26/01/2017 South East Today

Today's main headlines in the South East.

Jail for the man who left a 17-year-old girl to drown

He is branded "repugnant" by the judge.

A ?200 million investment in Dover's Western Docks,

aimed at keeping the port relevant after Brexit.

We will be live at the port, with the details.

And another bitterly cold they can eat, with warnings owed for ice at

the rush hour tomorrow. A man who left a young woman

to drown in the sea at Ramsgate has been jailed for five

and a half years. Michael Bowditch pleaded guilty

to the manslaughter of Becky Morgan, She was with Bowditch when she fell

from the sea wall in the early hours of May 1 last year, but did not

contact the emergency services for two and a half hours.

Sara Smith reports. Becky Morgan's friends and family

crowded into the court today, to hear a man admit that he had left

the teenager to drown. Exactly what happened to her that

night, they will never know. But they do know that he could

have tried to save her. Most certainly,

he could have helped. There was a lifebuoy

on the side of the harbour arm, quite near to where

Becky went into the water. He had a telephone

on him at the time. The emergency services

could have been alerted. Instead, Michael Bowditch,

who had only met Becky a few hours He would tell police they had been

kissing and mucking around, when she had fallen off

the harbour arm. She had been screaming for help

and saying she could not swim. He later retracted that and said

he could not remember what happened. What is clear is that they had gone

on to the harbour arm just after 2am, when Becky had fallen

into the water. Bowditch only called

the police at five o'clock. where he had been seen

chatting and laughing. A little later, Becky's body

was found, two and a half miles In a statement, Becky's mother said

she felt something bright in her life had died.

A police officer spoke her words. All I can think about is her being

alone, in the dark, in the cold I can imagine that she

was calling for me. Another family member

spoke of their distress. All of us are completely

devastated, to be honest. I know it is real, but I still keep

expecting to hear her voice. I still find it terribly

difficult to believe that this wonderful, vibrant,

intelligent girl is just gone. The judge described Bowditch's

behaviour as "repugnant", to see that Becky was in

trouble, but walk away. He said the fact that,

while she had been sober, he had been drunk and taken cannabis

and cocaine was not an excuse, He sentenced him to

five and a half years. It is being described as the single

biggest investment ever undertaken by the Port of Dover -

the revival of the Western Docks, to create a new cargo

facility and marina. And tonight, a consortium of leading

British and European lenders has agreed a ?200 million package

of loans, to help make It is believed the port handles

about 17% of all UK trade in goods, We can cross to Dover now and speak

to our reporter, Simon Jones. Simon, how significant

is this investment? This has been described as a once in

a generation project. Down here, the Western Docks has been rather

forlorn lover since the four Port closed a number of these as years

ago. This will revitalise it. There will be a new cargo terminal, as

well as other amenities. The port has a huge asset and it will remain

that we are after we leave the European Union. The local MP has

welcomed the Internet investment that says, we need to get on with

it, for this project has taken three years to come to fruition. A local

people see other investment has not done enough for the town only want

to see this project doing that. There are calls this evening

for a rail body to be set up, made up of councils,

businesses and commuters in Sussex, to help decide the way

the Southern service is run. The leader of Brighton

Council wants a new body, A similar scheme for the north

of England has already helped Southern Rail has faced

months of disruption through strike action,

but had been facing strong criticism for delays before

that action started. A man who raped and abused young

children over more than 30 years 80-year-old Mark Humphreys carried

out the offences against children, some as young as three, at address

in Tunbridge Wells and Sleaford. He would give the children biscuits

or milk after abusing them. He was arrested after one

of the victims of his historical offences went

to Kent Police in March 2015. A Kent couple say families

with relatives in care homes should be able to complain about quality

of care, without fear of reprisals. It comes as the Residents

and Relatives Association say they have received a 60% increase

in calls from relatives who say they have been banned

from visiting spouses or, worse still, had their

loved ones evicted. Chrissie Reidy has

tonight's special report. Dorothy was resident at a care home

in Deal for seven years. After her family raised

numerous concerns about the quality of her care,

they say the 96-year-old We should feel free to raise

concerns on our loved one's behalf, without fear of thinking,

"If I say something, are we going to be barred from visiting or,

worse still, being evicted?" The majority of care homes

are privately run and can terminate a contract,

if they cannot provide the level of care

are expected by the family. But some believe banning relatives

or evicting patients It is sometimes about the provider,

about the care staff. This is where communication

breaks down. And one of the main things

about having people actually in a care home is that you have

transparency and you have good The CQC, who regulate care homes,

say it is not in their remit to mediate between families

and the care providers. The Residents Relatives

Association, however, say they have seen a 60% increase

in calls from concerned relatives. They say homes need to be

more open to criticism. If someone's visits are restricted,

there should be very good reasons, like if it is bad for

the resident, in some way. But we have rarely found an example

where it is not the result We contacted the care home today

and he promised to issue a statement But as of yet, we have

not received anything. With people living longer,

families say a more open and transparent complaints process

is needed, but for Dorothy's Over the years, why have so many

artists, writers and thinkers taken to the hills in Sussex

looking for inspiration? It is a question that has

inspired a major show, featuring artworks and treasures

from some of the best-known galleries, famous houses

and museums in Sussex. They were shocking

in their day, before, Modernism provoked people,

challenged the old order, overstepped marks and ignored

boundaries. But the thread which runs

through this show is that all the artists had chosen

to live and work in Sussex. This is not an exhibition full

of picturesque Sussex pictures. In fact, often they are

really quite troubling. And that is something

which distinguishes a lot They often worked in

collectives and communities. Regarded as elitist

and weird, by outsiders, but pretty normal

for artists of today. The exhibition brings

all their work together. In a sense, they really have raided

the Sussex family jewels. There is work here from collections

in Hastings, Brighton The main purpose is to raise

the profile and promote these Like we're doing this

time with the wonderful nine partners from Sussex,

we bring collections into London and curate them for a bespoke show

at the house. The extraordinary houses

is 2 Temple Place, built in the 1890s as the London

offices for William Waldorf Astor, one of then-richest men

in the world and a major benefactor to

Hever Castle in Kent. It is a fascinating

scene-setter for these works by the Bohemians artists

and craftsmen of Sussex. I am hoping people will

come to the exhibition, move around, make up their own

connections between things. The art of Sussex comes to London,

to tell a colourful story. We will have with the national

weather forecast in a moment, but first, we can get the picture

in the South East, Good evening. Another cold day. Some

brightness overnight. Clear skies. Temperatures dropping to below zero.

We are expecting to see some rain first thing tomorrow morning, which

could be problematic. There is a warning out for ice during the rush

hour. By the afternoon, more cloud cover and the chance of some

drizzle, with temperatures reaching 8-9 C. From Freddie into Saturday,

temperatures rarely falling a couple of degrees overnight.

weekend. It's swings and roundabouts, higher temperatures but

some rain as well. Good evening. It's been dry so far

this January but as it draws to a close it looks like we will see some

rain at last. It's been an interesting today a bitterly cold in

Norfolk, way we kept the grey cloud all day and the grey cloud gave a

dusting of snow in places. This is a lovely picture sent in from Sutton

Coldfield. Rob Wales and much of Scotland it's been a beautiful day,

lots of sunshine and temperatures, 13 degrees compared with -2 under

the cloud in East Anglia. Those temperatures are already down to -3

or minus four. It's bitter out there, when