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00:00Hello, good evening and welcome to Kent Tonight live on KMTV. I'm Abbey Hook. Here are your
00:12top stories on Friday the 29th of November.
00:16Vote passes but debate continues. Kent widower urges a sister dying bill to pass as Kent
00:22MPs are split in the Commons.
00:25I have some kind of guilt because really I would have loved to have helped her to die.
00:34£90 million off the streets. She and her smugglers sentenced after cocaine caught in
00:40banana boxes.
00:43And a kitten's Christmas miracle. Herne Bay Cat Café calls on customers to support
00:49their furry friend.
00:51She was found on Mother's Day by a member of the public together with her five siblings.
00:56Sadly they were born in Terential Ray.
01:09First tonight, MPs including many of ours here in Kent have voted in favour of an historic
01:14bill that would allow some terminally ill patients to end their lives early.
01:19330 MPs voted in favour whilst 275 were against. Here in Kent, 10 of our representatives were
01:27against while 8 were for.
01:30It follows months of debate with many highly personal stories coming to the foreground
01:35including one man from Chesfield near Canterbury who lost his wife following a battle with
01:39lymphoma. Mike Moroney says he's shocked euthanasia isn't already part of UK law.
01:45Bartholomew Hall has been to meet him and a warning, this report may be distressing
01:49to some viewers.
01:50As a country, we should be ashamed that we haven't passed a law before now. Why? I believe
01:59it's a lack of moral fibre.
02:02Mike Moroney has been campaigning for assisted dying for years. Following the painful loss
02:06of his sister, Mike says he's shocked the UK doesn't allow people the choice to end
02:11their lives early when terminally ill.
02:13However, the fight grew even larger when his wife Pauline was taken into palliative care
02:19as she entered a losing battle with lymphoma.
02:22I just want to die, she said, several times. And you know, I have some kind of guilt because
02:37really I would have loved to have helped her to die. And that's why I'm so much in favour
02:44of a law in this country which allows people to be medically assisted.
02:51Today, MPs voted for the first time in favour of making assisted dying legal. It's now set
02:57to face many more months of debate and scrutiny on the path to becoming law.
03:01In its current form, the bill sets out a number of requirements which must be met before someone
03:06can end their life early. That includes for them to be ill enough where they're expected
03:10to die within the next six months, for them to have the mental capacity in order to make
03:15the decision, so free from coercion or pressure, and for two independent doctors plus a High
03:20Court judge to sign off on the final decision.
03:24Mike's MP, Rosie Duffield, announced the night before the debates that after careful consideration
03:29she would not be supporting the bill.
03:31Very disappointed. I won't want to say any more. I'm sorry, Rosie, if you hear this.
03:37I believe this is a lack of moral fibre. You're not thinking and putting yourself through
03:43the thought process for other people other than your own particular views.
03:49Others, including Sittingbourne and Sheppey representative Kevin McKenna, have been in
03:53full support.
03:54I've worked with really compassionate and very skilled, well-trained clinicians who've
03:59been taught to spot coercion. It's fundamental to our practice.
04:02Others have been clear about their concerns.
04:05At the moment, there's a lack of experience in hospitals. The hospices are under-resourced.
04:13Both are capable of providing excellent services.
04:17Moving forward, this could be something that we should consider and maybe it came too soon
04:23into this Parliament as well. So maybe more discussion, more debates around this.
04:29I'm not convinced in the current legislation it's strong enough to support this bill.
04:37So whilst the debate is far from over, for campaigners like Mike, today's vote is a welcome
04:42step towards more choice when families are faced with the unimaginable.
04:46Bartholomew Hall for KMTV.
04:50Bartholomew joins me now. Incredibly moving hearing Mike there, Bartholomew.
04:54But tell us, how did Kent's MPs vote today?
04:56Well, we can take a look at it.
04:57Yesterday, I sat here and we looked through our tracker.
05:00Many MPs not wanting to share publicly how they intended to vote, some of them undecided
05:04until today.
05:05Let's take a look at the four group.
05:08Unlike the national picture, we actually had more against than for.
05:11So I'll just run you through these now.
05:13Some of the big names, Tris Osborne, Jim Dixon, both being sort of unsure on how they were
05:18going to vote.
05:20We heard from Tris Osborne yesterday, Jim Dixon actually hosted an event at Parliament
05:23overnight.
05:24A few more of the names, Mike Tapp, Tony Vaughan, Lauren Edwards, Kevin McKenna, those are all
05:28Labour MPs.
05:29But we did have Laura Trott, who's a Conservative, and Mike Martin, who's our only Liberal Democrat
05:34MP in there as well.
05:35And it actually goes to show that this was a cross-party issue.
05:39There was no whip, so parties weren't allowed to tell their representatives, their members
05:43how to vote.
05:45And that's why you see this whole divide.
05:46And we look at the against category and it's the exact same thing.
05:49Let's take a look at that now.
05:50Sojourn Joseph, who we heard from in that piece, who's a Labour MP, and Sir Roger Gale,
05:54both here in the against category, who's a Conservative.
05:57So we see how this isn't really a politically charged issue.
06:00We were talking about it on The Politics Show just before the break.
06:02It will be available on our website as well, about how MPs in the debates today weren't
06:08trying to score points against each other.
06:10They were just trying to get to the root cause of what has been a very complex and very personal
06:15issue for a lot of people.
06:16And you mentioned even there, I mean, the story that we heard today from our contributor
06:21there in our piece, a very moving, very personal story.
06:24And as we say, this is far from over.
06:26This will be debated more, and I'm sure more of those personal stories will be coming to
06:30the forefront.
06:31Bartholomew, thank you very much.
06:36This evening, an investigation is underway after a train derailed in Ramsgate.
06:42Pictures show it completely off the tracks, but the train had no passengers at the time
06:45and was travelling slowly in the depot area near the station.
06:49Luckily, no injuries were reported.
06:51A spokesperson for Southeastern Network Rail Alliance.
06:55I think these are the wrong pictures we're showing you at the minute.
06:57This is for our next story this evening, but I think we can get those pictures of the train
07:00derailed up on your screen shortly.
07:03Network Rail Alliance said there was some disruption to their services.
07:06As you can see here, that train off the tracks on the left there, they said if any customers
07:09were delayed, they can claim delay repay.
07:12The rail company are updating their website, their app, X and WhatsApp and apologize for
07:17any inconvenience caused.
07:20Now, seven men have been jailed for a total of more than 74 years after they were stopped
07:27from smuggling an estimated street value of 100 million pounds of cocaine into Sheerness.
07:33They used a shipment of bananas to hide the drugs, but police were in fact monitoring
07:37the group for two months before they were arrested back in 2021.
07:40Well, Finn McDermott joins me on the sofa now.
07:43Finn, tell me exactly what they were charged with and how long for they were sentenced.
07:48Well, they had been charged with a number of crimes.
07:53Sorry, I'm just realizing I've got the wrong notes.
07:56What I can tell you, I'm afraid, is that they, their main man was...
08:02I'll tell you what, Finn, we'll go to the next part of our show, we'll get your notes
08:05back and we'll bring this story as well.
08:06Obviously, this detail did come in late into the day for us this afternoon with the sentencing
08:12coming in about 4pm this afternoon, but we'll go to the next part of our show, we'll come
08:16back to that story.
08:17Now, Kent Farmer and international superstar JB Gill swapped the sheep for the samba as
08:22he enters the quarterfinals of BBC Strictly Come Dancing.
08:25He was partnered up with professional dancer Amy Dowden, who was diagnosed with breast
08:29cancer last year.
08:30Well, earlier this month, she had to pull out of the competition after falling ill.
08:34JB was partnered up with another professional, Lauren, to continue his journey.
08:38Well, ahead of the quarterfinals tomorrow, he's been speaking to KMFM.
08:42I've always been taking it week after week and, you know, it's been busy.
08:45Of course, you can imagine, you know, every single week you're learning a new routine,
08:49but, you know, you're kind of slotting in work in between that.
08:52And, you know, that's kind of, you know, been my focus, really, just taking one week as
08:56it goes and seeing what happens.
08:58It's been challenging, of course, you know, there's lots of, you know, changes that you
09:02have to kind of undergo.
09:04It's not easy, but Lauren's amazing and it's been great working with her.
09:10And yeah, of course, looking forward to taking things as far as I can, really.
09:13You know, Amy's been amazing.
09:15Obviously, you know, we've started a great partnership in the early days.
09:20And so, yeah, I've just been obviously keeping in touch and, you know, wishing her well.
09:26And of course, that quarterfinal this weekend, well, Finn is still with me now.
09:30You've got your notes back up, Finn.
09:32Tell us, this has been a really important story we've been looking at covering the sentencing
09:35over the past couple of days.
09:37It come in today, seven men in prison for more than 74 years.
09:41What can you tell us about their individual sentences?
09:43Well, to tell you about that, I've got to tell you about who we have here.
09:46So there's seven of them, like you mentioned, and Sam Elphick was their inside man as a
09:51security guard who works at the port.
09:53Now, he pled guilty to participating in the activities of an organised crime group, which
09:59means he'll serve two years.
10:01The other six, I think most of them are from Manchester and Hertfordshire, they had to
10:06admit conspiracy to import the drugs between November and December of 2021.
10:11Now, they appeared for their sentencing, I believe it was a two-day period that ended
10:16today at Maidstone Crown Court.
10:19The prosecutor, just to expand on more of their roles, said Danny Laird and Joel McCahie
10:24were the leaders, they got 14 and 13 years respectively, while Darren Lorry, who'll go
10:30away for 12 years, he was in charge of training the other three members there to use the forklifts
10:36as it was such a large quantity of drugs.
10:39And Finn, what else can you tell us about the case itself?
10:44Well, it was more about the case itself, there was multiple amounts of drugs, I think it
10:52was 1,210 packages, totalling about 1.2 tonnes, and we have some images of the drugs there.
11:03I think we can also show you some pictures of some of the CCTV of the moment one of the
11:08insiders was arrested here, we can see the van coming in.
11:11This is one of the trucks they had, they had two of these trucks, and just there on
11:15the left in the high-vis you can see that is Sam Elphick helping them through there.
11:21Yes, they had, like I said, they had to have two trucks just because of the quantity of
11:25the drugs.
11:26Now, his role, as I mentioned, he was their inside man and it was his job.
11:30Thank you very much for those details, that's all we've got time for.
11:32I'll see you in just a few minutes after the short break.
14:41Hello and welcome back to Kentonite, live on KMTV now.
14:57A cat cafe reliant on donations in Herne Bay is asking the public to help fund life-saving
15:02treatment for their 8-month-old kitten, Trixie.
15:05Staff say she's not her usual self, but can't afford the £5,000 vet bill.
15:10Trixie's one of just four kittens at the cafe and owners say she's already had a rough start
15:14to life.
15:15Xenia Nakfi went down to Herne Bay to meet her.
15:18She may look like your usual feline, but Trixie, who lives in Herne Bay's cosy cat cafe, is
15:24unwell.
15:25The playful kitten is normally running around the shop, but has gotten much more coy since
15:30she fell ill around three weeks ago.
15:33Cat nanny Mel says the 8-month-old has FIP, a hard-to-diagnose disease that's caused by
15:38a mutated strain of feline coronavirus.
16:03As the 84-day treatment is still quite new, it costs up to £5,000.
16:08The cosy cat have set up a GoFundMe so they can't afford these bills.
16:12Cafe owner Chris explained that this is not Trixie's first time facing hardship.
16:16She was found on Mother's Day by a member of the public together with her five siblings.
16:22Sadly they were born in torrential rain.
16:24Trixie had to be resuscitated.
16:26I noticed that Trixie's behaviour had changed.
16:29You know, she wasn't the usual cat with the bushy tail, you know, her tail up in the air.
16:36She just became quiet and started to hide, her character changed.
16:40Quite lethargic, not herself at all, sort of retreating tail down, ears down, just not
16:46looking great genuinely.
16:47So along with her brothers, they were just guaranteed to bring absolute chaos to the
16:52cafe daily.
16:53When she first came in as a kitten, she was the life soul of the party and we thought
16:57she'd be the boss.
16:59She was a little bit anxious when she first came downstairs, but that's changed a bit.
17:05She's found it more difficult recently, since she's been poorly, to want to be part of things.
17:10In fact, today is one of her better days and she's been downstairs a lot and she's been
17:13playing and it's been really good.
17:15So the medication she's on is obviously helping a bit.
17:17The Cozy Cafe has been open for over five years.
17:20There are 13 cats in total and all of them come from local rescue centres here in Kent.
17:26We just really want Trixie to get well.
17:28We're just hoping that when we get test results next week that it's all positive, that hopefully
17:35we can start on her treatment and she makes her full recovery.
17:39Xenia Nakvi for KMTV in Herne Bay.
17:44Well our best wishes to Trixie.
17:47Now plenty of customers across Kent will have been out shopping today looking for the best
17:50Black Friday deals, but how real are those discounts and are you being ripped off?
17:55Well our reporter Bartholomew Hall has been speaking to the experts to find out and as
17:58always you can find our full reports on our website kmtv.co.uk, but let's take a look.
18:05The end of November is fast approaching which means two things for Kent's high streets.
18:09The Christmas decorations are up and the Black Friday deals are on.
18:13What started as a Thanksgiving tradition over in America has become so normal that many
18:17Kent shoppers don't even turn their heads to see the big black signs, but it doesn't
18:21necessarily mean that sales are down.
18:25Since 2020 online retailers have steadily overtaken brick and mortar stores, yet statistics
18:30show that Black Friday is still alive and well, with Brits expected to spend an eye-watering
18:36£9.1 billion this weekend alone.
18:40Here in Maidstone though some businesses say the challenge is keeping people on the high
18:43street.
18:44I think some people think about it like Amazon because they're plugging it all the time.
18:48I think they're more likely to do something like that.
18:51You will do a 10% off for Black Friday because basically everyone's jumping on the bandwagon,
18:56but I don't think it's going to make a lot of difference to trade if I'm totally honest.
18:59Personally I don't think things are going to pick up or I think it's going to be a more
19:02silver Christmas for us than a gold Christmas because gold is at its highest premium ever,
19:07but if people can't afford it such is life and you have to cut your cloth, so hey ho.
19:15As for those businesses which have taken full advantage of the Black Friday trend, it's
19:19thought that the market feels a little overcrowded.
19:22I think it sort of marks the start of that more sort of frenzied period where people
19:30who maybe leave it to the last minute, they maybe wait for that Black Friday moment, maybe
19:34people out there at the moment are looking for more of a bargain and a deal than previous
19:39years and don't find that now, they seem to come out even earlier.
19:44It used to be one day and now sometimes it's like Black Friday month.
19:50Back on the streets, it seems the pre-December discounts are dividing people.
19:54Just because they tell you it's a bargain doesn't mean to say it is a bargain.
19:58You know roughly what you want to spend on people and if it's within your range then
20:03that's fine.
20:04There's not so much of a choice here that I'd like, so there's far greater choice on
20:10the internet.
20:13I mean I've just done it because I've just been sucked into it, whether or not it really
20:18is a good deal or not.
20:20So whether it's the convenience of a click or the charm of a high street stroll, one
20:24thing's clear, Black Friday is still making its mark here in Kent.
20:28Bartholomew Hall for KMTV.
20:33Now it's time to take a look at the weather.
20:40A mix of partly cloudy and clear skies tonight.
20:43An average of 7 degrees right across the county.
20:45Some lows of 6 there.
20:46Tomorrow morning we're looking at even more clouds with areas like Canterbury and Margate
20:50remaining partly cloudy, 10 degrees across the board except in Royal Tunbridge Wells
20:54there.
20:55Going into the afternoon, temperatures will rise to just 13 degrees in most parts, 12
20:59near the coast there.
21:00Wind speeds lowering to 8mph now for your outlook right into next week.
21:05Temperatures between 13 and 9 degrees.
21:07Some sun but remaining fairly cloudy.
21:18And finally this evening, Ashford Sings has recorded a Christmas single to encourage more
21:22people to become foster carers.
21:25It's called Welcome Home and highlights the challenges many children face every time December
21:29rolls round, feeling lonely and isolated.
21:32The choir is run by Diagramma Foundation foster carers who say there is a distinct lack of
21:37people coming forward to foster here in Kent.
21:40With this song they hope to highlight how a Christmas miracle can change a child's life
21:44by giving them a home and hopefully get to Christmas number one.
21:47Let's take a listen.
21:48Welcome home, is there someone out there to give me hope, welcome home, this Christmas
22:04welcome home.
22:05Welcome to our family, welcome home, come into a place where you are able to belong.
22:24Listen to the angels sing their Christmas hopeful song, come on in, close the door,
22:44welcome home.
22:45Margaret Gardner joins me in the studio now from Diagramma Foundation and I must say that
22:50young boy at the end of the video there, you told me he's actually your grandson.
22:53My youngest grandson Elliot.
22:55That's amazing, so tell me about his involvement in the project but actually your involvement
22:58because you've been fostering for a long time and now you've been part of this cause.
23:03Yeah, my husband and I were foster carers for 18 years and I've worked in fostering
23:08for about 22 years now and so you know fostering has been my life and obviously part of my
23:15family's life as well and Elliot and his brother Finn they live with us and so they have been
23:21part of the fostering family and they have just been fully involved and at Diagramma
23:27we do twice yearly picnics for our foster carers and our adopters and Elliot always
23:32loves to come along and he loves to help out and he makes new friends and it's just part
23:36of his life.
23:37Star of the show now and hopefully he gets to do Christmas number one as well, I know
23:41that's the dream.
23:42Tell me about the song as well because it is really sad, it has a really sad and emotional
23:46message to it, it's beautiful the way it's sung as well but it is quite sad.
23:52It is and the thing is, the reality is that so many children are needing foster care and
24:00that's part of what we're having to deal with every day and 100 children a day are coming
24:06into care and we desperately need more foster carers for them because they need the right
24:12kind of care and so there's many different children and the more children we have the
24:17more different kinds of foster carers we need to meet the needs of individual children.
24:21Why do you think that is?
24:22Why aren't there enough people coming forward to foster children here in the county?
24:27People have got older, retired, the circumstances change and there's not new ones coming through
24:33and part of that is with lockdown a lot of people started working from home and so their
24:38spare rooms that they might have thought of using for fostering suddenly become an
24:43office and the cost of living crisis has also had an impact on people so we want to get
24:49the message out there that fostering is an amazing thing to do.
24:53And that message, a lot of people, I suppose there are a lot of misconceptions with fostering
24:58and people think they're just not the right fit but that's kind of the message, the diagram
25:01you try to undo.
25:02Yeah, very much so because you might not, when we fostered, we fostered teenage boys
25:09and most people go, oh my goodness, not teenage boys but for us that was where our skill set
25:14lay and so that was great for us.
25:17I wouldn't have wanted to perhaps foster younger children or girls or something.
25:22So every foster family will have an area that they can work with and what works for them.
25:28Their expertise.
25:29Yeah, absolutely.
25:30I love that they can help all the teenager or the young adult and the song as well.
25:34You've got some performances tonight, some performances coming up as well and hope is
25:38Christmas number one.
25:39We would love it, absolutely love it.
25:42We are just so thrilled to be part of this.
25:45Nick and Chris who run the choir are just amazing and when they asked if we would like
25:50to be involved we just jumped at the chance.
25:53I was going to make you sing live for us now and do a rendition but I thought we'll leave
25:58that to the choir.
25:59Please do.
26:00I wouldn't want that.
26:01Everybody would turn off.
26:02I wouldn't put you under that pressure now and it's amazing that you've got your story
26:05involved with your grandson as well, really trying to spread that message as well.
26:08We'll have you back on when you reach that Christmas number one.
26:11Oh, please do.
26:12We'll be playing it in the newsroom, don't worry.
26:14Thank you very much for coming on, it's lovely to have you.
26:16Thank you for having me.
26:17That's all we've got time for this evening on Kentonite live here on KMTV.
26:21I'll be back again at 8pm with your News Bulletin but that's all from me for now, see you soon.