20/07/2012 South East Today

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

Tonight's top stories: The moment a teenager tried to grab

the Olympic Torch in Gravesend. He's arrested, the torchbearer kept

on running. So, I grabbed my camera so I could zoom in to see what was

going on and somebody said, someone has been bundled into a car of.

We'll have the highlights of day 63 of the torch relay, the day the

Olympic Flame leaves Kent. Its next stop is London. We're there live

and we're back in Maidstone for a party to celebrate the torchbearers.

Also in tonight's programme: Pregnant at 12. But Britain's

youngest mum tells us why she wouldn't recommend it.

Revealing itself again, the pine marten back in the south-east at

last. And it drifted here, it drifted

there. The pedalo making its stately way from Hastings to the

Good evening. It's the eternal flame that has symbolised the

Olympic Games from their beginnings. But today its 70-day, 8,000 mile

journey was almost brought to an abrupt end when a 17-year-old youth

was wrestled to the ground by police after he allegedly tried to

grab the Olympic Torch in Kent. The torch began day 63 of its journey

in Maidstone at breakfast with, as we've seen so often this week,

thousands of people welcoming the flame and the bearers who carried

it. In a moment, we'll be bringing the latest live from Central London

where the torch is due to arrive imminently but first Robin Gibson

brings us the sights, the sounds and the drama of the day as we sent

The drama came out of the blue. It was just before 10am. This girl was

nearing the end of her torch run. This was in Graves's end. The

runners, Metropolitan Police officers, react quickly and

decisively, bustling the young man to the side of the road and on to

the floor. From another angle taken by mobile phone, he can be seen

waiting for the torch to come by. remembered the eyes of this guy. He

jumped at me. And this moment I remember. The police arrested a 17-

year-old youth. It was over in a matter of seconds, a big contrast

to the rest of the 63rd day of Torch bearing. The journey had

started in Maidstone. The crowds were out to see the flame pass

through the streets and make a stately glide on the River Medway.

The old city streets in Rochester were packed. This girl was running,

she was holding the torch, and the flames were all flowing through the

skive. The incident in Gravesend to took nothing away from watchers or

runners. Ones to take off on the run, it's brilliant and every

corner U-turn, there are more people, and going into the temple

and the drums playing, it was fantastic. It was peddled around

grounds hatch. I said I wanted to get into the Paralympics. 18-year-

old then took it on, blind from birth, he is an assistant -

musician and sportsman. wonderful bringing communities

together. Look at these people. We are talking to our neighbours. It's

the brilliant. There was euphoria in the village of seal. Drury in

Sevenoaks. -- joy in Sevenoaks. The talk passed through Godstone and

Bletchingley. For five days, the Olympic flame has led us up,

leaving a warm glow behind and the prospect of the Games to come.

So, let's recap on today's route. It set off from Mote Park in

Maidstone this morning, passing through Gillingham, Rochester,

Gravesend, Brands Hatch, Sevenoaks, and Godstone. And finally leaving

our part of the south-east at Blenchingly. Well, our reporter

Chrissie Reidy is live in Maidstone back where it all began at

breakfast time this morning. They're making a day of it,

Chrissie, with a big party this evening for the torchbearers.

They are. The Olympic flame may have left early this morning, but

the sporting theme continues this evening. It's in the form of a one-

mile road run, got under way at 6:15pm, so people have already been

coming back in. At 7:30pm, there is a one mile Open swim. Now, you

carried the torch yesterday. How does doing this run compare? It is

longer! We only run for about 400 metres. But the experience

yesterday was incredible. Tell me about it. You are a police officer,

you've run 21 consecutive marathons. Yes, 21 consecutive London and 83

into total. So, you got recognised for that. That and through work as

well. And it was nice to be no one waited. You said you questioned why

you were there when you were running at yesterday's. I think

some of us do. You look at the other people on the bus and you

read the stories and you hear what they've been through and the

adversity they have dealt with, and it is very humbling and it is only

very natural to wonder why. Thank you. I mentioned the swim, and to

would you expect to find? Duncan Goodhew. What is happening with

this swim? There is 150 mad people. Are you jumping into the mad way?

am staying nice and dry. They just running a mile, the first time they

have done it, some of them. I was talking to one of them, swimming

breaststroke, might take a while! They will be raising money for

charity. Lovely to talk to you. While the celebrations continue

here, I will hand back to the studio.

Well, let's cross live to the capital and Westminster where our

Sports reporter Neil Bell is waiting for the Olympic torch to

make a spectacular entrance. Neil, what can we expect now it's so

close to its final destination? It will be taken to a whole new way

level. The Olympic flame will arrive at

Tower Wharf in front of the Tower of London where a Royal Marine

Commando, carrying the flame in lantern, will abseil 180ft from a

Royal Navy Sea King helicopter at 8pm on Friday, July 20th. Two

torchbearers will then carry the flame around the Tower of London

where they will be welcomed by the Mayor of London Boris Johnson. The

flame will then be handed to General the Lord Richard Dannatt

Constable of the Tower of London, where it will remain overnight. The

torch will spend its final week in London being carried by 982

torchbearers around 200 miles of the capital's streets. As an

estimated nine million people have cheered on the relay to date, large

crowds are expected to line the streets. Lots of people working in

the South East can have a chance to see the flame, then. Everyone will

have plenty of opportunity to have a look at it before the opening

ceremony in a week's time. And you can still get involved with the

torch relay on Twitter. Tweet us your photos using the hash tag

#SETorch. Or you can post them to our Facebook page

facebook.com/bbcsouth-easttoday. In a moment:

The man from Kent who says his redundancy compensation has been

cut because he didn't' claim A Sussex woman who became Britain's

youngest mother after becoming pregnant at 12 says after ten years

of motherhood she wouldn't recommend anyone following in her

footsteps. Amy Crowhurst, who's from Crawley, says although she was

quoted in the national media as advocating having children early,

she now believes her life could have been very different if she

hadn't become pregnant so young. Ellie Price has more.

School is out for summer and 6- year-old destiny and 9-year-old

Alfie will be spending more time with their mum. She was three years

older than her son when she became pregnant with him. Now 22, she

admits bringing up two children has not been easy. I don't regret it,

no. But it has happened. I wouldn't wish it on anyone else. I wouldn't

encourage my kids to do it. I wouldn't be happy if they did. I'm

not proud of what happened, but I'm proud of my children. So... When

she got pregnant in 2002, she was one of more than 40,000 under 18-

year-olds. The number of teenage pregnancies has gone down to under

35,000, the lowest rate since 69 but experts say that doesn't tell

the whole story. The rates will rise again. Local authorities have

been working hard, but with the cutbacks, particularly with people

on the ground to have been doing all this very hard work, with those

cutbacks, inevitably, there will be some rising rates of teenage

pregnancies. Maybe I missed out on my childhood, but I have not thrown

it away. I am back in education now. If I could have the same kids but

at my age now or a bit later on, I would be a bit more clued on. Even

though I knew what I was doing, I would have a bit more... Time to

develop my mind, if you know what I mean. She admits bringing up her

family has hardly been a fairy-tale but she says she's working hard to

make sure they have a happy ever after.

A man and a woman have been arrested on suspicion of attempted

murder after a stabbing at Tunbridge Wells Station. A 53-year-

old man from the town was flown to a London hospital by air ambulance

yesterday evening. He's now in a stable condition. A 30-year-old

woman and a 23-year-old man are in custody.

A two-year-old boy is in hospital after falling from the third story

of a building in Kent. The boy fell from the window at 2:15 this

afternoon in Cheriton Road, Folkestone. He was flown by

helicopter to Kings Hospital in London. Police are investigating

the fall. They say a parent was there at the time.

Maidstone Crown Court has ordered a man from Rochester, who was

convicted of mortgage fraud, to pay almost �9.5 million in the biggest

confiscation order obtained by Kent Police. Jean-Pierre Bestel, who's

49, was jailed for three years in March 2011. He's now been released,

and has six months to pay in full or serve a further ten years in

prison. Shoes donated by pop star Gary

Barlow have raised more than �2,500 for an East Sussex orthopaedic

hospital. The pair were auctioned on eBay this morning. The money

will go to the Horder Centre in Crowborough, which will use the

money to build several new woodland trails in the grounds.

A man from Kent who was made redundant, says he's been penalised

for not claiming benefits. Terry Hudson, who's 65 and comes from

Herne Bay, should have received �5,000 in compensation from the

Insolvency Service when the company he worked for went into

administration last year. But the service has deducted �780 from that

sum because Mr Hudson didn't claim Jobseekers Allowance. Jon Hunt met

him this morning. He thought he was helping the

Government by not claiming jobseeker's allowance when he was

made redundant last year but little did Terry Hudson know the

Government would penalise him for that decision. I am lost for words.

Most people seeing this would find it hard to believe that in this day

and age people not claiming benefits are fined that amount of

money. Mr Hudson's problems began when the company he worked for in

Canterbury went into administration and he was laid off without any

notice. This meant he was eligible to claim for compensation from the

insolvency service for the 12 weeks pay he should have received but

because he didn't sign on at the Jobcentre, since he was weeks away

from his retirement, the Insolvency Service deducted the jobseeker's

allowance he could have climbed from his compensation payout, a

total of �780. Ridiculous. It was the Government that won twice. They

haven't paid out money and find me for not claiming benefit.

Citizens Advice Bureaux says problems like this are, no. We have

many people who come in and have problems with the Jobcentre or the

Department for Work and Pensions, particularly when they have lost

employment. The benefit system at present is very complicated.

Insolvency Service says the courts have determined that employees must

mitigate the loss, including claiming jobseeker's allowance, and

deductions are made for any income and employee receives or could have

received. This is made clear on their claim forms. Unfortunately,

because Mr Hudson didn't make his claim until three months after his

redundancy, it was all already too late.

This is our top story tonight: A 17-year-old youth is being

questioned by police tonight after trying to grab the Olympic torch as

it passed through Gravesend. The runner was unhurt, and the relay

carried on. It's now travelling through Surrey.

Also in tonight's programme: All at sea en route to the Games.

The pedalo from Hastings with quite a story to tell.

At long last, the weather will be behaving itself. A lot of us will

be getting the suncream out this A small woodland animal that has

not been seen in the south-east for decades is set to be reintroduced

into the wild. The pine marten almost died out 100 years ago due

to a combination of hunting and loss of habitats. Today, around

4,000 survive, mostly in Scotland but it's thought there are fewer

than 100 in the rest of the UK. Our Environment Correspondent Yvette

Austen reports from Wildwood near Canterbury.

The only wildlife centre in a country where the pine marten has a

breeding programme. At three months old, he is out and

about and keen to explore. Now, we will have to be careful because

he's got quite a bite on him, this fellow. And, of course, they are

quite shy. In the wild, they live in such atmospheres, alone, and you

would never see them in why old. This is an exciting time for the

Wildlife Trust. Today is a momentous day, the first day on his

own without mum. He is a little bit nervous. But he is a fantastic

animal. It's incredibly difficult to breed these animals. This place

is unique, the only place trying to do so, and in more than 10 years of

trying, this is only the second baby that has been born. The idea

is to release them into the wild in the South East. This one, along

with others, that would be caught and brought down from Scotland,

their last stronghold in you care. There are some wonderful evidence

that shows we can we introduce pine martens. So we are hoping this

little trap here will become the first of many to be released in the

wild. Whilst gamekeepers might be concerned about a reintroduction as

pine martens are predators, others say they will help balance Major.

Grey squirrels are one of their favourite foods. -- will help

When a film director and a writer decided to make a journey by water

from Hastings to the Olympic site in London, they could have chosen a

number of options. Canoe, barge, sailing boat. Instead they went for

this. A pedalo in the shape of a swan. It caused, as you can imagine,

quite a reaction from those who saw it. And now, a film of that journey

has been released and premieres tonight. Sara Smith has been to

meet the director. It is a bizarre but somehow

compelling sight. A huge fibreglass one bobbing along the coast of

Hastings. How often is it you see swans out head? Not often. You're

the first. Edith was chosen from the flock which provides ride by

the sea, not on it. Her task was to carry writer Ian Sinclair and

Andrew Kotting to London. We climbed aboard in her current home,

an exhibition of -- in honour of the journey. We named her after

Eden -- Eden swan neck who died in the Battle of Hastings. There was a

female presence around this, that was the idea. From Hastings to Rye

where Edith and her cargo headed inland. The film entwines chats

with those they passed and guest paddlers with readings and archive.

How close to Rochester? 10 miles. The landscape is the central

character followed by Edith, and you have got two old codgers

witness in it. Up rivers and canals, through dark sand over land. Andrew

always in his suit. Edith taking to her new role workers want to water.

About six months before the journey, we went out on to the channel and

we tracked one across the beach, and we knew what was going to work.

It was wonderful to think that this idea was going to work. We will be

coming underneath the Golden Gate Bridge briefly. Over. Correction,

the Dartford Bridge. Next stop, the Olympic village, and the journey

had taken a month. The dream to ride the White Swan made a reality.

Well, our reporter Sara Smith joins us from Hastings, the home town of

Andrew Kotting. I take it he won't be attempting to do this again?

Can I say, he had but -- much better weather than this. It was

sunshine all the way. Edith has retired, she has done her work. She

is on exhibition at the moment and then there is a buyer who wants to

put her on permanent exhibition somewhere where she can be admired

by the nation. He got the idea looking out of the window of his

house. He saw the pedalos in Swan Lake, and he decided that would be

the perfect way of getting you to the Olympic site in London. He did

that trip, and Swandown is the story of that journey.

She is working there could cool look. -- she is working that look.

Onto sport now we start with football, and just two months after

taking charge of Crawley Town, the club's manager Sean O'Driscoll has

left the club to manage Nottingham Forest. O'Driscoll is leaving

without taking charge of a single competitive game at Crawley. The

club's director of football, Steve Coppell, and coach Craig Brewster

will manage first team affairs for the time being. Some Crawley fans

are hoping that Gareth Southgate who resigned from the FA today may

be in the running to replace O'Driscoll.

Tens of thousands of bike fans will be at Brands Hatch over the weekend

for the latest rounds of British Superbikes Championship. The

current leader is Lingfield's Tommy Hill. It will be the first he has

raced over the Grand Prix circuit since his stunning victory to take

the title last October. It is the local track for me. I can pop home,

have a nice bath. This is where I won the Championship last year. It

was an amazing day for me. So to come back here, hopefully we can

relive that moment this weekend and do it again.

Cricket, and Sussex wicketkeeper Matt Prior has played the

outstanding innings for England on the second day of the first Test at

the Oval. The South African bowlers dominated the day but Prior offered

spirited resistance making sixty and helping England to a first

innings total of 385. Let's go back to Maidstone. Our report it is

still at the torch relay. Maidstone put a lot of thought into the

legacy after all of this year, haven't they?

They have and somebody that knows about sporting legacy is this man,

John Williams. You carried the torch through Chatham yesterday

because I believe you've probably run a few marathons in your time.

have run 380 fear of -- 385 marathons and I have got over 700

medals for different lengths races. I have been running since 1989.

With Adam Fermin, he asked me to run the first Manchester Marathon

in 1983 and I have been running ever since. That is no mean feat,

but that -- how does that compare to carrying the torch? It was

fantastic. Nothing compared with it. I have run London Marathon 21 times

and it didn't compare. This was a brilliant. Lovely to meet you. From

one torch-bearer to another... 19- year-old Chi-Mun Wong nursed her

grandmother with cancer and was then diagnosed with it herself.

Despite the illness, she's won a place studying fashion at

university and she carried the torch today through her hometown of

Rochester. I am exhilarated, so happy about it. So much support, it

was amazing. I'm so proud I did it. The first thing I saw was my mum. I

got off the bus, and it was amazing energy from the crowd. Ice -- as

soon as I saw them, I wasn't I was like, come on, hurry up, I

want it to be my turn. In the middle, I decided to have a walk,

to milk it a little bit more. When I was 16, I had cancer. She thought

I was really brave row of the whole process and when I was 13, by

grandmother was terminally ill with cancer, and a help to look after

her. My mum thought I deserved it. -- I helped to look after her. I am

definitely not going to sell the torch on the bay. It is a once-in-

a-lifetime opportunity and I will never get it again. I am very proud

and I will remember this moment for the rest of my life.

Chi-Mun Wong carried her torch earlier today, not yesterday. It

has been an incredible week and am sure a memory they will take with

Now, let's have a look at the weather. You have a smile on your

for his. I enjoyed preparing for graphics

today. Let me show you what's happening. This is the weekend.

These are the oranges and colours building over the South of the UK

and the temperatures are going to rise. This is the weekend. Warm.

But look at that, by midweek, temperatures up to 28 degrees.

Something we haven't seen for a while. Around the coast, a little

bit on the breeze side. This evening, plenty of showers around

in the South East, but the showers will be easing as we go through the

course of the evening, so you can see these dark blue colours and

that downpour in Hastings, but it is hit and miss, so some of us

sussing sunshine. Look at the showers go away into the early

hours of Saturday morning. There are still end the tour but of

showers left. This is when we say goodbye to the showers, off you go

for a while. This is the weekend had line. Warm and sunny. Not hot.

Saturday, then. First thing, Canterbury and Eastern parts of

Kent, still some showers, but by the time we get to the middle of

the day, mostly cold omelette land with modest horrors. -- with modest

highs. Sea breeze around the coast make it look a little bit on the

fresh side. Monday, most of us go back to work, but has getting up to

25. I will show you the outlook once again. Here it is. Believe it

or not, up to the high 20s. I feel like I am dreaming!

We may not have had the weather this week, but what a week. It is

you that has made the story what it has become.