19/01/2017 South East Today

The gangs exploiting children to bring drugs into Kent

Children as young as 11 are being used as drug mules,

selling drugs, or hiding drugs for major drug

Accused of breaking legal limits by stockpiling

a mountain of mattresses - a Kent businessman tells a court

We're live at Canterbury Crown Court.

M25 road rage killer Kenneth Noye launches a legal challenge to be

The worrying rise in sheep-worrying - farmers say the south east

suffered more attacks than the whole of scotland last year.

It's been the set for Call The Midwife, and scores of movies.

Now, Chatham's historic dockyard will benefit

A national plan is needed urgently to crack down on the criminal gangs

exploiting inner-city children as young as 11 to sell

That's the view of councillors from 19 local authorities

who've written a joint letter to the Home Secretary, claiming

the issue "has the potential to be the next grooming scandal".

They say vulnerable children are being coerced into selling drugs

in market towns and seaside resorts, but the justice system

views them as criminals, rather than victims,

It's been called a poison that is spreading out from the capital and

seeping deeper and deeper into the south-east. At last count, more than

181 urban gangs sending upward of 800 people in two counties like

Kent, Surrey and Sussex. Children as young as 11 acting as careers. Many

are groomed into the role. From London, it's very easy to travelling

to Essex, into Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire, Wiltshire, Thames Valley.

They are not travelling any further than that because we are the closest

counties. Francis is a former gang member who now runs a charity

helping to educate young people. They are exploiting young children

to sell drugs. The impact on that young child is huge. They are

grooming children to become drug dealers or to sell drugs for major

drug dealers from London. So it's a safeguarding matter. We can't just

turn a blind eye to it. We need to address it. Today in what was called

an unprecedented move, 19 London boroughs have written to the Home

Secretary calling for action. They say gang leaders are using serious

violence, kidnap and weapons and ruthless debt control to manipulate

young people. They say they believe it has the potential to be the next

grooming scandal. We've known for some time that there have been

London gangs coming down to Kent, particularly in Thanet, where it is

often reported London gangs are responsible for a lot of the drugs

trade. But the thought young vulnerable children in Centre this

trade is very worrying. Nick is the former head of Kent Police's drug

squad. They are using vulnerable people, people who they know have

probably got no want to report to, come back to, their parents, it's

probably a dysfunctional family, and they use that vulnerability to their

own advantage and don't give a dam for the welfare of anyone else. With

the threat of the drug gangs seemingly diving deeper into the

south-east, a call today to bring in new measures to battle a trait that

is now using Child exploitation to maximise profits.

Piers what has the Home Office had to say tonight?

Just be clear, those 19 London borough is called for this. They

called for a clear national strategy and action plan from the Home

Office. We put that to the Home Office and this is what they told us

tonight. They said, this was an issue that was being addressed by

the government. They were looking at this exporting of drug trafficking

from London. The Minister for safeguarding, Sarah Newton, said

that we are working with local law enforcement agencies and local

charities to tackle this and have formed a new agency to tackle gang

problems. How effective that has been in areas like the south-east

will be judged in the coming months and years.

A businessman accused of blighting a Kent village with a mountain

of discarded mattresses has told a court his personal life

was "an absolute living hell" at the time he was trying

Lewis Bertram - who ran a recycling business

in Smarden near Ashford - is accused of having more

than double the amount of waste he was allowed on site.

But he told Canterbury Crown Court today that that figure

was "impossible", as Simon Jones reports.

Piled high, a potential fire risk and environmental

Lewis Bertram's business took on mattresses and recycled

The jury was told he had a strict limit of possessing 1000 tonnes

The Environment Agency believes the total weight

Lewis Bertram, though, described that as an impossible estimation.

Physically, he said, it's impossible to carry that sort

He told the court there was 500-800 tonnes maximum.

He said he didn't store mattresses outside.

He admitted he'd been going through a difficult time personally.

"My home life, my personal life, was an absolute living hell.

It affected my functionality in my everyday life completely.

He said he had been surviving on two hours sleep per night.

Mr Bertram admitted the site was never going to look

He said he'd paid for a shredder to help clear it,

He insisted he had been trying his level best to appease

He described himself as passionate about his business.

Lewis Bertram denies knowingly permitting the deposit of waste

on land without an environmental permit and failing to comply

Simon Jones reporting - and he joins us outside

What happened during Mr Bertram's cross-examination?

prosecution asked him to look at a number of photos which it said

showed that he was clearly storing mattresses outside, which he wasn't

allowed to do. But he said that those photos may have been taken on

days when new mattresses had just been delivered before being taken

inside. The judge then asked him to look at three different photo was

taken over a period of six months and asked him if they showed the

same waste in those pictures. He said no. This afternoon the defence

finished their case and the jury is expected to be sent out tomorrow.

Anger from the RMT, as the union members say

they'll strike on Monday after being shut out from talks

The notorious road rage killer Kenneth Noye -

who stabbed a man to death on a Kent motorway - has launched a High Court

appeal for the right to be moved to open prison conditions.

The 69-year-old was given a life sentence for the murder of

Our reporter Charlie Rose has been following the story

Charlie, in 2015 the Parole Board recommended transferring

Noye to an open prison, but that was rejected

by the Justice Secretary at the time, Michael Gove.

In the year 2000, gangland criminal Kenneth Noye was jailed for life

with a minimum term of 16 years for stabbing Stephen Cameron to death.

In 2015 he may have believed he was on the road to release but the door

was slammed shut by then Justice Secretary Michael Gove over public

safety fears. Stephen Cameron's parents were relieved by that

decision and this is how they reacted at the time.

We are so relieved that finally, we've got justice again for Stephen.

It's nice that he's kept in there and can't harm anyone else.

Kenneth Noye is never very far from my thoughts.

I hope he comes out of that prison in a wooden box.

Now Kenneth Noye is in a High Court battle in an attempt to be moved to

open prison conditions. They judge in London is being asked to rule on

whether the decision to reject the parole board's recommendations were

unlawful and irrational with Kenneth Noye's lawyer arguing the Justice

Secretary at the time didn't give the recommendations enough weight.

But the current Justice Secretary Liz Truss says there was nothing

irrational in the decision and the hearing continues.

Council tax in West Sussex is set to rise by almost 4%,

under proposals put forward by county councillors today.

The authority is facing a budget shortfall of more than ?41 million,

and says the council tax increase would raise more than 15 million.

A teenager's been arrested following a stabbing in Brighton.

An 18 year old boy was taken to hospital after the attack at

19-year-old Elson Brito, from Brighton, has been charged

Southern Rail managers have urged the RMT Union to call off a 24-hour

It follows the suspension of three days of strikes that the Aslef Union

Aslef and Southern have spent a second day in talks aimed

at ending their industrial dispute over the safety of driver-only

operation, but the RMT are angry that they've been excluded.

It's absolutely ridiculous that our members have been out,

They are not even allowed to come to the table

If there's going to be any resolution for either of these

disputes, either the drivers or the guards, then the RMT need

Our reporter Sara Smith joins us live from Westminster.

Sara, has there been any news from the talks

going on between Southern and Aslef today?

They adjourned for the day about an hour ago. Those chairing them, the

TUC, said they had made further progress today, and would be

reconvening tomorrow. The good news, after two full days they are talking

and will carry on talking. As far as the RMT's comments, a spokesperson

from the TUC today said that Aslef had come to them asking them to

intervene. That's what they were focusing on. It was a separate

dispute, but they would be willing to help the RMT in any way they

could. Thank you. The issue of dog attacks on sheep

in the South East is now so urgent farmers have used a meeting

with the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner

to call for tougher action. It follows several serious

incidents recently, including one just two weeks ago,

when 10 sheep were The National Farmers Union says

the cost of sheep-worrying claims here rose by 80% last year -

the sharpest rise in the country - with claims there were more

dog attacks in Sussex Sheep have been grazing

here for centuries. Frank Langrish has been farming

here his whole life. But dog attacks have increased

so much, he's had, on occasion, If we find a dog actually attacking

sheep, and once a dog gets the blood lust,

it's very difficult to stop them. And so the only way of doing

it is actually to shoot that dog. Which is very upsetting for,

not only the dog owner, For Frank, hardly a month goes

by without incident, Two weeks ago, several ewes

were killed in Lewes, and last March, 116 were killed

in what's been described as the worst sheep-worrying attack

in memory. Farmers say the police

aren't doing enough. Last year there were 18,000 cases

of livestock who were either killed Everybody should be

worried about it. That's a huge number,

and nobody wants to see animals And in the south-east in particular,

we have a lot of population, and a lot of livestock alongside

each other, so we need to take steps And it's not just being attacked

by dogs that's a problem, At this time of year,

many of the sheep are pregnant. And if they are chased

and knocked into ditches like this one next to me, then

many of them get very frightened The Farmers Union has now appealed

directly to the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner

for tougher action. I totally understand

the strength of feeling. We have a lot of farms,

we have a lot of sheep. And these incidents

are particularly distressing. And the farmers are saying,

are you taking it seriously, And my message to them

is, yes they are. But my plea to the public is,

whenever you see it, please do report it,

because intelligence is vital. Sheep worrying costs the industry

more than ?1 million, and farmers want persistent

offenders prosecuted. Claudia Sermbezis, BBC

South East Today, Winchelsea. This is our top story tonight -

Nineteen local authorities have written to the Home Secretary

calling for urgent action to crack down on criminal gangs exploiting

children to sell drugs They say it "has the potential to be

the next grooming scandal". Also in tonight's programme -

the rebirth of the church they call We take a close-up look around

St Peter's, as the first phase And after another crisp winter's

day, warnings from the Met office about very cold weather lasting

until Tuesday. I will have the details and forecast later in the

programme. The Historic Dockyard in Chatham

is to receive almost ?5 million of Heritage Lottery money to restore

one of its most important buildings. The Fitted Rigging House

dates from 1793, The lottery funding will

enable its conversion, to become the dockyard's archive

and volunteer centre. Peter Whittlesea is

live at the Dockyard. Peter, it's a building well known

to millions of TV viewers, isn't it? That's right, for the last decade or

so, the historic dockyard has been a firm favourite with the British

movie industry. But now the building that always features in the BBC

series Call The Midwife will get its own face-lift.

Transformed by the magic of television into a street scene from

the east End of London in the 1950s, but inside the brick buildings made

famous by Call The Midwife, is an empty shell. Unused since the

dockyard closed in 1984, but now it's going to get its own dramatic

new lease of life thanks to a lottery grant. The Heritage lottery

fund that has been announced today is absolutely essential in bringing

these buildings back to life. It will help with initial restoration

and repair. But in turn, it will make sure that commercial

opportunities can come in here, businesses can come in and they have

something to use. Built just after Victor Hugo wrote Les Miserables, it

was a fitting tribute the Hollywood movie was filmed here. But these

buildings will no longer be a backdrop to blockbusters only. It's

about creating offices, maximising return and also being a charitable

trust that is about education. We want to develop the museum, the

Reading room and library and archive and make that much more publicly

accessible and create a public centre of excellence. If all 7000

people in the dockyard are dismissed, Chatham's unemployment

rate would shoot up from 14.3% to around 25%. And when that happened

the rigging house was redundant. Finally finding a new role for the

listing building 31 years on is symbolic. The building was used as a

storehouse right until the Navy board left in 84. This is how we

found it. Nothing has happened to it subsequently. This was put up in

1795-98. It was the largest brick built building at its time that the

Navy had put together. Its sheer size has hindered its restoration,

but now thanks to millions of pounds of funding its future has been

secured. It's hoped the visitor centre will

be finished and businesses will move in by the end of next year.

Completing this building's transformation from the supply store

to the ships that made Britannia rule the waves to now a business hub

fit for the 21st century. Peter, thank you.

The latest school league tables have been published today,

with 10 secondary schools in Kent and East Sussex classed

as underperforming - including six in disadvantaged

Many headteachers say they're experiencing a recruitment crisis,

as they struggle to attract high flyers to vacant teaching posts.

But one organisation that helps graduates go into teaching says it's

seeing rising numbers of young people from disadvantaged

backgrounds applying to teach at their own former schools.

Our Education Correspondent Bryony Mackenzie has the details.

They were kids from the Kent coast, and they are now teachers back in

their classrooms. Hannah is a Margate girl. It's a dance move, the

dab, where you do that. As well as knowing how to do the dab, she is

also a high-flying graduate, so why come back here to teach? It's an

area that I recognise from before, so why would I go anywhere else? I

come from Thanet, so if I can do it, you can do it. I need to remind them

of that, that they are capable of more than they perhaps realise.

Jason is from Sheppey. He now works alongside some of his former

teachers at his old school. I just wanted to give back, in a way. I

have been away at university for four years and it's been a while,

but coming back, like home and it still feels like I need to give back

a lot to the area for what it's given to me. So there are a lot of

pupils who maybe haven't had the same experience of school that I

had, I could show them that there's no reason for them not to achieve,

just because they are from the Isle of Sheppey. Both have gone through

teach first, a unique programme that gets top graduate teaching in

disadvantaged areas. 60% of their teachers stay in the profession.

Teach first, attracting these very very committed and determined and in

many ways very tough young graduates, that's definitely one

road. Especially as we are targeting in the very areas where recruitment

is hard. But that's where we work, and that's where we will aim our

resources. Today's new set of results showed disadvantaged pupils

still make less progress than their peers. Put leading by example be the

solution? -- could leading by example be the solution?

Eastbourne's Johanna Konta has set up a third round clash

at the Australian Open with the former world number

Konta - who's the current world number nine - eased

through her second round match against Naomi Osaka

She'll take on Wozniacki on Saturday, as Ian Palmer reports.

COMMENTATOR: The performance is pretty hunky dory, too.

The 25-year-old from Eastbourne is fast becoming

The named Johanna Konta is on the lips of every tennis fan

in Australia as a true contender for this grand slam tournament,

Playing Naomi Osaka from Japan, Konta never looked in trouble.

In control for most of the match, Britain's number one

eased into the third round and into the last 32.

Tougher tests will come, but for now, Konta's pleased

But I'm looking forward to the challenge, I'm

I'm looking forward to being out on court competing and ultimately

and just trying to make my stay here in Melbourne

Konta's next opponent is Caroline Wozniacki,

a former number one with plenty of court experience.

But, like Konta, Wozniacki has never won a grand slam.

The Dane, who lives in Monaco, says she's confident

But I'm ready, I'm playing well, and I'm excited for the challenge.

She's obviously won last week in Sydney.

She had a good last year, but I'm here to fight and do my best

Konta will have to find another gear to reach the fourth round.

But no one in Melbourne wants to see the Eastbourne player leave

It's known locally as "Brighton Cathedral",

and the tower of St Peter's Church is a much-loved city landmark

But now the first phase of a huge ?1.7 million restoration

project has been completed, which has seen the top section

of the tower repaired, and the roof replaced.

And now the church authorities are preparing for the next phase

of the project - cleaning and repairing the tower's stonework.

Robin Gibson is live at St Peter's Church.

You're on top of the tower tonight, how's it looking from up there?

It's a pretty amazing view, as you can imagine. Looking out here, you

can see city life going on beneath us. We are about 130 feet in EF.

Looking back here, this is what's important today. The pinnacles you

can see lit up, emerging from the scaffolding for the first time. --

130 feet in the air. The wind chill up here is about -5 tonight. So I

have an idea of what the building has had to endure through the years.

The pinnacles of St Peter's, almost shining as they start

to emerge at last into the light of the winter sunshine.

It's been a long journey to get here, like the walk to work

the engineers and craftsmen have taken each day over

Up on top, the problems are plain to see.

The wear and tear since the church was built in the 1820s,

and previous repairs that didn't work out.

In the 1970s they didn't realise that putting cement on here was a

bad thing to do. And in this very exposed position, it's amazing how

much damage gets done. It's fascinating to see life going on as

normal way down below. Whereas a PR on top of the Cathedral of Brighton,

even though it's a lovely day, you get a feeling for the elements that

have so ravaged the stonework. It looks and sounds like a car wash in

the sky. The craftsman steam clean the Lucent and damaged masonry

before restoration can start, a painstaking and slow job. But the

vicar has no doubt about whether a building like this is worth the

effort. I think it sends a message out. It either looks like God is

dead and the church is irrelevant if it is crumbling and broken and

closed. But if you can begin to fix it up a bit, it sends out the

opposite message, that God is alive and the church has something to

offer. Not many years ago, St Peter's was on the verge of being

made officially redundant. But today, the Cathedral of Brighton

looks to be rediscovering itself. The phrase is often used that a

church is about people, not just about buildings. Down below us, this

city centre Church, who work with the homeless and disadvantaged, so

it's about people as well as stone. On both fronts, they've got their

work cut out. They certainly have, get yourself inside and get warm,

Robin. -5 wind-chill! It looks beautiful though.

It does look beautiful and of course it's bitterly cold. Temperatures in

rural spots could drop as low as -6 tonight. Warnings from the Met

office about this spell of very cold weather. High pressure over us

dragging in cold air from the near continent, so easterly winds will

stay with us. But what a beautiful day it has been. Frosty to start the

day. Temperatures dropping as low as -6 last night. Clear blue skies in

the afternoon and temperatures just about reaching highs of 5 degrees.

As we go through tonight, clearer skies, and temperatures are

plummeting. It's feeling bitterly cold. Dropping as low as -1 in towns

and cities, but several degrees down on that in more rural spots. Once

again a frosty start to the day on Friday. An area of high pressure

staying with us in the south-east corner, lots of sunshine around. By

the afternoon, temperatures perhaps creeping up to five or 6 degrees,

again feeling bitterly cold. A similar story to today. A gentle

easterly breeze, not much above 5-10 mph. Spot the difference over the

next couple of days. Friday into Saturday, once again seeing a frosty

picture, temperatures in more rural spots at -5, minus six. Perhaps

dropping as low as -2 in towns and cities. Starting the weekend once

again with widespread and hard frost. Lots of sunshine around.

Highs of -5 and minus -- highs of five and six. Take care and make

sure you keep the heating on. Wrap up warm.

That's it for us for now. We'll be back at 8pm. But joiners again

tomorrow. When unlocking the secrets of

your past... ..you never know what

the future holds. It's such a rush of history and

walking back in time. How incredible,

to have something like this? I feel he was the kind of guy

I could have got on with. I can't tell you how much

he looks like my dad. Seeing how these things all

fit together. Secure your place at

the 500 Words Final,