - the rest made do with secondary moderns. Those who took

the exam in the early days still remember how important it was.

I remember when we got the results. They were read out in class, who

had passed and failed. I remember going the warmth, and I said, I had

just passed, and they were really pleased.

When I failed the examination, my parents were mortified. They

considered I had let them down. I did not pass, and I am glad I did

not pass, but they had to go to school on a morning while I was

playing football. -- on a Saturday morning.

By the mid-60s, the idea of comprehensive education was

sweeping in, and over the next few years there was great pressure to

scrap the old grammars. So, out they went in Cornwall, Somerset,

and West Dorset. But there were pockets of resistance in parts of

Devon, which divided local politicians.

This was a hard fight, but it worked. We had lots of meetings,

and I can remember going to one and listening to their general

complaints by people. They wanted the choice. We stopped the

compulsory sitting of the examination, that was wrong, but we

wanted people to have a choice. By the 90s there were three

grammars left in Plymouth, three in Torbay, and Colyton in East Devon.

In 1994, Ross Kirton started at Devonport High School for Boys. BBC

South West filmed him on his very first day, as part of the Close Up

series. Ross was one of only two pupils from his primary school in

Keyham to even sit the 11 plus - so going to grammar school felt quite

a change. People who live around here it used

to take the Mick. If you walk past in a green and black blazer at the

used to shout stuff, but I really enjoyed my time there.

The university, obviously, we were very proud of, because we have

never been, and it was the first of our immediate family that had ever

been to university. The school itself, Ross always did well, but

then the school pushed you. And so for Ross, like many others,

a grammar school education opened up new opportunities. But is it a

fair system? Tomorrow we take a look at how grammars work today,

and who goes there. And if you want to give us your

view on any of tonight's topics we welcome your e-mails on

Coming up, find out how divers Tonia Couch and Tom Daley got on in

China. Plus, following in her mother's

footsteps - Mary King's daughter aims for a place in the junior

British team. Time for the sport.

Yes, to China first, and there was disappointment for Plymouth's Tom

Daley and Tonia Couch on the opening weekend of the World Diving

Championships in Shanghai. Couch and her partner Sarah Barrow were

less than two points away from what would have been a first ever medal

for British women at the event. Meanwhile, Tom came sixth with his

partner Pete Waterfield, as Brent Pilnick reports.

Medals are hide -- hard to come by for British women divers, and Tonia

Couch came closer than anyone else to getting one. Despite this great

dive, she and her partner had to settle for fourth place. When it

comes to Tom Daley, he knows the eyes of the world are on him, added

that did not help that his partner, Peter Waterfield, had been

suffering from food poisoning in the run-up to the event. It meant a

little time to practise at the end of the competition, and they ended

in seventh place. You have to deal with different

situations. What happens if that happens in 2012? You just have to

try and make the most of the situation, and we dived quite well

together considering what has been going on.

Meanwhile, Cassie Patten knows she must do well in the open waters

when if she is to do well in the Olympics next year. The world

championships is a baby, because it is also the World Cup qualifier.

-- it is a big one. I always do my best, so I cannot ask for any more

than that. No medals yet for the South West, but perhaps this time

tomorrow we might yet be To football and Torquay United have

a new midfielder. He is 24-year-old Ian Morris and comes on a free

transfer from Scunthorpe. Kenyan International Taiwo Atieno

impressed in his two-week trial with the Gulls and has also been

offered a deal. Goal Keeper Martin Rice has also returned to the club.

At Plymouth Argyle, Stephan Zubar, Luke Daley and Ladji Soukouna all

look set to agree deals. Meanwhile sacked Plymouth midfielder Kari

Arnason has joined Scottish Premier League side Aberdeen. And Damien

Johnson has signed on a season long The daughter of Olympic Event rider

Mary King is one of the youngest riders ever to be long listed for

the Junior British Team. 15-year- old Emily King from Sidmouth in

Devon is keen to follow in her mother's sporting footsteps. As

Janine Jansen has been finding out, she says her ultimate ambition is

to be on the same British team as her mum.

Mary King is probably Britain's most successful event rider. She is

preparing for her sixth Olympics. But she will still have time to

help her 15-year-olds daughter, Emily, who is catching fast. Emily

has just been long-listed for the junior British team. She is one of

the youngest riders ever to have been chosen. She says her

competitive mother did not push it into the sport.

She is not pressuring at all, she was not wanting me to follow in her

footsteps and demanding at all. She was very relaxed and wanted me to

do whatever I wanted to do. I tend to train a lot on my own, and even

though she is who she is, she is my mum, and sometimes she is bright.

Emily came fourth in the national Under 18 Championships in Wales

earlier this month. I have not at all pushed hard to do

it, it has been very much her own wish to follow in my footsteps. I

have tried to keep a back seat, tried not to help were too much,

letting her find her own way, but she has always been very

independent. Emily has already shown she has

determination. Two years ago she says she recovered from N E e eat,

and last year she had a riding accident and broke her pelvis, but

her biggest ambition involves her mum.

I have always said it would be amazing to be on the same British

team together, and for London I think I will be too young, I will

only be 16, but maybe Rio de Janeiro, 2016 might be possible,

you never know, but that would be amazing. I don't think anyone else

has done it. If they do manage it, it would be Mary's seventh Olympics,

aged 55, and Emily her first, aged 20. Not impossible, so watch this

space. Emily will find out next month

whether she has made the junior British team. We will let you know

how our divers and swimmers get on in Shanghai this week and next.

They say the best things in life are free - and if you've ever seen

a pod of wild dolphins playing in the sea then you'll probably agree.

That was exactly the sight, captured on film by Lloyd Burnard

who's just returned to Cornwall after being away travelling for 18

months. He could not believe his eyes when he went to his local

beach at Praa Sands one morning and saw an amazing sight - 40 dolphins

swimming right in front of him. He describes what it was like.

I was woken up at six o'clock in the morning by my mother shouting,

banging on the door, you have got to come and see this! Thinking I

was in trouble, I got out of bed, was in trouble, I got out of bed,

what is going on? There was screaming at dolphins in the bay,

and without a word I barged my mother out of the day, wet suit on,

camera, running down with a caveat. Obviously living at the beach, we

are very interested in watersports. -- running down with a kayak. To

actually see 40 dolphins in the bay on a day like that was quite an

amazing sight. I have swum with all sorts of marine life in Western

Australia, it is a privilege to be able to do something like that in

home waters and on my home beach in home waters and on my home beach in

Cornwall. They are so graceful and

mesmerising to watch, and captured on what looked like a very still,

sunny morning. We did not have one Yes, good evening to you. The

weather is a bit doubtful for the next few days. Some wet and windy

conditions, but later in the week it brightens up. Do for the moment,

it is unsettled, cold and breezy. Lots of cloud on the satellite.

This larger cloud through southern England is giving some heavy rain

in places, but there are clear skies to the south of Ireland,

which will nudge towards us this evening and overnight. Tomorrow is

more straight forward, north-west winds, those areas children from

that wind direction may well get some sunny spells developing in the

afternoon. On Wednesday, all change, a new area of low pressure. There

is uncertainty as to how much rain that will bring us, but certainly

Cornwall will have some outbreaks of rain on Wednesday. The cloud is

moving steadily now, still some sharp bursts of rain left behind,

clearer skies coming into parts of Cornwall and the North Devon coast.

Some breaks in the cloud, temperatures probably down to ten

Celsius in some places, and the persistent rain will move out of

the way, a scattering of showers to greet us in the morning. Morning

temperatures, ten Celsius. The morning start of the grave with

showers, by the afternoon, sunny spells developing, but it is mostly

Devon and parts of Cornwall which will see the best. A better day

tomorrow, brighter, and it will certainly feel better without the

persistent rain. Winds are north- westerly, 16 Celsius the top figure,

out of the piece dating to 18 30th. -- out of the breeze, getting to 18

Celsius. For the Isles of Scilly, mainly cloudy, a few showers and we

did much of the cloud for much of The coastal waters forecast has the

winds West, veering north-westerly, forced five, occasionally six on

the north coast. Rain at times in the morning, becoming fair in the

afternoon. Visibility improving too good. Here is the forecast for the

week - Wednesday it looks like it could be damp again, uncertain as

to the track of that area of low pressure, but plan on a cloudy date

with outbreaks of rain, certainly for Cornwall and southern parts of

Devon, 16 or 17 Celsius. By Thursday, northerly winds, a

different flavour, cooler, the risk of showers, but equally the chance

of sunshine in between. Perhaps a better day for all of us on

Thursday, but you will need to wrap up warm, Akim northerly breeze. On

Friday, a lot drier and a little quieter, hopefully feeling a little

warm work at 17 or 18 Celsius. Hopefully within those four days,

something for everyone. I have friends staying in Padstow,

they had a little bit of rain, they were not happy.

The a reminder of our top story tonight...

The disabled by her husband, a pensioner whose husband -- a man

who cared for his wife for the last ten years has denied being charged