05/12/2011 South East Today

Welcome to South East Today, I'm Rob Smith.

And I'm Polly Evans. Tonight's top stories:

Police work with doctors to uncover more about the injuries that left a

baby boy critically ill in hospital. We're live with the latest in

Gravesend. A Sussex woman in constant pain

pleads for a change in the law to allow her to end her life at home.

Also in tonight's programme: the woman undergoing IVF told by the

clinic her embryos have been misplaced - and they can't

guarantee that they haven't been implanted in another patient.

physically sick. For two or three days, I was ringing them up, saying,

"Have you found them yet?". A Dickens of an exhibition -

celebrating the life of Kent's greatest author as his 200th

birthday approaches And reunited after 60 years through

Facebook - the sisters with a lot Good evening. Kent Police say

they're working with doctors to discover the nature and extent of

the injuries that have left a one- month old baby boy from Gravesend

in a critical condition in hospital. Following angry scenes at the

weekend, the police are warning local people who want justice for

the boy not to take the law into their own hands. A man and a woman

arrested on suspicion of assault have been released on bail. Simon

Jones reports. A community in shock, praying for

the little boy's recovery. I have two children of my own and if it

was to happen, if something bad was to happen, I would expect everybody

to be there. Looking at my little baby, he is only six Mon-Sun they

keep crying every time I look at him. -- six months. He is in our

thoughts and prayers. It is not a nice thing to have happened to you,

yeah. Being a parent myself, I have come to show my respect for the

little boy and my wishes for him, it is very upsetting. On Saturday

night, more than 100 people gathered for a vigil. The mood

became highly charged, with some of the crowd chanting and wanting

justice for the injured a baby. Facebook page is have been set up

with strong language. There has been a lot of unhelpful speculation

around social media and also what is going on in the community. It is

our job to establish the facts and to conduct a thorough and

professional investigation. That is what we are doing and when the

investigation is reaching the correct an appropriate stage, we

will announce further details. But I would urge the public to remain

calm. Will we will be releasing a Bates in relation to the baby's

welfare and to focus on the fact that his swift recovery -- we will

be releasing update. The baby was admitted to hospital with a serious

condition before being transferred to London. A man and woman arrested

the same day on suspicion of assault by released on bail on

Friday. Over the weekend, there were a series of vigils in the area

for the child. A police say they need to carry on investigations to

find out why the baby had to go to hospital and if any offences have

been committed. Chinese lanterns have been released to reflect the

concerns of a community, and tonight, candles are being lit as

the police urged the public to focus their energies of a swift

recovery of the baby. Simon Jones is outside the local

church, where prayers are being said for the baby boy. What's the

latest on his condition? He is in a critical but stable

condition. Police say they are now working with doctors to ascertain

the extent of the injuries but would not be drawn on what they

might be. They also say they are working with the local community to

ease up the sense of calm, worrying that things may escalate, so they

are appealing for people to keep calm. At the local church, they

have been saying prayers and opening the doors for people to

come in for a quiet mothered of contemplation and light a candle if

they wish. -- moment. Simon, thank you.

A woman from Sussex wants a change in the law to allow her to end her

life at home surrounded by friends and family, rather than have to

spend thousands of pounds to go to a clinic abroad.

Jackie Meacock has a condition which isn't life-threatening, but

the constant pain has made her want to die. She's kept a video diary to

publicise a subject which she says too many people in authority won't

talk about. John Young reports. This is Jackie Meacock's story,

recorded on home video camera. You won't see how in the paper, she

doesn't represent any campaigning group, but she wants these pictures

on the local news to keep alive a debate about death. I am not

feeling that good. I then a lot of pain and shaking. -- I am in. I am

exhausted already. And I have only been up about an hour so far.

pain and shaking comes from a condition which is not fatal, but

the pain relief injections barely work any more. I want to be asleep

and not in pain, so I count the hours for half butt stake, 9

o'clock to come around, until I wake tomorrow morning when it all

comes around again -- half past eight. Jackie Meacock lives alone

in a flat in Brighton close to her daughters. Earlier this year, she

watched her husband die of cancer. She can just about cope outside,

she stays with her daughter some weekends, but says nothing is easy

any more. She has contemplated suicide but is frightened she will

mess it up. I am tired. I am in pain. Every waking moment. I can't

deal with it any more. For Jackie Meacock, this could be the way out,

the Dignitas -- Dignitas Clinic in Switzerland, where patients can end

their lives by taking a mixture of chemicals surrounded by lap once.

It is a step taken by Tony Clements, who lived in deal, but it costs

around �10,000, a price Jackie says she cannot afford, and to ask for

help is risky. Michael Irwin, a retired GP, was recently questioned

by police when he said he was willing to help a woman from

Eastbourne travel there. Sussex, it seems, is the county ready for the

debate, with one of the highest proportions of over 85s in the

country. But many people in authority seemed to be reluctant to

talk about this subject. Jackie Meacock's MP told they are the

phone he would be happy to raise it behind the scenes at Westminster

but it is too emotive to talk about on camera. Charities say if they

spoke about it publicly, they risk elevating a condition which isn't

terminal and associating it with suicide. I even spoke to the

consultant to give Jackie Meacock have paid medication. He said he

probably would come on camera but when he discussed it with his

bosses, they told me he had changed his mind. It has been left to

pressure groups to keep an eye on coverage and fill the vacuum. One

group, unable to comment on Jackie Meacock's case itself, but keen to

say this. I think society are talking about this, people are

talking about this and taking matters into their own hands but

decision-makers are turning a blind eye. Others argue we can't let a

handful of heartbreaking cases influenced the law. The law should

protect people and the present law does that, which is why I think it

should remain in place and what we should concentrate on is how we

improve the care for patients, support for their families in what

is obviously a very distressing circumstances. My mum has been than

a lot of bad news regarding treatment. We have tried so many

things -- avenues. She still has paid injections, which are not

working. -- she still has pain injections. How life is more Finn,

pain and sadness. That is my life. A sad story for everyone. But it is

one that Jackie Meacock believes needs to be told what she still has

the strength to tallied. -- while she still has the strength to tell

There is more more information about the issues raised by Jackie

Meacock's story on the health pages of the BBC website. There there are

also links to sites that provide support to people affected by

terminal illness. In a moment: It's been blamed for

causing mini-earthquakes, but we're on the verge of seeing the

controversial practice of fracking An investigation is underway after

it emerged staff at a Kent clinic specialising in IVF may have lost a

woman's frozen embryos. Alison Austen-Hennessy was told that her

embryos had been misplaced while in storage and she says bosses can't

guarantee that they haven't been implanted in another patient.

Alison, who's from Ramsgate, has a four-year-old son, Roman, thanks to

IVF and had hoped to have a second after spending thousands of pounds

on fertility treatment. Alex Beard reports.

It was while signing routine papers that her IVF Clinic in Canterbury

that Alison Austen-Hennessy was told the embryos she had hoped

would give her her second child had gone missing. I was physically sick.

For two or three days, I was ringing them up and just saying,

have you found them yet? I expected them to be found. But they never

were. It has been four weeks and her initial shock has turned to

concern that they may have been implanted in another woman. They

said I may never find bed, which is a bit of a worry, because if

somebody has been implanted with the wrong embryos, then

realistically, those children could be out there, going to school.

Alison was storing her eggs at the Brae Burn Clinic in Canterbury.

Tonight, they said they have a robust processes for handling and

storing embryos and are carrying out a full investigation. They say

they are confident that no errors have been made with him Plantation,

but questions remain. It is very unlikely they have been put in to

anybody else. The likelihood is that the consent process and the

duration of storage was exceeded, in which case they had to be

disposed of, but there are ways of going about it and proper paper

trails must be in place. I need answers and I haven't had them

Kebabou would have thought they would have come in by now. -- and I

would have thought. There is no good scenario, I have to deal with

it and move on from it, because they have gone. After having her

son, Alison Hadley has two embryos remaining but says the impact of

losing her most viable two means it will be some time before she takes

her last and though the chance at expanding her family.

-- only chance. A man jailed in connection with the

Securitas robbery has been ordered to pay more than �1 million. Ian

Bowrem was jailed last year for concealing cash taken in the �53

million heist. If he doesn't pay more than �1.1 million in the next

28 days, he'll have to serve an extra five years in jail.

The rate of staff sickness at Kent County Council has fallen by over

20% over the past four years. Managers say the fall is due to a

crackdown, but unions claim stress and anxiety among staff have risen

as a result. When Pfizer pulled the plug on its

research facilities at Sandwich in Kent - with the loss of thousands

of jobs - earlier this year, critics warned the UK's

pharmaceutical industry was facing long-term decline. Today, the Prime

Minister David Cameron has set out Government plans to promote life

sciences in the UK. In February, Pfizer announced it was to close

its entire research and development facility in Sandwich, which

currently employs 2,400 people along with 1,700 contractors. Local

politicians and businesses claimed that without significant action

from the Government, job losses from Pfizer and the knock-on

effects could cost the local economy �380 million. That would be

nearly 9% of the region's total output. Today, the Government says

it hopes its new strategy will help make areas like east Kent among the

best places in the world for companies to invest in the research

and development. 10 months ago, we were told that Pfizer place --'s

facility would be closing, and we now have of the future of decide to

part with Pfizer still employing around 500 people as the anchor

tenant. This and that's bad is going to further encourage

investment in life sciences -- be so bad then today is going to

further encourage investment and life sciences and I would hope that

is going to be businesses to what will operate out of Sandwich in

Kent. Pfizer initially announced that it

would leave Sandwich by the end of 2012. Today, the Government

announced �180 million to bring new medical technologies to market in a

move that should speed the take-up of new medicines and make the

country more attractive to big pharmaceutical firms. Critics say

that today's initiative shows that the remaining 500 Pfizer scientists

and the thousands of employees who will have to leave the firm have

been badly served by the Government. I doubt very much that investment

of 180 million will attract scientists back to the United

Kingdom, but what it will do is it will support and stimulate existing

community, a very -- of a very excellent scientists and will help

them move forward and take their idea from the laboratory to the

chemical. -- clinical. I'm joined now from Westminster by

the Conservative MP for Dover & Deal, Charlie Elphicke. Isn't this

a case of the Government shutting the stable door after the horse has

bolted? Well, we were told less than a year ago about the Pfizer

decision, and did less than a year, we have seen massive progress -- in

less. We have seen an enterprise zone, deals for Sandwich, and today,

a 180 million pad catalyst Fund to help life sciences at the UK and

eddies Kent. The ash in East Kent. We have seen top scientists leave

Britain, and critics say this investment is not enough to bring

them back. It is very much but about big pharmaceuticals, which is

a dying business model overtired -- not a bad. It is not just Sandwich,

it is Harlow and Loughborough, they have moved out. The model is

changing, into collaborations between higher education

institutions and small businesses. But it is a long-term process, this,

in encouraging the speeding up of getting drugs out onto the market.

What does it mean for Pfizer in the short term? In the short term, we

know there will be 500 jobs secure on that side and there is a good

story to attract more jobs, and we know there will be much faster

movement from developing drugs to getting them to the patient. That

is really important, to pep up confidence in UK life sciences

industry. Thank you. Although the Government are putting

research and development at the heart of their science policy,

investment returns from researching new drugs have fallen nearly 30% in

the past year at the world's top pharmaceutical companies,

highlighting the productivity dilemma facing companies like

Pfizer. You can follow the story on our political editor's blog.

One of the most controversial planning applications in recent

years will go before Kent County Council this week. The authority is

due to consider whether to allow prospectors to explore for onshore

gas in east Kent. Opponents of the application claim that the mining

method known as fracking - which has already been blamed for causing

minor earthquakes in Lancashire - could be used. Lynda Hardy reports.

What may lie below the ground here is what is causing controversy. The

company called Coastal Oil and Gas Ltd wants to drill a borehole 1.5

kilometres below the ground to look for gas that might be trapped in

the coal shale that lies beneath, but there is fears about the

initial drilling and what will happen if gas is found. If they

find what they are looking for, this could lead on to the

exploitation by cord -- hydraulic fracking of anywhere within the

district that is bounded up by Eastry, Sandwich, deal, and that

really alarms as Faust --. This is what she is afraid of. If gas is

added early tests, it might lead to extraction wearer pipeline is late

night hundred feet underground. A process called fracking sees a

mixture of water, lubricants and sand forced into the rock, causing

it to Fracture and release their gas. It is that process that is

found to have probably caused small earthquakes near Blackpool in the

summer. But one expert says that shouldn't be a major concern.

always recognised as a potential hazard of the technique, but we are

talking about very small earthquakes, very low magnitude,

not likely to be felt by many people and very unlikely to cause

any kind of damage? The company who want to drill here say the main

target is Colebeck gas, not shale gas, which would not require

fracking. The decision will be considered tomorrow.

The top story tonight: the press have been said for her baby boy

from Gravesend left in a critical condition in hospital -- prayers

have been said. A Kent Police said they are working with doctors to

discover the nature and extent of their one-month-old's injuries.

Also tonight, the sisters separated us children in the 1950s reunited

thanks to the internet. Anders snow nudges into the north

of the country, that I will be looking at our chances of getting a

dusting or dollop in over the next few weeks -- and as snow.

A major exhibition dedicated to Charles Dickens opens at the Museum

of London at the end of the week. It's likely to be one of many, as

in February, it will be 200 years since the man some say was the

greatest Victorian novelist was born. Dickens grew up in Chatham,

where his father worked in the Naval Dockyard. The county inspired

some of his most famous works, including the north Kent marshes,

which featured in the sinister opening to Great Expectations. He

returned to spend the last years of his life at Gads Hill Place near

Rochester, where he died. He wrote five of his books there. Robin

It is a collection of prints, writings and paintings, evoking

time and place. Putting the right there in his historical context. --

Reuter. But some might argue that nothing can do that quite as well

as the work of Charles Dickens himself. Merry Christmas! Here he

is, and he sounded like an angel. Smell that goes. Some of Charles

Dickens's best descriptive writing memorably conjures up the streets

and street life of Victorian London. It is the focus of this exhibition.

For Dickens, the city fed his egg - - imagination, and each night as he

walked out onto the streets, he was energised by what he saw, what he

heard as he walked the streets. Mummy! Mommy expire could but the

landscape, the people and the townships of north Kent, where he

spent some of his childhood, were also a huge inspiration. -- but the

landscape. Dickens's featured them in some of his novels, five of

which were written in this Swiss chalet, which used to be sited at

Gad's Hill Place, where Dickens spent the last years of his life.

He loved to go rowing on the Medway and Great Expectations is set in

the marshes around the Medway. That river he loved, but the Thames was

a much more dubious river to him. It was associated with death,

murders and the drownings. exhibition will be an appetiser for

the year of many celebrations. The two hundredth birthday of the man

some claim is not just great, but maybe the greatest writer of them

It was a fantastic weekend for the south-east's football clubs, with

Charlton, Crawley and Gillingham all making it through to the third

round of the FA Cup, and Brighton moving into the Championship

promotion play-off positions. Our sports reporter Neil Bell joins

us from Chatham. Neil, the draw for the next round has thrown up some

intriguing ties - especially for the Gills?

Yes. Not only did they get a home tie

against Premier League oppostion in Stoke, but also a long-awaited

return visit for one of the clubs most popular managers, Tony Pulis.

He was instrumental in the club's '90s revival. It would be easy,

however. The last time they met six years ago in the championship, they

were on level terms, there are now were on level terms, there are now

60 places between them. Despite being up against higher the

copper -- opposition, this was an impressive performance by

Gillingham. It gives them a home tie against Stoke City and the

chance for Andy Hessenthaler to pit himself against the man who brought

himself against the man who brought him to Gillingham, Tony Pulis Ross

Stott baby it has written the stars that he would come back. -- maybe

it was written in the start that he would come back. Tony has done a

great job there and it will be a great day when he comes back.

Charlton continued their fine run Charlton continued their fine run

with a relatively routine and women with a relatively routine and women

setting up an intriguing tie at setting up an intriguing tie at

Fulham. Crawley are no strangers to giant-killing it, but has no

intention of being on the wrong end of it. They now have a home tie

with championship club Bristol City. If I am honest, initially

disappointed. When you have the opportunity for a large away game,

we wanted to be one away, or an easy winner ball won at home. We

brought out a club that the middle, and it will be a difficult game,

but you have got to fancy your chances.

Brighton may not be playing the flowing football they are capable

of but their new-found resilience and a neat finish by Will Buckley

made it four back row wins from five. They shouldn't fear a visit

five. They shouldn't fear a visit by Wrexham in January.

Those that they cup-ties will take place over the weekend of 6th

January and the 7th, and let's hope all of the teams will get through -

- bows FA Cup ties. It is always the way with the FA

Cup combat and Tony Pulis coming back to Gillingham, who could have

predicted that question our it would be popular with everyone, but

did well with most people. Abbottabad Crawley, they are like

Manchester City ex-pats -- and what a bad.

A virtually. What about the weather?

Is it all systems go for the south- east have to get some snow?

Actually, no. For the next few days, we have a distinct lack of

precipitation and by the time we get someone Thursday, the air is

back to a south-westerly and that is bringing milder air from the

Atlantic. So it will be falling as rain by the time we get

rain by the time we get precipitation on Thursday. Outside

of that, although it is jolly windy and cold, it will give us plenty of

sunshine, so feeling very chilly by day and by night, but the rest of

this weekend even into next week, I don't think we will be getting the

batches of snow just yet. But it will feel very cold, with 16 hours

of darkness overnight tonight and the clear skies Kebabou surprises

that it will get close to freezing. -- the clear skies, no surprises.

We are still going to get an air temperature of one or two degrees,

and that means the ground will get to sub-zero, down to minus too, so

that water on the ground will turn to ice, and elsewhere a widespread

frost away from the coast. A very cold start tomorrow but we have got

beautiful sunshine. The afternoon will see a little bit more cloud

that we could get a little light shower, but it will be rain or

drizzle and most places will stay dry, and we will see some sunny

places in the afternoon, but don't expect any of that sunshine to feel

especially warm. Six or seven, what we had today, is what we had

tomorrow, but what those 15-20 mph winds, the wind chill will be a

significant feature for the next few days. Tomorrow, they get even

stronger and with a few weather fronts coming through, staying dry

back but less likely for a frost tomorrow night, but into Wednesday,

the north-westerly will make it feel very chilly, despite lots of

sunshine. The wind is a big feature this weekend on Thursday, it brings

in some rain as well. First they will be the only day of getting

significant wet weather -- Thursday. Friday, we get up the sunshine back

again. Into the weekend, we will tend to see the north-westerly

still keeping the temperatures at or slightly below average, but we

should see plenty of dry backward and lots of sunshine as well. So

for the rest of this week, lots of sunshine but it is very cold by

sunshine but it is very cold by both day and night. A very windy

with some wet weather on Thursday. But no snow.

A few. I shouldn't say that, I know people love it.

Tomorrow and South East Today, the heart-warming tale of two sisters

reunited after 60 years apart, thinking they would never see each

other again. Jan and Evelyn from Gravesend were

separated when they were just toddlers in the 1950s and the

sisters have spent the last 60 years thinking that they would

never see each other again. While Evelyn stayed with her mother

in Kent, Jan was adopted by a family in Canada. But now, thanks