14/11/2011 Inside Out South East

They were about 4 ft wide and six or seven feet wrong -- long, and

they rolled them up and took them away.

If it is not locked down it just disappears.

What squatters left behind in Sussex.

The there is dead tea-towels, food left half-eaten, empty bottles...

And what you donate your kidney to a complete stranger? I have never

thought I could do a marathon or anything, but this I feel I can do

and what to do. By Natalie Graham with untold

stories closer to home. From all around Kent and Sussex, this is

Inside Out. Hello, tonight we are in these

glorious Organic Gardens just outside Yalding in deepest Kent.

First stop... The crime that is dangerous, cost

millions and affects us all. In a BT yard a bunch of thieves

make off with two huge reels of cable. And in an electricity sub-

station in Chatham, two robbers risk death to steal metal. They

cost the country a fortune every year, and the South East is being

hit hard by metal thieves. They risk death and serious injury

just for a fast buck, and they do not care about the consequences.

This is what they are after a dash to you and me it looks like a bit

of copper wire ring, but to the fees it is a waiter quick cash.

-- copper wiring. Somewhere in Kent, the police are

making spot checks on scrapyards looking for stolen metal. We find a

buyer in sight, which is typical of burning cable - you burn the

sheathing and you are left with the copper. A evidence of burning metal,

burning cable, exactly the sort of thing we would expect to see where

they are receiving the stolen property, stripping it as quickly

as they can to get it back into market at the best price they can.

Two men are arrested, but later released without charge.

Police deal with 300 incidents each month, and the crime is

particularly increasing in rural areas.

More and more farms are coming under attack for easy pickings.

You can't leave anything outside now without it being locked up or

being watched. It seems the society we are moving into now, and it is

not a nice place to live, adding to watch your back all the time.

Steve Glover is a farmer in Longfield in west Kent. He says

metal theft is getting worse. started with just a bit of hosepipe

or the odd trough, perhaps the odd gate, but now it is -- if it is not

lockdown it just disappears. Electric fences is one - if you

have got a fence, if they see a fence they will have it. They will

walk half a mile to go and get it. Nearby Steven Jones has metal

nicked all the time. We haven't we haven't had the combine stolen, but

we have had little box go of it and the battery go off it.

It is not just the stuff going, but the problems caused when it goes.

When they steal gates, livestock get out and wander around.

In an attempt to tackle the problem, police are making spot checks in

roads around scrapyards. Where are you on your way to? Home? Is your

ignition broken. There are value of metal is increasing, and there is

demand from overseas, places like China and India.

And then there is that old favourite - the lead on the church

roof. Like this one at Woodchurch near Ashford. But it is a problem

that is on the increase, metal thieves have struck here are ten

times in as many months. One was taken was the just sheets

of lead that covered this roof. They were about 4 ft wide and six

or seven feet long. They can and rolled them up and took them away.

For thefts from church roofs cost around �26 million last year, and

the thieves apparently had no qualms about taking bronze plaques

from crematoria all war memorials. The worst occasion was Remembrance

Sunday last year, when we had over 300 people in charge here to

remember the war dead, and as veterans had to come through the

church doors literally with a curtain shower of water coming

through which they had to walk. For them it was a huge tragedy and a

terrible way to celebrate Remembrance Sunday.

When we repair the roof we will use stainless-steel rather than lead,

in the future, and when the steel is in place will cover the roof

with CCTV cameras, although I have heard of churches who have

installed cameras and the thieves have stolen those as well as the

metal. So there are no guarantees! In Chatham, these thieves have

broken into an electricity sub- station. They are pulling up paving

stones and stealing the metal piping beneath. We are entering the

area where earlier in the year the thieves broke in and removed the

pipework, lifted up a long piece of metal and nearly stuck it into the

bars above. And those buyers carry 132,000 volts. -- those bars. They

were lucky not to be killed. But they were caught and sent to prison.

It is an enormous praise -- problem for us, particularly in Kent at the

moment. Although the past year we have had over 700 incidents of

people accessing sub-stations like this, interfering with equipment,

putting themselves at risk, our guys at risk and members of the

public at risk. What is the cost to you as a company? The cost of the

metal that has been stolen in terms of the actual value itself is

extremely low, but the cost of replacing it, the time the effort,

the security systems we have to put into place, runs into millions. At

the end of the day that cost has to come from somewhere. So it will

filter down to the customer? Yes, ultimately. The police have a riot

at another scrapyard in Sussex. We do not have nicked stuff here.

The have brought along Lee Durham from the Open reached metal theft

tusk Force. We have found a lot of cable up there in a bag there,

clearly marked Property of BT. This isn't going to be one of these

things where I am here for hours and hours, is it?

When that cable is stolen, sometimes it can knock a call

community down for three to four days.

This man was later released without charge.

And these ones, to put their... you need to stop wandering. If you

can give him those as well... Chief Superintendent Steve

Corbishley would like to see changes in the way scrap metal is

traded. One of the solutions we have got to

work out his great and legislation for local scrap-metal dealers to

take details and perhaps even look at a cashless system. Cash in hand

allows criminals to present metal, get an easy price and take money

away very quickly. And Colin Barden from UK Power

Networks points out this is already happening across the Channel.

Europe there is a cashless system, so if you take scrap metal to a

dealer, he will not give you cash. It has to be paid into your account,

so it is difficult to sell something you do not own.

Metal theft is a crime that affects most of us either directly or

indirectly, but it sounds as though unless there is a change in the law

it is just something the police, the energy companies, the role

communities and us, the consumer, and are going to have to deal with.

-- the rural communities. Coming up later.

How far would you go to stave a life? Nothing is ever easy, but I

have been given that chance. And for that I am grateful.

And now, here is Jane Goddard. This has belongs to Joy McCabe, her

brother and her sister, left to them when her mother died. My mum

was in there for 50 years, and we grew up there. All our memories are

there. And now, like, we cannot even get into it.

While the family was deciding what to do with their mother's old home,

for unwanted squatters moved in. cannot get into our own property

now. They have changed the locks. They have stolen it.

The police were called, but the family was told it was a civil

matter, and that they could not throw the squatters out.

How surprised I knew that there it -- This is not a criminal... I did

not know it was not a criminal offence. How can you move into a

property that was my mother's has, but I will always think of as my

mother's house. Was she a has pride person? She was indeed, she loved

that house. Time to pay a visit to the fore

live the women's quarters. They claim they pay rent not to Joy, but

to someone on the internet. They even claim they have a contract and

that they are the victims of a scam. When are you going to move out?

soon as our contract finishes. you show me the contract? Know.

there really a contract, or is this... Of course.

I am barely sleeping. Because I keep thinking, what if we cannot

get them at? So now we have got to go to court and hopefully we will

get an order to get them out and then we will have to get bailiffs

to have them removed. In Brighton, the sporting capital

of the South, there is always someone on the lookout for an

unused building. This Regency property was snapped up by

squatters just days ago. We just noticed that this place was

not being used, we looked inside, it looked as it it had not been

used for quite some time, so we acquired entry into the building.

A I did you get in? There was an open window.

Is that true? Yes. The local MPC's this lot as

criminals and wants the law changed so they can be put behind bars.

He it is a lifestyle choice for some people, and we call them

serial squatters. There is no retribution for the damage they

cause. As soon as you leave one property you can move into another

without any Kosti whatsoever. If we made it a criminal act where people

have to pay for the damages or get locked up, they would get the

message that it is legal for -- He has got those ideas because he

is on the side of which people. This privately owned house had

stood empty for five years. It is now home to a varied community.

Some jobless, some homeless and some students. This is my run-our

studio. It is good having a lot of space where I can work. If it was

standard accommodation, there would not be enough room. Do you think

people would sympathise with that or they would say tough? Maybe.

is a nice community and you are not on the streets. It is a welcoming

place and it is not a scary homeless centre where sometimes

people can be a lot more intimidating I find. This alters

believe it a property is neglected and anti-, the responsible thing is

to take it over. If you owned a property and someone squatted in it,

how would you feel? I would never own a property I was not living in.

There is no way that is going to happen. Meanwhile, Joy and her

brother are at court for a hearing which will hopefully lead to the

squat has been thrown out of their mother's old house. The have had to

come to court to get a possession order to get a property back. -- we

have. We have turned up at 9 o'clock and they haven't. We have

had to sit in front of a judge to get away property back. I cannot

believe it. It is awful. It seen staggering the police could not say,

get out. Absolutely. I was told by people that they are breaking the

law by breaking in, but the police did not investigate that. They said

it was a civil matter and it was up to us to sort it out. I want to get

to a stage where, as we are having this interview now, if we go back

to our property and it is been squatted in, I want them to be

prosecuted. It is not fair for people. Hopefully we will soon have

a lot that will change that. By the Brighton squatters field that

rather than being attacked by the government they should be embraced

as they are providing for themselves without handouts. If you

look at Cameron's be society idea, he wants people to take initiative

to take control of their lives. It is important, like, it is the

reason why some people enjoy his boxing because they are not

dependent on the state. They are saving the stake money and do not

have to go to the state to leave. That is an important aspect of

squatting. -- state money. Me in well, there has been a development.

Nine weeks after the squatters took over her mother's home, bailiffs

have allowed her to we enter the property. There are dirty town

walls, food left half eaten, be left half-cooked. NT bottles. I

cannot believe it. It has cost Joy �2,000 in court fees to reclaim

what is hers. They are criminals and they had just lived here

thinking, we can live here for nothing and we can do what we like,

create as much mess as we want, foul of the place. They may as well

be on the street if they are living like that in a house. Joy hopes

that in the future of the laws that will tighten the rules on squatting

will prevent others going what sheep has gone through. Up the

Brighton's got as all carry on, come what may. There are plans to

criminalise squatting. What will it mean to you? It will make it more

difficult, but it will not change anything. You would be a criminal

now? Yes. It is whether it you choose to accept their law or not.

There isn't spotters writes really. There is no law that says squatters

have got a rights. There is just no law to get them out properly. --

have got rights. In the last series we met Helen Marston from

Broadstairs he was preparing to donate one of her kidneys to a

total stranger. After much delay the operation was given the go-

ahead. It was the news Helen had been waiting for, but it was a

It is the morning of 4th May 1920 11 and Gordon Marston is nervous.

Here on the six fall of this building his wife Helen is about to

undergo a kidney transplant voluntarily. And after nearly two

years of waiting, the reality of what is happening has finally hit

him. A healthy person is putting herself at risk and it is natural

for me to feel like she should not have done it. Are you go to share

this with her? A absolutely not! Over the past 19 months, Gordon has

watched as his wife underwent tests after test, physical and

psychological. He has seen her spirits rise and fall as the

operation near the happened and then was delayed. He has watched

her or remain convinced that this bold decision is the right one. But

how she feeling today, just an hour away from the operation? Nice to

see you! Helen is in a positive mood and is convinced she is doing

the right thing, but she is feeling the tension. What are you nervous

about? I know that in half-an-hour something big is going to happen

and I had been waiting 19 months. I have undergone a lot to get to this

point. It is a dramatic charitable act. Some people run a marathon or

give blood. Why didn't you just do something like that? Sadly, I

cannot give blood because I am such a cow would, so it is impossible

for me and I have never thought I could do a marathon, but this I

feel I can do and want to do. operation Helen is about to undergo

is serious and requires a team of highly trained specialists here at

Guy's Hospital in London. The anaesthetist has a right for the

Prix briefing. We will put a needle in the back of your hand and that

war trip the medicine in. -- and about will drip do medicine in. You

should be pain-free, but if you have pain, we can give you main

relief - that more relief. Thank you. That was my main concern.

operation is not without risk. Patients should not be in pain

after the operation. If they are, it could mean that there are

Helen will be only the 67th person in Britain to become an altruistic

donor. She will not know who received her kidney or if the

transplant is successful. But this is about her doing what she can to

help another person and there is I will see you very soon. Somewhere

in the UK the recipient is waiting for a kidney. It is as strange

feeling, as Andrew Cumberbach knows because he received a new kidney

eight years ago. Having kidney failure and been on a dialysis

machine for a few years is not an easy thing. To get her transplant,

to be given an order to we stick one from a live donor is amazing. I

now have the chance to get myself back on track. -- altruistic one. I

am grateful. Andrew's life might have been transformed by it, but

altruistic donation has had its critics. People could not

understand why anyone would want to do it and there was this idea that

you have to be either a lunatic or a saint. You have to be at a real

extreme of humanity before you were considerate. Lunatics All Saints,

the it NHS needs more people like Helen. It is costing the health

service �600 million a year to provide dialysis for patients with

40 Kidneys. But there are major reasons why you would not choose to

be an altruistic donor. But if a family member needed your kidney

and you had given it away? What if you are that Fumni fails?

someone has kidneys that are not perfectly healthy, so there is a

possibility that they could become ill, they would not pass the

screening. But you cannot know for sure. If you are in a situation

where one gets damaged in an accident, then it is better to have

to. But for most of the things we do in our ordinary lives, we do not

need to. We can be perfectly healthy but only one kidney. --

need two. How did it go? operation went smoothly. It is a

lovely Keatley which we will be able to give to someone else. The

patient is fine. -- lovely Keatley. The kidney is packed in ice and

rushed away to another hospital where the recipient is being

prepared for surgery. Upstairs, or at Tense Gordon is waiting for news.

We had been told it went well. And you feel? It is great news. It is a

great feeling. I cannot wait to see her. It's is another few hours

before Helen returns from the recovery room. She is awake and she

seems happy to have become the 67th altruistic donor in Britain. How

are you feeling? I feel absolutely marvellous, Thank you. How do you

feel about what you have done? delighted that I have done it. I am

just so pleased I have done it. So glad that it got to the ambulance.

I feel really good. And no regrets? Never. Helen will need painkillers

for some weeks to come because this is such a major operation, but Dr

Mackenzie says in the long term, Helen might find there is an

unexpected benefit from what she has done. If you look at the

research on how people feel after they have done it, Germany speaking,

their health is enhance, they have no regrets and they feel they have

done a good thing. -- is enhanced. They have done something that has

worked for another person. It will make their health better ultimately.

We wanted to know if that was due for Helen, so a month later we went

to visit her and Gordon in their hometown of Broadstairs. Have you

felt healthier since you had the operation? Funnily enough, yes, I

have. I can't quite explain that, but I think it is a sort of lifting

of the spirits Revie and, you know, that always makes you feel good in

yourself. So I I definitely feel good. Gordon, you have seen how

well Helen has recovered. Would you ever consider it being an

altruistic don't you? I can hardly imagine I am saying this, but yes.

Six months ago I would have said it was unthinkable, but now I have

moved on and it is possible. What Helen has done has given a stranger

a new chance, but it has given her and her husband and new

perspectives on their own lives, not that Gordon would expect

anything less. Can you believe the journey you have gone on together?

I... I think you are used to it, living with me! That sums it up!

Now, if you want any more information about tonight's show,

you can visit our local website. You can also watch the whole show

again it by clicking on the iPlayer. -- again. Coming up next week - is

it possible to avoid paying care home fees? Why are you selling a

product called How To avoid care fees when marketing it like that,

you could be rendering it useless? Why is the South East shaped like

the South East? Here you have been revealed in a piece of cake.

Delicious. My whole life has been ruined, that is what has happened.