14/02/2017 South East Today

Talks in the long-running dispute between Southern and the RMT have

collapsed without resolving the matter.

And, she was raped as a child - the Sussex woman campaigning

for a change in the law after her attacker is discharged.

It was a mild and dry today, but rain is on the way for tomorrow.

Talks between Southern Rail and the RMT have broken up

The two sides met at the conciliation service

ACAS in London today, hoping to resolve the long running

dispute over the role of guards Leaders of the RMT say they're

"furious" with the way the talks went, claiming Southern "are only

interested in bulldozing through driver only

But Southern have criticised what they say is the union's

"obstinate refusal to engage" with meaningful talks.

Our reporter John Young is live for us at Brighton station tonight.

So, a dramatic end to the talks this evening?

Yes, the talks barely lasted three hours and then do some descended

into the wall of words. These were official word from both sides. RMT

accused Southern of a pig-headed attitude. Southern said that the

unions refused to engage and was unions refused to engage and was

disappointing, disheartening and destruct. No surprise then that no

more talks are scheduled. I broke that news to passengers earlier this

evening. I don't what to say, they need to come to some kind of

conclusion. It is astounding. How one thing can affect so many people.

Have you heard the latest news that the talks have collapsed again?

Again, and this is another thing that we are hit with. I am

flabbergasted. People are not happy, and they will be looking forward to

the result of Aslef's vote on Thursday. Yes, the other union,

Aslef, is the drivers union and their leaders agreed a deal

recently. The members approved it. There is no such expectation this

time, one member we spoke to earlier thought it may not go through. That

would be a nightmare scenario for Southern and four passengers who

just want this resolved. 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 someone who commits such serious crimes can't escape

having their 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 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 refocus that test so that we try to keep

as many people as possible 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, they wasn't unwell. So they need some

sort of punishment. Cheryl wants the government to act

to ensure others are not The ambulance service

for the South East is being accused of a cover-up after reports

were never made public into claims of bullying so severe that two staff

members attempted suicide. The GMB Union says managers

who were responsible for "horrific, cowardly and devastating" acts

of bullying on staff have been The independent report,

from May last year, is said to describe a 'climate

of fear' within SECAMB. Behind these walls was a workforce

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

after four staff members 999 operators suffered bullying,

coercion and intimidation, it was said, with two

even attempting suicide. Looking at some of the findings

in this report, as you would If these allegations do come

through, then very serious The allegations include

staff receiving abusive, A culture of favouritism

and nepotism meant victims were threatened with the sack, and

those responsible were protected. 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, Clearly, as these members

of staff are still there, and still in high positions

within the trust, it has That is an outright

lie by the trust. If they have been dealt with,

it has been too lenient It is far from the first

scandal to hit the trust. In 2015, an investigation began

after it was revealed ambulances had been deliberately

delayed under a secret Last autumn it was placed in special

measures after inspectors found it A new chief executive

has now been appointed, When he does arrive,

he will have a lot Our reporter Briohny Williams has

been following the story. The Trust says it's dealt

with the allegations, but others are taking action

after seeing what this report says? Exactly. The MP who we heard from in

that report has invited the new chief executive into Parliament so

he can explain what he is going to he can explain what he is going to

do to try to sort out the situation to restore trust for patients, and

to ensure the welfare of staff. Meanwhile, the GMB union has written

to 46 MPs and all the constituencies that the trust covers, including

that of Jeremy Hunt. They are calling on him as the Health

Secretary to take action. Thank you. Now, let's take a look

at the weather for the South East It is wet tomorrow, but it will also

be mild. We could see highs of 12 degrees. Lots of cloud around

earlier with temperatures reaching nine or ten. Over the next couple of

days, things will turn milder. There will be some rain around on

Wednesday, but high pressure builds through Thursday and Friday.

Tonight, a good deal of cloud and a very mild picture. Overnight

temperatures only dropping 27 or 8 degrees. Some rain first thing,

which will clear through. It will be dry for a time through the morning,

another band rain trekking East through the afternoon. Cloudy and

miles and a bit damp first thing. Dry for a time in the morning, and

during the afternoon a second band of rain will move in, heavy at

times. Temperatures ten or 11 degrees, thanks to the southerly

weather into the weekend. A bit of fog around to watch out for. Jon

Hammond with the national forecast now.

Good evening. There is some rain in the forecast but not a lot. Plenty

of dry weather to look forward to as we head to the weekend. Cloud

delivering some rain but plenty of spaces in between, hence my

optimism. One of these blobs of cloud is producing dampness right

now. We could see a glancing blow across the far south-east through

the early hours and later some rain arriving across the far south-west.

In between some hill fog overnight, not desperately cold, for most a

touch of frost across the northern Glens of Scotland. At the other end

of the UK some wet weather first thing for breakfast, pushing through

Devon and Cornwall into South Wales. It won't hang