16/04/2012 South Today

Hello, I'm Sally Taylor. Welcome to South Today. In tonight's

programme:'s Drama on the runway - a transatlantic jet makes an

emergency landing and is evacuated at Gatwick after a technical fault.

Under review - defence decisions are due any day on the future of

the new aircraft carriers. The former professional footballer

who tried to end it all. As I was getting more intoxicated,

I was planning it. I knew the last train was coming from Portsmouth to

London and I thought that nobody loved me. I had let people down

again. And closing in on a return to the

Premier League - Reading are in the driving seat as they top the

Championship. No one was jumping up and down after the game with

Southampton, we are completely Flights in and out of Gatwick

airport were suspended today after an aircraft with more than 200

passengers on board was forced to make an emergency landing. The

Virgin A330 plane had left the Sussex airport bound for Florida,

but had to turn back due to a technical issue. Some passengers

were injured as the plane was evacuated using the emergency

chutes while it was on the runway. Our reporter Sean Killick is at

Gatwick for us tonight. It was at 10:48am this morning when

Virgin A330 left Gatwick bound for Orlando. At first everything seemed

all right, but then an emergency alarm sounded and the captain made

a decision to turn back to Gatwick immediately. One of the passengers

from Berkshire said deplane was a wobbly. There was panic among the

cabin crew and there was an announcement saying that there

would be an emergency landing. The plane circled the landing twice.

Emergency vehicles landed -- arrived as the plane landed. There

was smoke in the cabin. That has not been confirmed, but the fire

service say they have been called. The plane did not taxi back to the

terminal, instead it stop that the end wait and beat shoots were

deployed and passengers jumped down. Several were injured in the process.

This is the scene on the ground outside the aeroplane captured by

one of the passengers. Passengers assemble here. Passengers assemble

here. Passengers assemble here. Some alarms went off and the

captain for the best thing to do was to return, so he did. He got

back to Gatwick and got the aircraft on the ground as quickly

as possible. We did an emergency evacuation and got the passengers

of, it was the right thing to do. It was disappointing to disrupt

everyone's plants like that. I have just been with the passengers and

clearly they are traumatised by what happened. They are equally

grateful to the crew for doing the job they did.

Is everything back to normal at Gatwick tonight? What has happened

to the passengers who were involved in the incident?

The passengers, some of them have gone home and some are staying at a

hotel tonight. Virgin have teams of staff who are helping now. The Air

Accident Investigation Branch has got custody of the plane and had

interviewed the crew. As for the airport, I have spoken to them and

they say that it is getting back to normal. It is not back to normal

yet. The runway was closed for one hour and 45 minutes. During that

time, nine flights were cancelled, 27 were diverted to other airports,

but they say that they are trying to get things back to normal as

soon as possible and this could have everything back to normal

tomorrow. -- they should have everything back to normal tomorrow.

Businesses and shops were evacuated in Winchester this afternoon

following a security threat at the city's Crown Court. A 100-metre

exclusion zone was set up and several roads closed, causing

significant disruption to traffic. Specialist military were also

called to the site. The police cordon has now been lifted.

The government's confirmed it's carrying out a review of elements

of the costly and controversial aircraft carrier project, which is

sustaining thousands of jobs across the south. Major sections of the

giant ships are due to be moved out of a shipyard in Portsmouth over

the next few months. The latest arguments centre on which type of

fighter jets are chosen. One leading defence analyst has told

South Today he thinks the entire programme is in a mess. Steve

Humphrey is in Portsmouth for us tonight. Steve, once again lots of

questions being asked about this major defence project?

Yes, the Defence Secretary Philip Hammond is facing the biggest

decision since he took charge of the military. The choice of

aircraft will have a major impact on the defence budget, and on when

the new carriers come into service. The Labour government wanted to buy

this version of the fighter, but the Coalition government opted for

the original take-off and landing model instead. That means

installing catapults and wires on the aircraft carriers. It is

understood the modifications to the ships being built in Portsmouth and

other shipyards could cost an extra �2 billion on top of the expected

�6 billion already being spent on the carriers. With massive

pressures on the defence budget, there have been reports that the

Defence Secretary is considering doing a U-turn and reverting to the

plan to buy the jump jet version. It has much lower upfront costs.

Buying the jump jets would mean the UK would have a fully functioning

aircraft-carrier by around 2018, up to seven years earlier than if the

other model is chosen. So, Steve, what are defence experts

saying about this? We have spoken to two defence

experts today and they believe the government is making it difficult

so dish -- is having a hard time making a decision. I think you

could probably call this a mess. This is probably the hardest

challenge the government has in defence, and certainly is the

biggest challenge for the Secretary of State for Defence in his six

months in office. There is utter confusion in the

Ministry of Defence. The politicians have not made up their

minds with what they want them to do in strategic terms, the military

is trying to second-guess what the Treasury and the politicians want,

and at the end of the day, no one has really identified what

resources are available to build these carriers and then can they go

them for the maximum operational benefit.

And when will a decision be made? Well, I understand meetings are

taking place this week. No ministers are doing interviews

about this, but the MoD issued a statement saying the government is

committed to a carrier strike capability, but is finalising its

budget. The statement says: "As part of this process, we are

reviewing all programmes, including elements of the carrier strike

programme, to validate costs and And the MoD says the defence

secretary will announce the outcome of the process to Parliament in due

course. Watch this space.

Thank you, steep. Detectives are continuing to

question a man on suspicion of murder after a father-of-one was

stabbed in Waterlooville. 27-year old Simon Warton was fatally

stabbed last Thursday. Police had been called to the Dove Close area

of the town after reports of a fight. Sean Bailey, who's 28, was

arrested on Saturday in Havant. Four other people have been

arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.

Police have arrested a 37-year-old man in connection with the alleged

murder of a father of three from near Farnborough. The 36-year-old

victim died yesterday following a fight outside the Old Court House

Pub in Cove on Saturday evening. Officers from the Hampshire Force

arrested the man who had voluntarily attended Aldershot

Police Station. Joe Campbell reports.

Throughout the day, those who were close to they came to the spot

where he suffered fatal injuries. The father of two was a successful

businessman. Tonight his parents described him as a modern dance,

the kind of man who was happy to help change his kids nappies.

Messages from his children, along with a note from his partner, were

among the tributes left at the scene at today. Police are still

trying to piece together events outside this pub on Saturday. One

line of inquiry is an altercation in side spilled out onto the

streets. What is clear is that the fatal consequences of the events

for Mr Digs. A punch was thrown and he fell to the floor, striking his

head on the ground. A witness, who was a trained paramedic, assisted

as he could force up 837-year-old man was arrested in -- this

afternoon after voluntarily attending Aldershot police station.

Three men and a woman have appeared before Winchester Crown Court

charged with the murder of Jamie Dack in Southampton. The body of

the 22 year-old was found stabbed and burned in an industrial bin on

Easter Sunday. Lee Nicholls, Andrew Dwyer-Skeats and Donna Chalk, all

from Southampton, along with Ryan Woodmansey of no fixed abode, are

also charged with conspiracy to rob and false imprisonment. They were

all remanded in custody until their Hundreds of people have supported a

fundraising event to help the two young children of a Surrey police

detective who was killed last October. Heather Cooper was found

dead in woods near Haslemere. Her former partner Peter Foster is

awaiting trial for her murder. Rachael Canter reports.

A day for families in Haslemere. And a day to remember Heather.

had met the children a few times and it really had an effect, what

happened. I just wanted to do as much as possible to help. I know a

lot of people in the community also felt the same.

Heather loved horses - this painting by a local artist was

donated to be auctioned in her memory. All the money raised here

will go into a welfare fund set up by Surrey Police. Heather has two

very, very young children that through the tragic events, find

themselves in a difficult place. We thought it was important as a force

to support the development of a fund that can see those children

being helped and supported in the future.

Heather's children now live with their grandparents in Yorkshire.

But they continue to be remembered Still to come in this evening's

South Today: They're on the verge - can Reading secure promotion this

week? We hear from the boss. $NEWLINE Detectives have been given

more time to question two 14-year- old boys on suspicion of murder

after a man died following a fight in Rottingdean near Brighton. A

post mortem showed 19-year-old Connor Saunders from Woodingdean

died from head injuries. Officers say they believe he was punched

causing him to fall to the floor. A 13-year-old boy also arrested on

suspicion of murder has been released on bail.

Pretty much the whole of southern England is now officially in

drought and it's thought the situation may not improve until

Christmas. Today the Environment Agency added Dorset, Hampshire and

Wiltshire to its drought map, and repeated calls for water to be used

wisely. The National Farmers Union says the prolonged drought will

pose challenges to farming. We want the sunshine during the day, the

showers at night. We have 10 million more mouths to feed in the

next 50 years. People have to be less resistant the things like

genetic modification. That what it is a pout, been smarter, thinking

more carefully about God-given Figures form the Health Protection

Agency have shown that there've been more cases of Whooping Cough

in southern England than anywhere else in the UK last year. 182

people were infected in the South East, compared with 61 people the

year before. That's the largest number of cases anywhere in the

country, and it does not include London. The biggest increases were

in children aged under three months; ten to 15-year-olds; and

the over-15s. Researchers in Southampton are

taking part in a ground breaking clinical study to find a cure for

Parkinson's Disease. The project in the south is being co-ordinated by

Southampton University and Romsey Hospital. It's now looking for

volunteers who've been diagnosed with the neurological disease and

their siblings. Researchers are hoping to find indicators in the

blood which could be used for new tests.

Football has long had a culture of drinking and gambling among some

players. Recently, the sport has begun to recognise more and more

the damage it's caused to many. One former professional, Warren

Aspinall, who played for Portsmouth, Bournemouth and Brighton, is a

recovering alcoholic and gambling addict who tried to take his own

life. In a bid to help the next generation of players, he's decided

to speak about the demons he's faced. Andy Steggall reports.

Five years ago. Warren Aspinall, visiting the place where his life

changed forever. A former professional footballer, he earned

big money, enjoyed the trappings of fame, but he was also fighting two

addictions common in the game: Drink and gambling. Playing cards

on away trips, big money. When you have lost thousands of pounds, you

have to play football. Your mind is not on the football either because

you are thinking about when we get �1,000 back? When I used to win, I

used to celebrate with a drink. I lost quite a bit of money and I

would go in the pub and commiserate. With his playing career over, so

were the days of the big pay packets. After another loss at the

bookies, Warren believed there was only one way out. Went to the pub,

I knew I was going to do it. I was planning it. I knew what time the

last train was coming from Portsmouth to London. I thought

that nobody loved me. Because I have let people down again. I went

into the train station and that -- and sat on the train I'm with my

back to it. I was lucky enough that the trainer stopped at the last

minute. I rolled over and thought, what are you doing, Warren? I came

back to my fiancee who I was staying with at the time and told

her what had happened. She said, you need help. Realising she was

right, he got help. He phoned the sporting chance clinic a place

where many other footballers have received treatment. 28 days in

there and it is like a prison. You get better in there and they teach

you the right things. Once you have finished, it is up to you to go out

and put the balls into practice. Now Warren travels around the

country, speaking to the next generation of footballers, warning

them of the dangers that can harm a career.

You can see a lot more of that tonight at 11:05pm tonight.

In tonight's programme, he will go into more detail about the next

generation. They get into the game and, quickly and they get a lot

more money. Shell we talk about the better things off football? Better

if you are a Reading fan! Some people thought that Reading would

win on Friday night and some people thought it would be a draw. Funny

that you sat on the fence and I didn't! Credit to you, you know

more about the game than at any! just stick a pin in the game and

Let's take a look at what happened on Friday night at St Mary's

Stadium. This was the last man to take Southampton into the division,

of course. Southampton did get an equaliser, you thought about. As we

see some of the emotions from the fans, may be Southampton would win

this game, but the man known as Alfie popped up as a substitute and

he got two big goals which left those fans frustrated because

Southampton put the promotion parties on hold. Reading could go

up if they get a better result than West Ham tomorrow night. Nottingham

Forest tomorrow night for the royals. The manager has been

talking to the media today as he looks ahead to again tomorrow. Very

much the message seems to be we are keeping our feet on the ground.

The focus does not change. It is interesting after the game that no

one was jumping up and down in the dressing room after Southampton. We

are completely focused on the next game.

So defeat for Southampton but that in itself wasn't a hammer blow to

their promotion chances, what they could done without though, was the

Hammers scoring six times on Saturday in beating Brighton, whose

own promotion ambitions are now fading rapidly. Albion were 3-0

down at Upton Park within ten minutes as West ham brushed them

aside, goalkeeper Peter Brezovan had a game to forget, and boss Gus

Poyet has promised he'll be bringing in more players with

Premier league experience after saying his side are not ready to be

promoted yet. The goals got worse in the second half. There is a good

finish coming up. Good effort. Brighton well out of it.

To give you an idea of how things have changed, here's how the table

looked on Friday night before Southampton played Reading. And

here's how it looks tonight: the key change, other than Reading now

being top is in the goal difference. There's been an eight-goal swing,

in the goal difference between Southampton and West Ham. At the

other end of the Championship Portsmouth are hanging on after a

dramatic victory at Doncaster, Roisin Gauson rounds up the rest of

the action. These have been turbulent times for

Pompey, who have been fighting for survival both on and off the pitch.

And the rollercoaster continued over the weekend. Trailing 2-0 at

half time, Michael Appletons men fought back. But with a minute of

normal time left, they were 3-2 down. League One looked almost

certain. But a late equaliser from Dave Kitson, and a stoppage time

winner for Marko Futacs means they I think we deserved that because we

have had a few poor decisions go away, especially over the last

couple of months. I think we did create enough opportunities in the

game to win it. In Division two, promotion chasers

Crawley showed similar spirit - having played with ten men for most

of the match, following Hope Akpan's dismissal for this crashing

Gary Alexander levelled the score to rescue the point late on. The

reds need to win all four of their to reach the play-offs after a one-

all draw with Dagenham and Redbridge. And in League One,

Bournemouth were caught on the back foot early on, and failed to

James Richardson and the team discuss the issues on tonight's

Late Kick off at 11:05pm on BBC One. The Surrey kayaker Rachel Cawthorn

strengthened her claim for a place in Team GB this summer at the

weekend. Rachel, won the K1 races over 200 and 500 metres at the

national regatta in Nottingham. The 23-year-old from Guildford is now

expected to be at Dorney Lake competing in the Games and this was

a welcome win on home waters after a hectic schedule of foreign

training. I really did not know how this was

going to turn out. For the last few months, there have been a lot of

ups and downs. So much for doubting has been going on so now I have

finished it, it is for some! The last two weeks, I have felt more

confident, going out and racing today, I want to build on now.

Rugby news, and the London Irish winger Delon Armitage is to leave

the club at the ed of the season. He's moving to France to join his

brother Steffan at Toulouse. Irish's miserable season continued

with a 9th straight defeat at the weekend against Saracens. But it's

congratulations to Bournemouth rugby club. They've been promoted

to National league two south. After thrashing Weston Super Mare on

Saturday to secure the title. Well done to them.

9,000 people took part in this year's Brighton Marathon.

Altogether, they raised an estimated four million pounds for

charity. The men's event was won by the Kenyan runner Peter Some, while

Sviatlana Kouhan of Belarus took the women's title. Both set new

course records. It looked good on the weekend.

Yes, it is warming up. It is the London Marathon soon.

You were there at the weekend, why were you not running it? I have

done two marathons so that is it. Half marathons are OK. We are

watching the skies because we need rain. We do have some rain on the

way. Chris Allery captured the National

Grid workmen replacing the electricity cables under clear blue

skies in Whiteley this morning. Marshall took this photo of a ewe

and her lamb in the Vale of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire.

David Bristow captured a robin taking a bath in Fareham this

This week, we have rain at times in the form of a showers, heavy and a

thundery in places, windy as well, touching gale force along the south

coast. There will be some sunshine on offer. The best day was today

unfortunately, if you missed the sunshine, there will be some other

sports of stunt during the West -- during the week. Heavier bursts of

rain during the week. Temperatures down to four degrees. Not as cold

as last night. This week, we rule out the chance of a frost every

morning because of the one temperatures and the rain. Heavier

bursts gusting up to maybe 40 miles an hour on the South course --

south coast. There will be a brief dry spell, a window uprightness,

before showers get going in the afternoon. Thundery in a few places.

The winds will remain brisk tomorrow night, a few showers

initially, before further rain arrives on Wednesday morning. The

winds will increase and gusts could reach up to 55 miles an hour on

exposed coasts. This area of low pressure is going to be in charge

on Wednesday. Some very strong winds, you can see the squeeze on

the isobars. A band of rain first thing, that will be followed by

some very heavy showers and some of thunder and Hayle mixed in as well.

Further thundery showers are possible on Thursday. That is not

to say we will not see some sunshine during the day. Friday,

the showers will not be as frequent or heavy, but they will be dotted

around. The nature of showers will be hit and miss, some areas could

be drier altogether. Here is your summary: Rain tomorrow morning,

strong winds touching gale forced, and showers for the rest of the

week. $$NEWLINE, Well, it's been an extraordinary weekend as people

marked 100 years since the sinking of the Titanic. There were church

services and wreath layings across the south. Tonight we'll leave you

Team, your father was on board, what was he doing? He was 18 and a

trainee steward. We remember Sir Arthur Henry Rostron, captain. And

the crew of RMS car paid here brought the survivors of the

Titanic to save before stock if it was not for this gentleman here,

none of them would have survived even though there were in lifeboats

were stop he would not be here today if it was not for what

Captain Rostron did on that night? Very good to see that people are

paying their respects to Jack Phillips and coming to enjoy the

We welcome you to the church of Santa and for the first Titanic

memorial service. The effect of the sinking of the Titanic upon this

port was the single greatest disaster to affect any one city in

maritime history. At 7pm, a clerk came out of the White Star offices