:00:00. > 3:59:59sunshine and showers continuing. And that is all from the BBC News at
:00:00. > :00:07.six. It is Hello and welcome to South Today
:00:08. > :00:10.from Oxford. In tonight's programme: His death was preventable. An
:00:11. > :00:13.independent review into the death of Connor Sparrowhawk outlines failings
:00:14. > :00:17.at the mental health unit where he was sectioned.
:00:18. > :00:23.Also, elderly and alone ` a new report says tackling loniness should
:00:24. > :00:28.be a top priority. And, how was this crater created in a South
:00:29. > :00:32.Oxfordshire village? We look into it.
:00:33. > :00:34.Later on: The extraordinary story of the Oxford scientist whose
:00:35. > :00:45.self`tested invention was a life saver for World War One troops.
:00:46. > :00:52.He was recruited to help with the experiments, most famously Jack was
:00:53. > :01:01.continuously used as a guinea pig, his son.
:01:02. > :01:04.Good evening. The death of an Oxfordshire teenager who was being
:01:05. > :01:08.cared for at Slade House in Headington was "preventable". That's
:01:09. > :01:12.the finding of an independent report into his care. 18`year`old Connor
:01:13. > :01:16.Sparrowhawk died after being found unconscious in the bath at Slade
:01:17. > :01:20.House last July. His mother says it has been a long and distressing
:01:21. > :01:25.fight to get the facts out in the open. Adina Campbell reports.
:01:26. > :01:28.Connor had autism and epilepsy, which meant he often suffered with
:01:29. > :01:32.seizures and also had problems learning. He was initially admitted
:01:33. > :01:38.to Slade House as an emergency case, but was later sectioned under the
:01:39. > :01:42.Mental Health Act. On one occasion when his mother went to visit him at
:01:43. > :01:46.the unit, she thought he'd had a seizure. From then on, his night
:01:47. > :01:49.time checks were increased. In June last year, though, his team agreed
:01:50. > :01:55.that hourly checks were enough because Connor was showing no signs
:01:56. > :01:59.of having a seizure. But a few weeks later, on July fourth, Connor was
:02:00. > :02:04.found dead. 15 minutes after he'd been checked by staff, he was found
:02:05. > :02:09.submerged in the bath. He died later the same day. The findings of this
:02:10. > :02:12.new report outline the staff's poor decisions around his care, in
:02:13. > :02:18.particular the agreement to make 15`minute observations of his baths.
:02:19. > :02:21.It also found the level of observations failed to safeguard
:02:22. > :02:27.Connor. There were concerns, too, about the lack of somebody having
:02:28. > :02:30.overall responsibility for his care. The report also discovered that
:02:31. > :02:36.Connor's parents were not spoken to enough by staff. This isn't the
:02:37. > :02:38.first time Slade House has been in the spotlight. A report last autumn
:02:39. > :02:41.criticised its facilities, saying there were dirty toilets, outdated
:02:42. > :02:50.equipment and medicines weren't given out safely. An emergency team
:02:51. > :02:54.has been brought in to run the unit after that inspection by the Care
:02:55. > :02:57.Quality Commission. Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust says they are
:02:58. > :03:00.deeply sorry that Connor died whilst in their care, and they failed to
:03:01. > :03:06.undertake the necessary actions required to keep him safe. They say
:03:07. > :03:13.they are wholly committed to learning from this tragedy in order
:03:14. > :03:16.to prevent it from happening again. Well, Helen McCormack is from
:03:17. > :03:25.Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust. I asked her what lessons have
:03:26. > :03:29.been learnt. We want to be able to use the
:03:30. > :03:34.findings of this report to improve our services right across the trust
:03:35. > :03:38.so that we can be confident that we learn from this, not only in that
:03:39. > :03:42.unit, but for all of our services. The review happened, as I understand
:03:43. > :03:47.it, eight weeks after Conor's death. Wasn't his death are not for you to
:03:48. > :03:53.put some of these procedures into place? Yes, and we have asked
:03:54. > :03:57.ourselves that question too, why was it that the report found things in
:03:58. > :04:01.our services that we should have found ourselves? One of the issues
:04:02. > :04:06.around Connor Sparrowhawk's death was that what we did in the
:04:07. > :04:10.immediate period was to report the incident to the police, and we then
:04:11. > :04:13.waited for a period of time while the police decided whether they
:04:14. > :04:17.needed to proceed with any enquiries. I think what that did was
:04:18. > :04:23.to put in a delay which meant that we had waited for that before
:04:24. > :04:26.starting on our investigations. With hindsight there were things we
:04:27. > :04:33.should have addressed straightaway, and those were the things that the
:04:34. > :04:37.review highlighted. Conor's mother says she has had a fight to get this
:04:38. > :04:43.far. Do you think that is right or fair? I can sympathise with her
:04:44. > :04:49.position. This is a very distressing situation for which we are deeply
:04:50. > :04:52.sorry, but also that this process has been so protracted. We have
:04:53. > :04:58.commissioned an independent investigation to rickshaw that for
:04:59. > :05:02.her she feels we have looked at this thoroughly and that we have not put
:05:03. > :05:08.any bias into place. I do understand that has been a very protracted
:05:09. > :05:11.process and I can see it is distressing for her. We want to do
:05:12. > :05:16.anything we can to try and move forward and to help her to move on.
:05:17. > :05:18.Thank you for joining us. A 48`year`old Didcot woman has been
:05:19. > :05:22.arrested this morning in connection with the Jayden Parkinson murder
:05:23. > :05:26.investigation. The 17`year`old teenager's body was found in a grave
:05:27. > :05:29.at All Saints Church in the town in December. Police say the woman has
:05:30. > :05:33.been detained on suspicion of perverting the course of justice.
:05:34. > :05:38.Two people have already been charged in connection with the case.
:05:39. > :05:42.Police are again appealing for witnesses to a fatal accident on the
:05:43. > :05:45.A34 in which a lorry driver died. The incident happened between
:05:46. > :05:48.Abingdon and Marcham just before 3am last Friday, as officers had been
:05:49. > :05:52.trying to clear a dead badger from the carriageway. Two lorries were
:05:53. > :05:56.involved in the crash. The driver of one of them, a 61`year`old man from
:05:57. > :06:00.Bedford, died from his injuries in hospital.
:06:01. > :06:04.More needs to be done to tackle loneliness amongst rural communities
:06:05. > :06:07.in our region. That's the finding of a new study in the Cotswolds, which
:06:08. > :06:11.claims better transport and better access to services are needed to
:06:12. > :06:14.help an aging population. The Cotswolds area has a larger than
:06:15. > :06:23.average older population, which is growing every year. Charlotte Stacey
:06:24. > :06:28.reports. Audrey is 87. She lost her husband
:06:29. > :06:32.two years ago, and now lives on her own. She is still active and says
:06:33. > :06:37.she makes effort to have something to do each day. I think you can get
:06:38. > :06:42.very depressed if you're not careful. Everyone said to me when I
:06:43. > :06:46.lost my husband, you must now get on with your life. It sounds terrible,
:06:47. > :06:53.but it is true. You can't just sit at home. I still go to the WRI and
:06:54. > :06:57.things like that. But it is not so easy for everyone. In rural areas
:06:58. > :07:01.like the Cotswolds, getting around and socialising can be a real
:07:02. > :07:04.problem. Audrey uses a local volunteer group, who offer
:07:05. > :07:09.befriending and transport services to help her get to appointments.
:07:10. > :07:13.There is an transport for a lot of people. It is just impossible. Some
:07:14. > :07:17.people can't drive, and some who could drive now can't. There are all
:07:18. > :07:23.sorts of reasons why they would use our service. It is a lifeline to
:07:24. > :07:26.people, quite honestly. There are more than 24,000 people past
:07:27. > :07:31.retirement age in the Cotswolds. That is nearly one third of the
:07:32. > :07:34.local population. The area has an older population with a longer life
:07:35. > :07:38.span than the national average. GPs to say people are coming to them
:07:39. > :07:44.when there are not ill, but they are lonely and then need to talk to
:07:45. > :07:50.family about their problems. The visit costs ?25. If we send in a
:07:51. > :07:54.befriending, it is ?5. The person doesn't pay that, but we have some
:07:55. > :07:58.fun thing to do that. For very little cost, it has huge benefits.
:07:59. > :08:03.Loneliness has been shown to be worse for your health than smoking
:08:04. > :08:07.15 cigarettes a day, said tackling it makes financial sense. With an
:08:08. > :08:10.older population growing year by year, the council is now looking at
:08:11. > :08:13.ways to combat loneliness in the long`term.
:08:14. > :08:17.More than ?1 million is to be spent resurfacing one of the major routes
:08:18. > :08:19.into Oxford. The work on London Road in Headington will take place
:08:20. > :08:23.between the Green Road roundabout and Wharton Road this summer. It
:08:24. > :08:27.will include new measures to give priority to buses. The council is
:08:28. > :08:30.warning the improvements will cause delays to motorists and disruption
:08:31. > :08:34.to local businesses while they are carried out.
:08:35. > :08:38.A large hole has opened up in South Oxfordshire, most likely due to the
:08:39. > :08:41.high volume of water going into the ground through flooding since
:08:42. > :08:44.Christmas. It's thought the crater in Nettlebed has been caused by
:08:45. > :08:47.centuries`old abandoned chalk mines beneath it collapsing. We asked
:08:48. > :08:53.expert Dr Clive Edmonds to tell us more.
:08:54. > :08:59.Basically, we are looking at a hole that has appeared in this forested
:09:00. > :09:05.area during the last week or so. It has opened up probably fairly slow
:09:06. > :09:10.to start with, and then rapidly gained in size as it developed.
:09:11. > :09:15.Probably initially as a matter of minutes, and then taken further
:09:16. > :09:20.hours to develop. You can see pieces of soil falling in as we speak. It
:09:21. > :09:31.is continuing to increase in size. In this area we have a fracture in
:09:32. > :09:35.the ground. This area is ready to move in as well if more rain
:09:36. > :09:40.continues to fall. They are a rare event. You might only see one of
:09:41. > :09:45.these every ten or 20 years, this size of hole in an area like this.
:09:46. > :09:49.Looking at the edge of the whole, there are pieces of brick and tile,
:09:50. > :09:59.and also chalk and sound. It shows it is a man`made soil `R. ``
:10:00. > :10:07.profile. This is a Crown hole rather than a sinkhole.
:10:08. > :10:12.A crocodile, seized by police in Sweden, has been given a new home in
:10:13. > :10:16.Oxfordshire. It arrived from Heathrow at the Crocodiles of the
:10:17. > :10:19.World Zoo last night. The 2.5 metre reptile was found by police in a
:10:20. > :10:23.greenhouse in Sweden during a raid. Police in the country had been
:10:24. > :10:26.trying to find it a home for months before settling on Oxfordshire. At
:10:27. > :10:29.the moment it's being held in quarantine in Witney, but will
:10:30. > :10:35.eventually be moved to the attraction at Brize
:10:36. > :10:45.rescue crocodiles don't come up that often, and this is the first one we
:10:46. > :10:51.have ever received. She is in good condition with nice big day. She is
:10:52. > :11:00.in good health. Now, more of today's stories with Sally Taylor.
:11:01. > :11:06.University academic, is accused of assisting an offender and conspiring
:11:07. > :11:09.to supply drugs. Still to come in this evening's
:11:10. > :11:13.South Today: The young gymnast heading for the top after a tough
:11:14. > :11:21.start and just 18 months in the sport.
:11:22. > :11:25.When did you last buy a new car or household appliance? Across the
:11:26. > :11:29.South garages and some retailers say we're spending more ` with a marked
:11:30. > :11:32.increase in luxury, high`end items. Consumer spending accounts for
:11:33. > :11:37.nearly two`thirds of the UK's economic activity. We've been told
:11:38. > :11:40.the downturn is over, but some are warning that this latest increase
:11:41. > :11:43.isn't the recovery the country needs. Our Business Correspondent
:11:44. > :11:53.Alastair Fee has been finding out more.
:11:54. > :11:57.Gary is a cash buyer and is here at this West Sussex showroom to pick up
:11:58. > :12:01.a new family car ` he's driven by need and is helped by a scrappage
:12:02. > :12:12.scheme that means he'll get ?2,000 for his old vehicle. Things have
:12:13. > :12:22.been good for us. No complaints. Up and down for a few years, we are
:12:23. > :12:26.hoping to make a deal today. Sales at this garage near Worthing are up
:12:27. > :12:29.by nearly 40% compared to this time last year. To manage the rise,
:12:30. > :12:33.they've increased staffing on site from five to twelve. It has gone
:12:34. > :12:40.from a steady pattern of sales to stampedes at the weekend. We have
:12:41. > :12:46.had customer after customer after customer. The atmosphere has been
:12:47. > :12:52.electric. We could sell 12 cars on a Sunday. We have had people literally
:12:53. > :12:56.queueing up for a test drive. So some are spending. As the economy
:12:57. > :13:00.has begun to pick up there's been a sense that people who had kept a
:13:01. > :13:02.close eye on household budgets are gaining confidence again. I tried to
:13:03. > :13:10.put a little bit of savings aside but generally treating myself. I
:13:11. > :13:24.spend quite a lot. Do you feel you can afford it? No! But it doesn't
:13:25. > :13:27.stop you spending? No. I am not sure it is down to people having more
:13:28. > :13:32.money in their pocket or businesses know what they are doing. Perhaps a
:13:33. > :13:35.combination of two. The other key indicator is the sale
:13:36. > :13:40.of white goods. In Horsham this store is one of eight, all are doing
:13:41. > :13:46.better trade. People are looking for features and benefits that make
:13:47. > :13:47.their life easier. So it means models slightly higher up the price
:13:48. > :13:51.range. But an increase in spending isn't
:13:52. > :13:55.necessarily a good sign. There are warnings that it could lead to
:13:56. > :13:58.increased personal debt. It could become a concern. It doesn't have to
:13:59. > :14:04.be a concern just yet and many people take a benign view that
:14:05. > :14:07.increased spending will result in increased investment by companies.
:14:08. > :14:12.That would be a good thing but if it does not follow, we have a problem.
:14:13. > :14:15.All the new car dealers I spoke to in West Sussex agreed that sales
:14:16. > :14:19.were better than they have been in years. That's in part because of a
:14:20. > :14:22.range of finances packages that make it easier for us to buy. For a
:14:23. > :14:25.sustainable economic recovery the focus on investment and export is
:14:26. > :14:40.still the Government's long term goal.
:14:41. > :14:44.And now the sport. Last night we told you of the
:14:45. > :14:48.absence of Sprinter Sacre from next month's Cheltenham Festival. Well
:14:49. > :15:02.there's been more bad news for a leading local yard today. Everything
:15:03. > :15:12.is geared around the Gold cup. Bad news today. Leading Cheltenham Gold
:15:13. > :15:15.Cup contender Cue Card has been ruled out of the race. Trained by
:15:16. > :15:18.dairy farmer Colin Tizzard at Milborne Port near Sherborne, the
:15:19. > :15:22.horse won last year's Ryanair Chase at the Festival. But pulled muscles
:15:23. > :15:27.have ruled the eight year old out this time.
:15:28. > :15:30.In tonight's football, Portsmouth are aiming to prove that Saturday's
:15:31. > :15:37.hammering at Scunthorpe was a one`off. Pompey host Accrington this
:15:38. > :15:40.evening at Fratton Park. Although down in 21st place, Richie Barker's
:15:41. > :15:46.side currently have a seven`point buffer above the relegation spots in
:15:47. > :15:48.League Two. Pompey will be looking for just their third win in eleven
:15:49. > :15:52.games. Meanwhile in League One tonight, MK
:15:53. > :15:55.Dons and Swindon are both looking to bounce back from defeats at the
:15:56. > :15:58.weekend. Dons are at Oldham tonight, while Swindon are at home to
:15:59. > :16:01.Crawley. There's full commentary on BBC local radio.
:16:02. > :16:04.Now onto the story of a young gymnast from the South, who's won a
:16:05. > :16:07.British title despite being a relative newcomer in her sport.
:16:08. > :16:11.Holly Banks from Hampshire has had a tough route to the top, after a
:16:12. > :16:14.sudden illness meant she needed a wheelchair for several months. It
:16:15. > :16:18.also left her with a delay on the left side of her body. But Holly has
:16:19. > :16:31.astounded her coaches and family with her gymnastic success. It is
:16:32. > :16:43.hard to imagine that five years ago Holly was left in a wheelchair after
:16:44. > :16:47.having an anaphylactic shock. My coach took me on is one of her own.
:16:48. > :17:00.She has made me into the champion I am today. She trains at Southampton
:17:01. > :17:04.gymnastics club where they raised funds to buy some asymmetric bars to
:17:05. > :17:11.help her train on, she paid them back by winning the title in 2013.
:17:12. > :17:19.It is no exaggeration to say the thing is about gymnastics. It is
:17:20. > :17:25.never going to leave me. I love seeing her happy, achieving, and the
:17:26. > :17:31.confidence. We are a team, it is great. Holly now has a place on the
:17:32. > :17:38.British high`performance disability squad. She wants to win every
:17:39. > :17:46.competition we go to. That is what has driven her. Holly had hoped to
:17:47. > :17:49.compete at the Special Olympics but her learning disability has been
:17:50. > :18:05.classified as not severe enough. But other competitions we can for 18 age
:18:06. > :18:13.who has her eyes on the top tries. `` other competitions are available
:18:14. > :18:20.for a girl who has her eyes on the top prize.
:18:21. > :18:26.All this week we're marking the centenary of the outbreak of World
:18:27. > :18:29.War One. Tonight we bring you the extraordinary story of the Oxford
:18:30. > :18:34.scientist whose own bravery led to a vital invention on the front line.
:18:35. > :18:38.John Scott Haldane risked his own life and even that of his family by
:18:39. > :18:41.experimenting on himself at his home and laboratory in the city. The
:18:42. > :18:45.result was the first workable gas mask. It was a device that was to
:18:46. > :18:47.prove essential in saving thousands of lives. Stuart Tinworth has the
:18:48. > :19:10.story. It became a constant threat every
:19:11. > :19:11.time they took a breath. By 1915 the shadow of poisonous gas hung over
:19:12. > :19:37.troops at all times. These original trenches were used
:19:38. > :19:46.for training and have preserved at RAF Horton near Elsbury. Alongside
:19:47. > :19:53.barbed wire and machine guns, gas became a game changer in the First
:19:54. > :20:05.World War. It cut us unawares. Not a gentlemanly way of going to war. The
:20:06. > :20:17.first usage was in April 1915. Open the canisters, let the prevailing
:20:18. > :20:20.wind to the rest. `` do. Quickly, the British War office realised it
:20:21. > :20:32.needed to take steps and called on the help of an Oxford scientist.
:20:33. > :20:38.When the concept of poison gas was introduced, Lord Kitchener insisted
:20:39. > :20:44.that the scientist travelled to the front line to identify what was
:20:45. > :20:52.being used. Gas was increasingly becoming a psychological weapon.
:20:53. > :20:56.Haldane had a wealth of experience studying the effects of gas in
:20:57. > :21:02.underground mining disasters. He was a leading expert. Before the war he
:21:03. > :21:08.and his family lived in this house in Oxford where he conducted early
:21:09. > :21:14.experiments. Years later his work would lead to the development of the
:21:15. > :21:20.gas mask. This is the room where he did most of the experiments. There
:21:21. > :21:23.are stories about how he would absorb a certain amount carbon
:21:24. > :21:29.monoxide and then check how far he could get up the stairs. The family
:21:30. > :21:38.was recruited to help out. Most famously, his son, Jack, was
:21:39. > :21:40.continuously used as a guinea pig. These were calculated risks. It is
:21:41. > :21:47.just that most people would have been frightened to go anywhere near
:21:48. > :21:56.it. It proved a turning point for Allied troops. He identified the
:21:57. > :22:02.gas, in the first instance from the discolouration of the brass buttons
:22:03. > :22:06.on men's uniforms. He identified it as chlorine and became involved in
:22:07. > :22:11.developing protective measures, what eventually became the standard gas
:22:12. > :22:15.mask. When he went home after working in the laboratory, he saw
:22:16. > :22:25.himself as very much contributing to a war effort. He was fighting in the
:22:26. > :22:31.laboratory. The work paved the way for apparat is still used today. A
:22:32. > :22:39.lasting legacy for a man who took drastic risks to help save other
:22:40. > :22:41.peoples lives. The determination to solve the problem meant
:22:42. > :22:46.experimenting on yourself and placing yourself at great risk. He
:22:47. > :22:50.was taking a risk that he equated the rest of the country is taking,
:22:51. > :22:58.young men were risking their lives, it was no lesser duty for him to so
:22:59. > :23:04.himself. When Haldane died in 1936 it was after his own battle with
:23:05. > :23:11.pneumonia. He was treated in an oxygen tent, an invention of his.
:23:12. > :23:14.After the war, countless soldiers suffered long`term effects of
:23:15. > :23:20.exposure to gas. But without scientist like Haldane, the death
:23:21. > :23:23.toll could have been higher. Stuart Tinworth with the remarkable
:23:24. > :23:27.story of John Scott Haldane. There are hundreds of stories like that in
:23:28. > :23:30.the World War One At Home series being broadcast on BBC local radio
:23:31. > :23:40.over the coming months. If you want to discover more, go to
:23:41. > :23:47.bbc.co.uk/ww1 and follow the links. And our series continues tomorrow.
:23:48. > :23:50.Our Health Correspondent David Fenton looks at the ingenious ways
:23:51. > :23:53.wounded troops were brought back from the front, and how this Reading
:23:54. > :23:59.surgeon discovered a novel way of saving their lives, with bacteria.
:24:00. > :24:03.Join Radio Berkshire tomorrow at 8.15am, and again at 10.15am. And
:24:04. > :24:20.we'll have the story on South Today tomorrow evening as well.
:24:21. > :24:51.Today is not so warm. But we have had lots of pictures.
:24:52. > :24:55.Wendy Banks captured a pigeon cooling off in a puddle in Reading
:24:56. > :24:58.in Berkshire. Tara Bowers photographed crocus at Basingstoke's
:24:59. > :25:01.Eastdrop roundabout. And blue skies in West Wittering. This is the view
:25:02. > :25:13.towards the Isle of Wight taken by Heather Brooks.
:25:14. > :25:24.It was a damp start to the day but sunny spells made an appearance. The
:25:25. > :25:30.showers will fade away overnight. Still the risk of a shower over
:25:31. > :25:43.Wiltshire and parts of Dorset later on but we are looking at lows two
:25:44. > :25:52.Celsius. Winds will be light to moderate tomorrow. We expect a few
:25:53. > :25:58.showers. But few and far between. A lovely dry sunny day for most
:25:59. > :26:08.places. Temperatures will reach a high of 10 Celsius, similar to what
:26:09. > :26:16.we saw today. Tomorrow night, a band of rain will move in from the west.
:26:17. > :26:22.An increasing south`westerly breeze. Clearing western areas by dawn on
:26:23. > :26:45.Thursday morning. But temperatures very mild. The wind will be fairly
:26:46. > :26:48.risk. `` brisk. Showers will creep in and set up the theme for the rest
:26:49. > :26:58.of the week, scattered showers throughout the daytime, a band of
:26:59. > :27:01.rain tomorrow night may amount to 0.25 of an inch. Nothing significant
:27:02. > :27:11.but may affect the flooding situation. Thursday, sunny spells,
:27:12. > :27:19.scattered showers, that could give us that rainfall. You can get all
:27:20. > :27:31.the details at your fingertips by downloading our app.
:27:32. > :27:39.Tomorrow night Prince Charles will visit a hospital. `` Museum. We will
:27:40. > :27:44.be there. Goodbye.