:00:00. > :00:10.That is all from the BBC's news at six, so it is goodbye from me,
:00:11. > :00:15.A court martial hears evidence from one of the Royal Marines based in
:00:16. > :00:21.Plymouth accused of murdering an Afghan prisoner. Good evening.
:00:22. > :00:30.Welcome to Spotlight. The servicemen blamed "a stupid lack of
:00:31. > :00:34.self`control and lapse in judgment". He insisted he was already dead at
:00:35. > :00:37.the time. All three deny the charges. We'll have the latest from
:00:38. > :00:39.our correspondent at the hearing in a moment.
:00:40. > :00:43.Also tonight, farmers in the region save more than ?50 million thanks to
:00:44. > :00:45.a new initiative to cut disease in cattle.
:00:46. > :00:47.And helping with the harvest ` the volunteers who answered an SOS from
:00:48. > :00:54.this Devon vineyard. A Plymouth`based Royal Marine, one
:00:55. > :00:57.of three accused of killing an injured Afghan insurgent, has
:00:58. > :01:03.insisted the man was already dead when he fired at him. The marine has
:01:04. > :01:07.blamed "a stupid lack of self`control and lapse in judgment."
:01:08. > :01:10.The alleged incident took place in a field in Afghanistan two years ago.
:01:11. > :01:28.The three men, from Plymouth`based 42 Commando, all deny murder. Once
:01:29. > :01:32.again the court was shown in this harrowing video taken by the helmet
:01:33. > :01:39.camera off one of the Marines charged with murder. It shows the
:01:40. > :01:45.final moments of Afghan already injured by an Apache helicopter. It
:01:46. > :01:51.shows him being `` bleeding. We see the Afghan being dragged to the tree
:01:52. > :01:56.line. Marine A said the Afghan war strapped to the tree line to safely
:01:57. > :02:05.administer first aid, not to hide from the Turks `` from the
:02:06. > :02:09.helicopter hovering overhead. We then see a shot being fired by a
:02:10. > :02:17.pistol which was held by Marine A into the body of the Afghan. Marine
:02:18. > :02:22.A was asked in his evidence why he fired that shot into the body of the
:02:23. > :02:28.Afghan. He replied, it was stupid, a lack of self`control. He was then
:02:29. > :02:35.asked where his next words were, there you are. Shuffle off this
:02:36. > :02:41.mortal coil. He said it was bravado. He then said, this doesn't
:02:42. > :02:45.go anywhere. I've just broken the Geneva Convention. Asked where he
:02:46. > :02:52.said that he said, he thought he was breaking the rules of war possibly
:02:53. > :02:56.shooting a dead person. Marine A has admitted the treatment of this
:02:57. > :02:59.individual Afghan was heavy`handed. He has also admitted that was too
:03:00. > :03:05.believes the Afghan was dead when he fired, he acknowledged the
:03:06. > :03:09.possibility that he might have still been alive. That is certainly what a
:03:10. > :03:13.pathologist told the court yesterday. These three Marines, who
:03:14. > :03:20.are charged with murder, all deny the charges.
:03:21. > :03:23.The Government has denied claims by an influential group of MPs that
:03:24. > :03:27.it's not doing enough to deliver services in the countryside. The
:03:28. > :03:29.highly critical report came from the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
:03:30. > :03:32.Select Committee earlier this year. Our Political Editor, Martyn Oates,
:03:33. > :03:37.joins me now from Westminster. What are the Government and the committee
:03:38. > :03:41.disagreeing over? The original report looked at almost every aspect
:03:42. > :03:48.of services in the countryside. Schools, transport, fuel, broadband.
:03:49. > :03:54.One headline issue we have heard a lot about this autumn though is the
:03:55. > :03:59.claim made by most of our MPs, most of our councils in the south`west
:04:00. > :04:04.that rural services as delivered by local authorities are grossly and
:04:05. > :04:10.brushed `` grossly underfunded by the government. They claim urban
:04:11. > :04:15.authorities receive an average of 50% more per head of funding than
:04:16. > :04:21.those in the countryside. The government have responded saying it
:04:22. > :04:35.does not accept that case at all. I put that to the MP for Tiverton and
:04:36. > :04:41.Hammerton. We have been sending petitions, for a rule fair share,
:04:42. > :04:48.expecting 50 MPs to stand up tomorrow evening to make sure that
:04:49. > :04:51.they present those petitions. This is all good stuff. It brings home to
:04:52. > :04:58.the government that there is real concern out there about the lack of
:04:59. > :05:06.support from members of Parliament to what has been referred to as the
:05:07. > :05:11.rule Yeomanry. At long list of concern to go this at the start, you
:05:12. > :05:16.mentioned housing? Specifically the committee asked the government to
:05:17. > :05:21.make it less attractive to people to buy second homes. It makes the
:05:22. > :05:28.affordable housing crisis worst in the south`west and it is not
:05:29. > :05:32.beneficial to the local economy. A new initiative to cut the amount
:05:33. > :05:36.of disease in cattle in the region is set to save farmers more than ?50
:05:37. > :05:39.million. The three year Healthy Livestock Project offered training
:05:40. > :05:51.and advice to around 9,000 farmers across the South West. Spotlight's
:05:52. > :05:57.Anna Varle has the story. And as found in seven for more than a
:05:58. > :06:04.century. Now Anthony is making savings thanks to this initiative.
:06:05. > :06:08.And disease out is so important. We are looking for our animals to grow
:06:09. > :06:13.fast, reproduce regularly and well and produce milk. Anthony is just
:06:14. > :06:20.one of many producers who are benefiting. The healthy livestock
:06:21. > :06:26.project has reached thousands of livestock growers across the area
:06:27. > :06:31.over the last couple of years. It wants to tackle common cattle
:06:32. > :06:45.diseases. We are suggesting, our estimates show, that over the three
:06:46. > :06:50.years, we are achieving about ?15 million a year in benefits, three
:06:51. > :06:59.times the investment. Diseases in cattle cost the south`west at
:07:00. > :07:08.Hundred million pounds a year in costs. The been giving farmers ``
:07:09. > :07:17.vets have been giving farmers advice on how to tackle severe diseases.
:07:18. > :07:27.Once certain diseases become established, it is really difficult
:07:28. > :07:29.to control. The process of studying diseases by getting a stranglehold
:07:30. > :07:37.on cattle has been hugely important and very popular amongst farmers.
:07:38. > :07:40.The project has been such a success it is hoped it will be rolled out
:07:41. > :07:43.nationwide. The BBC has learned that Cornwall
:07:44. > :07:46.Council spends almost ?4 million a year transporting children to school
:07:47. > :07:50.in taxis. The Council says the bill is big because of the county's rural
:07:51. > :07:53.nature. However, they say they are reviewing the system to see if there
:07:54. > :08:03.are better and cheaper ways of providing transport. Eleanor
:08:04. > :08:08.Parkinson reports. His children live 50 miles from their school. They are
:08:09. > :08:15.taken to school by taxi every day and it is a complicated journey. I
:08:16. > :08:24.wake up at 6:30am, have to leave the house at 7:30am to walk to the bus
:08:25. > :08:29.stop to get the taxi. We then get a taxi to a ferry, getting there at
:08:30. > :08:35.8:10am. I have to get that across the river, then either walk up and
:08:36. > :08:43.get the school minibus `` minibus up if it is there. And what if the
:08:44. > :08:47.ferry is not running? If it is not too bad, they put on a really small
:08:48. > :08:52.boats that they can take a cross but only a few people at the time.
:08:53. > :08:55.People listening to this issue might think, goodness gracious, why can't
:08:56. > :09:01.the mother drive the children to school instead of a taxi? I would if
:09:02. > :09:05.I could but then I would have to give up right job. I cannot do the
:09:06. > :09:12.work that I do and drop them at school. The council has an
:09:13. > :09:15.obligation to transport a charter school if they live a certain
:09:16. > :09:20.distance from the school. Now it has been revealed that the council pay
:09:21. > :09:25.out ?3.9 million to transport children to school in a taxi. Each
:09:26. > :09:32.child costs the council about ?3000 a year. If you enable rural area, we
:09:33. > :09:36.will not send a bus to you. The cheapest thing is to send a taxi. We
:09:37. > :09:42.try to cluster as many people together as possible in one taxi.
:09:43. > :09:46.The council says it is reviewing the system and alternatives could be
:09:47. > :09:52.paying parents and carers mileage to drive children to school and using
:09:53. > :09:55.minibuses. For the past couple of months, a
:09:56. > :09:58.survey of the very foundations of the South West has been taking
:09:59. > :10:01.place. New technology has been employed to provide the most
:10:02. > :10:04.accurate picture of what's happening on and below ground. Earlier, Dr
:10:05. > :10:07.Andy Howard from the British Geological Survey, who's leading the
:10:08. > :10:17.study, told me about the initial findings and what they could mean.
:10:18. > :10:22.The last time we did a survey like this was about 50 years ago. When
:10:23. > :10:28.that survey looked at the granites in Devon and Cornwall, you could
:10:29. > :10:32.print out one kind of `` you couldn't tell one kind of granite
:10:33. > :10:37.from another. In this survey we are already seeing interesting things
:10:38. > :10:41.that represent the mineral content in the granite, which is very
:10:42. > :10:50.interesting for mineral companies who are interested in new sources of
:10:51. > :10:57.certain minerals. They may also show us areas within the granite that are
:10:58. > :11:01.hotter than other areas. The company is potentially interested in that
:11:02. > :11:10.those looking at geothermal energy in the future. So what we are
:11:11. > :11:16.discovering effectively are intimations that could even lead to
:11:17. > :11:20.jobs boost? And you can tell a lot about the state of the region as
:11:21. > :11:25.well? Yes, the highly accurate maps that we're making of the landscape,
:11:26. > :11:28.that is giving us new information that the accuracy of a few
:11:29. > :11:33.centimetres of the altitude, the level of the landscape and also the
:11:34. > :11:37.height of the treetops. We can use that for a range of applications. It
:11:38. > :11:42.can tell us where we might expect flooding, what might happen in
:11:43. > :11:49.extreme weather events in Devon and Cornwall. It can tell is where
:11:50. > :11:56.rainstorms might lead to landslides. Briefly, I know the
:11:57. > :12:01.survey has been hampered slightly by the weather that we have had. It
:12:02. > :12:06.would then out or do you still have a little bit more to do? We still
:12:07. > :12:11.have a bit more to do. The airborne blow out achieved survey, that is
:12:12. > :12:19.about 70% completed. We have a significant part of Dublin yet to
:12:20. > :12:23.do, looking at Dartmoor and Exmoor. We have had the most problems with
:12:24. > :12:27.the weather there. We expect to be finished in the next few weeks. Good
:12:28. > :12:31.luck with the end of the project. Thank you for joining us.
:12:32. > :12:35.You're watching Spotlight from the BBC with Rebecca Wills and Simon
:12:36. > :12:38.Clemison. If you've just joined us, welcome to the programnme. Still
:12:39. > :12:45.ahead. The wheels of the economy are spinning on Dartmoor as cyclists
:12:46. > :12:50.take to a major new trail. Added to this at Agatha Christie's home on
:12:51. > :12:52.the banks of the River Dart as we look at a very special murder
:12:53. > :12:55.mystery. A South West tourism business is
:12:56. > :13:00.investing ?1.3 million in new attractions next year. Crealy is
:13:01. > :13:04.spending a million on five new rides and an indoor play area at its site
:13:05. > :13:07.near Exeter and a further 300,000 on three new rides at its park near
:13:08. > :13:11.Wadebridge in Cornwall. The company says it follows a great summer and
:13:12. > :13:16.is its biggest ever investment. It is our 25th anniversary next year
:13:17. > :13:19.and our business is one of continuing investment. If you are
:13:20. > :13:23.not moving forward you are standing still and we need to refresh our
:13:24. > :13:28.product and continue to enhance our visitors day out.
:13:29. > :13:31.Now, you may remember last night we left our reporter Chris Lyddon on
:13:32. > :13:34.the new Dartmoor cycle trail dreaming of a glass of wine in
:13:35. > :13:38.France. While the cycle routes do link up with the continent, we've
:13:39. > :13:41.kept him on Devon's sobering upland. With interest in cycling booming,
:13:42. > :13:51.tonight Chris examines the business that's booming along with it. Who is
:13:52. > :13:58.the second of his special reports. `` he is the second. Lunchtime at
:13:59. > :14:03.this cafe in Princetown. It is a mecca at weekends for cyclists is
:14:04. > :14:12.using the new Dartmoor way cycle route. Business in door and it is
:14:13. > :14:17.they the Miller story outdoors. We have four banks in each room. Dave
:14:18. > :14:28.runs the cafe and has now branched out into cycle hire and camping. It
:14:29. > :14:35.has gone really well. Really popular, not just with the British.
:14:36. > :14:40.The Dutch as well who find it a bit different to at home estimation Mark
:14:41. > :14:48.did out of my way has just been completed, covering 95 miles against
:14:49. > :14:52.`` across all sorts of terrain. It is great for people who want to get
:14:53. > :14:57.out for the first time, for experienced cyclist and for the
:14:58. > :15:03.local communities as well. It brings a lot of people to the area to ride
:15:04. > :15:08.their bikes. The finished wheat means Catherine business will
:15:09. > :15:11.continue to grow. Most of all, it means she can continue to work in
:15:12. > :15:19.the county where she was brought up doing a job in an area she loves. We
:15:20. > :15:25.have an amazing viaduct in one direction and beautiful scenes in
:15:26. > :15:29.another area. Devon county council will be finishing off a missing
:15:30. > :15:36.section that will make it totally traffic free very soon. Enables this
:15:37. > :15:43.is trying to make sure that cyclists spend as much time as possible in
:15:44. > :15:46.the saddle. For sure, the new cycleway has given him a way of
:15:47. > :15:53.finding a live`in in a county where his wife is the main breadwinner.
:15:54. > :15:59.The first month was mostly lots of being at home and sorting out
:16:00. > :16:04.paperwork but now this last month I have been so busy that the paperwork
:16:05. > :16:10.has not even been done. This keen cyclist has also put her money where
:16:11. > :16:17.her heart is. She has used redundancy money to invest in a
:16:18. > :16:21.fleet of electric cycles. This is as much about entering the beauty of
:16:22. > :16:26.Dartmoor as it is about exercise. In Bluebell season you can smell the
:16:27. > :16:29.bluebells and it is a wonderful way of experiencing Matt and I want to
:16:30. > :16:34.make it accessible to more people, so it is not just the would`be
:16:35. > :16:42.Bradlee wicking who are out there. Whether two wheels are your passion
:16:43. > :16:47.and not, the cycle route looks to revolutionise life for many people
:16:48. > :16:50.on the route for many years to come. This year's BBC Children in Need
:16:51. > :16:54.appeal is well underway and this morning, Pudsey was taking part in a
:16:55. > :16:57.new challenge called "Pedal for Pudsey." The sofa company DFS is
:16:58. > :17:01.aiming to raise ?1 million through its Extreme Sofa Challenge Series.
:17:02. > :17:04.Pudsey will cycle more than 400 miles around the UK on a sofa
:17:05. > :17:12.mounted rickshaw and today he stopped off at Plymouth Hoe.
:17:13. > :17:16.We've already talked about a nice glass of wine tonight but a group of
:17:17. > :17:20.people in East Devon deserve one perhaps more than most. In fact,
:17:21. > :17:23.some of the bottles which will hit the shelves next summer will all be
:17:24. > :17:27.thanks to them. Dozens of volunteers answered an SOS to help gather in
:17:28. > :17:32.the grape harvest at the Pebblebed vineyard. As Hamish Marshall
:17:33. > :17:40.reports, owners were worried they'd lose some of their bumper crop in
:17:41. > :17:46.the storm. Contaminated early to help produce the wine of tomorrow.
:17:47. > :17:53.This vineyard is hoping to bottle double its previous record this
:17:54. > :17:57.year, securely good after April 2012 crop. But it would not have happened
:17:58. > :18:03.without an army of helpers to bring in the crops. It will be a nice
:18:04. > :18:11.day. Come out and enjoy it and I have never done it before, so I
:18:12. > :18:15.thought why not. Daphne teaches German but has given up some of her
:18:16. > :18:20.half term to help out after coming here on a tour. It is nice to know
:18:21. > :18:28.that I have been at the other end of the chain now as well, picking the
:18:29. > :18:36.grapes. It has been a bumper year for grapes. The vineyard escaped the
:18:37. > :18:44.worst of the storm and there are still seven tonnes of grapes to go.
:18:45. > :18:51.This keeps me fit. It works very well. It looks like we built the
:18:52. > :18:59.face `` it looks like we will be picking tomorrow as well. Flora Hart
:19:00. > :19:01.and her brother are too young to get any immediate benefit from a glass
:19:02. > :19:07.of wine but they have been mucking in as well. You have to get scissors
:19:08. > :19:15.and cut the bit soft. You can only get the good ones, not the bad ones.
:19:16. > :19:22.It is very sticky. Very sticky. And it gets allover your hands. But
:19:23. > :19:29.despite a late start due to the cold Spring, 2013 has been very good for
:19:30. > :19:34.the great growing business. We have had some of the best conditions
:19:35. > :19:40.across northern Europe for great growing this year. For once,
:19:41. > :19:46.possibly, hopefully with more in the future, Devon is a really good place
:19:47. > :19:55.to grow grapes and to make wine. To handcuff the two`day's reward but as
:19:56. > :20:03.the grapes had off to the binary, `` winery, dreams of the wine can sit
:20:04. > :20:06.alive. Fans of Hercule Poirot here in the
:20:07. > :20:10.South West may just recognise some of the backdrop as the famous sleuth
:20:11. > :20:13.tries to solve his latest crime in this evening's programme. The
:20:14. > :20:16.adaptation of Dead Man's Folly was shot at Agatha Christie's holiday
:20:17. > :20:20.home near Dartmouth. Spotlight's Andy Breare has been taking a look
:20:21. > :20:31.at tonight's episode but don't worry ` he knows that only Poirot can
:20:32. > :20:35.reveal whodunnit. He may be the star of the star of Pharoah but tonight
:20:36. > :20:42.he will be sharing the limelight with the beautiful Devon home that
:20:43. > :20:46.inspired the name of the book and is the setting for this evening's
:20:47. > :20:52.drama. I feel certain that someone is going to die. The crew were
:20:53. > :20:59.great. They fitted into life here almost seamlessly. It was great.
:21:00. > :21:04.When Hercule Poirot is fully dressed up, he remains in character all day,
:21:05. > :21:08.so you may bump into him and interact with him but he will not
:21:09. > :21:16.speak to you as himself, only as the character. Devonshire is a county
:21:17. > :21:20.most pleasant, isn't it? It is when it isn't raining but there are no
:21:21. > :21:25.nightclubs. Although Agatha Christie never wrote here, she always had a
:21:26. > :21:28.completed novel when she came on home hair and she would read
:21:29. > :21:33.extracts to her guests here in the drawing room. Tonight, the
:21:34. > :21:40.characters that she created will come alive in this iconic setting.
:21:41. > :21:44.The film crew and all`star cast spent the week in June at the
:21:45. > :21:48.National trust property. Surprisingly, it remained open to
:21:49. > :21:53.visitors during the filming. They were really good, especially when we
:21:54. > :21:58.had to alter this to read steelworker at the filming. They
:21:59. > :22:01.were absolutely brilliant and he had everybody pressed up against
:22:02. > :22:07.Windows, watching as all these characters came alive, wandering
:22:08. > :22:16.around the grounds. It was brilliant. They were absolutely
:22:17. > :22:24.fantastic. While this may be his final series as Hercule Poirot, the
:22:25. > :22:28.levels will continue to be appreciated by readers old and new
:22:29. > :22:37.and this home will continue to be appreciated by millions from around
:22:38. > :22:39.the world. Time for the weather now. I think the butler did it. Don't
:22:40. > :22:57.give it away! We have got some typical autumnal
:22:58. > :23:03.weather. A reasonable start to the day tomorrow, but clouding up with
:23:04. > :23:08.plenty of showers to end the day. This weather is giving us rain at
:23:09. > :23:13.the moment, and drifting eastwards overnight. You can see great big
:23:14. > :23:20.lumps of cloud heading our way from the Atlantic. Any diners will be
:23:21. > :23:24.short lived. `` any dryness will be short lived. This area of low
:23:25. > :23:30.pressure is moving in quite fast, bringing quite wet weather, heavy
:23:31. > :23:36.rain, as we head into Friday. The afternoon looks particularly wet. As
:23:37. > :23:40.we move into the weekend, it becomes windy again. That line of cloud
:23:41. > :23:44.which is coming through this evening is moving steadily. Whilst we see
:23:45. > :23:48.some rain now, it will Peter out towards the early hours of the
:23:49. > :23:55.morning. We have enough clear skies to allow early mist and fog to ``
:23:56. > :24:01.fog patches to form. A truly start to the day therefore. For most of it
:24:02. > :24:06.will be dry and the mist will shift, but it will gradually cried over ``
:24:07. > :24:12.cloud over and by the afternoon there will be rained pretty much
:24:13. > :24:17.everywhere. Light to start with, the breeze increasing as the afternoon
:24:18. > :24:24.goes on, coming quite strong by the evening. Quite well and tomorrow
:24:25. > :24:27.though, despite all that cloud. For the Isles of Scilly, briefly bright
:24:28. > :24:30.in the morning but the cloud will roll in along with the rain.
:24:31. > :24:43.Becoming quite wet through the afternoon. High water times.
:24:44. > :24:47.It will be quite messy for our servers, particularly in the
:24:48. > :25:10.afternoon. The waves though. The visibility will fall to moderate
:25:11. > :25:14.in the showers. I thought I would take you into the weekend, because
:25:15. > :25:18.we are watching and other area of low pressure. It is quite a deep low
:25:19. > :25:24.which will mean the weekend is windy on both days, but we are a bit
:25:25. > :25:27.concerned about the strength of the wind, particularly overnight on
:25:28. > :25:32.Saturday. It could be quite lively with gusts of 60 or 70 mph. Gales
:25:33. > :25:40.again possible through this weekend. Plenty of rain on there has
:25:41. > :25:45.well. Write a wet forecast. The rain on Friday could be quite intense so
:25:46. > :25:50.we do have a warning about that from the Met office. As we move into the
:25:51. > :25:54.weekend, plenty of showers around and slightly colder air heading our
:25:55. > :25:58.way. Through Saturday and Sunday and certainly do the early part of next
:25:59. > :26:02.week, watch the winds go from West to north`westerly with a drop in
:26:03. > :26:11.temperatures. Make most of any or dry weather. Have a good evening.
:26:12. > :26:15.That is it from us this evening. There will be hourly updates on your
:26:16. > :26:17.BBC local radio station but from all of us here, have a good night.
:26:18. > :26:39.Goodbye. Everyday normal things that everybody
:26:40. > :26:43.does is where I use my energy. I haven't got an extravagant
:26:44. > :26:45.lifestyle, I've not got a hot tub outside or
:26:46. > :26:47.something like that. In essence, it is
:26:48. > :26:52.a choice between heating or eating. We will still eat
:26:53. > :26:55.and we will still have heating It's just maybe the quality
:26:56. > :26:58.of the food that we eat may not be as good as what we're
:26:59. > :27:02.eating at the moment.