09/03/2012 South East Today

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

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

The wife and daughter from Kent accused of murdering a businessman

and claiming his pension for nearly a decade. We'll have the details

live from the Old Bailey. The bullies say sorry - after 12

year-old Poppy Freeman was driven out of Sussex by online harassment,

today she receives apologies. Also in tonight's programme:

Campaigners call for an urgent halt to the demolition of Richborough

Power Station to protect a nearby seal colony.

Great adaptations - is this the first ever film of Dickens'

workshot in Brighton? And Keane on Sussex - the rock band

kick start their world tour in Good evening. A mother and daughter

from Canterbury have told an Old Bailey jury that they did not

murder of their husband and father, but that he simply walked out of

their lives in 2001. The prosecution allege that Lynette

a Shirley Banfield also fraudulently claimed his pensions

for the next eight years. Our reporter any price has been

following the case. Shirley Banfield and her daughter

Lynette the court on the second day of the murder case against them.

Don Banfield went missing in 2001. Six months later his wife and

daughter moved to North Yorkshire. In 2009 the police reopened the

case. Today the court heard more about

when Mr Banfield was reported missing by his friend on a 19th

2001. When a police officer went to the house to investigate further,

he was told by Lynette and Shirley that Mr Banfield often disappeared

for long stretches. The officers' report concluded he

did not think the missing person was a missing person. Police

conducted a number of other inquiries, including speaking to Mr

Ban filled's son, friends and doctor.

It was not until 2009 that police reopened the investigation. Mr

Banfield's body has never been found. His wife Shirley and Dr

Lynette, who now live in Canterbury, deny his murder, and insist Mr

Banfield may have gone back to live permanently in his native Trinidad.

Any price calls asked me -- joins us now. The jury also heard that

his wife and daughter sold the family home very soon after he

disappeared. The court heard more details about that family home in

Willesden, north-west London. A sale on the house was agreed in

February 2011, but it took until July 2011 for the sale to be agreed,

because Mr Banfield was not there to sign the relevant documents. In

the end Mrs Bamfield went through legal proceedings to get that sale

approved without his signature. The prosecution alleged that the

proceeds of that sale along with Mr Bamfield's pension went towards

benefiting Shelley and Lynette Banfield by more than �120,000 of

it the next eight years. Be able to buy his murder.

Last night we brought you the story of Poppy Freeman, the 12-year-old

School Gargrave had been so badly bullied on Facebook that she said

she considered taking her own life. It made me feel like death was the

only way out, to be honest. I remember every single day coming

home and just crying and crying and crying. I was quite scared, because

I did not know half the people who were giving the DEFRA it.

Since appearing on the programme last night, which was to support

the anti-bullying charity her father set up, she has now been

contacted by some of those people who did used to taunt her. Now they

want to apologise. The same children whose herd for

comments almost forced Poppy to take her own life have to date said

sorry for the pains decors. -- the pain they cause.

They said they were sorry for what they had done, for all the comments

and everything they had done, and all the messages, and the threats

and everything. Pupils at its school watched their

former classmate on television last night, as she spoke of how she had

to flee the torrent of abuse. Today though, she has been inundated with

messages saying sorry. I know we have got off to a rough start with

all those comments, but I know how Her father is working tirelessly to

help to offer support to other victims of online bullying, and

says the public need to be made more aware of this behaviour.

Last night's broadcast just goes to show what the winners can do. If we

can keep it going, she has had lot of apologies and she is much

happier. There is someone at the other end of the keyboard.

dawned on them but here they were having an impact on a real person.

One of the worries about the whole business of the online world is

that we can often be exist in almost in virtual space.

For more than a year Poppy became the target of spied for tests --

texts and Facebook comments. It seems the message has hit home, but

-- that behind every profile is a real human being.

Steve joins us now. What a difference 24 hours can make. As

you have seen, last night's programme was watched by some of

the pupils here at the school, and they had a long think about the

pain they had cost. It said that three out of four young bodies do

not even appreciate they are having an impact on their victim. That is

the reason why Poppy's father will continue his campaign to adjust

Government legislation to make cyber bullying a crime for.

In a moment, the first woman to fly across the Channel. Harriet

Quimby's not so famous achievement is honoured in Kent.

Wildlife campaigners are considering an injunction to try

and stop the demolition of the cooling towers and chimney at

Richborough Power Station. They claim but the shock of the

explosions plan for the Sunday could actually harmed the seal

colony close by. Richborough Power Station began

work 50 years ago in 1962. Between then and 1971 it burned through 3

million tonnes of corn before it was converted to firing oil in 1971.

It finally closed in 1996. Reaching nearly 100 metres into the

sky, Richborough cooling towers and even taller chimney have been a

landmark since the 1950s. For more than 30 years the station generated

power, feeding the National Grid. But its useful life ended over 15

years ago, and time has reduced the plant to a shelf. Very soon,

planned explosions will turn that shelter and rubble. With the three

cooling towers we have to slots which consist of 300 halls. We are

going to charge them, in preparation for Sunday.

But many people still want the towers to remain, and campaigner

John thinks a legal challenge is possible. He is concerned about a

large colony of seals living near by, and he fears the shock from the

explosions may cause those who are pregnant to miscarry. Common seal

numbers are on the decline, they are also protected by law, so any

disturbance or in the killing, unlawful killing is actually

illegal. We are very sympathetic to the fact that people love these

towers, and people think they are iconic landmarks. Because they have

served their purpose, we would like to see the site brought back into

use. We are in the final stages of preparation for bringing them down

this weekend, and we have reached the point of no return.

Just like back in 2007 when the Chapel Cross towers were brought

down in Scotland, there will be a wide exclusion zone but numerous

vantage points. I am for many it will be a

spectacle not to be missed. To we have sold 1000 tickets, the

barbecue will be open cooking bacon rolls. We will probably sell 300 to

400 tickets, but space does not permit us.

The show will be a short one, of but in 30 seconds.

-- over in 30 seconds. A Kent bank manager convicted of

stealing more than �100,000 in a complex fraud has been sentenced to

three years in jail. Lorna Keary set up fictitious accounts and

loans to transfer funds in order to hide her transactions. One of those

targeted was her friend Lynn Bungay, whose business address was used to

withdraw funds from an HSBC bank in Tonbridge.

Ramblers in East Sussex say they fear for the future upkeep of

public footpaths because of council cuts. They say the authorities will

struggle to repair broken styles and clear footpaths if rights of

way funding is cut. A Chinese businessman exposed by

this programme for criminal activity in the South East has now

been jailed for his part in a �350 million money laundering scam. Five

years ago we exposed a counterfeit DVD scam selling Hollywood

blockbusters across Kent and Sussex. The money from this criminal

venture was helping to fund a human smuggling trade. In cramped homes

we found illegal immigrants, which led to connections to He Jia-Jin.

Now the Chinese businessman has been found guilty of laundering

cash and jailed for eight months. Our Business Correspondent Mark

Norman was involved in our original investigation and has this report.

Huge sums of money from drugs and prostitution had been laundered.

The figures are colossal. It is over �350 million, a vast amount of

money, that has moved through from criminal activity, I suppose.

's he in 2007 we conducted our biggest-ever investigation. We

discovered that the sale of book make DVDs in book fairs where

helping to fund at the human smuggling trade. As our team went

deeper under cover, which exposed the cramped homes were illegal

immigrants slept. Then we found links to a respected Chinese

community leader. We thought he might have gone to

prison in Hong Kong in 2000 at it. He was found guilty of money

laundering offences, but received a huge fine instead. When we tried to

speak to him... Have you got anything to say? No

comment. But he is now serving an eight-

month sentence in a UK jail. The police investigation led them to

cannabis factories, shops that were money-laundering outlets, and a

huge amounts of cash now in China. People involved in cannabis

factories, cannabis cultivation factories, management controls

brothels, the money generated, criminal money, was being passed

through the World Travel Services accounts.

This was the last time we saw the man driving away from a Hong Kong

court. It will be eight months before he can drive away from

prison. Our top stories. A mother and

daughter from Canterbury have told the Old Bailey but they did not

murder her husband and father, but that he walked out of their lives

in 2001. Also tonight, Robert takes the

plunge in training for his Sport Relief triathlon challenge.

And back in Bexhill, keen that kick-start their world tour where

it all began. This year marks the two hundredth

anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens. It is being celebrated

particularly in Kent as the county where he brought many of his most

famous works. But after the oldest surviving film based on the works

of Charles Dickens has been rediscovered, after lying untouched

in an archive for more than 50 years, and the man behind it was a

film-maker from the region who was part of a movement of early film-

They have been more adaptations for film and television of Dickens's'

books than any other author. But the discovery of one particular

real hidden in the national archives still managed to have

caused a bit of commotion. didn't know about it because it's

been sitting under another title all these years. Quite often when

you don't know what a film is, you describe more or less what is going

on in it. Strategic Defence Review dates before 1901. It is only one

minute long, but the first film based on Dickens's work -- The

Death Of Poor Joe dates before 1901. In a period of 1901, when the film

was made, Brighton and Hove was very much a hotbed for pioneering

film makers and those involved in theatrical performance. The Duke of

York's Cinema, one of the first to the country's to become very

popular, here at that Hove Museum, you can delve into the history of

how film-making developed. 30 years after his death, it was Dickens's

stories that George Smith wanted to tell on film. Assured, silent, but

significant celebration of Dickens Usually, when bans have sold over

10 million albums, they embark on a world tour and like to kick things

off at a globally famous venue. Keane are doing things a little bit

differently. They are opening at the the La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill

For Keane, this is where it all began. The town of battle in East

Sussex where they grow up and went to school. But this is where their

latest tour is about to start. While you kicking off you to a

here? This is a place we all know from our chart had to. -- your tour.

We used to come here and Sunday for in the drizzle! We would hope girls

would come a planned approach us and be magnetically drawn to us,

We are very lucky that our music is internationally laughed. A lot of

British bands are very popular with in Britain. But their music might

not translate so well abroad. We feel very fortunate that we get to

travelled to Argentina and play to 20,000 people over there. Tell us

about what happens in your song about this place. We used to come

here to warm up with a cup of tea when we hadn't pulled, we will

admit defeat and go for a cup of tea. Keane have written a song

about this cafe. What do you make of that? It is marvellous. It will

So, Bexhill on Sea makes its mark on British pop. That is the first.

Man in a wet suit alert. Sport Relief is two weeks away and in

case you weren't watching last Friday, Mr Smith will be doing a

triathlon challenge across Sussex and Kent in one daily. The plan is

that next Saturday 17th March, I will start off with the sea swim

around Brighton Pier and then I will cycle from Brighton to

Ramsgate, about 100 miles, and then I will finally run the last 10

miles or so around the Thanet coastline in time to finish in

Margate. I got some tips from When you first get in, it is that

contrast. Your face is absolutely frozen. Is it just the temperature

that makes it so different? have got a great day today, it

doesn't come like this very often. At this time of year, it is the

temperature that will affect your ability to swim for any length of

It is so difficult to control your breathing out first. It's just the

technique of learning to come everything down. Cold water

drastically makes your blood pressure Drop, so it will put extra

stress on the whole thing. So it is better to really take the pace

Oh, my goodness, it was cold. If you want to donate to Sport Relief

this year, then please go to Sport Relief .com. I'm just a bit worried

we named -- we may never see again! The football season is three

quarters of the way through, and if results go the right way this

weekend all four of the South East's top teams could be in the

promotion play off places or better. But Gillingham's recent good run in

danger - is in danger due to an injury crisis. Neil Bell joins us

from Chatham. Have they got 11 players they can put on the pitch?

You're in better shape than most of the players at the moment! Kit will

be a very young side that will take on crew -- it will be. They may

lack experience, but the youngsters have impressed everyone over the

last few weeks. There are five or six of them who could go on and

have a long career in the game. We want to be with us for as long as

they can, but if the opportunity is there to play at a higher level,

that would be great for them. Brighton could move into the

Championship promotion play -- play off places with victory over

Portsmouth tomorrow. They will be hoping to extend their eleven match

unbeaten league run against Pompey. League One leaders Charlton

Athletic are still 13 points clear despite losing their first home

league game of the season on Tuesday. The manager Chris Powell

looks unlikely to make too many changes for the visit of Notts

County who have lost just once in their last ten games. Crawley Town

of are optimistic new loan signing Gary Alexander can get their League

Two promotion push back on track. The 32-year-old seen here scoring

for Brentford will lead the attack at Macclesfield as the Reds look

for their second league victory this year. Congratulations to the

700 plus youngsters who took part in the Kent Schools Games athletics

finals in Ashford today. Dame Kelly Holmes was there to encourage them

and digs out the prizes for what she believes is the best scheme of

its kind in the country. It has just become one of those real focal

points for schools and young people to grab and get hold of. In 2012,

you want that to be an inspiration to these young people. Better luck

to Canterbury Rugby Club he will be hoping to make it 22 wins out of 22

tomorrow. What a fantastic record. 100 years ago, Harriet Quimby

became the first woman to fly across the Channel to France. There

was an extraordinary feat but received almost no media attention

at the time because the flight took place the day after the site -- the

thinking of the Titanic. This weekend, around 100 pilots from

America, Canada and Europe a gathering at Headcorn airfield to

Mark International Women In Aviation Week. Have many of the

pilots arrived, Charlie? Around 100 pilots from around the

world are coming here to Headcorn. Some have already been here for one

week. They're all here to celebrate a special event in aviation history.

Preparing for take-off. Around 100 pilots from America, Canada and

Europe are coming to Headcorn aerodrome to celebrate a piece of

he aviation history. We want to commemorate the first flight across

the English Channel by a woman, Harriet Quimby, who flew across the

Channel in 1912. Everybody a have told about it has been fascinated.

Even the lady at Customs was interested. There was a danger

Harriet Quimby's achievement would go unnoticed. The world's

newspapers were filled with the sinking of the Titanic, which

happened the day before. Today, the International Organisation of Women

pilots' say around six % of pilots are women, so they want to use

Harriet Quimby's historic achievement to get more women to

take to the skies. I hope we will encourage parents to let their

little girls fly and let their women fly, and hopefully we can get

more members that way and get more women in the air. Tell me why that

event back in 1912 is so important to you. Because it shows that women

were trying... The plane doesn't know who is flying at, but we can

fight just as well as a man. -- who is flying it. Around as if -- a

round a third of the pilots coming tomorrow will be women. The drum of

Pink Floyd will be here with his wife fly his helicopter. It is

bound to be quite a spectacle. Thank you very much. Didn't she

looked fab's nice weather for it. Yes, today it has mild but plenty

of cloud around. We hold on to this mild air over the weekend.

Eventually it will call down by the time we get into the week. Quite a

dull start the day today, feeling mild. High pressure has been

building but we hold on to those breezy south-westerly winds. Loss

of cloud cover, so temperatures have been a little bit about

average. -- lots of. Three tonight, we hold on to that cloud cover.

These are the sorts of temperatures will be expecting to see during the

day at this time of year. It will brighten up nicely into the

afternoon. High pressure is dominating, hardly any winds to

speak of. By the time we get into the afternoon, it is feeling like a

lovely day. Temperatures in the mid- to late teens. Highs around 14

degrees. We could even see up to 16 degrees. A lovely day to be out and

about. It stays very mild overnight. Sunday it is going to be a repeat

of Saturday. A little bit more cloud first thing. Temperatures up

towards London around 15 degrees. As we move into the new week, the

high pressure moves northwards. Monday and Tuesday, once again

around average. Make the most of the lovely weather at the weekend.