02/10/2013 South East Today

Welcome to South East Today, I'm Rob Smith. And I'm Bryony MacKenzie.

Tonight's top stories: Killed by a hospital blunder — the family of a

pregnant woman who died say a six figure pay—out will never ease the

grief. A father is tonight charged with the

murder of his five—week—old baby daughter in St Leonards. Also in

tonight's programme: Southern Water sees the biggest rise in written

complaints in the country. In tune with the times — after 900 years,

Canterbury Cathedral is to have a girls' choir.

We'll be reporting live from the Cathedral.

And, not even for your eyes only — the James Bond toys that have never

been opened, sell for £7000. Good evening. The family of a woman

who died from an ectopic pregnancy after Maidstone Hospital sent her

home twice with painkillers says a compensation deal of £400,000 can't

ease the pain and grief they feel every day. Rebecca Ben—Nishma

collapsed in front of her teenage daughter in 2010. The NHS Trust

admitted its liability on failing to spot the lethal complication earlier

this week. Simon Jones reports. Four—year—old Bailey will never get

to know his mother. He is now cared for by his grandmother. Rebecca went

into hospital with abdominal pains. She had just learned she was

pregnant with her third child. Maidstone Hospital said she had

gastroenteritis and sent her a way with painkillers. In fact,

ectopic pregnancy. You can't make sense of it, you have just got to

cope for the children. If I didn't have the children, then I would have

given up ages ago. I lost my husband just before my daughter. It is those

two decade me going. In the UK, one in 90 pregnancies is ectopic. It

happens when the egg becomes stuck, most often in the fallopian tube.

The condition can rupture, leading to internal bleeding, leading to the

possible death of the mother and loss of the baby. Symptoms include

abdominal and shoulder pain. There are hospitals out there that perform

to best practice, and there are some that perform less so and they

perhaps need to do more in training their staff to recognise these

symptoms. A final compensation figure of £400,000 was agreed at the

High Court this week. Lawyers for the NHS Trust said they hoped it

could bring some comfort for the family, although they

nothing could compensate for their loss. It is a little compensation

for losing their mum. It doesn't take away the herd. But it will give

them a bit of a start when they get to 18. It is nothing really. Nothing

can cover the loss. The trust apologised again to the family

tonight, saying it has strengthened its emergency gynaecology services,

offering better access to senior staff.

A man has been charged this evening with the murder of a five—week baby

girl in St Leonards last year. Mark Sandland from Hastings was arrested

last year on suspicion of murdering Aimee—Rose Sandland, following an

incident at his home in St Leonards. Well, let's speak to our reporter

Rebecca Williams, who joins us now. What more do we know? We understand

that the man who has been charged tonight was the baby's father. He

was first arrested in November on suspicion of murdering Aimee—Rose.

In cases like this it often takes a long time when torturing and babies

are involved to bring a charge following a death because there is

so much complex medical evidence. The police have confirmed that they

first arrested Mark Sandland in connection with an incident at his

home last November. Following that, the baby went to Kings College

Hospital in London, but four days later she died. Mark Sandland has

tonight been charged and will appear before magistrates tomorrow.

We will have more on that story on our 10:25pm bulletin this evening.

In a moment, peace at last for the 92—year—old Korean war veteran,

honoured 50 years on. One of the South East's biggest

water companies, Southern Water, which supplies around a million

households, has seen the biggest rise in written complaints in the

country. Customer complaints have increased by 77%, according to the

Consumer Council for Water. In the last 12 months, the company received

23,000 written complaints — up from 13,000 the year before. South East

Water saw a reduction of a third, but the number of complaints it

received is still twice the industry average. Our reporter Charlie Rose

is live in Brighton for us now. In the case of Southern water, they

have got a compulsory metering programme and they have encountered

some details difficulties in that settling down. There is also an

issue about the fact that they haven't had sufficient staff to deal

with some of the complaints that have come their way.

So, what were the chief complaints? Top of the list was billing and

charges. Next came concerned water supplies. Finally, metering

was also a big bugbear. The company says they are profoundly sorry.

Clearly, our performance in terms of customer service last year was

unacceptable and I apologise to customers for that. The main reason

was because we failed to respond to their queries and questions on the

phone, which resulted in them having to write and complain to us.

Charlie, how have customers reacted to today's news?

The customers we spoke to today, their response has not been

particularly glowing. But when you compare Southern water's figure to

the national figure, you get it different perspective. The number of

written complaints to Southern water has increased by 77%, but the

national figure, that is all the companies across England and Wales,

the national figure shows complaints have actually fallen by 7.5%. I

spoke to one customer today who runs a small business, and she has given

me a response to the news. I have personally complained to them

about the tariff I am on, and they have done nothing about it apart

from passing the buck to Southeast water. If it is the case, why can't

they talk to each other and do something about it for the customer?

Businesses are struggling, especially small businesses, and we

need their help. Elsewhere, Southeast water are

celebrating the news that the number of written complaints they have

received has gone down by 33%. They're in mind that there figure is

still twice the national average. Elsewhere, Thames water's number of

written complaints has gone down by 6.5%. But they are the only company,

according to the Consumer Council for Water, to fall short of their

targets to resolve 95% of complaints first time.

The Consumer Council for Water has set out a clear warning today —

companies who fail to listen to their customers and their complaints

could face penalties, and new water price limits will be agreed next

year. David Cameron has said the Conservatives must win the next

election, to "finish the job" of mending the economy and creating a

"land of opportunity", telling the Tory party conference that he wanted

to see everyone under 25 "earning or learning". Our political editor

Louise Stewart is in Manchester at the conference. Louise, the Prime

Minister also spoke about immigration — is that being pointed

at those people in the south east who voted UKIP in the County Council

elections? What was very interesting in this speech was he mentioned

Labour 25 times. He did not mention UKIP, who have done pretty well in

the south—east. He wants it to be a clear choice at the next election

between the Conservatives and Labour, but as you rightly say, you

did talk about immigration in his speech, and he also talked about

helping people on the housing ladder, building more homes. These

are topics that will resonate well in areas like Kent. We sent our

political reporter to gauge reaction. We will finish the job we

have started, and together we will build that land of opportunity. He

got the standing ovation, but David Cameron was addressing more than

just Tory delegates in the Manchester conference hall today. If

made's election is anything to go by, we are in the heart of UKIP

country, and disaffected Tory voters in places like Ramsgate weather once

David Cameron needed to appeal to today. We came to see what people in

here thought of it. UKIP took seven of the eight County

Council seat in Thanet this year. Our interviewees, who had helpfully

spent an hour this morning listening to the whole speech, have all voted

Conservative in the past. It is all up in the air. He did not have much

new to say today. I have heard a lot of it before. It is good that he

supports hard—working families. A lot of my mates will appreciate

that. It is good that he is trying to get people into new jobs. It is

good to hear about green jobs, but is it enough? In a land of

land of despair was Labour, but the land of hope is Tory. A message

repeated, but did it stick us to mark he didn't focus much on the

micro—business, the one—man band. He didn't say what his government would

do for them. It was all, as long as you have got 50 employees or more.

But what about the people who have got a good product how is he going

to them? We must act on immigration directly, and we are. It is the main

concern of most people who come in the cafe. If you ever talk to

people, they all want to be out of the EU, and they all want

immigration to be stopped. And he didn't say enough to convince you or

any of your customers? No. I think down here, people will just vote

UKIP. It is something David Cameron knows is a risk in places like

Thanet, and something he will spend the next 18 months trying to avoid.

So, what about Southeast MPs? We caught up with the Sussex MP Amber

Road, who is also George Osborne's right—hand woman. She believes job

creation schemes will help her goes in her constituency. The most

important thing that the government can do is to set the right weather

so that the Entre Naz can make the jobs. —— entrepreneurs. We need more

jobs in Hastings. Unemployment is falling, but we need to build on

that. Today we have had more impetus to try to do that. I think this was

a steady as she goes conference to try to do that. I think this was

speech from David Cameron. No great policy announcements. All over the

fringes this week, there has been talked of the rise of UKIP. They

have done very well in the south—east, and heeded not mention

them once. He wants voters to say, if you want the economy fixed, vote

Conservative. Otherwise Labour in by the back door. Is his message.

The Energy Minister and Kent MP Michael Fallon says companies could

drill dozens of test wells in England over the next couple of

years, to see if sites are suitable for fracking. Recent exploratory

work at a site in the West Sussex village of Balcombe has provoked

angry protests. The controversial energy extraction process brakes up

shale rock to free gas or oil. A whistle—blower, who reported

failings at a Sussex care home where 19 people died in unexplained

circumstances, was recalled to give additional evidence in court today.

Lisa Martin, who was an administrator at Orchid View in

Copthorne said she called the police to tell them that members of staff

had been shredding documents. It prompted the the force to apply for

a warrant to seize everything at the home.

For the first time in its 900 years history, Canterbury Cathedral is to

introduce a girls' choir. Around 20 girls aged between 12 and 16 will be

selected from local secondary schools to form the first Canterbury

Girl's voluntary choir. The first auditions will be held next month at

the Cathedral and it's hoped the choir will start before the end of

the year. Let's cross live to Canterbury Cathedral and our

reporter Peter Whittlesea. No one can accuse the Church of

England for acting quickly. It is more than 20 years since women were

ordained, but here, the quiet remains a male domain. That is until

now. A new girls choir will be set up by the end of the year, ending

the history that has existed here ever since the theatre was built.

Singing their way into the history books. These girls could swap the

humble school hall for the home of the Anglican Church after Canterbury

Cathedral and announced a volunteer girls choir will be set up. It will

end a male tradition that has lasted a millennium. Any tiny steps set out

on a road and you never know where the road is going. For equality

purposes, that is good news? Yes, of course. To give girls that

dimensional, to come and sing in this beautiful cathedral church has

to be a very good thing, and it will be good for them and good for us,

and good for the boys as well. What does it mean for the boys? Has

ecclesiastical stained—glass ceiling beam Woking, heralding choral

equality? Not quite. The girls choir will initially only thing a handful

of times a day, giving the boys extra holiday, and they won't be

mixed. But, would be choristers think this is an significant

announcement. A lot of cathedrals around the country have done it now,

and I think it is rigid Canterbury Cathedral, which is one

of the main ones, has introduced a girls choir. I think it has been a

bit sexist. Based on tradition originally, but it should have been

changed earlier. It is a traditional things for boys to think. I don't

think it is sexist in any way, but I just think it has been a tradition

and it is time to break through that now. Rather than opening the

floodgates to females, it is a tentative step. This is the

cathedral's answer to Simon Cowell, who will be the all—important judge

at next month's girls audition. A girl aged 12 or 13 has to tell me

she has got musical experience, a good ear will stop we will ask quite

a lot with a short rehearsal time. We also want a sparkle personality.

A break in tradition when it comes to gender, but equality in musical

ability. Many will say female choirs have

sung here before, but this is the first official Canterbury Cathedral

girls choir. The auditions start at the end of the next month. There are

only 20 places, so it is expected to be hotly contested. Traditionalists

will be pleased because there is no talk of amalgamating the girls and

boys choirs. Our top story: The family of a woman

who died from an ectopic after Maidstone Hospital sent her

home twice with painkillers says a compensation deal of £400,000 can't

ease the pain they feel. Rebecca Ben—Nishma collapsed in front of her

teenage daughter in 2010. The NHS Trust has admitted

liability. Also in tonight's programme: you

will be using this Aston Martin with modifications. Pay attention please.

Still under wraps dash the James Bond cars still unopened from 1965,

now sold at auction for £7,000. And, after a cloudy day with some

rain, there is a weather warning out for tomorrow with potentially local

flooding after much heavy rain. Join me later in the programme for the

full forecast. A Brighton based eye surgeon, who

performs radical surgery to restore his patients' sight, is the only

surgeon in Britain who performs a remarkable procedure known as

Osteo—odonto—keratoprosthesis. Professor Christopher Liu constructs

a new eye using a tiny plastic lens and one of the patient's own teeth.

Professor Liu is now the world's leading expert in the procedure and

has helped a number of patients to see again. For some people who are

blind, there is a remarkable procedure which offers them the

chance to see again. Remarkable inbreed. A bright eye surgeon has

become renowned for restoring the site of people who have lost their

vision, often for decades. He does it using one of their teeth. If you

put a plastic cornea or directly onto their eye, it will be

extruded as a foreign body. The magic of this technique is to frame

it, tricksy I into accepting as its own. This is how the process works.

The surgeon takes one of the patient's own teeth, shapes it

The surgeon takes one of the create a tiny space for a plastic

lens. The tooth is initially implanted in one eye. It softens and

becomes accepted by the immune system. The front of the eye ——

tooth becomes the lens began. I just cried. I gave my children a big hug

and a kiss. Straight after the operation, people stared, more than

anything. I was a bit nervous, a bit wary that people kept looking. Now

it doesn't bother me. The professor will feature in a BBC documentary to

be broadcast next week, while he himself remains unaware of just how

remarkable his work is. So do come to you and get their site back? Yes,

that is the case. 92—year—old Korean War veteran Billy

Orr from Brighton has become the first person ever to receive the

Peace Medal here in the UK, because his failing health meant he was

unable travel to Korea to collect his commendation. UN forces fought

alongside South Korean troops against North Korea and the Chinese

between 1950 and 1953. Billy was captured in 1951 and held in a

prison camp for three years. Over 1000 British servicemen died during

the three—year long conflict. Chrissie Reidy went to meet the

Sussex war hero. There they go! It was a bloody war

between North and South Korea. With the support of China and the Soviet

Union, the communist North invaded the south. It may have been more

than 60 years ago, but for 92 D rolled veteran Billy Orr, who was

blinded during the battle, it feels like yesterday. I lost a lot of good

friends out there. I did. The public in the Republic of Korea now don't

really appreciate all look after their graves. Billy was captured by

the North Koreans and escaped by fooling the card. When the guard

came in and open the door to count, or they could see was two things.

They weren't my legs, they were two sticks. You escaped? I was

recaptured. I was taken up to their court. I was told that I was a war

criminal. As recognition of his bravery, he has finally received the

peace medal. It is nice to have the medal. People have considered what

we went through. He also fought in the Second World War, and the Greek

Civil War. He is thrilled to have the peace medal, but says he was

simply doing his duty. I was just being a soldier, dear. That is what

it is all about, darling, just being a soldier. Football, and in last

night's Championship games, both Brighton and Charlton were held to a

1—1 draws. Both sides have been in poor form recently and have been

sliding down the table, but at least the Addicks put a stop to their

losing streak. How much would you pay for a toy car

that you could never even take out of its box, never actually see?

Well, an anonymous buyer today paid some £7000 for a pack of six

original James Bond Aston Martin cars still sealed up in the

cellophane put on at the Corgi toy factory back in 1965. They should

have been sold at the time of the Bond film Goldfinger but were kept

back by a salesman. They sparked a wave of international interest when

sold by a Kent online auction house. Robin Gibson reports. It has

elements of a James Bond plot. I is all over the planet watching a chain

of screens, ready to strike, looking to acquire something no one has seen

for real, but many would like to possess. We have got telephone bids

from South Africa, interest from America, France, Germany, Italy, New

Zealand will stop literally all over the world, people have registered to

bid in our auction. In reality, what we are in a hotel near Maidstone.

Basically, this is the James Bond Aston Martin done for Goldfinger.

The toy itself is not overly unusual because 1 million were made. What

makes it so fascinating is that it is still wrapped in the original

wrapping, as it would have been sent to the toy shop for the retailer to

them open and display. I am selling at £5,500. Telephone

bed. With fees, the British buyer will pay around £7,000. A lot of

money for six unopened boxes, likely to remain just that.

I used to have one of those. I loved it. I lost the little man in the

ejector seat, but it was still brilliant.

Let's have a look at the weather. Today was cloudy, mostly dry, but

some outbreaks of rain. We have a warning from The Met Office about

heavy and torrential downpours tomorrow. We start the day dry, but

heavy rain around with the risk of some localised flooding. Through

tonight, we will stay dry, lots of cloud around with those easterly

breezes, and temperatures only dropping to 12 or 13. Some places

along the coastal held up at about 15 or 16 degrees. Tomorrow, we will

start dry, but you can see warnings across the UK about the risk of

heavy rain. It will certainly be a PC picture for tomorrow. Initially a

cloudy, Tri—Star billy macro start. —— initially a cloudy, dry start. It

will feel a good deal cooler. Into Friday, we have got some showers

around, but high—pressure moving in for the weekend. Turning warm, dry

and bright. Join us again at 10:25pm. Bye—bye.