22/10/2013 South East Today

pretty soggy. Thank you. That is all from the BBC. We can now

Welcome to South East Today. I'm Rob Smith. And I'm Natalie Graham.

Tonight's top stories: Exclusive ` the family of a woman who died of

neglect at a Sussex care home demand a public inquiry into failings that

cost lives. It is hard knowing they will not

come back. Also in

kidney patient told he must pay the so`called bedroom tax for a dialysis

machine in his spare room. The mundane farming manual with

hidden bomb`making secrets ` how Dad's Army plotted to foil the

Germans. And on track for glory ` Kent

athlete Lizzy Yarnold in pole position to take a place at the

Winter Olympics. Sussex Police believe the chief

suspect in a hit`and`run incident which killed a man may have fled to

Pakistan. Kalan Fletcher was knocked down two years ago today as he was

walking along a road in Hassocks. The driver has never been traced.

Now Kalan's family, from Margate, say they're determined to get

justice for him. Two years on, Kaelin's family are

planting a rose bush in his memory. I don't have a brother to talk to

any more. Kaelin was walking along London Road

after a night out when he was hit by a van. Police believe it was driven

by a Pakistani national who was living in Worthing. They say they

now have intelligence to suggest he may in Pakistan. We have chased up

the MP, thinking about going to the Pakistani embassy and see what

relation the police have with the police over there in the media and

see if we can get an appeal. Kaelin's body was found in the road

by emergency services at 4:30am two years ago today. Sussex Police said

they wanted to speak to the suspect, then last October, a ?5,000 reward

was offered for information. I would say, please found yourself in. Give

parents peace. I am not functioning like I used to. It is quite hard,

knowing he will not come back, knowing I will not get a phone call

or silly little Facebook message. Sussex Police describe his death is

a tragedy and have taught his family they will keep the case open until

there is justice. The son of a woman who died at the

Orchid View Care home in West Sussex has called for a public inquiry.

Institutionalised abuse and neglect contributed to the death of Margaret

Tucker and four others, a coronor ruled last week. The home in

Copthorne was run by the now collapsed Southern Cross. Today, it

emerged that two managers who were criticised at the inquest, and had

since been re`employed by the company which now runs the home,

Care UK, have left their positions. Relatives of the dead had expressed

anger that they were allowed to stay at the home.

Pictured here in happier times, Margaret was a resident. But the

neglect she insured contributed to her death. Her son said she received

a number of unexplained bruises and is now considering seeking

compensation. Her death was sudden. I was promised I would get answers

because I saw the dent in the middle of head. Part of me wanted to port

the funeral call police. I regret I did not hold the funeral. But what

you do? On Friday, a coroner ruled Margaret was one of five elderly

residents who died as a result of the care they received. The court

heard how patients were given the wrong medication. Often, they were

left out of reach of their call bells and sometimes sell a tape was

used to cover their dressings. This is a national disgrace because you

have a company that viewed the residence is a form of cash

machines. Southern Cross took the money and did not provide the care.

Do you think a serious case review goes far enough? It's a step in the

right direction. Do I believe it will change anything? No. All kids

view closed in 2011 following damning reports by the care quality

commission. The organisation says it will learn to what happened. We

intend to run a root and branch review. We need to look at what has

happened in this case and if there are any lessons learned. The former

building has reopened with a different name by a new company. Two

of the senior managers were re`employed there. But today, they

have left their posts following a review. Russell says he is satisfied

with the verdict into his mother 's death but has several unanswered

questions. Ellie Price is outside the former Orchid View Care Home

Serious Case Review. What does it entail? In essence, it will be very

similar to the inquest in so far as the evidence gathered. The

difference will be it will be held in private. The aim will be deceived

lessons can be learned. The care quality commission, Council and

social services and so on. We are expecting a full report with

recommendations in April, but as you heard tonight, that won't go far

enough in many of the families who want a full report with

recommendations in April, but as you heard tonight, that won't go far

enough and many of the families who wanted for public enquiry.

In a moment: Dozens of jobs under threat as West Sussex Council looks

to save millions of pounds. A diabetic man who's planning to use

a kidney dialysis machine in the second bedroom of his rented home

says he's being forced to pay ?20 a week as a spare room subsidy, which

critics call the bedroom tax. Julian Little currently makes three 12`hour

round trips to Guys Hospital in London every week. He's been told by

his doctors that dialysing at home would be beneficial to his health.

The National Kidney Federation says his is not an isolated case.

This is one month supply to enable me to have dialysis at home. The

other half of the room is taken up with the equipment. This cannot

possibly be considered a bedroom! Julian Little wanted the freedom and

convenience to dialyser at home so he adapted one of the bedrooms into

a medical room. This machine gives me a lot more independence and makes

me fitter because I am piloting everyday. Julian says his bungalow

is reduced to one bedroom so cannot understand why he has two page

charge, something critics have called the bedroom tax.

charge, something critics have calle I calle%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

charge, something critics have called the bedroom tax. All I am

trying to do is give myself a little bit of control and try and make the

best of it. And yet, they are putting up all these barriers. There

are benefits to having dialysis at home: It is cheaper for the NHS.

Medication can be reduced or stopped, and it can increase life

expectancy. Sevenoaks district Council provide Julian with a small

reduction for the charge, but the couple say it is not enough. It's

extremely difficult. Imagine being on ?110 a week and you have to pay

?20 for bedroom tax. It's a nightmare. Without Dallas is at

home, Julian would spend three days a week in hospital. He will be

needing dialysis for ever. We don't have an option of a transplant. We

would ask the local authority to give him exemption from the bedroom

tax. You will get to the point where when

there is more and more bills piled on, eventually, you will have to say

I can't dialyser home. Julian has been refused a transplant so will

have two dialyser is that the rest of his life. When the money runs

out, he will have to rely on an already overstretched NHS.

A Sussex man has been spared jail for killing his own brother in a car

crash. Joseph Smith performed a handbrake turn as he was driving

between Wivelsfield and Ditchling Common in December 2011. His

29`year`old brother died. Smith was sentenced to 150 hours of community

service. The judge said that he took into account the "devastation" that

had come from "killing his own flesh and blood".

Kent Police have confirmed the 19`year`old man who died after an

attack in a flat in Maidstone was Italian. Detectives have been given

more time to question six men who were arrested on suspicion of murder

following the incident on Sunday evening. A seventh man has been

released on bail and an eighth man was arrested last night.

A pollutant which killed thousands of birds in the spring is to be

stopped from being released into the sea. A worldwide ban has been

agreed, preventing ships from washing out their tanks and

discharging the glue`like chemicals into the water. More than 4,000

birds were killed and some of the injured treated at the Mallydams

Centre in Hastings. West Sussex County Council is to

vote on plans to cut its youth services department by nearly a

third. The council, which has already made cuts to its youth

support and development service, says it needs to save a further

?1.65 million by March 2014. If the plans go through, it would lead to

50 full`time posts being cut, which would affect 119 members of staff in

total. Our political editor Louise Stewart joins us now in West Sussex.

Louise, West Sussex Council have already made significant savings in

children's services. Why are they making these further cuts? Crawley

is likely to be one of the areas affected, but West Sussex Council

says it has no choice because of the current economic situation and has

to save ?79 million over a three`year period. They have already

made cuts in children's services. But they say they have to make these

further cuts because they have reduced the number of youth centres

so they are bringing the number of staff down in line with that. They

say they will still support those it most in need. But opposition

councillors have called the cuts savage.

The amount of money sending mental health patients in Kent out of the

county has more than doubled since last year. The trust has recently

been criticised for its plans to close inpatient beds.

There's been a plea in Parliament for the BBC not to close its studio

in Chatham. The Conservative MP for Chatham and Aylesford, Tracey

Crouch, told a Commons committee she appreciates the corporation needs to

make efficiency savings but she's worried its local radio services

could face long`term damage. Decisions about fracking should not

be held back because of environmental concerns, according to

the Chancellor George Osborne. There were huge protests at Balcombe in

West Sussex this summer as the company Cuadrilla carried out test

drilling for gas. The Chancellor said he didn't want Britain to be

left on the sidelines because of what he called the "angst" of

protestors. The mother of a man who's suspected

of dying after taking a legal high says she wants high street shops to

stop selling the substances. 20`year`old Jimmy Guichard died in

hospital on the third October. His family believe he was killed by a

chemical he bought in Chatham. Hugging his mum on a family day out,

this is Jimmy a month ago. But on October the 2nd coming he was rushed

to hospital after being discovered unconscious. I cannot even bigger

and to describe the pain I am in. His mother suspect was a shop bought

legal high. We know he had a massive heart attack followed by

unconsciousness. The brain swelled and that caused his brainstem to be

crushed. His family say an empty packet was found next to his body

after he collapsed. It is believed he purchased the chemicals at a shop

on Chatham high street. What is clear is that there are serious

harms chords by legal highs. I hope the student populations are

certainly looking at raising awareness amongst their students

about the dangers. Earlier this month, Matthew suffered a near fatal

reaction after taking legal high. He bought it. The paramedic told me

that if I had laid there for another 5`10 minutes, I would have died.

Jimmy had experimented with legal highs before. I am blaming my son

predominantly, who neglected himself. Despite this, his mother

wants high street shops to stop selling the chemicals. He would have

been looking for an instant high so he could go into a shop and buy it.

If that wasn't available in the shop, I would still have my son. On

Monday, Karen will lay her son to rest. She must wait two months

before finding out if there was a legal high that killed him. Let's

cross live now to Colin who's in Chatham. Colin, there are many

unanswered questions following this man's death? Although the family

suspect it was a legal high, they accept he may possibly have taken

another substance but they are hoping that toxicology reports will

reveal exactly what was in his system. If it was a legal high,

where did he buy it? It has been suggested he bought it from a UK

stunt workshop in Chatham. But the shop have told me they are reviewing

CCTV pictures and reiterated that none of their products are meant as

human consumption. This is our top story tonight: And

30 years ago, Boy George topped the charts and BBC Sussex began

broadcasting across the county for the first time.

Although it has been a drier end today, we have heavy thundery

showers around tonight. They were a crack guerilla group

trained to attack the Germans if they invaded Britain. The Auxillary

Unit was the brainchild of Sir Winston Churchill. Part of the Home

Guard, they were the last line of defence against Hitler's ambitions

to take control of Britain. As we now know, the Germans did not

attempt to invade this country, but in 1939, the threat was very real. A

pamphlet being sold at auction in Sussex unveils the daring ingenuity

of this select group of British fighters tasked with defending Kent

and Sussex. Dad 's Army: Television 's view of

the home guard during the Second World War.

But the threat of German invasion was no joke. Churchill created a

select group of trained men to kill the enemy if they set foot on

English soil. He would have needed to know how to train his younger

members, so these schoolboy books of how to make delayed action and fuses

and bombs. Churchill wanted a network of hidden bunkers around the

country. Peter Nightingale showed me one. And it's here that Louis Pugh

and his cohorts would have come to in the event of a German invasion.

This is all that is left of their World War II hideout. They would

have been others elsewhere doing the same thing. Thank God it never

happened because we probably wouldn't be here telling this tale.

They did have a sense of achievement in that they were the most prepared

resistance in Europe. In this country, after Dunkirk, we had time

to prepare. Booby traps and medals belonging to Louis Pugh are also

being auctioned here. The home guard are regarded as a group of men too

old to go to war, meaning that Pugh and his team were ready for the

fight if it came. And it's all recorded in here.

At the halfway stage of the selection trials for the British

Skeleton team, Kent winter sport star Lizzy Yarnold is leading the

way. The 24`year`old from West Kingsdown came fourth in the World

Championships earlier this year. Now she's about to begin the most

important winter season of her life, which she hopes will end with an

Olympic medal in Russia next February.

After months in the jump, Lizzie and her team`mates have been to Norway

to prepare for not just today's trials but hopefully a place and

even a medal in the Winter Olympics. If she gets there, she will have

plenty to reminder of home. I go to the hive `` I go to the same

hardware store in Sevenoaks, so it is these little things. I am a girl

from Kent that is just good at this. Back in January, her family and

friends stayed up through the night to cheer her on. We love that

supporting her. We want to be there to help her through it and push and

get her to be the best you can be. The 24`year`old's rises been

remarkable. Last year she was junior world champion picked up bronze

which she narrowly failed to repeat this year, finishing fourth. Every

competition I enter I am there to win. In my team, we have got the

reigning world champion. She's an amazing rival friend. Get through

the team race. Despite years of training, the next few months of her

life will depend on fractions of the section `` of a second. But she is

more than ready. Gillingham's interim manager Peter

Taylor will be hoping for his first victory in charge when Notts County

visit the Priestfield Stadium this evening. Taylor may make a number of

changes from Saturday's team, which could include the recall of striker

Adebeyo Akinfenwa to the starting line`up. And Crawley Town, who are

just outside the League One play`off places, welcome Port Vale to the

Broadfield Stadium this evening. It started life in the 1960s as a

pilot project by the BBC to see if there was any demand for local radio

stations. It turned out there was, and 30 years ago, BBC Brighton began

broadcasting to the whole of Sussex. Today, BBC Sussex, as it's now

known, has been marking the anniversary with a day of special

programming live from the city where it all began. Alex Beard joins us

from the station now. Alex, how much has it all changed since 1983? The

biggest change is probably technology, but presenters and

building has changed. But essentially, the programming has

stayed the same. As you will have noticed, not `` it takes fewer

people to put on the programming. Everything was done manually. We had

typewriters. You went out with an analog tape

cut the interviews. The explosion came just before three o'clock. Most

of the residents were asleep. The worst effect in Peacehaven has been

on two caravans. Roads have been closed in Sussex. Bus services in

Brighton have been suspended, all because of snow and ice.

I am in studio three now. Don't worry, nothing is live. 30 years

ago, they would have had finals. Now look: Everything is kept on these

computers. You could press buttons and we can see what happens! Serious

talent came out that station, you know. Did you? Yeah. Less happy as

the weather forecast. It's awful. Yes, really wet picture. Tonight,

heavy boundary downpours. Tomorrow, wet. Thursday, it will brighten up

just a little bit but make the most of it because it will not last

through Friday. Earlier today, lots of cloud around. It has been

clearing its way east. Temperatures again holding up this time of year

with highs of 16`17dC. We have got a warning out from the Met Office

about heavy rain and strong winds as well. Rumbles of thunder around,

heavy downpours, but look at the temperatures again: Holding up. Very

mild as we start the day tomorrow and wet and windy. Slowly, and

improving picture. The ice bars will widen. As you start the day, it will

be blustery and wet. Binders heavy showers, one or two lighter ones.

Behind it, the winds ease and we have sunshine around. Some clearer

skies and those winds easing of means tomorrow night, we will see

mist and fog forming. Temperatures cooler than they have been recently.

Dropping to eight ` nine degrees. Thursday the most several day of the

week. Stays dry with temperatures 17`18d. Then look what happens as we

go into Friday: Wet and windy. Temperatures holding up. Towards the

weekend, it stays unsettled. But temperatures still decent this time

of year. It's incredibly warm, though. Very

strange weather.