20/04/2017 South Today

continuing coverage throughout the night

Hello, and welcome to South Today. I'm Edward Sault.

The top stories this evening - support for Billy.

More than ?500,000 is raised for this 17-year-old

from Surrey, who's had both legs amputated

Police investigate the horrific killing

They say it could be linked to others around the UK.

It is unimaginable what happened to such a dear, sweet

And the not so smart card ticketing system

that's millions of pounds over budget

He was tipped as a Formula One star of the future,

but in a split second his life changed forever.

17-year-old Billy Monger from Charlwood in Surrey was racing

in last weekend's British Formula four championships when he crashed

His injuries were so bad he's had both his lower legs amputated.

But now an online appeal for him has already raised more

than ?500,000. Lewis Coombes reports.

It started as just another race for a young driver

This footage from Billy's on-board camera

He was trapped for 90 minutes after colliding

with another Formula 4 car, which appeared to have

He has actually had the lower leg, just before his knee

He has actually had the lower leg, just below his knee

on his right leg, removed, and then his left leg

it is halfway up his thigh, where it has been removed.

It is obviously devastating news for us

all, but I think the main thing is to keep a brave

he seems to be doing well and holding up well.

Those in charge at Donington, where the incident took

place, say the accident will now be examined in full, but given a strong

safety record, racing continued today at Thruxton, with cars

displaying stickers carrying Billy's name.

I cannot remember another serious accident of that nature for

many, many years, and given the number of race miles that are

completed, you know, it has the safest record

of any racing series, bar none, I would suggest.

News of Billy's accident has echoed around

An online appeal to raise funds for his

rehabilitation has raised over ?500,000

likes of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton pledging their support.

One of the few people that you will always know will light up

He is an incredibly personable young guy, incredibly

passionate about motorsport, and seeing the next generation of kids

Looking after a lot of kids from eight years old with

go-karts, so he is incredibly passionate about about what he

does, and he just loves the sport.

And to see that happen to such a lovely guy is such a

But, at the same time, you can see the

incredible support he has got, and that is testament to just how

Tom Ingram, a close friend of Billy, ending that report,

Now, all the money raised for this trust

fund is going to help Billy and his family on that

undoubtedly long road of recovery and rehabilitation.

Next month here, at Thruxton, each of the

32 British touring cars are going to carry messages

of support for Billy on their bonnet.

It is clear he is a popular young man in the world of

Police say confidence in reporting sexual crimes could be behind

the sharp increase in reported rapes in Sussex and Surrey.

Figures have more than doubled in four years.

In 2016 there were over 1,000 reports in Sussex,

Surrey Police say they've seen a 30% rise over

There were more than 500 reports last year.

This rape victim - who doesn't want to be identified -

says it's encouraging more people are coming forward

Although it is going to be a very gruelling two or three days of

sitting there, giving evidence, you know that you will have helped

and that, to me, was really, really important.

But some charities in the South say the conviction rate

I would like to see a shortening of the timescale

The people who start in the process are the ones who may well dropout

The people who start in the process are the ones who may well drop out

And unless you can keep someone safe during that process, mentally, then

they are not going to go forward physically to stand in a courtroom

A man questioned on suspicion of arson

following a fire at a stately home in Dorset

has been released under investigation.

The blaze at Parnham House near Beaminster broke out on Saturday,

A Roman coffin on display in Prince Charles' urban development

in Dorset has been badly damaged by vandals.

Police say the 1,600-year-old sarcophagus in Poundbury

Police in Portsmouth are investigating the horrific

killing of a cat in Southsea over the Easter weekend.

They're linking it with two other similar attacks on cats in Hampshire

and the Isle of Wight, and with many more attacks nationally believed

to be the work of one individual known as the UK cat killer.

Jo Kent is in Southsea tonight. Jo, what happened?

It was outside this shop that Poppy, a two-year-old cat and much loved

her body dumped across the road for passers-by to find.

It's just yards from her home and it is believed that it happened

between 10.30 at night and 1.30 in the morning from Easter Sunday

Her death is devastating for her owners, but all the more

so because of the horrific nature of how it happened.

She was just such a friendly little thing, and I've

We would come down the road, we live in a small cul-de-sac,

and Poppy would run up to greet us when we were on our way back from

At the moment, it is very difficult to sleep, because you

Last night, I could not leave the baby in

the nursery, because I just felt unsafe.

It is unimaginable what happened to such a dear, sweet

Well, initially the person who found Poppy's body was told it

wasn't really a police matter but it soon emerged that this may not be

an isolated case and is probably linked to a number of other killings

into which there is already a police investigation.

In the South, Hampshire Police are now linking it to two other cases,

one also in Portsmouth at the start of April,

and another in Sandown in the Isle of Wight last summer.

So, what do we know about the 'UK cat killer'?

Killings were first reported in 2015 and were largely happening

Now it's believed there are more than 200 cases.

The deaths are similar, with most of the cats,

There's a reward of ?10,000 being offered for information

The concern is that this individual could move

on from killing and mutilating cats to harming humans.

In, the meantime Poppy's owners are urging other owners

It was meant to offer cheap rail tickets to passengers in the South,

but a smart card scheme designed to replace paper tickets has run

millions of pounds over budget and failed to deliver,

Our transport correspondent Paul Clifton has more.

The idea was to help passengers move to smart cards, including

flexible season tickets for people who commute part-time.

The original cost was put at ?45 million, but the final bill

was ?54 million, plus a further ?66 million to make London ticket

machines read mainline railway smart cards.

The business case relied on 95% of season ticket holders

The Government has failed on their 2015 manifesto commitment,

they have failed on delivering a promise back in 2013 to deliver

smart and flexible ticketing, and at the same time,

they have wasted an astonishing amount of taxpayers' money

on a smart and flexible ticketing scheme that has delivered

11 train operators were to offer smart cards.

Only one offers a flexible part-time option.

Southern and South West Trains have done

The back office functions to make these work

do not rely on the Government system.

Train companies have fallen a decade behind the bus industry,

the London Underground has long switched to contactless bank cards,

yet nearly all rail commuters still use paper tickets.

The world's strongest man was in Southampton today,

Zydrunas Savickas was flipping tyres with Aaron Page from Southampton.

It'll be one of the most difficult disciplines in the Ultimate

Strongman World Series UK qualifier being held at St Mary's in June.

That's all from the South Today news team this evening.

We're back tomorrow with bulletins in BBC Breakfast, and there's more

Here with our regional weather forecast is Alexis.

Through the course of tonight we are expecting some cloud, it should be

mainly dry with the odd spot of rain, but where we do have clearing

skies, there is the chance of some mist and fog patches. Temperatures

will drop bullied drop around to 5 degrees. Tomorrow is a milder day

than today, a lot of cloud, some brighter spells here and there.

There will be the odd isolated shower. Temperatures may be up to 15

Celsius with fairly light winds. Further cloud expected tomorrow

night, staying milder until the latter part of Saturday when this

cold weather front will slip southwards. Saturday will start on a

fairly cloudy note, you can see this area of high pressure starts to

build in from the Atlantic, settling things down. On Saturday night, we

may have quite a hard frost to start Sunday morning, and another frost

possible on Sunday night as well. A chillier feel over the weekend,

tomorrow is the milder day with highs of 15 Celsius. More

week for much of the UK and for more about that and the UK outlook, Helen

Willetts. The sunshine make such a difference

this time of year, only 12 or so degrees under the cloud today but 19

in eastern Scotland not far away from St Andrews. Also in north-east

England, where we had the majority of the decent sunshine. Even under

cloud it was dry for the most part. We have this week whether forgiving

showers in the south. This weather front starting to pep up in the

North, it'll change