28/03/2017 South East Today

Here in the South East tonight: Nine members of an Albanian gang

are jailed for dealing class A drugs in Sussex.

We'll be live in Brighton, with the details.

A retired Kent vicar urges the Church of England

- after finding love with a 24-year-old.

And, saying goodbye to a legend - stars of the motor racing

world gather in Sussex for John Surtees' funeral.

Nine members of an Albanian criminal gang have been jailed

for a total of 45 years, for their part in a conspiracy

to supply class A drugs across Brighton and Hove.

They were caught in an undercover police operation last summer -

eight of them were in the country illegally.

This was the moment the ringleader of the gang

You're under arrest under suspicion of conspiracy

The police investigation had gone on for months,

involving around 100 officers, but finally the gang

Nine Albanian men, eight of them here illegally,

were jailed for dealing class A drugs on the city's streets.

The impact's huge in a city like Brighton and Hove,

and it's not just their offending in terms of drugs, but actually

the fact that people are having to commit crime to be able

They're bringing in drugs from abroad, they're

sending money abroad, and it has a real negative impact.

Just last year, three Albanian men were jailed for kidnapping a drug

A few years earlier, father-of-two Xhem Krasniqi

was shot dead in broad daylight in Hove, and another Albanian man

And, in 2005, three Albanian men were given life sentences

for the murder of fellow Albanian Altin Molita,

who was stabbed 20 times in his car in Palmeira Square in Hove.

There are small elements within it which are really giving the Albanian

And I know Albanian people who live locally, who talk

about this very openly, so I know people within the Albanian

-- so we need to see that when people see criminality, it is

reported and dealt with absolutely firmly.

The Immigration Minister emphasised links between an incident in 2014

and links with the Albanian community.

Sussex Police are organising a number of community events with

Brighton's large and peaceful Albanian population, to build trust.

They also, says the force, want these gangs caught and off the

streets. Our reporter Amanda Akass

is live in Hove - Amanda, how big a role has this gang played

in drug supply in the city? Well, Sussex Police said they were

dealing a significant quantity of cocaine right here on the streets,

and in raids carried out by the police across Brighton and how they

seized hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of drugs, cash and

vehicles belonging to the gang. They thought they could operate with

they drove expensive cars and even they drove expensive cars and even

brought in runners from outside the UK to help them operate, but they

were caught, and the police say they hope this sends a message that they

are determined to get these gangs of the streets.

A retired Kent vicar is calling on the Church of england

to change its policy on same sex marriage - after finding love

The Reverend Phillip Clements, from Eastry near Sandwich,

says he repressed his homosexuality throughout his career

But next week the 78-year-old is getting married to his partner.

He's spoken exclusively to our reporter Peter Whittlesea.

Packing up and preparing to leave for a new life in Romania.

My wardrobe is much simpler than this.

Next month, Phillip and Floren are getting married.

But for decades, Phillip says, as a parish priest,

he repressed his feelings because of the Church of England's

He' now calling on the church to allow gay clergy to get married.

It's only when I retired from full-time ministry that

I decided that I had to be my true self.

I think it's unnatural, if you're homosexual,

In February 2014, the House of Bishops decreed that clergy

Civil partnerships are alone, but the couple must remain celibate.

The church's position is clear that marriage is the lifelong union of

one man and one woman. This is a brazen and campaigning action, where

this priest is seeking to defy the church he has been part of the 50

years. -- for 50 years. The couple say the

relationship is about love. But they admit that the age gap

of over 50 years has surprised some. All my friends know that I am

attracted to older people. They have more experience in life. I

came to the conclusion I must make up my own mind about my own life. I

haven't got much left of it, so I might as well make the best of what

I've got. And that is why he says he cannot wait to embark on married

life. A doctor who decided

a mother-of-three from Dartford was well enough to leave hospital,

even though she was asleep when he examined her,

has told an inquest into her death that he now accepts she should not

have been discharged. Sian Hollands, who was 25,

died of a pulmonary embolism just hours later at the Darent Valley

Hospital. There's concern over an increase

in the number of people being detained by Sussex Police

under the Mental Health Act. A new report by the Chief Inspector

of Prisons says limited access to hospital beds resulted in too

many vulnerable people NHS managers say they had to deal

with an unusually high number The first fixed average speed

cameras in Sussex have been The cameras scan car number

plates at two locations, and calculate the average time

to travel between them. The aim is to cut speeding

and reduce congestion. More will be activated

in Hastings in May. Some of the biggest names in world

motorsport gathered in Sussex today to pay their last respects

to John Surtees. The only man to win world titles

on motorcycles and in Formula One, he's regarded as

a giant of the track - Piers Hopkirk reports

from Worth Abbey, near Crawley. The stars of motorsport flew in to

pay tribute to a racing hero and Pioneer.

Two reels, four wheels... -- two wheels.

A credit to the sport and a gentleman.

More than 300 gathered at the service.

John Surtees's car and racing bike was laid out as a tribute. Nobody

will ever do that, I mean, nobody will ever do that again, so in that

respect he is totally unique. When you saw people like that drive, you

wanted to be somebody like that. I did 50 Grand Prix, but never

achieved as much as John Surtees. John Surtees was a man with petrol

in his veins. He won the 500 cc motorbike Championship four times in

the 60s, and turn to Formula 1, winning the watch the chip with

Ferrari in 1964. Even in later life, he never lost his love of racing. He

was very keen to stay in touch with the modern day drivers. So today, an

emotional farewell to an extraordinary man, whose remarkable

records will always live on. Now let's take a look at

the weather, with Georgina Burnett - quite a few of us had some sunshine

today, is there any more Not necessarily for everyone

tomorrow, but some of us had some sunshine, certainly some blue sky.

This was captured by our Weather Watcher, so thank you very much for

all the pictures from today. Tonight quite a bit of cloud around during

the night, and also some grisly outbreaks of rain passing through.

Fairly mild, temperatures down to about 10 Celsius. Sorry start of

relatively warm tomorrow morning, quite great, some drizzle remaining

but drier by the afternoon. We may have some bright perhaps even sunny

spells around, but there's a fair model of cloud. Temperatures getting

up to 15 or 16 though, above average for the of year. Talking of

temperatures though, Thursday is the one to watch because it could be the

warmest day of the year so far. We may even see temperatures reaching

the low times, but fairly mild for the time

of year. This stay tuned for the national weather forecasts with John

Hammond. Good evening. Your parents might

have told you once that life 's not fair and they were right. He is the

proof. Over the next few days some of us will enjoy some lovely

sunshine, temperatures in the low 20s. It will feel like early summer.

For others, quite a lot of rain around and it will feel like late

March. This is showers earlier on today and dampness this evening in

the West Country and Wales. That is heading north eastwards. A different

sort of night. A lot of cloud around, quite damp and misty in

places. Cloud cover will prevent temperatures falling much at all. A

much milder my than we have seen recently. Except for the North of

Scotland, but elsewhere in double figures. It will be a