21/02/2017 South East Today

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

Family of missing Sussex man Andrew Apperley say they're

devastated, after a body is found in Thailand.

Increasing numbers of imposter passports are helping people

smugglers traffick people into the UK - we have

I would like to speak to them and say, have you got any conscious, --

conscience, were you aware that this money was going to the poor?

A landmark documentary in praise of England's greenest and most pleasant

land airs tonight. The family of a man from Sussex

who was reported "missing, presumed dead" while on holiday in Thailand

say they are devastated, after the authorities there revealed

that a body has now been discovered. Andrew Apperley from Eastbourne

was last known to be on the popular The 38-year-old, who has a young

daughter, told family he was going to a full moon party

on a nearby island last Sunday - Andrew Apperley was described by his

family as an experienced traveller. His disappearance in Thailand viewed

as totally out of character. We are all worried, it is very

unlikely that he would not be in touch with us for so long,

and we are all worried about his He works as a chef in Brighton

and a landlord in Eastbourne, he flew out to to Thailand

for a solo holiday this year. He was well prepared to every

possibility so he would usually take It was when we were told the

possessions were still in the hotel, it really hit and we started to act

on that. He had the last contact with his

mother and February the 12th. After he failed to check out of his hotel

as planned on February 16 he was reported missing. Tonight it is

emerged -- it has emerged that a body has been discovered. The

process can be very difficult and drawn and that is particularly the

case when it involves a country in the developing world like Thailand.

Police say the body is yet to be formally identified. Andy's family

have been informed of the discovery. This is a story that has been

developing pretty rapidly. We know that in the last few hours the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the police have been in touch with

Andy's family. We understand they are being asked to help with

identification of the body and it transpires that they may have to fly

out to Thailand to assist in that process. Clearly this is an

enormously distressing time for them as a family, not least as Andy has a

six and a half year old daughter. The BBC has discovered that people

smugglers are increasingly using imposter passports -

real documents used fraudulently - We've spoken exclusively to one

criminal who used a child's passport Europe's border security

agency says passport fraud Most of the fake and forged

documents discovered last year were detected here

in the South East. Colin Campbell has this

special investigation. He is a criminal who smuggled

an adult from Dunkirk in France The security breach

happened early last year. The passport was shown

to both British and French Were you surprised how

easy it was to pass through the security

checks in France? According to Europe's border

control agency Frontex, document fraud is now a key criminal

activity linked to Within the EU most people

using fraudulent documents were detected on entry to the UK,

mainly between France and England. The agency's most recent risk

analysis says document fraud is a crime that will

continue to represent a significant threat to

the security of the EU in 2017. The organisation which manages EU

borders is particularly concerned about the fraudulent use

of real passports. Here in the area of passports

we are observing imposters, so the passport itself

is a legitimate passport but This man was caught when he arrived

in Dover and has been prosecuted. People are always going to try it

on at our border controls and our border officers

have a really tough job, and that's why we need to use

the latest technology to help them, facial recognition,

fingerprint recognition, biometrics like that

could help keep our borders Fooling border officials in France,

this man's case does appear Colin Campbell joins me

live in the studio. You've repeatedly exposed

the workings of smuggling gangs. Frontex says there has been an

increase in forged Kimmince and the quality of them has improved. The

UK's National Crime Agency has warned that as border security

increases at places like Dover gangs will turn to using forged documents.

Electronic passports and so on at airports is helping to prevent that

but they say training is -- this is a key part of the training for

border officers. What we don't know is how many people using forged

documents have succeeded in getting in.

Coming up, meet the Ice Maidens, hoping to become the first female

team to trek unsupported across the South Pole.

A Sussex church minister, who had more than ?7000

in charity cash stolen by an opportunist thief,

says she's absolutely gutted and feeling wretched.

Reverend Lynda Hulcoop has just picked up the money in US dollars

from a bureau de change at a supermarket in Hove

It was meant to help support very poor struggling

This is reverend Lynda Hulcoop in the pale coat,

and this the moment the cash she is carrying is taken.

A woman gets her hand into the carrier bag

and steals thousands of pounds worth of dollars.

These are some of the people the money was destined for.

Children in a poverty-stricken township in Zimbabwe.

It was being taken in cash because the banking

system is in crisis, the reverend was due to leave for

I felt absolutely gutted, all sorts of emotions,

the most difficult one was because it was not my money,

it was charitable money, and such a large sum of money,

I'm going in two days, so all of the trauma of what do I do,

The money was raised here at the church in Southwick

I am very shocked. My main thought was, why do they need it? What is

their lifestyle? It is the children abroad, in Zimbabwe, so I thought it

was very callous. The charity has borrowed

the money so the trip to Zimbabwe can go ahead -

it goes to schools, medical services and other things

for the local communities. I would like to talk to them

and say, have you got any conscience that this money was destined

for the very poor? I do not know what these people use

it for, whether they are using it for their own greed,

who knows, but I would like to see if there is any conscience in there,

and awaken that within them. Police want to find two

women captured on CCTV following the Reverend

after she had collected the cash. They are asking anyone

who recognises them to come forward. Sara, is the charity likely to get

any of this money back? Well, they have been told that they

won't get any insurance money for this and the police say even if they

find those responsible the chances of getting any money from them are

pretty slim, so they have had to borrow more than 9000 US dollars so

they can take it to Zimbabwe and not let down the people there who

desperately need it. There are couple of bright spots to come from

this sad story. Firstly Sainsbury's bank, where the reverend got the

money from, they have given the charity ?1000. Then there is the

response from the community here in Southwick. Already donations have

been coming in as the news has spread about what happened to try to

build up the sum to pay that money back.

The train drivers' union Aslef has been holding fresh talks

with Southern Rail in a bid to resolve the ongoing dispute over

It comes as commuters prepare for another day of industrial action

tomorrow by the RMT union, which represents guards -

as they walk out for 24 hours from midnight.

The Government's been accused of acting "unfairly" over plans

to close an army barracks in Kent, in order to build

Invicta Park in Maidstone - home to the 36 Engineer Regiment

of the Royal Engineers and the Queen's Gurkha Engineers -

The RPSCA is investigating after an emaciated dog

was found dumped on a busy road in Maidstone.

The young lurcher - who has now been named Snoopy -

was discovered on Woolley Road on Thursday night.

It's believed she had been deliberately starved but is now

recovering at Leybourne Animal Centre.

One of Britain's biggest housebuilders has been forced to set

aside millions of pounds for compensation to customers

who were allegedly persuaded to buy homes in Kent that were unfinished,

in order for the firm to hit sales targets.

Bovis Homes is having to deal with thousands of complaints,

mounting from the end of last year, when Bovis offered customers ?3,000

to move into homes - even though they were unfinished.

The company has set aside ?7 million to compensate home owners and pay

for repairs to everything from leaky pipes to missing driveways.

All of the windows, nothing is sealed, so air and water can get in,

any kind of ingress that comes with hard rain.

I would not advise using the banister as we go upstairs.

It hasn't got to be a great deal of centre to make a lot of difference.

Danny Moffat 's was meant to move into his home in December 20 14th

but a few days before Christmas he was told he couldn't. -- December of

2014. It wasn't until the following June that he got the keys but the

problems didn't stop there. When we first moved in here my wife

gave up her job because she couldn't deal with the stress of working

every day but also dealing with Bovis Homes. You have one call,

another one the next day, another one next week, every day after that

to try to get them on site to fix the things that should have been

done before we moved in. All of the tradespeople are

contracted out, quality control checks are in place within the

building organisations to check for this kind of thing and it is a case

of get the money in and deal with the problems later and it wasn't

work and it has come back to bite them.

In a statement Bovis Homes says it is already speaking to customers who

have highlighted specific issues and where appropriate it will reimburse

customers for reasonable costs incurred as a result of its actions.

They have let everybody down as a result of here. Everybody on this

estate who has bought one of their homes has a story to tell about how

badly they have been treated. Hundreds across the country have

complained to the house-builder. For Danny, two years down the line, the

problem is still ongoing. Our reporter Ian Palmer

is at a new Bovis Homes Ian, what kind of issues are people

having to deal with there? We have heard examples of a couple

who bought off plan and only discovered that the garage had been

built in the wrong coloured brick, another example of a flaw not being

laid, the wrong kind of kitchen being installed, and these people

were expecting to move in the following day. -- example of a

floor. This will be an example of around 250 homes when it is finally

built, this is the show home used to market the development, but outside

the show home the pavement is yet to be finished, it is on different

levels, all of the homes are not on mains gas and electricity, they are

using site utilities. There are Facebook sites across the country

that have highlighted problems. Bovis Homes has designated ?7

million to repair the damage not just to these homes but also its

reputation. Our top story, the family of a man

from Sussex resumed missing -- who was missing, presumed dead, have

been told that a body has been found.

After 30 years of delighting and inspiring through dance we speak to

choreographer Matthew Bourne ahead of his new production in Kent.

All change into Thursday with gale force winds. I will have the details

in the forecast late in the programme.

The first-ever team made up exclusively of women to cross

the South Pole unaided has embarked on extreme survival

training a mere 300 miles from the Arctic circle in Norway.

Sophie Montagne, a soldier from East Sussex, has been training

with her army team in Norway for the trek which will take

just over 1,000 miles of the harshest terrain on earth.

They'll battle temperatures of minus 40C

as Mark Norman explains for tonight's Special Report.

The Ice Maiden team heading out across a frozen

Norwegian lake at the start of its final training exercise.

In September these soldiers, including an Army reservist

from East Sussex, will begin their historic journey

across Antarctica, hoping to inspire a generation of women.

Everybody is incredibly inspiring and I think all of us coming

together as really capable women has made it a lot more about being able

to show that women can keep up with the men.

It's not just about five women crossing Antarctica,

it's about encouraging women from across the military but also

in civilian life to get out there and give things go,

realising that there is no ceiling, you can achieve anything.

In Antarctica it could reach as low as -40, and home

There is also important research being done to understand what it

takes to sustain an all-female team on an expedition like this.

As we have been trying to work out our rations and how

much we need to eat, how much weight we need to gain,

there is no evidence on how women cope in these environments

so if we can provide that evidence for future expeditions

they can have a much better idea of how to compose

Training in Norway has involved two-hour marches.

They will have to do up to nine hours a day in the Antarctic,

carrying and pulling everything they need.

They need to be physically and mentally strong.

I'm quite good at just switching off on the...

We spend a lot of time in our own head and I don't

find that too difficult, I can while away hours just

But mostly it is about the team and I think having this group around

you, we have trained together now for two years, and we know how

to motivate each other and they always pick you up

Five soldiers will attempt the Antarctic in September.

If they succeed it will put them in the history books alongside

explorers like Scott, Shackleton and Edmondson.

It's said the Sussex Downs inspired William Blake to write of

"England's mountains green" in his legendary poem

If you feel the same way, you are in for a treat tonight

in a film on BBC Four presented by the Vicar of Firle

It is an emotional portrait of the familiar landscape. Peter Owen Jones

is the face and voice who presented. He lives in the village of Firle and

the South Downs are virtually his back garden. Look at this. You can't

see it now because wonderful winter Merck has come in, but we live in

one of the most beautiful landscapes on the planet. -- Merck. -- murk.

I am seeking the spiritual enlightenment that I believe

we in Britain once had and have now lost.

His films have seen travel around the world but the latest is very

much on home turf. Hazel and birch can make charcoal. It is a diary of

the passing of the season is on the South Downs. Making a film like this

you really see the imprint left by those who have gone before us and it

becomes interwoven with the wildlife and the weather which has created

this wonderful land in which we live. The South Downs themselves are

the real stars of the peace. An opportunity to see the wildlife and

the landscape without leaving your armchair, and for the author it was

a labour of love. To live here, for me, was a dream. For anybody who

knows and loves the unique beauty of the South Downs, this will be an

hour to savour. And South Downs: England's Mountains

Green is on BBC Four Football, and two of our teams

are in action tonight in League One. Charlton Athletic face

Oxford United, while Gillingham Choreographer Matthew Bourne has

always been recognised as someone who likes to do things

a little differently. His pioneering all-male Swan Lake

at London's Sadler's Well's was received by some critics

as witty and wild. He says he's only ever set out

to introduce a new audience to dance and for them simply

to have a good night out. As his production company

celebrates 30 years, his latest ballet,

Early Adventures, comes to Dartord. For those in the know,

a Matthew Bourne production is instantly recognisable,

from his all-male Swan Lake to his interpretation

of Edward Scissorhands. His twist on a classic never fails

to excite and inspire. In some ways, although I do

have a reputation for being different and doing things

out-of-the-box a little bit, I think I'm also quite

old-fashioned, I like to give people a good night out,

I like people to have a great time. I am trying to break down

the barriers for audiences who think dance is not for them,

and I try and win them over. I've done that throughout

my career, really. His latest offering, which comes

to Canterbury later this year, brings to life the beloved fairy

tale and 1948 Oscar-winning movie The Red Shoes, written,

produced and directed by Emeric Pressburger

and Michael Powell. It is a universal tale about a young

woman whose dreams are sort of crushed and I realised that's

the thing people are getting moved by, because everybody can

identify with that thing, people who have dreams to do

something, to be something, and it not quite working

the way they hoped. So people are really happily

getting moved by it, the hankies are coming out

at the end, which I am As somebody who only began dance

lessons in his 20s he has certainly raised the bar,

making dance more accessible to the masses, something

he was recognised for last year Anybody who has been a knight

in the dance world before has been and I certainly didn't

come through that route, so I am the first person

in the world of dance to have got So I feel I represent

a lot of areas of dance, having started very small and doing

what I am doing now as an independent

choreographer and director. It is good and I feel as though

I am a voice for dance as well, I need to speak

for my profession sometimes. Now he returns to the South East

with choreography that helped launch his career as part

of the 30th anniversary People who got to know my bigger

piece that toured the country now will recognise it and they are quite

quirky, even people seeing them now are saying,

I have never seen anything The Brighton resident tells me

it is all about seducing audiences, and 30 years after he began

he is still creating the magic. Let's take a look at what will be

happening with the weather. Doris is coming.

Yes, wet and windy for Thursday, quite different from the 18 degrees

on Monday. Today, cloudy and mild, top temperatures around 18 degrees.

-- around 15. It will be mild again through tonight, still a good deal

of cloud and there will be some patchy rain at times as well.

Overnight lows around nine or 10 degrees. It is very mild as we start

the day for Wednesday. It will be breezy, those westerly winds picking

up. We have this weakening weather front around, a cold front which

will make it feel fresher, but still lots of cloud and some outbreaks of

rain. Temperatures still really decent for the time of year. Mostly

dry through the morning but by the afternoon we start to see that

front, not particularly heavy rain, top temperatures of 12 or 13,

feeling cooler. The westerly winds picking up, around 15 to 20 miles

per hour. Storm Doris is heading our way. This is the picture as we head

into Thursday. For us there are not any warnings out but we expect gale

force winds potentially gusting up to 50 mph for Thursday. Overnight

into Thursday will see outbreaks of rain, still it will be breezy.

Overnight temperatures of eight or 9 degrees. That gives us are really

wet, windy and chilly feel to the day on Thursday. Lots of blue on the

map. It will pass through pretty quickly, a drier and to the day and

Thursday. -- end to the day. Looking at the picture into Saturday it is

wet and windy. Over the next few days lots of whether, Doris on

Thursday. I don't know why Doris amuses me so

much but it does. I will be back at 8pm and 10:25pm.

Good evening. Nawal El Saadawi,

the world-renowned Egyptian author A fearless feminist

facing a world in turmoil. Imagine...

She Spoke The Unspeakable.