:00:00. > :00:11.of the German flag in tribute to those who lost their lives
:00:12. > :00:16.His approach to safety was described in court as "lackadaisical",
:00:17. > :00:21.but today the boss of a stunt firm has avoided a prison sentence
:00:22. > :00:23.after a man from Cornwall died during a human cannonball act.
:00:24. > :00:26.Scott May, who runs Stunts UK Ltd, admitted a health and safety
:00:27. > :00:29.breach following the death of Matthew Cranch from Newquay.
:00:30. > :00:34.He faced up to two years in jail, but received a 12 month community
:00:35. > :00:37.order and the company was given a ?100,000 fine.
:00:38. > :00:44.A thumbs up before climbing into the canon.
:00:45. > :00:52.But this stunt would cost Matthew Cranch his life.
:00:53. > :00:56.In front of hundreds of spectators, he was fired into the air.
:00:57. > :00:59.To their horror, a safety net intended to break his fall
:01:00. > :01:03.He hit the ground, suffering catastrophic injuries.
:01:04. > :01:06.A mechanism designed to free the stuntman from the net once
:01:07. > :01:09.he had landed safely hadn't been set properly.
:01:10. > :01:14.His parents were in court, as the firm he was
:01:15. > :01:17.The council, which brought the prosecution, read
:01:18. > :01:22.Today's sentencing is about bringing justice for Matthew.
:01:23. > :01:26.We will always be grateful and thankful for his love
:01:27. > :01:34.The loss of our son is a matter we can never accept or recover from.
:01:35. > :01:37.Stunts UK Ltd and its director Scott May admitted failing
:01:38. > :01:44.I think what we can learn from a case like this is,
:01:45. > :01:46.the health and safety laws apply, not just to companies
:01:47. > :01:48.and to individuals, but also to directors of companies.
:01:49. > :01:51.And if those directors are found to have fallen short of the mark,
:01:52. > :01:55.then they can expect to be prosecuted as well as the company.
:01:56. > :01:58.The judge made it clear the sentence he passed was in no way meant
:01:59. > :02:01.to reflect the value of the life of Matthew Cranch,
:02:02. > :02:06.Scott May was ordered to do 150 hours unpaid work.
:02:07. > :02:13.His firm fined ?100,000, plus ?80,000 in costs.
:02:14. > :02:16.Is there anything you'd like to say to the family, Mr May?
:02:17. > :02:23.The judge accepted it wasn't a deliberate health and safety
:02:24. > :02:25.breach but the risk should have been identified.
:02:26. > :02:29.The failure to do so resulted in a man losing his life.
:02:30. > :02:35.Simon Jones, BBC Spotlight, Maidstone Crown Court.
:02:36. > :02:39.A man has appeared in court charged with murder after a body was found
:02:40. > :02:42.The victim, who's been identified as 44 year-old Gary Miller,
:02:43. > :02:48.Paul Quantick who's 35 and from Union Street has
:02:49. > :02:52.been committed for trial at Plymouth Crown Court.
:02:53. > :02:55.A second day of strike action has been held by workers at Crown
:02:56. > :02:59.They're protesting about branch closures, job security
:03:00. > :03:03.The post office says the action has caused minimal
:03:04. > :03:09.Day two of a five-day strike by Post Office staff.
:03:10. > :03:14.This crown Post Office in Exeter is one of a dozen or so affected
:03:15. > :03:19.It's still open to customers, staffed by managers,
:03:20. > :03:24.said the unions, whilst they're out on the picket line.
:03:25. > :03:26.Whilst we sympathise with the public, such
:03:27. > :03:30.is the intransigence of Post Office Ltd, our members have
:03:31. > :03:35.been forced to take this action and they don't take it lightly.
:03:36. > :03:38.They will be losing pay this week in the run-up to a very
:03:39. > :03:42.While some people have accused staff of deliberately trying to disrupt
:03:43. > :03:44.the Christmas period, most people I spoke to today seemed
:03:45. > :03:50.Unfortunately it's the wrong time of year to take action,
:03:51. > :03:53.but this is the only way it will get through to them.
:03:54. > :03:55.You know, get through to the powers that be.
:03:56. > :03:57.I'm all for supporting, especially the Post Office, absolutely.
:03:58. > :04:04.You wouldn't want to see the Post Office go?
:04:05. > :04:08.You need to value these places before they go.
:04:09. > :04:10.I know a lot of Exeter's services have been centralised
:04:11. > :04:16.So, we've got to value it, but there are alternatives now
:04:17. > :04:22.There have been rumours of Royal Mail staff joining
:04:23. > :04:25.the industrial action, but there's no sign of that locally,
:04:26. > :04:31.But unless the dispute is resolved, these Post Office workers will be
:04:32. > :04:37.Post Office bosses have described the industrial action
:04:38. > :04:39.as very regrettable, but say it will cause minimal
:04:40. > :04:45.That certainly seems to be the case here.
:04:46. > :04:49.Scott Bingham, BBC Spotlight, Exeter.
:04:50. > :04:52.New research shows that one in three people in the South West
:04:53. > :04:54.drinks more than the new recommended level of alcohol.
:04:55. > :04:57.The figures from Public Health Action reveal that more
:04:58. > :04:59.than a million 40 to 70 year olds are drinking more than
:05:00. > :05:07.Campaigners say the cost to the NHS and the economy of alcohol
:05:08. > :05:08.related problems runs into billions of pounds.
:05:09. > :05:16.And for Julie and Gabby, something to celebrate.
:05:17. > :05:21.Their first sober festive season for several years.
:05:22. > :05:23.I'm looking forward to Christmas Day, a roast turkey
:05:24. > :05:26.and just a little stocking, you know what I mean?
:05:27. > :05:29.A bit of telly, yeah and knowing that I'm sober.
:05:30. > :05:36.Waking up Christmas morning without a hangover.
:05:37. > :05:39.Drinking two bottles of vodka a day at her lowest, Julie's children
:05:40. > :05:44.Drink free now for six months, she wants others to seek help
:05:45. > :05:48.It costs you your self-respect, your morals and your values,
:05:49. > :05:52.which actually, to be fair, is what we lose.
:05:53. > :05:56.Now 22, Gabby's drinking started to spiral out of control at 16,
:05:57. > :05:59.starting with binges and leading to her losing her job last year.
:06:00. > :06:08.She's also in recovery, thanks to treatment from charity Addaction.
:06:09. > :06:10.If it gets to a point where, you know, you're losing jobs,
:06:11. > :06:19.to just think, is it really worth losing all of that for something
:06:20. > :06:25.It's the season to be merry, but according to figures
:06:26. > :06:28.from public health action, too many of us are drinking more
:06:29. > :06:33.Across the south-west region, one in three drink
:06:34. > :06:39.Here in Cornwall one in ten are deemed to be high risk,
:06:40. > :06:42.that's drinking double the recommended guidelines.
:06:43. > :06:45.And those figures are likely to be even higher in the future
:06:46. > :06:50.as the government's recommended limits changed this year.
:06:51. > :06:53.For both men and women, the number of units a week is now 14.
:06:54. > :06:55.That's equivalent of six pints of lager or six
:06:56. > :07:02.Any weekend you go to any of towns in Cornwall,
:07:03. > :07:05.and you are there late at night, you would definitely say binge
:07:06. > :07:08.drinking needs addressing and that's why we have volunteers on the street
:07:09. > :07:13.But more than that, it's so easy to buy alcohol,
:07:14. > :07:15.you click online and it gets delivered to your door.
:07:16. > :07:18.Most people now are drinking more at home than they do
:07:19. > :07:23.And that's where we get real health problems.
:07:24. > :07:25.Drink responsibly, that's the message.
:07:26. > :07:31.It's been a day for celebration in Torbay
:07:32. > :07:33.as the last of the Normandy Veterans finally got their war
:07:34. > :07:37.The Legion D'Honneur is awarded by the French to all servicemen
:07:38. > :07:40.who helped Liberate their country from the Nazis.
:07:41. > :07:43.Some veterans in Torbay have had to wait two years after applying
:07:44. > :07:45.but as John Ayres reports, this afternoon it was
:07:46. > :07:53.It's been quite a wait, but finally today the last
:07:54. > :07:55.of Torbay's Normandy veterans waiting to be honoured,
:07:56. > :08:04.Been better immediately after the war, but anyway here we are.
:08:05. > :08:14.Late in the day, late hour, you know.
:08:15. > :08:26.There were far more who deserved a medal than me.
:08:27. > :08:30.I was lucky, I was able to go through without being killed.
:08:31. > :08:33.You know, it was privilege, luck, I don't know what you would call it.
:08:34. > :08:36.The French government wanted to thank all the servicemen
:08:37. > :08:38.who helped liberate the country from the Nazis during
:08:39. > :08:41.They decided to offer the medal to all living
:08:42. > :08:45.The problem was, the French and the Ministry of Defence had
:08:46. > :08:47.twice as many applications than they were expecting.
:08:48. > :08:49.E-mails got lost, then they would write back and say
:08:50. > :08:52.we haven't got the address of the recipient, only his name
:08:53. > :08:55.and then it would be, we've got his name but not the recipient.
:08:56. > :08:58.I can only assume there has been the demand.
:08:59. > :09:03.Sadly, seven of our veterans died before they manage to receive
:09:04. > :09:06.Sadly, seven of our veterans died before they managed to receive
:09:07. > :09:10.There was also a medal for Rob Barber, but he couldn't be here.
:09:11. > :09:13.Awarding these medals is something the French really wanted to do
:09:14. > :09:15.and although these veterans had to wait, they are very
:09:16. > :09:24.Well time now to take a look at the weather and David's
:09:25. > :09:36.It would be nice in the run-up to Christmas to talk about something
:09:37. > :09:42.see anything in the wake of snow, see anything in the wake of snow,
:09:43. > :09:47.ice or frost in fact. It is a mild picture this week. Patchy rain, bit
:09:48. > :09:51.breezy tomorrow. Temperatures still in double figures. A weather front
:09:52. > :09:55.and I'd is producing outbreaks of rain. It clears for a time, but then
:09:56. > :10:03.comes back again during the course of the day. A more definite change
:10:04. > :10:06.is on Thursday, but perhaps the just one day. Another area of low
:10:07. > :10:11.pressure is rising across the Atlantic to give us some windy
:10:12. > :10:15.conditions on Friday. It is wet overnight. The rain petering out in
:10:16. > :10:19.the second half of the night but lost to clear from Dorset and
:10:20. > :10:25.Somerset. Clear skies behind it to get that bridges into single
:10:26. > :10:29.figures. Briefly tomorrow, some brightness and breed sunshine before
:10:30. > :10:34.the rain returns. Quickly arriving by the end of the morning and into
:10:35. > :10:41.the afternoon. Blessed windy in the second half of the day. -- less
:10:42. > :10:46.windy. Just a few showers, otherwise mostly dry. Then the risk of heavy
:10:47. > :10:48.rain and windy conditions on Friday. Have a good night.
:10:49. > :10:51.Heidi Davey will be back just before 6.30 with the latest news
:10:52. > :11:09.country it's worth knowing the national forecast. Over now to
:11:10. > :11:13.Tomasz. So, the weather's going to blow a
:11:14. > :11:18.few cobwebs away in the coming days and maybe a few other things, as
:11:19. > :11:23.well. How stormy is it going to get? For most of us probably not too
:11:24. > :11:29.terrible. It is, however, going to be very nasty across parts of
:11:30. > :11:36.Scotland on Friday. The clouds are racing across the Atlantic and we
:11:37. > :11:38.will see a storm by the time we get to around about Friday and then
:11:39. > :11:40.Friday night. At the moment we have a weather
:11:41. > :11:42.front crossing the country, we have