:00:07. > :00:10.Welcome to South East Today, I'm Polly Evans. And I'm Rob Smith.
:00:10. > :00:16.Tonight's top stories: Hunting the hoaxer - police release CCTV
:00:16. > :00:20.pictures of a man they want to talk to over Canterbury's bomb scare.
:00:20. > :00:23.This is a very serious incident that's caused a lot of disruption
:00:23. > :00:26.and carries a very weighty prison sentence and we are keen to
:00:26. > :00:28.identify who is responsible and make sure they're brought to
:00:28. > :00:30.justice. A rising tide of homelessness? As
:00:30. > :00:36.the economic squeeze continues, charities warn more and more
:00:36. > :00:40.families are at risk. Also tonight: Walking for the victims; the
:00:40. > :00:50.brother of a Kent woman killed by her husband sets off on a 150 mile
:00:50. > :00:56.
:00:56. > :00:59.journey to raise awareness. The teenager who turned his life
:00:59. > :01:02.around to become the youngest ever student at the London School of
:01:02. > :01:05.Musical Theatre. The oldest swimmer in town; at 70
:01:05. > :01:11.years and 4 months old Roger Allsopp breaks the record for the
:01:12. > :01:21.Channel crossing. I am feeling very elated to have done it but a bit
:01:22. > :01:25.
:01:25. > :01:27.rough, mostly everything's been Good evening.
:01:27. > :01:30.Police investigating two bomb hoaxes in Canterbury on Friday,
:01:30. > :01:37.which brought much of the city centre to a standstill have
:01:37. > :01:41.released CCTV images of a man they want to speak to. Detectives say
:01:41. > :01:44.they're determined to bring whoever was responsible to justice. More
:01:44. > :01:48.than 100 officers were involved in the incident, which began on Friday
:01:49. > :01:54.afternoon and wasn't resolved until the next day. Dressed in cycling
:01:54. > :01:58.gear and wearing a rucksack, this is the man the police want to speak
:01:58. > :02:02.to. This individual was near to Marks & Spencer at the time of the
:02:02. > :02:06.second incident. He has been behaving in a way that's unusual
:02:06. > :02:11.for the area of that particular time. As you can see from the
:02:11. > :02:16.pictures, he appears to be heavily disguised. We are keen to see if
:02:16. > :02:20.anybody can identify who this is, let us know. The normal bustling
:02:20. > :02:27.city centre in lockdown. This was Canterbury on Friday night as fear
:02:27. > :02:32.of the unknown spread. Some caught up directly in the drama. We all
:02:32. > :02:36.just evacuated, so, yeah, had to get out of there. How worrying was
:02:36. > :02:43.it? Very, I was traumatised. started when the emergency services
:02:43. > :02:47.were called to a hoax device at the railway line in Old Dover Road at
:02:47. > :02:50.4.21. About 50 minutes later the fire service were called to Marks &
:02:50. > :02:54.Spencer where staff had discovered a fire in the baby changing area.
:02:54. > :02:59.The city centre was closed off while police investigated the
:02:59. > :03:05.incidents. It wasn't reopened until 2.57 the following morning.
:03:05. > :03:12.actual gate to where they found the device was there and they went down
:03:12. > :03:18.into - on to the line, and found whatever, a package of some sort,
:03:18. > :03:22.came back up and came to the pub, told us to move. The area around
:03:22. > :03:27.the railway line remained cordoned off for hours, closing one of the
:03:27. > :03:30.main routes into Canterbury. In all, around 100 police officers were
:03:30. > :03:35.involved along with the army bomb disposal team, this was an
:03:35. > :03:43.operation that cost big money. The police say the motive remains
:03:43. > :03:53.unclear. But they're circulating these pictures beyond Kent in their
:03:53. > :03:53.
:03:53. > :03:56.hunt for information. Homelessness could spread to the middle classes
:03:56. > :03:58.if the economy continues to stall, charities are warning, with
:03:58. > :04:01.evidence that even places like Crawley, which once had 0%
:04:01. > :04:04.unemployment, is now feeling the strain. Homeless charity Open House
:04:04. > :04:09.turned away 2,450 people who wanted a bed for the night over the last
:04:09. > :04:12.12 months, that's an increase of 14% from the previous year. And the
:04:12. > :04:19.local council says there is also a 12% rise in households waiting to
:04:19. > :04:24.be accommodated, to 3,188 Jon Hunt reports.
:04:24. > :04:28.They know they're busy than normal at this homeless hostel and day
:04:28. > :04:34.centre because the kitchen has been running out of baked beans sufpb is
:04:34. > :04:38.the demand for breakfast. I used to finish breakfast about half ten,
:04:38. > :04:41.quarter to 11, now I am not much finished before lunch. Danny
:04:41. > :04:44.Armstrong came to the hostel after his relationship broke down. He
:04:44. > :04:50.used to run his own small business, but he is now having difficulty
:04:50. > :04:53.getting that going again. To be in this place at 28 years old, it's
:04:53. > :04:57.soul-destroying to be honest with you. You know, to think of what I
:04:57. > :05:02.could have had if I hadn't embarked on this relationship, you know, if
:05:02. > :05:08.I stayed and worked at what I was doing, things would be a lot
:05:08. > :05:15.different now, yeah. According to centre staff here increasing
:05:15. > :05:20.increasingly the client ele is changing. They're falling on hard
:05:20. > :05:24.times because of the recession, as opposed to people more long-term
:05:24. > :05:30.homeless. The centre takes in homeless people from all over the
:05:30. > :05:33.south-east, but they only have 24 adult beds available. A of people -
:05:33. > :05:38.- a number of people they can't help has been rising, in the last
:05:38. > :05:42.year alone they've had to turn away almost 2,500 people. Their only
:05:42. > :05:46.inspection is to sleep rough, sometimes even outside the hostel
:05:46. > :05:51.gates and they predict here it's only going to get worse.
:05:51. > :05:56.someone's been asked to leave a tenancy it could take months to
:05:56. > :05:59.evict because they've rights, so there's a lot more to come and our
:05:59. > :06:02.incomes will increase and possibly funding will decrease, it's going
:06:02. > :06:09.to be hard. It's more than two years since the recession started
:06:09. > :06:12.and now now its worst effects are beginning to bite.
:06:12. > :06:16.Kay Boycott is from the homelessness charity Shelter and
:06:16. > :06:19.joins us now from Westminster. We heard there that they're seeing
:06:19. > :06:24.more people from the professional classes but homelessness still much
:06:24. > :06:27.more likely to affect people from poorer backgrounds, isn't it? Is
:06:27. > :06:32.middle class homelessness a real concern? At the moment every two
:06:32. > :06:36.minutes someone faces losing their home so this is something that goes
:06:36. > :06:39.across everybody. Of course if you are on low are incomes and you have
:06:39. > :06:43.less of a financial cushion then you are more likely to face
:06:43. > :06:48.eviction or repossession but we are seeing increasing numbers of middle
:06:48. > :06:52.class people affected. There were over 40,000 repossessions this year
:06:52. > :06:55.and that's set to continue and that's before interest rates go up.
:06:55. > :06:59.There is still far more people who don't own their own homes than
:06:59. > :07:02.people who do and whilst wages are falling behind interest rates
:07:03. > :07:07.remain low. So for some people actually the cost of living isn't
:07:07. > :07:11.as much as it has been. No, well certainly in terms of housing costs
:07:11. > :07:14.interest rates have helped but we see private sector wages have been
:07:14. > :07:17.squeezed across everywhere living costs are going up so the numbers
:07:17. > :07:21.of people coming to us who are saying they've been trying to keep
:07:21. > :07:25.their head above water, maybe taking on extra jobs if work is
:07:25. > :07:29.available but they're seeing drops in income and one small thing can
:07:29. > :07:33.tip them over the edge. With the prospect of a interest rate rise in
:07:33. > :07:38.future this is a time for people to look at budgets and finances and
:07:38. > :07:42.say let's ditch those extras, those lifestyle extras that we may be
:07:42. > :07:50.won't be be able to affords in six months? Lots of people have already
:07:50. > :07:53.done that and millions of people are saying even a 1% rise could tip
:07:53. > :07:58.them over. If you think you are going to miss a payment you must
:07:58. > :08:00.seek advice. Go to Shelter, go to citizens stebs citizens -- Citizens
:08:00. > :08:03.Advice Bureau, there are many people just about keeping it
:08:03. > :08:10.together and if interest rates go up that could worsen significantly.
:08:11. > :08:16.Thank you. Coming up:. Give me a call, please!
:08:16. > :08:26.Seriously, give me a call. One call was all it took, the student who
:08:26. > :08:30.
:08:30. > :08:33.persuaded Steve Coogan to take a role in his horror movie.
:08:33. > :08:38.The brother of a Kent woman murdered by her husband began a 150
:08:38. > :08:41.mile walk today, on behalf of the victims of crime and their families.
:08:41. > :08:44.Peter Morris from Gillingham started his campaign following the
:08:44. > :08:47.conviction of Malcolm Webster earlier this year. Webster had
:08:47. > :08:50.faked a car accident in which his wife Claire burned to death to
:08:50. > :08:53.pocket �200,000 in insurance. The crime was only uncovered when he
:08:53. > :08:58.attempted to kill his second wife by setting up another car smash.
:08:58. > :09:02.Robin Gibson reports. He set out to walk 150 miles to the
:09:02. > :09:06.Scottish parliament from his sister's grave. It's an unmarked
:09:06. > :09:11.grave now, the family of Claire Morris successfully campaigned to
:09:11. > :09:15.have the headstone dedicated to a dear wife removed. It had been
:09:15. > :09:19.placed there by the husband who killed her. This walk is not about
:09:19. > :09:23.me. What I have been through and my family are just examples. They're
:09:23. > :09:27.just examples of what victims of crime have to go through. I am very
:09:27. > :09:31.much hoping that as I walk down to Holyrood I will meet other people
:09:32. > :09:36.and they will give me their stories as well. For 17 years Claire's
:09:36. > :09:42.husband Malcolm Webster managed to pass off her death as a tragic road
:09:42. > :09:47.accident. But in 1999 he tried to kill his second wife in New Zealand
:09:47. > :09:51.in another accident. Detectives reinvestigated Claire's death and
:09:52. > :09:59.in May Webster was convicted of her murder. The motive each time had
:09:59. > :10:02.been money. The ordeal of Claire's murder and its aftermath spurred
:10:02. > :10:07.the Morris family to join campaigners who want the rights of
:10:07. > :10:12.both the victims and their families recognised. The bereaved family,
:10:12. > :10:17.their needs are secondary to the crim criminal. His or her human
:10:17. > :10:21.rights have to be respected at every moment through the process.
:10:21. > :10:27.But nobody really considers the human rights of either the victim,
:10:27. > :10:32.who is dead, or the bereaved family. I heard a story of a lady in London
:10:32. > :10:35.whose son was murdered and after the court case she didn't go out of
:10:35. > :10:42.her house for five years and my question as far as that's concerned
:10:42. > :10:46.recovery? There are two long roads and there's a gap between the two
:10:46. > :10:49.roads which people can fall down. The walk in part will raise funds
:10:49. > :10:59.to build a refuge for victims' families as well as raising
:10:59. > :11:01.
:11:01. > :11:04.awareness of their treatment during murder cases.
:11:04. > :11:07.A Kent Hospital's decided to take off the words "do not disturb" from
:11:07. > :11:10.signs worn by nurses giving out drugs to patients. Managers at the
:11:10. > :11:12.Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital in Margate said the red
:11:12. > :11:15.tabards were designed to prevent nurses from being distracted,
:11:15. > :11:18.reducing the number of mistakes on the hospital wards, but they're
:11:18. > :11:25.taking off the three words to avoid misinterpretation by visitors and
:11:25. > :11:28.other members of staff. Detectives have released images of five men
:11:29. > :11:31.they want to talk to after a teenager was attacked and had his
:11:31. > :11:37.moped stolen at Strood railway station. The 17-year-old from
:11:37. > :11:45.Rochester was approached by a group of people, and punched in the face.
:11:45. > :11:48.He escaped with a friend on another moped along Rochester High Street.
:11:48. > :11:51.Police and social services want to speak to the mother of a four-year-
:11:51. > :11:54.old girl who was found home alone in Crawley. The girl was discovered
:11:54. > :11:57.after a 16-year-old boy was arrested in the Maidenbower area of
:11:57. > :12:00.the town on suspicion of a driving offence, while the child's mother
:12:00. > :12:05.was apparantly away on holiday. Rebecca Barry is in Maidenbower now.
:12:05. > :12:08.How did the police make this discover? It started here, in the
:12:08. > :12:12.early hours of yesterday morning two teenagers were stopped by
:12:12. > :12:16.police on suspicion of being in a stolen car. It was only when police
:12:16. > :12:21.began their further inquiries that they found a four-year-old girl
:12:21. > :12:24.alone at a home nearby. One of the 16-year-old boys was subs kwebtly -
:12:24. > :12:29.- subsequently arrested on suspicion of child neglect. It's
:12:29. > :12:32.thought he had been left in charge while the mother was on holiday. I
:12:32. > :12:37.have been speaking to people here and they're shocked by the
:12:37. > :12:41.allegations. It's a quiet area popular with young families. Police
:12:41. > :12:50.say they expect the mother to return to the UK tonight. Until
:12:50. > :12:53.then the west Sussex County Council say the child is being cared for.
:12:53. > :12:56.Kent Fire & Rescue Service have revealed they intend to close a
:12:56. > :12:59.number of fire stations to save money. The Service must find cost
:12:59. > :13:01.savings of �12 million - 25% of its budget. Fire chiefs have, however,
:13:01. > :13:11.guaranteed there will be no compulsory redundancies. Our home
:13:11. > :13:20.affair correspondent, Colin It's a Kent Fire and Rescue have 64
:13:20. > :13:26.stations and they accept some will have to close. We cannot give a
:13:26. > :13:31.definitive answer. It is important to think about if we are in the
:13:31. > :13:37.right place. The service must save �12 million over the next three
:13:37. > :13:46.years. It has 1500 firefighters, half of them part-time. 70 full-
:13:46. > :13:50.time posts will be lost through natural wastage. We have a
:13:50. > :13:56.traditional fire engine that club - - carries equipment and a large
:13:56. > :14:02.number of firefighters. We want to use resources to better effect.
:14:02. > :14:06.says it is being innovative. The use of new equipment will save
:14:06. > :14:11.several million. Smaller rapid- response vehicles are on trial.
:14:11. > :14:16.time you will be able to use it with fewer people. Get in and deal
:14:16. > :14:20.with the fire and save the life- saving equipment for when the
:14:20. > :14:24.public need it. Kent is the first service in the country to push
:14:24. > :14:28.through controversial changes to Retained firefighters contract.
:14:28. > :14:34.They have become part-time firefighters. A number have quit
:14:34. > :14:38.over changes. I unfortunately, under the old system, we could not
:14:38. > :14:43.provide the guarantee across individual areas that we have the
:14:43. > :14:48.right level of resources in place. Now we can provide the fire cover
:14:48. > :14:54.at the right time and according to the risk in place. Like many
:14:54. > :15:01.organisations, it is facing one of its biggest challenges. In order to
:15:01. > :15:09.save millions, there are fears safety could be put at risk. Our
:15:09. > :15:15.reporter joins us. Have you had any response from the union? The union
:15:15. > :15:20.chose not to provide a television interview. I spoke to the Secretary
:15:20. > :15:24.for the union in Kent over the telephone. He said he is concerned
:15:24. > :15:29.that there will be fewer firefighters in Kent who will have
:15:29. > :15:35.to work longer hours and much harder. That could be a safety
:15:35. > :15:40.issue. He said he is concerned about potential closure of fire
:15:40. > :15:45.stations. He said he would oppose any that are earmarked. It is not
:15:45. > :15:53.clear how many stations would close. We understand an announcement will
:15:53. > :15:58.be made in October. The top story tonight. Police investigating to
:15:58. > :16:03.bomb hoaxes in Canterbury on Friday that brought the city centre to a
:16:03. > :16:06.standstill have released CCTV of a man they want to speak to.
:16:06. > :16:13.Detectives are determined to bring any body responsible to justice.
:16:13. > :16:20.Also, 70 years and four months old, Roger Allsopp is the oldest person
:16:20. > :16:29.to swim the Channel. It has been about shades of grey today. Will it
:16:29. > :16:34.brighten up over the next couple of days? Join me later to find out.
:16:34. > :16:38.The teenage tearaway falling in with the wrong crowd in danger of
:16:38. > :16:43.going off the rails and rescued by a starring role in the school
:16:43. > :16:48.production. It sounds like a plot from a movie, but Alaric Green has
:16:48. > :16:52.lift it. And since we featured him on the programme, he has lost more
:16:52. > :17:02.than five stone in weight and become the youngest student to be
:17:02. > :17:06.
:17:06. > :17:12.taken in by the London School of Musical Theatre.
:17:12. > :17:18.It is hard to believe that this is the voice of a teenager. What is
:17:18. > :17:24.more remarkable is that Alaric Green had no idea he could sing.
:17:24. > :17:27.This and rich baritone voice has landed him a place at the London
:17:27. > :17:35.School of Musical Theatre where, at 17, he will be the younger student
:17:36. > :17:44.ever. In the audition I thought everything was wrong, my answers
:17:44. > :17:49.were wrong, it was nerve-racking. I had a second and again got
:17:49. > :17:59.everything wrong in my eyes. They said come to the school, and I was
:17:59. > :18:03.
:18:03. > :18:08.amazed. He made his debut in a school production 18 months ago.
:18:08. > :18:12.Immediately, the producer knew he had something special. In it is an
:18:12. > :18:18.extraordinary voice. He needed to go somewhere that would know what
:18:18. > :18:24.to do with it. The head of music said, I am thrilled I am going to
:18:24. > :18:29.have this fabulous baseline through every song. I thought of him
:18:29. > :18:32.standing at the back of booming through everything! In discovery of
:18:32. > :18:42.the straw in -- extraordinary voice has been a turning point in more
:18:42. > :18:43.
:18:43. > :18:48.ways than one. When I look back, I think he was a depressed child. It
:18:48. > :18:55.gave him the confidence to lose weight. He used to be awkward
:18:55. > :19:00.around people. He is now Mr Popular. This opportunity has given him a
:19:00. > :19:10.chance to take his life in a different direction. As long as he
:19:10. > :19:12.
:19:12. > :19:17.keeps his feet firmly on the ground, the sky is the limit.
:19:17. > :19:21.You might think that turning a school project into a full-length
:19:21. > :19:25.feature film is impressive. 17- year-old Liam Hooper has gone one
:19:25. > :19:34.better by persuading an international movie actor to appear
:19:35. > :19:44.in it. A horror story, Darkwood Manor, started life at a school in
:19:45. > :19:51.
:19:51. > :20:00.Brighton. It is finished and star Steve Coogan. He is behind you! The
:20:00. > :20:06.school is about -- it is about a school trip that goes wrong. A
:20:06. > :20:10.there is an aspect of in not taking itself too seriously.
:20:10. > :20:17.Just to reassure you, the Queen is not dead.
:20:17. > :20:20.In is not just horror that has influenced him, but comedy. He is a
:20:20. > :20:30.fan of Steve Coogan and jumped at the chance to feature him after
:20:30. > :20:30.
:20:30. > :20:38.discovering a friend of his new him. I am a big fan. I was holding back
:20:38. > :20:43.on things I wanted to say. He was very polite and professional. This
:20:43. > :20:50.is where we shot one of the most brutal scenes in the film. It was
:20:50. > :20:55.quite scary. He began work on the film three years ago while still at
:20:55. > :21:01.school. He asked fellow pupils and teachers to take part. Walking
:21:01. > :21:07.along the corridor, he said Sir, do you want to be an eye film? Two
:21:07. > :21:12.months later his script arrived on my desk and I realised I got myself
:21:12. > :21:22.into something bigger than I thought. This is the location for
:21:22. > :21:25.the mysterious Darkwood Manor. is where we shot the death.
:21:25. > :21:35.film will premiere at midnight in September at the Duke of York
:21:35. > :21:37.
:21:37. > :21:42.picture house. Today is transfer deadline day for
:21:42. > :21:46.football clubs. One deal that was done was Charlton goalkeeper Roger
:21:46. > :21:53.Levitt -- Rob Elliott has moved to Newcastle, coached by former
:21:53. > :21:57.Charlton boss Alan Pardew. Meanwhile, Gillingham's Simon King
:21:57. > :22:01.has joined Plymouth on a one-month loan.
:22:01. > :22:06.Crawley Town were knocked out of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy after
:22:06. > :22:11.losing to Southend United. It was this penalty from Liam Dickinson
:22:11. > :22:15.who was later sent off for violent conduct, that gave the hosts a 1-0
:22:15. > :22:20.victory. In cricket, Luke Wright has
:22:20. > :22:26.undergone surgery on his right knee. The England one-day international
:22:26. > :22:31.has not played since July but his coach says he is recovering well.
:22:31. > :22:36.A retired surgeon has achieved his ambition to set a world record as
:22:36. > :22:42.the oldest person to swim the English Channel at the age of 70
:22:42. > :22:46.years and four months. Roger Allsopp left Shakespeare Beach 8am
:22:46. > :22:53.yesterday. By seven in the evening, he had only reached the halfway
:22:53. > :22:58.mark. Finally, after 17 hours and 51 minutes, he arrived in France at
:22:58. > :23:03.around 2am today. Delighted and exhausted in equal
:23:03. > :23:11.measure. This morning, Roger Allsopp climbed out of the sea and
:23:11. > :23:16.into the record books. I am feeling elated to have done it. It was a
:23:16. > :23:23.bit rough. Everything has been shaken up and most things are
:23:23. > :23:31.hurting. A was it as you expected? It was more taxing. There was a
:23:31. > :23:38.north wind. It was the only time we could have gone in the last ten
:23:38. > :23:46.days. After months of training, the swim took almost 18 hours. A battle
:23:46. > :23:50.with tidied and tired nurse. At 70, he is the oldest person to have
:23:50. > :23:55.achieved this win -- tired and us. The first was Captain Webb. Since
:23:55. > :24:00.then hundreds have tried it but fewer than 10% go the distance.
:24:00. > :24:06.This was an incredible challenge for Roger Allsopp, and also one
:24:06. > :24:10.with a greater purpose, to raise money for equipment for research to
:24:10. > :24:17.offer early warning signals for cancer. He is a retired breast-
:24:17. > :24:22.cancer surgeon. He used to come in every week for many years. He sees
:24:22. > :24:28.what we do in the laboratories and he sees the patients. The challenge
:24:28. > :24:32.of the channel has been a regular fundraiser. This comedian ran it
:24:32. > :24:42.for sport relief. One famous face may be sorry to see this latest
:24:42. > :24:43.
:24:43. > :24:51.record. The uncle of Matt Damon was the previous oldest swimmer. He was
:24:52. > :24:59.75 days. Roger Allsopp is 70 years and four months.
:24:59. > :25:05.Our reporter joins us live. It was an extraordinary thing to do.
:25:05. > :25:09.slowly recovering but resting at a hotel. When I met him, he was
:25:09. > :25:15.clearly exhausted. No surprise. He arrived in France in the early
:25:15. > :25:19.hours and came back without any sleep and taught to the press. I
:25:19. > :25:26.asked him if he was planning another challenge. He looked at me
:25:26. > :25:32.as if I was mad. I think he is glad to be back on dry land. Having a
:25:32. > :25:39.well-earned rest! We will check on the weather. There
:25:39. > :25:46.is news of possible sunshine. Fingers crossed. It has been a grey
:25:46. > :25:51.day today. It did stay dry. Fingers crossed for the rest of the week.
:25:51. > :25:56.Decent spells of the sunshine. It should be feeling warmer. At the
:25:56. > :26:05.moment we have high pressure in control. Normally, we would see
:26:05. > :26:12.plenty of blue skies, but we have cloud caught under of that. We had
:26:12. > :26:17.light winds. Temperatures as high as 18 degrees. Staying dry as we
:26:17. > :26:25.move into tonight. Clearer skies to end the night. It is not feeling
:26:25. > :26:30.too bad. Overnight, getting down to 11 degrees. It will be a bright
:26:30. > :26:40.start to the day. Holding on to the sunshine. The wind will move to an
:26:40. > :26:46.
:26:46. > :26:51.easterly direction through the day. Picking up a touch. Tomorrow night,
:26:51. > :27:01.a variable amounts of the cloud. We could see the odd light shower. It
:27:01. > :27:07.will be mostly dry. Temperatures in double figures. To end the week, it
:27:08. > :27:12.will be a bright Friday. Up to 25 degrees and plenty of sunshine. It
:27:12. > :27:20.will be feeling more like summer than today. For the weekend, on
:27:20. > :27:26.Saturday, dry and bright. As you can see, this area of low pressure