14/02/2017 South East Today

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

Talks between southern and the RMT dramatically collapse.

Accusations of a cover-up in the ambulance

service over claims of bullying so severe two staff

A rape victim campaigning for a change in the law after her

30 or 40 years ago, they wasn't unwell. They knew what they were

doing. Faye Burdett's death,

her parents say the government have failed to do anything to combat

childhood meningitis. And, celebrating the role

of Dartford in creating the sound of rock and roll at the home

of the Vox amplifier. Well, we start the programme

with some breaking news. Talks aimed at resolving

a long-running dispute over the role of guards

on Southern Rail have collapsed. Leaders of the Rail,

Maritime and Transport RMT union say they're furious after meeting

with company officials at the conciliation service ACAS,

claiming Southern "are only interested in bulldozing through

driver only operated trains". But Southern have criticised

the union's "obstinate refusal Our reporter Briohny Williams

is at the conciliation service in Euston, where the talks

were being held. Indeed, very dramatic. The talks

only started at 2:30pm, and in the last hour they have broken down.

Nick Cass from the RMT has launched a scathing attack on Southern rail,

saying that the company has a pig-headed attitude that wrecked the

talks, and wouldn't guarantee that a second safety critical member of

staff would be on each train. They said that the RMT negotiators are

absolutely furious with what went on today will stop Southern rail have

hit back. They say that the parent company says that RMT is trying to

hang onto its power to cancel trains, and it also reinforces that

safety checks have been made that driver only operated trains are

says, and it wants the RMT to stop the strikes and be pointless action

that it is taking. Where does this leave us now? Well, of course, we

have been here before, and I am sure we will be here again. The talks are

not going to go on tomorrow. This is the 30th time that the RMT and

Southern rail have got around the negotiation table, on seven separate

occasions, and there is still not an end to this long-running dispute. So

the thousands of commuters that have been affected by this will just has

to watch and wait for a lot longer. Thank you.

Later in the programme we will hear from a driver, who says there is a

strong possibility that there must of his union went accept the deal

struck with Southern last week. Managers responsible for "horrific,

cowardly and devastating" acts of bullying on staff handling 999

calls have been allowed to act with impunity,

according to union leaders. A leaked report on bullying

and staff harassment at the troubled South East Coast Ambulance Trust

was covered up according to the GMB, which represents

control room workers. The independent report,

from May last year, is said to describe a climate of fear

with two call handlers attempting Behind these walls was a workforce

subjected to a culture of fear, according to reports carried out

after four staff members complained of harassment. 999 oh operators

suffered bullying, coercion and intimidation, it was that, with two

even attempting suicide. Looking at some of the findings in this report,

as you would imagine I am appalled. Beyond disappointed. I am very

angry. If these allegations to come through, then very serious questions

need to be asked. The allegations include staff receiving abusive,

sometimes anonymous phone calls. Women were called obscene names. A

culture of favouritism and nepotism meant victims were threatened with

the sack or those responsible were detected. The trust declined to make

anyone available for us to interview. In a statement, they

described these as historical allegations, which had either been

dealt with, or had no evidence to back them up. But they did say they

take bullying and harassment very seriously, and were working hard to

address this area of concern. The union which represents call

handlers, though, says that with senior staff responsible still in

place, the trust must do more. Clearly as these members of staff

are still there, and still undertake high positions within the trust, it

has not been dealt with. That is an outright lie by the trust. If they

have been dealt with, it has been too lenient and behind closed laws.

It is very much a boys club, and these three members of the leading

lights in this boys club and they need to be removed from the

organisation. It is far from the first scandal to hit the trust. In

2015 and investigation began after it was revealed ambulances had been

deliberately delayed and the macro under a secret policy to meet

targets. Last autumn it was placed in special measures after inspectors

found it unsafe and badly led. A new chief executive has now been

appointed, but has not yet been put in place. When he does arrive, you

will have a lot on his plate from day one.

Sara is in Coxheath now at SECAMB's main call centre.

Sara, the Trust says it's dealt with the allegations,

but others are taking action after seeing what this report

Yes, the MP who we heard from in that report says she is going to

invite the new chief executive to Parliament to explain how he is

going to sort out this situation, how he will restore confidence for

patients, and ensure the welfare of staff. The union have written to all

of the 46 members of Parliament whose constituencies are covered by

the trust. One of those is Jeremy Hunt, and they want him, as the

Secretary of State for Health, to take action. Thank you.

Cheryl Islip from Eastbourne was raped when she was

Last October, a jury found that 88-year-old Norman Askew had

sexually abused her, and another girl, but because he was

too frail to stand trial, he was given an absolute discharge.

Now Cheryl has written to the Prime minister,

calling for a change in the law, to make sure the what she claims

is a "loophole" is closed, which allowed someone who'd

committed such serious crimes from having his name added

Our Special Correspondent Colin Campbell has the exclusive story.

Cheryl Islip battled for justice for more than a decade.

Last year, she gave evidence against the man

Although a jury believed her, her abuser walked free.

His name not even placed on a sex offenders' register.

He has been allowed to go home with just a slapped wrist,

though he was found guilty of all four counts.

What sort of strain has this had on you?

There have been some days where I think I can't go on.

88-year-old Norman Askew appeared in court in October,

accused of raping Cheryl when she was ten, indecently

But, partway through the trial at Lewes Crown Court,

his defence team produced evidence saying Mr Askew was

With more and more cases of child sex abuse coming forward,

and identifying now elderly perpetrators, what happened

here last autumn is likely to happen again.

After assessing the medical evidence in the case,

the judge, Charles Kemp, deemed Norman Askew unfit to be tried.

What happened next is what is known as a "trial of the facts".

In a trial of the facts, it is the truth of the allegations

against the defendant, opposed to their guilt or innocence

The jury found Mr Askew to have sexually abused the girls,

He received an absolute discharge with no conviction or sentence,

his name wasn't placed on the sex offenders' register.

I would like the law to be changed where at least

if someone has got dementia, or, you know, they are unwell

and they are not going to get punished, they should at least be

The Law Commission believes changes to how people are considered unfit

The law determines whether or not someone is unfit to plead,

based on a test about how much they understand about

That doesn't really address the correct question,

which is how much they can participate in the proceedings.

What we suggest in our recommendations is that we focus

as many people as possible within the normal trial process.

Cheryl says her torment has been compounded by delays and mistakes.

She first went to the police in 2004, but claims detectives

In 2011, she made a secret recording with her attacker,

but claims police initially overlooked its significance,

A trial was set for 2014, but was delayed for more than two years.

The Crown Prosecution Service say it was because of

But some feel victims of non-recent sex abuse are being let down.

It is not entirely, you know, unusual for these kind of really

quite perverse outcomes, and again I have every sympathy

with that poor woman, who just hasn't seen justice done.

When they did their abuse, 30 or 40 years ago,

So they need some sort of punishment.

Cheryl wants the government to act to ensure others are not

What chance is there of the government changing the law

Interestingly, the Law Commission have written a draft bill. It is

their job to try to ensure that the law is fair. 70% of the Law

commissions work goes on to become legislation. The Law Commission

believe trials of the facts, and the test used to rule if somebody is

unfit to be tried, are both fraud, and they are calling on the covenant

to accept the recommendations within this draft bill. It is cases like

Cheryl's that shine a spotlight on the flaws in our justice system. She

feels she has wasted 14 years of her life battling in vain to get

justice. She says she will not give up now, she has got a new fight to

try to prevent other people going through the same kind of pain,

misery and anguish that she has been through. Thank you.

Coming up: After a desperate journey from Calais to Kent, the Afghan

interpreter who served with British forces condemns the government for

not granting him asylum. A Kent man whose daughter

died from meningitis, sparking a nationwide petition

for more children to be given a vaccine, has accused

the Government of doing nothing to raise awareness of the disease,

despite promises to do so. Neil and Jenny Burdett

from Maidstone took the decision to release a picture of 2-year-old

Faye just hours before It prompted more than 800,000

people to sign a petition, calling for the meningitis B jab

to be given to all children. The Government has since refused

to make the vaccine more widely available, saying it is not a good

use of money. The little girl whose death

is helping to save lives. Faye Burdett died on

Valentine's Day last year. Since then, her parents have

campaigned to raise awareness. They say they are doing their bit,

but the government is not doing its bit to inform parents

about the dangers. They told us nothing

and they have done nothing. They are too busy with

their Brexits, too busy In the meantime, it

has just been kicked Faye Burdett was two years

old when she developed the bacterial Following her parents' decision

to switch off her life-support machine, the family

released a picture of Faye It called on the vaccination

programme to be made available to all children,

not just infants. Jen and Neil Burdett gave evidence

before a select committee, but the government concluded

expanding vaccination programme Campaigners say the Burdett

family has been let down. During the Westminster debate,

the Minister confirmed that they would have an awareness

campaign and they would publish the report, which was focusing

on the exact framework That report was concluded

in June of last year, and the government still hasn't

published that paper. But the government

refutes the criticism. In a statement, the Department

for health said: UK is the first country in the world

to introduce Since the programme's

introduction in September 2015, the number of cases in infants under

one has dropped by 50%. Public Health England also

says its public awareness campaign has seen millions of leaflets

delivered to GP clinics, If your child not like it

usually is, and you have an uncertain feeling about it,

just keep checking. The family's desire to inform

and save lives continues. The government says its

immunisation report will be Two men have been arrested

on suspicion of a sexual assault The 46-year-old and 25-year-old

were detained yesterday after it was reported to the police

that an attack took place The arrests led to a 45-minute delay

in disembarking the ship at Dover. Sussex Police is using

Valentine's Day as an opportunity to send out messages on social media

appealing for a number of The people pictured have breached

terms of bail conditions, or are wanted for theft

or drugs offences. Earlier we brought you the news that

talks between the RMT union and Southern rail had collapsed.

A Southern Rail train driver with the ASLEF union has told this

programme that many members are not convinced the deal struck

by their leaders is safe, and that it may well be rejected

when the result of a members ballot is announced this Thursday.

The deal struck earlier this month would keep a second

member of staff on board, unless there were "exceptional

circumstances", such as staff sickness or lateness,

when the train could leave without them.

The driver spoke with our reporter Juliette Parkin on condition

of anonymity, because of concern over reprisals.

Subject to a referendum of Aslef members in southern, the dispute

between Aslef and Southern is over. It was hailed as the light at the

end of the tunnel in a long and bitter dispute. Resolution was the

word on the rails after the drivers union Aslef reached a deal with

Southern 12 days ago. Far from it, says one of its members, who wants

to remain anonymous for fear of disciplinary action for speaking

out. I think our union don't realise the strength of feeling that the

drivers have, that we are prepared for a long battle. When we get a no

vote, which hopefully we will do, that battle will continue. Do you

think commuters can go on with the long battle? Well, we know it has

affected the local economy. We have had figures of ?300 billion and beat

around for the south-east economy, and that is the sort of pressure

that you has to put onto the government to take some action. The

network was brought to a standstill when Aslef joined the RMT and a

walk-out over the introduction of driver only operated trains, and

changes to the role of cards. And yet, without the RMT, a deal was

brokered. Aslef agreed that drivers would operate the train doors, and

Southern agreed to a second member of staff on board except in some

exceptional circumstances. An unsafe deal, it is claimed. Our concerns is

that eventually someone will get trapped in a door, the driver won't

see them on the cameras, which are very poor at the moment, and we will

end up in court. As soon as we move, those camera images go off, so

anybody who has run and slipped between the platform, we will not

see them. What is the way to get this network running again

efficiently for the benefit of passengers? Getting that second

person to check that it is safe to close the doors. To go back to how

we used to be. An unlikely outcome it seems in a row driven by

technology. Juliette Parkin with that report

and she joins us live from Brighton. Juliette how what has Southern's

response to these claims? Well, Southern insisted today that

their driver controlled trains are absolutely safe will stop they said

there is a second band of staff on every surface that had one before.

The driver we spoke to today said he was concerned that that second

member of staff would not always be there. Aslef told us today that they

won't comment until the results of that vote on Thursday, so that deal

is far from certain. With the RMT talks collapsing this evening, it

seems this dispute is far from reaching a resolution is still

rumbling on. Thank you.

Our top story: Talks between the RMT union and Southern have collapsed

without agreement. No further talks are planned to bring an end to the

long-running industrial dispute. Also in the programme: Celebrating

the role of Hertford in creating the sound of rock 'n' roll at the home

of the Vox amplifiers. And after all the sunshine of

Monday, the cloud back again today and temperatures on the rise. I will

have all the details a little later in the programme.

The refusal to give asylum to Afghan interpreters who served alongside

British frontline troops is inexplicable, inhumane

and shameful, according to supporters of one man who stowed

Javed Hotak served with British forces in Helmand

province 10 years ago - he says he's received death threats

from the Taliban and fears for his life if the Home Office

Peter Whittlesea has this Special Report.

Thousands of desperate migrants have attempted it.

Smuggling themselves on the back of lorries,

Any way to make the hazardous journey crossing the

Channel from Calais to Kent to get into this country.

Afghan interpreter Javed fled to Britain in 2008,

hoping for asylum, after spending two years fighting alongside

Now I feel ashamed, and I regret my time being with them.

I was working as a soldier and interpreter as well.

But he has since received death threats from the Taliban,

one stating "you will be in hell very soon", and another accusing him

of being a spy for the Crusaders, and sentencing him and his family

He handed in these death threats to the Home Office,

but says it refused to accept that the letters were genuine,

To put yourself in a position like him, being really let down

by a government that he supported by working in the most

In a statement, the government said that all asylum cases

are carefully considered, based on evidence provided

Experts say the assessment criteria is strict.

The Home Office will always consider whether it is possible to relocate

in Afghanistan first, before they even think

about the possibility of granting asylum in the UK.

For now, Javed will continue living illegally here while he renews

Many of the biggest bands of the '60s had one hugely

important, if often overlooked, thing in common.

They used amplifiers made in Dartford.

The first Vox amplifier was released in 1958,

suddenly giving guitarists a way of achieving a much bigger sound.

In 1962, the Beatles were given a full set of amps,

in exchange for being used in Vox's publicity shots, and it worked.

Vox amps went on to be used by everyone from the Rolling Stones

and the Kinks, to Brian May and Paul Weller,

This week, the role of the Dartford firm who made them has been

They were scenes never seen before, or perhaps since. It is a music

revolution, lived by teenagers who are today's grandparents and great

grandparents. Have another look, and see if you can see what is behind

all these young stars. It is the Vox amplifiers. Everybody wanted a Vox

amp. If you had one of them, you had the bees knees. The Beatles used

them in the early days. They were the foundation for everything. The

hidden history here is that Fox is as much a part of Dartford folklore

as the story of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards who grew up there.

Hidden history and failed today in the place where the company that

made pumps and guitars was born. Anyone who has listened to popular

music in the last 60 years would be listening to the sound of Vox. It is

important to mark the impression we made on all that music. Everyone

from the Beatles to the Rolling Stones, they all used Fox and the

fires and they gave those artists their unmistakable sound. The

recognition at last for 119 Dartford Rd. It may look a bit

unprepossessing, but it has a firm place in the history of rock 'n'

roll. The sheds and workshops supplied amplifiers, guitars and all

sorts of equipment to the famous around the world. Explore me times

for the young Dartford workers. I can remember the Dave Clark five, or

five of them. They came along, didn't they? You'll Weimann came,

didn't he? Yes. The Rolling Stones were local lads. I saw John Lennon

and Paul McCartney come here to look around. And iconic name, and it is a

music legend, proudly remembered in its home town.

Now, let's take a look at the weather and what it is going to be

doing. Rachel, it is going to be better tomorrow?

Yes, that's right. Nothing like the clear blue skies that we had

yesterday. It will be mild with temperatures reaching highs of 11 or

12 degrees. Some of us started today with a fast, but the main story

today, lots of cloud and temperatures on the rise from

yesterday. Rather a dull picture with top temperatures of nine or 10

degrees. For the next couple of days, the trend is it will be

increasingly mild. There will be some rain tomorrow, heading through

the rest of the week high pressure builds, foggy starts to the day, but

brighter by the afternoon. As we had through tonight, a lot of cloud, and

eventually we will see a band of rain. Not heavy, but some patchy

drizzle around as we get towards the early hours of tomorrow morning.

Once again a very mild night. Seven or 8 degrees in rural spots. Very

mild as we start Wednesday. Initially quite damp. That first

band of rain clears, dryer for a time, and as we head to the

afternoon there is another round of rain, which will be heavy at times.

Lots of cloud around, but very mild. Once again, Dell and damp. The wind

is back to a southerly direction. Not particularly easy to stop it

will ease off from Wednesday into Thursday. A cooler picture as we

start Thursday, but temperatures still miles for the time of year.

Missed and Fog first thing because of that area of high pressure, but

it brightens up by the afternoon with highs of ten or 11 degrees. A

similar story into Friday. Writing up by the afternoon. Over the

weekend, most likely to see some rain on Saturday, but looking

relatively dry for us. None of the sunshine we started the week with.

Well at least it will warm up. Thank you. We will have an update at 8pm

and at 10:25pm. Have a good evening. Goodbye.

# I knew you were trouble when you walked in