20/04/2012 South East Today

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

Tonight's top stories: She watched her husband burn - a Kent woman

tells a court of an arson attack in which three generations of her

family died. Tackling nightmare neighbours - how

Brighton will be a pilot to crack down on anti-social behaviour.

We're live in the city with the details.

Also in tonight's programme: Compensation for family of an

elderly woman forced to sell her home to pay for her care as the NHS

admits they should have picked up the tab.

How Goudhurst isn't ducking the jubilee. The plywood Parliament

that's set to grace the village pond this summer.

And 80 years old and just as pop as ever. Sir Peter Blake celebrates by

updating his famous Sgt Pepper Good evening. They lost three

generations of their family in a house fire. Today a mother and son

gave evidence at the trial of those accused of their murder. Amanda

Crook described seeing her husband burn, and her desperate attempts to

reach her child and grandchild. Melissa Crook, her baby son Noah

and her father Mark Crook died following the fire at their home in

Chatham last September. Melissa's estranged husband Danai Muhammadi

and two others all deny murder. Sara Smith reports from Maidstone

Crown Court. The only two survivors of the file

which ripped through their home. Amanda Crook and her son to date

relived the horror of that night. Amanda Crook described being woken

by the fire in the early hours. Block from reaching her children by

a mass of flames, she climbed through a bedroom window. Her voice

breaking, she told how her husband had tried to follow the became

Her daughter Melissa and grandson of Noah, just 15 months old, died

in the house, her husband a week later in hospital. Her son said he

was woken by his dad screaming at her to get Millis and get out. But

Despite breaking his feet, it was heard that he tried to rescue his

sister still. He climbed on a car and shouted at her to pass the baby

down. Asked if he could see her out the window at this stage, he

replied know. The accused denies murdering his wife, child and

father-in-law as does his friend and his friends new girlfriend,

From next May, if more than five people complain about someone's

anti-social behaviour in Brighton & Hove, police and the council there

will be forced to act. The city has been chosen to pilot

the new scheme, known as the "community trigger" - which the

coalition government sees as a potential replacement for anti-

social behaviour orders, or ASBOs. When noisy neighbours kept this

woman awake at night for months on end, her Brighton house no longer

felt like a home. Things got so bad she had to sleep in her car.

don't sleep correctly, and it is cold out there. I took two or three

hot-water bottles, and this went on through the winter. I was thinking,

why is this happening? Under the new pilot scheme, it more than five

people complain about a resident or household, the police and council

will be forced to act. It is called the Community Trigger and Sussex

police say it will help thousands of people at their wits end because

of nuisance neighbours. We are not saying we will wait until we get

five but it gives us another pointer which we can check and for

the community to challenge us and asked what we are doing about

problems. They are a help because they give people the feeling they

are in control. The community trigger means that the number of

people say this is a problem household it puts a legal duty on

the council to act. Brighton and Hove has some of the biggest anti-

social behaviour problems in the south-east. Amongst them, 80-year-

old Edna was given an ASBO for racist and homophobic behaviour.

This man got a 12 the ASBO for harassment. And this man became the

first bedded to get one in the City for the anti-social clampdown, but

not everyone thinks the scheme will stop such people. The likelihood is

that the council will already know what the problem households and

neighbours because they are already been told. So it isn't a lack of

information about your other problems, it's the fact they are

not doing enough to fix the problems. And even jury, who now

has some peace and said neighbours moved away, thinks the community

Trigger will fail to reach the target. There has to be instant

consequences, and that is the way to hit them, through their pockets.

Brighton is one of a handful of cities to pilot the scheme which

will start next month. Ellie Price reporting and she joins us now

overlooking the Whitehawk Estate in Brighton. Ellie, tackling

antisocial behaviour is a really difficult issue for the politicians

to get right, isn't it? Yes, that's right. As bows were deeply

unpopular when they were introduced in 1998 -- as bows. This is part of

the coalition government scheme to give power back to the people and

make the police and council more accountable. You can seek a lovely

view of the estate behind me, and it has had its share of anti-social

behaviour problems. The scheme here is now designed to make people feel

like they are being listened to if they report the problem, but as we

heard in the report, that woman thinks it does not go to the centre

of the problem and there are plenty of people likely to criticise the

scheme when it is launched next month. Conservationists along the

River Ouse in Sussex are calling for action over what they say is a

water leak that has been going on for some 30 years. It's been

leaking so long it's formed a stream and wetland area in the

Ashdown Forest. South East Water says they are doing their best to

fix it. It's only one leak among many, which lead to the loss of

millions of litres of drinking water every day. Our environment

correspondent Yvette Austin reports. If pouring out into the forest,

water which the locals believe his drinking water leaking out of the

nearby reservoir, and it has been flowing for some time. To my

certain knowledge, this has been running since about 1985 at least

when it was first reported. I have reported it five or six times since.

In this time of drought, this is absolutely unacceptable. South East

Water admits there is a leak which it has been working on an has

partially repaired. It says the water flowing out now will be

mainly surface water flowing through. The council wants to

tested. All five water companies have a problem with leaks. Together

they lose 887 million litres of water a day. Enough to fill more

than 350 Olympic-sized swimming pools or supply nearly 2.5 million

households. Back home, basic tests on the water reveal interesting

results. We have tested for total Clowry -- chlorine, and the result

is the same as out of my kitchen tap, whereas I have compared it

with rainwater which is very much less. This suggests to me that what

is coming out of the pipe is very much not from the surrounding

environment. South East Water said it is only a small leak from the

reservoir that is currently a dribble and on the whole they spend

�30 million be on fixing leaks. During the period of drought we are

putting extra resources into do more with leakage. It is always a

sensitive issue when we are asking for customers to use the water

wisely. Leakage is a problem, but I can assure you we are doing all we

can and more to stop the leaks. the water companies, except

Southern Water met their targets last year but Southon says they

will meet it this year. That was Yvette Austin reporting, and she

joins us now from Barcombe Mills on the River Ouse, a river we are

monitoring during the period of drought. We've had a lot of rain in

the last few days. Has that made any difference to the drought

situation? You are right in saying that we have had rain, and the

figures for April show an above average level of rainfall. When I

was here few weeks ago at the end of the dry spell you can see there

is definitely more water throwing- in, but it is not significant. It

would not have made any difference to the ground water levels either.

The soil is so dry that very little of the water is seeping into the

water table so we are really preparing ourselves to see a very

harmful summer for both the river wildlife as well as the people who

rely on the rivers. So the message is that we still have to be careful

with water, and the water companies are still saying they need a wet

autumn and a wet winter if they are going to avoid restrictions next

year. A Virgin Atlantic aeroplane that made an emergency landing at

Gatwick airport on Monday had a technical fault, according to an

investigation by the airline. 15 passengers had to be treated in

hospital after they evacuated the plane on emergency chutes. Virgin

Atlantic said the emergency was caused because "a number of alarms

were triggered in-flight". Representatives from the 47

European Union countries have concluded two days of talks in

Brighton. The Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke, who chaired the

meeting, has described the Brighton Declaration, which supports reform

of the European Court of Human Rights, as a "substantial" success.

He says the changes mean the Strasbourg-based court will deal

with fewer cases enabling it to tackle its current backlog.Our top

story tonight: The family of a woman who had to sell her house to

pay for care home fees has won a legal battle for compensation and

are urging other families to claim back thousands of pounds. When Edna

Witt went into care following the death of her husband, her family

was forced to sell her Saltdean home to pay the bills. Now, after a

four year battle, the Primary Care Trust has admitted her care

shouldn't have been privately funded and has agreed to pay

compensation. Jon Hunt reports. Julie Burton was upset to see her

mother's health deteriorate through dementia. She were suffering from

paranoia, aggression. She would escape out of the front door of our

house down the road. She would scream out of the windows that we

were keeping her captive. Ed No was taking into a home in 2005 and

needed complex care, but her family was told they would have to pay, so

her home of 40 years was sold. But after a two-and-a-half-year fight

and constant knock backs, the NHS admitted that they judge the case

wrongly. Father worked hard all his life to buy his house, pay off his

mortgage. He worked for the health service himself for 20 years,

saving lives. And this is how and my mother have been repaid. The NHS

is now paying for the care he in Eastbourne because they now accept

that her condition meets the eligibility criteria for continuing

care. They have paid back the family more than �100,000. There

are more than 4,000 people receiving continuing care in the

south-east, which is paid for by the NHS. That figure has risen 83%

since 2009, but it is estimated that 23,000 people are still forced

to sell their homes to pay for their care each year. It is feared

that other people in Etna's position will not be as lucky in

the future because the NHS has said -- set a deadline for September of

this year for retrospective cases to be large. That was news to some

people. Colleagues no information for the clinical network cases, so

we were shocked to hear it and had been shot that there was no

information for people to challenge this when they have not had

continuing care. The NHS say they agreed last year to commit to

ensure the care was a high standard. Tonight's top story: A Kent woman's

described how she escaped her burning home after an arson attack

which killed three members of her family. Amanda Crook's husband Mark,

daughter Melissa and grandson Noah died in the fire in Chatham. Her

daughter's estranged husband and two others deny murder. Also in

tonight's programme: Charles Dickens long-suffering wife

Catherine and a rare photo of her discovered in Catherine. --

Canterbury. Celebrating the 80th birthday of the great pop artist

Sir Peter Blake, with an updated Sgt Pepper album cover..

The picturesque Kent village of Goudhurst, with its narrow lanes,

13th century church and large duck pond, has remained virtually

unchanged for hundreds of years. But this summer, for one day only,

a new addition will take centre stage in the village as part of one

of the county's most striking diamond jubilee celebrations. A

giant scale model of the Houses of Parliament will sit on the pond,

and will be surrounded by a pageant of wooden boats made by

schoolchildren. Robin Gibson Of all of the barns in all of the

world, this is the one in Goudhurst were a little bit of Jubilee magic

is being worked up. It certainly has the wow factor. This is the

Houses of Parliament, poetry in plywood. It is like a magic, giant

air fix kit, if you can remember them. It is a fantastic challenge.

Andy keep you off the streets, doesn't it? Conceived and designed

by the master historian of Goudhurst, its thousands of parts

were cut by laser at his son's factory. It was not until it

arrived here that I thought, well, wonderful. I couldn't believe it

was as good as it was. And also it went together very, very well.

Oddly enough, this is not the first time that the Houses of Parliament

have been set floating on the Goudhurst village pond. The first

time was in 1953 for the coronation. And this is what it looked like.

The Houses of Parliament were the main attraction. And of course it

was right in the centre of the pond. Did a create a stir? Did people

come and look? They did, as they always have done to our

celebrations. So on how with a fleet of wooden boats created by

local schoolchildren, you get the feeling they will catch the essence

of a English celebration. A I am really excited because I haven't

done this sort of thing before. big building of Westminster I think

will be really effective as the boats go past. A on the pond it

will look really effective and it will be really good when they are

all on their because it will all be different. The politicians duck

Charles Dickens is unquestionably one of the greatest writers and

public figures of the Victorian era. But he went to enormous lengths to

hide his private life and his extraordinary treatment of his wife

Catherine. She bore him 10 children in 16 years, but he cut her out of

his life, and encouraged their children not to visit her. Now what

is believed to be the only photo of Catherine Dickens has surfaced in

Canterbury, and is up for auction. She was a key character in the

story of Charles Dickens's life, but the secret of his marriage to

Catherine was left out of the public eye. But now a rare images

putting her centre-stage. It is essentially a unique photograph.

The image will have been made on a metal plate that has been coated

with silver that is very highly polished. You can see if you look

at it the surface of the image is very shiny, almost like a mirror

and you have to look carefully to see the image. Mark Dickens has

seen very few pictures of his grandmother. There were a few

photograph of Charles Dickens, which is not surprising considering

how famous he was at the time. for other members of the family, we

are staggered by the amount of money that people think they are

worth. This sombre image is expected to make up to �12,000 at

auction next month. At the time it was taken in 1852, Catherine was in

her late thirties and had spent half her married life pregnant.

That is nearly 3,000 days. They had lots of children, she put on weight

and was very domestic. And I think part of the problem is that she is

ceasing to be as jolly a companion. Inevitably the jolly companion he

wanted. By 1858, after two decades of marriage, Charles was estranged

from his wife and he became infatuated with Alan Thurnham, an

18-year-old actress. Catherine was cut off from her husband and

children and was married by name only -- Ellen Thurnham. On her

deathbed in 1889 she left all the letter she received from Charles to

the British Museum so that the world may know that he wants love

-- once loved me. It is a sad story. In sport, and we're getting to the

business end of the football season with Charlton promoted, but going

for the League One title this weekend. Crawley and Gillingham are

still in with a shout of promotion. Neil Bell is in Chatham for us now.

Neil, I gather the Gills programme notes for tomorrow's visit of old

rivals Swindon contain some interesting comments from the

chairman. Mr Scally has much to say on a variety of subjects. He's

highly critical of Medway council whose prohibition order, at least

for a while, meant the game might be played behind closed doors. But

more interesting still for many supporters will be the inclusion of

the first artist's impressions of the clubs proposed new stadium

development at Mill Hill. Mr Scally confirms in his notes that he has

had a positive response from retailers and developers. Charlton

Athletic can win the League One title on Saturday at the Valley

with victory over Wycombe Wanderers. The Addicks secured promotion last

weekend and provided they better the result of rivals Sheffield

United tomorrow they cannot be Now all we want the championship,

so it is up to us to go out and do it. But we can go out there and be

quite free in how we play and really express ourselves and really

show our supporters exactly what it means to us. Brighton and Hove

Albion play their final home game of the season tomorrow when they

take on Birmingham at the Amex. The Seagulls' midweek draw means they

can't win promotion but supporters will be hoping they can at least

finish the campaign on a high. Crawley Town will be keen to

consolidate their position in the top three of League Two with

victory at Dagenham and Redbridge. In midweek, they cruised to their

first win since Steve Evans's departure. And caretaker boss Craig

Brewster is unlikely to make many changes. Not a great date in

cricket. Kent's cricketers have struggled on the second day of

their Championship match with Gloucestershire at Canterbury. In

between the showers, Gloucestershire eventually made 255.

Four wickets each for Coles and Davies but Kent are 119-6 in reply.

And the best of luck to hour runners in the marathon today. Take

it steady for the first 10 miles, that is what they tell me.

advice is to start slowly and then slowed down. Sir Peter Blake, one

of Britain's most famous artists has created a new piece of art to

mark his 80th birthday. Born in Dartford, Sir Peter studied at

Gravesend School of Art. In 2002, he was given a knighthood for his

services to art. Earlier this year, he unveiled his newly designed Brit

Award. One of his most famous works is the now iconic image that he

created for The Beatles' Sgt Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band album. To

celebrate his birthday the artist has updated his image. Charlie Rose

spoke to him at a special exhibition of his work at the Royal

Academy in London. Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is

one of the most recognisable album covers of all time. Now more than

four decades later, its creator, Sir Peter Blake has given it a

revamp. I have been involved with the festival for the last three

years, and Wayne Hemingway ate runs it, and it occurred to him this

year that I would be 80 years old and that Sergeant Pepper would be

45, so he wanted to combine a kind of tribute of me remaking the image.

Day-in, day-out, at 80 years old he is coming out with new staff and is

a fantastic example. The award winning image contained a host of

famous faces, like Laurel and Hardy, Diana Dors, and writer Edgar Allan

Poe. But the remake is more of a personal project featuring friends

and other people he admires, including fellow artist Tracey

Henin, guitar legend Eric Clapton and musician Noel Gallagher. To be

on their with Vivienne Westwood, Mick Jagger, Paul Weller, that is

amazing. I wouldn't put myself up there with any of those. This is

Sir Peter Blake's latest collection. He is, of course, famous for his

college work but his most well known piece will always be that

Beatles album cover. The Juno at the time you were creating such a

cultural M Le -- de Juno? I don't think you do when you are doing it.

You're just doing the job. For a fortnight you are working very hard

and trying to solve problems. I certainly couldn't have known that

45 years later he would still be something we are talking about.

also could not have known that Dartford, the town where he grew up,

would become a hotbed of cultural activity. Mick Jagger lived about

50 yards away round the corner. And Keith Richards lived over the shops

opposite the butcher's where I did a Saturday job. Two more in a long

list of people Sir Peter admires. There would need to be another

Surprise, surprise, more rain on the way. Michael easier with the

As you are well aware, there has been a lot of rain in the last week

or two. Compared to last month where we have only had half of the

average, this time places have had their average and there is only 10

days to go. As Polly just said, it is more of the same over the

weekend, sunshine and showers and some quite heavy. It is all due to

the low pressure that has been hanging around, and it is not

moving fast in the next few days. The showers will continue as they

have but there is a bit of a change on the way and lurking behind be is

another weather system which will be whistling in bringing wet and

windy weather. We had some vicious showers today, some around East

Kent knocked a boat out as it hit a boat near Ramsgate. The southern

areas will escape the worst but the southernmost parts will have the

most showers during the course of the night, whereas other areas are

fine and dry with mist and fog patches. The low temperature is

around four degrees. There will still be showers around the south

coast even in the morning and what will happen, as has happened in the

last few days, yet again, after a dry start and perhaps some missed,

the cloud will bubble up and showers or break out and we could

have quite heavy showers with some mixed in. In terms of temperatures,

not a brilliant, about 10 or 11, slightly below average for the time

of year. Tomorrow evening, the showers will largely fade to give a

fine at night with mist and fog patches. But like this evening,

near the south coast, that is where the shares will continue right

through the night. As for tomorrow if you are heading off to the

marathon, a temperature around 14 degrees, welcome showers for the

runners but not good news for the spectators. And as we saw at the

beginning, the weather will continue like this for the

Before we go, if you have a spare few minutes this weekend, why not

grab a camera? They can be colour or black and white, recent or from

years ago. Very soon we'll be deciding the picture of the Queen

your photos will recreate. When it is completed it will be hung in the

Gallery in Eastbourne. Don't send a picture to our regular e-mail

address. Go to bbc.co.uk/kent, Sussex or Surrey to find out how

you can become part of the bigger picture. You can also send more