:00:08. > :00:11.Welcome to South East Today. By Rob Smith. And I'm Polly Evans.
:00:11. > :00:14.He cannot believe he survived, an exclusive interview with the man
:00:15. > :00:19.who escaped unhurt after a falling tree killed his friend who was
:00:19. > :00:26.sitting next to him. I was watching my cigarette, went to like it,
:00:26. > :00:29.dropped my lighter, bent down to pick it up. As there was a big bang.
:00:29. > :00:34.The six year-old who sat on a hypodermic needle on her
:00:34. > :00:39.Southeastern train. Her mother says she is considering legal action. We
:00:39. > :00:43.are live with the details. After criticism from the Chandlers,
:00:43. > :00:48.MPs tell government they must review policy on pirates and
:00:48. > :00:52.consider shooting to kill. The rarest big cats in the world,
:00:52. > :00:56.and be assured cat -- charity hoping their breeding programme can
:00:56. > :01:00.save the Amur leopard. -- the Ashford charity.
:01:00. > :01:10.He is a big hitter in the NFL who grew up playing schoolboy football
:01:10. > :01:14.
:01:15. > :01:21.Good evening. A man who survived after a tree fell on the van that
:01:21. > :01:24.he was in, killing his close friend and boss, says he is coming to --
:01:24. > :01:28.struggling to come to terms with the accident. Barry Martin was
:01:28. > :01:35.sitting next to Chris Hayes when he died during the storms on Tuesday
:01:35. > :01:39.in Tunbridge RAS. The ban he was in, flattened by an
:01:39. > :01:42.enormous tree. When he looks at these pictures, Barry Martin cannot
:01:42. > :01:48.believe he is alive and only because he dropped his cigarette
:01:48. > :01:53.lighter. We had gone out to the car, went out for a smoke and it was
:01:53. > :01:58.raining. We went to sit in the van. We were having a laugh and a joke.
:01:58. > :02:03.I rolled my cigarette, or went to light it, dropped my lighter, bent
:02:03. > :02:07.down to pick it up, as there was a big bang. He was sitting just
:02:07. > :02:11.inches away from his colleague Chris Hayes. A passer-by called
:02:11. > :02:16.Barry to safety through the window. We tried to pull the door open, but
:02:16. > :02:22.we could not do that. So I just rang back to the ban, got a crowbar
:02:22. > :02:29.and smashed the window, got one of them adults because he was all
:02:29. > :02:34.right. But Chris, a married father of three, could not be saved. And
:02:34. > :02:39.at this point he knew he had died? Pretty much. He was not only a work
:02:39. > :02:46.colleague, he was one of my good mates. A very friendly guy, I
:02:46. > :02:50.laughed. A lovely bloke. It seems that all the tributes that have
:02:50. > :02:55.been coming in, he is going to be incredibly missed. Yes, without a
:02:55. > :03:00.doubt. He was one of a kind. Barry is struggling to come to terms with
:03:00. > :03:05.the fact that he survived while Kress died. Particularly since it
:03:05. > :03:09.was down to a split second of incredible coincidence. When you
:03:09. > :03:15.see the pictures, I have got out with a couple of bruises and a
:03:15. > :03:22.little cut. And Chris has passed. It just does not see all -- seemed
:03:22. > :03:27.real. You do not expect things like that to happen. Just bending down
:03:27. > :03:33.has saved my life. Chris and Barry were decorating in the House scene
:03:33. > :03:36.here behind a hedge when the accident happened. Barry says he
:03:36. > :03:41.will go back on Monday to finish the job because that is what Chris
:03:41. > :03:44.would have wanted. Our reporter is in Tunbridge Wells.
:03:44. > :03:49.An incredibly sad situation, but the official investigation into
:03:49. > :03:54.what happened is going on? Yes, a post-mortem was carried out on
:03:54. > :03:57.Chris Hayes' body earlier on. The police say they will be handing in
:03:57. > :04:01.a report to the coroner to help with the inquest. They say there
:04:01. > :04:06.will be no formal investigation. They are fairly sure there was no
:04:06. > :04:10.criminal activity, this was simply a tragic accident. Once those
:04:10. > :04:13.formalities are complete, Chris Hayes' family can begin to arrange
:04:13. > :04:18.his funeral. For them and the man who survived this accident, the
:04:18. > :04:22.shock of the death will take some time to come to terms with. Barry
:04:22. > :04:29.Martin says he will never forget the day his life to save his life.
:04:29. > :04:32.A mother from Kent is facing an anxious wait to find out if her
:04:32. > :04:36.daughter's health has been affected after the six year-old was cut by a
:04:36. > :04:40.hypodermic needle which had been left on a train. Khia Green was
:04:40. > :04:48.travelling from their home in Kemsley Miss Sittingbourne to
:04:48. > :04:52.London when she sat on the needle which was sacked -- tucked in
:04:52. > :04:56.between two seat. Khia Green shows me where the
:04:56. > :05:00.needle pierced through her trousers into her skin. She was supposed to
:05:00. > :05:08.be going with her family to see her grandmother in London from
:05:08. > :05:11.Sittingbourne. We boarded the train, went and sat down. And Khia sat on
:05:11. > :05:17.the needle. At first, I did not know it was a needle, I thought it
:05:17. > :05:21.was a bit of stitching from the material. And then when I look, I
:05:21. > :05:26.thought it was a normal needle. Picked it up and realise that it
:05:26. > :05:33.was a hypodermic needle, I threw it on the table. I was livid.
:05:33. > :05:38.Absolutely livid. I mean, I was shaking. I was that angry that I
:05:38. > :05:45.wanted to cry, but, you know, who is going to leave and needle like
:05:45. > :05:49.that on a train? Khia was taken to the accident and emergency
:05:49. > :05:55.department at St Thomas's Hospital in London and given a hepatitis B
:05:55. > :05:59.vaccination to prevent the virus. She also had blood taken, but her
:05:59. > :06:04.mother said it will take up to six months for confirmation that she
:06:04. > :06:10.did not pick up any viruses. She has been assured that the risk of
:06:10. > :06:15.hepatitis B, hepatitis C four HIV is extremely low. If the needle was
:06:15. > :06:21.used in a person who was affected with HIV, and then used immediately
:06:21. > :06:26.in another person, the risk is high. But if the needle is left out for a
:06:26. > :06:31.long period of time, over time, the risk goes down. Khia has recovered
:06:31. > :06:36.from what happened, but her mother faces a worrying wait for the all-
:06:36. > :06:41.clear over the next few months. Linda joined us from Sittingbourne
:06:41. > :06:47.railway station, where the family boarded the train. What is the
:06:47. > :06:54.latest of the investigation? Khia and her family were travelling from
:06:54. > :07:00.here to London on the Southeastern Train, and they say that as soon as
:07:00. > :07:03.the train guard was informed of the incident, an investigation was
:07:03. > :07:07.started and that is compelling. They say they are sorry for the
:07:07. > :07:17.distress that is caused to the family. Speaking to experts, such
:07:17. > :07:19.
:07:19. > :07:22.legal prick incidents are common in A&E, Khia's mother has been
:07:22. > :07:29.reassured that the transmission risk is small.
:07:29. > :07:37.A lorry driver has died after a van smashed into cars and houses and
:07:37. > :07:39.caught a gas leak in Brighton. Following criticism from Paul and
:07:40. > :07:45.Rachel Chandler, the couple from Kent who were held captive by
:07:45. > :07:50.Somali pirates, and a committee of MPs says the government must review
:07:50. > :07:52.its procedures when Britons are kidnapped abroad. A report by the
:07:52. > :07:55.Foreign Affairs Select Committee is also calling for clarification of
:07:55. > :08:01.when it is legal for British vessels to shoot and kill Somali
:08:01. > :08:05.pirates. The retired couple, Paul and Rachel
:08:05. > :08:08.Chandler, who sold their home in Tunbridge Wells to sail around the
:08:08. > :08:14.world have made headlines Brodie when they were released by its
:08:14. > :08:18.Somali pirates in 20th November 10. Their case was not isolated.
:08:18. > :08:25.Today's report says piracy is on the increase and the average
:08:25. > :08:29.Branson has risen to $4.7 million per vessel. Ransoms paid in 2011
:08:29. > :08:33.have totalled an alarming $135 million. It recommends owner should
:08:33. > :08:38.be allowed to protect their ships and crewed by employing private
:08:38. > :08:43.armed security guards. I think it will help in the short term for
:08:43. > :08:47.ships that are up -- prepared and can afford armed guards. It is a
:08:47. > :08:52.step back towards the 17th century, an admission by government that it
:08:52. > :08:58.cannot control the high seas. was in October in 2009 when this --
:08:58. > :09:04.when the Chandlers were captured by pirates. 388 days later, they were
:09:04. > :09:07.freed. In October, 2011, they gave evidence to the foreign affairs
:09:07. > :09:11.Select Committee and criticised help from the government. A couple
:09:11. > :09:16.says the Indian Ocean has become lawless in part. It does not make
:09:16. > :09:21.sense that there are these armed men in boats, out there, with
:09:21. > :09:25.ladders, rocket launchers, all of the pirate paraphernalia. They are
:09:25. > :09:31.not fishermen, they are out in the open sea on their own, looking for
:09:31. > :09:36.prey. The chair of the committee says the Chandlers' plight raised
:09:36. > :09:39.awareness of the problems of piracy. It has drawn to government
:09:40. > :09:44.attention the weaknesses in the present situation. Much as you want
:09:44. > :09:48.to be able to help them, there is a limit to what you can actually do.
:09:48. > :09:52.You want to provide support for the families, and maybe more support
:09:52. > :09:56.for the families at home could be provided. It really falls into the
:09:56. > :09:59.category of lessons learned. report comes ahead of a conference
:09:59. > :10:06.in London next month which aims to co-ordinate an international
:10:06. > :10:10.response to tackle piracy put up a. A man has been charged with
:10:10. > :10:14.grievous bodily harm and dangerous driving following a hit and run
:10:14. > :10:22.incident in South but which left a police officer unconscious. 30
:10:22. > :10:24.year-old Stephen Fahri was remanded in custody.
:10:24. > :10:28.The QEII bridge at the Dartford crossing has open this evening
:10:28. > :10:33.after being closed for 24 hours because of strong winds. There were
:10:33. > :10:37.delays of up to two hours on a clockwise M25 during the day. The
:10:37. > :10:40.Highways Agency says the queues are now starting to shrink.
:10:40. > :10:45.A lorry driver from Kent has died of his vehicle crashed into a row
:10:45. > :10:48.of parked cars, demolishing a wall and damaging a gas main in Brighton.
:10:48. > :10:53.A number of homes in Queens Park Road had to be evacuated because of
:10:53. > :10:58.a leak this morning and the road was closed. A 62 year-old Ashford
:10:58. > :11:02.man was taken to the Royal Sussex Hospital but died of his injuries.
:11:02. > :11:05.It was a pretty devastating scene this morning? Absolutely, this is
:11:06. > :11:10.where the lorry crashed into this House. It broke the wall and wedged
:11:10. > :11:14.itself on these steps. This was the gas supply to this House. When this
:11:15. > :11:19.supply was ruptured, the police decided they had to cordon of
:11:19. > :11:26.Queens Park Road. It is a busy thoroughfare. They evacuated some
:11:26. > :11:30.homes. The man had only just walked through his front door here. This
:11:30. > :11:34.other house had children in it. Police said they were pleased none
:11:34. > :11:40.were standing on the pavement at the time. We were just coming back
:11:40. > :11:44.from town, and all of a sudden, the bus jolted really severely. And
:11:44. > :11:48.this lorry over here smashed into a white camper van which then smashed
:11:48. > :11:51.into two other cars. And then the ambulance turned up. We were all
:11:51. > :11:56.shocked, my daughter was really shocked and she has had to go to
:11:56. > :12:03.college. Really quite shocking. There is a busy. Just behind me.
:12:03. > :12:07.People I have spoken to deceive in -- this evening were upset when
:12:07. > :12:12.they have the lorry driver had died of his injuries. The Coroners Court
:12:12. > :12:15.have been informed and well hold an inquest in due course.
:12:15. > :12:19.A toddler from Kent has returned home from hospital just a week
:12:19. > :12:23.after fracturing his skull after falling from his first-floor
:12:23. > :12:27.bedroom window. Three year-old Leon Young was airlifted to hospital and
:12:27. > :12:37.spent three days in intensive care after the accident in his home near
:12:37. > :12:39.
:12:39. > :12:41.Spending time with Leon Young today it is hard to believe that last
:12:41. > :12:45.week the three-year-old was airlifted to hospital with a
:12:45. > :12:52.fractured skull after falling from his bedroom window.
:12:52. > :13:01.One of the kids opened the window and to be Leon obviously climbed on
:13:01. > :13:06.to the windowsill and tried to get his toys. -- and Leon. He had a few
:13:06. > :13:16.cuts and bruises, Black Dyke, bruised nose and several fractures
:13:16. > :13:17.
:13:17. > :13:21.in his skull. -- black eye. I found him down there, his head was on
:13:22. > :13:26.there. Leon's uncle was the first to realise what happened and
:13:26. > :13:31.sprained his ankle after jumping out of the window after him.
:13:31. > :13:41.His head was resting on the concrete blocks by the drain. He
:13:41. > :13:45.
:13:45. > :13:49.was face down. Flat on his face. Was he moving? He was crying and
:13:49. > :13:53.trying to get up. After six days in hospital
:13:53. > :13:59.including three in intensive care, Leon is back at home. His bedroom
:13:59. > :14:08.has been moved and a Stacey is getting be safety locks on the
:14:08. > :14:11.windows replaced with new ones. It is coming up to a quarter to
:14:11. > :14:16.seven. A man who escaped from an accident
:14:16. > :14:20.on which a tree fell on to his van, killing his friend and colleague,
:14:20. > :14:23.says he is struggling to come to terms with the fact that he
:14:23. > :14:27.survived. Barry Martin was sitting next to Chris Hayes when he died in
:14:27. > :14:33.the storms on Tuesday in Tunbridge Wells.
:14:33. > :14:40.An animal of rare breeding - a Kent charity is hoping to secured the
:14:40. > :14:44.future of the Amur leopard. And he grew up playing football in
:14:44. > :14:52.Crawley and now he is a star of the NFL.
:14:52. > :15:02.If you have a story you think we should be covering -- covering,
:15:02. > :15:12.
:15:12. > :15:16.It is an argument which has split opinion for generations - are
:15:16. > :15:20.grammar schools a good or bad thing? In Kent it is a battle that
:15:20. > :15:24.is still being fought, with some wanting the whole system changed
:15:24. > :15:29.while others insist that more grammar school places are needed.
:15:29. > :15:33.Tonight a documentary exploring the history of the grammar hears from
:15:33. > :15:37.some whose lives were changed by securing a place there.
:15:37. > :15:41.Before the 1940s a scholarship to a grammar school was the only chance
:15:41. > :15:46.most children had for a decent education. Working-class families
:15:46. > :15:51.could not pay the fees which all secondary level schools charged
:15:51. > :15:54.until the 1944 Education Act. But if they passed the exam children
:15:54. > :16:02.from the poorest families could enter a world which had been cut
:16:02. > :16:08.off to them. It was while he was an evacuees in Devon that a Londoner
:16:08. > :16:13.Terence Frisby won a place at Dartford Grammar.
:16:13. > :16:17.I was put in the letter Bstage of the grammar school and discovered
:16:17. > :16:21.that there will 90 other boy is as clever as me!
:16:21. > :16:24.He went on to become a successful playwright and he wrote to one
:16:25. > :16:29.teacher thanking him for his influence.
:16:29. > :16:34.Your ideas left a big impression at a time of life when impressions
:16:34. > :16:38.last. One boy who passed through your hands on whom you left your
:16:38. > :16:44.beneficial hands. Guardian journalist Roy Greenslade
:16:44. > :16:48.now lives in Brighton but he was a pupil at Dagenham County High. Even
:16:48. > :16:52.at grammar schools he was to learn there was a hierarchy.
:16:52. > :16:57.We understood that we could do useful jobs and it would not be
:16:57. > :17:00.jobs like our parents, but there was an understanding but we were
:17:00. > :17:03.not a first rank grammar school which could look to getting many
:17:04. > :17:08.people to university. By the Sixties grammar schools were
:17:08. > :17:14.being phased out in favour of comprehensive education. But in
:17:14. > :17:19.Kent they never went away despite a lot of opposition.
:17:19. > :17:23.No selection either by examination or by interview under Ray Labour
:17:23. > :17:28.government. But when they reflected Labour
:17:28. > :17:33.decided that existing crammers could stay. -- when they were
:17:33. > :17:37.elected. In Sevenoaks, where there is no grammar school, they have
:17:37. > :17:42.started an online petition asking the government for a satellite of
:17:42. > :17:47.an existing school to be built. We are within the selective system
:17:47. > :17:51.in Kent but we don't have a selective school. The children are
:17:51. > :17:57.not all getting the places they deserve. Some are being offered
:17:57. > :17:59.Folkestone when they should be able to go to school nearer home.
:17:59. > :18:04.Many questions around grammar- school education look likely to
:18:04. > :18:14.continue. And Grammar School - A Secret
:18:14. > :18:16.
:18:16. > :18:23.History begins on BBC Four tonight at 9pm.
:18:23. > :18:25.He is one of only a handful of Amur leopards left in the world and his
:18:25. > :18:30.keepers at a wildlife conservation centre in Kent are hoping that he
:18:30. > :18:35.will breed with their female. They are the rarest big cat in the
:18:35. > :18:43.world, with only 30 in the wild. They get their name from the a more
:18:43. > :18:49.river in the far east of Russia. A wildlife centre say that breeding
:18:49. > :18:53.as a -- breeding in captivity is vital for their survival.
:18:53. > :19:02.This is one of the world's most important Amur leopards, with so
:19:02. > :19:09.few left of the species being able to mother cubs.
:19:10. > :19:15.There are only about 25 or 30 in the wild, so that is why cats in
:19:15. > :19:22.captivity are so important to their survival.
:19:22. > :19:27.The rarest cat on earth. When the BBC caught a rare sight of
:19:27. > :19:32.a mother and her cub in the wild, there will 40 in the wild. Now
:19:32. > :19:37.there are fewer than 30 so the aim is to increase their numbers in
:19:37. > :19:44.captivity so one day some might be released. At the World Heritage
:19:44. > :19:49.Foundation, preserving these cats is a main aim.
:19:49. > :19:56.She is incredibly important as far as the breeding programme goes.
:19:56. > :20:04.There are only about 30 in the wild, but only about seven are proven to
:20:04. > :20:10.be females. She is a proven female and she has risen -- she has raised
:20:10. > :20:20.two cubs without any help from us. You want to introduce her to a
:20:20. > :20:21.
:20:21. > :20:25.male? Yes, just next door we have her perspective mate. He is an
:20:25. > :20:30.incredibly big Leopard, very strong and genetically very important for
:20:30. > :20:37.the programme. That is why he has been destined to go with her and
:20:37. > :20:42.that has been worked out by the European programme. Like her two
:20:42. > :20:48.cubs from 2008, any produced by her will not end up in the wild. The
:20:48. > :20:52.com -- the programme is complex. We take cubs to establishments
:20:52. > :20:56.throughout Europe and take them out to the Forest of Russia and breed
:20:56. > :21:06.them there and widen the Jean Paul still further, ultimately with the
:21:06. > :21:07.
:21:07. > :21:11.aim of releasing them into the wild. -- the genetic pool.
:21:11. > :21:17.They are cute little killers! It seems everybody has a story about
:21:17. > :21:21.not getting the Olympic ticket they wanted but James Wickham is
:21:21. > :21:27.thanking his lucky stars. He was initially offered tickets for
:21:27. > :21:32.synchronised swimming. In the event he what -- he got
:21:32. > :21:36.tickets to the men's 200 and 800 metres finals. It all happened
:21:36. > :21:41.after a couple of weeks ago he looked in his e-mail inbox.
:21:41. > :21:45.It was quite interesting. It took me two or three days to get back to
:21:45. > :21:49.them and they said, yes, I could swap my synchronised swimming
:21:49. > :21:53.tickets for a sport of my choice. I asked for athletics, not really
:21:53. > :21:57.believing but I would be able to get them, but there did not seem to
:21:57. > :22:04.be an issue and I was offered two tickets for the same day and they
:22:04. > :22:08.were confirmed shortly after Christmas. Brilliant.
:22:08. > :22:10.For the first 14 years of his life Tom Wort cropping Crawley, where
:22:11. > :22:20.playing football involved a round ball.
:22:20. > :22:23.Then he moved to to America, where football means razzmatazz,
:22:23. > :22:27.cheerleaders and shoulder pads. He is on the brink of becoming one of
:22:27. > :22:31.the biggest stars of the NFL. He has two weeks off from his
:22:31. > :22:36.intensive training schedule so Tom Ward has come back to Crawley to
:22:36. > :22:46.see his granny and he has brought his American girlfriend. -- Tom
:22:46. > :22:48.
:22:48. > :22:52.Wort. As soon as I moved out there, I had
:22:53. > :22:59.a natural ability for the sport. Because I see the game as a
:22:59. > :23:07.privilege, to be able to play, I don't take anything for granted. It
:23:07. > :23:12.is allowing me to keep going for each level. Despite starting late,
:23:12. > :23:17.Tom has become one of the top players in college football in the
:23:17. > :23:22.States and he is tipped for stardom in the NFL, the highest League.
:23:22. > :23:28.I estimate he will be aiming between $2 million and $3 million
:23:28. > :23:32.per year for his first contract. If he excels in the first few years,
:23:32. > :23:39.his second contract may be earning him up to $5 million or $6 million
:23:39. > :23:44.a year. Tom usually plays in front of
:23:44. > :23:48.85,000 people but whenever she can his greatest fan flies out to join
:23:48. > :23:53.the crowd. He knows more or less where we are
:23:53. > :24:03.in the stands and you see him a cup. I will wear something red or silver,
:24:03. > :24:04.
:24:04. > :24:14.something that will flash. See him look up. I will scream out, granny
:24:14. > :24:18.loves you! Everybody I Love Is Here. I am in the States doing what I
:24:19. > :24:25.have to do but this will always be home for me. Once he has conquered
:24:25. > :24:33.the NFL, Tom wants to come back to Crawley and encourage other young
:24:34. > :24:38.people to take up his sport. She is great, isn't she? To wind
:24:38. > :24:48.has been causing all sorts of problems over the past few days. --
:24:48. > :24:49.
:24:49. > :24:59.It is a slow process but it is easing down. We are all right at
:24:59. > :25:05.
:25:05. > :25:10.It looks as if, for tomorrow at least, we will have a much calmer
:25:10. > :25:14.day. We will have a chilly start but at least it will be dry, with
:25:14. > :25:19.some sunny intervals. We had some strong winds through the night and
:25:19. > :25:24.this morning, coming in from the west. Continuing into the evening
:25:24. > :25:28.and the first thing tomorrow, the winds will turn more towards the
:25:28. > :25:35.north-west or stop the isobars will open out. Instead of the low
:25:35. > :25:41.pressure we will have an area of high pressure. It is only
:25:41. > :25:46.transitory, unfortunately. The odd shower but they are on the way out
:25:46. > :25:51.now. As the wind continues to ease down, temperatures will take a
:25:51. > :25:57.tumble. By the end of the night we could see down to three degrees or
:25:57. > :26:02.so. In rural areas there will be a touch of frost. Watch out in the
:26:02. > :26:06.morning because you could find that there are some icy patches. A
:26:07. > :26:11.chilly start for tomorrow but not too bad a day. Still a breeze but
:26:11. > :26:16.nothing like as strong as it was. It might be strong enough to take
:26:16. > :26:20.the top of the temperature, which will only be about six or seven. It
:26:20. > :26:27.should be a dry day, patches of cloud and some sunshine breaking
:26:27. > :26:37.through in between. Not too bad a tour considering what we have had
:26:37. > :26:39.
:26:39. > :26:46.recently. -- not too bad at Paul. With the cloud and perhaps rain, it
:26:46. > :26:50.will hold the temperatures a bit. Lowest temperatures around six
:26:50. > :26:55.degrees or so. As we head into the weekend the area of high pressure
:26:55. > :26:59.will be there. It will lose its potency a bit but it will be close
:26:59. > :27:04.enough to influence our weather. Although we will have frontal
:27:04. > :27:09.systems coming across, by the time they reach us they should be fairly
:27:09. > :27:13.weak, bringing just some cloud and some spots of rain. The rather more
:27:13. > :27:19.unsettled weather is saved for the north of the country. This is how
:27:19. > :27:23.the weekend is looking, some rain at night, mostly dry and on the
:27:23. > :27:30.chilly side. The temperatures are not too bad, about average for the