29/03/2017 South East Today

Today's main headlines in the south-east:

He's banned single mums and benefit claimants.

Now a controversial landlord is investigated

A teenager who starved himself to death was let down

by Kent's mental health services, says his grieving mother.

And the sun is back again for tomorrow. By the afternoon, we could

Kent police are investigating one of the country's largest

buy-to-let landlords, after he made a serious

of racially charged remarks about prospective tenants.

Fergus Wilson, who owns hundreds of properties in the south-east,

told his letting agency in an email that he didn't want "coloured"

people renting his homes because they left the buildings

He owns a property portfolio worth millions.

But Fergus Wilson says he's fed up having difficulty re-letting houses

because of curry smells and the cost of getting rid of them.

The Equality Human Rights Commission labelled his

And Pakistani and Indian people eat curry, so people put

the two together and say you are anti-coloured people.

We're not anti-coloured people, we're anti-curry.

Well, you would say that, wouldn't you, because that's your job.

You obviously don't believe it, because...

Your comments have been called disgusting.

Well, that isn't the view shared by the majority

The Equality Commission believes the ban is unlawful.

Kent Police says it is looking to see if any

It's certainly provoked a strong reaction.

but I don't think he'll ever be able to buy back his soul.

I think it's really shocking, actually.

I think if you think back to the '60s and the first

it was brought in to address exactly this sort

where landlords were refusing to let properties to people

These were the views in Maidstone town centre.

Everybody tries to protect their property.

In this day and age, that kind of prejudice

It's just horrific, it makes you feel sick.

Fergus Wilson has previously drawn up a list of banning single mothers

Fergus Wilson has previously drawn up a list banning single mothers

and fathers, battered wives and plumbers

in addition to what he calls "coloured people".

Because I am not objecting to coloured people.

Part of your question you should have been asking me,

was do you currently have any coloured people as tenants?

Well, there's nothing to back down on, is there?

At the end of the day, it's up to me who goes into my properties.

You have no regrets saying no coloured people?

Despite the backlash, he insists the ban will remain in place.

Charlotte Wright has been looking into this.

Charlotte, you've spoken to a lawyer tonight -

can Mr Wilson be prosecuted over this?

Well, there is legislation in place which makes discrimination on the

basis of race and unlawful act. The lawyer spoke to this evening

actually said Mr Wilson can be pursued in court over this. The

Equality Act from 2010 has a number of it calls protected

characteristics and among those of race and religion. Of a private

landlord discriminates against someone on the basis of race or

religion, they could be breaking the law. Simon mentioned the equality

and human rights commission is looking into this. If it does seek

legal action, Mr Wilson could face a massive multiparty claim in a county

court, with serious financial consequences, should he lose.

A man from Eastbourne who took pictures from the social media

accounts of women he knew and uploaded them to a pornographic

website has pleaded guilty to making offensive postings.

36-year-old Oliver Whiting used social media images of two women,

He admitted 11 offences at Hastings Magistrates Court

Five different art works are to form part of a permanent

memorial to the victims of the Shoreham air disaster.

11 men died when a Hawker Hunter jet crashed on the A27 in Sussex during

The designs, which are in the very early stages, will honour

the victims and their families, the first responders

19 months after the disaster which claimed 11 lives,

today, the first glimpse of plans for a permanent memorial.

It's been created by Brighton artists Jane Ford

A series of works to sit alongside the banks of the River Adur,

designed in close consultation with the victims' families.

We aim for this work to achieve a quiet contemplation

of the river and the sense of peace that it offers.

The memorial will be spread over five locations,

including a sculpture dedicated to the first responders.

A little further up the river, a tribute

to the Shoreham community, in the form a landscaped area

Then on the east side of the toll bridge,

a series of 11 arches dedicated to each of the victims.

People really like the fact that we've tried to create

areas for people to go to to do their own grieving, really,

The town's old toll bridge, a short distance from the crash site,

Now, though, Shoreham will have a memorial for all time.

Memorials are very important because I think when people

want to remember, very often they need a place to go to,

For people in the town it is a welcome focal point

Even the children struggled with what happened, and I think

it is right that there is a lasting memorial for people to go

I think it is lovely and great and it is important to have

Sussex Police's investigation into the crash is ongoing.

Tonight, they said they hoped to submit a file of material

to the Crown Prosecution Service in advance of the pre-inquest

An NHS Trust has admitted a young man from Kent didn't receive

appropriate treatment for the eating disorder which eventually

Steven Brazier, from Minster on the Isle of Sheppey,

was 19 stone when he started a healthy weight-loss programme -

but his weight plummeted to just eight stone within two years

Steven Brazier was so thin, he could barely walk.

He had lost more than ten stone in just two years,

after starting a diet to lose weight put on after breaking his leg.

He just carried on until there was no off switch with him,

Until there was virtually nothing of him, a fraction

He would be at the end of his tether, basically, would say,

"I can't go on like this, Mum,

"And I have just had enough, I just want to die,"

and hearing your son say that is really, really hard.

The partnership trust sectioned Steven for his own safety

and he was treated for more than a year at a specialist

He seemed to have improved, so the trust decided

I used to telephone the mental health people, they would tell me

to ring the eating disorder service and it was just going backwards

and forwards, nobody seemed to know who should be looking after him.

In a statement, the trust accepts that communications

between the services looking after Steven was not adequate.

They say patients should expect a standard of service

And they insist they have learned from the failings in Steven's case.

He was just a skeleton with skin stretched over him.

His teeth had all come out, and he'd just...

I don't want anybody else to go through that.

The trust have now reached a settlement with the Braziers.

Brighton's i360 remains a "fantastic addition to the city,"

that's the message this evening from the city council,

as the troubled attraction reopened after the seventh incident since it

It means the attraction has now lost 11 days of business

John Young has been following this story.

John, how significant could these embarrassing closures be now?

Well, early, let's crunch some numbers. The attraction needs to

pull in 350,000 visitors if it is going to be a success and if

taxpayers aren't going to pick up a huge tab. So far, 300,000 through

the door, so pretty much on target, but this is the problem, images like

this that flashed around the world in September on what became one of

five significant problems over the last eight months, when a temporary

toilet had to be assembled, people stuck for over an hour on that

occasion. So we asked the owners, give us some details on the numbers,

how are they moving, up or down? They wouldn't give us that but said

they were within target parameters. Prices go up by ?1 at the weekend

but tomorrow it is back open, it is safe, it has been tested.

In a moment, the national weather forecast,

but, first, let's get the picture in the south-east

Good evening. Well, today was cloudy but it stayed pile. Our top

temperature was 16 degrees, and for tomorrow, there will be some

sunshine and by afternoon, potentially, you could see highs of

20 or 21. The average the time of year is ten or 11. Those are the

sorts of values we are expecting to see as we head through tonight. More

cloud at times, some drizzle but mostly dry and very mild as we start

the day for Thursday. Cloud first thing but by the afternoon, it is

going to be brightening up, a gentle southerly airflow, so temperatures

along the coast perhaps a touch cooler but even there, very warm and

a pleasant afternoon. Highs of 15 or 16 degrees. Further north,

temperatures in the top teams. As we go from Thursday into Friday,

overnight temperatures of nine or 10 degrees, more of the same after some

rain first thing on Friday. far. The outlook for the next few

days, temperatures coming down a bit but staying decent for this time of

year. Here is Darren Bett with the national weather.

The warm air coming up on a southerly breeze all the way from

Iberia and across France into England and Wales. To achieve the

high temperatures we need to get into some of this dryer air and

sunshine. Even with the cloud today, 17 degrees. Not just about the

temperatures, let's not forget there is some rain around as well. Quite

wet in Pembrokeshire for much of the day. More rain overnight tonight,

some rain and drizzle in northern and western areas. Wetter weather

moving northwards across Scotland. Some rain in the south-west,

shuffling towards the Midlands. Overnight, a lot of cloud around. It

is going to be very mild indeed for the time of year, 11-12 in many

parts of the country. This is an sunshine beginning to creep into the

south-east early in the