14/04/2014 South East Today


14/04/2014

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calls for UN peacekeepers to be sent in. That's all from the BBC News

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Welcome to South East Today. I'm Polly Evans.

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I'm Rob Smith. Tonight's top stories: 21 ydars jail

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for the gang who beat and tortured a student, and threatened to bury him

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alive. We're live at Hove Crown Court with the details.

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Britain's biggest fare dodgdr ` a hedge fund manager from Sussex

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escaped prosecution by writhng a cheque for ?42,000.

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It is despicable. He is an intelligent man who put a lot into

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it, he put it into hide to be a criminal.

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`` how to be a criminal. Also in tonight's programme: The

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South East's fly`tipping hot spots ` how every forty four seconds someone

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dumps waste in our countryshde. A picture of a hero ` remembering the

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"magnificent" Kent Soldier whose bravery in World War I won him a

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Victoria Cross. The grow`your`own gardeners from

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Sussex taking on all comers in the BBC's Big Allotment Challenge.

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Good evening. They tied up, gagged and tortured a

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Sussex student in an attempt to make him hand over money. Today, the gang

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of men responsible have been jailed for a total of 21 years for their

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parts in the crime. 21`year`old victim Benjamin Hutchings`Mhtchell

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was lured to a house in Hastings where he was beaten with a hammer,

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before being taken by his attackers to nearby woods where they discussed

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burying him alive. Piers Hopkirk reports.

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Battered and bruised, but alive Student Benjamin Hutchings`Litchell

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recovering in hospital after an attack described in court as brutal,

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outrageous and inhumane. Tonight the gang behind it are beginning prison

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sentences totalling 21 years. I have been a police officer for 22 years.

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This was one of the most he must crimes have seen. Gratuitous

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violence. Horrendous. He was beaten with a hammer, tied up with

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electrical cable and put into a body bag. He was given to isolatdd woods

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with the torture continued. I thought I was going to die. The red

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talking about taking me to ` forest. The gang leader, Sal Simon,

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said the attack, I may as wdll shoot you. I'm going to torture you. The

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judge said nobody who heard that can feel to have been good by their

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terror that must have been felt by the Vic. How frightening was this

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for the Vic them? He said in his evidence that he was terrifhed. He

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thought he was going to be killed. Sam Simon was jailed for nine

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years. Others in the gang, hncluding the driver, were sentenced to two

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years. A 17`year`old who cannot be named for legal reasons werd

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sentenced to four years. Tonight, all five are beginning their

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sentences for a crime policd described as showing a level of

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cruelty that was inexplicable. Are we any clearer as to whx this

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happened? The court was told that Sam Simon, the ringleader, was a

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drugs dealer in Hastings and in the weeks prior to this attack had lost

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a substantial amount of mondy. The police told me that Benjamin was

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targeted because they believe he was a soft touch. Tonight it has emerged

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that the Crown Prosecution Service has asked for the sentences handed

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down today to be reviewed over concerns they may have been too

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lenient. Rail unions are claiming a hedge

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fund manager dubbed "Britain's biggest rail fare dodger" w`s able

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to "buy silence" because of his wealth, after he repaid mord than

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?42,000 in unpaid fares and avoided prosecution. The RMT and TSSA unions

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say the agreement between the commuter and southeastern

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demonstrates, "one law for the rich and one for the poor". But the rail

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operator has defended the out`of`court settlement as the

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quickest way to recover the fares. Mark Norman is live at Stondgate

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Station. Mark, this fare dodging went on for more than five xears? It

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is extraordinary, isn't it? Five years, as you say. This person is a

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hedge fund manager, yet he lade a conscious decision not to bty a

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season ticket. There are lots of opportunities to buy tickets here.

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He made a conscious decision provide viewers not to paper that sdason

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ticket from here up to London Bridge. It costs ?5,000 a ydar to

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commute into London from thd station in Sussex. In 2008, successful fund

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manager decided he wasn't going to pay and managed not to pay for

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almost six years. Stonegate Station is quiet at this time of thd day.

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Commuters come to this allexway There is no ticket harrier. The man

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would have blocked past two signs warning him that he needed to have a

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ticket. On the platform, he would catch the train to London Bridge,

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move on to London Bridge. Pdople I have spoken to locally are pretty

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disgusted at what he did. Obviously, he is an intelligent man who has

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popped `` but thought into ht, but it is putting thought into being a

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criminal. It is despicable. That means everybody else was pl`ying for

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him. He probably saw the ch`nce to do it and did it. Is that OK? Of

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course not. I hope we got hhs comeuppance. There are constant

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attempts by train companies to persuade people to pay for tickets.

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Dave thinks it is OK to takd a free ride. Travelling on a train without

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paying for your journey is `gainst the law. A lack of barriers is

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tempting many. In total, ard fairer dodger managed to avoid a potential

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?42,000 worth of rail fares. Southeastern train say that on

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average 500 people a day avoid paying for their ticket. It is the

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ordinary travelling public that paid for their fares, even in hard times.

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That makes it even more disgusting that over a period of great economic

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uncertainty, with people struggling, he perpetrated this theft and gets

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to walk away with that. This evening the train company has said they

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recognised this as ever `` `s an important issue for customers who do

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pay their way. This is the London line. Yot have to

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presume this person will be standing on this platform tomorrow morning.

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They have had to pay back the ?43,000, and we understand they have

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nine it is a season ticket. The overall message here is if xou try

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to dodge paying the fare, you will eventually get caught. Well ,we ve

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had a big response to this story on social media.

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Ann Rogers said: "If he's p`id it back, why prosecute? Would only cost

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more money to take him to court . Linda Burke: "Too right he should be

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prosecuted. Just because he had the money to pay it back doesn't make it

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all right. After all, he only paid it back because he was caught".

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Cathy Martin: "Maybe people wouldn't try and cheat the system if the

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train companies charged a rdasonable fare. Train prices are ridiculously

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high". Ric Coulson: "Why has it taken five

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years for an inspector or anyone to cotton on to the fact he didn't have

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a ticket? The fares are so expensive. Paying for guards not to

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do their job and check in the first instance?".

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Sumi Olson: "While I am ple`sed that the amount owed has repaid, I feel

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he should be named and shamdd. This was deliberate fraud and thdft which

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this person committed over five years". We want to know what you

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think. Is paying back the ?42,000 ` good

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enough penalty, or do you agree with rail unions it appears to bd one

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rule for the rich and one for the poor? Should he have been

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prosecuted? You can leave your comments on our Facebook site, tweet

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or email us. We'll read out some more of your comments on later in

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the programme. In a moment: How a new scheme to extend opening hours

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is being trialled at doctors surgeries in parts of Kent `nd

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Sussex. There's an incident of fly`tipping

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somewhere in the country evdry 4 seconds. Most of it is in the

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countryside, and our farmers say they're bearing the brunt of the

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problem, having to pay for waste to be removed from their land. It's

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estimated that it costs ?47 million a year to remove illegally dumped

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waste from agricultural land. Farmers in the South East s`y the

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problems seems to be getting worse. Jon Hunt reports.

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Farmer Steve Glover owns five farms in Kent and today he is surveying

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the latest fly`tip on the edge of his land. This fluid content is best

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bass, which means a specialhst will have to collect it. Mr Glovdr says

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he faces this problem about once a month. What is the handset? More

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people on the ground to catch these people. It is down to the pdople who

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are paying for this to be done. They are expect when this to go somewhere

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and for this to be taken aw`y. They will get caught more than the people

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who are doing the dumping. There were nearly 50,000 incidents of temp

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to in the county, costing over 2 million to clear up. People caught

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fly`tipping are fined thous`nds but the don't normally do it whdn a

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police helicopter is circling. Trevor Jones and his family farm 700

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acres. Even today, having to clear rubbish from the entrance of their

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fields so they can spread their crop. Having to get rid of someone

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else's crime, and paying for the privilege, having to pay thd tax on

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the disposal, it is not verx nice. The penalties for those caught

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fly`tipping are set to incrdase New guidelines from the sentenchng

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council come into effect on the 1st of July and courts will be trged to

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make greater use of the highest levels of fines. They will `pply

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both to the persistent offenders, as well as your average homeowner just

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getting rid of an old mattrdss. Farmers in the South East hope the

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new finds will do terror people from using their much cared for

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countryside as a free waste tip Police are continuing to appeal for

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information on how a car cale off the road and plunged around 90 feet

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over a cliff in Brighton. The driver survived with minor

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injuries after the incident, which happened near Roedean in thd early

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hours of Sunday. Police say they'd like to speak to anyone who was in

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the area at the time. A thief who robbed a Tonbridge

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jewellery shop while threatdning staff at knife`point has bedn jailed

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for life. Peter Sanderson, from Maidstone, stole a number of diamond

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and sapphire rings last October He asked a member of staff if he could

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see the items before threatdning her with a knife.

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Heroin and cocaine with a potential street value running into mhllions

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of pounds has been seized bx Border Force officers. A British`rdgistered

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lorry carrying roofing materials was stopped at Dover's Eastern Docks

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last week. Our reporter Petdr Whittlesea is in Dover now.

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Peter, what more do we know about this seizure?

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The Border Force announced this potentially mulled `` multi`million

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pound seizure this actor known. The ship was coming into the port last

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Wednesday when sniffer dogs fined ?105 of heroin and is ?74 of

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cocaine. A man from Romford was arrested. The Border Force has not

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put an exact value on the drugs because it depends on their purity.

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Tests will be carried out to establish how pure the drugs were.

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Longer opening hours and better local care for the elderly `re being

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promised at doctors' surgerhes across the South East. Costhng

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nearly ?4 million from central government, more than 230,000

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patients in Folkestone, Dovdr and Brighton will benefit from the new

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programme. They will be abld to book same`day appointments seven days a

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week. Ellie Price has more. A typical doctor 's appointlent at

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this surgery in Folkestone. Soon, patient he will be able to begin

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between 8am and 8pm seven d`ys a week. It means that people who might

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otherwise have to go to the emergency department will h`ve

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greater access to general b`ck the services. The doctors who are

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working will have access to the patient's records, which will help

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of the continued to `` conthnuity of care. Opening hours is one of the

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brains of the surgery. `` b`nes There will be a ?50 million GP

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access fund. The government has announced a special care pl`n for

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those most vulnerable. In the South East it will benefit on hundred and

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37,000 people and the mean same`day access to their doctor your. I think

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we have to get away from thhs idea that ten minutes is the right length

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of time for a bruising or p`tient. For some patients one minutd might

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be enough, but for someone who is very vulnerable, they might 30

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minutes for 40 minutes. I hope this will introduce a lot more

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flexibility for doctors. Thd pilot schemes are not without thehr

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critics. Labour says the majority of patients will benefit and w`iting

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times for doctors appointments are getting worse. There are pros and

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cons. The cons are the stresses and strains of public on the general

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practice system. The staff, facilities, the building, the

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availability of services th`t go with it such as blood taking and

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testing. The infrastructure does not exist that would be needed to do

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what the government is proposing. Our top story tonight: A gang of

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five men have been jailed for a total of 21 years for their part in

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tying up a student in Hastings and torturing him to make him h`nd over

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money. The Sussex Gardner is taking place

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in the BBC's Big Allotment Challenge.

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It has been a sunny started the week, and it will stay that way for

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the few days as well. It's the greatest honour th`t can be

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bestowed upon a soldier, given for outstanding valour in the f`ce of

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the enemy. Since 1856, only 1,300 Victoria

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Crosses have ever been awarded. Cheryl Butler from Nettlestdad, near

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Maidstone, treasures a photo of her great great uncle, Thomas H`rris,

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who was given a VC during World War I am is still remembered in the Kent

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village where he lived. This is my great, great uncle. Thomas Harris.

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It was taken during the First World War. He joined in 1914. He died in

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France in August 1918. This is the actual Victoria Cross he was awarded

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after his death. He was killed in northern France. He was leading a

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section to try and capture lachine gun posts. He was killed thdre. I

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think he led two attempts and on the third one he was killed. He is

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commemorated here. There is Thomas Harris close and a big stond with a

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plaque detailing his life. We are commemorating Thomas by holding a

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party later on in the spring. This photo is important to me because I

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am very proud of Thomas being awarded the Victoria Cross. I don't

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think many people can say they have a bit Tory across in the falily

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If you have a treasured photograph related to World War I that we might

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want to feature on the programme, please do send a copy to us via

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email, Facebook or Twitter, along with the story behind it.

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It's been called the gardenhng world's answer to the Great British

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Bake Off. The Big Allotment Challenge will see nine pairs of

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green`fingered contestants compete for the title of best grower,

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producing vegetables, fruits and flowers for a panel of experts. Jane

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Witherspoon went to meet two horticultural enthusiasts from Hove

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` Gary Murdock and Pete Taylor ` who are taking part in tomorrow's

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'rake`off'! What is this? It is lovely. It is a

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weed. They just look pretty. The Big Allotment Challenge has dug up some

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characters. Meet Gary and Pdte, the self`proclaimed lazy gardendrs. We

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have a method of doing as lhttle as possible. Minimum effort, m`ximum

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yield. How does it work? By not doing much weeding. A weed hs just a

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plant in the wrong place. The show is open to follow on the success of

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the Great British Bake Off. Nine pairs of gardeners were filled for

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six months competing to win challenges, including growing,

:20:03.:20:05.

flower arranging and producd making. We saw it as a commtnity

:20:06.:20:13.

event. Everyone was really nice helping each other right. `` out.

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You need to get rid of all the stones! Some of the Gardners are

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starting to realise that growing radishes isn't very easy. It is

:20:49.:20:58.

getting a bit woody. Never lind you can still pull something out of the

:20:59.:21:06.

bag. Just not radishes. We `re delighted to say, we didn't come

:21:07.:21:14.

last! I was just showing myself up. There is a worm!

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I think she might have a bit of work to do there. Football now and mixed

:21:23.:21:35.

fortunes for our League sidds this weekend, seeing shifts in both the

:21:36.:21:37.

play`off and drop zones. With only weeks to go beford the end

:21:38.:21:41.

of the season, our teams sthll have a lot to play for. Rebecca Williams

:21:42.:21:44.

reports. Brighton moved into The Chalpionship

:21:45.:21:46.

play`offs with thick tree over Charlton. `` a thick tree over

:21:47.:21:59.

Charlton. It is the fourth defeat for Charlton since they employed a

:22:00.:22:08.

new manager. I am disappointed with the result. I would be more

:22:09.:22:14.

disappointed if I didn't know how my players were able to do. Lexton

:22:15.:22:21.

Orient scored twice inside the opening ten minutes in their match

:22:22.:22:26.

against gelling. The goal jtst coming. `` goals. A very difficult

:22:27.:22:38.

afternoon. We were looking to put in a better performance than wd did. I

:22:39.:22:42.

think Leyton Orient were relaxed and played very well. We were a yard

:22:43.:22:46.

short in every department. Crawley town beat MK Dons away. Well let's

:22:47.:23:00.

Crawley are now six points clear of the relegation places with two games

:23:01.:23:06.

in hand. They will hope to continue their good form in their next match

:23:07.:23:08.

tomorrow night. It has been lovely today. Fhngers

:23:09.:23:22.

crossed, we might have it for the Easter weekend, as well. Earlier we

:23:23.:23:30.

saw plenty of clear blue skhes. The reason for that is this are` of high

:23:31.:23:35.

pressure. It will be staying with us over the next couple of days. On

:23:36.:23:38.

Thursday we will see more cloud cover. We will stay dry in the next

:23:39.:23:45.

couple of days, sunny spells. With the clearer skies, temperattres will

:23:46.:23:50.

tumble overnight. Potentially, we could even see some patchy frost.

:23:51.:23:55.

Earlier we had mostly clear blue skies. We did have northerlx winds,

:23:56.:23:59.

silver some of us the temperatures where Pegg back. Cabbage is ranging

:24:00.:24:13.

between 11 and about 15 degrees The wind will be swinging to an easterly

:24:14.:24:17.

direction tonight. It will be cold picture tonight. We might sde a bit

:24:18.:24:27.

of mist and fog forming. Temperatures in towns and chties

:24:28.:24:31.

dropping to five degrees, and may be dying to one or two degrees in the

:24:32.:24:37.

countryside. You can see thhs high pressure is around. The winds will

:24:38.:24:51.

come in from the east. The further west you are, the higher thd

:24:52.:24:57.

temperatures will be. Through tomorrow night, it will be luch more

:24:58.:25:01.

of the same. It will be a chilly picture, with the pitch was dropping

:25:02.:25:08.

`` with temperatures dropping to three or four degrees. We should see

:25:09.:25:17.

1516 degrees by a Wednesday afternoon. Into Thursday, there

:25:18.:25:21.

could be a bit more cloud, but it should stay dry. Butchers bx

:25:22.:25:28.

Thursday could get up as high as 18 or 19 degrees. By Friday, the

:25:29.:25:36.

sunshine will be back again. Temperatures will stay in the

:25:37.:25:46.

mid`teens for Saturday. Well let's recap tonight's top

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national and local news stories Pro`Russia activists have stormed

:25:49.:25:51.

another building in Eastern Ukraine, breaking into the police st`tion in

:25:52.:25:54.

the city of Horlivka and hohsting the Russian flag.

:25:55.:25:57.

A gang of five men have been jailed for a total of 21 years for their

:25:58.:26:01.

part in tying up a student hn Hastings and torturing him to make

:26:02.:26:04.

him hand over money. Rail unions are claiming a hedge

:26:05.:26:07.

front manager, dubbed "Brit`in's biggest rail fare dodger", was able

:26:08.:26:10.

to escape prosecution because of his wealth, after he repaid mord than

:26:11.:26:13.

?42,000 in unpaid fares. Well, many of you have been getting

:26:14.:26:21.

in touch with us about this story. Chris e`mailed us to say he is

:26:22.:26:26.

angry, he should be named, photographed and ashamed so his

:26:27.:26:29.

fellow passengers can confront him. Ross says, it is wrong, but they

:26:30.:26:35.

don't blame him. At the end of the day, the train companies should

:26:36.:26:42.

employ more staff. The railways are losing millions over ticket fraud,

:26:43.:26:46.

surely it would make sense to mild the ticket offices. Rick saxs he

:26:47.:26:56.

should have been fined four times the amount that he stole. Another

:26:57.:27:11.

reviewer says that the guards are not there to collect tickets, but

:27:12.:27:15.

look after our safety. Another viewer says, good for him, the

:27:16.:27:25.

services so bad. This viewer says, can you blame him? They nevdr know

:27:26.:27:33.

prices, so that is why people try to dodge their fares. That is `ll for

:27:34.:27:40.

tonight. Have a good evening. Goodbye.

:27:41.:27:43.

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