30/03/2017 South East Today

Today's main headlines in the South East:

An emergency landing at Shoreham as a plane comes down in DC. The two

people on board swam safely to shore. It happened so quickly. You

had to run to it to see if there was that you could do. -- comes down in

the sea. We're live at Shoreham

with the latest. Life in jail for committing murder

over a facebook post - the judge says the killer's actions

were senseless and futile. It was the warmest day of the year

so far. Top temperatures in the south-east of 22 degrees.

Two people have escaped with minor injuries after their light aircraft

ditched into the sea off the Sussex coast this afternoon.

The plane came down around ten metres from the beach in Shoreham

Emerging from the sea early evening. Emergency services had to wait for

the tide to go out before they could start to pull the plane to shore.

It was surprising, you cannot believe it when you see an

aeroplane, you know that something is going to happen so quickly. It

happened so quickly. The thing was to run to it to see if there was

anything that you could do. The pictures show the plane just after

she was ditched by the pilot. Incredibly he and a young man,

believed to be 25 years old, climbed out unharmed.

I arrived at the scene and the light aircraft was just off the beach,

partially submerged. Two people in the plane swam to the

shore and appear to have only minor injuries and just in shock.

Witnesses who saw the incident suggested that the plane lost power,

and the pilot has managed to glide the plane safely onto water.

Eyewitnesses say that the plane was returning to Shoreham Airport when

the engine suddenly spluttered and seemed to stop. The pilot got out

and I asked if he owned the plane, I asked him if he was OK and if there

was only thing I could get him, he asked for a cigarette! -- anything.

The plane may not fly again, but the pilot and the young man had an

incredible escape. Lets join Claudia at the scene

in Shoreham and Claudia - you've spoken to the pilot this

evening... I have, the pilot came down here and

was having a look around the plane. He didn't want to speak on camera

but was happy to speak to me about what happened. He described the

moment when he suddenly realised that the controls were not working.

He said he didn't feel scared at all. He just simply glided the plane

down, he said it happened very fast, but he was able to calmly get out of

the plane, along with the man that he was with, and that's exactly what

eyewitnesses said to me. That it was incredible Hulk and they both were.

And it did not seem they were affected by what just happened to --

how calm they were. His professionalism shone through. The

plane is now at the top end of the beach because they wanted it out of

the water as quickly as possible, because of the environmental impact

of having the plane in the sea. They did not want to leave it there any

longer, and Murray is in the process of being removed and taken away. --

tomorrow. Claudio, thank you. A judge has said the murder of a man

over a Facebook post was "totally senseless",

and has issued a warning 27-year-old John Dickson

was sentenced to life in prison today for the murder of Carl Gregory

in Broadstairs last October. Dickson held his victim in a choke

hold for two minutes. It followed an argument over

a picture and comment Gregory had posted on line,

referring to his former girlfriend. The picture posted on social media,

too graphic to show here, that sparked a row that led to a meeting

that left a man dead, on a shopping centre floor. The image was

published as a joke by Carl Gregory last October. Within hours he had

been choked to death by John Dickson from Margate. Today the judge gave

him a life sentence for the murder of Carl Gregory. Carl Gregory's

death is an absolute tragedy that has had a devastating impact on his

family and friends. He was a popular and well liked hard-working young

man. He had his whole life in front of him. That life was cruelly cut

short by John Dickson. Following an exchange of angry words on social

media, Carl Gregory met two men at Western Cross shopping Centre. One

of those men was John Dickson. The 27 York Gardner put his victim in a

choke hold for nearly two minutes after letting him go, he began to

stamp on his head -- 27-year-old gardener.

The judge said that Carl Gregory had goaded him into going to the

shopping centre at Broadstairs on Facebook.

She went on to say that it illustrates the dangers of social

media because of the speed of communication.

I think the message here is that if you post online, people can get

inflamed very easily. I always think it's best to think before you post.

Following sentencing, Carl Gregory's family issued a statement outside of

the court. The last six months have been a nightmare for all of us. Karl

was a loving son, grandson, brother and friend to many people and we

miss him every day. In sentencing, the judge told John Dickson that he

needs to serve at least 18 years in needs to serve at least 18 years in

prison, and added that he may never be released from jail.

Ian Palmer, BBC south-east today, Maidstone Crown Court.

A woman from Newhaven has spoken of her shock of finding out that

a man she helped check into a hotel in Brighton carried out

Today a coroner opened and adjourned the inquest

He stayed at the Preston Park Hotel last Tuesday, the night before

he killed three people by driving into them and fatally

He was on the television, on the bridge. I didn't need to see him.

There was no doubt in my mind that that was the car. At that point, I

was just completely shocked. Completely... I did not know what to

do. That is definitely the man. Pupils at an East Sussex primary

school were asked to bring in toilet rolls and pencils today -

after parents were told finances The children were taking part

in a non-uniform fundraising day, but instead of donating money,

they were asked to donate essential The head teacher at St John's

Primary in Crowborough says schools everywhere are being

put under huge financial strain. Our Education Correspondent

Bryony Mackenzie reports. Basically, we have asked them to

bring in essentials. So things like pencils, rubbers, Sellotape, pens,

paper, write down to tissues, toilet roll. These are things that we are

struggling to be able to afford. People listen to that and think that

is shocking? To be fair, it is meant to be quite shocking. ?500 of

essentials. Money that can now be spent elsewhere. This school says

that funding cuts are hitting them hard. If we can divert money from

buying these kinds of essential buying these kinds of essential

resources, we can then fund the education of our children to a

greater extent. Making the curriculum interesting for them

rather than worry and monitor toilet rolls and glue sticks. We have

protected the school budget and are putting record funding into schools.

So why our schools claiming there is a funding crisis? There is ?40

billion in the school budget but more pupils and increased

contributions mean that schools get less money per pupil over the next

three years. And how that pot of money is shared

is changing, with some getting up to 3% more and others getting 3% less

money. This school will lose money in both cases. So what do parents

think about paying out for the basics? I was shocked, to be honest.

It's a shame that education has become such that fundamentally,

worries me. The Department for worries me. The Department for

Education says that overall, East Sussex schools will receive more

money from next year. The school is considering permanent donation bins

to make ends meet. That was Bryony Mackenzie reporting

- and Charlotte Wright You've been following this story

today - what has the Department The government has said that it

believes this new way of funding scores is fairer. And actually the

schools we spoke to said that there are some positive changes that the

government is making. As you heard in that report, the pot of per-pupil

funding itself will get smaller over the next three years which is why

we've seen some Conservative MPs from the local area, in East and

West Sussex, club together on the issue, lobbying their own government

on the issue. There are some education conferences coming up in

the next few weeks so we could see some tough questions for the

Education Secretary over this issue. Thank you.

The warm temperatures broke records today -

It will be staying warm first thing, clear blue skies as we ended today.

More cloud around for tomorrow, temperatures a little cooler as

well. As you heard earlier today, highs of 22 degrees and tomorrow,

more like 15 or 16. Mild for this time of year. As we move through

tonight, overnight temperatures at ten or 11 degrees. Into the sort of

values that we would expect during the afternoon at this time of year.

Dry initially as we start the day on Friday but in the morning, this cold

front passes eastwards, bringing in some drizzle and a great deal of

cloud cover. It clears through and behind it, we see some sunshine. It

stays breezy. A south-westerly wind picks up. A bit of a different feel

but still temperatures in the mid-teens. More fresh as we get into

Saturday, single figures at eight or 9 degrees towards the weekend.

Scattered showers on Saturday, brighter by