18/10/2013 South East Today

from the BBC News at Six. So it's goodbye from me, and on BBC One,

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

And I'm Bryony MacKenzie. Tonight's top stories:

Promised a new life but forced to live in squalor. Police make

arrests in a widespread investigation into human

trafficking. What she did mainly was slapping me. Sometimes she

would beat me with spoons. If We were let down. The father of

Lucie Blackman speaks out following an inquest, 13 years after she was

murdered. Also in tonight's programme:

Institutionalised abuse. Neglect leading to five deaths. A coroner

says those involved at the orchid View Care Home should be ashamed.

We'll get the latest details and reaction live from the court.

Think you know Brighton? Look again. The challenge of a photographer who

has taken a picture every day for a year.

Everything from high art to low farce, as Canterbury celebrates its

unique festival. Good evening.

They were promised a new life in the UK, legitimate work and a safe

environment for their families but today police in Sussex have been

tackling suspected cases of human exploitation in the county. An

Eastern European couple was arrested and police searched dozens

of properties. In one house three children, their mother and her

sister were found living in a single room. Today, to coincide

with Anti`slavery Day, the Home Secretary announced that the

maximum jail sentence for people traffickers has been increased to

life. Police and charities in Kent have also been holding events to

highlight what is a growing problem, as Sara Smith reports.

A from property to property, police in Hastings have been acting on

intelligence to search for victims of trafficking. This is a safe

house where those who get rescued can receive support, such as this

woman, abused by her uncle in Uganda she fled to England. She

soon fell prey once here to sexual exploitation. I got there and they

welcomed me. I thought everything was OK.

Hastings is no other words the `` is no worse than other towns in the

south`east are everywhere the number of traffic people are

growing. They have been operations in Brighton and Hove focusing on

those who may be targeted as forced labour and at Gatwick flights from

trafficking hot spots are being monitored. In Kent organisations

have joined forces today to raise awareness of the growing numbers of

people who a traffic tear. They come to the UK expecting to find a

better life with better conditions, regular work and a decent place to

live. Sometimes they find themselves in overcrowded

accommodation with people who control their documents, their bank

accounts and their movement is restricted as well. This film is

one of several to be screened around the country, commissioned by

the charity and chosen, they tell the real stories of people who end

up working as modern`day slaves. People like this woman, just 21,

hoping to raise funds to pay for teacher training, she took a

domestic job offered by a fellow person from Tanzania. Everything

was fine at the beginning but the more the days went by she changed

in the way she was doing her things. What she did mainly was slapping me,

sometimes with cooking spoons, beating me. As well as the abuse

she was not paid a penny. Rescued by police and helped by a charity

she is continuing her education. For too many others, the

exploitation continues. The majority of people who are

trafficked into the county come through Dover. This is seen as a

very growing problem, isn't it? Yes, the figures suggested is going up

25% every year. 20 million people come through Dover every year so it

is expected that a good proportion of those who are trafficked come

through here because it would not be obvious because they are happy

and they expect a new life but when they get here for the job they

think are lined up for them, the traffickers do not pay them until

they are desperate enough that they will work for any amount of money

and they will work any amount of hours and the police and charities

have warned today that is not just people from overseas to suffer

these conditions, it can Apple `` they can happen to vulnerable

British people as well. 13 years after Sevenoaks woman

Lucie Blackman was murdered in Japan, her father has told an

inquest they were let down by the country's legal system. Lucie was

21 when she disappeared in Tokyo in 2000. Although a man was convicted

of abduction and concealing her body, he was not found guilty of

her murder. Yesterday a British coroner apologised for not being

able to give the family answers about how she died, before

recording an open verdict at her inquest, held 13 years after her

death. Ellie Price reports. Lucie Blackman had lived in Tokyo

for less than two months when she was abducted and murdered. 13 years

on her family do not know how she died and an inquest backing the UK

has brought them no closer to the truth. The coroner apologise a

number of times to us but I think it was really from the humanity

point of view there he was the last stage in what has been a very long

protracted stage not of his making. It is disappointing really that

there is no redress to look into the investigation and the way it

was handled in Japan and in particular the shortcomings of the

judicial system which I think has really left a short. Lucie Blackman

vanished in July 2000 after telling a friend she was going out for the

afternoon with a man. Body parts were found in a cave in February

2001 that were later discovered to be hers. In 2008 A man was

convicted of abducting her and dismembering and concealing her

body. The judge said there was insufficient evidence to convict

him of her rape and murder. Because there was no conclusive cause of

death the coroner could only records an open verdict. You cannot

call witnesses from abroad or get co`operation from the local police

to find out what happened. If the local police there cannot find out

how a person died it is very unlikely that the coroner here with

limited powers will do any better. It has been bittersweet rear the

that it is underlying some of the shortcomings all of the way through.

The inquest draws the legal process to an end but her father says it

brings him no closure. In a moment:

The controversial proposal to move a Canterbury grammar school eight

miles away to Herne Bay. A coroner today ruled that neglect

did contribute to the deaths of five elderly people at a Sussex

care home. In a damning verdict West Sussex coroner said there was

institutionalised abuse at Orchid View in Copthorne, and that those

involved in the neglect should be ashamed. A serious case review to

investigate the failings has now been launched. Rebecca Williams has

been following the hearing and is at the court now. The families have

heard shocking evidence during this inquest?

Yes in the last five weeks we have heard how medication was often

given incorrectly and one night shift at Orchid View, there were 28

errors recorded on patient charts. One elderly man was left on his own

and he was found in bed with faeces on his hands. When one woman was

taken to hospital the coroner said that the medical documentation

handed over by the home had been falsified. Neglected and mistreated.

In less than two years five residents died as a result of the

care they received at Orchid View. I was repeatedly asking for help to

sort out those problems and it just never appeared. She was left to

suffer basically. Some roads is believe that had there been better

care of their loved ones might still be here today. When they read

out when death after another, it seems amazing that anyone came out

of their home alive. The home has now reopened with a different name,

under new management. It was here that a pattern of neglect unfolded.

The inquest heard how it was understaffed and how some employees

worked here without CRB checks. Residents were regularly given the

wrong medication. Often they could not reach their bells and they were

left alone for hours, sometimes with soiled hands. This woman

endured the treatment until her death in 2010. She died of a blood

clot to the brain. The court heard she had been given three times a

prescribed medication on several occasions.

We did see a huge change in that six month period from really

thinking she was in there for a short time to just seeing her waist

away physically and mentally. One of the social workers from the

local authority, when she did a visit, she found my mum in her room,

in her bed naked cold and crying. The inquest heard that some

employees were working at Orchid View without the CRB checks and one

of the nurses was jailed last year for sexually assaulting a young boy.

It was the home administrator that contacted the police about what she

had witnessed at the home. I saw someone lying on a mattress eating

his food off the floor like a dog. It was heartbreaking. De you have

any regrets about coming forward? None at all. I am relieved I did

the right thing. I had no choice. Orchid View was run by Southern

Cross which made headlines in 2011 when the company was forced to

close. That year the Care Quality Commission found that 40% of the

Southern Cross Cook owns it had inspected were failing to meet

essential standards. Damning report raised a number of concerns and

suggested the home was understaffed and care plans were not amp up to

date. They found residents were at serious risk of neglect with one

person not receiving the correct pain medication over a period of

ication over a period of I weeks. weeks. It is extraordinary that in

They boast there is something for everyone, from classical music to a

disco for toddlers. Among the star names performing this year are

opera singer Lesley Garrett and comedian Adam Hills.

The festival attracts around 70,000 people every year. Over the next

two weeks, 229 acts will be performing at 14 venues across the

City, including at the Marlowe theatre and Canterbury Cathedral.

Robin Gibson is in Canterbury now. Robin, what can we expect from this

year's event? Well, in a word, locks! Some

highbrow and some not so high brow. Tens of thousands of flocking to

Canterbury for this event are just as they did last year. They are

hoping to be the number of 70,000 this year. It is a blend of comedy,

art and music. There are things orchids and families. They wanted

to go well this year because the design them that `` it is an

anniversary year. The festival is one of the biggest

events in the south`east, reaching out to every age, every culture,

every taste. That is a big ask, crossing the divide between farm

and laughs and the more challenging side of the arts. We are a group of

buskers to all met on the High Street in Canterbury and we decided

to form a band and we have been playing ever since, touring the

country and generally having fun. I am an Australian, can you imagine

an Australian died name his kids the way he hopes they will grow up.

This is my son a top bloke. Adam Hills and Lesley Garrett are some

of the top names. This is something completely new

for this year. This tent is a crossover between a circus arena, a

dance hall and a burlesque night club from the 1920s. They

originated in Germany and Holland and Belgium and they travelled from

town to town and add entertainment, very burlesque, very cabarets style.

There are 15 pieces by his sculpture. It represents a life in

art that included working with Henry Moore and other greats. It is

in the Cathedral Chapter House, his own Canterbury journey. My story is

there. It is very rich and it is there to be discovered and there

has been my life and I am incredibly grateful as I get

towards the end of my life to see that this is what I should have

done and I have done. With events spread throughout the country they

hope it will be a fortnight of exotic arts experiences, with

plenty of Arts atmosphere `` party atmosphere thrown in for good

measure! They have invited me to their show

he in two weeks' time. Tickets are selling like hot cakes but there is

still plenty to thing and there will be free events set against

this magnificent cathedral city backdrop.

It looks wonderful. Thank you.

For the last year a Brighton man has gone out every single day and

taken a photograph. His aim, to ignore the usual images of the city,

the pier, the beach, the pavilion, and capture what's actually going

on. Now Vince Matthews hopes to have his collection of images made

into a book celebrating the subculture of a place he says is

great, but too often taken for granted. Alex Beard has been to

meet him. Every day life, captured every day

for a year. A photographic project dedicated to Brighton. It is the

home of the weird, wacky and wonderful but you keep seeing the

same pictures. The beer, a bird on a promenade rail, beach huts, but

there is so much more. I cycle the everyday added the all these

different things and I realised it wasn't being recorded or shown so I

brought my camera and photographed the city for a year. He set about

recording the little details that might otherwise have been forgotten,

double parking at the Green Party conference, images of the more

transient elements of the city. This whole corner, there is

graffiti which changes constantly and there have been some great

pieces that have gone up here by a really good artists so I always

come and check this corner. I have had five or six different photos

from here. Sometimes he takes as many as 100 photos a day, the

project has become a way of life, but at sea than an obsession. In

has been a routine, every day make sure the batteries are charged on

the right chippers and the camera. I have to grab an image. Sometimes

the image when you catch it be shut for the first time that day and you

know you have something in the can. Sometimes I have to seek out and

keep my eye in. He does admit he will not risk braving the rain and

snow to `` Miss braving the rain and snow to fill his quota!

Alex joins us live from Brighton now. Over 10,000 images, what is he

going to do with them all? He has been up loading them every day in

the past year but now he wants to make them into a book so he can

donate it back to the city but that is going to be a very big book!

Tomorrow is the last day of his project. He says he does not know

what he will shoot but it will be Brighton, obviously, but he says

the very last voter will have them on the other side of the voter and

`` camera for the other side `` it will have him on the other side of

the camera for the first time in a year.

A motorcyclist from Kent will be hoping to make history at his home

circuit this weekend as the British Superbike championship reaches its

climax. Shane "Shakey" Byrne from Sittingbourne is aiming to become

the first rider ever to win the title four times.

The final races of the season take place at Brands Hatch, with just a

single point separating Byrne from his closest rival. Neil Bell

reports. For British bike fans it could not

get much better than this. After eight months of ferocious

competition the outcome of the superbikes championship will depend

on three races this weekend at Brands Hatch. Local hero and three`

times champion Shane Byrne is ahead of his rival by the narrowest of

margins. This year is a big deal. I have won three titles but if I win

for on Sunday then I am not only the most successful rider in terms

of race wins in the championship's history but I am the only rider to

ever have won four championships. I would say there is a pretty chance

I will be nursing a hefty hangover on Monday of a win! To beat the

reigning champion in his own back yard will be a formidable

achievement. It is all to play for. Whoever scores the most points this

week and will be champion and that is what it comes down to. I am

looking forward to it and I feel pretty good and I think the weather

will play a big part as well. There will be huge crowds at the Kent

circuit with divided loyalties. Probably Shakey Byrne I imagine. He

is always good here. Alex Lowe's I think, I would like it to be. It is

going to be so tight. I would stick my money on Shakey Byrne. It shame

there and is here on Sunday he will have made history. `` it Shane

Byrne is here on Sunday he will have made history.

Football, and Peter Taylor takes charge of Gillingham for the first

time tomorrow. The 60`year`old who, 13 years ago, led the club to

promotion to the second tier for the first time in their history,

will be in charge of the side as interim manager for Saturday's home

game against Preston. I had a very good year hair and people know that.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. It ended up as a very successful year which

was nice. I am looking to try and achieve that again. That is what I

would like to do and hopefully I will get will received on Saturday

and hopefully, more importantly, the team will perform well.

In the Championship, Charlton Athletic travel to Blackburn Rovers,

and Brighton are also away at Yeovil. The players will wear black

armbands in memory of Seagulls fan Lance Corporal James Brynin, who

was killed in Afghanistan on Tuesday. In League One, Crawley

Town host Bradford City at the Broadfield Stadium.

Now we all need to know about the weather. I wish I had a lot of

sunshine on offer but it is a bit unsettled. There is good news. That

is where we see the sunshine, it will be feeling pretty war.

Temperatures above the seasonal average. Today it was not a bad

picture. There was cloud around that the rain stayed to the north

and west of us. We did see some outbreaks of rain but for the lucky

few there was sunshine around. It is always the breezy picture with

the winds from the south. Tonight there is a lot of cloud around and

because we have those breezes be temperatures will hold up and stay

in double figures. As we start the weekend, we will see some rain from

the very first part of the morning. It will stay windy and the rain

will clear out of the way during the first part of the afternoon.

Behind it a brighter picture, improving from the West but in the

middle part of Saturday the rain will be heavy for a time. It is

quite breezy and feeling a bit muggy. Temperatures stay up to 16

or 17 degrees. By the end of Saturday you might fear that a

bright and if but also some showers around with plenty of cloud cover

as well. On Sunday it stays mostly dry initially but we see further

outbreaks of rain as we get towards storm. A very mild night.

Temperatures stay in double figures and some places do not drop below

14 or 15 degrees. Those are the kind of values we normally expect

during the day at the time of year. On Sunday there will be heavy and

thundery showers a ramp up brighter spells in between. It will stay

pretty breezy with temperatures decent for the time of year. The

unsettled picture stays with us into the new week as well I am

afraid. Mostly dry overnight into Monday but it will quickly turn wet

and windy. Just look at that. It will feel a good deal cooler. On

Tuesday it stays unsettled. The weekend will feel warm where we see

the sunshine. A glimmer of brine as there.

I will be back at 10:25pm. Join me that the stop I will be back on

Monday. Goodbye.