24/01/2014 South East Today

The luminous sound of James Whitbourn, up for a Grammy for his

work based on the life of Anne Frank.

And, alas poor Porrick. The pig abandoned on a hillside and now

adopted by a village. Police have launched a murddr

enquiry tonight after a car was deliberately driven at a man,

pinning him against metal r`ilings in Gillingham.

The victim, named as 33`year`old John Hedges, was air`lifted to a

London hospital last night, but died this afternoon. Our reporter Ceri

Perkins joins us from the scene The aftermath of last night 's

incident was still very much in evidence in Gillingham. The card

that mode down 33`year`old John hedges remained at the scend.

Neighbours were shocked. I looked out of the window and there was this

one guy standing there, his friend was shouting. Police escortdd me to

my house because everybody needed to be escorted because it was still

dangerous at that point. It is a bit scary to know that there has been a

murder take place not even ` minute ago. `` away. It is understood there

was a row between Mr Hedges and two men in green Mondeo. As he walked

away, the car hit him and ldft him critically injured. The polhce have

established that the car was stolen. The people that were here, they are

the people we rely upon to lake themselves available to givd

evidence about what they saw and heard. That is crucial in this kind

of incident, where it is a pretty belt `` built`up area. Officers are

studying neighbourhood CCTV footage in the hope it will help tr`ce those

responsible. A "persistent record of crilinality"

` the damning verdict from the country's top judge today, `fter

Southern Water lost an appe`l over being fined ?200,000 for allowing

raw sewage to be pumped into the sea off protected Kent beaches.

Defective equipment at Foreness Point pumping station resulted in

several discharges of untre`ted sewage in 2011. Lord Thomas, the

Lord Chief Justice, said Sotthern Water had not demonstrated to the

court what steps it had takdn to address the problem. Piers Hopkirk

reports. Steady sees the paddle surfdrs

today. In marked contrast to the icy blast aimed at Southern Watdr. It

sought to have its fine for discharging raw sewage reduced. The

audacity of challenging the fine shows what kind of company we are

dealing with, a company that could not care less about the dam`ge it

does to the environment, a company that could not care less about the

adapter `` the damaged the dconomy and reputation of Thanet. The fine

should have been higher and Southern Water's eyes should have watered.

Between January and July 2001 there were several sewage dischargeds ``

the `` discharges. Last Augtst, Southern Water was fined ?200,0 0

for the 2011 incidents. Davd Melmoth runs a surf school but was hard`hit.

For a massive company to go back and try to get money back something that

there was their fault is disgraceful. Today Southern Water

defended its legal challengd. Although the incident happened, it

did not cause any water quality problems to the beaches, thdy still

continue to meet the environmental standard, so we wanted a second

opinion on the fine. We now fully accept it. For many businesses it is

the quality of the water here that is their lifeblood. Many sax it is

the long`term damage to public confidence that has hit thel

hardest. The fine upheld today only relates to the 2011 discharges.

Investigations into what happened the following year continue.

Southern Water may well facd further sanctions.

In a moment we will hear from the boss of Cuadrilla about the latest

plans for oil exploration is. `` explorations.

Four years ago Joan Keeley had a home worth half a million pounds and

a property portfolio worth lore than a million. Now, after a dispute over

loan repayments with her bank, she is living on benefits in a

one`bedroom flat. She also owes the former Kent

Reliance building society more than ?300,000. She is now campaigning for

a change in the law. Our business correspondent Mark Norman h`s this

exclusive report. These are your arrears, if xou don't

pay them we will take court action. Joan has years of paper but ``

paperwork showing how the b`nk took over her business. By 2010 she and

her partner had more than ?0 million of outstanding mortgage debt and

more than a dozen houses led `` let to tenants but after a disagreement

she asked for information and to press a point with held the monthly

payments. She said, just pax it They did not give us any more

information. We got a letter saying they wanted the entire mortgages

paid up, close to a couple of million pounds at that time. Without

warning we had a letter to say that they had put our properties into

receivership. LPA receivership is a complex subjects. Receivers are

pointed to recover the secured debt. They offer banks the

advantages of repossession without many of the big `` the risks but

they are considered a last resort. LPA receivers continue to rtn the

business but the landlord is responsible for the debts and any

future debt. Joan's bank told us they could not discuss her case but

that they make every effort to work with borrowers and only a point LPA

receivers when all other attempt to resolve the situation have proven

unsuccessful they use experhence to use receivers who work with the bank

and the borrower. The matter was raised in Parliament by Joan's MP. I

want the government, the banks, the individuals and the other agencies

to come together to make sure everything is done to help

individuals in these circumstances. I have come across hundreds of

landlords with this problem. Other landlords are raising awareness of

the issue, believing the problems started when the government stopped

paying housing benefit directly to landlords. There are a lot of good

tenants who have been on hotsing benefit, a lot of single muls, great

tenants, who have settled. Joan believed that if the bank h`d sold

her properties she would have been left with a considerable amount of

equity. We live in separate `` a single property, I claim benefits

and I have no prospect of ilproving the situation. Landlords want the

situation improved, believing that LPA receivers should be subject to

legislation. A Kent man who faced trial hn Uganda

for being gay has been deported to the UK today. 65`year`old Bdrnard

Randell, from Faversham, had faced up to two years in jail, after

stolen images showing him in a sexual relationship with a lan were

published in Uganda newspapdr. `` a Ugandan newspaper. A judge this week

instead ordered his deportation The Euro millions millionaire raffle

prize, bought last year and an claimed, will now go to projects

across the UK. A court today has heard how members

of the public had to run for cover behind parked cars during a shooting

in Hove. Edmund Nela, who is originally from Albania, is accused

of murdering scaffolder Xhel Krasniqi on Selbourne Road back in

May. Our home affairs reporter Rdbecca

Williams has been in court following the trial and is in Hove now.

Rebecca, there were a number of eyewitnesses who saw what h`ppened,

weren't there? Yes, and one of the witnesses described her terror and

fear as events unfolded. Shd said she heard a number of gunshots on

this road that night and shd described a man brandishing what she

believed was a gun. Xhem Kr`sniqi was fatally wounded and tonhght we

have heard from his family. The wife of the man pictured in the

middle broke down as she described the last time she saw her htsband

alive. Xhem Krasniqi was fatally wounded on Selbourne brewed in May.

In court today his wife described how they had been in Brighton on the

day visiting her husband's brother. She said she had never really wanted

to go. She described hearing the door of the flat slam and started to

weep as she recalled how her husband had not even said goodbye. @n

eyewitness today described hearing four loud bangs. She said she and

her boyfriend took shelter behind parked cars as shots were fhred She

says, I remember when I next looked up the males were running up

Selbourne Road. She said I then looked over the road again. A man

was on the ground. He was the only male left. People ran from `ll

directions to help him. The defendant, Edmund Nela, denhes all

the charges against him. We also heard today how one of the len

involved in the incident, Xhem Krasniqi's nephew, had a lucky

escape. The defendant, Edmund Nela, denies all charges. The tri`l will

continue on Monday, when we will hear from more prosecution

witnesses. The latest planning application by

Cuadrilla has been made public. It shows exactly where oil filling is

set to take place in bulk and, with the drill extending almost 0000

metres to the west of the drill site.

Earlier I spoke to the chief executive of Cuadrilla, who was keen

to assure residents that no fracking would take place.

We drilled a while there last summer and we have confirmed that we will

not need to use fracking at that well. The lime scale is alrdady

fractured. We know there is oil there but we don't know at what

rate. People's concerns abott the possible effects of ground water and

so on, they are completely groundless? I would say it hs pretty

misplaced. The ground water at the site already has methane in it, we

established that in the sampling. It is well`known that in Sussex the

ground water has methane. Do you have any idea how many lorrhes might

be going through the villagd on a daily basis? This activity we are

proposing is substantially less than the drilling. Seven or eight lorries

a day would be the maximum to set up the testing. If we ever got to

production phase, you would be looking at one or two maximtm.

Our top story tonight ` polhce have launched a murder enquiry after a

man was killed in a hit`and`run incident following a row in

Gillingham. John hedges died after being taken to a London hospital

after the collision. Later we meet Porrick and the

village residents who have given him a home.

Saturday is the king and brhghter but for Sunday it is turning wet and

windy. `` Saturday is looking. If you have a story you think we

should be covering an South East Today, we would like to hear from

you. It is a piece of music that one

critic said tells the story of Anne Frank with such tender respdct it is

almost impossible to hear whthout tears. Now a performance of Kent

composer James Whitbourn's @nnelies is in line to be acknowledgdd with

one of the most prestigious awards in music.

But James himself will not walking the red carpet in Los Angelds to

accept a Grammy in person. Hnstead he will be waiting to hear the

result from his home in Sevdnoaks. Georgina Burnett has been to meet

him. The haunting notes of Annelhes,

written by James Whitbourn, who has been nominated for a Grammy award. I

was terribly pleased becausd there is a lovely quiet, ute for people,

and they had got so engrossdd in the piece, and I know it means so much

to all of those people. It was lovely news. The piece is b`sed on

the diary of Holocaust victhm Anne Frank and it is the first thme her

words have been entrusted to such a project. James spent time in the

tiny annex in Amsterdam where she wrote the diary in hiding from Nazi

soldiers. A strangely eerie and at the spirit space. Listen to the

sounds, the church bells, the birds which are mentioned a lot in the

diary. These sounds became part of the soundscape of the piece. It is

Holocaust Memorial Day on Monday and St Martin`in`the`Fields church is

preparing for a performance of Annelies. It is a fitting tribute to

all of those Anne Frank has come to represent. Geraldine Auerbach from

the Jewish Music Institute says it is significant to Holocaust victims.

It is wonderful that it has been nominated for a Grammy becatse it

gives us some arch pleasure and pride that this piece is st`nding up

on its own feet across the world. The Grammy awards take placd in LA

on Sunday. A beautiful piece of music. Lizzy

Yarnold will compete as the reigning skeleton champion.

It was the first time this season she has not finished in the top

three but it was enough to pualify. The smile said it all. For Lizzy

Yarnold this was mission accomplished. Three months of

intense competition ended whth her crowned as World Cup champion. It is

amazing to say I am overall World Cup champion. It is an amazhng

achievement I have dreamt of. With Olympic selection secured e`rlier in

the week Lizzy Yarnold only needed to complete today's raced to ensure

she maintained her position as world number one and again she had the

support of family and friends from Kent. I can't believe it. I felt

quite to fill seeing the fl`g and her on the podium. This is one she

really really wanted. It shows she is consistent and can slide in

Europe, North America. This is what she really really wanted. For Lizzy

and her rivals, the long se`son still has one very important

contest. Lizzy and her family celebrating. There will be plenty

more celebrations if she can finish with a gold in Sochi. The ndxt few

weeks `` the last few weeks may have been difficult for Lizzy but she

could hardly set off for Sochi in better shape.

Football now, and it is FA Cup fourth round weekend. Brighton are

away to League One side Port Vale tomorrow afternoon. Winger Will

Buckley could be in line for a return to the side, having spent the

last month out with a hamstring injury.

Charlton are on the roads in the FA Cup for the second time in ` week.

After avoiding an upset in ` third round replay at Oxford Unitdd on

Tuesday, a trip to fellow Championship side Huddersfidld Town

is the reward in round four. Gillingham face one of their

toughest tests of the season in League One tonight. They ard away to

Brentford. Crawley Town will be looking to avenge their defdat to

Rotherham earlier in the se`son when they travel to Yorkshire tolorrow.

She is small, messy and grulpy, and she is fast becoming a popular local

attraction. A female pig, n`med Porrick, has been adopted bx a group

of Sean Cliff locals after she was abandoned in a nearby field, and she

is getting plenty of visitors. `` Shorncliffe.

It is thought she was left behind because she was proving tricky to

catch. Now she seems quite `t home, after residents build her a

makeshift shelter and have started feeding her scraps of food. We sent

Victoria Holland to bring home the bacon.

As happy as a pig in muck. This is Porrick and she is turning hnto a

local celebrity. When residdnts realised she had been left hn this

field they adopted her and dven built a temporary home. It hs not a

desirable residence as such but it keeps the weather off. The first

time I saw her she was covered in Mark and laying down with a bit of

hay over her. But now the local people bring her scraps and even buy

food for her. Porrick has bden living on her round for a fdw

months. Originally there was a whole drove of pigs on this land but they

were moved off because residents said many of them kept escaping It

is thought the Porrick is a German micro pig but unlike most phgs, she

loves eating. The majority of the people down the road enjoy feeding

her. A couple come virtuallx every day, an old couple, and thex sit

there and watch Porrick for hours. Porrick seems quite settled, so much

so that she did not seem to want to come out much. She is quite shy

around people and she will bark like a dog if she doesn't like them, but

otherwise she just eats the food and wanders around. Thanks to the

kindness of the locals, Porrick has become a popular and somewh`t porky

pig. We are going to the weather in a few

moments but before that, it is exactly a month on from the

devastating floods that hit the South East. Residents from Xalding

are calling for ?50 million to protect the area from futurd

flooding. The River Medway burst its Hanks,

flooding Tonbridge, and hundreds of people were stranded at Gatwick

Olly and Maidstone were othdr areas badly affected. `` holy `` Horley.

A month after Christmas and people's saturated and cont`minated

belongings are still being disposed of. In this road in Tonbridge there

are more builders than residents. There were no sandbags, no help

whatsoever. There was no warning, to bring your stuff upstairs or

whatever. The flooding in Tonbridge, the worst since 1968, after which

the flood barrier was dulled to protect the town. It protected many

homes and the council said ht had its best. We did the best wd could

do at the time. We can alwaxs improve and one of the really good

things is that staff involvdd have all sent me ideas about things they

perhaps could do a bit diffdrently. But so much rain fell that flooding

was inevitable. You can see the rainfall as the black bars, causing

the River levels to rise, this blue line. Before the River levels had a

chance to subside, a great deal more rain fell on the night before

Christmas eve, giving us thd levels we saw in Yalding. In Yalding, more

homes were devastated even then in 2000 but today funding has been

promised into flood defences for the village and others on the Rhver

belt. Yalding lies at the confluence of the two rivers. The proposal is

to put something down streal on the belt so that we can have thd ability

to hold the water back. We learn from every flood and every flood is

slightly different. We revidwed the computer models, review the

predictions. We can also look at the previous schemes we were looking to

progress and some of those could well go forward in the future. Over

the following weeks and months of the events of Christmas will be

dissected to try to make thhngs better next time.

Anybody living in those are`s will be deeply concerned about the

weather. We know there is more heavy `` more heavy rain on the w`y over

the weekend. Yes, Saturday looks to be staying

fairly dry, one or two blustery showers, but it is Sunday wd are

really concerned about. We dxpect about 20 millimetres of rainfall and

gale force winds along the south coast. Earlier there was rahn for

the South West but must've ht `` much of it heated out so actually

just lots of cloud cover today. Temperature is still pretty cool,

highs of seven or eight degrees The win is actually fairly light, ten to

15 mph, but it will not stax settled as we go into tonight. This band of

rain, not particularly heavx, but persistent tonight, spreading

eastwards. The writ `` the wind is picking up again as well. As we go

through tonight, all of us seeing some rainfall at one point or

another and a cloudy, grey start to Saturday. Temperatures hardly

changing from their daytime values, lows of five or six. Cloudy but mild

as we start the day on Saturday but shaping up to be witty decent. Some

sunshine in the afternoon. `` pretty decent. For the most part wd should

stay dry. Temperatures stayhng in single figures, highs of seven or

eight, but along the coast just about holding up in double figures.

Some blustery and cool showdrs for the first part of Saturday dvening,

possibly some hail with that. Actually quite a cold night as we go

into Sunday, Tebbit is down to two or three. You might see a touch of

Frost in more rural spots. `` temperatures down to two or three.

We expect ten to 20 millimetres of rain on Sunday and that comds hand

in hand with gale force winds. All of us seeing a very wet and windy

pictures, highs of eight or nine degrees. As we go into the new week

we expect a bit of a cold snap, temperatures around four or five for

many of us. It is going to be staying breezy and unsettled as we

head through the week. Over the weekend, Saturday at least looks

mostly settled, some sunshine during the afternoon, but turning very wet

and windy into Sunday. Sleet on Monday. Cold and wdt, what

a combination. I will see you next week. Goodbye.