24/04/2017 South East Today

Today's main headlines in the South East:

The Home Secretary pledges to do more to tackle "sex

for rent" exploitation, following our exclusive

Sussex Police bring in specialist training to tackle stalking

The weather is cold and clearer for tomorrow after rain tonight.

The Home Secretary and Hastings MP Amber Rudd has tonight told

South East Today that tackling sexual exploitation is a key

government priority, following our exclusive

Charities have lined up to condemn the practice of landlords

advertising free accommodation to people who are often young

And another South East MP has revealed he plans to raise the issue

Somewhere to live for those who have nowhere to go.

Adverts offering free accommodation with sex as payment.

Our investigation has prompted one South East politician to demand

I have two days left in Parliament before the general election

and I intend to do everything I can do drag an answer out

of the government, before the election.

We haven't got time to wait until after the election

because vulnerable young people are being put at risk right now

Today the Home Secretary told me she cares deeply about this issue.

She says protecting women and tackling exploitation are both

Despite the reaction to our investigation,

more adverts are appearing on craigslist every single day.

Last week, this one on East Grinstead offering

accommodation to a passive female partner to attend adult parties.

One in Canterbury was posted this morning aimed at a female student

And just a few hours ago in Sittingbourne,

an advert offering a room in exchange for sex several times

a week and basic help with the upkeep of the house.

Our investigations uncovered that these adverts are

Prompting strong reaction north of the border, to.

Well, I was extremely concerned, horrified actually, to read that

And the Minister for Housing has already written to the website

concerned, that hosted these adverts, asking them to take action.

Homeless charities say it shows how deep the housing crisis goes.

I think these adverts show up a really much bigger

problem in this country, which is there's not enough

affordable housing for young people who have nowhere else to go.

And too often, young people enter into these arrangements

because they have to take some desperate measure to find

We've approached craigslist several times for comment,

One landlord I spoke with today, who didn't want to go on camera,

defended his advert, saying he specifically would not

offer the room to anyone who'd been a victim of abuse and isn't able

to make a free and informed decision.

With a general election just over six weeks away,

this could be addressed as soon as the summer.

Lauren, your investigation has now been picked up across the country?

Yes. It's been covered in many national newspapers, and others are

carrying out their investigations into sex for rent adverts in cities

across the country. Many ads were taken down after we initially

brought this to light, but as you have seen, more are appearing every

day. Parliament will be dissolved next week, but the Home Secretary,

the MP for Hove and the charities of all told me this is an important

issue to them. With the general election coming up, we will have to

wait to find out whether that will mean new legislation being brought

in, forcing websites to take the adverts down, or than signing a

voluntary code of conduct. Lauren, thank you.

Sussex Police has become one of the first forces in the country

to bring in specialist training about the crime of stalking

It follows the case of Shana Grice from Portslade, who was killed

She had reported her killer to Sussex Police on more

The force is now under investigation for the way

Michael Lane, described during his trial as a fixated

stalker whose obsession with Shana Grice turned to murder.

She reported his disturbing behaviour five times

to Sussex Police before he killed her in her

The force accepted there may have been systemic failings.

Today, an acknowledgement it needs to do better.

The recent case, the tragic murder of Shana Grice, awful, awful.

And Sussex Police have referred themselves to the Independent Police

Complaints Commission, but they've also put in place

And so my job is to ensure that that improvement plan

In the months before she died, Michael Lane had followed

Shana Grice, put a tracker on her car and stole

the keys to her home, letting himself in while she slept.

Something she confronted him about in a phone call she recorded.

If you come near the house again, I'll...

I won't come near the house again or contact you again.

And yet on one occasion after Michael Lane was reported

to police for assaulting Shana, she was fined for

Now Sussex Police officers are being given specialist

training about stalking, provided by a victim

It's extremely encouraging, and they are engaging well with us,

and that's the whole point of what we're doing.

We need to increase the communication between all

the services and to get people to thoroughly understand

More than 200 stalking cases were reported

They accept that in the past, the response has not been

Victims that come forward will often talk about,

"I've asked them to stop and told them no, therefore this is now

stalking", and I think that's a message I would expect

It's actually be really clear about what is wanted

A clear promise from a force condemned for jumping

to conclusions, that they will listen more in future.

Juliette is live in Brighton, Juliette this is an area

in which the force acknowledges it needs to improve.

Yes, that's right, and it seems improvement are urgently needed. In

sentencing Michael Lane to a minimum of 25 years in jail, the judge in

this case criticised Sussex Police for stereotyping his victim. But it

seems steps are being taken to stop that happening again. Katie Bond

holders an interview today that she has commissioned Her Majesty's

inspectorate to look at how Sussex Police deals with stalking and

harassment, and says she'll be holding them to account for how they

deliver and tackle it. Thank you. Former soldiers who are among

the last to serve in the Queens Own Buffs Regiment -

which was the regiment for East Kent for almost 400 years -

have taken part in a special ceremony to mark the re-opening

of their Warriors Chapel The chapel's been closed for eight

years so repair work could be carried out -

including the restoration A simple, moving moment

which has happened here each The ringing of the bell

from HMS Canterbury, a cruiser in the Great War,

is followed by the turning of a page It records the names of soldiers

from the Queen's Own Buffs who fell in the First and Second World Wars

and other conflicts. I marched down the hill

from the barracks into this chapel to turn the page in May 1957,

and here we are, 60 years on, The Buffs were originally

the East Kent Regiment, amalgamated in the '60s

with the Royal West Kent Regiment. The chapel and its ceremony

was their special place of remembrance, until it was closed

to allow restoration We took the decision to move

the ceremony to another part of the cathedral for a few months,

and here we are seven years and nine months later,

and the last piece of the jigsaw is back in its home

in this transept. It is one of the most colourful

corners of Canterbury Cathedral, the Warriors' Chapel with its tombs

of plaques at ground level. But your eyes almost instantly

drawn to these colours hanging from the walls,

which formed a key part The trick was to have them cleaned,

to remove all that surface dust, but not to interfere

with the natural disintegration and decay, which is what is expected

that the colours will achieve. So the colours, some

of which were carried into battle during the Crimean War,

will be allowed to fade away, but the regiment behind them will be

honoured here as long here's the forecast

for the South East with Rachel. Frosty start tomorrow, we have been

seeing more cloud as we've gone through the day today. This cold

front has been giving us some rain for a time during the first part of

this evening. That clears. Behind it, cold northerly winds and

temperatures will be tumbling. Lows of one two degrees, in towns and

cities, but hovering below freezing in rural areas. Frost to start

Tuesday, but clear, blue skies, particularly in the morning. By the

afternoon, cold northerly winds and we will see scattered showers, some

of which may have some hail in them as well. First thing, lots of

sunshine, but feeling very cold with the strength of the wind. By the

afternoon, temperatures at perhaps ten or 11 degrees, but feeling more

like four or five. Tuesday into Wednesday, some scattered showers

and a game temperatures dropping below freezing in more rural spots,

eventually things warming up this week.

course, there'll be the threat of some rain. More with the national

forecast now. Good evening. It's been turning

colder from the north so far today. It's been cold enough for

significant snow in northern Scotland. This was mid afternoon.

More recently it's been blowing around over the tops of the

mountains. Snow in April not necessarily unusual but it's usually

unwelcome. The colder air coming in behind the front which clears

towards the near continent, opening the floodgates to this