Monday 9th June

Monday, 9 June 2025 06:00

By Steve Haigh

Somerset Council is giving £1.5m to Hill View Special School at Ash near Martock to prevent it from closing. Two men have been convicted of killing a Yeovil man they mistakenly believed to be a convicted paedophile. People across Somerset are being asked to make a note of any wildlife they see...and more

Somerset Council is giving £1.5m to Hill View Special School at Ash near Martock to prevent it from closing. The school, which opened in September last year and was funded by the Department for Education, is facing costly building issues and lower-than-anticipated pupil numbers.

Two men have been convicted of killing a Yeovil man they mistakenly believed to be a convicted paedophile. Mark Roberts, aged 39, of Juniper Close in Yeovil, and David Garland, aged 40, of no fixed address, were each found guilty of both murder and conspiracy to murder Michael Wheeler at Bristol Crown Court. Three other men were cleared of charges against them. The court heard that Michael Wheeler was friends with the men. Still, their relationship soured when they confused him with another Michael Wheeler, who was jailed in 2003 after admitting to grooming and sexually abusing two 13-year-old girls.

Somerset's main water provider, Wessex Water, is one of six water companies banned by the regulator OFWAT from giving bonuses to executives. The ban imposed on Wessex Water follows the company's conviction over two sewage spills last year.

A Chard man has been disqualified from driving for 18 months and given a 12-month suspended prison sentence. Dean Lawrence from Millfield in Chard was convicted of speeding, driving without insurance and being over the drug drive limit while at the wheel of a car in Chard last October.

People from across Somerset are being asked to make a note of any wildlife they spot. The Big Count, organised by the Somerset Wildlife Trust, gathers information for the Somerset State of Nature Report. We're being asked to record wildlife we see in gardens, parks, and community green spaces for this year's Big Count, which runs from June 16th to June 25th.

More from News

Friday 13th June

Police are appealing for witnesses to a road traffic accident near Chard, which left one person with life-threatening injuries. Texas Rocks in Middle Street, Yeovil, has closed temporarily following a significant fire. A Yeovil dental hygienist has been named as a finalist in the Ms Great Britain competition...and more.
Thursday 12th June

Yeovil MP Adam Dance has criticised the Chancellor’s Spending Review for not delivering real change for Yeovil and South Somerset. The CEO of Leonardo UK states that they’re working towards closing the gender pay gap within the company. Yeovil Town is relocating its first-team training camp to Bristol... and more.
Wednesday 11th June

People in Somerset are being asked for their views on the state of the county’s roads and footpaths. A trial is being conducted at Yeovil Hospital to investigate whether administering shorter courses of antibiotics to patients can effectively treat sepsis. Somerset Council says it has no plans to reopen a block of public toilets in Chard...and more.
Tuesday 10th June

A mother from Chard says schools need to do more to identify students with dyslexia. A fire in a van that caught alight at Stoke-sub-Hamdon is being treated as accidental. A former Yeovil-based police officer, who made it appear he was working when he wasn’t, has been barred from policing...and more
Friday 6th June

Community Speedwatch volunteers in Keinton Mandeville have stopped monitoring the local traffic because of online and verbal abuse. Redstart Primary School in Chard has been rated as ‘Good’ by Ofsted. A care home resident in Glastonbury has raised more than one thousand pounds for Children's Hospice Southwest by knitting soft toys...and more.
Thursday 5th June

Yeovil MP Adam Dance says he’s been told the temporary closure of the maternity unit at Yeovil Hospital will not be made permanent. Firefighters have dealt with a fire on a coach carrying passengers at Vagg Hill in Yeovil. The authorities in Chile are holding a man who lives in Milborne Port after being found with class-A drugs in a suitcase...and more.
Wednesday 4th June

Somerset Council states that gas canisters were responsible for igniting six fires at local sorting facilities last year. A leading medical academic in the South West says vaccine fatigue could be the reason why so many vulnerable people are not having a COVID-19 spring booster jab. Avon and Somerset Police say the waiting time for calls to be answered to the non-emergency number 101 has been cut to an average of 11 seconds...and more
Tuesday 3rd June

Police say they have traced a man, believed to be a witness to an incident in Chard in which a teenager alleges she was sexually assaulted. A campaign has started aimed at cutting the number of motorcyclists, cyclists and e-scooter users killed and seriously injured on Somerset's roads. Yeovil Town Council has taken over the management of Yeovil's public parks after Somerset Council announced it could no longer afford to maintain them...and more.