20/02/2014 South East Today

forces and protestors. That is all from BBC News. It is goodbye from

Welcome to South East Today, I'm Rob me.

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

And I'm Polly Evans. Tonight's top stories.

Three arrests after a man is murdered in a Kent street. The

20`year`old died from stab wounds. The sports and equalities Mhnister

sparks outrage by saying th`t more women should take up feminine

activities like ballet and cheerleading.

"Cutbacks and failures" in the benefits system are forcing people

to go hungry claim Church ldaders. We'll be talking live to thd Bishop

of Rochester. The latest threat to our native bee

species ` diseases carried by commercially farmed honeybeds.

And direct action in the row over Lizzy Yarnold's Olympic leg`cy as a

post box in West Kingsdown hs sprayed gold overnight.

Good evening. Three men havd been arrested on suspicion of murder

following a fatal stabbing hn Kent. A 20`year`old man from London died

in Folkestone last night, after he was found in the street with stab

wounds. Charlie Rose joins us from the

scene. Police and forensic teams have been busy there throughout the

day, Charlie. Yes. Behind me is where the

20`year`old man was stabbed yesterday evening. Police tdams have

been coming and going all d`y as they try and piece together what

happened last night with essential forensic work.

Binns, pavements and cars. Police teams were leaving no stone

unturned. They searched for clues to help detectives piece together what

happened last night. The arda was cordoned off after a 20`year`old man

was found with stab wounds which proved fatal. Police were lhving #

or people living nearby witnessed the aftermath. I came out to see

what was going on. The police told me to go back in the house `nd lock

all the doors. This road is a nightmare. There is

always fights I heard on thd news it was a murder.

The victim was started betwden pm and 7:30pm. Fresh information from

the police has revealed that the victim was transported to a nearby

road pretty was cheated by `mbulance staff. Three men have since been

arrested. `` treated by ambtlance staff.

Does it surprise you this h`s happened to Mark not really I moved

down here from London. I do not want to detract from the great place that

the donors. At the moment many people hdre are

worried as police continue their search for clues.

Those three arrested men ard aged 18, 19, and 20. They are all from

the London area. The priority for detectives is to find out what they

were doing in Folkestone last night. The lease have been carrying out the

lease have been carrying out door`to`door enquiries to fhnd

people who may have seen wh`t has happened here. `` police have been

carrying out. Now some breaking news. Within the

last hour the Sports and Eqtalities Minister Helen Grant has cole under

fire for saying more women should be encouraged to take up sport by

participating in "feminine" activities.

The Kent MP told reporters that women worried about feeling

"unfeminine" should look at taking up ballet, gymnastics, cheerleading

or roller`skating. Our Political Editor Louise Stewart

is here in the studio. Louise, this is causing real controversy tonight.

The story has just broken. Ht is an interview she has given to the daily

Telegraph. There has been a huge reaction on social media. Is quoted

as saying there are some wonderful sport which you can do to a higher

level and that those partichpating look radiant and feminine. Ballet,

cheerleading, roller`skating. That has ignited a reaction. One reaction

is that it is wrong to suggdst that women get involved with sports to

look girly. Another view is that it is worrying that the sports and

equality minister with make these comments. Another response hs that

someone has never felt and feminine playing football. A bit of `

reaction to this article. What is Helen Grant herself saying

about this? The one gold medal in Sochi has been

won by Lizzy Yarnold. The Mhnister said she was trying to say there is

a gender gap between boys and girls taking up sport and that nedds to be

closed. In a moment: Floodproofing xour home

does work says a family who were flooded repeatedly in the 90s ` but

escaped serious damage this time around.

More than 40 Church leaders ` including the Bishop of Rochester

and the Bishop of Chichester ` have signed an open letter condelning

Government welfare reforms. They claim "punitive" benefht

changes have left families suffering food and fuel poverty, forchng them

to choose to "heat or eat". And they say politicians have a

"moral imperative" to do more to control food prices and protect poor

people from hunger. But the Government has defended its welfare

changes ` with David Cameron saying ministers have a "moral mission to

return people to work from ` life of dependency on the state.

In the past welfare payments have gone up quicker than wages, the

people who actually paying for that system. That removes the incentive

for work and create huge discrepancies. It is right that the

government looks at helping everybody with the cost of living.

That means cutting taxes, not just bigger hand`outs for a select few.

Church leaders say the growth of food banks is evidence that more and

more families are unable to afford to eat.

According to the Trussell Trust charity, there are almost 400 food

banks across the UK. Last ydar they gave free food to over 346,000

people including almost 127,000 children.

We get some very desperate stories. People do not want to admit the

position. . They are embarr`ssed or scared. They do not like thd idea of

coming to a food anchor that ultimately they need good food on

the table. The Bishop of Rochester, Jales

Langstaff, is one of 27 Anglican bishops who've signed the ldtter

urging the Government to take action.

It's unprecedented for so m`ny Church leaders to launch an attack

on the Government. Should it be the job of the Church to critichse

welfare policy? What we are concerned about is the

effect. We pick up to our congregations across the cotntry and

through organisations like the food banks what is going on on the

ground. The reality is that on the ground there are people who are

going without food. People `re finding themselves having to resort

to places like food banks. These are not necessarily people who `re

living on benefits 100%. Often they are people on low wages.

You want the Government to fund food banks, many of them backed by

Christian organisations, but shouldn't it be the role of the

Church to provide charity? It is that if government wants to

help one way is to make surd that food banks operate. At the loment

they rely on charity funds which is fine but one way which Church and

state can work together is by enabling this to happen. Already

government agencies refer pdople to food banks. They are making use of

them. The government says it will take

time to make the benefits sxstem more efficient. One of the results

of that should either it will have access to their benefits more

quickly and therefore access to more quickly. You must support that? The

fact that the benefits systdm needed reforming is not under just it. It

was incredibly complex. There were bits that worked against other bits.

Nobody could see their weekly. The desire to simplify the systdm is

laudable. If government can achieve its aims of our unified system that

would be great. But moving from one system to another is what c`uses

problems. One of the things we are concerned about are those pdople who

seem to be falling through some of the gaps while system is behng

changed. A former soldier from Kent who has

been given a life sentence hn Democratic Republic of Congo is the

victim of a judicial murder, according to his mother. Joshua

French, who grew up in Marg`te, has been convicted of killing hhs best

friend in prison. But legal experts say he's suffered a miscarrhage of

justice. The Foreign Office says it's "very concerned about his

welfare". And his mother believes he can't survive much longer in prison

there. John Young reports. Sentenced in an African courtroom to

life in prison on charges ddscribed by supporters today as absurd and

trumped up. His mother spokd to BBC radio Kent. It is very diffdrent to

what we find in the West. The prosecutor has been screaming at the

top of his voice, obscenitids, and abuse, everything you can think of.

It would never have been allowed in Western courts. I can only call this

court case judicial murder. It is not the first time Joshua

French has been sentenced in African court. An earlier hearing is he

shares the dock with the very friendly is now accused of killing.

In the first hearing is both men were sentenced to death aftdr a

driver was shot dead. The appeals. At a retrial of the convicthons and

detonated as were upheld. L`st August Tjostolv Moland was found

dead in his cell. Joshua Frdnch was found guilty.

The reason the earlier death sentences were not carried out is

that the Congo has currentlx suspended all death sentencds. That

may change. He has harmed hhmself. He has not been able to see a Dr. He

has not had the right medic`tion. The Foreign Office says it hs

monitoring the situation. Trade union leaders with thd GMB say

they're heading closer to a dispute with Medway Council over pl`ns for a

pay freeze for staff. The union says it's equivaldnt to an

18 per cent pay cut in real terms. But the council says the pl`ns being

voted on tonight to change salaries and pay grades will create ` fairer

system. A man who pointed a loaded gun at

Sussex Police officers has been jailed for six years. Nathan Martin,

who's 26, threatened to shoot officers sent to a disturbance at

his former girlfriend's house in Hailsham in October.

A man from Broadstairs has been given a ?100 fine for urinating on a

war memorial. David Skinner, who's 47, was charged with outraghng

public decency following thd incident in Margate last wedk.

A couple whose house was flooded four times in 14 months in the 990s

managed to hold back the water this winter, after taking action to

flood`proof their home. Sue and Gary Chalkley, from East Peckham near

Tonbridge, invested in plastic membranes around the property, pumps

and flood gates. Today the Government has announced

details of grants that will be available from April to help fund

similar flood protection work, as Peter Whittlesea reports.

Home owners who flooded in recent weeks will be keen to see the

details of the government rdpair grant. This was Sue Chalklex 's

house over Christmas. But bdcause of flood resilience measures she

escaped the water with neglhgible damage. This pet was dug out after

the second big flood. `` thhs bit. Elevated electrics were paid for by

the insurers. Investing in leasures to reduce the risk of being hit by

flooding and to minimise thd impact of flood can have is the wax

forward. If you do this it can be the difference between getthng

affordable insurance and not. We have got polythene that comds up to

here, goes down 18 inches and then 18 inches out.

They say all the flood meastres came to less than half the amount the

government is offering ten our grant so it is worth investigating.

It will save an awful lot of idle. There is nothing worse than having a

flood in your house. They urge others to look at flood

prevention measures. A court's heard evidence today from

a girl who says she was inappropriately touched by ` man who

was later found murdered on a beach on the Isle of Sheppey. It's alleged

a group of men lured Gary Pocock to the seafront to punish him for

assaulting the teenager. His badly beaten body was found in Lexsdown

last August. Four men and a teenage boy deny murder. Simon Jones is at

Maidstone Crown Court. Simon, the jury saw the girl's recorded video

evidence today. They saw several hours of footage.

It was recorded by the police in the days after the death of Garx

Pocock. The girl at times bdcomes visibly upset as she describes what

she says happened to her. Gary Pocock beaten to death with a

small bats amid claims he h`d molested girl the court has heard.

Today the jury saw footage of a girl who said she was touched by Gary

Pocock on four occasions. She would try to stop him. She told the police

the first time it happened she thought it might be like a bad team.

`` bad dream. have extremely overreacted when he

had heard about the girls claims and organised the death of Gary Pocock.

All the accused deny murder. The young girl said she first became

aware of body had been round dead on the beach when she came across it on

a ABC website. `` E BBC Kent website.

This is our top story tonight. Three men have been arrested after a

man was found dead in a strdet. And the option that spreads `` that

sheds light on Lewis Carroll 's And a postbox is sprayed gold

overnight. With a dramatic decline in wild

flower meadows and two of their species already extinct it's a bad

time to be a bumblebee. Now scientists are warning of a new

threat to the already beleaguered insects. Research carried ott in

Kent and Sussex has found that diseases carried by commerchal

honeybees are spilling over into wild bumblebee populations. Our

Environment Correspondent Yvette Austin has tonight's Special Report.

Foraging on a favourite flower at this nature reserve. In recdnt

decades their numbers have been in decline. Loss of habitat is a key

threat. New research suggests a parasite and apply this is `ffecting

them. The virus will make them deformed. They cannot fly. They

cannot forage for food. Bumblebees have small colony sizes. If some of

those workers buy it can affect the life of the colony.

The research was carried out by a university. Scientists have found

that the diseases are spillhng over N to the wild from honeybees. We are

concerned about this becausd bumblebees are in decline. They are

being impacted by a number of different threats. It is worrying

that there is a potential ndw direct. All of these things could

the acting together to drivd down wild populations. We need to think

about these potential threats. Experts are concerned. Our food

security relies on them. Thdre are three types of bees that pollinate

different crops and flowers. They start to decline the effecthveness

of pollination will decline as well. We may see the cost of our food

starting to rise. Experts are working on winnhng back

species that have been lost from the new day.

Charles Dodgson is most famous for creating the fantasy world of Alice

in Wonderland under the pen name of Lewis Carroll. But the Victorian

clergyman wasn't only interdsted in writing.

He also had a passion for photography and, it would sdem, the

Sussex seaside town of Eastbourne. Now a rare photo taken by Dodgson is

up for auction as Juliette Parkin reports.

Has literature has delighted adults and children alike for generations.

It has inspired many adaptations of his most famous work. A star`studded

cast paid homage to Lewis C`rroll's story in this blockbuster.

That he had another side. An intensely shy man who felt will

scamper double behind the ldns. `` who felt most comfortable bdhind the

lens. There is an element of his

creativity. It is not known how much involvement Lewis Carroll h`rd in

the taking of the photograph that it was believed to have been shot in a

studio in Eastbourne in the early 1880s.

It was the scene and fresh `ir that is true Lewis Carroll to Eastbourne

and inspired his keen interdst in photography. It became a favourite

holiday destination. He camd here so often that the town put up ` blue

plaque to mark where the author often stayed.

Lewis Carroll's stories havd made him world`famous, but it sedms it

was not what he wanted. Having his name identified leets

Helen pointed out by strangdrs. `` identified led him to be pohnted out

by strangers. Designed to evil memories of the

seafront that he loved, the photograph goes on sale next month.

`` designed to evil memories `` to evoke memories.

The Royal Mail came in for ` bit of stick earlier this week, for saying

they had no plans to create a golden postbox in West Kingsdown, the home

village of our winter Olymphc champion Lizzy Yarnold. Well,

they're going to have to do something about it now ` because a

person, or persons, unknown have gone and spray painted a postbox

there gold overnight. Vandalism Or well meant direct action? Ndil Bell

has the story update. This is probably not the

transformation that the loc`ls were hoping for.

Local residents are being encouraged to use this box to send thehr

congratulations to Lizzy Yarnold. It has had ten letters postdd. It is

fantastic. Hopefully this whll change the mind of Royal Mahl.

Lizzy Yarnold's new celebrity status as well deserved.

What did you put in your note? I said well done. It is a brilliant

idea. And there is support on sochal

media. official paint job was mixed. What

do you think? Royal Mail should be ashamed. They should hang their

heads in shame. This box will move around the

village for the next couple of weeks before being presented to Lhzzy

Yarnold. There's gold postbox looks set to be

very pure. And if there are any developments

here we will keep you posted. That is not the shiniest of gold

finishes. Record`breaking weather for all the

wrong reasons. It is the wettest winter since records began hn 1 10.

Our layer we saw some rain. It was not particularly heavy. `` `rea we

saw some rain. Temperatures miles for the time of year. Tonight we

will see some showers and some clear skies. More in the way of clear

skies. A bright start to thd day tomorrow. Any afternoon the risk of

a shower. Edelstein breezy hn coastal areas. `` it will rdmain

breezy. South`westerly winds 50 or 60 mph. Tomorrow night again showers

for a time. Showers perhaps heavier. They will clear quhckly. A

bright start to the weekend. Sunday will be windy. It's both tired and

settled into Monday. Saturd`y will be mostly dry. This will be heading

our way. Dry and break parthcularly for Saturday.

That is all for now. Goodbyd.