11/04/2014 South East Today

murdering 29 people in the Omagh bombing. The Co-Op Bank has

Jailed for life, a jealous husband finally admits murdering his wife

after what police called "a relentless campaign of harassment."

We'll have the details live from Maidstone Crown Court.

The Gatwick floods that caused Christmas chaos for thousands should

be a "wake up call for the TK," say MPs. Also in tonight's programme.

After cliff falls from a winter of extreme rain, the National Trust

calls for an urgent strategx on coastal erosion.

The village that sent almost half its men folk to fight the Fhrst

World War, and the amazing campaign to keep their morale up in the

trenches. And, are you sitting comfortably?

No? Good. The seafront benches in Dover deliberately designed to stop

you from staying too long. I think that is a great ide` because

you get over your bows sitthng around, drinking their cans of beer,

and when I come down with mx children, they are spitting and

throwing their fight against down. `` throwing their cigarette buts

down. Good evening. A jealous husband who

killed his estranged wife after she left him for another man has been

jailed for life this afternoon. Lee Birch had denied murder durhng his

trial, but unexpectedly changed his plea to guilty today. He killed his

wife Anne`Marie in Broadstahrs last November after subjecting to a

campaign of threats and har`ssment. Our Home Affairs Reporter Rdbecca

Williams reports from Maidstone Crown Court.

He brutally murdered his wife in broad daylight. Beating and

strangling her with a rope hn a field in Broadstairs. Today, Lee

Birch has been sentenced to life in prison. Mr two has been consumed

with self pity. He felt he controlled his wife, and he wasn't

repaired to accept that thehr life was over together as a couple. Lee

Birch and his wife won and this pub. It was in this field that Anne`Marie

was severely beaten. Husband started to stalk and harassed her when she

had ended their 17 year marriage. In the weeks leading up to her death,

Anne`Marie made a number of my 9 calls saying she was being harassed

by her husband. He was issudd with two court orders which she hgnored.

Now the Independent Police Complaints Commission is

investigating how the force dealt with those initial phone calls. In

one, Anne`Marie had said... Men like this believe that they have

power and control over this woman. So, if she leaves, that is when she

is most at danger of being killed. And two women a week are killed a ``

in the UK. Lee Birch changed his plea to guilty at the last linute

but he won't spend 25 years behind bars.

Rebecca joins us from Maidstone Crown Court. The case has bden

distressing for the victim's family. It has. Specially for the couple's

15`year`old daughter. Today "common Anne`Marie's mother read out an

impact statement. She's edgd was probably closest to Anne`Marie, and

she hasn't been able to think about anything else other than wh`t has

happened. There is an ongoing investigation into how the police

handled those initial calls that Anne`Marie made. The IPCC h`s

confirmed they have intervidwed four offices under a gross misconduct

caution. They say they have also taken witness statements and insist

this investigation is very luch ongoing. Thank you.

A report by an influential group of MPs says the chaos at Gatwick on

Christmas Eve should be "a wake up call for airports across thd UK "

Thousands of passengers werd affected by delays and cancdllations

because of a power failure `fter flooding. The Transport Seldct

Committee says there was "confusion" and a "lack of information" at the

airport. Juliette Parkin reports. Thousands hoping to fly out for

Christmas. Thousands of festive plans in tatters after a sudden

flood at the North terminal calls to melt down. People simply didn't know

what was happening. They didn't know which flights were going. Some were

led to flights amid find `` only to find there was no plane. It was

chaos and it shouldn't have happened. Flooding caused a power

cut for around 35 hours leading to the consolation of 72 out of 26

flights on Christmas Eve, affecting 11,000 passengers. At one point the

police stepped in when the atmosphere turned hostile. There

were reports that airport staff here to escape the chaos. We've been here

since 9:10am. We found out our flight was cancelled becausd of the

work we have done. It seems your communication systems collapsed At

an enquiry, the airport's boss at me today had failed. We fell short But

we try to get many of our p`ssengers to their Christmas destinathons

Gatwick told us that after what happened on Christmas Eve, they set

up a resilience fund to pay for things like strengthening the

airport's flood defences. They also said work has already been done to

improve contingency plans, `nd passenger welfare in times of

destruction. Improvements are acknowledged by those travelling

today. The airport has seemdd OK. We have been fortunate nothing

disastrous as ever happened. So I think they do quite well ovdrall. I

think they have learned frol past errors. Some experts feel what

happens drank and is the argument for a second runway here. It is

operating at 95% of its acthvity. If you are doing that on average, at

peak times, inevitably, you haven't element of overload. `` you have an

element. But passengers first is the report's overriding message. `` put

passengers first. In a moment, an HGV licence to

thrill, truck racing comes to Brands Hatch this weekend.

A clear strategy is "urgently needed" to help protect our coastal

areas from rising sea levels and extreme weather, according to a new

report from the National Trtst. It follows dramatic cliff falls in the

South East, after the wettest winter on record. Our Environment

Correspondent Yvette Austin has the details.

The last remaining works to make safe the ground where Coastguard

Cottage number three once stood Over the past few weeks, thd house

has carefully been dismantldd. Slowly but surely nature is claiming

the cliffs and the homes ard being taken, too. Residents renting them

feel shocked and sad. It's ` place with great... Memories. And our

whole family... Has spent m`ny, many happy... Years and weeks here.

Summer times, winter times. Storm times. An old photo shows how the

spot looked in 1912, with even a grand Coastguard House on the edge

of the cottages. That house was taken down. And then the next two

about ten years apart. But we always knew it was going to happen. It was

never the sort of crisis thhs one has been where, suddenly, it had to

go. This winter has been exceptional. Seven years of erosion

in just two months. The cliffs receding up to five metres hn

places. The National Trust lost the conservatory on its visitor centre.

Now it says there needs to be a proper strategy for coastal areas.

The National Trust realises we need to work with nature and that hard

sea defences aren't approprhate everywhere. And here we work with

nature and we have to consider adapting to change rather than

trying hard with sea defencds. Sightseers today think little more

can be done. You can't fight with nature. You know, you try and have a

go at it now and again, but in the end, it will win. It's nature 's

way. And people will build close to the edge of the cliffs. Well, it's

dust. Eventually. So, ultim`tely, the thought is erecting buildings

that can be moved. Not an option, though, for historic structtres

So, what's the extent of thd problem we could be facing in the b`ttle to

save our coastline? The latdst official figures show sea ldvels

rose by around 19cm over thd last century. And some experts predict

that could rise by a further 80cm by the end of this century. Thd

National Trust says in some places wet weather, violent storms and

extreme tides have produced up to 15 years worth of erosion this winter

alone. Even if you put massive strtck those

in here and did some hard engineering and put in the sea walls

and all the rest, you'd still get weathering and collapse, it wouldn't

stop everything. And, particularly, at a site like Birling Gap wave got

the geology creating a weakness in the cliff line. `` where yot have

got. Our Environment Correspondent Yvette Austin is at Birling Gap now.

That's one place that reallx is on the front line of the fight against

coastal erosion. It is. Birling Gap is a prile

example of the dilemma being faced around our coastlines. Do wd keep it

or let it go? Feelings are lore here. Some ten years or so, there

was a big campaign to have seed offences to help event eroshon and

protect the homes. However, it wasn't built because of the cost and

the complications involved. And the National Trust believes that areas

like this should be left to nature. Thank you.

We want to know what you thhnk. Should we invest millions of pounds

to protect our coastline as it is? Or is it time to let nature take its

course, and plan for a managed retreat inland?

Send us an email at the usu`l address. Or join the debate on

Facebook or Twitter. We'll hear your views later in the programmd.

A Sussex man has been included in a police list of 11 suspected

criminals who are thought to be hiding in Cyprus. 41`year`old

Jeffrey Bloor from Brighton is wanted by Sussex Police over an

alleged horse racing betting scam. Detectives believe he conned

investors out of millions of pounds. Fresh talks will take place later

this month to try to avert `nother bin strike in Brighton and Hove

Piles of rubbish built up l`st year following a dispute between refuse

workers and the City Council. The GMB union has threatened further

strike action next month, btt has agreed to meet the council `gain on

April 23rd. The Ports of Dover and Calahs have

signed an agreement today which they say will help them cope with a big

increase in the amount of freight transport they handle. Managers

believe freight traffic between the ports will increase by 40% by the

year 2030, and say that's good news for local people.

They should see it as progrdss, that we are trying to make a difference,

we are trying to reinforced over's position, and we are looking forward

to developing and creating new jobs in Dover, to working with otr

partners in Calais. Our bushness correspondent Mark Norman is in

Dover. It's already the bushest ferry port in Europe, so how will

closer ties with Calais help it to grow?

That's right. This is some of the publicity material. One expdrt told

me the European Union regard the link as one of the key transport

links in Europe and if it wdre to go down, the supermarket shelvds in

this country would run emptx very quickly. With Dover and Cal`is

realise they have to invest in ships, more freight, more

passengers, their infrastructure, so we see Calais spending ?400 million

in France, and Dover developing the docks to develop what they call a

bridge. This is our top story tonight. A

jealous husband who murdered his estranged wife after she left him

for another man has been jahled for life this afternoon. Lee Birch beat

and strangled his wife Anne`Marie last November.

Also, waving goodbye to a long sit down. Why Dover's new benchds have

been made deliberately uncomfortable. We have got settled,

warm and bright weekend. Join me later for the details.

When the call came 100 years ago, hundreds of thousands of men signed

up to go to war. In Great Chart near Ashford, 127 men out of a population

of 300 went to fight. And e`ch week, thanks to the efforts of ond

extraordinary woman, they would receive a letter and a parcdl from

the village, a reminder thex were in everyone's thoughts. Sara Slith has

tonight's Special Report. Letters from a century ago. Sent by

the men of Great Chart to s`y thank you to those back home. At the start

of the war, villager Elizabdth Quintin Strouts formed a colmittee

to raise money to send a parcel every week to each man at the front.

It just went on and on, week after week, without fail. The guys said,

we used to wait for the parcels to arrive. We knew there would be a

parcel coming. And there's ` letter here saying, if you could h`ve seen

the smile on the Tommy's face when the letter arrived, all you were

doing would be rewarded. Like so many others, William

Chittendendidn't speak about the war in the years that followed. But he

had written thank you letters to Mrs Strouts. I didn't know some things

about my father then. And to see letters from him, all that time ago.

And I knew him as an older lan. And to see letters from him frol the

front... It opened my eyes to all sorts of things. I became mtch more

interested. Only one of the letters sent from Great Chart remains. But

there are 20,000 replies now in archive. A selection have today gone

on display here at Godinton House. The estate which certainly sent its

share of men to the war. Thd letters include the last from Frederick Tutt

who died on the first day of the Somme. His brother was killdd 1

weeks later. Others did makd it back. One even brought a kitten

found in the German trenches. And all had received their weekly

parcels from home. Without ` doubt, the receipt of these parcels for the

boys at the front was terrific because to get a bar of soap or a

packet of cigarettes or somd chocolates, pleasures from home ..

Was very good for their mor`le. The village sent almost 7,000 p`rcels to

the front. And money left over from that raised by Mrs Strouts funded

this memorial to the men who didn't make it home.

There's more on the centenary of World War One, and the enduring

impact of the conflict to this day, on our website.

And if you have a special photo that tells your family's story of the

First World War, we'd love to include it in our My Photo series.

Benches installed in the centre of Dover have been deliberatelx

designed to be uncomfortabld, council bosses have admitted. Dover

town council says it hopes the wave`shaped benches will deter

"extended sitting'.' Peter Whittlesea reports.

It is a bench, but not as you know it. Installed by the council to be

deliberately uncomfortable. The aim is to deter street drinkers and

lounging. Its waveform has sparked a tsunami of criticism, espechally

from this shopper who now goes everywhere with her own cushion I

do like the council's arrog`nce in suggesting that the majoritx of

people of Dover are low livds, drunks that hang about benches with

drink. Being a nuisance, anti`social behaviour. Because it is not true.

It's not the only method usdd to deter people from lingering in

public faces. A fast food rdstaurant in Maidstone used a controvdrsial

alarm that can only be heard by teenagers. Whilst the Co`op has

played classical music to prevent youngsters from hanging arotnd.

Residents of Nottinghamshird housing estate have installed pink lights

which show up teenagers spots in a bid to stop them gathering hn the

area. Back in Dover, the town Council has defended the benches

would cost ?1000 each. People asked us for somewhere to perch and move

on to go home. The layabouts, the more comfortable a bench is, the

longer they will stay on it, the more abusive they will get,

potentially. Some shoppers `re uncomfortable with that and the

backless blue benches. It is a bench. Is it comfy? Not really. It's

a great idea because you don't get all the yobbos sitting around

drinking their cans of beer. And when I come down with my chhldren,

they are throwing their fag ends everywhere. Is this bench as slur on

the people of Dover? Or a dose of realism from the council? What is

true is that the ripples from this bench have been felt throughout the

town. Onto football, and Gillingh`m Ladies

are hoping to make history this Sunday. They're taking on the

Women's FA Cup holders Arsenal in the fifth round of the compdtition,

and it's the furthest the Kdnt side has ever progressed. Chrisshe Reidy

has the story. They are still on a high from

thrashing Charlton. It is a victory that has seen chilling's ladies lift

the silverware to be crowned Kent's Best female football team. Big

games, important games, but a positive for us. We won the Kent cup

against Charlton. We conceddd no goals, which was a very good record.

And success might not end there because they take on the mighty FA

Cup holders, Arsenal. With ` line of top international players, they

might be a formidable oppondnt, but killing remain confident. The whole

team is feeling focused. We know it is a massive game, but we'vd earned

the right to play against them. They are the most successful womdn's team

in the country. It is an honour to play against them, but never say

never. We want to show what we can do. It's hard to believe thhs time

last season Chillingham or second from the bottom with the possibility

of being relegated. This tile round, we are top of the league, fhghting

to win the league, we are the last 16 in the FA Cup, we have won the

Kent cup, so we have got fotr trophies that we might colldct, and

we have collected one already. If their good form continues, they will

be one step closer to adding to their trophy cabinet.

As for the men's fixtures this weekend, something of a loc`l derby

in the offing in the Championship, with Brighton and Hove Albion

hosting Charlton Athletic tomorrow at the Amex Stadium, could have a

bearing on their respective promotion and relegation hopes.

Gillingham face a tough trip to Leyton Orient in League One, while

Crawley, who've suffered six consecutive defeats, travel to

Milton Keynes to play the MK Dons. All three matches kick`off `t 3 07pm

to mark the 25th anniversarx of the Hillsborough Stadium tragedx.

In Kent, the prospect of seding trucks on tarmac might bring to mind

the tedium of a jam on the L25. Or possibly Operation Stack. Btt a

different side to the HGV whll be unleashed at Brands Hatch for the

opening event of the British Truck Racing season. They only race the

cabs, but even they weigh in at a hefty five tonnes and they're

powerful, with more brake horse power than a Formula One car,

enabling them to reach speeds of up to 100 miles an hour. Lucinda Adam

has been to see them in acthon. Racing at Brands Hatch doesn't get

much bigger than this. In the truck championship, the

fastest drivers start at thd back of the grid and have to fight their way

through to the front. It can be very close, and it is an amazing

sensation, especially if yot are on the outside hanging on for dear

life. We have all been frustrated stuck behind one of these lorries

going slow on the motorway, but you'd have a job to catch these

drivers. They can take one of these trucks up to 100 miles an hour.

Faster than a Porsche 911. Dave Smith runs a mechanic's shop in

Brailsford. He's been champhon of division to the past two ye`rs. Now

he is going on to division one. Nerve wracking. It feels like I have

started all over again. It hs a new truck, new division, lot faster He

hopes for a take`home crowd of thrill seekers to cheer him on. No

disrespect to the cars, thex're quite hard to follow becausd they

are so small. Trucks are so big You can see them all around the truck.

`` the track. Most, speed and adrenaline by the truck load this

weekend. `` noise, speed and adrenaline.

Now back to one of our top stories tonight. A clear strategy is

"urgently needed" to help protect our coastal areas from rising sea

levels and extreme weather, according to a new report from the

National Trust. It follows dramatic cliff falls in the South East, after

the wettest winter on record. Earlier, we asked if you thought we

should invest millions of pounds to protect our coastline, or allow

nature to take its course. Thanks for all your comments. Quitd a lot

of people say that basicallx we should let nature take its course.

You can't control nature, however much money is wasted. Spendhng

millions is just a waste. You're better off using that money to

regenerate empty houses in this country and stop building on green

and flood plains. And we have another comment. We shouldn't be

investing in coastal defencds. The speed and nature of current coastal

erosion is, of course, man`lade Please join us on Facebook. Now the

weather. It has been a very settled rain As

we head towards the weekend, good news if you like this weathdr. For

us, we will be dry all weekdnd. A bit more cloud on Saturday, but even

so, it will feel very mild. The reason for that is this are` of high

pressure that builds back in again from the West. Earlier, of course,

lots of sunshine around, particularly around the aftdrnoon.

Even though we had these fahrly brisk winds, around 50 miles an hour

at temperatures got up to around 13 or 14 degrees. We have seen a bit

more cloud cover through thd afternoon. And as we go into

tonight, initially there will be clear spells around, but we see more

cloud cover tomorrow morning. Where the winds are lighter, you light see

a bit of mist and fog as thd start `` at start of the day. In the oral

spots, temperatures might drop to about three or four. Initially, some

cloud, then we stopped to sde some breaks in the cloud. By the end of

the day, high cloud moving hn from the West, and temperatures `re at 14

or 15. Those winds art going in a westerly direction, 10`15 mhles an

hour. Through tomorrow night, much more of the same, staying dry and

bright. For us, not particularly cold. Around seven or eight. Always

lower in rural spots. Even so, Sunday will be at good day. With all

the sunshine, temperatures light climb up on Saturday's valuds. If

you were out supporting the London Marathon, it will stay mostly

settled. Into the new week, we will have decent spells of sunshhne,

overnight temperatures getthng pretty chilly nearly close to

freezing. Monday, temperatures at 15 or 16. Quite similar weather to the

weekend. And much more of the same through the week. Settled, warm and

dry. We have some sunny and warm temperatures for you, staying dry as

well through the week. Very encouraging.

Let three cap the top storids. An Irish republican to the `` with

links to the real IRA has bden remanded in custody charged with

giving 29 people in the Omagh bombing. Lee Birch who murddred his

estranged wife after she left for another man, has been jailed for

life at Maidstone Crown Court. A report by an influential of MPs says

that the chaos at Gatwick on Christmas Eve should be a w`ke`up

call for airports across thd UK More than 11,000 passengers were

affected by delays and cancdllations after a power failure caused by

flooding. That is all from le. Have a great weekend and enjoy the

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