Catch up with all the news across the county with Abby Hook.
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00:00Hello, good evening and welcome to Kent Tonight live on KMTV.
00:28I'm Abbey Hook, here are your top stories on Thursday 28th November.
00:33Hub for the homeless. Accommodation to give young, rough sleepers in Medway a fresh start
00:39opens its doors.
00:41In these challenging times for homelessness, that's what working together in a one Medway
00:45approach is all about.
00:47How will they choose? With one day until the first assisted dying bill in Parliament, we'll
00:52be breaking down how Kent's MPs are likely to vote.
00:56I will not be abstaining, however, I can guarantee that. I will make my mind up one way or the
01:01other, but I'm still listening to viewpoints at this moment in time.
01:05And Medway's muse, ex-police officer, sells art to America after life-changing car accident.
01:13Basically I can't move my hand and I can't twist.
01:27Good evening. New accommodation designed for young, homeless people opened in Chatham today.
01:33But it isn't just about putting a roof over their heads during the colder months.
01:38The Sunrise Foyer aims to give 16 to 25 year olds a place to rebuild their lives after many have
01:44spent time on the streets and help them find employment.
01:47Finn McDermid went to their opening to find out more.
01:50Now that we're getting closer to Christmas, many of us are waiting for warm fires,
01:54dinner with family and presents under the tree. But for some, it's the hardest time of the year.
01:59As the weather gets colder, some have to sleep on the streets, and they're far more vulnerable than usual.
02:05And over the past few years, the number of homeless people in Medway who have
02:08requested help from the council has been increasing.
02:11Today, a new supported accommodation for rough sleepers was opened at Russell Court in Chatham.
02:16It's called the Sunrise Foyer, and according to MHS Homes Group, its aim is to give younger
02:21homeless people somewhere they can keep warm and shelter from the cold.
02:24The building has a gym, laundry room and lots of green space, but the real point of it is to give
02:29these young people a foundation where they can reset and begin to rebuild the rest of their lives.
02:34There are also two rooms with mobility fittings in mind.
02:37I spoke to Ashley Hook from the MHS Group about the origins of the project.
02:42This building here was previously a sheltered housing scheme for older people.
02:46It was very much out of date, and what we've done is repurposed it as a foyer for young people aged between 16 and 25.
02:53Typically somebody might be here for about a year, and we really try to have a plan that not just gives them accommodation,
03:00but actually really tries to optimise their potential around training and employment
03:05and move forward to an independent adult life.
03:08Ashley also mentioned the scheme was acting as a model,
03:11and its success could mean other areas trialling a similar project.
03:15MP for Chatham and Aylesford, Tris Osborne, confirmed that to be the case.
03:19Yeah, so I can say that the Ministry of Local Government is here today.
03:24We've got people who were raised locally as well who are connected,
03:27and so they're going to be looking at this project and the success of it,
03:31and taking lessons from here and transfer that to other locations as well around the country.
03:36In Medway, requests for help from the homeless increased 42%, according to the council, between 2020 and 2023.
03:43So I asked the leader of the council, Vince Maple, about the scope of the issue.
03:47Look, we know there's real challenges, not just here in Medway, but across the county and indeed across the country.
03:52It's also about, importantly, supporting vulnerable young people.
03:56And again, that's where projects like the Sunrise Foyer is going to be at the forefront of that,
04:00making sure where we can make those early interventions, put that wraparound support in place.
04:05Although the scheme drew criticism from locals because of its residential location, the project has gone ahead.
04:11But questions will likely be drawn on whether the scheme will be successful in breaking the cycle of homelessness.
04:16Finn McDermid for KMTV in Chatham.
04:20Next this evening, TV presenter and Biddenden resident Greg Wallace will step down from Masterchef
04:25after historic allegations of misconduct.
04:28It's alleged he made inappropriate sexual comments to 13 people across a range of shows in a 17-year period.
04:35The show's production company have said in a statement,
04:37whilst these complainants have not raised the allegations directly with our show producers or parent company Banje UK,
04:44we feel that it's appropriate to conduct an immediate external review to fully and impartially investigate.
04:50Wallace says he'll fully cooperate with the process,
04:53and his lawyers say it's entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature.
05:00Now, Kent MPs will travel to Parliament tomorrow to vote in what promises to be
05:05one of the most legally significant bills in recent history.
05:09The assisted dying bill will allow terminally ill patients the decision to end their life early.
05:14Bartholomew Hall joined me earlier with the details.
05:17So Bartholomew, how much of an indication do we have of how our Kent MPs will be voting tomorrow?
05:23Well, a few of them have shared with us how they intend to vote.
05:26Others have decided to keep it very close to their chest.
05:29We know assisted dying is a very complex issue, a very personal choice for a lot of people,
05:34and that's why MPs have been allowed the decision without any sort of influence from their parties this week.
05:40Now, let's take a look at our tracker. We've been working on this one with reporters over at Kent Online.
05:45We've reached out to all of Kent's MPs, and these are the ones that have shared it with us.
05:49So in the four category, we have three Labour MPs who are in favour of assisted dying.
05:54Folkestone's Tony Vaughan at the top left there.
05:57Next to him is Rochester and Street MP Lauren Edwards, and Sittingbourne and Sheppey's Kevin McKenna underneath there.
06:02Now, all three of them have said that they've been receiving letters from their constituents
06:06telling them how strongly they are for the bill.
06:08And interestingly, Kevin McKenna on the bottom here, he is a former intensive care nurse,
06:12and he said that this bill would give dignity to patients at the end of their lives.
06:17Now over on the against category, these are people who don't want to see the bill passed to law.
06:21We have two Labour MPs on the top and two Conservative MPs on the bottom row.
06:27Those two on the top row is another former nurse actually, Sojan Joseph, who's the MP for Ashford,
06:33and Polly Billington, who's the MP for East Thanet.
06:35Now the two Tories on the bottom, Sir Roger Gale, he told us that for personal and practical reasons,
06:41he's against the bill.
06:42And Helen Grant there over in the bottom right corner says that she doesn't consider the bill to be safe or effective.
06:48Regardless of whether or not the vote does go through.
06:51If it does go through, this time there'll be plenty more debate and I'm sure it won't be the last we hear of it.
06:55What kind of picture do we have on how the whole vote will go? What the outcome could be?
07:00Well, the tricky thing is that you can have as many of these trackers as you like up and down the country.
07:04There is so many MPs who just aren't decided yet as to whether or not they're going to be for or against this bill tomorrow.
07:12One of those is one of our local MPs, Tris Osborne from Chatham and Aylesford, another Labour MP.
07:17And he told us this today.
07:19I am considering my options at the moment. I've had representation from religious leaders in Medway,
07:24also from my residents, as well as my regular surgeries that I hold and coffee events.
07:29I am still balancing these judgments. They're very fine indeed.
07:33And I will be listening to the debate tomorrow where I intend to make my mind up.
07:38I will not be abstaining. However, I can guarantee that I will make my mind up one way or the other.
07:44But I'm still listening to the points at this moment in time.
07:47Because there are just so many MPs who are undecided, like Tris Osborne, it's just too close to call at this time.
07:53Now, another undecided MP is Jim Dixon. He's the MP for Dartford.
07:57He's actually hosting an event at Parliament tonight where he's invited speakers from the two main campaign groups,
08:04both for and against the bill, one of them being Care Not Killing and the other being Dignity in Dying.
08:09He says he's undecided. He's also invited a few of his constituents along to present arguments.
08:14And he says that based on that, he will come to a decision for tomorrow's vote.
08:18Bartholomew Hall there giving us all the detail on our Kent MPs and how they'll be voting and what that vote will look like tomorrow.
08:26We'll have more on the Assisted Dying Bill tomorrow.
08:28Next this evening, cocaine, bananas and a boat.
08:32Three things central to an armed raid conducted by the National Crime Agency and Kent Police last year.
08:38Seven men, including a port security guard, were charged with conspiracy to import cocaine with a street value worth more than £90 million into the county.
08:47Our reporter Jasmine Sander joined me earlier from Maidstone Crown Court.
08:53Jasmine, so cocaine and bananas. Tell me how these two are related in this case.
08:59Well, Abby, there has been around 1.2 tonnes of cocaine that has been smuggled from Costa Rica to Sheerness docks.
09:08And how are the bananas involved?
09:10Well, they were used to disguise the cocaine.
09:14So one of the seven gang members went to Spitalfields and found the bananas boxes there and used them as a way to conceal the cocaine.
09:28So what they did is they removed the cocaine from the original boxes in Costa Rica.
09:33And then when they were transported to Sheerness docks, the idea was to replace those bananas that had been removed.
09:40So as to seem like nothing had gone awry.
09:43And what have you been hearing in court today?
09:48Well, we've heard the prosecution lay out their case.
09:53A lot of evidence has been submitted from as early as October 2021 to 20th of December 2021 when the police raid happened.
10:03And essentially, there was a period of a two-month surveillance by camp police and the National Crime Agency.
10:12And they were surveilling this gang who had been having meetings at pubs, at cafes, at service stations.
10:20And they'd also managed to get a hold of telephone communications between members of the gang as well.
10:27So we've been hearing about all of that today.
10:30And learning what happened on the night of the 20th of December when the raid happened.
10:37And how there was an inside man named Sam Elphick who was a security guard at the dock, at Sheerness docks,
10:45who let in the gang members who were supposed to be smuggling the cocaine from the container into Kent.
10:55Jasmine, there's been no sentencing as of yet?
11:01No, there hasn't been a sentencing as of yet.
11:03That is expected to come tomorrow.
11:06The trial has been going on for two days now.
11:09And we'll be expecting a sentencing tomorrow for all of the parties involved.
11:16The six men who were in the gang who have all pled guilty for the plot to smuggle Class A drugs.
11:26And also a sentencing for the security guard, Sam Elphick, who was 13, from Kent,
11:32who has pled guilty to being involved with organised crime.
11:39Jasmine Sandow joining us from Maidstone Crown Court earlier today.
11:43Now time for a very short break, but coming up, more news from right across the county.
11:47I'll see you then.
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15:51She credits her success to her strong-willed nature and has even experienced homelessness.
15:57I was homeless. I was on the streets in Chelsea and I thought to myself, look, is this it for me?
16:04Is that all that's going to be for me? I'm just going to die on the streets at the age of 16, 17.
16:11The car crash left me with life-changing injuries, so I couldn't do my job anymore.
16:18Basically, I can't move my hand and I can't twist.
16:24Doctors told her surgery could leave her paralysed from the waist down.
16:28I always know that something good is going to come out of it.
16:31So when I had the accident and like five years later they told me that's it. I mean,
16:37I'd actually studied for my sergeants. I'd passed my exams second time round. I was so chuffed.
16:44I thought, great, I'm going to have a team. It's going to be amazing.
16:47And then overnight everything changed. But the way that you have to look at it,
16:52it doesn't matter how bad things get. It doesn't matter if it's five minutes, five days,
16:58weeks, months, years, even decades later, something good is going to come out of it.
17:03It's just you don't always see it at the time.
17:06But the ambidextrous artist taught herself how to draw using online tutorials and says art
17:11helps calm her anxious mind.
17:13And I was doodling, literally just doodling on a piece of paper.
17:17And I thought, oh, hello, that's not too bad. So I got onto YouTube.
17:23Then I started buying equipment. I now have a mantra,
17:26which is basically bad things happen for good reasons.
17:30Now Anne runs a successful studio from her Chatham living room.
17:34Her social media reach has meant she's had customers from as far away as the USA.
17:39Now she wants to start painting and turn her attention to landscapes.
17:43Art didn't always seem like the natural career path for Anne.
17:46After achieving a D in her art A level, she's managed to make some extraordinary portraits,
17:52specialising in humans and pets. And this is Anne with her dog Rupert.
17:57Xenia Nakvi for CAME TV in Chatham.
18:02What a lovely story. Very sweet, her dog there at the end.
18:05Now, as well as catching us here live 5.30 every weekday, don't forget you can keep up
18:10to date with your latest stories across Ken over on our website. It's CAMETV.co.uk.
18:15There you'll find all our reports, including this one about taxi prices getting more expensive
18:19in Tunbridge, Wales. Going to the shops, travelling to work or getting home after a night out
18:26could be about to get more expensive. That's if you go by taxi in Tunbridge, Wales.
18:32For proposed changes, we'll bring the tariffs in line with other districts in the area.
18:37Although there's quite a split in rates. Tunbridge, Wales would become the second
18:42most expensive area to hail a cab in Kent. A local Hackney carriage company has requested for rise.
18:50One of the reasons why these cabbies are asking for a tariff increase is because
18:55most of their passengers nowadays, when they open their wallet, they're not paying with cash,
18:59but rather reaching for their card. And for the drivers, that means fewer tips and less profit.
19:062022 was the last time there was a tariff increase.
19:11The council every year has keep them putting their rates up to us by five, six percent. This
19:18year is only four and a half percent. Card fees, the public wanted us to take cards. We listened
19:25to you. We got told we've got to take card machines. And that is a cost that we have
19:32swallowed, but we can't swallow it anymore.
19:36Taxi drivers themselves can't raise tariffs. It's down to the local licensing committee.
19:43So I'm not inclined to accept that card payments are a massive issue here.
19:52The cost of card payments, because not everybody pays by card anyway.
19:56The cost of living perhaps is cars are getting more expensive. Financing cars is getting a lot
20:03more expensive. Gone are the days where the term free money was bandied around.
20:08Council has voted unanimously for the increase. It'll now go to consultation.
20:14If there are no objections, it'll be implemented later this year.
20:18Gabriel Morris in Tunbridge Wells.
20:22Now let's take a very quick look at the weather forecast.
20:26Some mist in Dover and Medway, but clear skies across the board. Otherwise,
20:34temperatures between three and four degrees there. Two in Canterbury though.
20:39Moving into tomorrow morning, clear skies continue. Staying sunny, wind speeds will
20:44increase to 11. The same into the afternoon. Sunshine continues for your Friday afternoon.
20:49Some clouds over Dover though, clearing and not too much wind. And here's your outlook.
20:53Saturday, expect some cloud. Sunday, much of the same.
20:56Temperatures dropping down to seven degrees by Monday.
21:09Now, today marks Thanksgiving over in America. So we thought we'd get our resident film expert
21:14in to tell us the very best films all about the celebration. And of course,
21:18another episode of Kent Film Club tonight on KMTV right after Kent Tonight,
21:23where earlier I caught up with Chris Deasy to find out what influence this holiday has
21:27had on us over here in England. Chris, thank you very much for joining us.
21:32Now, of course, today is Thanksgiving, something we don't really celebrate over here in the UK,
21:36but for many Americans living here in Kent, they'll be celebrating it,
21:40maybe joining their family virtually like you're joining me now. But tell me,
21:44what's the best Thanksgiving film? I was giving this some thought because
21:49you may remember last year, we were talking a lot about horror around this time of year
21:53and a film called Thanksgiving, which was directed by Eli Roth. And it pays homage to the roots of
22:01the Thanksgiving tradition with all its Puritan ethos and the way that capitalism, which is seen
22:07as the villain of the piece, has destroyed that. And it uses violence and religion as ways of
22:13trying to understand the sanctity of family and the importance of the Puritan Thanksgiving tradition.
22:21I was looking at some of the films today and some of the key moments. There's planes,
22:25trains and automobiles. Rocky in Spider-Man 2002, Peter Parker, he's late to Thanksgiving dinner.
22:31That's a part of the movie where it's that transition between Act Two and Act Three. It's
22:35also in the blind side as well, where he doesn't actually even know what Thanksgiving is. And it's
22:39the first time he's experiencing that. So it seems that there's these real themes, I suppose,
22:44quite similar to Christmas, that same sort of coming of age, homecoming, that romantic comedies
22:50are often centered around as well. But how do those themes differ from movies about Thanksgiving
22:55or with Thanksgiving scenes in them to then the Christmas celebration?
23:01That is a really important question because I grew up seeing films sent, like planes, trains
23:06and automobiles, which were set around Thanksgiving where there's a big turkey. And I thought this is
23:10indistinguishable from the Christmas festival. And I think the crucial thing is that from an
23:17American perspective, it's about the colonies. It's about the first American settlers.
23:23And I think that you find films like that always put family first. Nobody's Fool, a Robert Benton
23:29film from 1994, is a remarkable, very small scale film with Paul Newman, Jessica Tandy,
23:35set around Thanksgiving. And that's where you have an estranged family. How do you have a couple
23:41who've been separated or divorced for many years? Is there a moment of reconciliation? Do they go
23:46their separate ways? Thanksgiving is the moment. In so many films, it's the way that it prioritizes
23:52family in a way that I think for us, we see Christmas as doing that very thing. Almost like
23:58Thanksgiving kicks off this notion of what are the values that we hold most dear? And we take that
24:03through with us until December. Another key way, and slightly different actually, where it's
24:07translated into British culture, of course, Black Friday. It comes straight after Thanksgiving and
24:13it originated from America, of course. And it was actually, I was researching this today, described
24:18the chaos of the day after Thanksgiving by police officers, they said, with all the shopping and the
24:23traffic. And then a lot of people just started using the term and it sort of kept going throughout
24:28the years. I suppose that's one of the key things that us Brits have taken over because we love a
24:32bargain. Yes, and that's the irony about Thanksgiving because, you know, we always talk about Christmas
24:39and it's a time when the shops are closed and family is there. Because online, people still
24:43make their purchases over Christmas. But there is that thing that we hold dear, which I think is true
24:47of both Thanksgiving and Christmas. And where Black Friday ironically is sort of confused, muddled up
24:54with the very celebrations that we're talking about. And yet, of course, they're commercially
24:59latent. But we buy things for family. You know, that's the thing about Christmas. You know, people
25:03say sometimes, oh, Christmas has become commercialised. But why do we buy gifts? Who do we buy them for?
25:09We do it for the people who are close to us, the people we love.
25:12Interesting chat with Chris and, of course, Kent Film Club on Right After Kent tonight this evening.
25:17But finally, just before we hand over to Chris with Kent Film Club, as part of Kent Online's
25:22Have A Go Joe series, reporter Joe Crosley's been scorpion wrangling. No, not in the outback,
25:29not over in Australia, but right here in Kent, in fact, in Sheerness. He's been searching ancient
25:34walls to find the creatures and help the volunteers protect them. Well, let's see Joe have a go then.
25:41I'm here at the Bluetown Criterion Museum in Sheerness, which is looking for volunteers to
25:45become scorpion wranglers. Their job is to basically patrol the walls and find the scorpion colony,
25:52which came here in the 1800s. I'm going to have a go today.
25:56Well, it's kind of really difficult this time of the year because it's a little bit cold.
26:00So I would imagine if I was a scorpion, I'd be in bed, tucked up nice and warm. But during the
26:07summer, the walls here at Sheerness Docks team with scorpions and people tend to think that they're
26:19big and evil, like they see in David Attenborough documentaries. But they're not, they're really
26:25tiny. They are titty witchy things. You can just see it's little sort of clawy things.
26:33Oh, fantastic. Who would have thought? Scorpions in Sheerness. More on Kent Online tomorrow. Watch
26:41Joe's full video and see what he thought about his scorpion wrangling experience. Who would
26:45have thought? That's all from me. Bye-bye.