17/01/2017 South East Today

Today's main headlines in the South East:

The family of a Sussex soldier killed in friendly fire

say his comrade has "blood on his hands",

The Aslef drivers' union suspends next week's rail strikes ahead

We're at Three Bridges with the latest.

And we have a bitterly cold night to night, lots of sunshine for tomorrow

and another cold crisp winter 's day.

A Sussex soldier shot dead in Afghanistan in a so-called

"friendly fire" incident lost his life because a comrade

"did not take sufficient care" and fired in the wrong direction.

That's the conclusion of an inquest into the death

The coroner criticised the Ministry of Defence for showing

"a complete lack of empathy" towards the Brynin family.

Bonds Corporal James Brynin was described as an outstanding soldier

who was immensely popular. His dental in Afghanistan cannot at the

hands of the Taliban but instead a comrade. Lance Corporal Mark Kelly

shooting James dead under fire in the wrong direction during a million

operation. The coroner said today there was insufficient evidence to

return a conclusion of unlawful killing. The obvious disappointment

of his family. Whilst we are very upset and disappointed that having

waited so long for this lengthy process to conclude, no charges and

punishment and genuine guilt has be acknowledged, it is and has always

been our opinion that Kelly knew what he had done within moments.

Rather than acknowledging he did run he instead stays to step back and

the simple fact remains that his errors led directly to our son's

death, he has and for ever will have James's blood on his hands. Gems of

the 400 member of the forces killed in Afghanistan. The event by Mr paid

this tribute. He was a highly talented and professional soldier,

and our thoughts are with his family friends and colleagues, at this very

difficult time. He has made the ultimate sacrifice and we must never

forget him. It was on October 15 2015 Lance Corp will brine and was

killed. Bullet analysis to revealed it was friendly fire. In March 2015

and inquest was adjourned over it concerns it may have been homicide.

In November his family were told no charges would be brought against

Lance Corporal Mark Kelly who fired the fatal shot. James Brynin's

father appeared on a reality show. Did you do this because you wanted

to feel what your son has been through? I think there is an element

of that. If Dems had not been killed, I probably wouldn't be here.

The report concluded that James Brynin had been killed at the hand

of a disoriented colleague, who had simply not taken enough care was

cheating. -- whilst shooting. Well our reporter Charlie Rose has

been following the story. Charlie what else did

the coroner have to say? the coroner said she would write a

letter of concern to the Ministry of Defence over the way it has managed

the family. The inquest heard they had only found out it was friendly

fire three months after his death. The coroner said there appeared to

have been a complete lack of empathy and the family had been let down,

she said. Tonight, the Ministry of Defence said it would consider

criticisms, and consider them carefully. It said this evening its

thoughts were with Lance Corporal brine in's family and friends.

The train drivers union Aslef has suspended next week's strikes,

with talks with Southern Rail management set to

The talks will be jointly chaired by the general

secretary of the TUC - and the human resources director

of rail company Abelio, which runs ScotRail trains.

From midnight tonight the overtime ban which had caused continuing

In addition three days of strike scheduled for Tuesday 24th,

Wednesday 25th and Friday 27th next week have all been suspended.

But the RMT union which represents conductors is not involved

in the talks, and their strike set for next Monday is currently

We opposite Leask duck and where the network grows to a halt is when

train drivers refuse to operate the Trent at all. That is what the talks

are trying to solve. It is probably best where if we start the train

drivers and then once we have solved that dispute and I hope we can we

pick and then talk to the RMT to try and solve their dispute as well. I

implore both sides and government to get round the table, do so with an

open spirited manner, and do what it takes to be on the side of

passengers. Both sides be open to concession. Both sides be open

spirited, let's get this done. We are already over the cliff, we

aren't on the cliff edge, we are over the cliff, we have one chance

to get back on top. Let's take it well at seems it with both hands.

We are joined by three Bridges railway station. These talks have

been described by the Department for Transport as intensive, Southern

says it's important and significant developments. What kind of reactions

have you found among commuters this evening?

Rob, I'm afraid I didn't sense much hope from commuters arriving home

here at three bridges, if anything, I sensed the frustration and anger

that this dispute is still ongoing. It's just gone on so long. I just

don't know who's right and who's wrong any more. Not very optimistic,

of course, the whole process is the worst it has been in 30 years, I

have committed 30 years and something must change. I am very

frustrated and annoyed, disappointed, wondering when it will

end. And I can't CNN an end to really. Despite their frustration

and anger, those talks are taking place, the Aslef strike action has

been suspended but of course the RNC action is still going ahead. Yes,

the Aslef say they have suspended the strikes. That doesn't mean they

are withdrawn. If these talks tomorrow with the TUC 's collapse,

the strike could still go ahead, and of course Aslef is mainly for the

drivers, and there is a massive impact when they go on strike. The

RMT strike is expected to go ahead on Monday but one thing that is

still unclear is that there are still a handful of RMT drivers that

usually mirror the Aslef strike, and it is unclear as yet what they will

do. I guess it depends on how productive these fresh talks are

tomorrow. Christie, thank you. A businessman accused of blighting

a Kent village with a mountain The University of Sussex has issued

a face-to-face apology by a student attacked by her lecturer. The

lecturer was allowed to continue for ten months until resigning last

year. The University reported on the case come out with concluding it

and failed to communicate with its and failed to communicate with its

effective in a professional manner. An 18-year-old boy has been taken to

fast food are struggling Brighton fast food are struggling Brighton

this evening. Sussex Police were called to the incident on London

Road and McDonald's before five o'clock. They were looking for a

mixed-race man in his late teens with a scar above his eye.

A businessman accused of blighting a Kent village with a mountain

of discarded mattresses was operating illegally

Lewis Bertram is accused of allowing thousands of mattresses,

bed frames and textiles to be dumped at the site

The Environment Agency brought the charges

Sara Smith has sent this report from Canterbury Crown Court.

The view from the air of one area of the estate. Mattresses piled five

metres high and weighing more than 2000 tonnes a jury heard. Defendant

Lewis Bertram who ran his business he had a licence to recycle

mattresses at the site, but breaking them down into textiles was his

goal. The limit was 1000 tonnes. All storage and processing had to be

carried out inside the buildings. The jury was told the huge pile of

mattresses could be a fire risk and that some material was escaping into

a nearby watercourse. Posing a possible environmental hazard as

well. When neighbours complained, the Environment Agency which

controlled such activities and issues the licences paid the site

the first of many visits. Today, one of the agency's officers said Mr

Bertram had been given plenty of time to deal with the mattress

mountain, but had failed to do so. Instead, continuing to trade here.

After tonight's FA Cup replay, we now know who Brighton will face

Lincoln City beat Ipswich Town with a goal in the final

Their win sets up a match against the Seagulls

The national weather forecast will be in a moment,

but first let's get the picture in the South East

It will be cold overnight? Yes, that's right. A dark and crisp day

for tomorrow, similar to today. I pressure to thank for that. Lots of

sunshine this afternoon, highs of three or 4 degrees, and clear skies

overnight meaning to do is plummet. Temperatures reached lows of -3 or 4

degrees in moral leg-macro more rural areas. Bitterly cold starts to

Wednesday but sunshine from the word go, so haute onto the area of high

pressure for us and the south-east corner, lots of sunshine and a Dane

a gentle easterly breeze as five to ten mph, and by the afternoon

temperatures creep up two or three degrees, feeling bitterly cold but

lots of brightness. Make the most of it, it would be lasting. Wednesday

Thursday we see more cloud, slightly left cold temperatures above

freezing along the coast but more rural spots dropping 2-1, so some

patchy frost as we start Thursday. It is a settled picture lots of

cloud cover, and temperatures by the afternoon reaching highs of eight or

9 degrees, similarly on Friday. Here is the outlook

from time to time. Staying settled still. Nick has the national

forecast this evening. Hello. If you are watching the

football earlier it turned out to be an evening for football fans in

Lincolnshire. This is how it looked at the start of the day. No idea

whether this weather watcher is a football fan, it's a fan of weather

that matters here. All sorts of weather, from 13 in Aberdeenshire to

two, despite the sunshine in Kent. I wonder if this six in the cloud

across the Midlands into northern England and parts of Wales felt

colder, particularly in these misty and foggy conditions in this weather

watcher view. Some drizzly rain around at times still from the

thicker cloud into parts of England and Wales overnight, hill fog too.

Cloud for Scotland and Northern Ireland, although a few breaks in

eastern Scotland and close to freezing, but the coldest weather

overnight