31/03/2014 Spotlight

That's all from the BBC News at Six - on BBC One we now join the

That's all from the BBC News at Six A wall of fog and a smell of gun

powder, witnesses describe the moments before a crash on the M

which claimed seven lives. Good evening. Motorists havd told an

inquest about the sudden ch`nge in visibility, saying it was lhke

driving into emulsion. Also, anger that Devon and Cornwall

will miss out on billions of pounds of real investment. It workdd real

will spend ?7 million in thd western region but not as far as here.

And the long`awaited dredging of the River Parrett on the Somersdt Levels

gets underway. An inquest into the deaths of seven

people killed in a motorway pile up in Somerset has been hearing details

of the last moments before they died. The inquest follows the

collapse of a court case brought against the organiser of a fireworks

display close to where the crash happened. Our Somerset corrdspondent

Clinton Rogers was at the hdaring in Taunton.

For the second time in a matter of months, the families of the victims

came to hear exactly what h`d happened the night of their loved

ones died. The inquest here follows the collapse of criminal proceedings

against the man who was running a fireworks display right next to the

motorway, close to the collhsions occurred. Originally, he faced seven

charges of manslaughter. Those charges were dropped and in the end,

he went to trial accused of just one offence, under the Health and Safety

work`out. When that trial collapsed last December, West Somerset coroner

ordered a full inquest. `` `t work act. Another hearing to pour over

the details of why and how this happened on the night of November

the 4th 2011. The families who were here said that although this was a

painful experience, it was necessary. I think there will always

be something to learn from this case and any other case. So using an

inquest is necessary? I think so. I think as well because it dods

finalise things, to an extent. It will always be be fulfilled. The

people go. But I am learning more through coming down here th`n we did

at Worcester Crown Court, I am sorry to say. Today, the West Somdrset

coroner Michael Rose said that most of the seven victims died from crush

injuries. One perished in a terrible fire that started after the

collisions. `` crash injurids. As in last year's court case, there was

conflicting evidence about conditions on the M5at the time of

the crash. Among drivers called to give evidence, there was

disagreement on water visibhlity had been badly reduced, and if so by

what. Fall, and as? The coroner said that was not in dispute was that

some drivers have become disorientated by reduced visibility

to stop `` four, missed? The grieving family of a tednager

who was found dead in a mental health unit in Cornwall say, after a

three year wait, his inquest has raised more questions than `nswers.

Parents Steve and Sharon Cowburn have been interviewed for the first

time since an inquest jury said shortcomings in his care had

contributed to 18 year Ben Cowburn's death at Longreach House in Redruth.

`` 18`year`old Ben. They've been talking to Spotlight's David George.

Sharon and Steve Cowburn have taken time since the inquest ended to

think of their response. Thdir son, Ben, was found in his room `t

Longreach House mental health unit in December 2010. The inquest jury

reached an open verdict. We always felt that when the inquest finally

came that we would feel better. And that it would close a chaptdr and

help the healing process. Btt actually, I think we all fedl now

that we've got more questions than answers. And the family are set

back, really, struggling. The family say Ben changed from a lively, happy

young man to a very troubled young man during his time in London. They

claim five members of staff from Longrreach that Ben had spoken to

about what had happened to him did not give evidence. We asked

repeatedly for these partictlar nurses to be called to inqudst and

we were told they were eithdr unavailable or it was not

appropriate for them to be called. The coroner granted anonymity to a

TV comedian who Ben had met while in London. The Metropolitan Police

concluded the relationship was friendly and in a review of the

evidence, decided not to interview the man. When we got into the

inquest process and the disclosures and reviews were read out in court,

from the Metropolitan statelent I was shocked. `` disclosures of

abuse. I was really shocked that the identified gentleman had not been

spoken to. The inquest took place more than three years after Ben

died. His parents say that hs too long for grieving families. They

also claim they were not addquately kept informed during the process. We

contacted the Cornwall coroner who said it would not be appropriate to

comment on the conduct of the inquest. The family have st`rted a

charity which campaigns for better care for young people with lental

health issues. They say the Cornwall partnership NHS Foundation Trust has

accepted there is a need for a specialist unit for 13`25`ydar`olds.

Yesterday was Mother's Day `nd I spent part of that time with three

daughters and part of the thme in the cemetery. And so we havd paid

the highest price but we sthll want to work with them because the only

small amount of good that c`n come out of this is for things to change.

Sharon Cowburn speaking to our reporter David George in Trtro.

There's growing anger this dvening that Devon and Cornwall won't be

getting a share of the ?38 billion of Network Rail investment `nnounced

today. The money's being spdnt on upgrading the country's rail

infrastructure over the next five years. ?7 billion will be spent on

its Western region but therd's no major investment in the far South

West. The plan was drawn up before storms hit the line at Dawlhsh. John

Ayres is in Dawlish. John? Yes, Network Rail are proudly

announcing the biggest investment in the railway since the Victorian era.

But there is no one around here really celebrating. The reason for

that is because nearly all of the money is being focused at the London

end of the line or up at Brhstol. And when you consider everything

that has happened here, that is a bitter pill to swallow. These are

the views of Tudor Evans, the leader of Plymouth City Council. Wd are

getting our Victorian railw`y line back and the Government are seeing,

and Network Rail are seeing, be grateful. I am not grateful. I am

not grateful for the fact that the plaintiffs pained five times as much

on every passenger between London and Bristol, compared with the spend

between London and Plymouth. Network Rail say that these improvelents at

Bristol will improve connectivity to the first Southwest. They rdmind us

of the latter is a task force looking at the future resilhence of

the line and the possibilitx of having a line inland as well.

What has been the response from local MPs?

When you talk about any real investment, you've also got to

consider HS2, the real link from London to the North of Engl`nd, the

high`speed rail link. Some of the South West MPs have been saxing that

if that were to draw resources, yet the economy or investment, `way from

the Southwest, even though they re not against it in principle, they

would have to vote against ht. If we take this line in particular, the

local MP, the MP for the dollar Sharia, she said perhaps thdre could

have been more money this thme but she does believe the Governlent is

listening. `` the MP for thhs region. There is already 31 million

committed to spend on resilhence around infrastructure in thd

Southwest. We have not done as well as we would like. Clearly, we would

like more. We have been fighting and we are seeing results and wd are all

united in wanting to fight for more. In my view, the Government hs

listening. Lots of promises have been lade

about investment for this lhne. Businesses are just hoping that as

the weather gets better and as time passes, it does not fall off the

agenda. Thanks, John. Later in the programme

we'll be back in Dawlish to look at the preparations that are underway

for Friday's re`opening of the line. The long`awaited operation to start

dredging the Somerset Levels s is underway. The diggers were tested

over the weekend and are now up and running on the River Parrett,

clearing a 200 metre stretch of river bed. It's the start of a 0

year plan to provide some flood relief to the area. Fiona L`mdin

send this report from Burrowbridge. The Somerset Levels before... And

after. The muddy brown waters have been replaced. Green shoots of

recovery. The road from Boroughbridge to Morland was

passable only by tractor. Two months on and it is now a drive drhve to

the dredges. So it is day one of the seven`month mission dredging five

miles of the rivers. This dredging is not about making the rivdr any

deeper. It is all about makhng it wider, 30% wider. It may look like I

am standing on the river bank. I am not. I am standing on field which

has built up over the last 20 years. This has now got to go, takhng it

back to what look like in the 6 s. `` what it looked like. Sevdn miles

away, John's fields are full of black, rotting grass. They have been

under water for three months, costing him thousands of potnds

This field behind me now wotld normally have about 25 cattle and

it, pretty much all summer. It is going to have nothing.

Instead, he takes us to revhew will be spending their summer. Hd is as

please the dredging has fin`lly started. I am absolutely delighted

that they are doing. It will not save flooding but it will s`ve the

depth and time that the land is under water. It is not a chdap

option, costing ?5 million. So is it a one`off? The Environment @gency

will not be drawn. Whether or not dredging occurs as a matter for

ourselves and our partners hn the communities, but come together and

discuss and make some decishons about how we spend the monex that

the Government had allocated. Local politicians are confident this will

now be an annual fight. Every year we definitely will dredge. The

reason is that there is going to be a change of governance, where it

will probably be handed back to the drainage boards. Their

responsibility will be to m`intain and pre`dredge, which is wh`t

happened before 1995. Would the Kremlin Mr's promise today became a

reality any hope the levels ever drive `` in a hole the Somerset

Levels never drown again. Also coming up:

We will find out how Somersdt are preparing for the new season.

Plus, read up after seeing the competition. We will meet youngsters

who built this winning car. And preparing for passengers ag`in, the

volunteers giving Dawlish station a make over.

Drug and alcohol addicts ard being encouraged to try abstaining instead

of relying on substitutes stch as methadone. The ?15 million project

is being run by charities in Devon. Jenny Kumah has the details.

What's new about this service in Devon is that it deals with both

drug and drink problems. Before these issues were dealt with by two

separate organisations. Forler drug users and alcoholics have hdlped to

shape the service so it can better meet people's needs. I've bden

speaking to one of the people involved in this project. Hd had

been a heroin and methadone user for 28 years. My brother gave md a

definition. He said, "It's like when you started taking drugs, you shut

down. And for 20 years, you were shut down and you just woke up

again." And that is exactly what it's like. It's like I'm reborn in

a way. Seymour chose to comd off the heroin substitute methadone but he

says that many addicts have been left to linger on this prescribed

medication for too long without enough help to come off drugs

completely. And that's what this new service hopes to sort out. There

will be a big emphasis on abstinence. There will be a great

emphasis in the new service... That will continue to provide substitute

medication for people... But as part of a plan. And part of that plan

will be that it will be on ` reducing basis over a period of

time, dependent on their nedds. Addiction is a growing problem.

Around 15,000 people are dependent on drugs and around 26,000 have a

drink problem. This is predhcted to rise by 4% by 2030. The authorities

also say the nature of addiction is changing, with dependency on

over`the`counter prescription drugs rising as well as the number of

professional women drinking harmful amounts of alcohol.

Jenny there. As Justin mentioned, the new cricket

season is just around the corner and today, Dave Gibbins has been to

Somerset County Cricket Club. Here he is with their plans for this year

and the highlights from the weekend's football and rugbx action.

This report contains some flash photography. Well, the cricket

season starts in earnest in a couple of weeks' time for Somerset and this

is part of their pre`season reparation, showing off thehr

Championship attire in front of the press followed shortly by their

Twenty20 kit. More about th`t in a moment. But first, the rest of the

sport. Yeovil Town has slipped, I `m

afraid, to the bottom of football's Championship again.

afraid, to the bottom of football's It was imperative that they got the

better of relegation rivals Barnsley at the weekend. But they cr`shed to

a 4`1 defeat. A mistake by Byron Webster late in the first, which was

doubled by a tasty finish to leave them floundering in a game they

could not afford to lose. This player instilled some life hnto Town

but that was quickly undone as Barnsley grabbed another two goals

to end the contest. After two wins last week, Exeter

City are back to square one following a one goal loss to

Accrington Stanley. While Torquay United's life as a

league club is nearing its dnd. City goalkeeper was left wanting from a

corner kick, as Accrington scored the only goal. Despite the result,

Exeter are still seven points away from danger.

Torquay have only six games left to preserve their league status and a

1`0 setback, this time play`off content to Southend, leaves them

seven points away from the clear. Exeter Chiefs's hopes of finishing

in the top six of this year's Rugby Premiership and a place in the

revamped European Cup are almost over.

Meanwhile, the Cornish Pirates have needed ten straight wins in the

league over south`west rivals Plymouth Albion. Here's Ben. ``

Brent. Since Plymouth Albion last beat the

Cornish Pirates in the leagte, there has been two Winter Olympics, a

change of government and a Royal Wedding. And their wait to beat

their Cornish neighbours is going to go into its fifth full year after

Saturday's close loss. After Albion had taken an early lead with tries

putting the visitors in front. `` lead, tries put the visitors in

front. Iain Grace got Albion close before this late try from Tom Kettle

sealed the win against his old club. We've come up here today, there is a

great crowd. We really enjoxed being in front of it and I feel lhke it

had a bit of a derby game fdel, as well. It was coming and going,

coming and going but thankftlly we got the result. A bit frustrating.

We crossed the line twice, got the ball rolling, put it down twice and

the referee failed to see that twice, which frustrates me `s well.

That's potentially 10`14 pohnts but somehow the officials have lissed it

but everyone else has seen ht. So I'm not happy with that either but

we made two mistakes. `` too many mistakes. Meanwhile, Exeter's hopes

of a top six Premiership finish are all but over after losing 14`13 to

Gloucester. This late try sdt up a kick to win it for Gary Stednson but

it drifted just wide to leave the Chiefs in ninth place.

Well, the press conference has just finished in the Long Room and we are

on the balcony of that same building. Joining us is the county

captain of Somerset. You've got two new coaches, David Hutton and also

Jason Kerr, a familiar face to everybody at the County grotnd. What

do you think they can add to the team? It has been quite an dasy

progression. Jason has been involved and been here for a long period of

time. So that has been a natural progression in a way. The bowlers

have been working with him closely during winter times. And thdn Dave

has been a great asset for ts. As soon as he became available after

his time at Derby, it was a natural progression. We wanted somebody of

his calibre, international experience, coaching experidnce

around the world, and the f`ntastic batting coach that goes alongside

that. Now, there has been a lot of speculation and talk a good positive

talk, about the twins Jamie and Craig, from North Devon. Has that

talk been premature of them perhaps earning their first England test

caps question marks become ` look, I think it is not in thoroughly

premature. `` test caps? Look, I think it is not necessarily

premature. All this with thd England team have had a tough winter. It is

natural people are going to start looking to the next group of players

and the next use players on. They have every chance. There ard good

cricketers and I am sure solewhere along the line, whether this is in

order season after, that both of them will match up and be good

enough to make the next step. `` this season or the season after

that. We wish the very best of luck. Their first County

Championship game is at Taunton against Yorkshire, on Sundax April

13. Lovely, you know summer is on its

way when Dave has his pink, short`sleeved shirt on.

Is that the sign? Well, the clock did go forw`rd.

A group of budding engineers from a school in Devon who built a radio

controlled 4x4 car has just won a national competition. The ptpils

from Clyst Vale Community College pitted their vehicle against 26

other teams and overcame thdm and some rather large obstacles. John

Danks has the story. This radio controlled car c`n tackle

almost any awkward surface. What might surprise you is that ht was

designed and built by these guys. It has two wheel steering and 4`wheel

steering, that you can turn off remotely using the transmitter. That

is the electronic side of things. We also have a carbon fibre body shell

and also carbon fibre chasshs. The car was built for an enginedring

challenge is run by Land Rover. The year nine pupils travelled tp to the

company's divine quarters in Warwickshire to take part in the

national final. They were interviewed by expert enginders from

across the engineering sectors, aerospace, money factoring,

production. The level of answers they were given to their judges were

phenomenal. The level of intensity that they were scrutinised `nd was

massive. They not only had to handle the pressure but there were a few

surprises. Especially on thd course. We were not expecting it to be over

a car. They were going inside and outside and on top of a car. After

overcoming all of the obstacles and competitions from 26th other teams,

it was a man who claimed thd trophy and the ?1000 rise. There wdre so

many teams that I did not think there was much chance of winning and

I am still wheezed that we `ctually won the whole competition. ``

amazed. While success things and, they are already planning to

engineer and other when next year. `` another win.

We never did things like th`t while I was at school! I wish we had.

Now as we heard earlier, Network Rail has confirmed that the rail

line through Dawlish will open as planned on Friday.

Work is now underway to get the station, which has also been closed,

ready ahead of the big day. And a group of green`fingered loc`l

volunteers has been giving ht a make over. Spotlight's Chloe Axford

joined them this weekend. People here in Dawlish describe the

town's train station as thehr lifeblood. That is why they want it

to look as good as possible when the Spotlight is on it when it reopens

later this week. I want these just to go over the edge. They nded to be

a bit higher. Local gardener and broadcaster Toby Butland is leading

a team of volunteers, giving the platform is a floral make over. I

grew up in Dawlish, live here in Dawlish, live your now and `m very

proud of that. It is just shocking to see it go down at heel and almost

washed away on the seafront. It is important to me to bring it back.

This is one thing that can lake a please look like it is back on its

feet, open for business. It is plant and colour. As well as a pl`nting

project, work is underway to spruce the station up ahead of its

reopening. There are new canopies and the whole station has bden newly

painted. It is a very heavily used station. Even though it is, you

know, just a seaside town. @ lot of people commute, both southerly and

northerly. The last two months have been quiet from attic to thd town,

with the evacuation that took place. `` quite traumatic. Let's gdt

Dawlish going again. Network Rail has confirmed that the mainline

through Dawlish will reopen on Friday, following weeks of

round`the`clock work to rep`ir it. It says work is progressing well,

although there are still sole challenges ahead.

It is looking good. I am looking forward to seeing their handiwork on

Friday because Spotlight will be coming live run Dawlish station We

will also hopefully be on one of the first passionate dreams.

Passenger trains. You're also going to see how that incredible

engineering project that has been going on has been taking pl`ce.

We'll go behind the scenes there as well. That is coming up on Friday at

six 30p. You're going to see those lovely

views out of the train window. Let's have a look at the weather.

views out of the train window. Let's The papers happens in that ht is

going to be hotter than the Mediterranean heard this wedk. Is

that right? No. Do not believe everything you

read in the newspapers. We did have a warm day yesterday but I think

this week we are looking at around 14 degrees 15 degrees at best, and

that is nothing like the temperatures in the Mediterranean.

Not really true! Good evening. We have had some warmth and sole

sunshine through the weekend. It has been a very pleasant weekend. The

highest temperatures have bden across parts of Somerset but I will

come to those in just a second. First, the forecast for this week.

It is mild but I would not go overboard and call it warm. There is

some rain in the forecast, lainly in the form of showers. We continue

with the risk of those showdrs pretty much every day of thhs week.

Hopefully some fine weather in between those showers. We cdrtainly

had a lot of fine weather ydsterday. The top temperatures was 18 degrees.

It was the warmest day of the year so far from south`west Engl`nd. Many

other locations for 16 or 17. Lots of cloud. Areas of low pressure

mainly to the west of the UK, will be a feature of the week ahdad.

Every now and again, we will get a strand of cloud thrown up bx that

area of low pressure, bringhng the line of showers. We have ond of the

moment. That will move out of the way overnight tonight and bdfore the

next one arrives, coming through the English Channel in the afternoon

tomorrow, there should be a lot of dry weather around. There is much in

the way of wind, meaning it will turn a misty and even for the first

thing tomorrow morning. Either time we get to the middle of the week, a

weather system off the Atlantic will bring us some more persistent rain.

A lot is happening. The next 24 hours or so, I think there will be a

lot of dry weather. The showers that we have now are quite livelx. We

have given some fairly torrdntial downpours are, even your fl`sh of

light. The whole lot is movhng northwards and later on tonhght it

becomes dry and then misty `nd then foggy by tomorrow morning. Hn fact,

some of the fault could be puite thick for those travelling darly in

the day. Visibility is betwden 0 and 100 metres. That really could

cause some travel worries e`rly in the day. Later tonight, it will be

forming and around early tolorrow morning.

Stay tuned to a local radio for updates on that. Overnight

temperatures... For most of us, it will be a fine day tomorrow after

that fog has gone. There is that next line of showers coming up from

the south. Late in the day, coming into parts of Cornwall and so they

can. Although there are a fdw showers dotted around and it is just

a line of cloud, rather than any in Thames River Pageant winds `re also

coming around. They're becoling a bit more easterly on the strongest

will be across West Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Temperaturds

getting up to 15, maybe 16 degrees. 17 is possible across northdrn parts

of Somerset but not quite as warm as yesterday. On to the forecast for

the Isles of Scilly. Here, H think, mainly dry with cloudy skies. Breezy

day with the threat of a few light showers.

Those times are now of course in British summertime. For our suffers,

the south coast is likely to have some of the biggest waves btt not

very clean. The strongest whnds will be in the far west. There is a

coastal waters forecast. Mahnly fair but with the risk of showers later

in the day. Also the possibhlity of some sea fog patches around line Bay

and Corby. They could be slow to move out of the way. That is the

forecast for the rest of thhs week. `` and sea fog patches around the

coast. There will be some longer spells of rain possibly but

hopefully a bit of sunshine in between. Have a good evening.

Not quite Mediterranean. Th`nk you, David.

BBC Radio Cornwall is broadcasting a special programme from Brussels

tomorrow. James Churchfield and Debbie McRory will be live `t the EU

Parliament building, asking what Europe has done for Cornwall. That's

live from 6am tomorrow mornhng. Parliament

Sounds good. We are back at 6:3 pm tomorrow. Have a lovely evening

Thank you for watching. Good night.