News
Rescued twice on a trip to Portsmouth
A YACHTSMAN had to be rescued twice in one week after he attempted to sail 300 miles along Britain’s coast using nothing but a mobile phone app to navigate.
The hapless sailor was trying to sail his 32ft yacht single-handedly from Milford Haven to Portsmouth when he got stuck in shallow water in Poole Harbour, The Daily Mail has reported.
A week previously he had been towed into St Ives, Cornwall, after getting into trouble a mile from the seaside holiday town.
Lifeboat crews said they had to tow the boat and its exhausted skipper to the safety of a nearby marina in Poole, following the most recent rescue. Coastguards then visited the vessel, where they discovered the man had been using an app on his phone to work out his route along the coast.
They also found that the skipper, in his 40’s, had 27 out-of-date emergency flares on board the boat – some which were more than 13 years out of date. According to The Mail, he had not used a passage plan for his trip and had not told coastguards about his trip.
The week before two lifeboat crews from St Ives were called out after the engine on the yacht, which is named the Vita Lote II, stopped working. They found the yacht drifting perilously close to rocks but were able to take it back to the safety of the harbour.
It is understood the man, who was described as an experienced sailor, bought the yacht in Oban, Scotland, last year and had then sailed it to Milford Haven to spend the winter there.
He was making his way to Portsmouth when the incidents occurred.
On both occasions the man raised the alarm with the coastguard.
The first incident took place on June 8 and the sailor was rescued again on Monday. Coastguards were so concerned about him they gave him a safety briefing and checked over his equipment including his lifejacket and radio.
A spokesman for St Ives lifeboat crew said: “While out on exercise the all-weather lifeboat and inshore lifeboat were tasked to a yacht that was in difficulty half a mile north of Hor Point. The yacht being close to the shore and with a strong northerly wind blowing the inshore lifeboat was tasked to go and stand by the vessel to wait for the all-weather lifeboat to arrive and attach a tow line.
The spokesman added: “The all-weather lifeboat arrived on scene shortly after and attached a tow line and bought the casualty vessel and two persons onboard into St. Ives.”
After rescuing the sailor again a week later, a spokesman for Poole coastguard said: “We were paged to meet a vessel at Salterns Marina which had run aground in Poole Harbour and needed some safety advice. The vessel was using an 2014 almanac and an app on a mobile phone to navigate from Cornwall to Portsmouth. It turned out he had already been seen by the RNLI down south so seeing us was nothing uncommon to him.”
Allan Norman, of the Marine Coastguard Agency, said: “In this case the skipper had been caught out by the weather. He was singlehanded and had been sailing for quite a long time, so he was exhausted. He was using a navigation app on his mobile phone but he did have the right equipment on board. He was quite experienced so our advice to him was to make sure he got enough rest and to call us with his passage plan in future.”
Education
Lib Dem leader meets student union after scrapping of teacher training
Last week, the Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds visited Aberystwyth University to meet students following the announcement that the University will be scrapping their Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) program.
The announcement comes after the publication of an Estyn inspection report last year, which found that the institution had “been too slow” when it came to prioritising student support.
The Welsh Liberal Democrats have now called for the University to produce and implement an action plan that will enable the reintroduction of this course at the earliest opportunity, as well as for the Uni to rectify any similar shortcomings in other training programs.
Commenting, the Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds MS said:
“Aberystwyth university has long been seen as a cornerstone of education here in Wales, and its role in shaping the future of Welsh-medium education is pivotal.
However, the decision by the Education Workforce Council to withdraw accreditation for their teacher training program now puts this at risk.
The report published by Estyn rightfully identified several flaws in the Uni’s approach to supporting student teachers, along with requiring the University to make significant improvement.
The decision of the EWC suggest that these improvements have not been made.
We are now calling on the University to get their act together, fix the shortcomings in this program and begin plans to reintroduce the course as soon as possible.
Commenting, a spokesperson for the Welsh Young Liberals said: “There was an overwhelming lack of support, especially for Disabled Students, which has been consistent since 2020.
Previous lecturers were always late, and assignments were marked late and inconsistently.
As a joint honours student my timetable is very erratic, and this has an adverse effect on my wellbeing.
This does not however, mean that the course should be cut, Aberystwyth university should be looking to improve the course and help deliver the next generation of teachers.”
Commenting, the Welsh Liberal Democrat PPC for Ceredigion Mark Williams said: “The reputation of Aberystwyth University as a well-respected centre of education is rightfully a source of pride for many residents here in Ceredigion.
This is why it is so dis-heartening to hear that the Uni have failed to take the recommendations in the 2023 Estyn report seriously, leading them into the embarrassing position of losing their accreditation which risks delivering a severe blow to the future of Welsh-medium education.
The lack of foresight from the Uni in this regard is deeply worrying and I hope that, for the sake of both the students and the wider community, they take all the steps needed to restart the course at the earliest opportunity.”
Crime
Manslaughter charge following death in Carmarthenshire
DYFED-POWYS POLICE have confirmed Jason Thomas, 39, from Llanelli, has been charged with manslaughter following an incident on Saturday, March 25.
Police were called to a property in Robinson St, Llanelli to concerns for the welfare of a man.
Liam Rhys Morgan-Whittle, 22, was taken to hospital where he sadly passed away.
Jason Thomas was quickly arrested and later released on conditional bail while the police investigation continued.
He will appear at Llanelli Magistrates Court on Thursday, May 30, it has been confirmed.
News
£10,000 legal row over English-only parking charge notice continues
THE LANGUAGE campaigner Toni Schiavone will appear in court in Aberystwyth for the fourth time on Monday, 13 May over his refusal to pay an English-only parking charge notice, after the parking company One Parking Solution won an appeal to reintroduce the case in January.
This is despite the judge, Gareth Humphreys, warning that the company should carefully consider the value of continuing with a case that has already been “long, beyond unfortunate” and has cost the parking company over £10,000 in legal fees to date.
Cymdeithas yr Iaith have called on the court to rule that English-only parking charge notices are insufficient as ruled by the judge Mervyn Jones-Evans in a recent case in Caernarfon, and on the Welsh Government to legislate to ensure the rights of Welsh speakers in the private sector are respected.
Toni Schiavone received the English-only notice for not paying for parking in a car park in Llangrannog in September 2020.
The original case was thrown out of court in May 2022 because a representative from the parking company was not present, and the second case in August 2023 was also thrown out because the case was presented late and under incorrect rules.
On 26 January this year, One Parking Solution won an appeal enabling them to continue prosecuting Mr Schiavone, after the judge ruled that there were no grounds to throw the first two cases out of court.
Speaking at the hearing in January, Toni Schiavone said he had received a letter with costs of £10,156.70 a the day before from One Parking Solution, and that the company had acted “disrespectfully, unreasonably and vindictively.” According to research by Cymdeithas yr Iaith, translating the notice into Welsh would have cost only £60.
Siân Howys, Chair of Cymdeithas yr Iaith’s Welsh Language Rights Group said:
“It is disappointing that One Parking Solution have decided to resubmit this case, but the real reason Toni must appear in court yet again is because the rights of people who live in Wales to use the Welsh language are not ensured in statute. We have seen other cases of this recently as HSBC and the energy company OVO have weakened or even abolished their Welsh-medium services, without any serious response from our Government.
“We call on our members and supporters to be present on 13 May to support Toni, and to demand that the right to use the Welsh language in all aspects of life is respected through legislation.”
On 30 January, the Welsh Government voted against Heledd Fychan MS’s motion on behalf of Plaid Cymru in the Senedd to set Welsh Language Standards on a statutory basis for institutions in the private sector, such as banks, supermarkets and private car parks.
During the debate, Siân Gwenllian MS referred to Toni Schiavone’s case as an example of the need to legislate to ensure the rights of Welsh speakers. Discussing the parking company, she said:
“Once again, the response is arrogant and insulting.
“Why must Welsh speakers continue to campaign and demand services through the medium of Welsh?
“It is high time that the basic rights of Welsh speakers were respected through statute, and that in all aspects of life.”
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