:00:05. > :00:10.Welcome to South East Today. I'm Polly Evans. And I'm Rob Smith.
:00:10. > :00:18.Tonight's top stories: Victim of an unprovoked attack, the student left
:00:18. > :00:26.afraid to go out at night. I hate him. I don't hate anyone,
:00:26. > :00:29.but I hate him. I didn't deserve this at all.
:00:29. > :00:31.A great campaigning victory for the Ghurkas, but two years on, has it
:00:31. > :00:34.actually done enough for the former soldiers?
:00:34. > :00:42.Also in tonight's programme: Kent politicians hit out at plans for
:00:42. > :00:45.US-style elected police commissioners. Love it or loathe it,
:00:45. > :00:49.you won't be able to miss it; the new football season's set to start
:00:49. > :00:51.and we look at our teams' chances. And she's off: The Sussex rider
:00:51. > :01:01.who's leapt into the commentator's saddle, becoming one of the first
:01:01. > :01:11.
:01:11. > :01:15.Good evening. The teenage Kent student who was punched and not to
:01:15. > :01:19.the ground in an unprovoked attack in Canterbury says she is scared to
:01:19. > :01:25.go out at night. Kristina Parker needed stitches after she and her
:01:25. > :01:28.boyfriend was set upon outside a take away by two men.
:01:28. > :01:34.Left battered and bruised. Kristina Parker didn't know the man who
:01:34. > :01:44.attacked her, but she knows what she thinks of him. I hate him. I
:01:44. > :01:44.
:01:44. > :01:51.don't hate anyone, but I hate him. I didn't deserve this at all. I
:01:51. > :01:55.don't know what I would do if I saw him again. This is where the attack
:01:55. > :02:01.took place, on her way home from the pub. She popped in here for a
:02:01. > :02:05.kebab with her boyfriend, but as they were leaving, a man approached
:02:05. > :02:09.her boyfriend and started hitting him. She screamed out for him to
:02:09. > :02:13.stop and another man approached her and punched her to the ground. The
:02:13. > :02:19.police have issued a description of the two men. They are both white.
:02:19. > :02:26.The first was of slim build with straight brown hair, wearing a
:02:26. > :02:32.purple polo shirt and blue jeans. The second was of stocky build with
:02:33. > :02:37.dark brown hair. I'm sure there are people who saw what happened and
:02:37. > :02:41.know who is responsible. Violent crime is a real priority for us and
:02:41. > :02:49.we would like anybody with any information who can assist us to
:02:49. > :02:59.come forward. Kristina can barely look at pictures of her injuries.
:02:59. > :03:04.
:03:04. > :03:14.It makes me sick. How can someone It hurts so much. Every time I look
:03:14. > :03:16.
:03:16. > :03:23.at those photos, I just remember how much that hurt. Howard made me
:03:23. > :03:31.feel. She says that she needs the attackers caught to rebuild her
:03:31. > :03:36.confidence. Simon, I understand that staff at the takeaway actually
:03:36. > :03:41.stepped in to stop matters getting worse? That's right. After the
:03:42. > :03:45.attack which happened here on the doorstep, the two men ran off.
:03:45. > :03:54.Kristina's boyfriend wanted to go after them, but staff here at the
:03:54. > :04:01.takeaway prevented him from doing that cover fearing -- fearing it
:04:01. > :04:05.might escalate out of control. The police say as well as the two
:04:05. > :04:13.attackers, there was a third man who was with them. They want him to
:04:13. > :04:15.come forward. It was a story that made national
:04:15. > :04:18.headlines as the actress Joanna Lumley led a campaign which forced
:04:18. > :04:22.the government to change the way the former Gurkha soldiers are
:04:22. > :04:25.treated, many of them wanted to live up there all day in Kent.
:04:25. > :04:32.is now being suggested the campaign did not go far enough and it should
:04:32. > :04:37.have dealt with the problem of their pensions.
:04:37. > :04:44.Gurkhas given equal rights of residents. The moment Nick Clegg
:04:44. > :04:50.described as an immense victory and David Cameron as an historic day.
:04:50. > :04:56.We are heard by a politicians add we can change things! This man is
:04:56. > :04:59.struggling to make ends meet. He served for 15 years in the Gurkhas.
:04:59. > :05:09.Like many others, he came to Folkestone after Joanna Lumley's
:05:09. > :05:16.
:05:16. > :05:22.campaign for settlement rights. He Gurkhas are entitled to two schemes.
:05:22. > :05:26.Those who retired before 1997 only get about a third of the amount of
:05:26. > :05:33.pension received by their British counterparts on the Gurkha pensions
:05:33. > :05:39.in. Years later, the rules changed. It gave Gurkha soldiers who retired
:05:39. > :05:45.after 1997 equal pension rights. But those who have won said someone
:05:45. > :05:50.writes in 2009 remain on the old scheme. -- those who won a
:05:50. > :05:59.settlement rights. The cost of living has led -- was an inner Paul
:05:59. > :06:07.so some say they left in a catch 22 situation. -- the cost of living
:06:07. > :06:17.has risen in Nepal. Once they're here, they're making it difficult
:06:17. > :06:17.
:06:17. > :06:27.to make a living. Peter Carroll also agrees that burka campaigns
:06:27. > :06:30.
:06:30. > :06:34.are unfair -- but the Gurkhas settlement is unfair. If a man was
:06:34. > :06:38.prepared to face death with us, he has the right to choose to live
:06:38. > :06:48.with us. The Court of Appeal has previously ruled that the MoD's
:06:48. > :06:50.
:06:50. > :07:00.provision for pensioners is fair. In a moment: Kent Cricket Club
:07:00. > :07:00.
:07:00. > :07:03.fears that is the latest victim in the rising tide of metal theft.
:07:03. > :07:06.The government's policy of introducing collector police
:07:06. > :07:09.commissioners which has already come under fire in House of Lords
:07:09. > :07:14.is now being criticised by the leaders of Kent County Council.
:07:14. > :07:20.Despite the fact it is a mainstay of Conservative policy, the
:07:20. > :07:26.Conservative leader Paul Carter has joined forces with Trudy Dean to
:07:26. > :07:30.oppose the idea. The idea is to have existing police authorities
:07:30. > :07:34.scrapped and replaced with elected police and crime promised --
:07:34. > :07:39.commissioners. It was announced by the Home Secretary Theresa May last
:07:39. > :07:43.July. First we will transfer power back to the people. We will
:07:43. > :07:47.introduce directly elected police and crime commissioners by 2012.
:07:47. > :07:51.The commissioners will set the police budget, determined police
:07:51. > :07:56.priorities and will have the power to hire and when necessary fire
:07:56. > :08:01.their chief constables. Speaking in a recent council meeting, the
:08:01. > :08:08.leader of Kent County Council made clear his opposition to that idea.
:08:08. > :08:15.I'm not a supporter of elected police commissioners. I'm very
:08:15. > :08:19.happy to share your views and my views with the Prime Minister.
:08:19. > :08:24.corrupt as the government think that the benefit would be -- so,
:08:24. > :08:29.what does the government think the benefits would be? It hoped that we
:08:29. > :08:39.will reconnect the public with policing. Unlike the UK proposals,
:08:39. > :08:39.
:08:39. > :08:42.the US commissioners are not usually directly elected. I'm
:08:42. > :08:45.joined now by the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats on Kent
:08:45. > :08:48.County Council Martin Vye, and by the Conservative MP for Rochester
:08:48. > :08:55.and Strood, Mark Reckless, who is on the Home affairs Select
:08:55. > :09:02.Committee. Martin Vye, why don't you like the idea of elected
:09:02. > :09:08.commissioners? We think it is going to politicise a whole business of
:09:08. > :09:12.policing in Kent. It is extremely costly to run a campaign. Anybody
:09:12. > :09:15.who has stood for Parliament knows how much it would cost. When you
:09:16. > :09:23.think of that replicated right across Kent, we believe that either
:09:23. > :09:29.you have got to have deep pockets or you have got to have a party
:09:29. > :09:34.behind you. Mark -- Mark Reckless, it is very difficult to stand for
:09:34. > :09:38.election and it would police the ties the police force? What is
:09:38. > :09:42.important as that we make the police directly accountable. I'm
:09:42. > :09:46.sorry to hear that Kent county councillors are not supporting this.
:09:46. > :09:49.But here we do support direct election for those who oversee our
:09:49. > :09:59.police. When I was on the Kent Police already, I was the person
:09:59. > :10:00.
:10:00. > :10:04.appointed by the administration and Medway. When he stood in 2007, we
:10:04. > :10:09.had street prostitution in Chatham and we were told nothing could be
:10:09. > :10:15.done. But he led a campaign and for working with the police and Medway
:10:15. > :10:20.Council, it has eradicated a problem. He gave political
:10:20. > :10:25.leadership on that. Martin Vye, in that case, it would put the issues
:10:25. > :10:30.that matter most to people at the top of the police agenda? I believe
:10:31. > :10:36.that local councils are doing exactly what they should be doing,
:10:36. > :10:41.which is to represent the views of ordinary people to the police
:10:41. > :10:47.authority and to the Chief Constable, and in that way achieve
:10:47. > :10:50.the changes which need to be made. Personally, I have found a Kent
:10:50. > :10:57.police force very responsive in this regard. I don't think we need
:10:57. > :11:01.to go through this very costly and dangerous procedure of going to
:11:01. > :11:06.elected commissioners. Mark Reckless, it is expensive to scrap
:11:06. > :11:11.police authorities and set up elections. Is there really any
:11:11. > :11:17.point in doing this? When I joined the police authority in to govern
:11:17. > :11:23.and seven, I but there was not the efficiency and focus that they
:11:23. > :11:30.should have been -- in 2007. I voted against the budget in 2008
:11:31. > :11:39.because the police abroad he was not making the savings. -- the
:11:39. > :11:42.police authority was not making. Ultimately, the people in Kent must
:11:42. > :11:46.decide who should be overseeing their police, what sort of policing
:11:46. > :11:50.they want, and if they are not happy, they should have the
:11:50. > :11:55.opportunity to throw out the person in charge and bring in someone who
:11:55. > :11:59.will deliver the service they want and deserve. Thank you for being
:11:59. > :12:05.with us this evening. The government's original time --
:12:05. > :12:14.timetable for implementing the plan would be next summer. But we
:12:14. > :12:16.understand like that the coalition remains committed to to it having
:12:16. > :12:20.it in May. A bus driver has been arrested over
:12:20. > :12:27.the murder of a 21-year-old student from East Sussex who was found
:12:27. > :12:35.beaten to death in Poland at the weekend. Catherine Zaks from
:12:35. > :12:43.Robertsbridge was attacked when she was a passenger on a bus. She was
:12:43. > :12:49.the only passenger on the bus and he hit her with a metal bar. Then,
:12:49. > :12:59.when she was unconscious, he dragged her out of the bass and
:12:59. > :13:03.Two men arrested at Dover have appeared in court charged with
:13:03. > :13:09.terrorism offences. Christian Emde and Robert Baum, Muslim converts,
:13:09. > :13:13.are alleged to have been carrying computer files containing
:13:13. > :13:17.ideological material related to al- Qaeda inspired extremism. They will
:13:17. > :13:21.appear in court again later this month.
:13:22. > :13:27.They Sussex dairy farmer is giving it up because he cannot make the
:13:27. > :13:33.job pays. Mike Carr said that with an average price of 26.1 pence per
:13:33. > :13:40.litre, supermarkets do not give him enough money for milk. 20 years ago,
:13:40. > :13:43.there were thousands of dairy farmers. It has gone down to 10,000.
:13:44. > :13:49.There are 250 dairy farmers in the South East. Some are already
:13:49. > :13:54.leaving the industry this year. Our environment correspondent has the
:13:54. > :13:58.latest in a Food Chain series. Preparing for a farm sale. The
:13:58. > :14:03.dairy cows have gone there from this farm in Saltdean and most of
:14:03. > :14:07.the machinery is to be sold. This was winter facilities for the
:14:08. > :14:12.carols. They would have been kept in tubercles on sawdust and
:14:12. > :14:18.mattresses. My court and his brother took over the business in
:14:18. > :14:23.the 1970s when times were good. Last year a decision was made to
:14:23. > :14:28.convert to arable and beef farming. The 1970s were good and the 1980s
:14:28. > :14:35.were not too bad. It has gone down ever since on the dairy side. We
:14:35. > :14:42.have been squeezed by the supermarkets. We have gone out of
:14:42. > :14:46.dairy farming. I think two a week go out nationally. In 2002, nearly
:14:46. > :14:52.100 dairy farmers took part in a protest near Haywards Heath
:14:52. > :14:58.demanding a fairer price for milk. Three years later, South East farm
:14:58. > :15:02.has poured away milk to highlight low prices. In 2007, a farmer in
:15:02. > :15:09.East Sussex auctioned his herd, saying he was driven out by falling
:15:09. > :15:17.prices. Some like this farm have taken to making ice cream to boost
:15:17. > :15:24.income. Costs have escalated beyond belief. Fertiliser is up, probably
:15:24. > :15:30.trebling in price. Wages, everything has gone up. The milk
:15:30. > :15:36.has not kept up. The National Farmers' Union says the industry is
:15:36. > :15:41.in danger of disappearing. There needs to be good arable welfare and
:15:41. > :15:45.we need to invest into the environment. To do that, if the
:15:45. > :15:52.milk price is right, we will have this industry. If not, consumers
:15:52. > :15:57.will not find British milk because, sadly, the British dairy farmer
:15:57. > :16:02.will give up. The organisation, which represents the major
:16:02. > :16:09.supermarket says that retailers pay a price that allows farmers to
:16:09. > :16:15.invest in their future. Farmers say it is not the case.
:16:15. > :16:20.The top story. Police are hunting two men who launched an unprovoked
:16:20. > :16:26.assault on a teenage girl and her boy friend. Kristina Parker needed
:16:26. > :16:32.hospital treatment after the incident in Canterbury.
:16:32. > :16:39.Also on the programme, limbering up for the football season. We assess
:16:39. > :16:43.our team's chances. And breaking into the male world of race
:16:43. > :16:53.commentary. The Sussex course woman taking a brave leap into the
:16:53. > :16:53.
:16:53. > :16:59.unknown. -- horsewoman. It is estimated the crime of metal
:16:59. > :17:04.theft is costing the UK �800 million a year. The figures did not
:17:04. > :17:07.reflect the human face of what the crime means. Ashford Town Cricket
:17:08. > :17:12.Club could be forced to close after thieves broke in and still copper
:17:13. > :17:17.piping, causing thousands of pounds of damage.
:17:17. > :17:22.This was the sight that greeted the two members who turned up on
:17:22. > :17:31.Tuesday. The club house was open and February was strewn everywhere.
:17:31. > :17:35.This is the changing room. They have taken the copper piping out
:17:35. > :17:41.and left it all. There is more to damage where the water has come
:17:41. > :17:47.through from the pipe. And into the other area of the Changing Room,
:17:47. > :17:52.they have knocked the basin off football to steal the piping that
:17:52. > :17:59.supplies the taps. And they heating pipe work. Through into the shower
:17:59. > :18:04.area, and this was stainless steel piping and four showers, which have
:18:04. > :18:09.gone. It is the same next door in the way changing rooms. The club is
:18:09. > :18:14.still recovering insurance from flooding over the winter. They fear
:18:14. > :18:19.this setback could force them to close for good. Estimating to put
:18:19. > :18:22.things right will be �10,000, possibly more. Our concern is it
:18:22. > :18:27.might put off people coming to the club, knowing the facilities are
:18:27. > :18:33.not as good as they should be. club has a long history. Ashford
:18:33. > :18:38.Town Cricket Club merged with another in 2008. This man who
:18:38. > :18:45.played for Kent and England opened the pavilion. We were getting
:18:45. > :18:49.ourselves back to a good footing. We are absolutely devastated.
:18:49. > :18:54.Everybody has been pulling together. The lady across the pitch has
:18:54. > :18:58.offered to provide teas for our match. It will be difficult but we
:18:58. > :19:04.will make the effort to get cricket bat. The thieves knew what they
:19:04. > :19:14.were doing. This still spades from the groundsman's heart. They break
:19:14. > :19:17.
:19:17. > :19:20.the fuse box so that lighting and alarms could not be activated.
:19:20. > :19:25.Depending on your point of view, you might have been looking forward
:19:25. > :19:30.to this weekend with excitement or des -- dreading it.
:19:30. > :19:37.That is because the football season gets under way. Our reporter joins
:19:37. > :19:43.us from Chatham. Every side could be up for promotion.
:19:43. > :19:46.It would be quite an accumulator at the bookies. Crawley were promoted
:19:46. > :19:51.in May and Gillingham and Charlton in the play-off positions for much
:19:51. > :19:54.of last season. There is optimism from Gillingham fans. They will be
:19:54. > :19:59.joined in League Two by Crawley, promoted for the first time in
:19:59. > :20:04.their history. They are favourites to be top of the table this time.
:20:04. > :20:08.Having enjoyed the best season in their history with promotion and an
:20:08. > :20:15.epic cup run, the question is, can Crawley continued their remarkable
:20:15. > :20:19.transformation? We have kept our best players. We have signed in the
:20:19. > :20:26.summer players who will hopefully make us better. We have a chance.
:20:26. > :20:32.We have a lot of support and if we get that, we could go again.
:20:32. > :20:36.experience we have is unbelievable. I think we can play every game as
:20:36. > :20:42.if we can win it. There is no reason why we cannot do well this
:20:42. > :20:45.season. Despite a poor start this time last year, Gillingham missed
:20:45. > :20:50.out on a play-off promotion place in the final minutes of the final
:20:50. > :20:57.game of the season. We must get off to a better start than last year.
:20:57. > :21:02.We ended up playing catch-up. have a strong squad this season. It
:21:02. > :21:09.is very young with energy and enthusiasm. They are high-spirited
:21:09. > :21:14.and very much together. It reminds me of the team of 2000. I would say
:21:14. > :21:22.it is probably the best squad we have had because of its age and
:21:22. > :21:29.enthusiasm since I became chairman. In League One macro it will be a
:21:29. > :21:36.different -- different shafts and with a host of new players. I am --
:21:36. > :21:40.Charlton. I am happy with the club. The board has said which way we
:21:40. > :21:44.will go. I have a vision for Charlton and what we would like to
:21:44. > :21:50.do. We are excited about the season. Last season will take some beating
:21:50. > :21:56.for the top clubs in the region. But there is optimism. It is a
:21:56. > :22:02.massive weekend for Brighton and Hove Albion who will begin their
:22:02. > :22:07.new season at to their Amex Community Stadium. It will be an
:22:07. > :22:16.historic game against Doncaster Rovers to start off with. After the
:22:16. > :22:23.jubilation after the friendly with Spurs, it is back down to business.
:22:23. > :22:28.I know for the fans it is a special day. They will be looking at the
:22:28. > :22:33.big screens. They will be thinking it is for them. For us, it is
:22:33. > :22:40.concentration and winning the game. A radio phone-in has started on BBC
:22:40. > :22:46.Sussex and Surrey. The Crawley Town management and the other teams will
:22:46. > :22:51.be in good mood at the moment. She is taking a brave leap into the
:22:51. > :22:58.unknown. A horsewoman from Sussex is taking up the reins to be a
:22:58. > :23:02.professional commentator. Hayley Moore won a competition at Ascot
:23:02. > :23:06.and today she called in the first riders and runners.
:23:06. > :23:13.In a sport dominated by men, Ladies' Day is the chance for women
:23:13. > :23:17.to have a moment in the spotlight, even if it was a damp affair at
:23:17. > :23:21.Brighton racecourse today. It did not stop 23-year-old Hayley Moore
:23:21. > :23:27.and she made preparations to become the first professional woman to
:23:27. > :23:34.commentate at the races. I am excited and looking forward to it.
:23:34. > :23:40.Unfortunately, the weather is not on our side. It will be difficult.
:23:40. > :23:48.One thing to contend with was how difficult it was to see. It is
:23:48. > :23:57.incredibly for Keane. Less than one furlong visibility. -- there is a
:23:57. > :24:03.lot of fog. It is a baptism of fire. In the early stages... It can only
:24:03. > :24:08.be easier after today. Visibility is bad. Even on a monitor, you
:24:08. > :24:18.cannot see a lot. She has done exceptionally well. I am proud of
:24:18. > :24:18.
:24:18. > :24:24.her. With idols like Sir Peter O'Sullivan who called this Grand
:24:25. > :24:30.National victory, Hayley Moore is aiming high. Her father is a well-
:24:30. > :24:35.known trainer and her brother is a champion jockey, Brian, who won the
:24:35. > :24:44.Derby in 2010. If she continues commentating, another member of the
:24:44. > :24:51.family could become an integral part of the racing scene.
:24:51. > :24:56.Good luck to her. I felt sorry for the ladies. In that weather. She
:24:56. > :24:59.could not have asked for worse weather. It has been miserable.
:24:59. > :25:04.weather. It has been miserable. Will it get better?
:25:04. > :25:10.I like a little bit of rain every now and then. And there has been
:25:10. > :25:16.plenty around today. Almost one inch in some places. That will be
:25:16. > :25:22.clearing tonight and tomorrow will be a drier picture. The unsettled
:25:22. > :25:27.weather will be back. Tomorrow, fresh and decent spells of sunshine.
:25:27. > :25:33.Plenty of rain today. Southerly breezes up to 25 miles per hour.
:25:33. > :25:38.And top temperatures of just 19 degrees. A good ten degrees down on
:25:38. > :25:45.yesterday. We have this band of rain spreading eastwards through
:25:45. > :25:51.out the day. We have got clearer skies behind it. We are holding on
:25:51. > :25:54.to those clearer skies as we move into tonight. It will be dry. Just
:25:55. > :25:59.the off-chance of a scattered shower. Temperatures will be around
:25:59. > :26:06.14 degrees, so still humid, but fresher than the last couple of
:26:06. > :26:13.nights. Plenty of sunshine around. More cloud around around lunchtime
:26:13. > :26:17.but plenty of sunny spells end the day. The wind swing into a south-
:26:17. > :26:24.westerly direction. The temperatures creeping up along the
:26:25. > :26:33.East Kent coast to 23 degrees. And Nye's dry day. It will not last.
:26:33. > :26:41.Another band of rain pushing in -- it will be a nice day. Plenty of
:26:41. > :26:45.cloud around on Saturday. And more rain around on Sunday and for that
:26:45. > :26:51.you week. A warm sunny be to round
:26:51. > :26:53.Broadstairs. Which is handy, because tomorrow is the start of
:26:53. > :26:57.Allah four special programmes this month.
:26:57. > :27:00.When the sun is shining and some are in full swing, there is nothing
:27:01. > :27:05.are in full swing, there is nothing better than going to the seaside.
:27:05. > :27:10.That is what we have planned every Friday in August.
:27:10. > :27:13.We are entering the festival spirit by taking the programme out on the
:27:13. > :27:18.road to join you in some of the biggest summer celebrations.
:27:19. > :27:23.We will be live on location each festival Friday and we want as many
:27:23. > :27:29.festival Friday and we want as many of you to join in the fun. Come on!