:00:00. > :00:07.Hello and welcome to South Today, I'm Laura Trant.
:00:08. > :00:13.The top stories this evening: Living with the cost
:00:14. > :00:18.of using a mobile phone at the wheel.
:00:19. > :00:20.The day Meg met the man who killed her boyfriend.
:00:21. > :00:23.Is this one of the most dangerous roads
:00:24. > :00:31.A BBC South investigation examines the record of the A34.
:00:32. > :00:39.And the cold, wet and blustery conditions will continue at times.
:00:40. > :00:41.These are the faces of people who have died in car
:00:42. > :00:44.crashes in the south - all of them victims of motorists
:00:45. > :00:48.This week, a new law comes into force which will double
:00:49. > :00:56.Well, one teacher from the south is calling for schoolchildren to be
:00:57. > :00:58.taught about the dangers of drivers using mobile phones.
:00:59. > :01:01.She has her own reasons for wanting to change the culture
:01:02. > :01:10.Matt Graveling has this exclusive report.
:01:11. > :01:13.Gavin was an Australian through and through.
:01:14. > :01:19.We'd talked about holidays, potentially going out
:01:20. > :01:28.It was something we were both really looking forward to.
:01:29. > :01:32.He was on his way to work and then he was about six miles
:01:33. > :01:42.or so from work and then just didn't make it.
:01:43. > :01:43.Lewis Stratford - a 24-year-old painter and decorator
:01:44. > :01:46.from Oxford was driving - and arguing with his
:01:47. > :01:52.girlfriend on the phone - when he crashed into Gavin's car.
:01:53. > :01:55.I wish I could turn back time, change obviously not
:01:56. > :02:00.And from that moment I was just blaming everything on me.
:02:01. > :02:03.And I didn't want to get better then, I didn't want the physio,
:02:04. > :02:06.I didn't want the treatments, I feel like I've been kept
:02:07. > :02:19.here to pay for the mistake that I've made and punished.
:02:20. > :02:23.Gavin died of his injuries four days after the accident.
:02:24. > :02:25.Lewis has already pleaded guilty to causing his death
:02:26. > :02:30.When someone gets convicted of a crime or an offence you never
:02:31. > :02:33.get to see what that person's like and what background they got.
:02:34. > :02:37.Just days before he's due back in court to be sentenced,
:02:38. > :02:41.I want to ask what he was thinking, what possessed him to pick
:02:42. > :02:45.up his mobile phone behind the wheel - I want to know how he's feeling
:02:46. > :02:48.now, how it might affect him and to let him know how I'm feeling.
:02:49. > :02:50.Lewis agreed to meet Meg with our cameras present,
:02:51. > :02:52.and restorative justice councillor Helen Leney.
:02:53. > :02:55.An apology that's given in court is very often mistrusted by a victim
:02:56. > :02:59.whereas if a victim sits down face to face with the person who has
:03:00. > :03:01.caused the harm that can be enormously helpful in allowing
:03:02. > :03:15.victims then to be able to move on from what's happened.
:03:16. > :03:19.I'll never forget it ever and I'll never be sorry enough but I can't
:03:20. > :03:22.every time I say sorry it sounds a bit cheap, it just sounds not
:03:23. > :03:45.A little bit, but then so many people do it, so many people.
:03:46. > :03:48.I don't want to hate you for ever, I'm not that type of person.
:03:49. > :03:54.Eventually I will probably be able to forgive you.
:03:55. > :03:57.English teacher Meg is now calling for all schoolchildren to be taught
:03:58. > :04:00.about the dangers of using mobiles behind the wheel before
:04:01. > :04:19.You can see more on that story on Inside Out South on I player.
:04:20. > :04:23.The road from Winchester through the Thames Valley has had
:04:24. > :04:25.several serious and fatal accidents which have hit the headlines
:04:26. > :04:28.But is it any more dangerous than similar routes?
:04:29. > :04:30.We asked the independent organisation, Road Safety Analysis,
:04:31. > :04:35.Over the last ten years the number of crashes
:04:36. > :04:37.on the A34 has reduced in line with the national trend.
:04:38. > :04:46.it was worse than the A303 in Wiltshire.
:04:47. > :04:54.The A34 is around one third safer than the average A road.
:04:55. > :04:58.the result of driver error, NOT the design of the road
:04:59. > :05:10.The Newbury MP says improvements have to be made. There are major
:05:11. > :05:14.strategic issues as well as safety issues and I don't think that that
:05:15. > :05:25.evidence has changed my opinion one iota. In fact it has made it clear
:05:26. > :05:33.that if the A34 is more dangerous, that is an added impetus for us to
:05:34. > :05:37.get major investment in this key arterial route. And if we don't get
:05:38. > :05:41.major investment, could smaller things be done to make a significant
:05:42. > :05:48.difference, things like road marking chevrons? Absolutely. And there are
:05:49. > :05:50.a number of minor junction improvements, some of which have
:05:51. > :06:01.been announced and some in due course. I want to future proof this
:06:02. > :06:07.road for the kind of traffic we are going to be seeing in the next 20,
:06:08. > :06:12.30 years. That road was built to use a fraction of the traffic on it
:06:13. > :06:19.today. If you look to the future and with the expansion of Southampton
:06:20. > :06:25.freight terminal, and the demands of the economy, we have got to be
:06:26. > :06:29.planning for decades ahead, and not just treating the problem as it
:06:30. > :06:36.exists today, which is serious, but looking further into the future as
:06:37. > :06:42.well. Thank you very much. The BBC is holding a special debate on this
:06:43. > :06:48.story tomorrow morning. That is on three of our local radio stations.
:06:49. > :06:50.Bournemouth father-of-three Stephen Mallon was fatally injured
:06:51. > :06:53.after being attacked by armed locals and pushed from a 16ft ledge.
:06:54. > :06:57.Today, at an inquest, his family were told they are now
:06:58. > :06:59.free to cremate Stephen's body - eight years after he died.
:07:00. > :07:06.A quiet Spanish village and an unlikely scene for the most
:07:07. > :07:14.Stephen Mallon and his two sons were set upon by 30 men armed
:07:15. > :07:23.with knuckle dusters, iron bars, belts and bottles.
:07:24. > :07:27.When they came out of that bar they were surrounded and cornered in.
:07:28. > :07:29.An armed mob waiting for them, two young lads with their dad
:07:30. > :07:32.Spanish courts took five years to imprison just one man.
:07:33. > :07:34.He served five years for the equivalent of manslaughter
:07:35. > :07:46.It really is like a living nightmare and we got so used to Stephen
:07:47. > :07:52.being in the mortuary and it seemed really quite normal to us,
:07:53. > :08:01.which is really weird because it is abnormal.
:08:02. > :08:08.The delay has been caused by an appeal process and a lack of legal
:08:09. > :08:13.aid. The family have criticised the coroner's offers for the lack of
:08:14. > :08:15.communication. The coroner today apologised for the delays and any
:08:16. > :08:21.statement blamed the Spanish judicial system but said it was
:08:22. > :08:25.something beyond their control. The conclusion of unlawful killing was
:08:26. > :08:29.held. The funeral has now been scheduled for later this week.
:08:30. > :08:32.He would be so heartbroken to see really what his family has had to go
:08:33. > :08:41.He would just want his children to recover and move forward from this.
:08:42. > :08:44.The Duchess of Cornwall has praised soldiers returning home
:08:45. > :08:49.She spoke today to men and women of The Fourth Battallion
:08:50. > :08:50."The Rifles", in Aldershot, about their recent
:08:51. > :08:52.deployment helping to train Iraqi security forces.
:08:53. > :08:55.Friends and family watched on as it rained heavily on the parade
:08:56. > :08:58.That's all from the South Today news team this evening.
:08:59. > :09:01.We're back tomorrow with bulletins in BBC Breakfast and there's more
:09:02. > :09:15.We saw a lot of rain. Quite a soggy day all in all. The weather for the
:09:16. > :09:18.week ahead will have been and showers at times, some sunny spells
:09:19. > :09:23.and each morning will be pretty chilly, so tonight we have a few
:09:24. > :09:27.heavy showers at the moment which is why the Met office in the last few
:09:28. > :09:30.moments have issued a weather warning for icy conditions through
:09:31. > :09:33.parts of Wiltshire and Doctor Chad and we may see a wind today show
:09:34. > :09:38.what the temperature following to freezing. There may be one or two
:09:39. > :09:43.showers along the south coast but mainly falling as rain so the
:09:44. > :09:46.showers by away tomorrow morning and the bright and sunny start but then
:09:47. > :09:49.the showers get going once again with increasing cloud and they could
:09:50. > :09:54.be when Tilly and they could be when Tyrian places. Falling mainly as
:09:55. > :09:59.rain. The temperature tomorrow up to around seven Celsius and the brisk
:10:00. > :10:03.westerly wind making it feel colder. Tomorrow night the showers ease
:10:04. > :10:07.during the early hours and one North two wind today through parts of
:10:08. > :10:11.Oxfordshire but otherwise a dry start and the temperature falling to
:10:12. > :10:17.around three Celsius. A chilly start on Wednesday, right and a sunny spot
:10:18. > :10:20.and cloud will thicken into the morning and we see outbreaks of rain
:10:21. > :10:24.which will become persistent at times and heavy in places through
:10:25. > :10:30.the day on Wednesday and engulfing much of the region. Highs of 7-10,
:10:31. > :10:34.milder conditions along the south coast, so the rain eventually
:10:35. > :10:38.clearing Wednesday night and once it does Thursday will be mainly dry
:10:39. > :10:42.with a Reg high pressure and cloud increasing through the afternoon and
:10:43. > :10:47.into the evening and the arrival of another weather systems through
:10:48. > :10:51.Friday. Friday still a few days away so things can change but we expect
:10:52. > :10:54.rain at times, gradually easing during the course of the afternoon
:10:55. > :11:00.and into Chevening. The temperature up to around 10 Celsius, so the
:11:01. > :11:01.weekend and settled with rain and showers at times, some sunny spells
:11:02. > :11:05.and feeling chilly. John Hammond has the weather for the
:11:06. > :11:06.rest of