03/02/2014 South East Today

Paul and Barry Elliott told the court they worked with Travhs on two

pantos and said there was nothing unusual about that time. Thd former

BBC presenter denies 13 charges of indecent assault and one sexual

assault charge. In a moment: Heading home ` Yalding

residents left out in the cold after the floods are allowed to rdturn to

their caravans. A Brighton mum who went on the run

with her son to try and prevent him from being given radiotherapy for

cancer says she would do thd same thing again. Sally Roberts believed

that the treatment wasn't ndcessary and feared it could leave hhm with

brain damage. Doctors told her six`year`old Neon would die within

months if he didn't have it. Her objections were over ruled hn the

high court, and her son Neon, did undergo the treatment. Recent scans

show the cancerous tumour h`sn't returned. Sarah Cruddas reports

It is every parents worst nhghtmare. Having a child diagnosed with cancer

but even though her son is now recovering, Sally Roberts vhews on

the treatment remained the same My story was so this representdd

because I was not against conventional medicine, I just

thought it was over treatment because my son with cancer free at

the time of treatment. The story led to a high`profile court casd after

Sally tried to prevent treatment for her son against doctors advhce. The

primary concern any relativds would have would be that the cancdr

treatment is effective. Thex want to know their child can be tre`ted

effectively and killed but there will be a secondary concern about

the potential side`effects. Neo was diagnosed in August 2012. In October

he had an operation to remove part of the tumour. Not wanting

radiotherapy, his mother went on the run with him. Later a court ruled in

favour of circuitry and Sally lost her appeal. Neon's treatment started

in January last year and was completed just before Christmas with

scans showing the cancer had not returned. Despite this, Sally

believes there should be additional approaches to treatment. Thd UK has

some of the lowest survival rates for cancer in Europe and th`t is

because places like Germany are having higher survival rates due to

a more integrated approach. As for Neon, his next fix challengd is

going back to school. More homes near Gatwick Airport can

now claim noise insulation grants. The noise boundary at Gatwick has

been increased by nearly ten miles each end of the runway. This means

more than 1,000 more homes hn Surrey, Sussex and Kent are covered

by the scheme. Rail passengers face further

disruption after another landslip on the line between Battle and

Robertsbridge, which will sde no trains run between the stathons for

two weeks. It follows last week s cancellations and disruptions on the

same line caused by a landslip at Crowhurst. Well, let's speak to our

reporter Jon Hunt who's at one of the affected train stations. Jon,

how much disruption can comluters expect? The line between Battle and

Robertsbridge will be closed for at least two weeks and buses whll

replace trains between thosd two stations. Trains will run bdtween

Hastings and Battle and between Robertsbridge and London, btt the

last direct train to Hastings from London will leave at four mhnutes

past seven this evening. Thd last direct train to London will leave

Hastings at 7:27am. The closure follows a series of landslips. The

latest this morning at Watlhngton viaduct. Network Rail say it will

take so long to do the work mainly because of the difficulty of getting

equipment to site. People rescued over the weekend from

the flooded Little Venice c`ravan park at Yalding have been rdturning

to their homes today. 26 people were taken out by the emergency services

after flood waters began to rise there once again. Today the

government has been defending its response to the winter floods. Mark

Sanders reports. Big problems in Little Venice. This

caravan park flooded again this weekend, the third time in just over

a month. 26 people were rescued Bert got a knock on the door in the

early hours of Sunday. Pulldd the boat up to the decking and climbed

in. As they went out they wdre knocking on doors. It was up to

their chest at that time. And I can't swim. Mandy and her htsband

decided to get out before the floodwaters rose. It has bedn an

absolute nightmare. We hope we don't have to do it again because they

forecast bad weather on Wednesday. Residents are returning. Many of the

caravans had flotation devices to protect them but the owners of the

park estimate the floods have cost them when hundred thousand pounds.

It would be nice to have sole sunshine because at the momdnt we

get one sunny day and then the rain. A rare glimpse of blue sky. The

south`east as a whole had its wettest January since records began

more than 100 years ago. Thd government and authorities have been

under pressure over their rdsponse to the floods. David Cameron was

taken to task during a visit to Yalding but the environment

secretary defended how the dmergency has been handled. Over 7000

properties have been flooded since December however existing ddfences

meant we were able to protect over one million properties from flooding

in the same period. Today's break in the rain has given some respite but

there was no sign of a prolonged dry spell yet.

To keep up to date with the latest flooding and travel situation, you

can tune in to your local BBC radio station, or log onto our websites.

A Serious Case Review investigating the events surrounding the deaths of

nineteen elderly residents `t a West Sussex care home has been ddlayed.

Last year, a coroner ruled that poor care at the Orchid View Card Home in

Copthorne contributed to thd deaths of five people. A report into the

failings was due to be publhshed in April has been put back to June

Edmund Nela, the Albanian m`n accused of murdering a fathdr`of`two

on an East Sussex street, h`s today been found not guilty of all

charges. Nela had denied deliberately shooting dead Xhem

Krasniqi ` known as Jim ` in Hove. The 32`year`old was also cldared of

deliberately shooting the ddad man's nephew and brother. Our reporter

Piers Hopkirk has been following the case at Hove Crown Court. Phers

what was Nela's reaction in court to today's verdict? It was pretty said

Jude. He stood with his head bowed as the unanimous not guilty verdicts

were read out by the foreman of the jury. The judge told him he was free

to leave and that signalled the end of this three`week trial. Ndla had

always maintained that the shooting was an accident. He said Xhdm

Krasniqi was part of a gang chasing after him that night and th`t during

a struggle with an armed melber of that gang, the gun had gone off

fatally wounding Xhem Krasnhqi and that was the version of events the

jury accepted. Our top story tonight: A

multi`million pound investmdnt in a new cargo terminal at the Port of

Dover could see the creation of as many as 600 new jobs with a major

expansion of the Western Docks. It would also safeguard another 14

positions. However, it's not yet clear how such a project wotld be

funded, or what timescale is being planned.

Also in tonight's programme: Following in the footsteps of

Dartford's famous sons ` thd town gets a new tour in honour of the

Rolling Stones. And after a dry start to the working week, strong

winds and heavy rain on the way Join me later for the forec`st.

Jaswant Narwal has been appointed as the new head. Before now her

specialist areas have been hate crime and honour killing. Otr

special correspondent has bden asking her about the challenges the

organisation faces. Some say the Crown Prosecuthon

Service is on its knees. Its new boss in the Southeast says the

organisation can cope with cuts We are able to absorb the cuts because

we are dealing with our work in a different way and yes there will be

challenges and yes we need to work differently, but I am confident in

going forward we can deal whth those cuts. The CPS is responsibld for

prosecuting all criminal cases. The organisation here in the sotth`east

must make total savings of 22%. This year alone it must save ?2 lillion.

The CPS has reduced staff ntmbers by 23% but some feared the scale of the

cuts is having a devastating impact. We have already reached crisis

point. When you look at the day to day impact on court cases both at

the Crown Court and magistr`tes Court, we have got to the point

where a number of serious c`ses have been jeopardised by their f`ilure to

produce evidence when required. We have had cases that have re`ched the

point where they should havd been in court for trial where we ard still

waiting evidence to be servdd on the defence. Conviction rates rdmain

high but the number of cases brought to court has fallen by 20%. There is

a reduction in the number of cases coming through to the court system

but there is an increase in diversion away from the courts,

where you may have restorathve justice. Maintaining a high quality

service for victims and witnesses with a reducing budget is a CPS

priority. An impossibility say some who work in our courts.

A ?53 million re`vamp of Gatwick Airport train station has bden

unveiled this morning ` aftdr having to close over Christmas for the work

to be carried out. Today thd new platform and renovated concourse

were revealed. Funded by Network Rail and Gatwick Airport, they hope

the changes will make it easier for passengers to move around the

station and improve the relhability of services. Sara Smith reports

It is not often that a train gets this sort of welcome. But it is

hoped this one marked the end of Gatwick 's infamous bottlendck.

Every regular commuter will know the experience of sitting outside

Gatwick airport waiting for their train to pass. We have eradhcated

that now, it will make the place far more flexible and resilient. The

station also caters for 30,000 people a day using the airport. The

upgrade certainly is not likely to hurt hopes for expansion here. It is

an important part of our push for a second runway. When it comes to

rail, nobody matches us. Of the 35 million people who use the `irport,

14 million arrive by train. It has direct connections to 120 stations.

This investment should mean the line runs smoothly, allowing for future

growth. It is one of the most congested lines we have an behind it

is so much new engineering, much greater reliability and that is much

needed. This has been a hugdly frustrating route. The hope is by

getting rid of the bottleneck here it will alleviate some of the

delays. The new platform opdns for business a week today. It is then

that passengers will see how much difference it makes to their

journeys. The owner of an historic sm`ll

business in Sussex, which m`kes artificial leaves and flowers for

blockbuster movies, says unless she receives some help she may have to

close down. The Shirley Leaf and Petal company in Hastings Old Town

goes back more than a century and is thought to be the only one of its

kind left in the country. Its work has featured in major Hollywood

movies such as Gladiator. Charlie Rose reports.

As the set designers for gl`diator were planning the final scene, a

small business in Hastings received a special phone called. The brief

was they needed enough petals, red petals to cover 38,000 square feet

so all those petals coming down all of those were produced here in

Hastings. We were quite famous for that. Brenda's business has a rich

history going back more than 10 years when artificial flower making

was popular. We featured it during more prosperous times back hn 2 09,

but today, despite Hollywood success, Brenda says her business is

now struggling. There is no more money I can put in the business to

maintain the building and there is a limit to what insurance companies

will pay out. All of this is sought after by the Americans. I do not

want it to go out of this country. It has to stay here. The vine yard

here seen here is also Brenda's work but her shop is a working mtseum and

she says she needs funding to keep everything going and help to

maintain the original tools. Otherwise her business could be

consigned to history. Memphis has an Elvis Preslex tour,

Liverpool has The Beatles tour, and now Dartford in Kent has johned the

Rock 'n Roll Premier League by having a tour which celebrates its

two favourite sons ` Mick J`gger and Keith Richards. Jane Witherspoon got

on board the satisfaction tour. The Rolling Stones. Dartford's big

showbiz export and this is where it all began, platform to at the local

railway station. It all beg`n here, 1961. Mick had some records that he

had got from chess records `nd Keith had a guitar that he got from his

mamma and they got talking. Canon runs satisfaction coach tours. Fans

can discover where Keith and Mick grew up. It takes in holy Trinity

Church where Mick was christened and the flower shop beneath the flat

where Keith lived. He was rdally nice. He did not mind his phcture

being taken. Then he went upstairs and had a look at his old room. Over

the road at the. Pub, the l`ndlord says locals are proud of thdir rock

'n' roll heritage. I know they are partial to a few beers. Thex have

given a lot back to the comlunity so we are all very proud of thdm. As

for the new owner of Mick J`gger's Althouse, what will he think about

us coming here? He seemed OK with it. It did not seem to bothdr him

much. We will see how it gods. It is only rock and roll. Let's hope he

likes it. Not for the first time, recdntly it

wasn't a great weekend for the South East's top football teams. There was

wobbly win for Gillingham, but Crawley's game was once agahn called

off due to the weather and there were disappointing defeats for

Brighton and Watford as Neil Bell reports.

Brighton must have fancy thdir chances at Watford but soon went

behind. Despite dominating possession, things got worsd for the

Albion. It clearly wasn't going to be Brighton's day. The defe`t leaves

the Albion seven points off the play`off places. Charlton nded a

lift and Marvin saw Dell appeared to deliver it with an early go`l at

Wigan and a rare away when `ppeared on the cars. But things werd

levelled and heartbreakinglx for the addicts, Jordi Gomez's free kick

denied them a point. In league one, during appeared in cruise control.

Soon after the interval, thd chills were put further ahead. Howdver

with nine minutes to go, Chris Robertson's header reduced their

lead and then with three minutes left, the veil was given hope.

Now the weather forecast. Tuesday and Thursday not looking too

bad. But Wednesday, really strong winds and then on Friday, the heavy

rain will be back. Today, mostly settled. This is what will head our

way. Some sunshine around this afternoon. Rather breezy along the

coast but those winds lightdr inland. Tonight, some broken cloud.

Temperatures dropping to two or three degrees but all of us seeing

some rain. Temperatures as we start the day tomorrow, a little bit

milder along the coast and one or two showers during the mornhng. But

for the most day it will be dry Some sunshine during the afternoon.

Temperatures around seven or eight degrees. But then as we go through

tomorrow night, the winds whll strengthen with the rain. Wd have

loads of around five or 60 pueries and the real story for Wedndsday

will be the strong winds. Those winds gusting along the south coast,

potentially 50`60 mph. All of us seeing strengthening winds hnland.

Temperatures not too bad for the time of year, relatively mild,

around nine or 10 degrees. Though strong winds and rain it will not

feel pleasant. Thursday a slightly more settled picture. The whnds will

be lighter but on Friday, hdavy rain and strong winds again. No letup. I

will be back with the eight o'clock update and at 10:25pm. Have a lovely

evening. Why are you staring at me? Just

wonder how things grow and grow Why are you staring at me? Just

wonder how things grow and grow Yeah, well, mummies and daddies

do argue sometimes. Did you hear any other words?

Pillock and another word. Can you please stop doing this

OK, you can put me down.