23/03/2017 South East Today

Today's main headlines in the South East.

The elderly driver spared jail after losing control of his car,

crashing into a cafe and killing a woman -

It's one of total loss, total rejection and hopelessness.

Armed patrols in Kent after a terrorist born in the county

We're live in Brighton where police have searched an address.

After another cloudy day, sunshine is back again by the weekend.

An 87-year-old motorist has been spared jail,

after admitting his dangerous driving led to the death

David Lord lost control of his car on Christmas Eve in 2015,

crashing into the front of a Costa Coffee shop in Westerham.

Valerie Deakin from East Sussex was in the caf and died instantly.

Her family say they believe the crash was entirely avoidable,

There were gasps in court as CCTV footage was shown

of the moments leading up to Valerie Deakin's death.

David Lord's Audi hit several cars before careering

across the pavement into Costa coffee.

Valerie Deakin, who was sitting by the window, was thrown

across the coffee shop, striking the wall on the far side.

She died almost instantly, leaving her family bereft.

The worst time is turning the light off and getting into bed.

It's just like climbing into a black hole.

It's one of total loss, total rejection and hopelessness.

David Lord had confused the accelerator pedal

with the break for 15 seconds, described by the judge

Mum was killed by a driver who should have exercised better

judgment regarding his capability to drive safely.

This incident was entirely avoidable, and should

The court heard until the crash there had been no evidence

to suggest he was unfit to drive them that he'd suffer what's

Not necessarily only in the elderly, but yes, it is very common.

And as was rightly explained in court, as soon as a person

puts their foot on the accelerator mistaking it for the brake pedal,

it is exceptionally common that they start to panic.

At a previous hearing, David Lord offered this apology.

I've written a letter to them to tell them that.

That letter David Lord has written to the family was handed

over to them at the end of sentencing today.

He also offered to meet them in person to apologise,

but they say they need some more time to think about that.

Police investigating the terrorist attack in Westminster have named

the man who killed a policeman and four others as Khalid Masood,

That is being confirmed he was born in Dartford with another name.

The 52-year-old was shot dead by an armed officer yesterday,

after driving his car into pedestrians on Westminster

Bridge, then stabbing a policeman at the entrance to Parliament.

Today Kent Police have been conducting armed patrols

in response to the attack, as Lauren Moss reports.

The terrorist attack which took place just 55 miles away

from here has led to an increase armed police presence

As of yesterday, the Chief Constable authorised immediately

the additional resources to be deployed.

We kept staff on duty, both armed staff and unarmed staff.

The patrols will be stepped up in busy areas like the Bluewater

shopping centre near Dartford, here at Canterbury Cathedral,

and the key international gateway at the port of Dover.

In Westminster today, parliament tried to get back to normal.

The Prime Minister said that the country will never

I'm really pleased that the police are playing such a high

There is a few evil people trying to undermine us,

but the rest of society will be stronger together in combating them.

Police have named the man who carried out yesterday's attack.

His name was Khalid Masood, he was 52 and originally from Kent

but believed to be leaving most recently in the West Midlands.

Details about him are still emerging, but we know he had a range

of previous convictions dating back to 1983, and the latest was in 2003

where he was found to be in possession of a knife.

We are told that at the time of yesterday's attack,

he wasn't the focus of any police investigation.

Well a series of police searches have taken place

across the country today, including the search of at least one

Our reporter Amanda Akass is in the city.

Well, I'm hair outside the Preston Park hotel on the outskirts of

Brighton because I've spoken to a number of members of staff here this

evening who say that the police were here earlier today. They believe

that Khalid Masood, the suspect, did check into the hotel on Friday and

stayed here for a number of nights before the attacks took place. We

have asked Sussex Police if they are able to confirm any of this, and

they have referred to the Met police who refused to comment. None of that

is confirmed at the moment. What we know for sure is that a police raid

did take place in Brighton today. It was one of seven taking Place across

the country as part of this investigation. Sussex Police have

stressed there is no specific threat to the community in Sussex at the

moment. We have learned more about the attacker and his links to the

Southeast? Yes indeed. We have just heard that he was actually born in

Dartford, his birth name was Adrian Elms. And during his life he lived

in a variety of places across the Southeast including Crawley and

Eastbourne. He also believe he had a conviction for knife crime in 2003,

which took place in Eastbourne. Amanda, thank you.

There's been a sharp rise in the number of child sex offences

recorded by police forces in Kent and Sussex, prompting fresh warnings

According to figures from the child safety charity the NSPCC,

crimes against children and young people rose in Sussex

from 1200 in 2014-15, to almost 1500 a year later,

In Kent there was an 18% rise over the same period.

Both forces recorded an average of four child sex offences a day.

Charlie Rose has been speaking to a 21-year-old woman

My dad said it was a punishment for being naughty, and it was a type

And that if anyone found out, the police would

When I got older and I was like, "I don't really care

if they come and take me away", he said that he'd kill my mum

She says she didn't tell her mother what had been happening

When I was 17, my dad was arrested for something else,

and then they came to our door and my mum asked me

And I confirmed it, because she was begging

And then the next day, the police came and spoke to me.

And because of what my dad said about the police,

And I thought there were just trying to get me or my dad in trouble.

And then the more I kind of trusted them, the more I learned

it is actually wrong and it's actually a crime.

Charity the NSPCC says the latest figures it is obtained

from the police show the number of recorded crimes against children

These include rape, sexual assault and sexual exploitation.

There are a number of things that we think might be behind this.

The first is that there is a good, better confidence of victims to come

forward following things like high profile cases in the news.

We're also seeing that police are better at recording,

reporting and investigating sexual crimes against children.

The third thing is also really quite worrying,

Because we can't rule out that because of the online world

and online grooming, that there isn't more opportunity

and access for sexual abuse to happen through the online world.

This victim's father was arrested just before her 18th birthday.

She says she still blames herself for what happened.

I had the chance to speak out when the friend broke

At that time come he was doing it to other people.

I'm angry at all the people that didn't protect me,

Both Kent and Sussex Police say they've invested considerable

resources in tackling crimes of this kind.

And train all officers and staff in recognising

those who are vulnerable to child sexual exploitation.

Sussex Police have acknowledged there may have been "systemic

failings" in the force after a judge criticised their response

in the months before teenager Shana Grice was murdered

The 19-year-old had reported Michael Lane's disturbing behaviour

more than five times - but instead of taking action

against him, the police issued fined her for wasting their time.

Sentencing Lane to a minimum of 25 years in jail today,

Mr Justice Green said police had "jumped to conclusions"

That's it from me, we'll bring you the national weather

forecast in a moment, but first Rachel Mackley has

The sunshine is on the way as we look towards the weekend. Earlier

today a good deal of cloud cover around. It brightens through the day

tomorrow, some warm sunshine around. We still have a brisk, chilly

easterly wind with clearer skies there will be some chilly pictures

on Saturday and Sunday morning. Earlier a good deal of cloud around,

but much of that cleared during the afternoon. Clear skies initially,

but through the night once again more cloud cover around. Because of

the wind, we should stay frost free, but temperatures in the rural spots

dropping to three or four. A with high-pressure in control of things,

it brightens up in the afternoon on Friday. A brisk easterly wind along

the coast, temperatures around eight or nine. Here is the outlook in the

south-east and stop part of the weekend. 1415 degrees.

Still quite breezy. Here's Thomas with the national picture.