23/11/2017 Spotlight

That's all from the BBC News at Six.

Welcome to Spotlight.

Tonight, a 12-year-old victim

of online grooming speaks out

to help protect others.

I felt scared and I slipped it. He

put me under pressure and he got

angry and aggressive. -- and

isolated.

We'll hear the devastating impact it

had on her and her family

and talk to the NSPCC.

Also in the programme tonight -

will a huge hotel scheme

be ready in time for

Plymouth's Mayflower celebrations?

The ambitious plans

for Drake's Island may not be

finished in three years' time

but as you'll see later

developers aren't worried.

Nowhere to go until the New Year -

why the closure of Torbay's toilets

for people with disabilities

is forcing some women

to take drastic action.

We'll go to the gents but I think

that toilets here should be open.

Ladies need them more

than men and I think

it's absolutely disgusting.

And the maiden voyage -

the students making waves

with the boats they've taken

eight months to build.

A 12-year-old Devon girl has spoken

out over the dangers of online

grooming after she was blackmailed

into sending intimate

pictures over the internet.

Her parents say the experience

has been devastating

and want to speak out to help

protect other young people.

In a moment we'll ask the NSPCC

charity about the scale of these

incidents and how to help children

deal with online abuse.

First this report from Clare Casson.

Just a few stolen moments

on the daily walk to school.

No parents, no teachers,

but do you know who your child

is contacting on their phone?

For this 12-year-old,

a few minutes on her own each day

opened up a murky world

of sexual exploitation.

He began talking to me

so I befriended him, not knowing

what was about to happen.

I felt scared and like

I couldn't talk to anyone.

This person then showed her some

explicit images of other young girls

and told her if she didn't do

what they asked, they would spread

it amongst friends and family,

tell the world that

these images were her.

After I sent one picture,

I knew that I was trapped.

I felt scared and isolated.

He put me under pressure and he got

angry and aggressive.

It breaks my heart that there

was about three or four months

that I didn't know about,

she had been held prisoner.

It must've been soul destroying

for her to feel so trapped.

And this girl is not alone.

Across Devon and Cornwall, sexting,

as it is known, is now the most

common form of child sexual

exploitation the police deal with.

Officers go into schools

to try to help educate young people

about the dangers but they've

told me it's a struggle to keep up

with what's happening

and the average age of victims

is getting younger.

We are certainly seeing either

a greater disclosure of incidents

with younger children or a greater

number of younger children doing it.

About ten years ago it

would be pretty unheard-of

that we would visit a primary school

and they would be talking

about dealing with this sort

of an event - now we do deal

with them increasingly.

And many children don't realise that

it's illegal to possess,

take or distribute sexual images

of someone under 18,

including themselves.

This family just want to make other

young people are aware of the

dangers.

Having your daughter feels

so scared and worried that there is

no way out other than to do

something stranger told her to do

was scary and you hear stories of

people self harming or committing

suicide. We could have easily found

ourselves in a situation where she

felt she had no way out, but I'm

glad she was able to get the courage

to speak to us about it.

Michelle

Currier is from the NSPCC. We have

reported on this issue before and

there have been campaigns about it

but it still seems to be getting

worse. What needs to happen to

tackle this?

I think the most

important thing is that parents have

an open dialogue with their children

from a young age, for them to bring

it into their conversation so that

the child knows they can go to their

parents and talk about anything that

might be happening online.

What is

the right age to do that? As we

heard there, victims are getting

younger and younger.

As soon as your

child is accessing any kind of

online device, do have those

age-appropriate conversations so

they know they can talk to their

parents about these things.

How do

you sit down and tell them in a way

that isn't going to frighten them

but will get the message across?

It's about how parents talk to their

children about the physical world

and how they would talk to them

about dangers in a physical sense,

it's doing is that about the online

world in a way not to scare them but

make them aware of the dangers, of

the fact that you cannot always be

sure who you're talking to online

and to make sure they know they have

to be careful who they are making

friends with and talking to online.

We heard the father says he was

horrified and heartbroken that his

daughter was suffering this for

three or four months. What are the

signs to look out for four apparent

to know their child may be going

through something similar?

If they

see a change of behaviour, there are

more withdrawn, keep aware of when

they are using their devices and

there is a lot of information out

there now and parents can access

information. There is an NSPCC site

called Net Where which describes the

different sort of social networking

sites that young people are using

and gives advice about networking

settings on computers and how to

filter what young people access.

Thank you for joining us.

Next tonight, the disturbing story

of a 96-year-old man who's been

attacked with what's thought to be

a claw hammer by a burglar

at his home in Taunton.

He's now in hospital

with serious injuries.

Lee Madden reports.

When Tom opened the door, Jim said,

I've been attacked, and that was how

it started.

He was bleeding all over

his face, we brought him in and

Saturn in the chair.

You said he had

been knocked on the head with a

hammer.

He came in here for us to

file for an ambulance.

Police say a

man knocked at the store yesterday

between 4pm and 5pm and asked if he

wanted any work doing in the house.

When Mr booth refused, the man

attacked him with a hammer.

Jim's

son came down last night, he was at

the hospital and he said he has a

fractured skull and he was with the

doctor for a fair while and

something about his hand, he had a

problem because he had a bash on his

hand.

Mr booth is one of the last

surviving heroes of World War II,

serving as a lieutenant commander in

the Navy and playing a crucial role

in the D-Day landings. His latest

battle has seen him take on the man

police are trying to find.

A male

around 30 or 35, clean-shaven,

darkish hair, described as athletic,

stocky build, no real accent was

noted and no height was given, and

he was wearing jeans and dark

clothing.

Mr booth has been well

known to the BBC. He featured on

Points West two years ago when he

danced with the Duchess of Cornwall,

saying he was delighted to have

stolen a dance with her. Tonight

forensic teams are still working at

his house, looking for clues about

his attacker.

Some more stories from around

the South West now.

A shop worker in Tiverton has chased

off a robber armed with a knife

by giving him a taste

of his own medicine.

Lorraine McCalliskey

picked up a packing knife

and charged at the man,

who ran off empty handed.

Pictures have only just

emerged of the incident,

which happened two weeks ago.

The would-be robber had

a Liverpudlian accent.

A 31-year-old prisoner has been

found dead in Exeter jail -

the second inmate to die

there in the last month.

The Prison Service says

there will be an independent

investigation by the Prisons

and Probation Ombudsman

into what happened.

The new Defence Secretary

Gavin Williamson has

been at Devonport today.

He's been in private talks

with senior Navy officials over

the future of the amphibious ships

HMS Bulwark and HMS Albion.

There are fears both

ships will be axed, along

with 1000 Royal Marines.

The MoD has dismissed the reports

as "pure speculation."

There's anger about plans

by the French company EDF to change

the way it handles high level

radioactive waste at the Hinkley

Point reactors in Somerset.

The company wants to double the size

of a proposed waste store

on the Hinkley C site.

It also wants to introduce a system

of encasing the waste in concrete.

Exeter Chiefs' forward Sam Simmonds

is set to make his first England

start against Samoa on Saturday.

The 23-year-old number eight

from Teignmouth was named

in the starting line-up alongside

team mate Henry Slade with another

Chief, Harry Williams, on the bench.

A Devon woman who uses a wheelchair

has described the lack of a public

toilet for disabled people

in Torquay town centre

as "disgusting."

Both the women's toilet block

and the one for disabled people have

been closed for the last 11 weeks -

and they won't re-open

before Christmas.

John Ayres has the story.

This it's not often that you see

this, the gents opened

but the ladies and the disabled

toilets are closed, and it's been

like this for 11 weeks.

For wheelchair user

surely, enough is enough.

It's diabolical to think that

you can come into town

to spend your money

but while you're here you can't

use the public toilet.

It's not a luxury, it's a necessity.

You come into town to shop,

you're bound to need to use

the toilet and I'm sorry but it

will put a lot of people coming

to the town centre shopping.

It's a feeling shared by others

with mobility assistance.

Joan is a tourist from Wales.

I will go to the gents but I think

the toilets here should be open.

Ladies need them more than men.

Men can stand there

and go in the corner

and I think it's disgusting.

And she did, along

with some other woman.

The nearest alternative is some way

away and the closest aren't private

The nearest alternative is some way

away and the closest are on private

premises, not public.

The nearest public loos

are at least twice the distance.

I have to go in the lift,

providing it's working,

up through the shop,

past all the other shops along

the walkway to the bottom,

turn right, turn left and you'll

find another door that has

the toilets there.

They should get up and do something,

come out onto the highway and see

what's going on for themselves

and do something

instead of doing nothing.

The toilets had been closed

because of a water leak

above and an electrical fault.

The delay is because the council

doesn't own the building.

I understand the concerns

of all the residents and traders,

these toilets have been out

of action for so long

because we haven't got

permission from the landowner

above the property, we now have

that permission and it's

being dealt with as a priority.

The council hopes this will be

sorted in the next nine weeks

although for many women and people

with disabilities,

that's still a very long time.

One of Devon's most ambitious-ever

hotel schemes may not be ready

for Plymouth's big moment.

Mayflower 400 is in three years'

time but the people behind a plan

for Drake's Island say their vision

may take longer than that.

It's the latest chapter in the long

history of the Island.

Drake's Island -

or St Nicholas' Isle - sits

in Plymouth Sound and was first

fortified in the mid 16th century.

It's named of course

after Sir Francis Drake,

who used Plymouth as his home port.

By the time Drake was defeating

the Spanish Armada, the island that

bore his name was heavily

armed and manned.

It remained a fortification

for nearly 400 years

until after World War Two.

By the 1960s the War Office left it

to Plymouth Council,

who eventually opened

a youth adventure centre.

But in the 1990s the island was up

for sale - and it was bought

22 years ago by Dan McAuley,

a former chairman of

Plymouth Argyle, who announced

plans to build a hotel.

In April this year, after more

than two decades of legal

wrangles and negotiations,

Plymouth councillors finally gave

the ambitious project

planning permission.

With this update,

here's our business

correspondent Neil Gallacher.

Across the choppy water today,

Drake's Island looked a little less

accessible than usual.

And the much vaunted hotel due to be

built here is probably further off

than some had thought.

The island owners gave more details

today of their vision,

which now has planning consent.

Some sort of limited public access

to the island could be provided

in the year ahead but unlike some

hotels planned in Plymouth,

this one looks unlikely to be

open for Mayflower 400.

That's too much to ask

for but with the phasing

there could be some facilities

available for 2020.

Drake's Island is unique and it's

not going to be dependent

on a particular celebration

or event, it will have longevity

with what we're trying to create.

The people behind this

are Dan McAuley's Rotolok Holdings,

former owners of Plymouth Argyle.

Today it became clear they had been

persuaded to start looking

for a commercial partner

from the world of top-flight hotels

to help make their vision a reality.

It's a massive investment

for the client to be putting in

onto Drake's Island,

its many millions of pounds and it

wants to be there for the future.

It's not something that

becomes a white elephant

for the city or for the island.

Development costs shot up last year

and haven't come down,

and the kind of economic forecast

unveiled by the Chancellor yesterday

is pretty challenging,

but the people who own

Drake's Island are still saying

it's not whether

they build a hotel there -

it's how and when.

Later, the moment of truth

for students who've been learning

the art of boat building.

And join me later to find out more

about Exeter's hidden treasure, the

Bill Douglas Cinema Museum, and find

out why they have a special reason

to celebrate.

With funding being tight

in all areas of public life

at the moment, the arts often finds

itself at the bottom

of the priority list.

But while some venues have closed,

performers in Ashburton have opened

a new arts centre in the heart

of the town.

They raised £180,000

to buy a Grade II listed

former Methodist Church.

Our arts reporter Emma Ruminski has

been finding out why

they think they can succeed

where others have failed.

SINGING.

Finally they've got

something to sing about.

This is why the campaigners behind

Ashburton Arts think they can run

a successful arts centre

- public support.

People and local businesses donated

and loaned the organisation money

to purchase this old Methodist

church and give it a new purpose.

Live music and drama

is suffering in our schools

and for the community at large,

and to have that space that can

provide that right in the centre

of what is a very active artistic

community here was just too good not

to try and make happen.

It's been a while since Ashburton

had a performance space.

The theatre run by an amateur

dramatic society,

the Buckfast Players,

shut its doors in the '60s.

It was run on a shoestring

to some extent.

It was lit by a car battery.

Now that sounds a bit weird.

Somewhere we have some photos

showing these various horrific

and electrical things that they had,

which could have blown anything up

within five minutes, but it worked.

But the new arts centre

has to meet modern fire

regulations if it's to get

a public entertainment licence.

Once that's achieved,

the main hall will largely remain

the same but the entrance will be

redeveloped to allow

everything from live music

to films to be shown here.

We're right on the A38 corridor

between Exeter and Plymouth

and the Moor and Torbay are all very

close to us, so I hope that that's

in our favour and that will help us

to succeed where some

other places haven't.

Before the auction, developers

were chasing this building

to turn it into flats.

Affordable housing is needed in this

area, so why was the art

centre bid successful?

To convert it to residential

would be difficult and expensive.

If you look at the reasons for it

being here, the community use

supports that and there are other

developments coming

through in Ashburton

which are better suited to housing.

We have schemes coming forward

through the local planning reviews

that look to provide that

for the town.

Small groups are already

using the space but it's hoped

the venue will be fully open

with a full programme

of events from next May.

Crowds lined the harbour

at Lyme Regis today to watch

an event which would test the nerves

of even the most

experienced boat builder.

For the past 38 weeks,

students with little or no

previous experience have

built their own boats.

And today was the day they found out

if their design would float.

Our Dorset reporter Anna Varle

went along to watch.

It's all hands on deck.

The students have just 30 minutes

until their boats enter

the water for the first time.

Tensions are high.

I'm a little bit nervous

because we have made something

which is very beautiful

but I haven't sailed much before,

I've done some work on water.

How are you feeling?

Pleased, confident,

she looks beautiful.

I think we've got everything right.

I'm a little tentative, I might say,

just because I built it and I'm not

famous for good engineering.

We're going to take the boats one

by one down to the Cob

and we will be launching them,

we will not be putting the sails up

and that's a shame but the wind

is actually pretty strong.

Finally, the moment of truth.

CHEERING.

This is the last boat

going in now and so far so good

but it is incredibly windy

and the boats are not allowed out

of the harbour and no sails

are allowed to be put up.

I've covered something like 20

launches and I think this is one

of only two where we've not been

able to put the sails up

and go out of the harbour.

But the wind didn't stop

the champagne from flowing.

I think given the conditions

we couldn't have asked for more.

It's been a fantastic

experience and sitting

in it for the first time,

I really enjoyed it.

We've still got dry

feet, so we're happy.

Many of the students had little

or no experience of boat-building

before starting this course nine

months ago, and with a skill

shortage in the trade,

the certainty of a job seems

a likely reward.

Congratulations to them all, they

looked like beautiful boats.

Now to a museum that is something

of a hidden treasure.

It's the UK's leading moving

image museum and it's

celebrating its 20th anniversary.

There's a huge collection of some

80,000 artefacts from the very

early days of moving images

through to modern day film.

It's called the Bill

Douglas Cinema Museum based

at the University of Exeter -

and it's open to the public.

Jane Chandler is there

for us this evening.

This is the upper

gallery of the museum.

Here there is ephermera

and paraphernalia related

to going to the movies and just over

here, the glamour of the movies.

The lovely Marilyn Monroe,

Audrey Hepburn and this amazing

biography of one of the very first

stars of the movies, Pearl White,

and it says that the edition

is dedicated to the memory

of the explorer Ernest Shackleton.

In here we have technology

related to something

like 300 years of history

of making moving pictures.

Who would have thought that?

This machine is called a mutoscope

and you can see What the Butler Saw.

I say!

This little beauty

is over 100 years old.

It's called a Moy and Bastie camera

and it's believed that this very

camera was the one that was used

to film the battle of the Somme

in the First World War.

The man who used this

camera was JB McDowell.

His work provides a moving

insight into life in

the trenches and visitors love

what they see here.

I feel like I've just

gone back two centuries.

It's lovely, I love it.

You can actually get

up to the reproduction

pieces and make them work.

I can see bringing my grandchildren

here and showing them the mutoscopes

and these little pieces way before

there was ever film,

so I think I'll do that.

It's an amazing collection of toys,

technology and memorabilia at the

Bill Douglas Cinema Museum. Let's

meet the man responsible for looking

after this collection, Doctor Phil

welcome. Tell me about this because

this is particularly special.

In

many ways this is the most important

artefact in the museum, an original

lumiere cinematograph. The first

films were projected on one of

these, there were only a few hundred

made.

This collection came from Bill

Douglas.

Can you tell me about him.

He was an amazing film-maker and

also a collector with his friend

Phil Jordan. After Bill died, Peter

Jordan donated the collection to the

university to phone the museum. More

people have donated and we have

around 80,000 architects.

What sort

of people come here?

We have

researchers from all over the world,

students and pensioners,

schoolchildren, corrupt, more and

more people are discovering what an

amazing collection it is.

I've been

told this museum is open seven days

a week between 10am and 5pm so you

should come and have a look.

I never knew it was there. Time for

the weather now. What will

colder, we have been in autumn until

today and then things change. Change

is under way, it will be cold tongue

like and into the weekend we are

looking at a drop in temperatures.

Tomorrow that will be cold for all

of us with the rest are

Tomorrow that will be cold for all

of us with the rest are some icy

patches on roads, this weather

system is the boundary between mild

air we have seen this week and the

colder air travelling towards us and

it's through the English Channel

around the middle of tomorrow, then

it moves away but it opens the door

to allow cold north-west winds to

develop, they come in on Saturday,

that will be a blustery and cold

feeling day and more frost on

Saturday night into Sunday, then

slightly less cold air by Monday on

this weather system but it's short

lived because we returned to

northerly winds by the middle of

next week. Also picking up the

radar, the colour is where it is

raining now and you can see a stripe

of rain across the north of Devon,

more cloud and rain coming in behind

me. This will bump along the south

coast but before it arrived today we

had a lot of fine weather. We had

some glorious sunshine and fine

weather, and with less wind around

today, although it has been quite

breezy, and shelter it is felt quite

present, some lovely weather

pictures. The temperature can they

will drop was some clear skies

already starting to fall away, but I

don't think they will fall too low

because all that cloud will give us

some rain overnight and that band of

cloud and rain will gradually move

east, replaced by showers but even

though showers will keep going

through to dawn tomorrow and when

starting to change direction as

colder air seeps in. Five or 6

degrees the minimum temperature

tonight, tomorrow a lot of cloud,

largely confined to western parts of

Cornwall and the south of Devon, the

showers, some clearing skies further

north and temperatures already

starting to come down. Nine or ten

will be the maximum temperature for

all of us tomorrow. Those are the

times of high water. Surfing

conditions will be clean fun north

and south coats, the winds westerly,

the re-for four, and veering to

become north for north-westerly by

the end of the afternoon and into

the evening, and that is dragging in

clearer air, so frost is possible,

Saturday is a nice day. We had 15

degrees on Monday and more cloud on

Sunday and rain returning on Monday.

Have a nice evening.

On fire late news, more on possible

changes to the storage of nuclear

waste at Hinkley Point. That is at

10:20pm but from us here on

Spotlight, good night.