BBC Radio Cornwall

Firefighters prevented a large heathland blaze from spreading to nearby properties, fire crews in Cornwall have revealed.

It's believed the fire in St Agnes near The Driftwood Spars pub in the valley leading to Trevaunance Cove was started by a stray firework from a Bonfire Night display. Firefighters tackled the large blaze overnight.

Perranporth Fire Station said firefighters had attended the scene this morning to tackle hotspots.

BBC Wales News

A man has been found guilty of murdering his 18-month-old baby just two weeks after formally adopting her.

Matthew Scully-Hicks, 31, of Delabole, Cornwall, had denied inflicting catastrophic injuries on Elsie at his Cardiff home four days before she died.

Image source, South Wales Police

A National Adoption Service spokesman said it was a "tragic and extremely rare case".

Speaking after the trial, senior investigating officer Det Ch Insp Stuart Wales, of South Wales Police Major Crime Investigation Team, said Elsie's "untimely death" has had a "devastating effect first and foremost on her family".

"Elsie's death has also impacted a wider community, including the many professionals involved in her care and the subsequent investigation. I would like to thank all of them, including the many witnesses who assisted the prosecution," he said.

"This case represents an extremely rare and distressing set of circumstances. We at South Wales Police continue to respect and value the role that adoption, and those involved, play in our society."

• Elsie Scully-Hicks: Murdered by adopted father

Cornwall Live

Cornwall had its own Blue Planet moment when a pod of dolphins joined a minke whale, tuna fish and hundreds of sea birds in a mad feeding frenzy, external off the Cornish coast.

BBC News England

A man on probation was filmed using a leaf blower naked in a graveyard while carrying out work as part of a community payback scheme.

He was also filmed wearing a priest's robes at a church where he was supposed to be working.

Probation workers' union NAPO said the company in charge of the scheme in the south west, is "unfit for purpose".

The company, Working Links, said it was an isolated incident and a supervisor has been sacked.

Brent Pilnick
BBC Sport

Jake Jervis has impressed Plymouth Argyle manager Derek Adams since taking up a more central attacking role.

Jervis, 26, was one of Adams' first signings in 2015 but has primarily played on the right side of the attack.

"I think he's doing really well," Adams said after the FA Cup win over Grimsby.

Image source, Rex Features

"He plays that position from the point of view that he runs beyond and that stretches the game, allowing our wider players to come into the hole and cause trouble for the opposition."

Injuries to Ryan Taylor and Nadir Ciftci have seen Jervis deployed more centrally in recent matches.

Despite only scoring twice this season in August, Jervis has had good goalscoring form in League Two, scoring 14 and 13 goals in his previous two seasons at Home Park.

BBC Wales News

A man found guilty of murdering his 18-month-old adopted daughter claimed she fell down the stairs two months before she died.

Matthew Scully-Hicks, 31, of Delabole, Cornwall, had denied inflicting catastrophic injuries on Elsie at his Cardiff home four days before she died.

But he was found guilty following a trial at Cardiff Crown Court.

The jury was played a 999 call from Scully-Hicks, who told the operator that he had not properly closed a stairgate and Elsie had tumbled from the top of the stairs to the bottom.

BBC Weather

Cloud is going to increase from the west throughout the afternoon.

Later, the wind will strengthen and some outbreaks of light rain may arrive - especially from the west.

Maximum temperature: 12C (54F).

BBC Wales News

The case of murdered 18-month-old Elsie Scully-Hicks will now be considered as part of a child practice review, external (CPR) - which is triggered whenever a child dies or is seriously injured and abuse or neglect is thought to have been involved.

Her adoptive father, Matthew Scully-Hicks, 31, of Delabole, Cornwall, has been found guilty of killing her at Cardiff Crown Court.

The jury heard how he inflicted a catalogue of violence on her in the eight months she lived with him.

The review will consider whether there are lessons to be learnt which may prevent another child suffering the same fate as Elsie.

BBC Wales News

Text messages sent from Matthew Scully-Hicks to his husband revealed he was "struggling to cope" when caring for his 18-month-old adopted daughter.

Baby Elsie died after suffering a "blunt head injury" which triggered a cardiac arrest and starved her organs of blood.

Scully-Hicks, from Delabole in Cornwall, was found guilty of her murder at Cardiff Crown Court.

In the messages, he described her as a "psycho" and said she was "having a proper diva strop".

Neighbours said they had heard Matthew Scully-Hicks shout and sound "exasperated and frustrated" when looking after Elsie.

BBC Wales News

The adoptive father of an 18-month-old baby has been convicted of her murder.

Matthew Scully-Hicks, 31, from Delabole in Cornwall, called 999 on 25 May 2016 claiming he had found baby Elsie unresponsive on the floor.

However, a jury at Cardiff Crown Court unanimously rejected his claim.

During the trial, the jury was told Scully-Hicks had sent his husband Craig text messages saying he was "struggling to cope" and describing Elsie as "Satan in a babygro" and a "psycho".

Following the verdict, Iwan Jenkins, from the Crown Prosecution Service said: "There were complicating factors in that the only two people who knew what happened in the months leading up to the incident, were the defendant and the victim herself."

He added: "There are no winners in cases of murder."

Image source, GOOGLE

BBC Wales News

Elsie Scully-Hicks was just 18 months old when she died from catastrophic injuries. Her adopted father Matthew Scully-Hicks inflicted a catalogue of violence on her in the eight months she lived with him.

To the outside world he was a loving, stay-at-home father with regular visits by social workers and health visitors picking up no troubling signs yet two weeks after the adoption was finalised, Elsie was dead with injuries experts later compared to a "major trauma such as a car accident".

Personal trainer Matthew Scully-Hicks and his husband Craig appeared to have everything - a happy marriage, two longed-for children, financial stability and a close circle of family and friends.

But behind closed doors he was struggling to cope, violently losing his temper.

He managed to pass off the injuries he inflicted on his daughter as accidental so as not to raise the suspicions of those involved in the close supervision of the family, as part of the adoption process.

Even his husband did not suspect anything.

BBC Wales News

A pathologist has said the injuries sustained by 18-month-old Elsie Scully-Hicks were "very typical" of a shaken baby, as her adoptive father is jailed for her murder.

Matthew Scully-Hicks, 31, of Delabole in Cornwall had denied inflicting the catastrophic injuries on her at his Cardiff home four days before she died.

Dr Stephen Leadbetter told the trial at Cardiff Crown Court that Elsie's injuries were consistent with "shaking impact syndrome".

He said she died after suffering a "blunt head injury", which triggered a cardiac arrest and starved her organs of blood.

Image source, Wales News Service

Press Association

Matthew Scully-Hicks, 31, of Delabole, Cornwall, has been found guilty of murdering his 18-month-old adopted baby.

He had denied inflicting catastrophic injuries on Elsie at his Cardiff home but a jury rejected this.

Who is Matthew Scully-Hicks?

• Scully-Hicks was born in Cornwall, where he lived with his parents and elder sister until the age of 16
• He attended the community school near his home village of Delabole, north Cornwall, and left with 10 GCSEs
• After school, he began studying at college but left and decided to start working instead, where he picked up a number of vocational qualifications
• He worked in a restaurant in Cornwall before moving to Swindon, Wiltshire, in December 2002 when he was 16
• In 2003, Scully-Hicks began employment at the Oasis Leisure Centre in Swindon, where he worked his way up from assistant to pool-side lifeguard, and finally to operations manager
• He left the leisure centre in 2011, having met future husband and nightclub owner Craig Scully-Hicks in Swindon in 2006
• Scully-Hicks and Craig married in Portugal in August 2012, having already discussed that they would like to have children through adoption
• Elsie was placed with the couple at the home in September 2015 and was adopted by them on May 12 the following year

BBC Radio Devon

• In Plymouth, there are reports of an accident on Salisbury Road at Cranbourne Avenue
• In Kingsbridge, the A379 Cookworthy Road is partially blocked by an accident

A man from Cornwall has been found guilty of murdering his 18-month-old baby just two weeks after formally adopting her.

Matthew Scully-Hicks, 31, from Delabole, had denied inflicting catastrophic injuries on Elsie at his Cardiff home but a jury rejected this.

A pathologist said Elsie's injuries were "very typical" of babies who have been shaken.

Pathologist Dr Stephen Leadbetter said Elsie died after suffering a "blunt head injury", which triggered a cardiac arrest and starved her organs of blood.

BBC News UK

A man from Cornwall has been convicted at Cardiff Crown Court of murdering his 18-month-old adopted daughter Elsie.

Matthew Scully-Hicks, 31, from Delabole, has been found guilty by a jury at Cardiff Crown Court of inflicting fatal injuries on Elsie Scully-Hicks at his home in Llandaff, Cardiff, on 25 May 2016.

Press Association

Image source, Family

A jury has started a fourth day of deliberations in the trial of a part-time fitness instructor accused of murdering his adoptive 18-month-old daughter.

Matthew Scully-Hicks, 31, is accused of inflicting fatal injuries on Elsie Scully-Hicks while he was looking after her at his home in Llandaff, Cardiff, on 25 May 2016.

The toddler collapsed at about 18:20 and Mr Scully-Hicks, of Delabole, Cornwall, dialled 999 to say she was not moving or breathing. Elsie was taken to University Hospital of Wales, where she died in the early hours of 29 May.

Mr Scully-Hicks and his husband, Craig Scully-Hicks, 36, had formally adopted Elsie two weeks earlier.

Prosecutors claim Scully-Hicks gripped Elsie around her ribs, shook her and struck her head, causing fatal injuries.

The defendant, who denies murder, insists he did not harm Elsie and found her unresponsive after changing her for bed.

Mrs Justice Nicola Davies sent the jury of nine men and three women at Cardiff Crown Court out to consider their verdicts just after 15:00 on Wednesday. The jury can return one of three verdicts - guilty of murder, guilty of manslaughter, or not guilty.

BBC Radio Cornwall

• The A30 at Five Lanes is partially blocked due to broken-down vehicle. Traffic is coping well

Hayley Westcott
BBC News Online

The body of a 71-year-old man was pulled from the sea after being spotted by crowds gathered to watch a fireworks display.

Devon and Cornwall Police were called to Plymouth Hoe at 18:40 after reports of a body in the water.

The local man was pronounced dead at the scene and the death is not being treated as suspicious, police have said.

The body was recovered by the RNLI's inshore lifeboat near West Hoe pier before being taken to the city's Derriford Hospital.

The man's next-of-kin have been told.

A man is in a life-threatening condition after a vehicle crashed into railings in Plymouth.

The driver, a local man in his 50s, was taken to Derriford Hospital and remains in a critical condition.

The passenger of the car had minor injuries, officers said.

It happened on Friday at George crossroads, Southway, at about 16:30.

Police are appealing for witnesses to come forward.