:00:00. > 3:59:59forces and protestors. That is all from BBC News. It is goodbye from
:00:00. > :00:00.Welcome to South East Today, I'm Rob me.
:00:00. > :00:09.Welcome to South East Today, I'm Rob Smith.
:00:10. > :00:11.And I'm Polly Evans. Tonight's top stories.
:00:12. > :00:21.Three arrests after a man is murdered in a Kent street. The
:00:22. > :00:24.20`year`old died from stab wounds. The sports and equalities Mhnister
:00:25. > :00:29.sparks outrage by saying th`t more women should take up feminine
:00:30. > :00:32.activities like ballet and cheerleading.
:00:33. > :00:37."Cutbacks and failures" in the benefits system are forcing people
:00:38. > :00:45.to go hungry claim Church ldaders. We'll be talking live to thd Bishop
:00:46. > :00:48.of Rochester. The latest threat to our native bee
:00:49. > :00:50.species ` diseases carried by commercially farmed honeybeds.
:00:51. > :00:54.And direct action in the row over Lizzy Yarnold's Olympic leg`cy as a
:00:55. > :01:06.post box in West Kingsdown hs sprayed gold overnight.
:01:07. > :01:09.Good evening. Three men havd been arrested on suspicion of murder
:01:10. > :01:12.following a fatal stabbing hn Kent. A 20`year`old man from London died
:01:13. > :01:15.in Folkestone last night, after he was found in the street with stab
:01:16. > :01:20.wounds. Charlie Rose joins us from the
:01:21. > :01:26.scene. Police and forensic teams have been busy there throughout the
:01:27. > :01:34.day, Charlie. Yes. Behind me is where the
:01:35. > :01:39.20`year`old man was stabbed yesterday evening. Police tdams have
:01:40. > :01:41.been coming and going all d`y as they try and piece together what
:01:42. > :01:50.happened last night with essential forensic work.
:01:51. > :01:58.Binns, pavements and cars. Police teams were leaving no stone
:01:59. > :02:03.unturned. They searched for clues to help detectives piece together what
:02:04. > :02:06.happened last night. The arda was cordoned off after a 20`year`old man
:02:07. > :02:12.was found with stab wounds which proved fatal. Police were lhving #
:02:13. > :02:19.or people living nearby witnessed the aftermath. I came out to see
:02:20. > :02:28.what was going on. The police told me to go back in the house `nd lock
:02:29. > :02:35.all the doors. This road is a nightmare. There is
:02:36. > :02:41.always fights I heard on thd news it was a murder.
:02:42. > :02:49.The victim was started betwden pm and 7:30pm. Fresh information from
:02:50. > :02:56.the police has revealed that the victim was transported to a nearby
:02:57. > :03:02.road pretty was cheated by `mbulance staff. Three men have since been
:03:03. > :03:06.arrested. `` treated by ambtlance staff.
:03:07. > :03:15.Does it surprise you this h`s happened to Mark not really I moved
:03:16. > :03:17.down here from London. I do not want to detract from the great place that
:03:18. > :03:22.the donors. At the moment many people hdre are
:03:23. > :03:27.worried as police continue their search for clues.
:03:28. > :03:35.Those three arrested men ard aged 18, 19, and 20. They are all from
:03:36. > :03:38.the London area. The priority for detectives is to find out what they
:03:39. > :03:41.were doing in Folkestone last night. The lease have been carrying out the
:03:42. > :03:44.lease have been carrying out door`to`door enquiries to fhnd
:03:45. > :03:49.people who may have seen wh`t has happened here. `` police have been
:03:50. > :03:52.carrying out. Now some breaking news. Within the
:03:53. > :03:56.last hour the Sports and Eqtalities Minister Helen Grant has cole under
:03:57. > :03:58.fire for saying more women should be encouraged to take up sport by
:03:59. > :04:00.participating in "feminine" activities.
:04:01. > :04:02.The Kent MP told reporters that women worried about feeling
:04:03. > :04:06."unfeminine" should look at taking up ballet, gymnastics, cheerleading
:04:07. > :04:09.or roller`skating. Our Political Editor Louise Stewart
:04:10. > :04:18.is here in the studio. Louise, this is causing real controversy tonight.
:04:19. > :04:22.The story has just broken. Ht is an interview she has given to the daily
:04:23. > :04:26.Telegraph. There has been a huge reaction on social media. Is quoted
:04:27. > :04:32.as saying there are some wonderful sport which you can do to a higher
:04:33. > :04:39.level and that those partichpating look radiant and feminine. Ballet,
:04:40. > :04:48.cheerleading, roller`skating. That has ignited a reaction. One reaction
:04:49. > :04:59.is that it is wrong to suggdst that women get involved with sports to
:05:00. > :05:02.look girly. Another view is that it is worrying that the sports and
:05:03. > :05:07.equality minister with make these comments. Another response hs that
:05:08. > :05:13.someone has never felt and feminine playing football. A bit of `
:05:14. > :05:25.reaction to this article. What is Helen Grant herself saying
:05:26. > :05:34.about this? The one gold medal in Sochi has been
:05:35. > :05:40.won by Lizzy Yarnold. The Mhnister said she was trying to say there is
:05:41. > :05:45.a gender gap between boys and girls taking up sport and that nedds to be
:05:46. > :05:49.closed. In a moment: Floodproofing xour home
:05:50. > :05:52.does work says a family who were flooded repeatedly in the 90s ` but
:05:53. > :06:04.escaped serious damage this time around.
:06:05. > :06:07.More than 40 Church leaders ` including the Bishop of Rochester
:06:08. > :06:09.and the Bishop of Chichester ` have signed an open letter condelning
:06:10. > :06:12.Government welfare reforms. They claim "punitive" benefht
:06:13. > :06:18.changes have left families suffering food and fuel poverty, forchng them
:06:19. > :06:21.to choose to "heat or eat". And they say politicians have a
:06:22. > :06:27."moral imperative" to do more to control food prices and protect poor
:06:28. > :06:30.people from hunger. But the Government has defended its welfare
:06:31. > :06:33.changes ` with David Cameron saying ministers have a "moral mission to
:06:34. > :06:42.return people to work from ` life of dependency on the state.
:06:43. > :06:47.In the past welfare payments have gone up quicker than wages, the
:06:48. > :06:52.people who actually paying for that system. That removes the incentive
:06:53. > :06:55.for work and create huge discrepancies. It is right that the
:06:56. > :06:59.government looks at helping everybody with the cost of living.
:07:00. > :07:03.That means cutting taxes, not just bigger hand`outs for a select few.
:07:04. > :07:07.Church leaders say the growth of food banks is evidence that more and
:07:08. > :07:08.more families are unable to afford to eat.
:07:09. > :07:12.According to the Trussell Trust charity, there are almost 400 food
:07:13. > :07:15.banks across the UK. Last ydar they gave free food to over 346,000
:07:16. > :07:26.people including almost 127,000 children.
:07:27. > :07:32.We get some very desperate stories. People do not want to admit the
:07:33. > :07:35.position. . They are embarr`ssed or scared. They do not like thd idea of
:07:36. > :07:40.coming to a food anchor that ultimately they need good food on
:07:41. > :07:43.the table. The Bishop of Rochester, Jales
:07:44. > :07:46.Langstaff, is one of 27 Anglican bishops who've signed the ldtter
:07:47. > :07:50.urging the Government to take action.
:07:51. > :07:54.It's unprecedented for so m`ny Church leaders to launch an attack
:07:55. > :08:02.on the Government. Should it be the job of the Church to critichse
:08:03. > :08:06.welfare policy? What we are concerned about is the
:08:07. > :08:16.effect. We pick up to our congregations across the cotntry and
:08:17. > :08:20.through organisations like the food banks what is going on on the
:08:21. > :08:26.ground. The reality is that on the ground there are people who are
:08:27. > :08:29.going without food. People `re finding themselves having to resort
:08:30. > :08:33.to places like food banks. These are not necessarily people who `re
:08:34. > :08:44.living on benefits 100%. Often they are people on low wages.
:08:45. > :08:46.You want the Government to fund food banks, many of them backed by
:08:47. > :08:53.Christian organisations, but shouldn't it be the role of the
:08:54. > :08:58.Church to provide charity? It is that if government wants to
:08:59. > :09:02.help one way is to make surd that food banks operate. At the loment
:09:03. > :09:08.they rely on charity funds which is fine but one way which Church and
:09:09. > :09:14.state can work together is by enabling this to happen. Already
:09:15. > :09:23.government agencies refer pdople to food banks. They are making use of
:09:24. > :09:26.them. The government says it will take
:09:27. > :09:30.time to make the benefits sxstem more efficient. One of the results
:09:31. > :09:32.of that should either it will have access to their benefits more
:09:33. > :09:40.quickly and therefore access to more quickly. You must support that? The
:09:41. > :09:46.fact that the benefits systdm needed reforming is not under just it. It
:09:47. > :09:51.was incredibly complex. There were bits that worked against other bits.
:09:52. > :09:54.Nobody could see their weekly. The desire to simplify the systdm is
:09:55. > :10:01.laudable. If government can achieve its aims of our unified system that
:10:02. > :10:04.would be great. But moving from one system to another is what c`uses
:10:05. > :10:09.problems. One of the things we are concerned about are those pdople who
:10:10. > :10:23.seem to be falling through some of the gaps while system is behng
:10:24. > :10:26.changed. A former soldier from Kent who has
:10:27. > :10:29.been given a life sentence hn Democratic Republic of Congo is the
:10:30. > :10:33.victim of a judicial murder, according to his mother. Joshua
:10:34. > :10:36.French, who grew up in Marg`te, has been convicted of killing hhs best
:10:37. > :10:39.friend in prison. But legal experts say he's suffered a miscarrhage of
:10:40. > :10:42.justice. The Foreign Office says it's "very concerned about his
:10:43. > :10:45.welfare". And his mother believes he can't survive much longer in prison
:10:46. > :10:47.there. John Young reports. Sentenced in an African courtroom to
:10:48. > :10:56.life in prison on charges ddscribed by supporters today as absurd and
:10:57. > :11:06.trumped up. His mother spokd to BBC radio Kent. It is very diffdrent to
:11:07. > :11:13.what we find in the West. The prosecutor has been screaming at the
:11:14. > :11:20.top of his voice, obscenitids, and abuse, everything you can think of.
:11:21. > :11:30.It would never have been allowed in Western courts. I can only call this
:11:31. > :11:33.court case judicial murder. It is not the first time Joshua
:11:34. > :11:39.French has been sentenced in African court. An earlier hearing is he
:11:40. > :11:43.shares the dock with the very friendly is now accused of killing.
:11:44. > :11:48.In the first hearing is both men were sentenced to death aftdr a
:11:49. > :12:00.driver was shot dead. The appeals. At a retrial of the convicthons and
:12:01. > :12:07.detonated as were upheld. L`st August Tjostolv Moland was found
:12:08. > :12:12.dead in his cell. Joshua Frdnch was found guilty.
:12:13. > :12:15.The reason the earlier death sentences were not carried out is
:12:16. > :12:27.that the Congo has currentlx suspended all death sentencds. That
:12:28. > :12:34.may change. He has harmed hhmself. He has not been able to see a Dr. He
:12:35. > :12:37.has not had the right medic`tion. The Foreign Office says it hs
:12:38. > :12:40.monitoring the situation. Trade union leaders with thd GMB say
:12:41. > :12:45.they're heading closer to a dispute with Medway Council over pl`ns for a
:12:46. > :12:49.pay freeze for staff. The union says it's equivaldnt to an
:12:50. > :12:53.18 per cent pay cut in real terms. But the council says the pl`ns being
:12:54. > :12:56.voted on tonight to change salaries and pay grades will create ` fairer
:12:57. > :13:00.system. A man who pointed a loaded gun at
:13:01. > :13:03.Sussex Police officers has been jailed for six years. Nathan Martin,
:13:04. > :13:06.who's 26, threatened to shoot officers sent to a disturbance at
:13:07. > :13:12.his former girlfriend's house in Hailsham in October.
:13:13. > :13:18.A man from Broadstairs has been given a ?100 fine for urinating on a
:13:19. > :13:20.war memorial. David Skinner, who's 47, was charged with outraghng
:13:21. > :13:28.public decency following thd incident in Margate last wedk.
:13:29. > :13:32.A couple whose house was flooded four times in 14 months in the 990s
:13:33. > :13:36.managed to hold back the water this winter, after taking action to
:13:37. > :13:39.flood`proof their home. Sue and Gary Chalkley, from East Peckham near
:13:40. > :13:43.Tonbridge, invested in plastic membranes around the property, pumps
:13:44. > :13:46.and flood gates. Today the Government has announced
:13:47. > :13:49.details of grants that will be available from April to help fund
:13:50. > :13:58.similar flood protection work, as Peter Whittlesea reports.
:13:59. > :14:01.Home owners who flooded in recent weeks will be keen to see the
:14:02. > :14:06.details of the government rdpair grant. This was Sue Chalklex 's
:14:07. > :14:12.house over Christmas. But bdcause of flood resilience measures she
:14:13. > :14:31.escaped the water with neglhgible damage. This pet was dug out after
:14:32. > :14:42.the second big flood. `` thhs bit. Elevated electrics were paid for by
:14:43. > :14:46.the insurers. Investing in leasures to reduce the risk of being hit by
:14:47. > :14:52.flooding and to minimise thd impact of flood can have is the wax
:14:53. > :14:57.forward. If you do this it can be the difference between getthng
:14:58. > :15:00.affordable insurance and not. We have got polythene that comds up to
:15:01. > :15:10.here, goes down 18 inches and then 18 inches out.
:15:11. > :15:13.They say all the flood meastres came to less than half the amount the
:15:14. > :15:22.government is offering ten our grant so it is worth investigating.
:15:23. > :15:30.It will save an awful lot of idle. There is nothing worse than having a
:15:31. > :15:35.flood in your house. They urge others to look at flood
:15:36. > :15:39.prevention measures. A court's heard evidence today from
:15:40. > :15:42.a girl who says she was inappropriately touched by ` man who
:15:43. > :15:47.was later found murdered on a beach on the Isle of Sheppey. It's alleged
:15:48. > :15:51.a group of men lured Gary Pocock to the seafront to punish him for
:15:52. > :15:55.assaulting the teenager. His badly beaten body was found in Lexsdown
:15:56. > :16:00.last August. Four men and a teenage boy deny murder. Simon Jones is at
:16:01. > :16:10.Maidstone Crown Court. Simon, the jury saw the girl's recorded video
:16:11. > :16:13.evidence today. They saw several hours of footage.
:16:14. > :16:20.It was recorded by the police in the days after the death of Garx
:16:21. > :16:25.Pocock. The girl at times bdcomes visibly upset as she describes what
:16:26. > :16:30.she says happened to her. Gary Pocock beaten to death with a
:16:31. > :16:45.small bats amid claims he h`d molested girl the court has heard.
:16:46. > :16:52.Today the jury saw footage of a girl who said she was touched by Gary
:16:53. > :17:00.Pocock on four occasions. She would try to stop him. She told the police
:17:01. > :17:06.the first time it happened she thought it might be like a bad team.
:17:07. > :17:22.`` bad dream. have extremely overreacted when he
:17:23. > :17:35.had heard about the girls claims and organised the death of Gary Pocock.
:17:36. > :17:42.All the accused deny murder. The young girl said she first became
:17:43. > :17:52.aware of body had been round dead on the beach when she came across it on
:17:53. > :18:02.a ABC website. `` E BBC Kent website.
:18:03. > :18:13.This is our top story tonight. Three men have been arrested after a
:18:14. > :18:25.man was found dead in a strdet. And the option that spreads `` that
:18:26. > :18:36.sheds light on Lewis Carroll 's And a postbox is sprayed gold
:18:37. > :18:39.overnight. With a dramatic decline in wild
:18:40. > :18:42.flower meadows and two of their species already extinct it's a bad
:18:43. > :18:45.time to be a bumblebee. Now scientists are warning of a new
:18:46. > :18:48.threat to the already beleaguered insects. Research carried ott in
:18:49. > :18:51.Kent and Sussex has found that diseases carried by commerchal
:18:52. > :18:52.honeybees are spilling over into wild bumblebee populations. Our
:18:53. > :19:02.Environment Correspondent Yvette Austin has tonight's Special Report.
:19:03. > :19:11.Foraging on a favourite flower at this nature reserve. In recdnt
:19:12. > :19:18.decades their numbers have been in decline. Loss of habitat is a key
:19:19. > :19:25.threat. New research suggests a parasite and apply this is `ffecting
:19:26. > :19:32.them. The virus will make them deformed. They cannot fly. They
:19:33. > :19:38.cannot forage for food. Bumblebees have small colony sizes. If some of
:19:39. > :19:46.those workers buy it can affect the life of the colony.
:19:47. > :19:49.The research was carried out by a university. Scientists have found
:19:50. > :19:57.that the diseases are spillhng over N to the wild from honeybees. We are
:19:58. > :20:02.concerned about this becausd bumblebees are in decline. They are
:20:03. > :20:05.being impacted by a number of different threats. It is worrying
:20:06. > :20:09.that there is a potential ndw direct. All of these things could
:20:10. > :20:18.the acting together to drivd down wild populations. We need to think
:20:19. > :20:26.about these potential threats. Experts are concerned. Our food
:20:27. > :20:31.security relies on them. Thdre are three types of bees that pollinate
:20:32. > :20:36.different crops and flowers. They start to decline the effecthveness
:20:37. > :20:43.of pollination will decline as well. We may see the cost of our food
:20:44. > :20:48.starting to rise. Experts are working on winnhng back
:20:49. > :20:59.species that have been lost from the new day.
:21:00. > :21:02.Charles Dodgson is most famous for creating the fantasy world of Alice
:21:03. > :21:07.in Wonderland under the pen name of Lewis Carroll. But the Victorian
:21:08. > :21:11.clergyman wasn't only interdsted in writing.
:21:12. > :21:14.He also had a passion for photography and, it would sdem, the
:21:15. > :21:18.Sussex seaside town of Eastbourne. Now a rare photo taken by Dodgson is
:21:19. > :21:35.up for auction as Juliette Parkin reports.
:21:36. > :21:39.Has literature has delighted adults and children alike for generations.
:21:40. > :21:52.It has inspired many adaptations of his most famous work. A star`studded
:21:53. > :21:58.cast paid homage to Lewis C`rroll's story in this blockbuster.
:21:59. > :22:05.That he had another side. An intensely shy man who felt will
:22:06. > :22:16.scamper double behind the ldns. `` who felt most comfortable bdhind the
:22:17. > :22:22.lens. There is an element of his
:22:23. > :22:25.creativity. It is not known how much involvement Lewis Carroll h`rd in
:22:26. > :22:29.the taking of the photograph that it was believed to have been shot in a
:22:30. > :22:34.studio in Eastbourne in the early 1880s.
:22:35. > :22:38.It was the scene and fresh `ir that is true Lewis Carroll to Eastbourne
:22:39. > :22:44.and inspired his keen interdst in photography. It became a favourite
:22:45. > :22:47.holiday destination. He camd here so often that the town put up ` blue
:22:48. > :23:02.plaque to mark where the author often stayed.
:23:03. > :23:05.Lewis Carroll's stories havd made him world`famous, but it sedms it
:23:06. > :23:16.was not what he wanted. Having his name identified leets
:23:17. > :23:18.Helen pointed out by strangdrs. `` identified led him to be pohnted out
:23:19. > :23:31.by strangers. Designed to evil memories of the
:23:32. > :23:47.seafront that he loved, the photograph goes on sale next month.
:23:48. > :23:58.`` designed to evil memories `` to evoke memories.
:23:59. > :24:02.The Royal Mail came in for ` bit of stick earlier this week, for saying
:24:03. > :24:05.they had no plans to create a golden postbox in West Kingsdown, the home
:24:06. > :24:08.village of our winter Olymphc champion Lizzy Yarnold. Well,
:24:09. > :24:11.they're going to have to do something about it now ` because a
:24:12. > :24:14.person, or persons, unknown have gone and spray painted a postbox
:24:15. > :24:17.there gold overnight. Vandalism Or well meant direct action? Ndil Bell
:24:18. > :24:19.has the story update. This is probably not the
:24:20. > :24:20.transformation that the loc`ls were hoping for.
:24:21. > :24:30.Local residents are being encouraged to use this box to send thehr
:24:31. > :24:34.congratulations to Lizzy Yarnold. It has had ten letters postdd. It is
:24:35. > :24:42.fantastic. Hopefully this whll change the mind of Royal Mahl.
:24:43. > :24:50.Lizzy Yarnold's new celebrity status as well deserved.
:24:51. > :25:02.What did you put in your note? I said well done. It is a brilliant
:25:03. > :25:04.idea. And there is support on sochal
:25:05. > :25:30.media. official paint job was mixed. What
:25:31. > :25:43.do you think? Royal Mail should be ashamed. They should hang their
:25:44. > :25:46.heads in shame. This box will move around the
:25:47. > :25:51.village for the next couple of weeks before being presented to Lhzzy
:25:52. > :25:56.Yarnold. There's gold postbox looks set to be
:25:57. > :26:04.very pure. And if there are any developments
:26:05. > :26:11.here we will keep you posted. That is not the shiniest of gold
:26:12. > :26:18.finishes. Record`breaking weather for all the
:26:19. > :26:28.wrong reasons. It is the wettest winter since records began hn 1 10.
:26:29. > :26:41.Our layer we saw some rain. It was not particularly heavy. `` `rea we
:26:42. > :26:49.saw some rain. Temperatures miles for the time of year. Tonight we
:26:50. > :27:06.will see some showers and some clear skies. More in the way of clear
:27:07. > :27:16.skies. A bright start to thd day tomorrow. Any afternoon the risk of
:27:17. > :27:30.a shower. Edelstein breezy hn coastal areas. `` it will rdmain
:27:31. > :27:40.breezy. South`westerly winds 50 or 60 mph. Tomorrow night again showers
:27:41. > :27:50.for a time. Showers perhaps heavier. They will clear quhckly. A
:27:51. > :27:57.bright start to the weekend. Sunday will be windy. It's both tired and
:27:58. > :28:08.settled into Monday. Saturd`y will be mostly dry. This will be heading
:28:09. > :28:16.our way. Dry and break parthcularly for Saturday.
:28:17. > :28:22.That is all for now. Goodbyd.