28/03/2017 Spotlight

Jo just about. A reminder of the top story: Scotland has asked for a new

Scottish independence referendum, Tonight in the South West reaction

to the imminent release The former Royal Marine,

jailed for murder, could We'll be asking what lessons can be

learned from his case? Persistent visits to the GP to no

avail. It took four months for diagnosis by which time it was too

The battle to diagnose bowel cancer before it's too late.

Academics in Exeter think they may be able to help

Why all is not what it seems in this picture -

we'll hear from the farmer who says it couldn't be further

And join us for a trip down memory lane with an archive last from

Plymouth's past. The former Somerset Royal Marine

jailed for murder will be freed Alexander Blackman has already

had his murder conviction reduced Today, judges re-sentenced him to

seven years and because of the time he's already served he'll

be released shortly. Our Somerset correspondent

Clinton Rogers reports now from Alexander Blackman's home

town of Taunton. Any homecoming party in Taunton only

to be put on hold for a short while. Alexander Blackman has already

served three and a half years in prison. His previous life sentence

for murder was today reduced to seven years for manslaughter and

because it is commonplace for prisoners only to serve half the

sentence, that effectively means Alexander Blackman has pretty much

done his time. It said the High Court today, has QC said he expected

him to be released in a couple of weeks. His wife was plainly

delighted. We are overjoyed at the judge's decision to significantly

reduce his sentence wiki can be released imminently. This is the

moment we have all been fighting hard for and it is hard to believe

this day is finally here. This is a case that continues to cause much

debate. It has polarised opinions. There are people, including

ex-military men, who believe Alexander Blackman had to be

prosecuted once the video evidence came to light. Lord Ashdown is a

former Royal Marine. A soldier goes on to someone else's country armed

with lethal force in order to protect the law. Domestic law in

Britain and international law, and when it is broken, and that is a

matter for the court and the court has judged on this and regarded it

as mitigating circumstances, it is not for anyone else to intervene in

that process. Plenty of other people say that unless you were there and

experienced the heat of battle you cannot judge. Among those a former

Royal Marine who served with Alexander Blackman on that tour. I

have been to see him. At home with a man who was there. Rob Driscoll was

a Sergeant with the Royal Marines on the same to as Alexander Blackman.

He has undergone years of counselling since. It was the worst

to that I did. And he says the horrors of Afghanistan will probably

never leave him. I have seen some pretty horrific things but I hadn't

seen them use body parts as bait or heard or seen them crucify people. A

real hatred built up inside me for the insurgency and people who were

prepared to use these techniques against us. Do you think that is the

background against which Alexander Blackman did what he did? I think it

is a contributing factor. There is no way we can argue it wouldn't have

affected some of his actions on that day. When you are surrounded by

lunacy, a little bit of lunacy doesn't seem so bad. Six years on

and trying to settle into normal life, Rob Driscoll says he still

supports Alexander Blackman. He acknowledges that what he did on

the battlefield, captured on helmet colours, may have been illegal, but

militarily he made the right decision in not summoning help for

the Taliban fighter. Was it right for me what he did? My answer is

absolutely because there is a very real chance that as he hadn't done

what he did I would be walking at the main gate with a nine guys to go

down and secure a route which we knew was under threat and seeded

with explosive devices. That would have meant rolling those dice and

potentially not coming back with all the guys I walked out with. A former

Royal Marine. Alexander Blackman had hoped that once his murder

conviction was reduced to manslaughter on the grounds of

diminished responsibility he might be allowed to rejoin the Royal

Marines. That is not going to happen. The High Court judges

decided his dismissal must stand. With me now is the Liberal Democrat

peer Lord Burnett who is also You also wanted him to be reinstated

but it is clear from the sentencing his dismissal remains, what do you

make of that? His wife always said dismissal with this place was the

coolest punishment visited on her husband. The Court of Appeal says he

is still dismissed. That is presumably capable of appeal to the

Supreme Court and that is a possibility. But why should he be

allowed back in? He stands still convicted of a serious criminal

offence. A criminal offence but massively mitigated as three

imminent, world renowned psychiatrists have stated. I think

that matter in free and statement should be left to the service rather

than the courts. What about this case and the wider implications?

What lessons do you think can be learned for the court-martial

process and for the stress serving personnel are under? The panel voted

in the original case, when Alexander Blackman was convicted 5-2. In a

civilian criminal Court that would not be enough, so we have a military

covenant. Our Armed Forces personnel should not be disadvantaged as

against civilians, that should change. The second point is he

should have been tried by his peers, that is the ethos, and the facts are

a great many people on that panel had not heard of shots fired in

anger never mind many of the horrors of the war in Afghanistan. Thank

you. If you're under 50 and you have

bowel cancer it's possible your symptoms could be missed until it's

too late . Academics from the University

of Exeter hope a new diagnostic tool they've created can help identify

who is most at risk. Our Health correspondent

Jenny Walrond met a woman from Cornwall whose husband died

from the disease aged just 34. It's an idyllic spot to build

a dream home but Emma Matthews's dreams of the future were shattered

when her husband Martin was diagnosed with

terminal bowel cancer. It had taken a year

to get diagnosed. He went to the GP about 15 times,

phone calls as well, Martin always kept asking if it

could be cancer or not and they kept saying

they were 99.9% sure it wasn't. Emma's father was also diagnosed

with bowel cancer but it was caught Martin managed to build

their dream home but died GPs find it difficult to diagnose

bowel cancer in the under 50s because it is less common in young

people and the symptoms are similar They don't get a good service

and actually suffer as a result. Your chance of surviving colorectal

cancer as a young person should be better because by and large

you are healthier but that is not Around one in 20 cases of bowel

cancer are in people aged under 50. There are 2500 new cases each year

in the UK and the symptoms are so common they account for one

in 12 GP appointments. This new diagnostic tool helps GPs

identify who needs further tests, by evaluating the risks

from different Professor Hamilton hopes it will be

incorporated into GP's computer programmes and automatically flagged

up at risk patients, and if it can speed up diagnosis

it can improve chances of survival. When caught in early stages,

90% of bowel cancer patients survive An organic farmer from Devon

is angry with Tesco for using He says he's never supplied

the supermarket and using the picture is creating an image

that isn't true. Tesco has removed the

image and apologised. Spotlight's Andrea

Ormsby has the story. Martin Godfrey is passionate

about his farming methods. I can produce a lot of food

from a small area of a very high standard, very nutritious,

direct to the customer. When a picture of him

pulling carrots was used The image couldn't be so far

removed from the reality, me pulling carrots by hand

in a field which doesn't To grow carrots for a supermarket

is highly matter glazed with big tractors and it is OK for them

to use but it needs to represent He says he has never worked

for Tesco and was surprised to find the picture of him being used

on their website. The supermarket chain got

the image through an agency. A spokesperson for Tesco says

the supermarket works tirelessly to support farmers and suppliers

and is sorry for any upset caused. Martin says Tesco has also offered

to donate ?1000 to a local charity. He says he is happy

with their response but want all supermarkets to change how

they represent themselves in future. Don't use pretty pictures

to gain customers. It is not favour of the former

starter working hard doing what they is right,

looking after our soil Martin has invited Tesco

representatives to come and see the work he does on his six

acres in Devon. A leading figure in the South West

fishing industry says it will be a "betrayal" if the government fails

to ban foreign fishing boats from within 12 miles of the shore

after Britain leaves the EU. The government, though,

is refusing to confirm it will treat this as a "red line"

in the Brexit negotiations. Here's our Political

Editor Martyn Oates. This thing, like a miniature

polystyrene bodyboard is all that many people in the UK

will know about cuttlefish. You may think that whoever

is in the business of producing these is involved in the most niche

of niche industries, Dressed in his juicy flesh,

the cuttlefish is one of the south-west fishing

industry's star turns. It is the most important

species landed in terms If that fact has passed

you by its probably because like so much British fish

it is whisked away for sale After Brexit, British fishermen

want to be able to catch more fish, principally by clawing back

the quarter currently They also want to carry on selling

the vast quantity of species like this into the European single

market as easily as they do now. I have come to the Legion's great

fishing port to meet the chief executive

of the Cornish fishing organisation. I asked him what losing tariff free

access to the European Most important would be

the nontariff barriers. If we have problems logistically

getting your product into the continental market it

causes a headache. Slow down at the borders causes

problems with dealing with Early indications suggest that other

EU states will be wanting continued access to fresh in British waters

in return for British fishermen Access for foreign boats within 200

miles of the sure will involve a lot of haggling but fishermen pointed

out that before Britain even joined the UDP and community,

the British government unilaterally agreed foreign boats

within just 12 miles. They see that agreement can

and must now be revoked. Only last week the fishing

minister wouldn't confirm that the government intends

to do that. There are many things we are looking

closely at and have not made final decisions yet which is why

that is no announcements will people will have to be more patient

but rest assured we are looking closely at these issues including

the 1964 convention. It is slightly worrying

they are not prepared to commit Maybe it is about negotiating

strategy, maybe they are genuinely not sure, but one thing is sure,

we do not expect that same degree of negotiation for the beach

to the 12 mile limit. That is for the inshore fleet

and should be managed for the benefit of those guys

and anything less than complete exclusivity would be seen

as the trail, not too strong a word. Recent reports say the Prime

Minister is now planning to revoke the 1964 agreement but many are now

wondering just how much influence and industry employing 11,000 people

nationwide will be able to wield once Brexit negotiations

begin in earnest. Volunteers are being trained

this week to help catch, count and control the number

of foreign crayfish infesting The Signal Crayfish from America

were brought to the moor to be But as Spotlight's John Ayres

reports things didn't turn out It's a painstaking

process monitoring Twice a week, volunteers are donning

waders to check the traps and keep So what we do, we remove these pods

which facilitate breeding, and this guy was done at some

point last year. We also mark them for

their site of origin. They need the numbers to come down

because they are causing huge damage One example you can see behind

you is burrowing into the river They also have an impact

on fish populations They have been responsible

for reducing the number of native It was back in the 1970s

that the government department at the time decided it

would be a good idea to give farmers a chance

to diversify and have another industry and they could

try and raise money. What they didn't know was just how

invasive it would become and the damage it would do

to the local environment. What they didn't expect at the time

was that the crayfish would walk on land and could survive outside

of water for up to six months. They left the ponds and made

their way into the rivers. It is actually a criminal

offence to return them, they are so damaging

and it is illegal even to transport them alive in case they escape

and get back into another To do this work

they need volunteers. I love anything to do with the great

outdoors especially where I live, and also with doing a degree

anything that I can find out The larger males are cannibalistic

and are being sterilised and put back under a license

to help control numbers. All others are being trapped

and destroyed humanely. An animator turned puppeteer has won

?50,000 in a competition in Germany. Barnaby Dixon has created his

own puppets and films He's already getting interest

from international programme makers. This is the unique creation of

Barnaby Dixon and he has got his own U-tube CDs. First we have to cross

that bridge and if it collapses and I die I would like you all to write

letters to Somerset County Council. He went to the carnival last year

and goes for lots of walks around the river and canal and is various

levels of an appropriate. Barnaby Dixon studied animation and decided

to build puppets and his hands so he could make films for the Internet.

You work all this stuff out as you go along so not only does the puppet

get built, you build its range of motion at the same times when it is

finished you are nearly there. I have finally the puppet. His film

went viral. To do that motion, that is eBay's work and stop motion,

whereas this happens as quickly as you can perform it. He won the

German TV competition. I won ?50,000 which is a lot of money, but that

will go towards equipment, towards lawyers fees in terms of patent

thing and it is just terribly expensive. So far he has relied on

crowdfunding to support his work meaning he can spend hours creating

characters like this dinosaur. When you are in control of every aspect

of creation, you are the authority and it is very freeing. With offers

from the US to make a TV series, his self belief is paying off. If you

are good enough at anything and you like it and other people like it you

can make a living doing anything. If you find a way to make it viable,

but that is the tricky part. Some of the oldest film footage

of Plymouth features It's been put together by a Plymouth

historian who's been collecting There's some lovely pictures - this

is the area around Derry's clock - look how busy it is -

and hardly recognisable today. David George has been watching

"The Story of Plymouth City Centre". If we had ambled across what was you

rode in 1925 would have been knocked flying by all those horses and

trams, the only thing left is the clock itself, built by the mere of

Plymouth in honour of the 1862 royal wedding. He got it built as a public

water drinking fountain but the taps never worked. The clock does, more

or less. It was referred to as the four faced deceiver because wherever

you stood told a slightly different time so people could always complain

if they were late or not plate. This footage came from the police, the

first ever CCTV? They filmed it because in 1925, this was said to be

the busiest junction outside London. Not many people had cars but there

were trams and horses and carts and this was a familiar scene on the

streets of Plymouth right up until the Second World War, and in fact

the Co-op run their last horse and cart in 1954. The clock is one of

the few features in Plymouth to survive the wartime bombing and the

city planners. Plymouth took the unusual decision to start again. The

Duke of Cornwall Hotel is one of those buildings to survive both. The

railway station, which used to be just across the road, plainly did

not. It is said the rich and famous, including Walt Disney and Bing

Crosby, would get off transatlantic liners in Plymouth and catch the

train to London from here because it was quicker than staying on board

until Southampton. They say nostalgia isn't what it used to be

but will historians look back on our 2017 footage with a misty eyed and

say, didn't Plymouth look quaint? Answers on a postcard. Love seeing

how places have changed, some almost recognisable still. Now looking

ahead to the weather. Good evening. Some sunshine over the

last few days, it is now all change as the rain turns up. Some time yet

to be quite heavy. First thing this morning we had a lovely start to the

day, the Channel Islands saw some glorious sunshine to greet everyone

first thing. That is now changing and the rain is coming and it could

be around tomorrow, mostly in the West, some patchy rain and rather

cloudy and breezy. Breaks in the sunshine now and then. A lot of

cloud queueing up, currently over most of southern England, producing

outbreaks of rain, some heavy. One weather system moves away but

another follows. It stays just to the west and although the area of

high pressure has been moved across to France it is still close enough

to keep southerly winds calling for this week, drawing up warmth from

Spain and Portugal and from Thursday, we could have pretty high

temperatures, possibly even 19, and all change on Friday as a cold front

comes through. This is the satellite picture from this afternoon and you

can see the brighter colours. Before that, there was some hazy sunshine

but already a feel of cloud with the daffodils looking fantastic. And

along the coastline, pretty good although the breeze has whipped up,

a fresh southerly breeze. Further inland, this is Exeter with plenty

of blue sky. For the least the sunshine has held on for longer and

is producing some effects. Some wet weather for this evening with this

band of rain fast moving, sweeping through accompanied by some strong

winds for a time. Once it gets through, things start to calm down

and a lot of cloud, a mild night, misty over high ground and the

overnight temperature down to 11. A head start with the temperature

first thing tomorrow and some rain but persistent rain to the west of

us. Some breaks developing in the cloud particularly afternoon when

the sunshine comes out for an hour or two, giving temperatures of 14

Celsius. Cloudy with rain off and on through the day. Finally, very messy

conditions along the south coast but clean socks to be had along the

north coast. It is your fault it is raining.

Thanks for watching, see you tomorrow, good night.

A middle-aged woman chasing after a teenage boy...