24/08/2011 South East Today

Welcome to South East Today, I'm Polly Evans. And I'm Rob Smith.

Tonight's top stories. The mother spared jail after

leading an assault on the man who abused her daughter on the internet.

Channel Tunnel chaos for the bank holiday as French workers plan

indefinite strike action. We'll have the latest live from the

Folkestone terminal. Also in tonight's programme.

How a treatment for stroke victims being pioneered in Kent could help

thousands lead a more independent life.

New life through a lens. The Sussex photographer winning prizes for

capturing mums in bloom. And a lifetime of service, the 90

year old who's clocked up 72 years Good evening. A mother from Chatham

who's admitted taking part in an attack on a teenager has been

spared a jail sentence, because he'd been abusing her severely

disabled daughter over the internet. Sylvia Hooper went round to

Christopher Berwick's house in Chatham with other members of her

family, because he'd called her daughter Kim a "cripple" on

Facebook. Sylvia pleaded guilty to assault, but a Crown Court judge

handed her a conditional discharge because of exceptional

circumstances. Jon Hunt reports. Tim Hooper has just turned 21. She

has been studying GCSEs at college. Like many people her age, she uses

Facebook to keep in touch with friends. One of her former friends

used the site to aggressively taught her about her disability.

was calling me names, I could deal with that. But he always put

something aggressive about it me. He called me a retard. He said,

also, that no one would want me because I am always in that thing.

By thing, I take it he means the chair. Happily was Christopher

Berwick from Chatham. His cruel comments left her depressed and

suicidal. Her mother, along with a friend and family, went round to

his house and assaulted him. Some people would say, you should never

take the law into your own hands. The police should have done their

job. To me, the system failed her, what was I meant to do? Mrs Hooper,

her son and friend pleaded guilty to assault. During the case,

Christopher had called -- the court heard that Christopher had called

her a cripple. Judges will always take very seriously any case where

someone has taken the law into their own hands. People who do that,

bring themselves down to the level of criminals. But you cannot really

have a blanket policy of just sending everyone to present in that

type of case, you have got to allow for individual circumstance.

Kent police say they have no records of any calls from their

Kim is backing what her family did. Any parent of a disabled daughter

would react in the same way. Any brother would react in the same way.

Our reporter John joins us from Chatham. This family could be --

could have expected to get a jail sentence?

They pleaded guilty to actual bodily harm, a crime that can

attract a sentence up to five years in prison. Christopher Berwick was

punched so hard he then left with the imprint of his attacker's wing

in his face. Because of the exceptional circumstances, the

judge issued sentences of a conditional discharge and community

penalties. There are two victims in this case, Kim, abused over

Facebook, and Christopher, the Facebook abuser who was punched in

the face. He refused to comment today.

On BBC Radio Kent's breakfast programme tomorrow, John and Claire

will have interviews on this story with the Chairman of the Criminal

Bar Association and the chief executive of the charity Beat

Bullying. Eurotunnel is facing the threat of

strike action over the Bank Holiday weekend after French unions

demanded a sharp pay rise. The company says it's suspended taking

further return bookings for this coming Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Simon Jones is in Folkestone. Simon, this couldn't come at a worse time

for the company. That is right. This weekend is set to be one of

the busiest travel weekend of the year. You have got families

returning from the summer holidays ahead of the start of the new

school year. You have also got people wanted to head over to

France to enjoy the long weekend. Eurotunnel is due to carry 100,000

passengers over the bank holiday. The problem is, four unions in

France have made a pay increase demand of 8%. The unions say if

this not agreed to by Friday, they will begin indefinite strike action.

Eurotunnel says it simply cannot meet this demand in the current

economic climate. Travel experts say this is a big problem for the

company. I fear this will cause some significant damage to the

cross-Channel market as a whole. One reason people choose to travel

to Calais by ferry or by Eurotunnel is because, frankly, it is a lot

more civilised than the airline alternative of. It will disrupt

potentially tens of thousands of British holidaymakers returning

home. It is going to be a major disruption. What have Eurotunnel

said? Eurotunnel is suggesting it will be able to run services as

normal, because it is the French workers going on strike. They say

the British workers will be able to fill in behind them, driving the

trains, and even at manning the terminal in France. I understand,

today, there have been emergency meetings taking place in Dover

between the ferry companies and port bosses with a plan of

introducing extra ferry services of the worst so there -- if the worst

scenario emerges is. In a moment: Left to rot, the

Kentish farmers warning the plum industry could be killed off by

cheap foreign imports. Doctors in Kent are trialling a new

treatment that could transform the lives of thousands of patients

whose awareness of their left side has been affected by a stroke.

150,000 people suffer from strokes in Britain each year. As many as a

quarter of them could benefit from the new treatment, which is being

funded by a �310,000 grant from the Medical Research Council. Sara

Smith has this report. When Stephen suffered a huge stroke

more than two years ago, he was left paralysed on one side and in

hospital for eight months. Gradually, some movement did return,

but one thing remained badly affected. Although his eyes were

not damaged, his brain could not recognise anything to his left.

it is on my left hand side, my balance is not very good, and I

would be forever falling over and I worry about breaking my hips.

could only shake on the right hand side, I had to shave the other side.

Your tablets, wasn't it, if I put the tablets on his left hand side,

he would not be aware they were there. He would not into people, I

would be forever apologising, because he would not see them. But

it does not look like he cannot see them. But this little machine has

made a big difference to Stephen's life. Developed in collaboration

between the Kent and Canterbury Hospital and the University of Kent,

it delivers a small electric current to the nerve behind the ear.

Parties connected to a system which controls balance, and that in turn

stimulates the temporal lobe on the damaged right side of the brain,

reawakening its awareness of those things on the left. We have seen

some significant benefits. So, our goal now is to try and this --

tried this on a much larger people to see if the benefits we have

shown in those benefit are more widespread. Simple drawing tests

showed just how some much -- just so much people are affected.

vision is OK, but his brain is not receiving the left side of the

world. But since his treatment, Stephen's left hand world is coming

back to him. I have got a mobility scooter, I can go out all the time

because I have got more attention to the path -- to my left hand side.

The new trial will find that if others can benefit as much.

A woman in her 50s has died after being hit by a car in north Kent.

The woman suffered fatal injuries during the incident near a

McDonald's restaurant on Cobham Terrace in Greenhithe shortly

before 7:30 this morning. Police are appealing for witnesses.

Police are continuing their appeal for help to identify a man who's

been found suffering from complete memory loss. The man, who's in his

late 50s to early 60s, claims to have woken up on a beach in Deal in

Kent last Wednesday. He then walked into the town's Victoria hospital

saying he had head pains and amnesia.

CCTV images have been released by the British Transport Police of

people they want to talk to after a number of alleged crimes on our

railways. They're looking for this man after a woman had her phone and

camera stolen on a train between Crowborough and London Bridge. And

they want to speak this man after a woman was punched in the face

travelling from Brighton to Worthing. And they're searching for

these people after a man had his computer stolen at Strood station.

A British lorry driver who smuggled more than 6 million cigarettes

through Dover has been jailed for four and a half years. 45 year old

Colin Beattie was found guilty of evading more than �1 million in

excise duty following an investigation by Revenue and

Customs. He was caught in 2009 after travelling from Calais by

ferry. Two people have been arrested

following a fire in Rochester. 13 people were rescued from a block of

flats off Gravel Walk in the town just after midnight. A man and a

woman were arrested in the early hours of this morning on suspicion

of arson with intent to endanger life, and are currently in police

custody. Lynda Hardy reports. Back at his block of flats from

where been was dragged to safety last night after a fire believed to

have started in the ground floor filled the building with smoke.

opened my door, and the smoke was that bad it made my eyes scathing.

I could not breathe. I opened my front door, saw what happened, shut

it, called My neighbour who was ahead the sleeper. I called the

fire engine. They were in the -- they were there within five minutes.

Residents are not being allowed back here for the foreseeable

future, after their home, a place which is now a crime scene. The

flats are being boarded up to stop anyone getting in as a police

investigation continues and the damage is assessed. We have got

Surveyors reviewing the property. The police are treating it as a

crime scene so we have to wait for them to give us a cure had to going

and carry out any work. Until we have done a thorough assessment, it

is premature to see -- say when residents can get back in.

safety checks continue, those who live here face another night in a

hotel or staying with friends and relatives, uncertain when they will

be allowed to return home. It is 6:40pm. A mother from Chatham

who has admitted taking part on an attack on a teenager has been

spared attendance because he had been so dealing -- abusing her

severely disabled daughter over the internet.

Also in tonight's programme: 72 years in the job. The 90 year

old from Folkestone who shows no sign of work fatigue.

And blooming marvellous, the pictures of mums to be that are

winning awards for a Sussex It's the height of the British plum

season, and in Kent, where half of all English plums are grown,

they've got a bumper crop. But tonnes of perfectly good plums

could be left to rot because growers say supermarkets are

importing cheaper fruit from Europe. The National Farmers Union says it

could lead to the end of the British plum industry. Rebecca

Barry has the latest in our Food Chain series.

Dumped and left to rot. This could be the fate of tons of plums are

produced in Kent because farmers cannot sell them to supermarkets.

Several growers have not bothered even picking their fruit because

there was not a market. They were told they could not sell it, which

is a very sad occasion for Kent. We have fantastic plum crops. We are

the garden of England but we are not allowed to sell it. Here, the

fruit is kept in cold stores. If they do not sell it soon, it will

be thrown away. A punnet of Victoria plums like these are

produced in Kent will cost supermarkets 65p. They can get them

from abroad for as little as 45p. That means of tonnes of crude like

this will simply go to waste. Samarkand farmers are even planning

to rip up their plum trees to start again with a different crop. --

some Kent farmers. We are at the height of the English plum season.

I was in a supermarket yesterday, there were plums from Sweden --

France and Spain but there were no English plums. We have a bumper

crop of beautiful British fruit available right now, and consumers

are not being given the opportunity to buy British trick. So we went to

look for ourselves. Sainsbury's had won a variety of Kent plums, but

three others from Spain, France and Portugal. At Tesco, we had Kent

plums and also some from Portugal. Is the pressure for a bigger

profits squeezing out bigger growers? I do not accept that.

There are Kentish plums out there, they are great value, go into the

shop and look for them, they are on promotion, buy them and we will

sell even more. If not, this could be the picture across Kent, where

half of England's plums are grown At 6.30 this morning, as ever, Yve

Moore was first to arrive at her office. Some of you may think

that's remarkable in itself but when you learn that she is 90 years

old, it becomes pretty amazing. Yve has worked for the same legal firm

in Folkestone since she was a teenager in the 1930s and 72 years

later, she remains a vital and valued member of the team. Robin

Gibson reports. She has seen more of these stairs

than anyone in the building, because Yve Moore came to work here

for just six months in 1939, and she is still holding her own, both

at work and on these stairs, 72 She is an important part of the way

the office runs. She is still a significant member of our staff.

She has got an enormous amount of experience and knowledge which we

rely on and draw on every day. So, really, we cannot think of being

without her. It keeps me active, rather than, you know, growing like

a cabbage! Her story sets the current debate on retirement at 65

or even 70 on its head. I did retire for half a day. Half a day?

You actually said, I am retiring? said, I am going to retire, but

they said, come back, we wanted to do this and that, and we stayed.

Yve is no slouch. By 6:20pm, every day, she sets off down the garden

path to walk to work. At 6:30am, she is first to arrive at the

office and has done a lot of work before anyone else is even in the

building. She has always been one for routine. The young secretary

posing in the office garden has matured, in a way, into its heart

and soul. She has got a wonderful memory. She has got a good sense of

humour. She may be 90, but I think we forget she is 90. Every decade

past is greeted with a party. So where will it all again? I will be

here until I am chucked out, or can't come in!

We have got lots of respect for Yve, I do not know why she does -- I do

not know how she does it! Brighton and Hove Albion's great

start to the season continued last night as the Seagulls kicked

Premier League Sunderland out of the Carling Cup with an extra time

victory at The Amex. Charlton will join them in the third round after

beating Reading, but Crawley are out after their defeat by Crystal

Palace. Ian Palmer reports. Brighton have had some sweet

victories of late but this is right up there with the best of them. 90

minutes couldn't separate the Seagulls from Sunderland, so extra

time followed. Six minutes later it took the head of the new signing

Craig Mackail-Smith to put Brighton into the third round of the

competition. The manager Gus Poyet praised his team's performance but

warned them not to get ahead of themselves. We need to keep things

calm. We have had a dream start. Every week, it is getting better

and bigger. At the same time, we do not want to think we are too good.

And get a bad result in three or four days. We need to make sure we

keep playing like we are. neutrals say Brighton deserved

their win. Mackail-Smith coming close with an earlier effort in

normal time. Sunderland's best chance came soon after the start.

Brighton's unbeaten record continues. The final score 1-0.

Charlton are also unbeaten. Their match against Reading ended 2-1 to

the Addicks. It's a major scalp given Reading were Championship

finalists last year. Paul Benson opened the account after 25 minutes.

Jason Euell scored the second after the break. Reading pulled one back

to make it a rather nervy end. The final score 2-1. It wasn't a happy

evening for Crawley Town. They were beaten 2 nil by Crystal Palace. The

Red Devils started well with a number of well crafted attempts but

Zaha ensured the night belonged to the home side. Crawley never gave

up though. That attitude will serve the League Two side well later in

the season. The final score 2-0 to Crystal Palace.

And you can see extended highlights of all the Carling Cup matches

later tonight on The League Cup Show at 11.30 here on BBC One.

East Grinstead striker Ashley Jackson has helped England thrash

France to reach the semi-finals of the European Hockey Championships

in Germany. Jackson grabbed a hat- trick in an impressive 8-1 victory

that sets up a likely clash on Friday against hosts Germany for a

place in the final. And good luck to Natalie Seymour from Canterbury,

along with her England colleagues, as they take on Netherlands

tomorrow in their european championships semi-final.

When a pregnant Demi Moore posed naked for the cover of a magazine,

it caused a sensation. Since then celebrities including Halle Berry,

Monica Belucci and most recently Mylene Klass have all recreated her

pose. Now a Sussex photographer who specialises in taking pictures of

pregnant women and their newborn babies has been named the South

East's Master Photographer of the year. Sarah Tate from Heathfield is

now in the running for a national title. Claudia Sermbezis reports.

Let's get him in position first so he is nice and comfy. Keep his arm

there if you want to. They beat Scott is six days old, but this is

his second visit to Serie -- Sarah Tate's studio. Last time, he was

not born. Now one of Sarah's images has been chosen as the best in the

South East. The pregnancy one, that one just stood out immediately, as

soon as I started editing it. The look on her face, the way she was

standing was lovely. It is something that I work for every

year. So to act to resubmit it, and then, one of the most prestigious

judges, a for him to actually pick my images and state some lovely

things about them was an ageing -- amazing pulled Judi was eight-and-

a-half months pregnant when she decided to have her photo taken.

were going to go a week later, and I am glad because I got stretch

marks overnight! The fashion for photographing pregnant women took

off three it -- 20 years ago after Demi Moore stripped off to show her

burgeoning band. I saw them in a magazine, and that is probably what

convinced me what it looked like. It was a really iconic image. I

think we have got one with Julie, it is a really good shop which will

go in our bedroom, because she does not want to show the rest of the

House! It will take pride of place. That is lovely, well done. Sarah

has also won an award for best children's portrayed with this shot.

Now her picture is in the running for the master photographer

national finals in October. That is like week -- that is what

we like to bring the at 6:30pm, It was quite a great start to the

day, -- quite a grey start. Mostly dry, into tomorrow, we will see a

heavy rain and light winds. It will be feeling cooler than today. Today,

initially we saw some showers first thing. They have been clearing. It

has been increased my dry. The weather fronts state well to the

Despite the breezes, it has felt a good deal warmer than yesterday. As

we move through the first part of the evening, and nice, fine and

bright evening. It stays dry into tonight, but the cloud cover will

be thickening. We will see rain at first thing tomorrow. Tonight, it

stays dry, quite a mild night. Initially, a dry starts to tomorrow.

Very quickly, the rain will be spreading across the South East,

some heavier pulses of living that. Because the breezes are fairly

light, is will not be moving quickly. Temperatures similar to

today but feeling cooler under that cement -- unsettled weather.

Tomorrow night, that rate will clear up east. -- the rain will

clear it east. We will have further rain pushing in it from the south.

Some heavier horses. -- some heavy horses. Unfortunately for Festival

Friday, it is looking fairly grotty. Take your umbrella as if you were

going along. That rain will be clearing, but it will be a dull

picture. Sorry about that! The area of low pressure is going to be

moving in across the south-east, eventually clearing away. By the

time we get to the weekend, high pressure building from the south-

west. The Iraq showers on Saturday but increasingly bright on Sunday.

I am ignoring the end of that bulletin! I will be dusting off my

wet suit. This week, we are going to Herne Bay.

When the sun is shining and summer is in full swing, there is nothing

better than getting out of the office to the seaside and that is

exactly what we are doing every Friday in August. We are entering

the festival spirit by taking South East Today out on the road to join

you at some of the biggest summer celebrations across Kent and Sussex.

We will be live on location each battle Friday and we would love as

many of you as possible to come along and join in the fund.

Bring your raincoat and join us this Friday at Herne Bay!

Let's have a look at the headlines. The Libyan capital has seen some of

the most intense clashes yet as rebel forces have come under

renewed fire of bright -- from diehard supporters of Colonel

Gaddafi. A mother from Chatham who admitted

taking part on a violent attack on a teenager has been spared a jail

sentence because he had been abusing her severely disabled