A 37-year-old man has been found guilty of murdering his wife at Exeter Crown Court today (Tuesday 3 November).
James Luke McDonald (pictured) of Kingsdown Crescent, Dawlish, was sentenced to life imprisonment, to serve a minimum term of 17 and a half years, for the murder of Sophie McDonald in January.
Sophie (pictured) was reported missing to police at around 6.40pm on Wednesday 28 January 2015.
An extensive search was undertaken by specialist officers and volunteer search and rescue groups.
Sophie’s body was later discovered at a property in Iddesleigh...
Exmouth children will have a new play area to look forward to in the New Year as work has begun on £70,000 worth of improvements to the play site at Imperial Recreation Ground.
Hundreds of local children and young people have been involved in the plans for the site and have even developed the designs and equipment they wanted to see there. And to make the process strictly democratic, the youngsters, from Exeter Road and Marpool Primary Schools, Exmouth Community College and Exmouth Children’s Centre were given a choice of three designs and had the opportunity to vote for their...
Exeter Community Energy (ECOE) have announced that they will be launching their inaugural ‘Solar Power Community Share Offer’ on Saturday 7 November.
The share offer will seek to raise around £390,000 to install around 300kWp of rooftop solar panels on a range of community and commercial buildings across Exeter and East Devon.
Solar PV 1 involves ECOE partnering with nine organisations who have confirmed their interest for community-owned solar to be installed on their rooftops. Four sites from this portfolio of roofs will be installed by the end of December 2015, these...
Solicitors at Beviss & Beckingsale raised two grand in two weeks by writing and amending wills for clients in exchange for a donation to local charity Hospiscare.
The Honiton-based law firm raised a total of £2,004 to help care for patients living with a terminal illness in Exeter, Mid and East Devon.
Lawyers at Beviss & Beckingsale’s office in Honiton raised £1,044, a further £500 came from the Chard office, £385 from staff in Axminster and £75 from Seaton.
Temperatures may be dropping but tempers could be set to rise, according to new research which reveals that nearly 36% of people in the South West argue with their partners or housemates over the central heating.
As the nights are getting colder, things could be turning frosty in more ways than one. New research commissioned by Toolstation, the trade and DIY supplier, reveals that over a third of the South West argue with their partners or housemates over the central heating – on or off? Hotter or colder?
The survey, conducted this month, showed that turning on the heating...
307 Squadron Project invites you to Exeter’s Guildhall, on 15 November 2015, to remember the Polish 307 Squadron that defended the South West of England during the Second World War. This special event is being attended by The Polish Ambassador Witold Sobków.
307 Squadron, part of the RAF, were night-fighters who fought the Luftwaffe over the skies of Britain and prevented Exeter from being totally destroyed during the blitz on the city in 1942.
On Sunday 15 November ‘307 Squadron Day’ at 10:00 the Polish flag will be raised over the Guildhall in the presence of the...
UK businesses are predicted to face further financial pressures, with commercial rents in the South West expected to rise by 3.8% on average over the next 12 months, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) warned today.
The RICS UK Commercial Market Survey, Q3 2015, reveals that businesses in the South West are likely to experience the most significant rental increases within the prime office and prime industrial sectors over the next 12 months, at around 4.4% and 5.6% respectively.
Demand for commercial properties continues to rise among both renters and...
On Thursday 19th November, Tourism business owners are being invited to attend an important meeting regarding the future of Visit Devon.
Following on from the Devon Tourism Partnership Survey - conducted earlier this year regarding the future promotion of Devon - plans are being considered to bring together a new model of operating towards the future promotion of the county, using the Visit Devon brand.
The event will discuss future plans and give business owners the opportunity to get involved in the future direction of Visit Devon. Business owners will be able to have...
Police and Crime Crime Commissioner Tony Hogg will today (Tuesday) tell the House of Commons’ Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC) why the Government’s proposed police funding formula is unfair, and particularly disadvantageous to Devon and Cornwall Mr Hogg has campaigned hard against the funding formula changes, which it is believed will cut funding to Devon and Cornwall by an extra £14 million. Combined with current estimates of the likely impact of comprehensive spending review (CSR), it means that the local force will have to make total cuts of £54 million by 2019/20.
The South Devon Coastal Renewable Energy Network (SDCREN) has secured funding from the Regen SW Community Energy Accelerator Devon County Council fund.
The funding will help investigate and initiate the first building blocks of a local wood fuel hub where local farmers, land owners and the community can work together to source affordable wood fuel, boost the local economy and create employment.
This work follows a SDCREN study into biomass as a suitable fuel for South Devon and a very successful wood fuel from hedges event in March this year at South Pool organised with the...
