10/11/2011 South East Today

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

And I'm Rob Smith. Tonight's top stories:

A life sentence for the man described as "wicked" for starting

the house fire that killed a six- year-old in Sussex.

The killer who wants a sex change on the NHS, and the family of his

victim who say they are sickened that he might get it.

Also in tonight's programme: Margate is made ship-shape for a

Royal arrival - an autumn clean for the town ahead of the Queen's visit.

People are starting to take pride in the area a game, which is lovely

because it has a lot to offer. A Kent soldier's amazing tale of

survival when a pocket mirror saved him from deadly shrapnel during

World War Two. And half the man he used to be -

the Maidstone dieter who is happy to be a big loser, dropping 16

stone A South African man who murdered a

six-year-old Sussex schoolgirl by setting fire to her house, has been

jailed for life. The judge said George Sithole was a "wicked" man

who would serve at least 17 years behind bars for killing Dumo

Sibanda. Lewes Crown Court heard he had

started the blaze in Crawley in a jealous rage because his former

girlfriend was staying at the house. Natalie Graham reports.

It took seven years to bring it George Sithole to justice. He fled

to South Africa and was only arrested than last year, but today

the parents whose only child was killed in a fire that he started

saw him convicted of her murder. George Sithole was selfish enough

not to deal with the consequences of his actions at the time. He

refused to come forward when he knew he was sought for questioning.

He also resisted the extradition process, which led to the

extraordinary in his coming to the UK for the trial to take place and

allow us some closure. Dumo was six when she died in the fire at her

home in Crawley. George Sithole's former girlfriend was staying at

the house. He visited the family and even played with the girl, but

when his relationship ended he became angry. He was caught on CCTV

buying matches and petrol, clearly planning his revenge. On the night

the fire started there were three people in the head, Dumo, her

father, and George Sithole's ex- girlfriend. Dumo was asleep in the

back bedroom. Her father tried to rescue having a ladder against the

wall but the fire was to into tens. I didn't wake up on the night that

it happened -- I didn't wake up. I could hear a noise, it must have

been a fire engine. Every time I walk past the house I remember that

little girl's face, it is heart- wrenching. Dumo's mother set up a

website in memory of her daughter. She told the court she has never

forgiven herself for not being home the night that Dumo died, but

earlier in the day she had called and said she loved her. They also

told how their marriage had been ripped to shreds by the loss of

their daughter and their subsequent seven-year fight for justice.

Tonight, the man who caused such her it is beginning a life-sentence.

-- caused such hurt. The family of a disabled man who

was beaten to death in Sittingbourne are campaigning to

stop his killer getting a sex change in prison.

Relatives of Clive White say they are sickened that taxpayers could

be forced to foot the bill for treatment for Robert Page, who has

now legally changed his name to Emma. Simon Jones reports.

Killed with a hammer and axe after confronting a neighbour burgling

his flat. Clive White was found lying in a pool of blood in his

bedroom by his Qera in Sittingbourne in 2000. Robert Page,

who lived four doors away, is in jail for manslaughter, now seeking

a sex change, but his victim's family feel he has forfeited his

right. For this man to do this, it is absolutely despicable. That is

my only thing. I feel so hurt for these people that cannot get their

operations, and he can go ahead and get all of this done through the

taxpayers' money, that they are paying for him to have their own.

Robert Page, who uses the name Emma, is currently in Wakefield prison

where he is seeking so much of it. The only feeling is that he should

not have the rights. Whether it is this operation or something as, he

has no right to anything in this life, not in his life.

Department of Health said transsexual prisoners have the

right to receive the same range and quality of NHS treatments and

services as anyone else, including treatment for gender reassignment.

He is entitled to the same prison whether -- the same treatment

whether in prison or out of prison. It does not matter whether he is

transgender, suffering from mental illness or cancer concert -- or

cancer, the treatment is NHS treatment, standard procedure.

Department for Justice said tonight it could not talk about individual

prisoners. Simon Jones reporting, and he joins

us live now from Chatham. If this operation does go ahead, would he

be transferred to a women's prison? That is likely to be the case

because, by law, if a prisoner has a sex change operation they must be

treated as someone of the acquired sex, said that would be likely to

lead to a prison transfer. The ultimate decision about whether the

operation should proceed lies with the Primary Care Trust, who say it

would cost 10 to �11,000, but the victim's family here in Chatham

have launched a petition which they are putting out in Chatham and

Sittingbourne to try to stop this operation ever taking the place.

Thank you, Simon. In a moment:

Why Ashford has been named as the worst town for recycling in the

The people of Margate are hard at work cleaning, polishing and

generally sprucing up the seaside resort tonight, in readiness for a

royal visit. The Queen will mark Armistice Day

by meeting veterans in Margate tomorrow, and along with Prince

Philip will also be taking a tour of parts of the town.

Decorator's... Bunting... Even new hanging baskets. It all adds up to

one thing, the Queen is coming to town. I feel proud. It is nice to

have her come down and visit us for a change. We get left out Danny up.

It is nice to have something positive said about Margate because

every week to open a newspaper and it is also negative, people are

starting to take pride in the area again, which is lovely because it

has a lot to offer. It is a lovely seaside town and we have a Thame

climate, haven't we? But we don't tell people about that! -- we have

a micro-climate. Her Majesty and the Duke of Edinburgh are expected

to walk past the old town, passing it is pub on their way. They have

closed every road down here, they are to make a flat surge at about

6:30pm, we have had to give lists of names of staff who live in the

flats to the council and police, and literally if your name is not

down then I do not think they will letters into the pub in the morning

to get things done before we open! So a couple of problems, yes.

are making every effort to make sure Margate shows its best race

for Her Majesty. They are clearing away this rotting seaweed so there

is no stench to defend the Royal nostrils. They started work on it

last night to make sure it would be cleared in time. A seaside town,

you expect seaweed, but had fully on the day it will not cause an

offensive smell for Her Majesty. is anticipated the Queen will

arrive in fan at just after 11am tomorrow. -- in the Fastnet.

It is not the first time the Queen has come to Thanet. These photos

show her visiting Margate in 1948. And this footage sent in by another

of our viewers shows her visiting a factory in Broadstairs in 1993. A

bit of a change from her usual outfits in a lab coat and goggles

to complete the tour. That visit 18 years ago was

unforgettable for those who met her. We have tracked some of them down

ahead of tomorrow's royal visit. The most memorable day of my

membership in this club, it was quite amazing. In 1993, Her Majesty

visited the Royal Temple Yacht Club. She was in Ramsgate to launch a

life boat on behalf of the RNLI. Prince Philip was standing right in

front of me and he said, good morning, are you joining us for

lunch, old boy? I said, afraid not, sir, the senior police are Britain

are entertaining you and Her Majesty. He said, I will tell you

what I will do, I will save you some and let you know when I leave.

I thought no more about that, but what a character, and just as I was

leaving Prince Philip looked over and caught my eye and said, you had

better be quick, old boy, before they take my played a way! And off

they went. This is the invitation, the naming ceremony and dedication

of the life boat at Rams -- Ramsgate by Her Majesty the Queen.

We were all naturally so excited. I bought a new outfit, as usual, and

a hat to wear. We all went down, and the crowds on the harbour at

Ramsgate were unbelievable. You could not have a long conversation

with her because she had got so many other people to meet. She

always gives the impression that she is taller than you are, but she

is not, she is a very small person, actually. But I think she is

wonderful. What a day, it was amazing. We were told it was a

royal visit but we did not know who until quite late on, and then when

we found out it was the Queen it was... AU, that's brilliant, yeah.

Prince Philip and the Queen, they came to name the relief life boat

which has been named after her, and she came here to smash the bottle

over the front. Fortunately, it was not like one of the clips, it broke

first time! Tomorrow we will be broadcasting

live from Margate to mark the royal visit.

I'll be broadcasting live at 1.30pm and 6.30pm. And BBC Radio Kent have

a day of special programmes from Margate from 6am.

Lots to look forward to. The Government says queues at the

Dartford Crossing are now so bad there will have to be a new, third

Thames crossing to relieve the pressure. Ministers say they will

bring in new technology to speed things up by automatically billing

drivers, rather than making them go through toll booths. But Transport

Minister Mike Penning told the Commons this afternoon he does not

think that will be enough to solve the problem.

Two lifeboat crews came to the rescue of the skipper of a 30-foot

yacht after it ran aground off Beachy Head. Both the inshore and

all-weather RNLI lifeboats from Eastbourne took part in the rescue

yesterday evening, after the yacht struck a submerged ledge and began

taking on water. Sussex Police are hunting a man who

dragged a woman off the street as she walked home from a Brighton

nightclub and raped her. The 24- year-old was pulled from St James's

Street into the New Steine community gardens and attacked at

about 1:30am yesterday morning. This attack is not been linked to

any others at this time but we will review any information that comes

in. But I would say attacks like this are thankfully rare and it is

not being linked to anything else at the moment. Lynda Hardy joins us

live from Brighton. The police are appealing for anyone

who may have seen this man approaches victim to come forward?

Detectives say the man approached the woman on St James's Street and

tried to engage her in conversation before pulling her into the New

Steine community gardens behind the, where he raped her. He is described

as a white, tanned man aged 25-35, with jet black spiky hair. Tonight,

detectives are carrying out door- to-door inquiries in the area to

find any more information and they are, of course, appealing for any

witnesses to this attack to come forward.

Thank you. A formal complaint has been

officially lodged against the Bishop of Lewes, Bishop Wallace

Benn. The complaint, which has been received by Lambeth Palace, is

understood to be the first ever made by a safeguarding group

against an Anglican Bishop. It comes three months after we

exclusively revealed that the Bishop had provided significantly

inaccurate information to an inquiry into two paedophile priests.

Our home affairs correspondent Colin Campbell has the latest.

We understand the formal complaint which has been lodged against

Bishop Wallace Benn relate to alleged child safeguarding mistakes.

It is absolutely vital that if we are to keep our children safe that

people involved in child protection such as clergy in the higher

echelons of the Church have got to be very vigilant and follow these

protocols to the letter, otherwise our children are in the danger.

formal complaint was to live at Lambeth Palace on Wednesday and is

understood to be the first time a safeguarding grip has ever lodged a

formal complaint against a Church of England bishop. The Archbishop

of Canterbury has 28 days to decide what to do next. He must choose to

either progress with the disciplinary process or dismissed

the complaint altogether. If it is disciplined -- recognised as a

disciplinary matter, he must decide whether Bishop Wallace Benn should

be suspended. Choir by Gary Johnson was abused as a child. The man who

abused him was allowed to continue serving. He described his complaint

as a significant event. fundamental failings in the out

said affected me hugely because of the abuse as a third but in the

last 25 years the continued failings and problems within the

diocese of Chichester and the Church of England only served to

deepen those rooms. He could not resist it -- we could not resisted

when at the last minute we were contacted by a bishop... Appearing

on Top gear in 2002, the Bishop of Lewes has not in the past shied

from the spotlight, but we were unable to get any response from him

regarding this complaint. Our top story tonight:

A South African who murdered a six- year-old Sussex schoolgirl by

setting fire to her house has been jailed for life. The judge said

George Sithole was a "wicked" man who would serve at least 17 years

behind bars for killing Dumo Sibanda in Crawley seven years ago.

Also in tonight's programme: How a dented mirror and a piece of

shrapnel pay testament to one man's amazing tale of survival in World

War Two. And the Maidstone man on a high

When they were named and shamed a year ago as the worst council in

the country for recycling, Ashford borough councillors said it was

"indefensible" and promised change. 12 months on and the situation

appears to have actually got worse. While Tunbridge Wells is the South

East's top performer, recycling 46% of its waste, when the national

average is 41%, in Ashford the rate is just 14%, down from 15% last

year. Our environment correspondent Yvette Austin is live for us in

Ashford now. Bottom-of-the-table for a second

year running, this is embarrassing for the council? Indeed it is, many

millions of pounds have been spent here in recent years on

regeneration. This is one of the showcase areas. Ivor there, the

international station, gateway to Europe. Cross to Europe and

reciting figures are as high as 60% in some countries. In Ashford, they

are 14%. Ashford, Kent's fastest-growing

town. Modern, futuristic in parts, but despite its multi-million pound

developments its record on rubbish spoils the image. For the second

year in a row, the borough has come bottom of the country's recycling

league table. Last year it promised to do better, what has gone wrong?

You spoke to me last year that problems with recycling. If I show

you this, this is what you said... We have secured funding for the

blue box scheme, rolling back out to 9,000 homes, a significant

number. We will introduce a green waste system on a pilot basis and

we are looking to examine how we can recycle plastics. There are a

lot of problems but we will that at that.

You had big plans, what has happened? You are the lowest in the

country and figures are worse. have not got worse, we have done

what I said we would do in that interview. We have introduced 9,000

blue boxes, so now we have 9,000 more homes with blue boxes for

recycling, bringing us to a total of 37,000 homes, and that is

working. That is not reflected in these figures. Some residents are

not happy. Geoff Meaden has to take all of his recycling two miles away

to Binns in a car park. This is our dustbin, it has to take everything,

we do not get any recycling facilities from the council and so

everything goes in there. What a waste. This is Ashford Borough

Council all over. We have got no worries about recycling, they have

greater priorities, building houses on green field sites instead of

doing something grey. What is not recycled in Ashford goes to be

incinerated in a plant near Maidstone. The council promises

last will go -- less will go there net Steer.

The council is speaking with a determined voice. It says figures

will be better next year but says the big change will be in 2013 when

it enters into a new waste contract and new waste strategy offering

more collections of different types of waste. It does not want to be in

this position again. Thank you.

Bill Betteridge from Maidstone was serving in the Ardennes in World

War Two when a blast from a German artillery shell killed the comrade

fighting alongside him. Bill was hit by shrapnel as well,

but almost miraculously was not seriously injured. Peter Whittlesea

has been to meet him. In 1943, Bill Betteridge was just

17 and a half. He volunteered and joined the Grenadier Guards. The

young Guardsman was issued with his kit, which included his Army Pay

Book and regulations stainless- steel mirror. He could never have

imagined how important this metal rectangle would prove to be.

think it saved my life at the time, yet. I had it in my breast pocket

here. Very important. If that had gone through, broken through

totally, it would have caused quite a bit of damage into my chest,

possibly the heart. It happened on December 12th, 1944. Bill was in

the Ardennes relieving American troops as the Allies advanced

further into Germany. When the shell exploded, his pay book was in

the breast pocket next to the Mirror. The pay book was destroyed.

He had to be issued with a new one which unequivocally verifies that

his mirror saved him from a shrapnel wound. The actual book

that got damaged had a hole right through it. You will never get the

full story of anything unless you have got proof. The proof is that,

apart from a shrapnel and the Mirror, that was army recognition

by enemy action. For Bill, the Mirror and the piece of shrapnel

are cherished possessions which he plans to lead to his eldest

grandson. -- plans to leave to his eldest grandson.

An amazing story. For Brandon Mower, the moment he

realised he really had to do something about his weight was when

he became stuck in a train seat. 32 stone at the time, he missed his

stop as a result, and ended up changing his life.

Now he has successfully battled the bulge, and even become a weight

loss coach, helping people across Kent. Alex Beard reports.

Brandon Mower is half the man he used to be. Literally. He used to

raise 32 stone and over the last five years has managed to shed 16

of the M. My mum, bless her, I went to a family party and she

acknowledged me and it took about a minute to realise it was made,

which was quite funny at the time! It was a rush hour to meet which

kick-started his weight loss journey. He became wedged in his

seat and had to stay on until the end of the lie. I just got stuck. I

could not get up, and realised I was actually that there. His issues

with food started at a young age. He was only 13 in this photograph.

Now he is at a healthy rate for his 6 ft 2 frame and the benefits of

his weight loss are more than just being able to shop in a regular

store. I no longer have asthma, the risk of diabetes, I have lost my

stutter, I used to stutter quite a lot when I was nervous all the time.

The boost in confidence has seen Brandon moved from his career in

graphic design and retrain as a weight loss coach. He is a true

inspiration because you read about these stories but very rarely do

you need these people. On my way last journey, we had about him in

the meetings and spoke about him, and I finally got to meet him on

the training course and see from a self. Brandon is a self confessed

to alcoholic, but the difference now is that he only has a small

amount each day rather than a family-sized bar. -- a self-

confessed chocolate fan. Becoming an Olympic swimmer takes

hours of dedication and practice. But it is ten-year-old Charlotte

Baker's dream, and the youngster from Peacehaven is determined to

pursue it. And she is doing it at the same

time as caring for her disabled mother, and her older sister, who

has autism. That is why she has won a national award for being Young

Swimmer of the Year in recognition of her hard work in and out of the

water. John Young reports. At an age when most children are

watching their parents run around them, Charlotte Blake is doing the

housework, helping with the Evening Mail and helping her mother, who

has severe problems getting about. -- helping with the evening meal.

Her older sister has autism. This is her passion, she only took it up

recently. I trained five times a week, Monday evening, Tuesday

morning, Wednesday morning, Thursday evening, Friday evening

and Saturday morning. In case you thought you may have misheard, that

is five times a week, at least 10 hours in total. Last week she got

her reward, being declared Youngs will of the year at a national

award ceremony. -- yonks remark of the year. Her memories are still

fresh this morning. I am trying to get internationals and if I came

that that I will try to swim in the end in the X. I am so proud of her.

Life did not turn out how I expected it to, but she gets me out

of bed in the morning and gives me something to focus on. Charlotte

clearly knows what she is focusing on once she has taken care of her

family, and it is all squeezed in around what most ten-year-olds do

most days, it. Congratulations.

We are going to check on the weather now.

It is the same old, same old every night. It is mild yet again and

that is how it is staying for at least another fortnight, possibly,

as well. Mild, cloudy, temperatures down to nine or 10 degrees,

currently about 10 or 11. Once again, the cloud thickens enough to

give us have used bits of drizzle, but other than that mainly dry --

to give us a few spots of drizzle. A cloudy and dull start to the day,

similar to many mornings this week, but as we go through into lunchtime

and the afternoon at cloud will tend to think and we will see some

sunny spells yet again like we have had for the last few days. Not that

I am ungrateful! Temperatures slightly above average, 13 or 14

degrees. The big change tomorrow is the winds getting stronger, getting

up to 50 miles an hour, if not 20 miles an hour around the south

coast -- 15 miles an hour. That is the reminder that it is nearly

December. Temperatures tomorrow will be a couple of degrees lower

than today. But it is a one-off, as we go into tomorrow night, although

the winds carry on strengthening and we get a chance of some drizzle

or showers on Saturday, we are still drawing in this mild air and

bathing temperatures will, once again, get to 15 or 16 degrees,

which is what we had today. On Saturday, some pretty warm

temperatures like we would often see in May. The average at this

time of year should be 11 degrees. On Sunday, no great change. Even

the charts, looking into next week, and beyond that, we are still

holding on to the mild temperatures by both day and night. No fingers

of frost by night-time just yet. Friday week is Children In Need

night, and this is how you can help us raise money this year. BBC Radio

Kent and BBC Sussex are hosting charity screenings of the classic

musical Grease, and we'd like to invite you along.

We have two screenings: The Sussex one is at Cineworld in Brighton and

the Kent one is at Cineworld in Ashford. Both are next Tuesday at