07/01/2014 South East Today

perhaps 48 hours of drier weather for many of us. But between now and

The distraught family appealing for the return of 11 puppies stolen from

their home in Kent. Curly from Coronation Street tells

us why he's planning to open a dry pub for recovering alcoholics in

Sussex. It is an idea for which I am prepared to die.

And we talk to the Sussex man who wrote the screenplay for the film

about Nelson Mandela's life. Good evening. An organised criminal

gang, including a woman from Brighton, which trafficked scores of

vulnerable women into the Southeast for sex has been found guilty in a

unanimous verdict at Hove Crown Court.

The group installed the young Hungarian women in brothels and

hotels across Kent and Sussex. One was told she'd be killed if she

didn't continue to work as a prostitute. Piers Hopkirk was in

court. On the face of it they were a

seemingly respectable young couple but on reality `` in reality

Victoria Brown and Mate Puskas were running a prostitution ring.

Exploiting poor and vulnerable women from Hungary and bringing them to

the south`east as sex workers. Joanne Welsch helped to support some

of the victims. It is hard to envisage how human beings could

treat other human beings in such a callous and disrespectful way,

essentially it seems the gang had no thought whatsoever for the women and

just treated them as a way to get money and have a satisfying

lifestyle on the back of their misery. Victoria Brown had worked at

a PA in an engineering firm in Brighton and she was described as

the logistical organiser of the operation. Her former partner and

her partner in crime organised transport, hotels and clients, along

with a co`defendant, Zoltan Mohacsi and Istvan Toth and Peter Toth.

Today all five were convicted of conspiracy to traffic women into the

UK for sexual exploitation. Creating profiles on a UK contact website

very brought over at least 53 women putting them to work at hotels near

Gatwick and brothels across Kent and Sussex including one in Margate. I

became aware of a steady stream of men coming to and from the ground

floor flat next door and it carried on all day, relentlessly, two or

three at a time, just waiting to get in. The gang creamed off the cash

and profited from the misery of the women they brought here and they

have had their sentencing adjourned until tomorrow.

Well, Piers joins us now from Hove. Piers, the authorities believe this

was clearly a highly organised international conspiracy? Yes, this

was prostitution on an almost industrial scale, facilitated by the

age of the Internet, gone are the days of prostitutes working on

street corners, supervised by pimps, instead this gang created online

profiles for the prostitutes and manned a sort of switchboard of

mobile phones linking up clients with prostitutes in brothels or

hotels. We know these women were working across Kent and Sussex and

as far west as Bristol and as far east as Norfolk so the police say

that given the scale of that, the five people convicted today may have

only been a part of this criminal conspiracy.

Well, in an exclusive investigation BBC South East Today has tracked

down a man wanted in Britain and named in court as an alleged

co`conspirator in the case. The gang trafficked 50 Hungarian women in

their teens and 20s. The Home Office believes the true

number is likely to have been significantly higher, though. Some

of the women were threatened with violence. Others were blackmailed

and intimidated into working as prostitutes. Our Special

Correspondent Colin Campbell travelled to Hungary as part of his

investigation. His reports contains subjects that some viewers may find

upsetting. Rural Hungary, gripped by poverty,

it is from these desperate streets that scores of women were recruited

and then trafficked to Kent and Sussex. How many men would you have

two C? In one day, five. This is one of the many, she was advertised as

fresh meat and flown to England with the understanding she would work in

a mass large parlour. Instead she says she was confined to a hotel

room and effectively kept as a sex slave. All the time I had to call

and ask if it was OK to go to the shop and he would say no because a

client was coming. Victoria Brown collected the money she earned and

Mate Puskas exploited her. You try to leave England and he exploited

you? He took my passport so there was no chance to leave England

without the passport. He was also taking your money? Others were

beaten, blackmailed and even threatened with death. At the heart

of this criminal conspiracy was the exploitation of young and vulnerable

women. Distributing condom is to prostitutes enabled a pest

backstreet, one Hungary in charity told me that sex trafficking is an

issue being left in the shadows. These people who are living under

segregated circumstances are excluded from basic social services

such as education and health services. They are becoming the

victims of trafficking. Young women like this who were abused by their

traffickers. She was locked into the room and they were there and they

used drugs and they raped her and spit on her after that and they

laughed at her. It is poor communities in the south of the

country that Mate Puskas and others preyed on. A mother with six

daughters, this woman told that many teenage girls had left her

neighbourhood to work overseas as prostitutes. It is the promise of a

better life overseas that has lowered many of the young women from

rural Hungary in villages like this one into the clutches of people

traffickers. Those that I have spoken to here say that it is

poverty and lack of job opportunities which are the causes

of prostitution in villages like this one. This leader told me that

most women go overseas because they need to own money to for their

families but it is the traffickers that get rich. It is thought that

these brothers made ?20,000 a week and then there are others that the

police want to track down like this man who is distinctively tattooed

with three X is on his neck and he is involved with the trafficking

gang and he has been described as an aggressive man who terrorised

women. My investigation led me to a small village on the Hungary in/

Romanian border. Do you know where he lives? Locals show me where he

was at home? You have been to England? Two hotels in England?

Hotels, yes. With women? Do you take women to England? No understand. He

did not want to show his face on camera. Although he is named as a

co`conspirator in this case he says he knows nothing about the

trafficking of prostitutes to the UK and does not know any of the people

involved. This woman says she escaped with help from her boyfriend

but many like her continue to come to the UK, trafficked by criminals

who exploit, control and degrade them for financial gain.

Well, the gang are due to be sentenced tomorrow and on tomorrow's

programme we'll have a second exclusive report from Hungary

focusing on the victims rescued from sex trafficking and what's being

done to combat the problem. In a moment: I'm very sorry.

Gatwick's boss apologises for the Christmas chaos at the airport.

100 officers could go under further cuts to Kent Police's budget

according to the new Chief Constable. Alan Pughsley, speaking

for the first time since taking the job yesterday, says he faces tough

challenges ahead. Our Political Reporter Ellie Price has more. Our

new Chief con has not stopped smiling since the day he was offered

this job. The task ahead for the new Chief con is no laughing matter. As

deputy for the last four years, you have seen the consequences of ?53

million of budget cuts. One of his first jobs as the chief is to make

more. The ?20 million will not all be police officers or police staff.

I will take as much of that money out of non`people savings as I

possibly can but it will impact at the end of a couple of years with

less staff. How many? We are still working through it but my guess

would be about 100 police officers in the next couple of years. That on

top of the jobs that has already gone. His predecessor admitted that

changes would have to be made. We will struggle to deliver the service

in the way that we currently do. At the moment we go to every crime, as

you know, can we afford to do that in the future? Possibly not. Is it

realistic to hope that the level of service will remain the same with

potentially at least 100 fewer officers and then savings around the

edges? And Barnes said this morning that the forces already efficiency

down so there is no slack to take. No, there is not. The promise I have

to give is that we will do our very best to deliver the best service

that we possibly can. If we reduce demand and use technology better and

we designed the model so we are more embedded without communities then

that will give us the best optimum chance of keeping the service as it

currently is. I have two reduce the demand on my officers. They are

creaking at this current moment in time. They are working so hard to

deliver a quality service. If I take more officers out or more staff out

and I do not reduce their workload, the mathematics do not work out. We

have to to do things differently. People are worried about the number

of police officers we are losing. We have lost 1200 people in the last

few years and we will lose at least another 100 or maybe 150. You cannot

police Kent in the 21st century with the same resource levels that we had

in the 1980s. The force says that national catch `` natural wastage

expends why they have opened recruitment but overall numbers will

almost certainly go down. Well, let's cross live to Police

Headquarters and speak to Ellie Price. Ellie, what else did the new

Chief Constable have to say? He spoke about his relationship with

and Barnes, the Police Commissioner in Kent and his boss who he says he

is looking forward to working with. He spoke broadly about the role of

the commission and said it had improved policing as well as the

accountability of top police officers and made it more honest

wherein the past abbey bureaucratic. I asked him about the issue of

immigration and he said he had no specific concerns here in the county

but it was something he would continue to monitor. Thank you very

much indeed. You can hear a full interview with the chief can on the

breakfast show tomorrow morning. The Police and Crime Commissioner

for Sussex has denied that crime figures are being fiddled. Katy

Bourne, who was giving evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee,

was challenged by MPs over whether officers are misreporting crimes to

meet targets. Sussex has recorded a reduction in crime in recent years.

A man's been charged after two police officers were stabbed while

on duty in Folkestone. The officers were attempting to issue a warrant

and both needed stitches. Robert Jones, who's 39 and comes from St

Michael's Street has been charged with two counts of grievous bodily

harm with intent. He's been remanded in custody until later this month.

Network Rail have officially opened their new operating centre in

Sussex. The building in Three Bridges will become one of 14

planned across the country and will coordinate railway operations in

Sussex. Network Rail say they'll work alongside colleagues from

Southern and First Capital Connect to improve services and facilities

for passengers. A family from Kent is appealing for

the return of 11 golden retriever puppies stolen from their farm in

Ashford. Mark and Julie Kennedy discovered the dogs, which are

valued at ?800 each, had been taken when they checked on the litter this

morning. The family are now worried that if

the puppies aren't given the right treatment, they could die. Simon

Jones met the family this morning. These are the puppies that were

taken during the night, just weeks old and from two separate litters

born to the family's two pet dogs. They were possibly stolen for sale,

ransom or breeding. They still needed their mums. They are not

ready to go yet. The dogs are devastated and they keep running

around and looking and I do not know we `` I do not know what we are

going to do. The thieves broke down this door to get into the puppies

and the family are convinced they were taken to order and this was not

something they found by chance. What is concerning is that only a few of

the puppies were microchips and vaccinated. Their first vaccination

is very important because obviously if they meet any other dogs, any

people or go to any strange land, farmland, they will be liable or

able to catch any diseases, anything that puppy can go down with. Dog

theft is on the increase in Kent with 87 reported cases last year,

double the previous year. It is easy to sell a cute looking dog,

particularly puppies. Some of them are actually taken for working

purposes so we have seen a huge increase in the theft of working

dogs in the last year or so. It is financial. Other items were stolen

from the farm but the family say it is the puppies that are

irreplaceable. This is our top story tonight: An

organised criminal gang that trafficked scores of vulnerable

women into the south`east for sex has been found guilty, in a

unanimous verdict at Hove Crown Court.

The group installed the young Hungarian women in brothels and

hotels across Kent and Sussex. They'll be sentenced tomorrow.

Also in tonight's programme: It was the role that drove him to drink,

now the actor who played Curly Watts wants to open an alcohol free pub in

Brighton. After another day of squally

showers, the good news is it is a dry start to the day tomorrow but it

will not stay that way. Join me later for the forecast.

The Chief Executive of Gatwick apologised today as he explained the

unprecedented delays that left hundreds of passengers stranded at

the airport on Christmas Eve. Stewart Wingate told MPs he was very

sorry for the chaos caused when floods knocked out power at the

airport, forcing the closure of one terminal and cancelling 67 flights.

Well, let's cross to Westminster and speak to our reporter Mark Sanders.

Mark, we heard today for the first time about how little warning

Gatwick said it had about the flooding. Well, Gatwick was prepared

for high winds but it did not expect the river to flood. The chief

executive revealed today that at 4:15am on Christmas Eve Gatwick was

given just half an hour's notice that the river would flood and it

was that flooding that caused so much disruption. It was a chaotic

Christmas Eve at Gatwick with flooding causing power failures in

the North terminal. Flights were cancelled and delayed but the travel

plans of many passengers were ruined. We arrived and there was no

information on the board said to wait for half an hour before there

would be more information that continued for six or seven hours.

Eventually we got called to a gate and we arrived at big eight and then

they told us that there were no buses to take us to the plane. MPs

wanted to know what went wrong and how the airport dealt with

distressed passengers. We are hearing people left for 12 hours

with no heating and just one hot drink and one toilet for thousands

of people. It seems that your communication just collapsed. The

boss of Gatwick said he was very sorry for what had happened but the

airport had worked hard to get people onto flights by the South

terminal but it acknowledged there had been failings. We fell short but

we did so in trying to get as many of our passengers to our Christmas

destinations as we possibly could. On any other day we would have

cancelled significantly more flights earlier in the day. The power was

out for about 35 hours and of the 238 surge or departures 67 were

cancelled. Gatwick has offered compensation in the form of shopping

vouchers to those passengers whose flights were cancelled. Gatwick is

conducting its own enquiry into why things went so badly wrong. The

issue of a second runway at Gatwick was raised at the hearing with one

MP suggesting that the chaos seen at Christmas had damaged the case for a

potential second runway at Gatwick. The chief executive replied there

was still an exceptional case for a second runway at Gatwick. Not an

easy couple of weeks for the airport.

Thank you very much. In Coronation Street the character

Curly Watts was often seen drinking in The Rovers with his on`screen

wife Racquel. But in reality the actor who played him, Kevin Kennedy,

was heavily dependant on alcohol. Kevin's now been sober for more than

a decade. He's moved to Brighton and told us he now he wants to give

something back by setting up a dry bar in the city for others in

recovery. Rebecca Williams met him. Hello. Hello, can I get you a

drink? He became a household name playing Curly Watts in Coronation

Street but off`screen Kevin Kennedy grew increasingly dependent on

alcohol. He has now been sober for 16 years and has decided to set up a

dry bar in his new home town of Brighton. It will be SA plays for

people to go, people in recovery and people not in recovery. `` a safe

place. They can enjoy an evening without any pressure. It will also

debunk a lot of myths about recovery and any secrecy that might surround

it. The idea was inspired by a similar dry bar that opened in

Liverpool in 2012. Kevin and his wife who also had a drink and drugs

problem plan to employ former prisoners and those who have been in

long`term recovery. We want to give opportunities for those people to

get re`educated and retrained. In our communities we need places that

people can get free educated. Recovery is just the tip of an

iceberg. Once you get into recovery, it is then what. This man knows how

difficult recovery can be. He went for a top job as a national

broadcaster to Livingston `` living on the streets of home. He wishes

similar help was available when he needed it. Alcoholism is a very

lonely business. You feel as though you are the only person suffering

from it so too have had a place like this where I could have gone along

and said that I do this and I have a quarter of a bottle of vodka to get

the day going and am I alone? I would have felt a lot of community

and fellowship I think in a pub like that. Curly Watts, I used to do a

paper ran for you. From the cobbles of Coronation Street to the bright

lights of Brighton, Kevin and Claire Hope that venture will be up and

running in the next few months. It's a daunting prospect to make a movie

about an iconic figure in history. So imagine how the Sussex

screenwriter William Nicholson felt when he was asked to put words into

the mouth of Nelson Mandela. William, who lives near Lewes, has

spent the past 16 years working on Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, which

was released on Friday. He's written plenty of other Hollywood

blockbusters ` including Les Mis, Gladiator and Shadowlands. We'll be

chatting to him in a moment but first let's take a look at his

latest work. Do you always accept lifts from strangers? You are not a

stranger. You are Nelson Mandela. This is your final warning! I am not

breaking any laws. Something has to change. For 15 years we have been

talking peace and nonviolence. If the Blacks take over, the country is

finished. What is it that you personally want? I have beautiful

children and a beautiful wife and I want them to walk free in their own

land. The situation on the streets is out of control. The accused are

responsible for acts of sabotage with the intention of overthrowing

the government. Nelson Mandela, do you plead guilty or not guilty? It

is not buy but the government that should plead guilty. Well, William

Nicholson joins us now. You spent 16 years working on this

film and the night of the premier was the night that the death of

Nelson Mandela was announced. It was completely surreal. I was in the

Royal Gallery, the place where the royal family were and they were

sitting in front of me and then as the film ended there was this

scuffling and people started getting up and I did not know what they were

doing because I thought it was not polite to leave when the credits

were rolling and then I was told that he had just died. His daughters

had been in the cinema and I looked around and they had gone. I did not

even ever know if this movie would get made and then finally we made it

and then he died. You made it very clear that you did not want it to be

about him as a saint, you wanted it to be about him as a role model and

about his infidelities and his wife and his failed managers. If you

watch tell the story of someone's life, why bother if they are an

angel and they are not a real person. Film is all about engagement

and identification with the characters. Even if it is about a

real person you have to engage. Reality is imperative. Anybody's

life that you tell, there will be a dark side of it. Of course that had

to be there. This is also a journey, it is a man who grows and changes

and that is what is so moving. You went to Robben Island and you met

the family but you never got to meet the man himself? I was supposed to

meet on my first trip but then I had a car crash and I could not made him

but then after that I felt I did not want to meet him because you have to

create a character for a film, it is only 2.5 hours and the more you know

about the real person the more you struggle so I thought, why do I not

read everything and talk about him with all the people that knew him

and create the guy for the movie. Also, you are putting words in his

mouth and that is slightly awkward! Well, people think that... Of

course, I have made it all up. How does anybody know what he said to

Winnie when they were courting and falling in love and imprisoned. We

do not know. That is my job to make it all up. To be honest, the

speeches are very constructed for the film because the real speeches

go on for four hours. You cannot just edit them. In the end it is an

act of dramatic imagination. Where do you go from here? Well, I do many

things, I write novels as well. I have just written a movie about the

discovery of Tutankhamen. I have to tell you, this is the most thrilling

thing I have ever done. Many of us look forward to seeing very much.

Thank you very much. Now it is time to have a look at the

weather and we Now it is time to have a look at

have another night of wet stuff to come?

That is right. Another night of heavy rainfall. We had squally

showers around today and we have rain tonight and tomorrow but the

good news is that over the next couple of days the trend is for

things to quieten down. We have more dry weather and the wind will ease

off. It will feel cooler `` older by Friday. At the weekend the wind will

ease off. Temperatures have been quite mild. Tonight there is more

heavy rain and strong wind on the south coast but the rain will move

through quite quickly. It will not be cold. A dry start to the day

tomorrow as you can tell from the isobars. The wind will continue to

ease off and it will not be staying dry but you're in daylight hours we

could see some sunshine around. Temperatures will be ten or 11

degrees. The wind has really eased off. Tomorrow night we have further

heavy rain and all of us will see it heavy rain and all of us will see it

at some point. Not a particular cold night and it will clear through

quickly. Temperatures only dropped to eight or nine degrees. Finally

the ridge of high pressure that we have been talking about as we go

into Thursday. The rain will clear through quickly. Temperatures only

dropped to eight or nine degrees. Finally the ridge of high pressure

that we have been talking about as we go into Thursday. The rainbow

clear out of the way and we have a. More rain around but in the weekend

it looks settled. High pressure will build.

Roll on the weekend! That is it from all of us.

I will be back with all the news this evening. From all of us

goodbye. A tenth of a second

could be the difference