23/02/2017 South Today

The top stories this evening:

a crisis of confidence for Hampshire firefighters over computing chaos in

An inquest hears of the last moments of a

ten-year-old who died of a head injury from a shop display.

And we meet Pepper the robot for a look

The union which represents fire fighters in Hampshire says there's

a "complete loss of confidence" in the new computer system

at the heart of the county's control room operations.

Last night we told you how faults had hit Dorset

Today it's emerged Hampshire Fire Service,

which uses the same system, also has technical problems.

Capita created this promotional film about

It is one of the most advanced on the market and it provides our

firefighters with the most up-to-date information.

Vision DS was a new computer system supposed to dispatch

firefighters to the right place in the minimum time.

But figures released after a Freedom of Information request

In an industry where every second counts, sending the wrong appliance

from the wrong area can add seconds may and may be minutes.

So are lives being endangered by these problems?

It is knocking the confidence of the firefighters because it is the

supporting crews for those attending as well.

Hampshire's Fire Brigade Union say the problems have led to a complete

Our Control staff members, who are feeling very

stressed at the moment, from day they are going in and

instead of asking how are you to the other staff,

they are asking how is

The figures releaseed show that last year there were 16 days that

In August the new server hit a particularly bad patch, going

Even when the system didn't go down, there have been around 1500 glitches

logged and nearly 60 of those still aren't fixed.

Three neighbouring fire services worked together

to procure the system - Hampshire, Dorset and Wiltshire

They issued a joint statement saying...

Normally we would rely on our resilience group

within the region, that's Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire, but

unfortunately when it does crash, sometimes they crash with us and we

Capita have told us the problems are only "intermittent"

and they're working to resolve any issues.

But for those at the sharp end, dealing with IT problems is one

emergency they'd rather not be handling.

More details emerged today about the death of a ten year

old boy at a TopShop store in Reading.

Kaden Reddick died from head injuries after

Ben Moore was at the inquest and reports from Reading.

It was only a ten-minute hearing at Reading Town Hall before

the inquest into the tragic death of Kaden Reddick

But in that time the court did hear evidence from

Detective Inspector Dave Turton, who's leading the investigation

He described how late afternoon on the 13th of February,

Kaden was in the Topshop store in Reading's Oracle shopping

centre with his siblings, his mother and his grandmother.

Kaden was in the till area, near his mum, whilst

she completed a transaction, when a queue barrier fell

and hit him on the head, causing fatal injuries.

Inspector Turton praised the Arcadia Group that owns

He said there were in excess of 400 stores with similar barriers

in the UK and abroad that were all closed until

In adjourning the inquest the coroner Peter Bedford said he'd

ordered a second postmortem so that Kaden's body could be

released to the family for a funeral.

He added that Kaden's family, who've described their ten-year-old

as "loving, cheeky and energetic" were aware of today's

hearing, but had gone away for a much-needed break.

A man from Alton in Hampshire accused of killing his seven week

old daughter has told a jury he never struck or hurt her.

20 year old Joshua Martin's baby died with injuries

the prosecution say were consistent with being shaken.

But Mr Martin says he wasn't responsible for them

From Winchester Crown Court, Sean Killick reports.

The prosecution claims seven-week-old baby Ezmai suffered

a fatal head injury at her parents' flat above a parade of shops

Ezmai died 24 hours later, after being transferred

to a specialist unit at Saint George's

She'd suffered a fractured skull and died from a brain injury.

19-year-old roofer Joshua Martin is accused of killing his daughter.

He acknowledged in court he did have a temper but said

he could control it and denied ever striking his partner or baby.

He said he'd discovered Ezmai looking pale,

He tried to wind her and then carried out CPR.

Defence barrister Richard Barraclough QC asked Joshua Martin

if he had done anything which might have caused the baby's

"Did you drop her or hit her or do anything to her?"

"Can you think of any reason why Ezmai suffered that

The lawyer then asked his final question, "Did you love Ezmai?"

Mr Martin replied, "I did, very much."

Joshua Martin denies a charge of murder.

Now for a little look to our the future.

Behind me is Pepper, and one day soon, robots like this

could be greeting us all in hospitals, shops and schools.

Pepper was built in Japan, but the brains behind

its brain are much closer to home in Berkshire.

Volume, the Wokingham company responsible for Pepper, specialises

Joe Campbell went along to find out more.

You don't get far through the front door here...

..before you realise this is a rather different world.

Sara El-Hanfy will be with you shortly.

Now, please take a seat, unless you would like to chat some more.

The firm here is one of the leaders in artificial intelligence,

so it's no surprise it's been chosen as a partner by the latest

Standard domestic programme installed.

This is the best thing you will do for your family.

For now, science fact trails science fiction,

as seen through the Channel 4 TV series Humans.

Instantly, people think of things from sci-fi films

or sci-fi literature, because it's been around

for so long, but actually, it's not where we are at the minute.

But the technology is moving all the time.

I was born in Paris, but my heart is here in Wokingham.

Oh, and my brain - the guys at Volume gave it to me.

One of those people behind that brain is Paolo here.

Basically we can monitor all the behaviour of the robot

from the screens, so we can see what the robot can see,

we can see the environment around the robot and how the robot's sensor

recognises the environment around, because we need to create a build

application to use the robot in a smarter way.

The team here is working on the kind of artificial intelligence that may

already control your home, and in future drive your car

But it takes a human face for us to notice artificial

I think what we're dealing with right now is that technology

is growing exponentially, at such a rapid pace,

our behaviours really can't keep pace with that.

That's where some of the issues come in.

And whether it's fear of what all this means for our jobs

or simply for the future, it may just prove

Gusts of between 50 and 60 miles per hour have been

recorded in the South, thanks to Storm Doris.

The driver of this van had a lucky escape narrowly missing this falling

tree on Hanmore Road in Basingstoke this morning.

The family of this house in Romsey were unhurt after a tree

Numerous trees have also fallen, blocking some roads, such as here

The stormy conditions caused delays to flights,

with some due to land in Southampton diverted to Bournemouth.

Trains and Cross Solent ferries were also disrupted.

That's all from me. Let's get the weather.

Storm Doris has moved away. There could be a touch of frost in the

countryside. Some isolated showers, but most places will be dry.

Temperatures in the countryside will drop to one Celsius. These are the

temperatures in urban areas and the wind will ease. There could beat the

odd isolated shower from northern and eastern areas, otherwise we will

be looking at blue skies. Cloud will bubble up in the afternoon, turning

the sunshine hazy. A light north-westerly breeze with highs of

eight or nine Celsius. A lovely evening tomorrow evening, although

tomorrow night there is a chance of patchy rain. Another band of rain is

expected through Saturday evening, but before that, the wins will be

brisk. They could be some patchy drizzle. Before this next weather

system, a cold front will move in from the Atlantic. We continue to

have the brisk south-westerly wind, so a lovely day tomorrow. The

outside chance of a shower be much milder. I will leave you

with Thomas Shelter.