BBC Devon & Cornwall Live: 18-22 June

Summary

Updates from Monday 18 June until Friday 22 June 2018

Live Reporting

Men sentenced to 11 years for Plymouth robberypublished at 17:57 British Summer Time 18 June 2018
Chris Quevatre
BBC News Online
Three men have been sentenced to 11 years and nine months for a robbery at a Plymouth shop.
Philip Hogan, 31, Mahammed Rahman, 35, and Mark Barker, 34, all pleaded guilty to robbery of a Kwik store on Albert Road on 27 April.
Rahman also pleaded guilty to possession of a bladed article.
The three men, all from Devonport, were sentenced to three years and nine months in prison at Plymouth Crown Court
The court heard how all three men entered the shop around 22:30 with Rahman brandishing a knife and threatening a lone shop worker.
The men then left the shop with hundreds of pound in cash from the store till.
Det Con John-Paul Eccles said: "The victim was left shaken and scared by this incident and I hope that today's sentence offers reassurance that justice has been served and incidents like this will not be tolerated."
Alcohol restrictions approved in four townspublished at 17:49 British Summer Time 18 June 2018
Richard Whitehouse
Local Democracy Reporting Service
Areas which restrict the number of places selling alcohol will remain in place in four towns across Cornwall.
There are currently Cumulative Impact Zones (CIZs) in Truro, Falmouth, Penzance and Newquay town centres which aim to monitor and restrict problems linked with alcohol.
Image source, Google
The zones also allow licensing authorities to restrict new licensed premises opening in those areas.
All the zones are subject to regular review and Cornwall Council's licensing act committee today agreed they should remain in place.
Stalker jailed for propositioning womenpublished at 17:26 British Summer Time 18 June 2018
Chris Quevatre
BBC News Online
A serial stalker has been jailed for offering a shop worker a carrier bag full of money in exchange for sex.
Shaun Harper, 48, also made obscene phone calls to a hairdresser and waitress in Sidmouth, in which he said he "was not going to take no for an answer".
Harper, aged 48, of Harbour Road, Seaton, has a history of making abusive calls to women - he was on a suspended sentence for asking a 15-year-old girl for sex outside a shop in Seaton.
He admitted making an indecent or offensive communication and breaching a criminal behaviour order and was jailed for 12 months by Judge Erik Salomonsen at Exeter Crown Court.
Man dies in multi-car crashpublished at 16:32 British Summer Time 18 June 2018
Amy Gladwell
BBC News Online
A man has died following a crash involving several cars on the A361 at South Molton.
It happened at 11:40 at Rose Ash on the North Devon link road, police say.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene and his next of kin have been told.
An elderly woman in another vehicle was airlifted to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital with injuries not believed to be life-threatening.
The road was closed at Knowstone Cross and between Bish Mill and Aller Cross.
Officers are appealing for witnesses.
'No CCTV evidence' of PC's assault claimpublished at 16:30 British Summer Time 18 June 2018
A police officer denies perverting the course of justice after arresting a woman for assault.
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Animal rescuer wins European conservation awardpublished at 15:47 British Summer Time 18 June 2018
Amy Gladwell
BBC News Online
A Cornwall animal expert who has helped rescue more than 1,500 dolphins turtles and seals has won a European award for his work.
"Leading light" in the marine conservation world, Dan Jarvis from British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) was given the Mandy McMath ECS Conservation Award at the European Cetacean Society Conference, external 2018, in La Spezia, Italy.
Mr Jarvis has trained many professionals and volunteers such as at the recent Northern Veterinary Student Zoological Symposium in Edinburgh - and has lectured as far afield as Kazakhstan, BDMLR said.
He began recording stranded cetaceans, seals and turtles as a volunteer in the south west when he was just 17.
Image source, Dave Jarvis
Quote Message
Dan has been a leading light in the marine world for nearly 20 years. He has the ability to engage with young and old alike and he has inspired many to follow in his footsteps. This award was fully deserved.
Sue Sayer, Cornwall Seal Group Research Trust
PC on trial for alleged false accusationspublished at 14:50 British Summer Time 18 June 2018
Chris Quevatre
BBC News Online
A police officer is on trial for allegedly falsely accusing a woman of assaulting her.
PC Lucy Clark, 30, arrested Shniece McMenamin after an incident in Union Street, Plymouth, claiming the woman had grabbed and pulled her arm three times.
Officers checked CCTV in the area the next day, but could not see the attack - they released Ms McMenamin, who had been in custody overnight.
Image source, Nick Irving
Miss Virginia Cornwall, prosecuting, said the CCTV shows Ms McMenamin seeking to "intervene to move others away" and "trying to act as a peacemaker".
PC Clark, from Plymouth, denies perverting the course of justice - she said she was assaulted, the arrest was lawful, and her statements were true.
Ex head teacher guilty of sexually abusing girlpublished at 14:47 British Summer Time 18 June 2018
Devon Live
A former head teacher from Devon has been found guilty of two counts of indecent assault on a 16-year-old girl., external
Yew tree branch at council HQ to 'ward off evil spirits'published at 14:23 British Summer Time 18 June 2018
Daniel Clark
Local Democracy Reporting Service
A yew tree branch has been placed on top of East Devon District Council's new HQ to "ward off evil spirits".
The topping out ceremony took place at Blackdown House in Honiton, which will be the council's new home by January 2019.
As part of the ceremony, a yew tree branch was attached to the highest point of the building.
The ceremony was completed by council chairman Andrew Moulding and leader Ian Thomas. A council spokesman said it was "an age-old tradition".
The authority plans to move from its current HQ in Sidmouth to Blackdown House in December 2018. The move will be partly financed by selling the property to Pegasus Life Ltd for £7.5m, which will turn it into a 113-apartment assisted-living community.
Image source, LDRS
Drivers urged to find other route after serious crashpublished at 13:54 British Summer Time 18 June 2018
Drivers are being urged to find an alternative route after a serious crash closed the A361 in Devon.
A man is in a serious condition after the three-car crash near South Molton.
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Grooming offences 'higher than predicted'published at 13:49 British Summer Time 18 June 2018
Johnny O'Shea
BBC News Online
More than 50 grooming offences have been recorded by Devon and Cornwall Police in the first year since a new anti-grooming law came into force.
A Freedom of Information request from the NSPCC, external to police forces across England and Wales revealed a total of more than 3,000 offences between April 2017 and April 2018.
The crime of Sexual Communication with a Child, external came into force on 3 April 2017 making it a criminal offence for anyone aged 18 or over to intentionally communicate with a child under 16 for a sexual purpose.
Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram were the top three most-recorded sites out of 80 different methods used in grooming offences.
Quote Message
These numbers are far higher than we had predicted, and every single sexual message from an adult to a child can have a huge impact for years to come. Social networks have been self-regulated for a decade and it's absolutely clear that children have been harmed as a result."
Sharon Copsey, NSPCC
Serious three-car crash closes Devon roadpublished at 12:51 British Summer Time 18 June 2018
Johnny O'Shea
BBC News Online
A man is in a serious condition after a crash involving three cars near South Molton.
Police say it happened at about 11:40 on the A361 and the man had to be freed from one of the vehicles.
Fire and ambulance crews are also at the scene, and the air ambulance has been requested.
The road has been closed at Knowstone Cross and between Bish Mill and Aller Cross, and is likely to remain closed for some time.
Image source, Google
A361 closed and traffic queueingpublished at 12:32 British Summer Time 18 June 2018
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Three women cut off by tide near Whitsand Baypublished at 12:15 British Summer Time 18 June 2018
Johnny O'Shea
BBC News Online
Three woman who were cut off by the tide near Whitsand Bay in south east Cornwall were rescued by lifeguards.
The group were walking from Tregantle beach to Sharrow beach when they were cut off by the incoming, very high spring tide in a small bay called No Fear.
Luckily, the group had a friend on the cliff who alerted lifeguards.
One of the women, Clare Whitelock commented on the lifeguards Facebook page, external:
"We’d like to thank the lifeguards again for all their help when we got caught out by the tide near Sharrow. They were our heroes yesterday and they do an amazing job."
Image source, RNLI
Quote Message
This was a tricky situation for the casualties to find themselves in. It was lucky their friend spotted that the tide was coming in and alerted the lifeguards as we are currently experiencing very high spring tides and there was big surf yesterday. Thanks to the quick thinking of their friend we were able to help the casualties immediately. We always advise people visiting the coast to come to a lifeguarded beach and to check the weather and tide times before arriving."
Charlie Gillett, RNLI lifeguard supervisor
Woman sexually assaulted in Exeter parkpublished at 11:57 British Summer Time 18 June 2018
Devon Live
A woman in her 40s was followed and sexually assaulted in a park in Exeter, police have said., external
Bride walks out on fiancé on the morning of weddingpublished at 11:55 British Summer Time 18 June 2018
Cornwall Live
An enraged bride dumped her fiancé on the morning of their wedding, external and instead held a party in their planned honeymoon spot in Bude.
Plea for Devonport's submarines to be recycledpublished at 11:25 British Summer Time 18 June 2018
Johnny O'Shea
BBC News Online
MPs are calling for the recycling of old Royal Navy nuclear submarines, including 13 currently tied up at Devonport.
Another seven are in long-term storage at Rosyth in Scotland.
Over the next 20 years another seven nuclear submarines are due to come out of service.
The oldest one in Devonport is HMS Valiant which is 54 years old, having been launched in 1963 at the height of the Cold War.
Image source, Google
The Nuclear Decommissioning Agency, external is currently cleaning up 17 old nuclear sites and MPs are calling for the budget for the programme to be extended to include the legacy nuclear submarines.
Luke Pollard, MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport has joined two other MPs in writing to the prime minister, as well as the leaders of the Labour Party, the Scottish National Party and the Liberal Democrats.
Quote Message
Plymouth and Rosyth cannot be asked to store old nuclear submarines indefinitely. We need a proper funded plan and using the same principles as civil nuclear clean-up to safely, sustainably and securely recycle the out of service nuclear submarines would be a sound idea. I expect most people will be surprised to learn that every old nuclear submarine the Royal Navy ever has, we still have."
Luke Pollard, MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport
Funding boost for Cornwall's road safety schemespublished at 11:12 British Summer Time 18 June 2018
Johnny O'Shea
BBC News Online
The government has pledged more than £3m to help fund local road safety schemes for two major A-roads in Cornwall.
A stretch of the A3058 between Summercourt and Quintrell Downs has been allocated £1.1m.
A further £1.9m will go towards the A3071 between Penzance and St Just.
It has come from the the government's Safer Road Fund, following bids from Cornwall Council.
The money will be used for new barriers, footways, junctions and road surfaces to improve road safety and prevent accidents.
Quote Message
Improving the safety of major roads in Cornwall, for the benefit of road users, is a priority issue for this council through our wider highway investment programme. These latest road safety grants secured by the council will enable improvements to be delivered in 2020/21."
Geoff Brown, Cornwall Council Portfolio Holder for Transport
Image source, Google
Image caption,
A3071 between St Just and Penzance
Funding boost for Saltash station planspublished at 10:27 British Summer Time 18 June 2018
BBC Spotlight
Plans to rebuild a disused station building at Saltash have been given a big funding boost.
More than £100,000 has been given to the project from GWR's Customer and Communities Improvement Fund, external.
The building is to be rescued from dereliction and restored into a waiting room, café and exhibition room, along with space for business units.
The money contributes towards a total cost of £400,000.
Man, 48, dies in ground-floor flat firepublished at 10:09 British Summer Time 18 June 2018
The man was pulled from the building by members of the public on Friday, but later died in hospital.
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