05/06/2017 South Today

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

18 years in prison for murdering his partner's young son.

Joseph Eke is sentenced for killing Harry House who was two years old.

Also, struggling to keep staffing levels safe -

the health services here with an ongoing recruitment crisis

And we've got some very wet and windy weather to come today. Will

that last all week? The full forecast later in the programme.

A man from Dorset has been sentenced to a minimum

of 18 years in prison for murdering his

Joseph Eke kicked and punched two-year-old Harry House at his home

in Broadmayne last May while Harry's mother was out shopping.

Anjana Gadgil is live from Winchester Crown Court

A horrific case for everybody involved.

Little toddler Harry died from a blow to the abdomen

A post-mortem examination showed he also had a fractured skull

Last month 22-year-old Joseph Eke, the partner of Harry's mother

Lauren O'Neill was convicted of Harry's murder.

The trial heard that Ms O'Neill had gone to buy washing powder but had

returned to find her son turning white and his lips turning blue.

Eke denied his guilt all along and today Dorset police have issued

this footage of Eke being questioned after his arrest.

I've not assaulted him, I've not ever laid a finger on him.

Ms O'Neill was emotional throughout the trial and again

today during sentencing - and declined to talk to us

but Dorset police said they were pleased with the outcome.

Harry should be a three and a half-year-old boy.

He should be looking forward to school over the next year.

Unfortunately, that life has been taken from him.

So, the whole investigation team is very sad.

We've had a picture up of Harry in our crew room for the whole time.

I'm pleased that justice has been served but it's a sad day.

In sentencing, the judge at Winchester Crown Court,

Ms Justice May, said, "No-one will ever know the extent

of your mistreatment of Harry over the last few days and weeks

You wilfully, fatally failed Harry when you assaulted

Three lanes of the M3 Northbound in Hampshire are to remain closed

for the rest of the afternoon after a serious crash this morning.

Three lorries and a car are reported to have been involved.

It happened between junctions nine and ten near the Winnal roundabout,

an Air Ambulance was called to the scene.

Investigations are continuing into a murder of a man

in Blackbird Leys - as Thames Valley Police have told

the public they "won't tolerate violence of this kind"

Yesterday police confirmed five people aged between 16

and 27 had been arrested in relation to the incident.

They have appealed for anyone who was near the Premier shop

on the junction of Pegasus Road and Crowberry Rd from 10pm

There's been increased police presence across parts of the South -

following the terror attacks in London.

Extra officers have been out on the streets and attending busy

There is currently believed to be no specific risk to the region,

but the police are urging us to keep alert.

Meanwhile four thousand worshippers observed a minute's silence

led by the Archbishop of Canterbury inside Winchester Cathedral

as a mark of respect to those killed and wounded

We acknowledge, as Christians, or we should, the reality of evil.

Of deep and profound wickedness and of the

anger and grief and sadness and compassion for those affected that

every single person here will be feeling.

Health services across the South are struggling to keep

staffing levels safe because of an ongoing

Latest figures from NHS Digital show our hospitals,

community health trusts and ambulance services

have a combined total of well over 4,500 vacancies.

Our Health Correspondent, Nikki Mitchell, reports.

With 30 years experience, Bridget Catterall is much in demand, filling

shifts which different hospitals can't fill because they have too

many vacancies. I work as an agency nurse. I'm there because there is a

shortage of nurses. People going home company lead to moral eyes to,

depleted. I have felt the same myself. Those sort of shifts when

your workload is intense and you're not getting breaks, going home very

late. That is very frequent. Unfortunately the situation is

becoming unsustainable and we need to look to a future government to

put in a strategy that meet the needs of patients. We want to start

a national workforce strategy. We want to make sure EU nationals

currently working in the NHS and care sector can remain here with an

NHS passport to remain here. We want to make sure bursaries are given to

nurses who want to train and we want to remove the pay gap because in the

south-east and the south it is very expensive to live. We want to focus

on training people without compromising standards and we need

to make sure that people feel their work is rewarding, not overburdened

by bureaucracy and that they do get a reasonable reward. First thing we

would do is remove the 1% pay cap so the staff can earn a decent wage.

Secondly, guaranteed you workers can stay after Brexit. Thirdly, to

provide more support for student nurses. We need to expand training

places and restore the bursary for NHS students. We need to value staff

and make them feel welcome and supported at work. We need to stop

people leaving. In its manifesto you -- Ukip says...

Bridget is keen to stress that being a nurse is hugely rewarding. She

just wishes that there were enough of them to meet soaring demand. In

the past I've not wanted to talk to watch about the staffing crisis

because it worries the general public. I personally think it's time

for people to become worried. Given the years it takes to train nurses,

doctors and health professionals, unions believe it will take

successive governments to solve the NHS's critical staff shortage once

and for all. We'll have more on that tonight at 6:30pm.

Time for the weather with Bee Tucker.

We have got some wet and windy weather spreading in

We've seen very little in the way of sunshine.

We've had a lot of cloud already today and we're starting

This week generally is going to be unsettled.

Spells offering push in, heavy at times, often quite windy too.

There will be dry and bright spells but over the next few days

You can see the bulk of the rain out towards the West.

A few holes, generally fairly cloudy.

That rain will only get heavier as the afternoon goes on.

Southerly winds pick up along the south coast.

I think, in rush hour, that rain could be quite heavy,

coupled with strong winds could lead to some fairly challenging

The rain continues for most of the night.

Eventually, as the low pulls away, will see the rain easing.

Most parts dry by dawn, still quite windy, so no

Tomorrow, I think we'll see early rain clearing and then a mixture

We pick up northwesterly airflow tomorrow.

So, it is still going to be a very windy day.

That will feed in some showers, heavy at times.

Perhaps even the odd rumble of thunder.

More sunshine, more dry weather than many of us have seen today.

Unsettled as we head through the week.

Another fairly windy day on Wednesday

Towards the tail end of the week, the winds ease and things

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