08/09/2014 Spotlight

59 years in jail for eight members of a drug gang

which tried to flood the South West with cocaine and amphetamines.

The men and women worked as part of a major supply chain disrupted

We'll report on the jail sentences handed down.

Also tonight ` on alert ` protesters begin patrolling the countryside at

There's no word yet on marksmen beginning

their work aimed at preventing TB in cattle ` we'll hear the lengths

some campaigners are prepared to go to in order to disrupt the cull.

Controversial changes to our coastguard system start to take

And the rare Dartmoor discovery that casts light

Eight men have been jailed for a total of more than 59 years for a

drug smuggling operation across the South West using Jaffa Cake boxes to

The gang of 17 men and women took delivery of the drugs

from London and diluted them ready for sale in the West Country.

The police investigation ` codenamed Operation Rosco `

included surveillance in London, Liverpool, Devon and Cornwall.

John Henderson was in Plymouth Crown Court for the sentencing.

The moment police pounce. A covert investigation into the supply of

cocaine and amphetamines into Devon and Cornwall. It but a lot of

heartache and damage to the communities. Cocaine is an addictive

drug and causes crime and it can result in violence. It could have

caused a lot of damage in the counties. The drugs were coming from

London and the south`east by car. Sometimes even by train. Cocaine

arrived in places where it was dilutive and bulked up to be sold on

the streets of Cornwall and Plymouth. Today these men were sent

to prison for their part in the conspiracy that was large`scale and

lucrative. Police used on supermarket carrier bag containing

blocks of cocaine with a street value of ?45,000. And a packet of

oatcakes and a packet of oatcakes and Jaffa cakes. They did not find

snacks but drugs money. When the smuggling of the careers turned to

amphetamines. A camper van was searched in Plymouth carried 25

kilos of the drug with a street value of a quarter of a quarter of

?1 million. The driver was jailed for three years and four months. The

lookout was jailed for four years and nine months. Amphetamines were

now coming from Liverpool. This car was stopped on the M5 on its way to

the south`west and found to have ten kilos of the drug. Another carp was

stopped with two kilos. Police suspect that this man as the

ringleader. Today he was jailed. At 18 years, his was the longest

sentence. The judge described him as a professional criminal making money

out of crime. Two men were given suspended sentences and walked free.

The coastguard in much of Devon and Cornwall and Brixham has been

But all that is about to change as a major overhaul

At its heart is a new centre coordinating search

It's based in Hampshire and opened its doors today.

Work currently done by the station at Portland will

transfer there next week with Brixham shutting in November.

Falmouth stays open ` joining the new national network next month.

Alison Johns reports on a highly controversial move

Dave is a fisherman who has been working out

He likens the new National Maritime Operations Centre in Hampshire to a

call centre and is worried about the loss of the local team in Brixton.

You just get the feeling that when something is going on locally,

I also was airlifted off with a suspected heart attack

a couple of years back and you just feel more confident when you think

that it is Brixton, they are within 30 or 40 or 50 miles of you.

Just up the coast, Dave's worries are shared by

I think a major concern is really when you

are in the business of saving lives at sea, every second counts really.

We feel down here certainly that any extension of that response

time is going to put ultimately people's lives in further danger.

We have yet to see any evidence actually that they can still fulfil

their role really and keep response times down.

The MCA says there has been an extensive tensting programme

Live exercises have been carried out with lifeboats

and coastguard rescue teams which it says were very successful.

The end user will see no difference at all so whether you're

in the water or walking along the coast there should be no change in

What this will allow us to do is maintain all the other services that

we required to such as vessel traffic monitoring around the UK,

The UK Maritime safety information broadcast while still delivering

In two months and the National Maritime Operation Centre

takes over from the coastguard team here in Brixton.

The MCA say the modernisation will lead to a more effective

But many sea users here in the South West fear that the loss of local

Protesters have been on patrol overnight gearing up for

the start of the new badger culls in Somerset and Gloucestershire .

Some say they're prepared to break the law

But farmers say the cull is needed to control

As the sun went down over the cull zone, the protesters came

out amid rumours that the shooting was about to start.

The people who are doing in these actions,

the shooters and responsible shooters, if we are in the vicinity

If we are in the facility that means badgers won't be killed.

And so they walked ` about 80 opponents of the cull,

mostly local, some who clearly did not want to be identified.

The protesters say we are now on the edge of the cull zone.

We do not know, they don't know if the cull is going to start

tonight, and if it doesn't then they will back tomorrow the night

But they say this proves they have the numbers to cause problems

for the cull marksmen whenever they get underway.

20 miles away in another corner of the cull zone, another group of

People here have come from all over the country.

Some say they are prepared to break the law if necessary to protect

Potentially they get chopped up or jumped on.

I would say it makes my heart sink to hear the cages are

But those who protest will find little sympathy from farmers whose

livelihoods have been ruined by the scourge of TB in cattle.

We've got to do something about it and it is not desirable

that a disease that is so bad for animals, whether they be

wildlife or cattle, is allowed to run rampant in the countryside.

The arguments over whether or not badgers are to blame

The two sides as far apart as they ever were.

And what is different though is the technology

Night vision lenses and thermal imaging cameras

which they say will help them track the marksman more easily.

Two detectives are having their work monitored

and a call handler has been disciplined after a case in which

The commission said the call was handled poorly. Detectives were

criticised for failing to find his former girlfriend.

The Territorial Army Reserve Centre in Truro,

which was due to be re`located to Devon will now stay open.

The MOD says D company 6th battalion "the Rifles" headquarters will move

to Plymouth but the Truro base will remain open

The move follows a petition which called on

the MOD to retain traditional links between the county and the Army.

The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry was the county's regiment.

Obviously we've gone through the antecedent

and the Rifles that have now become the county regiment of Cornwall.

So the historic link ` the golden thread `

remains and it is important that we keep troops here in the county.

They will mentor our cadets and it will give us a focus

in the county for the Ministry of Defence and the Army in particular.

Scores of young footballers in Exeter were devastated

after the start of the football season was disrupted when gypsies

Several football fixtures had to be cancelled after

around 20 caravans and vehicles forced entry onto the pitches

Today, Exeter City Council began taking legal action

The gypsies say they're simply living their traditional way

Our Community affairs correspondent Carys Edwards reports.

Legal action may be underway to remove the gypsies. For now they are

going nowhere. More than 20 caravans and vehicles remained on the site

along with horses. They are parked along the edges of the football

pitch but all pictures over the weekend had to be cancelled on the

advice of police. More than 200 players were affected including boys

and girls from the Exeter youth league. A number of them were

devastated. The teams have been working hard in preseason and they

were really looking forward to the season. Locals were also concerned.

I have got nothing against travellers and actually I think it

is quite a nice lifestyle but maybe they could have showed a bit more

consideration for the football matches. Terrible. Terrible. I do

not play myself but if I did I would be annoyed. They arrived in convoy

and broke into the park to these emergency gates. As you can see they

have sliced off the end of the emergency aria to gain entry. The

gypsies did not want to be interviewed on camera but told me

they are simply trying to lead their traditional way of life as they have

done for thousands of years. They say they are doing no harm, will

keep the site tidy and will respect local people. They said they had no

idea about the plans for local football. We would have let the kids

watch. We couldn't stop a football match. We would have liked to have

seen it. Today the council began legal proceedings to evict the

gypsies but it will take time to get a possession order from the County

Court. If they refuse to go we will have to do in the procedure but I am

sure these people will see sense. We have been told that they are just

going to stay there for a few days and then they will move on. So the

gypsies will eventually move. Travelling as they have always done.

For now the football pitch lies empty and dog walkers are key ring

`` keeping their dogs on a lead. Vandals have set fire to a pair

of huge straw figures The straw man and

his dog were advertising the annual Crantock Bale Push which has raised

thousands of pounds for charities. The arson attack on Saturday night

came a day after vandals had The Bale Push will take place

on Friday evening. Thousands of people turned out to

a packed Dorset County Show over Organisers were pleased with

the size of the crowds. More than 2000 animals

were shown and there were 90 food stands demonstrating

delicacies produced in the county. A fur pelt found

in an ancient burial chamber on Dartmoor has led experts to believe

that bears once lived on the moor. It's thought the bronze age grave or

cist was possibly Archaeologists say the find is one

of a kind as Jemma Woodman reports. Well, who would have thought that

nearly 4000 years ago bears may well have roamed this wild

and rugged landscape. And we were always told that

the Beast Joining me is Jane from the

Dartmoor National Park. Nicely framed under

this lovely tree. Tell me, could bears really

have roamed Dartmoor? We know that there were bears

around in England as a whole So until about 400AD there were

still bears present in the country. Everything to do with

the cist has been a first actually. I don't think that there is any

other finding of a pelt from this period 4000 years ago within

a burial context in this country. And it was difficult to identify,

wasn't it, why was that? To begin with

when they actually recovered the pelt we thought it was going to

be easy, we could do DNA on it. But unfortunately

because the pelt was in peat it has destroyed any DNA it once contained

so we had to go to an alternative analysis technique and that was

looking at proteins within the fur. I don't begin to understand how that

worked but it has taken a lot of specialists a lot of time and going

through that went through a whole lot of animals that it could have

been, ranging from seals and camels. And now they are absolutely

definite it is a bear. Why was a bear pelt

in this burial chamber? It was actually used to wrap up

cremated remains of the person who had been cremated and

then placed in their cist and it was There is a suggestion that this was

a cloak belonging to this person and was a suitable per thing to wrap

up the remains. There are lots of other things,

weren't there, Over 200 beads, including

amber beads, which obviously In the most beautiful bag in

which all the things were placed so we think that this was the person's

bag, I am saying her because we are Jane,

thank you very much for joining us. You can see and discover more

about these grave goods at an exhibition at Plymouth's

museum which starts this Saturday. To find out more before then,

do join me tonight for Inside Out It's time for the sport now

and there was a dream start for Exeter Chiefs

in the Premiership this weekend as However as one team

in the city celebrated another commiserated ` Exeter City hit

the bottom of the football league. To discuss the contrasting fortunes

I was joined earlier by Torquay United manager Chris

Hargreaves and former professional A great weekend

of sport to talk about but we have I just had a small job on in

the interim but great to be back. We haven't seen you for

so long then all of a sudden you win It is important for us

at the moment. A great win for them this weekend

as well. A tough place to go,

newly promoted Luton. Probably had too much time to think

about it, natural instinct would normally take over

but the winning goal was sublime. I wouldn't have done this

but Dominic did. Brilliant footwork there

and a superb finishe. PLayed in the 21s game

in the week to get In contrast Exeter City haven't won

all season and obviously not No, you can get yourself

into a lot of results. It is a difficult position to be

in and it is a tough job. Mansfield ` big strong side,

quicker to react there and score Mansfield are a big team

and they are always looking for Ten games in, a brilliant goal from

Matt Grimes one of my old sixteens. Just couldn't quite get back

into the game. You are not too worried

about them yet? No, you cannot pass judgement

at this stage of the season. Let's go on to what must be

the result of the weekend. I know, but before I start with this

have to explain these trousers. Normally Chris comes out in mint

green but he's let down today. I invited you to a fancy dress,

you turned up and I didn't. If the coaching team could have

described how they wanted their first game to go this would've

been it. The new players were getting

on the scoresheet. Here is Thomas the Tank Engine

with his signature celebration. The youngsters really showed up

as well. London were not great but the Chiefs

were brilliant. The biggest threat was repetitive

strain injury from the hugging. Another youngster, Jack,

took this ball and you can see why London have got to be worried,

and worried because there were less The youngsters did well and the

new players linking in well there. He is going to be playing

for Namibia in World Cup and he shows that he's got plenty to

offer as well. If you are a Chiefs fan maybe take

a picture of that league table. Normally associated

with footballers. Unfortunately not all results

worked that well for our teams. Albion slipped through a 27`6 defeat

at Doncaster and the Pirates were beaten 29`19 by Yorkshire Carnegie.

Getting off to a good start is important and unfortunately

for those two it didn't happen. Andy, Chris,

lovely to see you again, thank you. In League One, Yeovil Town stretched

their unbeaten run to four matches Aaron Martin scored twice

in the first 25 minutes to put Bradford pulled one back soon

after but AJ Leitch`Smith made sure there'd be no comeback with this

superb strike to seal the win. Roseland gig club took the title

at the Ladies County Championships The Roseland A crew beat

the host side into second place with Mounts Bay and Caradon finishing

third and fourth. 700 gig rowers from across Cornwall

were taking part in the hugely To the detriment of lots

of other things. You cannot go out as much

as you like, you see family less than you'd like because we are

on the water in training. We love it

and we're such a tight`knit crew Well picking up as many skills

as you can is a start. And from the playing field to

the growing field ` that's exactly how a Cornish charity

has been helping a group of people with learning difficulties

as Hamish Marshall reports. This is a cricket team of people

in gardens. Those who work on placement with

the college charity of learning It gives them

the life experience and helps them Playing sport helps

build confidence too. What is your strength in cricket,

batting or bowling? It is going to be a good day today,

lots of fun and that. And these are the results

of people in gardens at work. Produce grown

at the hostel is sold fortnightly And the cricket team looks

the part too. Ahead of a fundraising match

against The Eden Project, The cash was raised by investors

putting in small amounts of money. I used crowdfunding

and that was really, really useful. It gave us a lot of exposure

in the community and also we actually raised above

the amount we wanted to so we have On the pitch, Eden bat first in what

is a fiercely contested match. They raised ?800 last year and it

is hoped they would do so again to It helps me get out of the house,

doing something in the community and we grow lettuces, rockets,

we grow runner beans and we have The extra funding is allowing people

to strengthen both at work and It is really like summer is back.

Pretty good for the second week in September. There is more to come as

well. High pressure is well and truly in charge. This time last year

the weather started to change. For this week ahead, it is dry and find

and the warm sunshine continues. The only downside is it will be a little

bit at night. No rain in the forecast. Cloud in the satellite

picture. A lot of it is hazy. The area of high pressure moves around a

little bit over the next few days. This is the middle of the day on

Tuesday. It has moved away certainly by the middle of the day on

Wednesday and it will bring an easterly breeze as we move into the

latter part of the week. Still dry and largely fine and one. Today we

have had a build`up of cloud but the most of us the weather has been

fine. It is quite hazy. This was earlier today at a beach where there

was some lovely weather. Glorious sunshine. They see temperature is 17

degrees ``. This fine weather continuing. There is not much for

our servers though. `` surfers. Let's follow the progress of what is

happening overnight tonight. Some is forming later in the night and maybe

some fog patches in the valleys. Most of us clear and dried.

Temperatures falling away quite smartly. Last night we had single

figures and the same sort of damage to night but perhaps a degree or so

nowhere. 6 degrees or 7 degrees at the minimum temperature. And for

tomorrow it is a nice day. Ms clearing and a cold start. Sunshine

coming out and it will warm things up and by the time we get to the

afternoon the sunshine will give us temperatures of 90 degrees or 20

degrees. A few places getting warmer than that, possibly 21 degrees or 22

degrees. Pretty strong sunshine at this time of year. A dry day here.

Just a bit more of a breeze developing. A bit morbid breeze

developing by the end of the day and it will bring temperatures down a

little bit. Cooler and fresher for the coast and our islands.

Disappointing for our surfers. For many of our beaches there is not

really a wave to serve. For our coastal waters forecast at the winds

are from the East or north`eastern tomorrow. By the time we get into

the evening possibly picking up to a force for two five. Here is the

forecast for the rest of the week. Most of us pleased with what we see.

Whether they is fine and dry. More cloud on Thursday. Generally more

wobbly breeze `` more of a breeze. Have a nice evening. Who needs all

of this when you have September? Thank you. Join us tonight if you

can. We're back tomorrow at 6:30pm.