17/04/2012 South Today

Hello, I'm Sally Taylor. Welcome to South Today. In tonight's

programme: Accusations of panic and chaos. Virgin Atlantic answers

passenger claims about an emergency evacuation which left 15 in

hospital. I sat on the runway for a few moments. The cabin crew threw

open the doors and shouted, evacuate, evacuate! The murder

victim found in a burning Mercedes was Albanian. Now the hunt is on

for his second car. Behind the walls of a young offenders

institution, but what are the chances of rehabilitating inmates?

Flipping burgers on minimum wage or dealing crack on a street corner.

There is no choice. And can a win over Forest give Reading the chance

to climb up to the Premier League? If Reading get a better result than

West Ham, they know they will be back in the Premier League and the

Passengers on board a Virgin Atlantic plane, which had to make

an emergency landing at Gatwick Airport yesterday, have been

talking of the moment they were told to evacuate the plane. They

spoke of a rush to escape down chutes onto the runway in case the

aircraft caught fire. It had turned back an hour into a flight to

Florida. Meanwhile, Virgin today defended staff who shouted at

passengers during the evacuation, saying it was normal procedure. 15

people were taken to hospital, many of them suffering from broken limbs.

At 4:20pm, the passengers from yesterday's aborted Orlando flight

were on their way again - this time on a jumbo - passing the spot on

the runway where Beck Airbus was evacuated 24 hours earlier. Today

the aircraft has been moved and has been examined by an accident

investigators. Virgin Atlantic says it is investigating claims that

there was panic among the cabin crew. I put it was a passenger

being hysterical. I realised it was the cabin crew for a stub everyone

was being screened at to get out as quick as possible. -- the cabin

crew. One man was back home and said it was easy to see how some

people ended up with broken bones. You just jumped out. Your legs hit

the side and whizzed down to you flew off the bottom and hope we

landed on the tarmac on your feet. Today Virgin defended its cabin

crew, saying they take part in frequent training exercises, and

that the company follows industry standards in its evacuation and

training procedures. In a statement, Some passengers said the crew did a

good job. It was a bit panicked but every mum was a bit panicked. --

everyone. What was your reflection of the where the crew behaved?

thought they did amazingly. They will start their holiday a day late

but no doubt they are relieved to leave the anxiety and

investigations behind. So, did the crew on the Virgin Atlantic flight

panic? They clearly shouted loudly at passengers. Paul Clifton is here.

Did the crew do the right thing? The suggestion is that Virgin staff

shouted at passengers to rush off the plane. But they could see no

fire, no damage, no reason to be forced out of the aircraft quickly.

That was an absolutely text book response. The crew did precisely

what they have been trained to do. If a tiny electrical fire came into

contact with fuel fumes, the explosion would be sudden and

catastrophic. You need to get the passengers off and fast. There are

usually some minor injuries. I am afraid that is the price you have

to pay for not being burned alive. So, where does this idea of the

crew shouting at passengers come from? It came about after a

terrible incident at Manchester Airport in 1985, when a plane

caught fire and 55 people died. The crew decided to brake slowly, and

taxi off the runway before getting the passengers out. That movement

fanned the flames, leading to an explosion. Critically, it reduced

the amount of time available to evacuate passengers. 55 people died

in that accident because they were not got off fast enough. No one

needed to have died. What the Virgin crew were doing today was

making sure an accident like that will never happen again. Since that

crash, what the Virgin crew did yesterday has been standard

procedure. The same goes for Gatwick Airport, which stopped the

plane on the main runway, regardless of the huge impact on

other flights. The sole objective was to get people out of danger

fast. As we know now, it wasn't necessary. But no-one wanted to

take that risk. Fire officers tackling a major fire at

Southampton Docks say it is likely to last a couple of days. 100

tonnes of scrap metal is alight at King George V Dry Dock. Cranes have

been brought in to try and clear some of the rubble, so firefighters

can tackle the blaze, which is burning deep inside. Local

residents are being asked to keep their windows and doors shut. Fire

crews in Sussex have tackled a roof fire at a �1 million property in

Billingshurst. The alarm was raised at 4:30aam today. The building is a

three floor property, which has been converted into two separate

homes. All the occupants managed to leave the building and no-one was

injured. An inquest has heard how a teenage Sea Cadet fell to his death

from the rigging of a training ship off Gosport. The jury at Portsmouth

Coroner's Court was told that Jonathan Martin, who was 14, was

trying to help another cadet onboard the TS Royalist, when he

unclipped his harness and lost his balance. Briony Leyland has been

following the inquest and joins us from Portsmouth. The inquest heard

that in May, 2010, the ship was here. It had been taking part in

celebrations to mark Bebo and hundreds and 50th anniversary of

the Sea Cadet movement. Jonathan and other sea cadets had been

taking part in demonstrations and climbing up and down the rigging.

Jonathan and others were furling the sails. He'd finished with the

topsail and then went down to the next level on the mast to help a

female cadet, who was struggling. The inquest heard he unclipped from

safety lines and tried to pass another cadet by going behind her.

She told him to clip back on but he continued. He said he was slipping,

she tried to grab his arm but he fell 25 feet, 8 metres. He struck a

wheelie bin below and then landed in the water. He sustained fatal

chest injuries. What has the inquest heard about safety on

board? Jonathan's fellow Sea Cadets were all interviewed by police.

They said they had been given safety harnesses to be worn around

the waist and told to clip on when they were up in the rigging. Some

said they saw Jonathan unclip during the weekend displays but had

not reported it. A Marine Accident and Investigation Branch report

read to the jury detailed how Jonathan fell because he unclipped

not because the harness failed but it did highlight concerns about the

supervision of cadets and the suitability of the harnesses used.

And Jonathan's parents were in court? Yes, they were. His father,

Andrew, said: Jonathan had been a Sea Cadet for three years and

enjoyed it immensely. He remembered looking at pictures of the Royalist

together and saying to his son it looked a bit dangerous. But

Jonathan said, don't worry, we are all clipped on with our harnesses.

The inquest will continue tomorrow. Back to you. Detectives hunting the

killers of a man found dead in a burnt out car have revealed they

are still trying to find out where he was murdered. They say one of

their top priorities is to find a Ford Mondeo owned by the victim. He

has been identified as an Albanian crane driver, who was living in

Southampton. Police started a murder investigation last Tuesday,

after a body was found in a burnt out Mercedes Cup on the edge of

Southampton. The victim has been named. He is from Albania and lived

in Southampton, working as a crane driver on building sites. We are

looking at his lifestyle, friends and associates, to try to determine

the motive for this horrific killing. In a statement, his family

Police believe he was killed before his silver Mercedes was driven and

set on fire. The car was seen in Southampton on the night he died.

Investigations have been taking place. We are working around the

clock to establish a possible location of the murder. Police are

anxious to trace the car identical to this fund which is owned by the

dead man and thought to be part in the Southampton area. It has this

registration number. I really need to locate that vehicle, if nothing

else to us to rule it out of my inquiry. Big Blue know him a might

have information that could help, please get in touch. -- people who

know him. So by the cause of death has not been established. Police

had been given more time to question a man in connection with

the murder. Portland Port has built two new berths that can accommodate

larger ships. A �5 million scheme to revamp the Queen's Pier has

increased the number of large deepwater berths available at

Portland to 12. It means most Royal Navy vessels, cruise ships and

super yachts, will be able to dock there. The new berths are already

earmarked for use during the Olympic Sailing events to take in

the Games. 19-year-old, Saunders died at the weekend. Friends joined

together for a candlelit vigil. Irrational and unlawful, that was

the damning judgment of the courts today on a decision to rule out

building homes for that very purpose. Basingstoke and Deane

Council bought the Manydown site in 1996 using money from the sale of

council houses. But when it drew up plans for where new homes should be

built, the site was missing from the list. Joe Campbell has been

following the story and joins me now. This is a damning ruling.

has been a hugely controversial case and today's ruling leaves

Basingstoke and Deane embarrased and out of pocket. The Manydown

site was sold to the council by local landowners on the basis it

would be used to meet some of the demand for new homes in the area.

But when a blueprint for Basingstoke's future was drawn up,

the site was nowhere to be seen. Now the Manydown company, who had

sold the site, took the council to court and today a judge ruled they

had to think again They said, having been persuaded to part with

the site, the council then squandered the opportunity it

offered. The council needs to go back and review its core strategy.

It has to look at it afresh. We are happy to work with them and help

come up with a plan for Basingstoke to deliver all the benefits at no

cost to the tax payer. So, how has the council responded to all this?

Well, they now say they have to go and consider the implications of

this and can't do that until they know the makeup of the new council

after next month's elections. Those who oppose the Conservatives say it

is part of promises that are made a previous elections that the site

will not be developed. Labour and the Lib Dems say it has left them

with an unholy mess. The Conservatives say they were going

along with what voters wanted to and not having another development

stuck on the side of Basingstoke. Bedsides degree they are not having

a coherent blueprint means they are probably going to face a rash of

new planning applications. When it first launched its plans for the

justice system, the Government said, unless youth crime was tackled, the

young offenders of today will become the prolific career

criminals of tomorrow. With that in mind, a jail in Dorset has been

trying a series of measures to reduce the number of people stuck

in the so-called revolving door of prisons. The majority of inmates in

Portland Young Offenders Institution are from the South West

area. Our Dorset reporter has been given special access to the jail.

Overlooking the Olympic sailing waters, there are hundreds of young

offenders. A former Borstal, teenage prisoners have been held

here since the mid- 1800s. The coastline a fire -- far cry from

the inner cities some have left behind. Prison life is almost

unrecognisable today to the server side joined 20 odd years ago. Focus

was not on rehabilitation. The choice of flipping burgers on

minimum wage were dealing crack on a street corner, there is no choice.

We have to instil a sense of work ethic and combine that with the

opportunity of getting into meaningful employment on release.

From laying bricks to railway lines, there is the opportunity to gain

new skills. Staff believe everyone has the talent. Their job is to get

inmates interested in learning. In some cases, there are more

fundamental problems to overcome. Watch the horse relax and drop its

head! The tension in the air has just disappeared. This young

offender is learning to keep his calm. It may not be everyone's

vision of a jail sentence but the aim is not just to punish but

prevent the need to punish again. With 1 million people unemployed,

how much hope to they really have of saying goodbye to Portland for

good? You are getting nowhere applying for jobs. I applied for so

many jobs and was being turned down. I'm will move to a different area

and want a fresh start. You are not going to go back to your old life?

No. I have gained qualifications. Now it will be easier. Are you

convinced these schemes work? Are you walking the walk, talking the

talk and then heading out and coming back? I am convinced what we

offer here is effective. It does work. We will be able to seat in

the very near future the results of some of the work we are doing.

Government is trying to reform prisons. Essentially that means

reforming prisoners. Portland things it has turned the corner.

The chief inspector will give his verdict in a few months' time. On

to sport, and Reading Football Club stand on the brink of a 90 million

windfall and a place in the Premier League tonight. They play

Nottingham Forest at the Madejski Stadium but events elsewhere will

also dictate whether Royals fans are celebrating come 10pm.. Let's

join Tony at the stadium. It all comes down to the last few games

where it depends on other teams and what they do. Yes. The fate of

Reading is in their own hands. If they are going to celebrate

promotion tonight, it will be events elsewhere that will dictate

that too is certain extent. Tonight is all about getting a better

result than the team in third place and also chasing promotion - West

Ham United. This is the league table. Bedding have a six-point

lead over West Ham. They -- four points will guarantee promotion.

Tonight if they better the result of West Ham they know they are up

and the promotion party can start here. They are in this position

because of the excellent result on Friday night. The royals got a 14th

win in 16. No one has won more games than Reading in 2012. That

was the key result. It is changing times. A takeover has been in the

offing for several months. It is still to be completed. Half the

club will be sold to the son of a Russian tycoon. He went to school

in the Thames Valley. He is seen as a Royals fan. That still has not

happened. That is due to be fit and proper persons test still going on.

It is felt it is a good thing for the club. It will bring stability a

major financial firepower. The Football League is refusing to

comment on the status of that ongoing takeover. It is all about

events on the field. We can get excited about all of this, what

might happen come 10pm. The players need to stay focused, don't they?

The philosophy of the manager all season is about concentrating on

the next game. Nottingham Forest, 8pm kick-off. Their 19th in the

Championship table. They have some big names but I do expect Reading

to win. Let's hear what Brian McDermott has been saying. He very

much keeps his feet on the ground. It is just a time for doing your

job. There is nothing else on the agenda but Nottingham Forest. That

is the only thing that is in my mind. We trained yesterday and we

will train again today so we can put on a performance for our fans

on Tuesday. He gets excited on the side of the pitch but he is level-

headed. What about the other games? Tough games. Southampton are away

at Peterborough and West Ham are at Bristol City. I do not think

Reading, West Ham and Southampton will all winter night. -- win

tonight. The builder will begin at Sevenoaks 5:00pm. Meanwhile,

tonight, Southampton hope to bounce back from that defeat against

Reading and keep their own promotion campaign on track. They

are at Peterborough. Let's go live to Kris Temple. Two of the last

three games are away from home. They need a result against a

Peterborough side. Here is what Nigel Atkins makes of the challenge.

We need to impose ourselves on the game. The pictures beatable up

there. I hope there will be conducive to the way we want to

play. This is why we are in football. We want to get to the

Premier League. The last couple of weeks of the season, this is what

we're in it for. He is unfailingly positive. If the Saints when all

three games, they will be in the Premier League. West Ham will be

ready to pounce. Expect the same 11 from Friday night against Reading.

The Saints win and the West can defeat will leave Saints on the

brink of the top flight. Other matters to be decided in the

Championship, possibly at the bottom. Tonight, Brighton will hope

to give their fading play-off hopes a boost. Gus Poyet's side take on

Watford at the Amex. Poyet has already admitted he wants to bring

in some more experienced players next season. Portsmouth must

achieve a better result than Bristol City who, ironically, play

West Ham tonight, if they are to stay up. In League Two, Crawley

could go into the automatic promotion places with a win against

Northampton. Swindon could be promoted at the Ebb Stadium against

Dean Holdsworth's men. We will be back at 10:25pm to tell you how it

all goes on. We have some frank Sinatra being played at the moment.

They are looking to party at 10pm. They are going to do it their way.

There are just 101 days until the Olympics start. In the run-up to

the Games, a number of champion athletes are visiting school

children to pass on their knowledge and expertise. Today, Ryde Academy

on the Isle of Wight got a special visit from a Berkshire born athlete

who is hoping to get selected for the Games this summer. I just want

to tell you a bit about my background and what I have done...

Of not every day to get a top athlete popping into your school.

11 pupils at Ryde Academy were treated to appear less so with a

difference. -- ate a PE lesson. is like an invisible Hurdle you are

stepping over. She is won -- one of many athletes hoping to inspire

youngsters in the run-up to the game's. It is nice to have someone

who has got to that step further than we have. It is someone to look

up to. We can say, we have met this person. It is quite nice.

really privileged to be able to train with someone who will be in

the Olympics. You will be watching her support your country and stuff.

Lesley has trained meticulously to get where she is. She has

represented her country at world, Commonwealth and European levels.

Trials in June will determine whether she will be selected for

the Olympics this year. She had this message to share. If you have

a dream, whether it is to be an Olympic athlete, a liar, a doctor,

or just to improve your performance in sport, all is possible with the

right kind of focus, determination and goals. Let's hope she gets into

The rain will stay with us right up until Sunday. Blue Bell Woods under

sunny skies in North Standen Near Hungerford taken by Ken Rayner.

Anni Stevens took this picture of blossom in Arundel just after the

rain stopped falling. And Ivor Harrison captured a duck and her

ducklings in the afternoon sunshine at Wetlands Wildfowl Trust in

Arundel. Yes, the rain is still with us and it will stay with us

right through until Sunday it on and off. Maybe the odd rumble of

thunder. The rain could be heavy. The rain is edging its way slowly

up from the English Channel. Heavy bursts in places and brisk winds.

Gusts of 50 Mars an hour. Lows of five to seven Celsius. A wet start

to the day tomorrow. During the afternoon the showers start

wrapping around the area of low pressure. Expect a high Tamara of

11 Celsius. A cooler feel to things. There is a Met Office weather

warning which is enforced right up until 9pm tomorrow. We could see 30

mm. A lot of rain coming courtesy of this weather front. The winds

will be a lot lighter. If you do catch some showers, they will be

slow-moving, heavy and thundery, potentially giving surface water on

the roads. Further showers tomorrow afternoon and into the evening. A

low overnight and into the early hours of tomorrow morning of six

Celsius. Tomorrow, heavy perhaps thundery showers. Friday, the

showers will become less frequent. There will be some sunny spells.

Sunny spells and scattered showers from Thursday right through until

Sunday. There will be a band of rain tomorrow. Gale-force gusts

along the south coasts of 50 to a 55 miles an hour. Thursday and into

Sunday, and mix to a sunny spells and scattered showers. The winners