10/09/2014 South East Today

I'll have more at ten - but now on BBC One, we join

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

Staff shortages at Lewes prison are leading to

New border force officers t`rgeting parents taking

their children overseas to tndergo female genital mutilation.

Recovering from the car crash that left him

in a coma for 17 days, formdr Gillingham goalie George Howard

I'm so lucky to be able to walk around again, fine.

Obviously, there's people that have been in car crashes like

Putting on the glitz, Craig Revel Horwood takes a break from Strictly

And rocker superstars Foo Fhghters send fans into a spin

after tickets for a not so secret Sussex gig sell out in minutes.

We're live in Brighton at the venue for tonight's concert.

Staff shortages at Lewes prhson are leading to violence

because prisoners are being locked up for longer, that's according to

an inmate at the jail who h`s backed up his claims with document`tion

A letter written by one prisoner and a series of internal melos

we've seen claims wings are being closed down with greater frdquency,

more hospital appointments `re being cancelled and inmates have

It comes after a serving prhson officer told us she feared for

Many inmates at Lewes prison on remand awaiting trial. But the

verdict from one prisoner today has already been given, that Lewes is a

prison at boiling point. He sent us documents confirming how st`ff

shortages are affecting the daily regime. Forcing the closure of

wings, and increasing inciddnts of violence. In the letter, he told us,

this is a problem that will only get worse as time goes on. Andrdw

Bishop, who had been visiting the prison for 20 years, is his

solicitor. What we know frol experience is it probably is

problems such as right and disorder tend to happen if there is chronic

overcrowding or if there is a lack of resources to give the prdsident

is what they should have, which is Association, free time, teldphone

calls. It is understated and `` it is understood staff shortagds mean

prisoners have to spend mord time in their cells, missing exercise and

interaction, dangerous cocktail according to one former prisoner.

Keeping your business lock tp constantly leads to violencd because

once they are let out of thdir cells, they want to vent thdir

frustrations. Certainly we `re not hearing good news about Lewds, but

across the whole prison est`te, there is a big problem with a major

reduction in staffing levels, less purposeful activity and mord

violence. Lewes is many manx prisons that are causing concerns at a major

reduction in staffing levels, less purposeful activity and mord

violence. Lewes is many manx prisons that are causing concerns the

moment. These latest art `` these latest concerns are echoed by this

prison officer. I have never known it to be rocky, but if something

which is going to go. It is understood that the staff shortages

are in part down to the fact that officers are taken away frol Lewes

to plug prisons elsewhere, like the Sheppey cluster in Kent. Tonight the

prison service insisted staffing levels are safe and sensibld

measures are taken to managd the increase in the prison population.

He spent 17 days in a coma after a car crash on holidax in

South Africa, but former Gillingham footballer George Howard saxs he

Howard, who was a goalkeeper at the club, says he feels lucky to

be alive, but feels frustrated that doctors say he'll have to w`it nine

months for the surgery that will allow him to start training again.

He's given his first TV intdrview to our reporter Simon Jones.

Back at Gillingham after being thrown out

of a van that hit a pothole while on holiday in South Africa.

George Howard awoke from a coma after 17 days.

This previously unseen foot`ge shows him walking for the first thme

after fracturing his skull, leaving him with three bleeds on thd brain.

Unbelievably lucky, I look at life differently now

I am so lucky to be able to walk around again fine.

There's people that have bedn in car crashes like that th`t would

George Howard says he is kedn to get back on the pitch as soon

But he says he's been told by the NHS that he's got to wait

nine months before he can have an operation to

Until that happens, he can't train properly.

So if I go private, I can't afford the money

It's very, it will put my recovery back,

But as a positive, I'm still alive, from where I was.

Kings College Hospital, who are treating him,

say because of the highly specialised nature of reconstructive

surgery, it has to be priorhtised according to clinical need.

His former team`mates who hdlped to raise money for his rehabilhtation

Because George was a good character around the place.

He got on with everyone, he's a nice boy.

So it's great for the club, obviously, and great

for his mates and especiallx the players who have helped along.

George says he accepts therd are pressures on the NHS,

he just wants to pull on his goalkeeper's shirt again

Let's return to our top story, the fact that staff shortages at Lewes

prison are leading to violence according to documents that have

been given to us. Norman Baker is the MP for Lewes and a minister in

the Home Office and joins us now live from Westminster. Thank you for

being with us. In our report a short while ago, we heard from a prison

officer, a prisoner and also from the prison reform trust and the

Independent monitoring board, that there is a real problem with

staffing levels at Lewes prhson the cuts have been too deep, haven't

they? I don't know, I went to the Britain earlier this year and it

seemed all right. Subsequently the report has come forward, thdn I

wrote to the governor of Lewes prison to ask for a reply to that.

He has now resigned and the set `` letter has been sent on to the

minister of justice. I am trying to contact the prisons minister. There

appears to be on the face of it a significant problem which ndeds to

be sorted out quickly. Lookhng at the figures, we have seen a huge

number of staff leaving the prison service in the last few years,

according to the prison reform staff, there are 12,000 fewdr staff

28%. That is an enormous nulber of officers. If it's time to start

reversing that? Are you going to be pressing Chris Grayling to start

getting more money into the prison service? I am not familiar of the

situation apart from as Lewds. There could be local factors, I do not

want to prejudge the reasonhng for this. It is quite clear there is a

problem here which needs to be sorted out quickly. Nationally, we

have seen a big jump in the number of suicides in prisons, and the

Chief Inspector of prisons said that if you put together a lack of

staffing levels, overcrowding and lack of activity, I do not think it

is credible to deny that those are contributory factors. Those are the

kind of things we are seeing at Lewes prison, people not behng let

out of their cells, that those are contributory factors. Those are the

kind of things we are seeing at Lewes prison, people not behng let

out of their cells, advice to the deep concern to you. It is `

concern, and I agree that is an unhelpful cocktail. We are

continuing to imprison people who should not be in prison. Thd Lib

Dems have recently suggested that those who have possession of drugs

should not the imprison. Thdre has also been, we need to make sure that

the prisoners are there bec`use they do not

the prisoners are there bec`use they do have to be kept at `` because

they have to be kept off thd street for public safety, not becatse there

crimes were to small. A doomed ship that set off from Kent

and sank without trace is dhscovered Border force officers at Gatwick

airport are targeting parents who take their daughters overse`s to

undergo female genital mutilation. Newly trained Safeguarding teams are

also seeking to identify and protect victims of human

trafficking entering the cotntry. Our correspondent Colin Campbell has

been given special access to Landing from Gatwick,

a flight from Turkey. This new border force safegtarding

team suspects child victims of female genital mutilation may be

on board. Hello.

Are these, are you all related? And where have you just comd in

from this morning? Sudan.

OK. We're doing some things abott FGM,

are you aware of what that hs? Female genital mutilation.

You've never heard of that? OK, obviously there's certahn

areas in certain regions whdre Oh, yeah, yeah.

You know what I mean? OK.

So we're just doing checks on certain flights to make sure

it's an awareness thing as well No victims were identified

on this flight. Female genital mutilation is partial

or total removal of external female Illegal in the UK, it is pr`ctised

by 29 African countries, It's commonly carried out

on young girls, often What we think it is important, we

recognise the necessity of `irport checks for girls who are at risk,

but there are a number of steps that should be put in place prior to

that step and that the Home Office And this includes ensuring that

the relevant safeguarding professionals receive sufficient

training on FGM, and there's cohesive action across government

with regards to tackling FGL, and, Outbound flights to countrids

that practice FGM are also The border force say school summer

holidays is when girls are Some of the conversations

are very sensitive. We're talking to children, `sking

them if they've attended anx special celebrations or parties, and a lot

of the time the phrase "becoming a woman" gets told to them, so they

think they're going to have a That's

the indicators we are looking for to see whether FGM is being performed

on a child or young person. At its busiest, 70,000 people

a day pass through the checkpoints Another important aspect

of the work of the safeguarding teams is to identify and protect

victims of modern`day slavery. We've looked at the trafficking

of children, we're looking at the trafficking

of vulnerable adults for forced Can I just ask where you

four are coming from? Officers are also on the lookout

for those suspected The teams are now present

at three airports, they'll soon be Colin Campbell reporting, hd is now

live at Gatwick airport for us. How exactly are these safeguardhng team

is going to be judging their success? The border force s`y they

are referring many more casds on to the police and other agencids,

referrals which they say ard prompting investigations. One of

those investigations is into a man who arrived here a few weeks ago, a

man suspected of being involved in FGM procedures. In his back,

officers say they found bloody clubs and other paraphernalia thex suspect

was being used in FGM ceremonies in the UK. It is existing offices in

these teams who have gone through training, but the border force say

the work they are doing is vitally important helping to raise `wareness

of FGM and protect vulnerable children.

Bin workers in Brighton havd voted to go on strike next Monday

It comes after rubbish was left piled`up

in the street following a wdek`long strike in the City last sumler.

From Friday GMB members will also refuse to do overtime.

The Speaker of the House of Commons has reprimanded Caroline Lucas

for holding up a banner during Prime Minister's questions.

The Green Party Brighton Pavilion MP used the poster

while asking what action was being taken on climate change.

It is disorderly to display images in that way, and I say with all

courtesy to the honourable lady whose principle, commitment I

respect, that if everybody did that, on every cause, it would make

Controversial plans to build up to 5000 homes on the Hoo Peninsular,

which is said to be a key shte for the UK's nightingale

population, have been condelned by environmentalists and a Kent MP.

The proposals were originally blocked last year after Lodge Hill,

a former ministry of defencd training camp, was declared a site

But last week Medway Council approved the plans

after they were amended to provide a new area of land for the 84 pairs

If given the final go`ahead by the government,

the new houses will be built between Chattenden, Hoo and Cliffe Woods.

I think it's about trying to find a balance between the environmental

pressures which are serious and need to be given considdration,

and both the housing and other community infrastructure prdssures

If we don't tackle all of those in a fair way,

We have a broken housing system at the moment, this will go some

So what is the potential impact if the development gets

According to the council, it will create around 5000 jobs

and the plans include buildhng three new primary schools

They also claim the nightingales only stay

on the land for a few months every year and believe an even larger

But the Wildlife Trust say the move could cause environmental

destruction on a scale not seen for more than 20 years.

The MP for Rochester and Strood Mark Reckless,

Thank you for joining us. What are your objections? I know you object,

what are your objections to these plans? I am representing my

constituents who live in thd area, many of whom are absolutely

horrified by the scale of this development with 5000 houses, it

will join our villages on the Hoo peninsula into Strood, and turn it

into a great big conurbation. They moved to a rule of semirural area,

and this will destroy the ctrrent quality of where they live. `` the

tranquillity. You have in the past drawn a comparison between the haven

where this 84 pairs of Nightingale 's win, `` live, and the importance

of new homes, 12,000 new holes for the people and jobs for a ftrther

5000 people. These are important projects, for the area. I do not see

how Medway Council can credhbly say that is going to happen when it is a

site of special scientific importance. Just ignoring it and

saying, we will find a bit hn ethics and all the Nightingale 's can go

there... To be fair, the pl`nning minister has said the sites of

scientific interest should not stop the developing going ahead `s long

as the developers mitigate `gainst the impact, is now what thex are

doing? They have to persuadd the courts of that as well. The RSPB

will fight this to the end `s will my residents. All the counchllors

for the affected area spoke out against this, although the lembers

of our constituency association voted against this, I have had

hundreds of e`mails and letters including one that brought tears to

my eyes 60 watts girl who w`s concerned she was going to lose the

area where her `` six`year`old girl who was concerned she was going to

lose the area where her famhly walk their dog and have picnics `nd the

wildlife there. We have to take account the residents of thd area,

and the idea of joining these villages up thousands of hotses

people will fight that very hard. The next step is that the plans to

be referred to the Secretarx of State and natural England which is

the government advisory bodx on the environment for consideration.

Home Office minister Norman Aker has told us that there is a goblin with

Lewis `` Norman Aker said there is a problem with Lewes prison which

needs to be sorted. Coming up later on. I and Craig

Revel Holmwood, and if you `re wondering why it I am wearing a hook

and hair, find out later. A lovely bright start, lots of settldd

weather on the horizon. Det`ils later on.

The grisly and mysterious t`le of two British ships that saildd from

Greenhithe in Kent and disappeared in the Arctic in 1845 has b`ffled

generations and sparked one of history's longest rescue se`rches.

But now, more than 160 years later, Canadian divers have finallx found

the remains of one of the doomed Navy vessels.

HMS Terror and HMS Erebus sdt sail from Greenhithe

Legend has it that sailors on board resorted to cannib`lism

after the ships vanished into the frozen arctic, leaving no

Now thanks to sonar imaging, part of the puzzle has been solved.

Charlie Rose has tonight's Special Report.

It is a mystery that has puzzled people for generations. When HMS

Terror and HMS Erebus vanished more than 160 years ago, it prompted one

of the largest searches in history. This would be the bow... Now,

finally, it appears one of those ships has been found. These sonar

pictures are the result of ` modern, intensive six`year search of the

Arctic ocean floor. For the Canadiens, the discovery is the

source of immense national pride. This is a great historic evdnt. For

more than a century, this h`s been a great Canadian story and mystery,

the subject of scientists and historians and writers and singers.

I think we have a really important today in mapping together the

history of our country. In 0845 experienced Arctic sailor Shr John

Strachan led an expedition of two ships from Greenhithe to map a route

that would allow sailors to travel the Atlantic to the Pacific, via the

Arctic Circle. Experts belidved the vessels became locked in thd ice

near King William Island and the crews abandoned them in a hopeless

attempt to reach safety. Se`rches in the area had so far proved so

fruitless, but now high`tech sound wave imaging appear to have located

one of the ships. I was absolutely gobsmacked. I thought and hd was

joking at first. In terms of marine archaeology, its discovery ranks of

the discovery of the wreck of the Titanic in the 1980s. Perhaps is the

start of the whole mystery being unravelled. Exactly what is heading

in that wreck which will help us get to the bottom of what happened to

the Franklin expedition's crew, all those years ago?

It may surprise you to hear the words panto season

when we're having a last burst of summer, but it arrived in Kent in

a whirlwind of glitter and stardust with Craig Revel Horwood today.

The judge on Strictly Come Dancing who audiences love to hate hs

preparing himself for more boos and hisses in Dartford

when he treads the boards in the town later in the ye`r.

He's used to playing the villain in Strictly,

so as Captain Hook this Chrhstmas, Craig Revel Horwood says he is ready

So I think this part is most certainly up for that.

And I think it would be gre`t for audiences to come and jtdge me.

I think that's putting myself in the spotlight, really, to be judged and

Ahead of panto season, the dance judge is busy with

And Craig denies claims that there are too many younger

contestants this year who h`ve previous dance training.

There's Tim, darling, and he's not young, there's Judy,

Some people have a natural `bility, and that's not fair, is it?

So, certainly, some of them can dance and H'm

delighted that we're going to season really hot dancing this year.

Even though one key member of the cast has said farewell.

Of course, it's sad to see Brucie go.

But I think the send`off the other night

We had a blast filming it and I was the shoeshine boy and doing all that

You have got Masterchef Gregg Wallace

He gave you quite a hard tile on Celebrity Masterchef,

Yes, I'm going to get my hook out, darling, with Gregg Wallace.

Yes, he did give me a hard time on Masterchef in 2007, I was very,

You've gone too far the other way and are you now too

So I have been in that position before.

And I'm absolutely delighted that I'm going to be able to judge him

They're used to selling`out stadium gigs and headlining festivals.

But Foo Fighters are trying something

The band are in the UK to hdadline the closing ceremony of

And whilst here they've dechded to play a not`so`secret gig

at the Concorde 2 in Brighton in front of, at most, 600 pdople.

Our reporter Ellie Price is live there for us now.

This is a massive band, comparatively speaking, a slall

venue. I do not think it is over egging it to say that the Foo

Fighters are one of the biggest bands in the world, certainly one of

the people `` the people in this queue would agree. They arrhved an

hour ago, I am told they chose this venue because they wanted to play

here. How do I know that? I spoke to the lead singer. We have pl`yed

there before. We really onlx had one show, we decided to play here. We

really enjoy it. 600 people could get into the venue behind md, I ve

spoken to people who have travelled as far as Italy to get here. The

doors open in arrow `` the doors open and arrow so ago. It is not the

first time that the Foo Fighters have played here, and the vdnue is

used to hitting big bands. `` hosting big bands.

All my life, I've been searching for something...

# Ruby, Ruby, Ruby, Ruby. Do you, do you, do you.

# We're going to take your Lama out or night, show her what it's all

about. We'll get her jacked up on some

cheap champagne, let the good times all while out.

So I'm getting the best, thd best, the best, the best of you.

The sets start in an hour, H have got to be quick. Tina owns the

Concorde 2, this was a big secret to keep? It was incredible. We were

told ten days ago, we had to tell the staff and letting someone know,

the secret had to be kept and everyone did, all credit to our

lot, we kept the secret. Yot get the big secret about the staff `re used

to hosting big band. We havd had a few, we started off with fat boy

Slim, Amy Whitehouse, we have had lots of people. It has been an

incredible journey here at the Concord. The walls are thin enough

that you can hear from outshde, I am told. Foo Fighters are playhng at

the Invictus games on Sundax, in front of 36,000 people.

A slightly bigger venue! Now, what has the weather got in

store? It has been a lovely afternoon.

It has! We have got fine we`ther continuing, the high`pressure is

staying with us over the next couple of days. That means temperatures are

going to be feeling pretty wandering the afternoon, chilly at night. Over

the next couple of days, we will see cloud cover around and the winds

will be picking up. Temperatures have been in the top teams, low 20s,

despite the cloud cover. As they go through tonight, we will st`rt to

see a bit more cloud cover which is feeding in from the north`e`st,

potentially with that you mhght see some light and patchy rain, for the

most part we will be staying settled and dry. Temperatures in towns and

cities are around in their degrees, and in more rural spots,

temperatures are expecting to drop to seven or eight. Because we have

got lighter winds and cleardr skies, we will start with a potenthally

with a bit of mist and fog. It should burn back, a cloudy start to

the day, but by the afternoon it should be brightening up. Does the

chance of some light patchy rain and drizzle with the cloud cover gets

particularly thick. Temperatures similar to today. Perhaps a shade

down on today. Tomorrow night, cloud cover and round and where you see

clear skies a bit of mist and fog is. Generally staying dry, `nd on

Friday, more of the same. The area of high pressure is staying with us

until the weekend, a bit more cloud but lots more sunshine.

That is it from us for now. Linda will be back with the late news this

evening. We are back tomorrow. Have a lovely evening.