13/02/2017

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:00:00. > :00:07.Tonight, exploitation in Weston - teenagers speak out.

:00:08. > :00:11.We had to make sure that we looked OK and we basically dressed

:00:12. > :00:14.like prostitutes and stood on street corners -

:00:15. > :00:21.We investigate the special offers which don't

:00:22. > :00:35.And you won't believe what's under the hatch.

:00:36. > :00:40.In the middle of somewhere very ordinary is something extraordinary

:00:41. > :00:55.and I've been given the chance to explore it.

:00:56. > :01:00.Most seaside towns have a seedier side, but here in Weston-Super-Mare

:01:01. > :01:04.we've discovered something much more sinister - vulnerable teenagers

:01:05. > :01:09.prone to sexual predators, and it's been happening right under

:01:10. > :01:12.the noses of those who are supposed to be protecting them.

:01:13. > :01:22.Weston-Super-Mare is known for its nightlife.

:01:23. > :01:26.Some of it above board - and some of it not.

:01:27. > :01:29.It's a magnet for vulnerable young people, and I've got evidence

:01:30. > :01:36.This is Butterflys, a brothel right in the centre of town.

:01:37. > :01:42.The council and police know about the brothel and were told

:01:43. > :01:47.Why and how is a 15-year-old girl walking around town dressed

:01:48. > :01:51.like a prostitute selling a load of leaflets for a lot of money?

:01:52. > :01:55.They also knew about the violent sexual comments being posted

:01:56. > :02:00.on the Facebook account of a council officer and about the predatory

:02:01. > :02:06.behaviour of one man on the town's estates.

:02:07. > :02:09.He went to put his hands down my trousers which is when I said,

:02:10. > :02:14.So is enough being done to protect young people in Weston?

:02:15. > :02:31.This area I'd say is quite known for drugs, a lot of, I'd say,

:02:32. > :02:37.the Class A drugs are from around the Bourneville area.

:02:38. > :02:40.When she was younger, she struggled with drugs.

:02:41. > :02:42.With her boyfriend Callum, she showed me around

:02:43. > :02:45.the Bourneville, an estate in Weston where she once lived.

:02:46. > :02:58.They say it's not good to bring a kid up around here.

:02:59. > :03:01.Her own upbringing wasn't easy - and at her most vulnerable she says

:03:02. > :03:04.she and a friend handed out leaflets for Butterflys.

:03:05. > :03:08.It's described as a massage parlour - but it's a brothel.

:03:09. > :03:12.We'd had to make sure that we'd look OK and that we'd basically dress

:03:13. > :03:16.like a load of prostitutes stood on a street corner -

:03:17. > :03:21.Did Social Services know about you being there?

:03:22. > :03:25.People were telling them that I was walking around dressed

:03:26. > :03:28.like that handing out a load of leaflets in town

:03:29. > :03:32.but they didn't have, they didn't do anything about it.

:03:33. > :03:34.These aren't the leaflets but she says she even

:03:35. > :03:39.used her own image on them and that she helped out inside.

:03:40. > :03:42.I've cleaned quite a few rooms in there before and, like,

:03:43. > :03:46.It's like, the way that it's all done it's like a show,

:03:47. > :03:49.they're ready to show off their bodies.

:03:50. > :03:53.A man would sit in a chair and all the women would walk

:03:54. > :03:55.in in their underwear and he'd literally get to pick

:03:56. > :03:58.You were seeing things that a 15-year-old shouldn't see.

:03:59. > :04:04.I've seen a lot in my time, yeah, that I should have not seen.

:04:05. > :04:08.I've been working for more than a year on this investigation,

:04:09. > :04:12.which has taken us deep into Weston's underworld.

:04:13. > :04:14.And I've discovered that for the last ten years,

:04:15. > :04:18.the woman with the lease on the brothel is Natalie Davis.

:04:19. > :04:24.Well, this is Butterflys' website - it's clearly more

:04:25. > :04:30.There's Natalie's mobile number and it says, we aim to keep

:04:31. > :04:38.Confidential minutes show Avon and Somerset Police

:04:39. > :04:44.and North Somerset Council discussed Butterflys in 2015, and that

:04:45. > :04:52.Working in a brothel is not illegal - but running one is.

:04:53. > :05:16.The routine's the same as Amber described.

:05:17. > :05:19.We were shown four women and asked about their ages.

:05:20. > :05:33.At this point, we made our excuses and left.

:05:34. > :05:37.But I wanted to talk to the woman we believe runs Butterflys.

:05:38. > :05:44.You knew about a 15-year-old girl delivering leaflets there

:05:45. > :05:47.who'd worked in the brothel cleaning as well.

:05:48. > :05:53.At that time, when she came to us, we gave her both advice and very

:05:54. > :05:56.strong support around how dangerous that was.

:05:57. > :06:00.But your staff should have been aware?

:06:01. > :06:03.My staff passed that information on to the police

:06:04. > :06:06.in regards to an establishment that was a massage parlour

:06:07. > :06:09.using a 15-year-old to distribute leaflets and the police took that

:06:10. > :06:14.information and then did some checks and we have had no more referrals

:06:15. > :06:21.through to us around young people frequenting that establishment.

:06:22. > :06:26.But Butterflys seems to be part of a bigger picture about what

:06:27. > :06:31.goes on under the radar in Weston - even within the council itself.

:06:32. > :06:35.He worked as a clerk for the council.

:06:36. > :06:38.We've seen sexually violent comments on his Facebook account

:06:39. > :06:44.Well, this is one of the comments posted on Facebook.

:06:45. > :06:50.That's about one of the only few I can read out.

:06:51. > :06:54.At the time, Jellings had written a report

:06:55. > :07:00.into child sexual exploitation following the Rotherham review.

:07:01. > :07:04.We know they discussed the damage to their reputation,

:07:05. > :07:09.They insist their main concern was safeguarding.

:07:10. > :07:15.There was quite lengthy discussions with colleagues from the police

:07:16. > :07:20.who asked us not to suspend him immediately cos that would allow him

:07:21. > :07:23.But I mean, you could have suspended him anyway

:07:24. > :07:25.and told the police, well, you print out

:07:26. > :07:27.what is on Facebook now and secure your evidence.

:07:28. > :07:30.But you let him carry on for months and then

:07:31. > :07:36.We let him carry on in a role in which he had no access

:07:37. > :07:37.to children and no access to confidential information

:07:38. > :07:40.about children or indeed any broader confidential information.

:07:41. > :07:45.There needed to be redundancies within democratic services

:07:46. > :07:48.so it was an entirely legitimate, transparent process that was gone

:07:49. > :07:52.through to arrive at him being made redundant.

:07:53. > :07:55.Jellings denies all the allegations against him.

:07:56. > :07:58.The police found no offences had been committed

:07:59. > :08:11.There's a mix here of vulnerable people and predatory men.

:08:12. > :08:17.None more well-known than Kevin Stokes.

:08:18. > :08:21.Stokes' name was familiar to everyone I spoke to.

:08:22. > :08:24.Police information - known to the council -

:08:25. > :08:30.was that he was reported to be involved in 35 sexual offences.

:08:31. > :08:34.I found one of his victims - a vulnerable teenager back then.

:08:35. > :08:39.She met Stokes when she was 14 and moved in with him three years later.

:08:40. > :08:43.He had this other 16-year-old girl in his bed so we both had to share

:08:44. > :08:49.I just kind of froze with his hands under my top.

:08:50. > :08:52.He went to put his hands down my trousers which is when I said,

:08:53. > :08:57.He said, I'm having fun with your young body.

:08:58. > :08:59.You reported this to social services, what did they do?

:09:00. > :09:05.I said yes please, I got into the shower.

:09:06. > :09:09.So when I did see the police and give DNA I had nothing to give

:09:10. > :09:16.The case was dropped because of a lack of evidence.

:09:17. > :09:19.I don't believe that people would think on the basis

:09:20. > :09:23.of what that young woman told us initially that there was going to be

:09:24. > :09:30.She was clearly OK to talk to police about what had happened.

:09:31. > :09:33.Surely it would have been wiser to have just taken her

:09:34. > :09:36.It was offered by the housing worker.

:09:37. > :09:38.The young woman herself took that offer up.

:09:39. > :09:41.At no point did the police come back to us and say,

:09:42. > :09:44.how absurd, you have destroyed forensic evidence.

:09:45. > :09:54.His name had come up repeatedly in council meetings

:09:55. > :09:58.They'd investigated him twice before but didn't get the evidence.

:09:59. > :10:00.Neither have they found evidence of underage girls

:10:01. > :10:04.But remember Natalie, the woman we believe runs it?

:10:05. > :10:23.Why you employing 15-year-old girls to work in your brothel?

:10:24. > :10:30.Natalie has just closed both the curtains.

:10:31. > :10:32.Clearly she doesn't want to talk to us about these very

:10:33. > :10:41.The council say they're proactive on safeguarding and the welfare

:10:42. > :10:43.of vulnerable children is a priority.

:10:44. > :10:46.Police told us they take safeguarding seriously.

:10:47. > :10:49.All allegations are assessed and they will always take

:10:50. > :10:54.action when they have evidence of criminality.

:10:55. > :10:59.Despite all the problems in Weston, Amber has turned her life around.

:11:00. > :11:07.I think that we've all got to through hell and back to be

:11:08. > :11:11.who we are today and I wouldn't be the person I am today with the stuff

:11:12. > :11:28.But what about all the other troubled teenagers in Weston?

:11:29. > :11:56.I've just not got to feel terrified of the closed space.

:11:57. > :12:01.Jonathan Gibson's been investigating Tesco,

:12:02. > :12:05.Britain's biggest supermarket, where some special offers aren't

:12:06. > :12:20.Most of us are, and Tesco knows it, too.

:12:21. > :12:22.That's why the shelves at Britain's biggest supermarket

:12:23. > :12:32.And we all take it for granted that the price we see on the shelf

:12:33. > :12:35.is the price we will pay at the till, right?

:12:36. > :12:38.But what if things don't quite add up when you get home

:12:39. > :12:43.I've just bought a few bits at Tesco and I'm sure these products

:12:44. > :12:54.According to my receipt, I've paid full price.

:12:55. > :12:59.I've paid 60% more than the deal on the shelf.

:13:00. > :13:07.At another Tesco store, I spot two for ?2 on ice cream.

:13:08. > :13:10.But, at the till, it's the full price, as well.

:13:11. > :13:20.Martin works for Trading Standards and says the law

:13:21. > :13:30.They must put a price on goods so you know what you're going to pay

:13:31. > :13:33.and that price must be accurate, so you don't get charged

:13:34. > :13:35.more than you thought you were going to pay.

:13:36. > :13:38.Sounds simple enough, and, with more than 3500 stores nationwide,

:13:39. > :13:47.That's what I want to find out, so I'm using my phone and some

:13:48. > :13:50.secret cameras to see how many offers on the shelves don't

:13:51. > :14:09.It's now the middle of January but when the assistant

:14:10. > :14:32.And at the other end of the aisle, another mistake.

:14:33. > :14:37.Multi-buy deals are being left on the shelves after the tills have

:14:38. > :14:57.been told they ended, and these ended weeks ago.

:14:58. > :14:59.But three weeks after they should have been removed,

:15:00. > :15:02.they are still on display, and at this store in Gloucester

:15:03. > :15:09.I find another one that's even older.

:15:10. > :15:12.That's a month out of date and it's not just

:15:13. > :15:16.At this Tesco Express back in Bristol, the shelf says this

:15:17. > :15:26.cheese is on offer but it's not according to the till.

:15:27. > :15:29.It's another pricing error workers haven't spotted

:15:30. > :15:37.I checked the lot in just a few minutes, so why hasn't Tesco?

:15:38. > :15:42.I've started making a list of how many offers are wrong in how many

:15:43. > :15:44.places, but is what's happening in Bristol and Gloucester also

:15:45. > :15:52.Because if it is, it's not just a problem for Tesco

:15:53. > :16:04.At this Tesco store in Liverpool, sauce marked ?1 on the shelf

:16:05. > :16:19.And as I head across the country, the same thing keeps happening

:16:20. > :17:07.It doesn't seem a terribly difficult or perhaps that long a job to

:17:08. > :17:11.walk around the store, assuming everyone knows what day it is,

:17:12. > :17:16.to go around and tear off anything that has had its day.

:17:17. > :17:28.And it's not just shoppers left confused as old and new promotions

:17:29. > :17:44.The longer the offer has been wrong, the bigger the failure of diligence

:17:45. > :18:00.Then he's not going to like what's coming up next.

:18:01. > :18:02.At this store the cashier checks the out of date label

:18:03. > :18:05.but doesn't remove it, and when I return the next day,

:18:06. > :18:08.neither does someone else, so a week later I go back and it

:18:09. > :18:11.is still on display, and when I returned a month later,

:18:12. > :18:13.The fourth worker finally removes it.

:18:14. > :18:17.It's pretty basic that if one customer has shown something wrong

:18:18. > :18:24.then it's put right to stop other customers being misled.

:18:25. > :18:27.But at 33 of the 50 stores I went to, the till price was more

:18:28. > :18:50.If Customer A has come back and complained and been refunded,

:18:51. > :18:53.that doesn't mean there weren't 20 other customers who didn't spot it.

:18:54. > :18:58.There were obviously major problems with their control of special offers

:18:59. > :19:01.and it's the special offers that bring people in and make people

:19:02. > :19:04.perhaps spend more than they meant to when they came in,

:19:05. > :19:08.The company wouldn't provide anyone for interview

:19:09. > :19:27.but after reviewing our evidence told this programme...

:19:28. > :19:32.Following our investigation, Britain's biggest supermarket has

:19:33. > :19:34.said it will be double checking the accuracy of

:19:35. > :19:42.That's more than 3500 stores across Britain.

:19:43. > :19:55.I mean, you'd never find me in a red suit, rubber gloves

:19:56. > :20:12.A group of intrepid explorers is about to descend deep underground

:20:13. > :20:25.Ahead lie tight squeezes, bruising crawls and total darkness.

:20:26. > :20:29.But we're not in some far-flung location -

:20:30. > :20:37.No, this adventure begins on the side of a road in Southmead.

:20:38. > :20:41.That's my last chance for a wee gone.

:20:42. > :20:46.My guides are Linda and Chris and they're taking us to what looks

:20:47. > :20:54.like an unremarkable manhole in the woods.

:20:55. > :20:56.In fact, it's the entrance to a natural wonder -

:20:57. > :20:59.Pen Park Hole, a cave so extraordinary

:21:00. > :21:03.it's just been declared a Site of Special Scientific Interest

:21:04. > :21:09.And there's a bit of a knack for getting in it.

:21:10. > :21:13.Laura, down like I am, then on your tummy.

:21:14. > :21:25.OK, Laura, if you could come down, your left leg sideways.

:21:26. > :21:28.Now is not a time to forget which leg is what.

:21:29. > :21:42.Cameras and lights prefer to be clean and dry -

:21:43. > :21:50.It would be nice to get the shot from the other side.

:21:51. > :21:53.We've only come about 20 metres into the cave

:21:54. > :22:00.Laura, you're coming into the first chamber of the cave now.

:22:01. > :22:03.People coming into the cave had to mine through that bit.

:22:04. > :22:08.You can see evidence on the wall where people drilled and blasted

:22:09. > :22:19.In the middle of the 1800s people were coming here looking for lead

:22:20. > :22:29.and they found this enormous layer of crystal, about a foot thick.

:22:30. > :22:31.If you look on top the crystals look brown,

:22:32. > :22:39.and called dogtooth crystals, and when they were broken off

:22:40. > :22:42.by the miners, that is when you see this white crystalline effect.

:22:43. > :22:44.The miners weren't the first people down here -

:22:45. > :22:47.the world's first published cave survey was done here in the 1600s.

:22:48. > :22:48.That survey didn't include the resident wildlife.

:22:49. > :22:51.In this tiny pool lives a recently discovered creature -

:22:52. > :22:57.They are called Niphargus kochianus and they are really important,

:22:58. > :23:02.they are not normally found in large underground lakes

:23:03. > :23:08.They are very small, about two or three millimetres long

:23:09. > :23:11.and they arrived here, we believe, through

:23:12. > :23:17.They feed on whatever they can find, they're omnivorous.

:23:18. > :23:20.You notice on the surface there are a few flies

:23:21. > :23:28.It was a tight squeeze to get this far, but that was nothing compared

:23:29. > :23:43.Your feet are about six inches off the floor.

:23:44. > :23:50.I've just got to not feel terrified of the enclosed space.

:23:51. > :24:07.This is where we've got the later stalactites,

:24:08. > :24:09.so this is a lot younger than the rest of the crystals.

:24:10. > :24:22.The squeezing and crawling are worth it.

:24:23. > :24:28.I feel like we're getting to a bigger bit.

:24:29. > :24:32.It feels like you're coming into a bigger space.

:24:33. > :24:47.My goodness, after coming through this tiny rocky bit,

:24:48. > :24:49.now to be like this feels so much better.

:24:50. > :24:55.Even though we're further underground so I should be more

:24:56. > :24:57.scared, it actually feels better simply because the

:24:58. > :24:59.rocks aren't quite so close to my face.

:25:00. > :25:07.Yes, this is what we have done it all for.

:25:08. > :25:15.This is the immense cave, this is what we have come to see.

:25:16. > :25:17.Down there from top to bottom you have a chamber

:25:18. > :25:25.Up there is where the first entrance to the cave was,

:25:26. > :25:28.so people would have come down that slope on a rope with candles.

:25:29. > :25:34.It's hard to believe where we're standing is only about 25 metres

:25:35. > :25:46.At the bottom of this huge chamber is a lake whose level rises

:25:47. > :25:49.and falls by as much as 25 metres - and no one really knows why.

:25:50. > :25:54.The only way I'll see it is to lean out over the edge.

:25:55. > :26:08.I can tell because there are ripples on the edge of the lake

:26:09. > :26:12.at the bottom and that water is a long way down.

:26:13. > :26:15.More shrimps live down there - but they're not the only reason

:26:16. > :26:22.In terms of what makes it an SSSI, what really excites you?

:26:23. > :26:28.It's the best-known hydrothermal cave in the UK,

:26:29. > :26:33.so hydrothermal caves, quite different from most other caves,

:26:34. > :26:39.it's formed by hot water rising up from beneath rather than cold water

:26:40. > :26:45.descending and that is what created the amazing cavern we are in now.

:26:46. > :26:49.You've told me it's quite safe but have there ever been any

:26:50. > :27:02.Around 1775 a chap called Reverend Newman came out

:27:03. > :27:04.here with his girlfriend and a friend one afternoon for a picnic.

:27:05. > :27:10.flung his arms around a branch over the hole to swing out

:27:11. > :27:13.and see what was down the hole, the branch broke.

:27:14. > :27:17.And so Reverend Newman plummeted to his doom,

:27:18. > :27:27.The day before his accident, he preached a sermon

:27:28. > :27:29.in which he said that sinners will be cast down into

:27:30. > :27:39.This is as far as we go - time now to retrace our steps,

:27:40. > :27:46.our scrambles and our crawls back to the entrance 100 metres away.

:27:47. > :27:50.When the cave was formed some 200 million years ago,

:27:51. > :27:55.I'd have been emerging into a world ruled by dinosaurs.

:27:56. > :27:59.Instead it's into a welcome breath of fresh air.

:28:00. > :28:09.I have totally lost any sense of time.

:28:10. > :28:12.I can hardly believe it still daylight.

:28:13. > :28:14.It feels like we have been down there for ever.

:28:15. > :28:18.The mud and the bruises are worth it for the privilege of being one

:28:19. > :28:20.of the few people ever to have explored Pen Park Hole

:28:21. > :28:23.and thanks to being made a SSSI, the cave is protected -

:28:24. > :28:31.and the Pen Park prawns can have their dinner in peace.

:28:32. > :28:36.Don't forget there is much more on Facebook and Twitter.

:28:37. > :28:54.We're taking a break next week but we are back with you on the 27th of

:28:55. > :29:05.February at the same time. Hello, I'm Alex Bushill

:29:06. > :29:07.with your 90 second update. Drug abuse, violence

:29:08. > :29:08.and faulty alarms. Just some of the major

:29:09. > :29:10.security failings a BBC investigation has uncovered

:29:11. > :29:14.at a Northumberland prison. Stay tuned for Panorama

:29:15. > :29:16.after Eastenders. Well, new research shows pensioner

:29:17. > :29:21.households are, on average, ?20 a week better off

:29:22. > :29:26.than those of working age.