31/10/2013 South Today

the News of the World. That's all from the News at Six.

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

The long wait for justice ` why some cases are taking more than a year to

go through the courts. The bereaved family who discovered

their loved one's body had been given to the wrong undertakers by a

hospital. It was a complete shock, because we did not find out until

ten days at it had been removed. Save our ship ` the appeal to

preserve Hampshire's historic harbour launch. There is virtually

nothing like it in the world, she is a unique piece of history.

And the sweet smell of success ` the cosmetics giant which began life in

the south. Figures obtained by the BBC reveal

that many criminal cases are taking more than a year to get to court.

Long delays and last`minute postponements have been criticised

by those supporting victims, witnesses and defendants. Our Home

Affairs Correspondent Alex Forsyth has been looking at the figures.

It was a long wait for justice for this woman's family. Her brother was

the victim of his supposed carer who was jailed earlier this year for

stealing more than ?90,000 from him. It took more than three years for

the case to conclude in court. She is grateful to all involved in the

successful outcome, but said the wait was hard. It was a terrible

harassment. Such a terrible worry. Over and over and again, I just

wanted her to say that she was guilty. Across the south, the

average time from a crime being committed to a court being

completed, it varies, at the moment it is 29 weeks on the Isle of Wight,

compare that to Weymouth which took an average of 56 weeks to complete

41 cases. In the big courts which handle far more cases, Southampton

takes an average of 39 weeks from crime to completion, Winchester and

Bournemouth are 45 weeks and for renting it is 51 weeks. A number of

factors affect this. The way police gather evidence, the number and

availability of witnesses, the complexity of the crime. Directly

comparing court is difficult. Across`the`board, many agree there

is room for improvement. Coming to court can be a traumatic experience

for many. Delays or repeated adjournments or last`minute changes

can really add to the distress and anxiety felt. In a statement, the

justice minister told us his department is working...

Things now I far cry from the grill and parchment courts of old. This

mock trial shows how technology is being used in courts. Prosecutors in

the South are already working digitally to speed things up. If you

were to go into a magistrates court today, you will see our prosecutors

prosecuting for a tablet device with no paper, doing lists, sentencing

and trials all electronically which is a major change. Finding ways to

save time can also mean saving money.

Alex joins me now. You mentioned money, what kind of impact are

budget pressures having on the criminal justice system and court

waiting times? We looked at figures for waiting times over the past few

years and broadly they're not getting any worse ` in some cases

improving. But there are pressures on the system. In talking to Kate

Brown, Chief of the Crown Prosecution Service for Hampshire,

Wiltshire and Dorset today, she explained that since the

Government's spending review of 2010, she's had to save ?3.8 million

from the local CPS budget. Most of that's been saved in wages by

cutting 95 staff posts, that's a quarter of the team. Big numbers.

Now they're closing three out of seven offices and developing a

headquarters in Eastleigh, huge restructuring and means they have to

work very differently. We are now setting ourselves up into bigger

units. We are dealing with just Crown Court work or magistrates'

court work for all of the counties to ensure that we have resilient and

specialist teams working on our most complex cases and also the smaller

cases. What's the impact of this?

The CPS in each area involved every prosecution, from seemingly low

level crime to rapes and murders ` crucial parts of criminal justice

system. To manage shrinking budgets, they have worked differently. Using

technology to improve efficiency isn't a gimmick, it's a necessity,

the Government is investing in this. We saw today the first televised

court appearance, now that's not about efficiency but transparency,

but it shows how things are changing. If all goes to plan, the

impact on the way justice is delivered will be minimal. Some hope

there'll be an improvement. Thank you very much.

Staff at universities across the south went on strike today in a

dispute over pay. Lecturers joined other workers including cooks,

cleaners and caretakers to demand a better offer from their employers.

Disruption at most of the south's universities was minimal, but some

lectures were cancelled. James Ingham reports from Southampton

University, where three unions held a rally this afternoon.

Staff united with one aim, getting what they say is fair pay. Today's

walk`out follows an offer by universities of a 1% increase in

wages. Teaching staff and support workers say this is simply not

enough, claiming in real terms they're now far worse off. Lowest

paid workers here struggle to afford to live. Yemen for years, five or

six years now, effectively we have taken a pay cut. We are looking at

30% with inflation and everything else. With pay freezes and

everything is going up, this is the thin end of the wedge. With some

classes cancelled, o libraries closed and restaurants shut for

business. It left some students sympathetic, others less than

impressed. I think it is a bit much. Paying so much money here. With

course fees, they are going up and it works out about ?50 per lecture,

that is ?100 today that is gone. We could have earned that money rather

than going to a lecture. Other than that, we are in support of the

lectures. For what they do and the help we get and not being paid a

sufficient amount, I believe the strike is effective. The University

Employers Association which sets pay claims most staff think its offer is

fair. But those who protested hope their voices will be heard.

A coroner has A 25`year`old man's been arrested in

connection with an incident which left another man with gunshot wounds

to his legs and buttocks. The man walked into the North Hampshire

Hospital in Basingstoke on Monday night and staff there called police.

But it's believed he was shot last Friday night at Bennet Close in the

town. Detectives are treating it as a targeted attack.

A Southampton man has criticised the way a hospital allowed his

mother`in`law's body to be collected by the wrong funeral directors,

without any paperwork. His MP has taken the issue to Parliament,

calling for processes around the release of bodies from hospitals to

be tightened. Katy Austin reports. Dealing with the death of relative

is always hard. But Peter Williams suffered additional distress when

funeral directors turned up at the Bristol Royal Infirmary to collect

the body of his mother`in`law, Gertrude. They rang to say 'the

body's gone'. It was just a complete shock as we didn't find out until

ten days after the body had been removed. Another funeral director

had already taken away the body. Peter says he'd hadn't hired them to

do the job. And, crucially, the BRI hadn't asked them for the body

release paperwork. Peter complained to the BRI, the hospital wrote back.

They apologised and say they'd never normally give out a body to funeral

directors without the right paperwork. They insist their

procedures were robust and blamed this incident on individual error. I

did not really except that it could be one person's fault. When people

are turning up with no paperwork, that's a process fault rather than

just one individual's fault. The Department for Health says there's

no legal requirement for hospitals to request release forms, but it

expects processes to be in place for the safe and appropriate release of

bodies. Peter's MP thinks more needs to be done. The Department of Health

guidelines need tightening, so this doesn't happen to any other family.

Also, undertakers need to take responsibility and make sure they

have the correct paperwork before they go to mortuaries to take away

bodies. The Health Ombudsman is now looking into the case.

A coroner has recorded verdicts of accidental death on two climbers

from the south who fell from a cliff in Wales. An inquest heard that

23`year`old Jack Hutton Potts from Petersfield was connected by rope to

his teacher. But they both fell more than 300 feet down the cliff on

Anglesey. The court heard Jack would have been unconscious when he landed

in the water. His teacher, Vaughan Richard Holme, who was 48 and from

Horsham, died from multiple injuries.

A Berkshire MP says it's "disappointing" that work hasn't

started yet on a bridge to replace a notorious level crossing. Network

Rail announced the plans for Ufton Nervet a year ago. Seven people were

killed after a man parked his car on the tracks there in 2004 ` and there

was another death last year. Wokingham MP John Redwood wants to

see faster progress. Network Rail says it's still trying to buy the

land and will publish plans next year. Still to come in this

evening's South Today: Looking good ` the cosmetics firm success story

with its roots in Poole. An awareness campaign is being

launched tomorrow to increase the early diagnosis of pancreatic

cancer, the fifth most common cause of cancer death in the UK. Almost

8,000 people a year die from that particular form of cancer. Figures

released this week by the Office for National Statistics showed the

five`year survival rate for those diagnosed with the 21 most common

cancers, and pancreatic cancer is bottom of the list. If diagnosed

with breast cancer, there is an 85% chance of surviving for five years.

Those with lung cancer have only an 11% chance of living for that

period. But trailing behind all others on the list for surviving for

five years is pancreatic cancer, at just 5%. As the awareness month gets

underway, Ena Miller has been to meet two people with two very

different stories about their experiences of pancreatic cancer. I

saw a difference GP and he thought I had a stomach ulcer and sent me for

a gas `` gastroscopy. I was told that I had interoperable, incurable

pancreatic cancer. It is called the silent cancer. When Susan Ross was

that I is closed with it, her love of pottery was the only thing that

kept her going. `` diagnosed with it. I had the tumour growing in the

four up to 20 years. It is a killer. I was and am incredibly lucky. It

was not the same happy ending for Audrey Saunders' and daughter who

died of the disease. Because of her age, they dismissed the fact it

could be anything too serious, but within the next three months, went

for ten different visits to the GP, complaining that she was feeling

notions and sick and they discovered an inoperable tumour. She remained

calm and dignified rights to the end. The 5% survival rate has not

changed in the last 40 years. My symptoms are nonspecific. It makes

it quite hard to pick up. `` of symptoms. The treatment available do

not offer a significant advantage and despite pancreatic cancer having

such a poor outcome, it only receives less than 1% of all Cancer

Research UK. The need for more funding helps... To detect early

diagnosis. The Every Life Matters campaign is about calling for an

increase in tools for GPs, increased GP awareness. Susan and Audrey

started a support group to help others. 2.5 years ago I had not

heard of it. I want people to know about it. And really that is what we

are trying to do. The ticking over the next month. Just to say that

this exists. They are doing as much as they can to make that known where

they live. There are proposals to build at

least 70 new homes for elderly people in Reading, who need extra

support to live independently. Half will be built in Southcote and the

other half in Caversham on the site of the former Arthur Clarke Care

Home. They will be one`bedroom flat. ``. 's The home closed earlier this

year, despite a fierce campaign to save it. When they made a decision

to close the previous home, a lot of people ask us to promise that he

would try and use that site for older people in some way. I think

what we are proposing delivers on that promise and more. Your own

front door, your own independent place to live, but more support can

come in without you having to move away.

An historic motor launch, that's more than a hundred years old, has

begun what could be her final voyage. A voyage that may end in the

scrap yard. The Fusil is a Victorian steam boat that was used to tow

armaments barges around Portsmouth Harbour. Today she's been lifted

from her mooring on Chichester canal to be put into storage. Rob Powell

reports. She may have seen better days, but

at 105 years of age, perhaps if you cut and bruises are to be expected.

Originally built for the war effort in Portsmouth, this steam powered

service launch has spent the last seven decade as a houseboat. It has

been here on the Chichester Canal since the end of World War II and

has played home to many families since home. The current owner bought

it six years ago but says he cannot afford to keep her. He says he is

hopeful to find her a new Hope. In the meantime, she would be taken

into temporary storage for top today, she was plucked from the

waters exposing a hell that was last seen in the 1930s. Seeing her

pointing away from the sea is astonishing. He said that they

always speak to you as they come out of the water, she will make creeks

and but `` groans, don't worry about it. It is thought that during World

War II, the Fusil was used to target armament barges around Portsmouth

Harbour. It was also stated that she was built in 1908 at Thomas

Crompton's Yard, if true it would make her the oldest in existence.

With few photos of the Fusil around, have passed is as uncertain as her

future. History is very uncertain. All you can do is to say that the

type of boat that she is, the construction that she is, in all

probability, it is this. It will always be a high level of

probability, unless you consigned `` find the photograph. The Fusil has

swapped to the canal for a car park. The owner of this houseboat

come historical artefact says he is willing to give her away to a good

home, anything to save her from the scrap yard. Whatever her fate, one

thing is certain, it would be an emotional goodbye. They do hope she

will end up? Underneath. `` under me.

Condor Ferries says it's seen bookings surge since it returned to

Weymouth this summer. A year and a half after the town's ferry terminal

was declared unsafe, Condor returned in July. It says good weather has

contributed to 100,000 bookings being made by people travelling

through the port. Condor says increased footfall has also boosted

local businesses. When you're walking down the High

Street you often smell this shop before you see it. Lush Cosmetics

was the brainchild of a group of friends from Poole. It now has more

than 800 stores in 51 countries. David Allard's been meeting the team

behind the brand who say Dorset will always be home to their global

success story. On Poole High Street, success really

does smell sweet. This is where a group of friends founded their

natural cosmetics company, 25 years ago. I was a schoolboy and I like

the girls and I like doing the theatrical make up for the

productions and I thought it was good fun and so I wanted to do it

for a living. Mark, his wife, Mo, and some of their friends began to

create cosmetics from purely natural products. Then came a lucky break.

Over in Littlehampton, another cosmetics company was enjoying big

success and Mark secured a contract to supply them with products. The

relationship with the Body Shot was great. To be involved was

exhilarating. Stressful, but exhilarating. Boosted by success,

they set up their own mail order company, Cosmetics To Go, but their

summer sale proved disastrous. We still leave a pound for every order

we sent. We ended up with a million orders with ?1 million lost.

Literally scraping together what they had, they re`opened the shop

and created a new brand ` Lush. This time there was no looking back. We

were working with the same team for 20 or 40 years, you have gone

through all of the ups and downs together. As a retailer, Mark

watches the local High Street with interest. I am always up and down

counting shops, we have about 40 or 50. If I were the government, I

would say anybody that is opening up an individual shop, get a discount.

Shops like us can afford to play `` paid rates. There should be a

sliding scale. To get people in, you have to reduce the cost. How do you

go at from one shop to 836? It is all about passion. We are all

passionate about what we do and how we do it and the honesty that runs

through it. It is nice to be at a snack while you eat. My favourite

which they never bring up is the chocolate that we use in the massage

bath. Our factory looks like a grocer store. When Helen goes across

to the flower shop, the lady says you're not going to rip their heads

of these flowers, are you? What I'm going to do is read your mood for

how you are feeling, your emotions at this moment in time. I want you

to look at the wheel and I want you to choose the first three colours

that jump out at you. What you have done is revealed your emotions. So

we will have a bit of magic. I know what you are already. Look at that.

Decisive, passionate and motivation. They are great. You have to be

motivated, you must make decisions, but maybe it is too early. Away from

work, Mark is often near the water, indulgent ashlar indulging his other

passion, bird. I love the birds you get along here, the birds who are

breeding here. So does that mean that Lush will stay firmly rooted in

Dorset? Lowest crime rate in Britain, the warmest climate, people

lived the longest, there are three good reasons to be here. And we plan

to live here for a long time. Decisive, motivated, passionate, I'm

so pleased that she did not read my mood.

It's been a fascinating series this week, from Burberry to B, from

Rolls Royce to Lush. All with stories rooted in the south. And if

you want to see any of David's "behind the brands" films again,

then they are all on our Facebook page.

On the whole, we've enjoyed a pretty good year weather wise, with months

of mild conditions. But this has caused a bit of a storm for

hedgehogs. So much so, it's feared many won't make it through the

winter. Laura Trant has been to a Berkshire rescue centre to find out

why hedgehogs need our help. Despite appearing warm and cosy, these baby

hedgehogs are facing a prickly prospects. A knock on effect of the

hot summer and the mild autumn is that litters of hedgehogs are being

bought books `` born later than normal. It is they are too small and

don't have enough body fat to survive hibernation. He is action,

this lady runs a hedgehog hospital. We are getting a lot more of these

little guys in who are two or three weeks old, we would not normally

expect to see them and they won't make it through the winter. Of

course, instead of coming in in ones and twos, they are coming in in

litters of sixes and sevens. They were recently noticed `` voted

Britain's's National animal. Back in 1955, there were 35 and Ian often,

now there are fewer than 1 million. If you find anything that is small

or outs during the day, it is in trouble and will need help.

Particularly the smaller ones. This little one weighs about 100 grams.

They need to be at least 600 grams to survive hibernation, so at this

time of year, we are taking in anything under 650 grams and they

will stay with us until the spring. On average, only one in five

hedgehogs survive, so if you find a baby hedgehog in your garden, the

advice is to give it a dish of water and contact your nearest wildlife

rescue centre. You have to check your bin fires `` bonfires. Yes, you

do. In fact, that is what is happening this weekend. And it is

not looking like good weather for it. A lot of people are having it on

Saturday night, a bit windy, very windy, in fact and rain on the way.

If you are and `` out and about, there will be rain and strong winds.

We do have some weather pictures for you.

Here's a picture of the cross`channel ferry approaching

Portsmouth Harbour in the bright spells today, captured by Maureen

Coles. Never mind the drizzly rain this morning, it's just water off a

duck's back, photo by Raymond Slack in Guildford. And this fallow stag

was captured by Joanna Cleeve from Midhurst in West Sussex. We have

some strong winds on the cards over the next few days, tonight the winds

will fall light. We are expecting outbreaks of rain in some places.

Most places will have light on moderate rain, clearing some areas

by dawn. Where we do have clear spells, perhaps the winds will fall

light fare and we may have similar temperatures. Those of nine or 13

Celsius, a mild nights to come. A wet start for some, we are expecting

a dry period for we see a band of rain moving its way in from the

south`west. This rain, we are keeping an eye on it, it could be

heavy and persistent. The winds start to pick up and just along the

South coast could be up to 60 mph. Temperatures around average for this

time of year, highs of 13 or 15 Celsius. Keeping a nigh on this area

of rain, gusts of 60 mph, the Met Office have a yellow warning in

force. It clears through the course of tomorrow night, so from which ``

midnight onwards it will allow the temperatures to drop down into six

figures `` single figures. A dry start to the day on Saturday. Some

bright spells to be had. That is before the next area of low pressure

swings in from the Atlantique. You can see the squeeze on the isobars.

We will have spells of rain or heavy showers at times. We are keeping a

close eye on the `` that, gusts of 70 `` 60 mph and inland gusts of 40

or 50 mph. If you are heading out and about on Saturday, go prepared,

it will be windy and coastal deals on Saturday, rain showers over the

weekend, but some sunshine to be had, more on Saturday morning and on

Sunday, there will be blustery showers about. Further rain that

could be on the heavy side, Sunday night into Monday.

A collection of colourful rhinos that adorned the streets of

Southampton over the summer has raised almost ?125,000 for charity.

36 of the sculptures were auctioned off last night. The rhinos were

created to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Marwell Zoo near

Winchester. Most fetched between ?2,000 and ?3,000. Top price was for

Flossy here in green and white. She attracted a winning bid of ?9,000. I

don't know why, but it is fabulous, so well done to all of those who

enjoyed the auction. Just before we go, here is a quick

mention about a special Children in Need event that's on at the

Mayflower in Southampton. This Sunday, the pop legend Jason

Donovan, Nigel Harman from Eastenders and Downton Abbey and

myself will be at a charity gala raising money for Children In Need.

The fun starts at 6pm. Tickets are ?20 and are still available. An

audience full of women, I reckon. Good night.