10/08/2011 South Today

Is welcome to South Today. In the programme. The murder plot to kill

a grandfather for money. How a family used the internet to find

out how to do it. It is shocking that children so young should be

involved in a crime like this. Seafront history burned to the

ground, as hundreds of people nearby are moved to safety.

Climbing the stairway to heaven. The topping out ceremony for

Arundel Cathedral's spire. And Hollywood royalty and the real

thing go head-to-head at Cowes. have never done anything like this,

it is superamazing. I have never They tried to kill their

grandfather for �400,000. Tonight, three members of his family from

Hampshire have been found guilty of conspiracy to murder. His youngest

grand daughter who was 13 at the time of the attack was found not

guilty of conspiracy to murder but guilty of malicious wounding. It

was a bid to get their inheritance early. Legal restrictions mean we

can't identify any of the individuals. Yes, well, this

conspiracy plot has been sitting for six weeks at Winchester Crown

Court and this afternoon we saw the conclusion of an often complicated

case. Dates back to the 15th November last year, when five

people travelled together, to a village near Winchester where they

attacked the elderly man this his front garden of his hope. Let me

show you how they were corrected. Victim was an 89-year-old

grandfather and Tay tempt to kill him involved his 48-year-old

adopted daughter. Her 19-year-old son along with his girlfriend who

was 16. The court heard the woman's two daughter, now aged 15 and 14

played a significant part in the attack. It is shocking family

should do this to someone who is related to them. It appears to be a

crime that is motivated by greed and nothing else. But children were

involved? Yes. I think the families need to have a look at how they

influence the children and what they did. Gu again it is shocking

children so young should be involved in a crime like this.

grandfather survived but was left with serious injury, unsurprising

as he has been beaten round the head with bricks. He is in a care

home now. The police found the mother had been searching the web

using phrases like "Where can you hurt someone by hitting them". The

prosecution say the family tried to kill the grandfather on other

occasions, including trying to scare him to death and trying to

blow up his car by tampering with the battery. This afternoon the

four eldest defendants were found guilty of conspiracy to murder, a

charge which could carry a life sentence. The man's youngest

granddaughter, 13 at the time, was found guilty of malicious wounding.

They will all be sentenced later in the year. As more strike action is

planned for Southampton, the City Council says it won't rule out

sacking Taff who take part. Unions rejected an offer to end the

ongoing dispute. The council says its proposal would have seen an

improved deal for more than half of the workers. It was thought this

could all be over. This week, the council put forward an offer to

reduce the pay cut. The unions considered suspending strikes but

this afternoon their members rejected the deal, voting four to

one against it. They have had �8 million taken out of their wages by

this administration, they don't accept that. They have voted to

continue taking strike action, until they pay is restored.

from the end of this week, anyone still on strike could lose their

job. Why? Because there is already been 12 weeks of action. After that

employment law says there needs to be a new ballot. Without that,

employers can legally sack staff who remain on strike. Today's vote

wasn't an official strike ballot. To say now we will sack people that

are on strike is something I don't want to consider, if I can possibly

help it. We will not allow people to continue to be disrupted by this

strike action. Whatever we need do we will do that ensure residents

are protected. Council says the deal was the best they can afford.

But unions say they will still fight on. So for now the pickets

and the -- pickets and the placards will stay. Alex is here with me in

the studio. So what is likely to happen now? That is what even wants

to know? Tfrpblgts unions say it is unlikely the council will go ahead

and sack everybody, and clearly the council doesn't want do that either.

So I think it is almost certain now, that we are going to have some more

strikes. The current round will end on Sunday, the unions are going to

meet up tomorrow to discuss who is going to go out next. They are not

ruling out anyone so we could see more bin strike, Liberian, social

worker, I am told it will start again at the beginning of September.

What we don't know is when it will end. The council thought it made

serious concessions with this offer taking half the people out of the

pay cut and reducing it for everybody else, but the unions say

they don't think there should be any sort of pay cut, so we are back

to having two sides at loggerheads. What has been interesting about

this is other councils have been watching carefully to see what the

outcome is. They have. Southampton has been the first to introduce

these pay cut, in the south so far we haven't heard of others but in

Shropshire the unions have balloting for action because the

council is doing the same thing. Thank you. Thames Valley Police

have reduced the number of officers sent to London to help deal with

riots. The other five forces retaining the same amount of ate in

-- aid in the capital. A man from Dorset has been released on bail

after being charged with inciting a riot. 15 people were arrested over

isolated incidents. The elections watchdog has confirmed it has

received a fresh complaint made about Eastleigh MP Chris Huhne's

election spending. The town's former Liberal Democrat mayor Glynn

Davies-Dear says Mr Huhne failed to properly declare his spending. The

MP has previously denied similar allegations. The Electoral

Commission will decide whether to carry out a case review or formal

investigation. A massive fire in Southsea that has destroyed a

landmark building is causing disruption for the second night

running. Alternative accommodation has had to be found for round 200

hotel guest and loebg residents. The building is part owned by the

former Portsmouth football manager Harry Redknapp. We are live in

Southsea now. Yes, the Savoy court building on South Parade was

ungulfed in what can only be described as a spectacular fire

yesterday afternoon. It was empty at the time, and no-one was hurt.

Now, many residents and hotel guests were moved from nearby

buildings, it had been hoped they would be able to return this

afternoon but that hasn't been possible because parts of the

building are structurally unsound. Another big problem is that there

is an electricity sub-station in the basement and at the moment no

power is getting to Southsea pier. Smoke was still rising today from

hotspot, deep in the basement of the Savoy court building on the

seafront. It used to house several nightclubs, it has been empty for

some time. The fire started yesterday afternoon, sending smoke

billowing into the sky. Several South Today viewers took photos.

The smoke was visible for miles round. I only walked past it a

couple of hours before it happened with my nephew and happened to say

your mummy and I used to go dancing in there, and it is weird, a couple

of hours later and this is what has happened. I think there was a

general fear, but people weren't panicking, we were talking to one

another, making sure we were all right. That was all really.

Yesterday, the next door royal beach hotel was evacuated and it

was forced to shut again this afternoon because of concerns about

the safety of the fire damaged building. Leaving staff to find

alternative accommodation for round 170 guests. From now on until the

end of the weekend I have five wedding reception, Friday, Saturday

and Sunday, so I am keeping my fingers crossed it all gets taken

care of tomorrow. The owners of the building include the Tottenham

manager Harry Redknapp. Permission had been granted to turn it into

flats. Investigators are trying to pinpoint the cause of the fire.

the moment there is no evidence whatsoever that this is linked in

any way to any civil disturbances that have happened round the

country. Until the fire damaged building is made safe, the main

seafront road, and a number of side roads will remain shut. Demolition

experts will move in tomorrow morning, to start making the

building safe, that work will start at 6.00 tomorrow morning. Thank you.

Luxury consider manufacturer Rolls- Royce based at good wood is

expanding its bespoke operation to meet customer demand. The company

experts its current team of 25 experts to double by the end of

2011. The team will design and develop parts on request. Stay with

us, later, Alexis will be here with the weather. Roger Johnson is at

Cowes. The fifth day of the world's biggest sailing regatta and you are

right. Plenty of breeze out for the sailor, among them on the water a

couple of royals who have been in the news recently and some famous

faces. Find out who later on. An air force family from Hampshire has

been at kous with a vital mission. Trying to recruit bone Marlow

donors. David and Lou Hannard's son Alex has a rare condition that can

only be cured by a bone marrow transplant. But finding a match is

not easy. In among the crowds at Cowes today, a family looking for a

life saver. Nine-year-old Alex has CGD. A rare immune deficiency which

makes infection potentially lethal. His body has no defence against

bacteria and it is everywhere. Bacteria and fungus is everywhere,

so play grounds with bark chip, grass cuttings, leave, lake, river,

ponds, lots of things at school that he can't take part in, no

school trip, so very restrictive. The family's linked forces with the

Anthony Nolan Trust. Recruiting potential bone marrow donors during

Cowes week. Saliva is analysed and details are record on a UK data

base which has 400,000 potential donors. If a match is found, donors

give blood in a similar patrol seedure. We have had a great

response, particularly among the sailors. The Anthony Nolan are

aiming for young men at the moment, between 18 and 30. We have a great

captive audience here. If ots of finding a match for Alex are small.

But they increase with each new recruit. -- odds. If you think you

would like to help, and try to help Alex in particular, you can find

more information about registering as a potential donor on the Anthony

Nolan website. That helps anybody looking for a donor. The skyline of

one of the south's most beautiful towns has been restored. Today

marked the completion of a project to build a new flesh or spire for

Arundel Cathedral. Conducting the topping out ceremony today required

just a bit of effort. As bishops go, the Right Rev rand Connery is

particularly nimble. He climbed ladder after ladder to conduct a

short service in a very high place. It's a rare, rare treat. You would

never get the chance to do it again, so I am thrilled. It was all to

mark Arundel Cathedral's new flesh, a slender spire rising from the

roof. We ask the Lord to bless this flesh. Make it holy. A new flesh

had to be built and installed after it was discovered the original one

was in a bad way. The existing steel structure was rusted out.

There was eight legs coming down, and five or six of those legs were

corroded to the extent of 95%. is not good It is not good. It was

precarious up there. The flesh was blessed with holy water and coins

from this year were placed on top of it to mark its completion. It

has taken a few pennys to get to this point, renewing the flesh has

cost more than a quarter of a million pounds but it means this

landmark is preserved. Whenever r Erne will lock across and see

Arundel and look at the Cathedral and the castle and think it's a

fairytale town really. So again we need to care for it and presifrt

and do our best to keep it. today's service was a once in a

lifetime event. The new flesh will last more than 100 year, helping

keep the skyline timeless. Unusual topping out ceremony. He needed a

head for heights. There was a royal visit on the Isle of Wight to name

a new lifeboat. The Princess Royal was the guest of hon Knorr nor. It

marked the opening of the lifeboat station which replaced a previous

Victorian building. It the boat is named Alfred Williams in memory of

a skip refer Gosport. It was funded after a donation of �1.8 million

from a couple who were friends with Mr Williams. Our changing

facilities is much better. The boat's bigger and better. And

faster so it gives us the ability to get on the scene quicker so it

makes rescuing people's lives easier for us. Now a bit of a royal

affair with the Princess Royal there and also her daughter was

there. As indeed is the lovely Roger Johnson there, not of course

you fit into that royal affair bit but good to see you. I have got

blue blood... I wish. A great day's sailing as you quite rightly said,

and as you can see by the boats back here in the yacht haven the

fifth day of Cowes week has been a blowy one, lots of stuff drying out

on the deck. Lots of things broken for many boats. Some stiff breezes.

You mention the Royal, she is indeed here in Cowes. She was

involved with that lifeboat, tomorrow, she will be on the

starting platform at the royal yacht squadron starting the D class,

the largest class here at Cowes week and she will be firing the gun

to get them under way in their centenary race. Her daughter is

here too. She was one of a number of celebrities taking part in the

headline eevent of the day. The Artemis challenge for the open 60

yachts and they needed somebody to help them with a good eye for the

weather. Who could they get, none other than Alexis. Ewan McGregor

known for his starring roles in Trainspotting and Star Wars swapped

Tinseltown to race round the Isle of Wight We are trying to win the

prize money, to give to my charity UNICEF because they need a lot of

help with the east African appeal. I have never done anything like

this, raising -- racing yachts. I have never been on anything like

this. He joined the British round the world skipper Alex Thompson on

his boat hue Hugo boss He will get a bit of a shock. It is going to be

exciting. He wasn't the only well- known face in the race. Zara

Phillips was with Dee Caffari onboard Artemis. Dee is competitive.

It will be good to get out there, and go and beat the other guys.

was a battle between knight and royalty. Or just simply boys versus

girls. The girls are going to show the boys how it is done. Are you

excited? Yes Artemis challenge is the high light so we will see how

we get on. In a with less than a minute half to go they are getting

the boat ready. It will be a gruelling 50 miles round the island.

So if you are not one for sailing to put this into perspective these

are like the Formula One of the sea. The fastest boats on the planet.

Hugo boss recorded a top seed speed of 25 knots after coming round the

neetles. It was a fast and furious day but knight over the two boats

won the race. First and second place went to two French boats.

Hugo boss came in third and Artemis fourth. I think she enjoyed herself.

She will be back with the let -- weather later. Summer sport

continuing as Cowes week is on, big day in cricket. We will have some

scores for you but news that the Hampshire batsman Michael Lumb has

decided to leave the county. He will go at the end of the season.

He won't play for Hampshire because he has has a long-term ankle injury.

So to the scores. First day Hampshire playing for pride now,

day interrupted by the weather at Football. Big night in the Carling

Cup last night. Shane Long has completed hi move as you know from

Reading to West Bromwich. He could make his debut against Manchester

United at the weekend, if those games go ahead, because you will

know that the civil diso beans -- Of the games that did take place,

we had a couple of big winners. Bourm dispelled the disappointment

of opening day defeat at Charlton. Mark Pugh's le reflected free-kick

put on their their way. Another set piece, doubled the Cherry's lead.

Shaun Cooper finishing from a corner as Lee Bradbury's training

ground orchestration paid off T third goal came from a defence pass

from Mark Pugh. The final two goals came late in the game. This one

from Taylor was memorable for the fact it was his first for the club.

His second came just two minutes later. A composed finish to round

off a thumping 5-0 win. Southampton sold Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for

�14 million. The man many thing has been signed to replace him scored

his first goal since a summer move from Holland. Torquay equalised but

Saints went back in front. Ricky Lambert with a free-kick. The

victory was confirmed with two late goals. Chaplow squeezing in the

third before helping set up the next for Fort. Brighton welcomed

former landlords Gillingham to their new home. After Buckley had

been fouled in the area, Albion saw them off, thanks to an Ashley

Baaned penalty. No such good fortune for Portsmouth, one of six

Championship sides to scudge to lower league opposition. Mark

Hughes got the only goal as Barr net one 1-0. -- Barnet. Shame about

form last night. Real breeze as I was saying do you earlier. Look at

the flags and banners on the rigging here. There are really big

boats here this year, the Olympians are not here because they are down

in Weymouth, going through the Olympic test event, but this one is

the real beast of the regatta. And the team origin, because the

British America's Cup challenge is no more, their boat is here, so

they are out on the water. Tomorrow we won't be seeing anything as big

as this. We will be with the X1 designs who are celebrating their

seen reen -- centenary. There is a 90-year-old sailing in that class.

More tomorrow night. I look for Bard to that. That is the wonderful

thing, that everybody has the opportunity to race, whether you

have a small boat or a monster. Thank you so much for that. Now,

does your village need money? Listen up, because villagers across

the south have being given the chance to bid for a share of

Lottery funding. �5 million is to be used to help transform rural

areas. The project called Village SOS is run in conswrung shunning

with a TV series that starts tonight on BBC One. -- conjunction.

Tonight's programme high lighting how someone's business idea could

help rebuild their communities. Village life can seem idyllic but

the economic life can be less than perfect. Problems with housing,

access to public transport and shops and pubs closing down.

loss of local amenities can rip the heart out of village life, yet we

know there are people living there who have brilliant ideas that could

make a difference to regenerate the communities. One of the ideas to

take advantage of Lottery Funding in the past was this cycle hire

business, started and run by local volunteers. We have purchased

cycles so that is our asset now, and the hut, and through volunteers

we are able to sustain that and provide a service to the community

and tourists. Why does the pub matter So our villages with a

population of less than 3,000 can apply for a share and get some free

face to faced a vice. Through the campaign, we want, with a bit of

help, advice, support, and some cash, to equip them to turn those

villages round, and really generate communitys for the better. Which

could include anything, from re- opening the pub to a bike hire

business for tourists. I am sure you must be interested in that. If

you want to get involved in your community, and want to get your

hands on some money, so to speak, go to the BBC website to find out

how to tap into that fund. Don't forget that television series

starting tonight. She has rushed back from the island to be with us.

You have left the stars behind. have. I thought I would keep you

company tonight. That is sweet of you. Look. Ewan McGregor. I know.

Big name. Zara Phillips, royalty. Did you like the whizzing about on

the boat. I did. It was choppy. The mean wind speeds got up to 25mph,

up to 30 knots at some point. it has been a fabulous week so far

for sailing. It has. But it is all for sailing. It has. But it is all

change. Here are some weather pictures. Shirley took this photo.

What a great view to wake up to. A beautiful scene of a summer's day.

Paul took this photo, while on a tandem ride this morning. I assume

he stopped otherwise there would have been an accident. Yes, lovely

sunny conditions. Breezy but we will see increasing cloud cover

overnight tonight. And that could give the possibility of some

outbreaks of rain. It is from this massive cloud moving in, it is a

weather front, it will produce outbreaks of rain. Not even will

see the wet conditions, some places could stay dry. One or two clear

spells, but with that cloud cover overhead it will be a mild night. A

lot milder than last night with lows of 14, 15. Cooler in the

countryside. These are values in towns and cities. So to start the

day tomorrow a dry note for some, but rain will spread in. Some

heavier bursts were for most we will see light showers and

temperatures up to 21C. Perhaps some late evening sunshine. So a

dry end to tomorrow night, cloud will increase, mist and murg is

possible, the winds will be a lot lighter than today. Temperatures

will stay mild. So an uncomfortable night for sleeping. Low pressure is

not far away. It stays with us, a squeeze on the isobars so the winds

will be brisk. Yet, another weather front pushes eastwards through the

day on Friday, Saturday night will be a damp one as well. Saturday

daytime a damp start but improving picture. As we head into Sunday,

probably the best day of the weekend to enjoy the dry conditions.

Sunny spells and feeling fresher so a decent day all in all. Here is

your summary, a damp start. Brighter later on and a for the

rest of the week. Rain about tomorrow. Maybe the odd rumble of

thunder. We could have heavy shower, on Friday the chance of a few

showers and that is the case on Saturday. The winds, gradually die

down towards Sunday and the sunshine makes a return. The long

range forecast suggests it will be dry and bright for next week. Thank