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00:00Good evening and welcome to Kent Tonight live on KMTV.
00:28I'm Bartholomew Hall.
00:29Here are your top stories on Thursday the 17th of October.
00:33A huge shock.
00:35Kent reacts as former One Direction star Liam Payne dies.
00:39He's not that much older than me in reality so it's really upsetting because he's so young.
00:45Admitting defeat, campaigners lose High Court Challenge against Maidstone Garden Villages.
00:51If we simply do nothing, the developers can put in whatever they want and the infrastructure
00:56won't be there.
00:57It's the first televised manhunt.
00:59We take a look back at the first TV police appeal for a murderer who killed in Kent.
01:05This couple were seen in this cafe arguing before they vanished down what is known as
01:12Cannon's Alley.
01:23Good evening.
01:24Tensions have been pouring in today as Kent and the rest of the UK has been reacting to
01:28the death of One Direction star Liam Payne.
01:30The singer fell from a hotel balcony in Argentina overnight.
01:34Oliver Leeder de Sacks has been looking into the singer's legacy here in the county.
01:43The voice of a childhood star for many in Kent and one gone too soon.
01:49Last night One Direction's Liam Payne fell from a hotel balcony.
01:55The singer, just 31 years old, was on holiday with his girlfriend in Argentina at the time.
02:10Many here in the county will remember how he shot to fame on The X Factor back in 2010
02:17alongside his bandmates.
02:20And soon the group became one of the biggest in music history, selling 70 million records
02:27worldwide.
02:29And even after the band went on hiatus in 2016, he still had time for listeners here
02:36in the county.
02:38And your life doesn't stop when you have a baby unfortunately, although I'd love to spend
02:41every second with him.
02:42But then what am I really teaching him?
02:44That you can just sit on your laurels after a bit of success and not go to work.
02:47So my thing is I have to work as hard as possible and get the most success for him
02:50that I can so that he can understand.
02:52To get a sense of just how much Liam Payne means to people here in the county, I've come
02:58down to the University of Kent Medway campus.
03:02Many of the students here grew up with One Direction.
03:05They saw Liam Payne rise to fame.
03:08They also saw him struggle with alcohol.
03:11All of them say they were devastated by the news of his passing.
03:15It's really sad because I was probably about seven or eight when he was on X Factor, so
03:19I do remember that.
03:21And obviously he's been in the press a lot, you know, with his relationship with Cheryl
03:26and things like that.
03:27So I remember a lot of his career and he's not that much older than me in reality.
03:32So it is quite, it's really upsetting because he's so young.
03:36Not even going to lie, I cried.
03:38Like you're mourning not only the person that he is now, but the person you grew up with.
03:44I've been a fan of his since 2008, 2010 when he first auditioned and the second time.
03:50And even with everything that's gone on recently, it's so tragic still.
03:55He was only 31.
03:56I listen to this song every day.
03:58So yeah, with these songs in mind, he actually passed away very young.
04:04Liam Payne may be gone, but speaking to young people here in Kent today, it's clear his
04:11music is the stuff of history.
04:14Oliver, Leader of the Sats, reporting for KMTV.
04:17Well, if anything discussed in that report has impacted you, of course, you can always
04:25speak to the Samaritans.
04:27You can contact them on 116 123.
04:30That's 116 123.
04:34Moving on, a primary school has been forced to close after a sinkhole has appeared outside
04:38its gates.
04:39St Margaret's at Troy Town School in Rochester shut after a burst water main created the
04:44hole.
04:45It's not currently clear whether the school will remain closed, but according to a message
04:48sent to parents this afternoon, the site is still unsafe.
04:54A fifth man's been arrested as part of an ongoing murder investigation in Canterbury.
04:58Detectives are continuing to investigate after a 23-year-old man died after he was stabbed
05:03in the city's High Street last week.
05:05More arrests were made in the hours after the incident, with two men later being charged
05:09with murder and two others being bailed.
05:12The latest man arrested, a 23-year-old from Herne Bay, has also been bailed pending further
05:17inquiries.
05:21Next night, two controversial garden villages proposed for Maidstone are now unstoppable.
05:26That's according to the council's leader, who is just one of the hundreds who's been
05:29protesting against developing Lidsing and Lenham Heath over the past decade.
05:34Local democracy reporter Gabriel Morris has this report after the High Court has thrown
05:39out the latest challenges.
05:41Two controversial developments set to deliver 7,000 homes for Maidstone now have little
05:47stopping them.
05:48What do we want?
05:49No Lidsing.
05:50Both Lidsing and Lenham Heath have had expensive legal challenges, fierce community opposition
05:55and protests.
05:56The new leader of the council has always been part of these campaigns, but today he says
06:01they have to go ahead.
06:03We can't stop the development going ahead.
06:05It's set in stone in terms of the plan being unable to be stopped.
06:12And if we simply don't, if we simply do nothing, the developers can put in whatever they want.
06:17And the infrastructure won't be there, the type of housing won't be what people need
06:22and want.
06:23Both new garden villages are set to be built in rural areas.
06:27At Lidsing, the 2,000 homes will be built on these fields.
06:31We're used to living in a semi-rural environment, surrounded by agricultural land, and we're
06:39just going to be swallowed up into one huge housing estate.
06:45The village of Bredhurst, the village of Boxley, everywhere is going to impact us so much.
06:52It will just devastate everybody's lives.
06:54On the other side of the district, the village of Lenham will see thousands of homes being
06:59built on the outskirts of their parish.
07:02Now one of the main concerns that locals have, if those 5,000 homes are built, what's going
07:08to happen to the 10,000 cars which are likely going to end up on this road every day?
07:13Now it might not look that busy at the moment, but neighbours say, on rush hour, it doesn't
07:20take much to grind this road to a standstill.
07:24The community here says they still know little about what the houses will look like, who
07:29they'll be for, and what infrastructure they'll come with.
07:33So what we're concerned about is that we will end up with an orphaned housing estate in
07:40the middle of nowhere, with no services, and the people that live on that orphaned housing
07:45estate will have to get in their cars to get anywhere to go shopping, to do anything.
07:50It's thought construction for some of the new homes could begin by the end of the decade.
07:54Although land earmarked, planning permission is still needed for both developments.
07:58The council is now forming steering groups in a bid to influence sustainable development.
08:04Gabriel Morris, in Maidstone.
08:07Now don't forget you can keep up to date with all your latest stories across Kent by logging
08:11on to our website, kmtv.co.uk.
08:15When you're there you'll find all of our reports, including this one about a controversial contraflow
08:19system near Whitstable, which is set to be lifted this weekend.
08:24The infamous A299's tunnel contraflow system is going to be lifted this month, after being
08:29extended to the end of October, which the public weren't pleased with.
08:33The engineers and officials tell us they can reopen the tunnel fully once the fans are
08:37refurbished.
08:38In June it closed the London bound side around the clock, forcing cars through a single lane
08:42each and putting a 40 mile an hour restriction on the tunnel, after an issue with the jet
08:46fans was discovered during an inspection.
08:49The original plan to replace the fans was said to take three months, but after realising
08:53this would need an entire reconstruction and redesign, meaning the contraflow would
08:57last up to 12 months, they then decided to refurbish the existing fans, leading to the
09:02end date of October.
09:04There are not many places that you can get fans, you can't walk into a DIY store, these
09:08are incredibly large bits of equipment.
09:11A decision was then made actually, having looked at it, having got the consultants in
09:15and seen what could be done, if we were to get a brand new set of kit in, up to modern
09:19regulations, that would involve having the contraflow in place for a significantly longer
09:24amount of period, perhaps 18 months, perhaps longer, whereas the decision was made actually
09:29by a lot of the hard work of the crews here and the team.
09:32Now there's 32 fans in total in this tunnel, 16 either side, and they take 17,500 watts
09:40to power.
09:41That's roughly equivalent to the daily power it takes for an average household in the UK.
09:45So getting them replaced or refurbished is no small feat.
09:48The fans are two metres long, and they're there primarily for safety, able to push smoke
09:53out in the event of a fire, and on a day-to-day basis, they keep the air clear.
09:57While the tunnels have more fans than they actually need, it's part of their many safety
10:01practices they comply with.
10:03So whilst there are 16 fans in both bores, so there's 32 overall, we can operate the
10:09tunnel safely and meet that best practice with 14.
10:12That means that if we do have a failure, we don't have to shut the road, we don't have
10:16to put the contraflow on, we can operate the spare fans, so to speak, to achieve the
10:21same end and move the air, move the smoke, and allow access.
10:25While the tunnel used to be at the national speed limit of 70, evidence has come to show
10:29that won't be safe, leading them to keep the 40mph limit even after the contraflow
10:34is finished.
10:35The efforts of the engineers aren't all just to keep up, however.
10:39They have their sights set on installing a new ventilation system that can last the next
10:4225 years, and they say the refurbished fans will give them the time to properly implement
10:47this change.
10:48Finn McDermott for CAME TV in Chestfield.
10:53Now before we head to a break, we want to show you this lovely story.
10:56Bleenwoods Rangers have been left scratching their heads after two bison calves have been
11:00born only days apart.
11:03Part of the West Bleens heard of bison near Canterbury, the ones we talk about all the
11:06time here on Kentonite.
11:07But two newborn females were an unexpected arrival, with the Rangers only suspecting
11:13the bison might have been pregnant a few days earlier.
11:16And only four days on, the team have had hardly any time to recover when a second calf was
11:21added to the herd.
11:22They're part of the £1 million project to reintroduce the bison after more than a thousand
11:27years missing, and the births show the herd is healthy.
11:32They are very beautiful, aren't they?
11:33Well now it's time for a short break, but coming up we'll be taking a look at the return
11:37of former Thanet MP and amputee Craig McKinley to Parliament after he's been named as a Lord.
11:43We'll also be speaking to the CEO of the UK Sepsis Trust about the impact that Lord McKinley
11:48has had on the sepsis community.
11:50All that and plenty more after this break.
15:07Hello and welcome back to Kentonite live on KMTV.
15:22The former MP for South Thanet, Craig McKinley, has returned to Parliament for the first time
15:26since July's general election.
15:28This time, however, it's the red benches of the House of Lords that have greeted him there.
15:33After taking his seat, he's now officially known as Lord McKinley of Richborough, but
15:38he wants to be known as the first Bionic Lord and use his seat to raise awareness of sepsis
15:43and improve the quality of available prosthetics for amputees.
15:47To the state, degree, style, dignity, title and honour of Baron McKinley of Richborough,
15:57of Rochester in our county of Kent.
16:00Taking his seat, Lord McKinley of Richborough becomes the first quadruple amputee to sit
16:04in the House of Lords.
16:06In September 2023, Lord McKinley was rushed to hospital where he was told he had just
16:11a 5% chance of survival after it was discovered he'd contracted sepsis.
16:17The former MP for South Thanet then had both his legs and arms amputated.
16:21Severe.
16:22You don't often see people in my condition and actually surviving.
16:26Despite being welcomed back to work with applause and support from across the Commons, Lord
16:30McKinley decided not to stand for re-election.
16:34But after being granted a peerage in Rishi Sunak's dissolution honours list, it was announced
16:38he'd become a Lord.
16:40A year on from being rushed to hospital, he shared this update of how he's adapting to
16:45his new life, writing,
16:47I've learnt a lot about the NHS, sepsis and provision of prosthetics.
16:52I'll be addressing these issues in the House of Lords.
16:55Known as a politician not afraid to speak his mind, it comes as little surprise that
17:00Craig McKinley has been so outspoken about his personal battle, which he will now turn
17:05into a public mission.
17:06Craig Lord McKinley of Richborough.
17:11Well earlier on I was joined by Ron Daniels, CEO of UK Sepsis Trust, who spoke to me about
17:16the impact Lord McKinley's openness has had on the sepsis community.
17:20He started, however, by reminding us exactly how a person can contract the condition.
17:26So sepsis is the way the body responds to an infection.
17:30So it's always triggered by an infection which might be pneumonia, a urinary tract infection
17:35or even something as simple as a cut or a bite or a sting.
17:39But in sepsis, the body's immune system overreacts, it goes into overdrive.
17:43And if we don't stop it early, that causes organ damage, which can of course lead to
17:48death.
17:49And of course, it was a very deeply personal situation that happened to Craig McKinley,
17:53one of the local politicians here.
17:55But he has been very outspoken about it and he's been very willing to share that story.
18:00What effect do you think that will have not only for current sepsis survivors, but for
18:05those who will catch it in the future as well?
18:07Well, Craig's been absolutely brilliant.
18:11He made it very clear.
18:12You will remember that when he returned to Westminster, when he was still a lower house
18:17parliamentarian, that this had been because of sepsis and he received a standing ovation.
18:23He's been outspoken.
18:24He's talked about this on multiple media outlets.
18:27And it really is.
18:28It's about equality and access to prosthetics.
18:32And it's around public awareness of sepsis and access to diagnostics and other aspects
18:38of care in sepsis.
18:39I think the difference it's going to make is significant.
18:42He's now, of course, in the upper house.
18:44He's now Lord McKinley.
18:45As you've said, this is going to make a big difference to have advocates in the House
18:52of Lords who are really pushing the incoming government on this agenda, who are driving
18:58them.
18:59And, you know, there was a Westminster Hall debate the other day in which there was a
19:04call for a public awareness campaign around sepsis.
19:07I think there's real traction in Westminster in no insignificant part because of what Craig's
19:12been doing.
19:13And just finally, whilst I've got you here, of course, you mentioned the prosthetics there.
19:17He's said that he had to go private to obtain the arms and legs that he now uses.
19:24What is the kind of situation for people who maybe can't go private and they're kind of
19:28forced to use what is available on the NHS?
19:31Can you kind of paint that picture for us?
19:34Yeah.
19:35So everyone who loses a limb has the right to a prosthetic limb.
19:39But of course, those which are available in the NHS are generally fixed limbs.
19:44They're not bionic.
19:46They're generally not movable devices other than, for example, a knee joint if someone
19:50has an above knee amputation.
19:52So the function of them is in no way as good as the function of the limbs that Craig and
20:00others in similar positions have the ability to access.
20:04Craig is passionate about the inequality and we would support that call that everybody
20:08who loses limbs, it's traumatic enough, has access to the very best prostheses on the NHS.
20:13Ron, thank you very much for joining us today.
20:23Well, here's the weather over the coming days then.
20:25Staying mild tonight with clear skies for most, lows of 10 degrees in Tunbridge, Wales.
20:30Here's how things are looking on your Friday morning.
20:32Low winds with temperatures averaging in the low teens, staying nice and sunny in the west
20:36of the county.
20:37As we go into the afternoon, temperatures climbing fairly nicely with sun set to shine
20:41right across the board, highs of 17.
20:44But enjoy that sun while it lasts as things are set to turn fairly damp going into next
20:48week, highs of 17.
20:59And finally, let us take you back now to the 1950s where TV was a new medium and unlike
21:04today where it's common to see the faces of criminals broadcast around the country,
21:09it wasn't always.
21:10So when William Pettit killed Rene Brown in a mushroom field in Chislehurst, it made history
21:15when he went on the run and the police turned to TV to search for him.
21:20But in the modern day, are TV police appeals still effective with the existence of smartphones
21:24and social media?
21:25Finn McDermid has been finding out.
21:28The year is 1953 and this song, She Wears Red Feathers by Guy Mitchell, is at the top
21:36of the charts.
21:38The coronation of Queen Elizabeth is being televised and the first ever criminal was
21:42shown on TV as part of a police appeal.
21:45TV had been invented a few years earlier with the first transmitted broadcast in 1926, but
21:50even by the 1950s it was still finding its feet and not everyone had a set in their house.
21:55In a year of historical firsts for the ever-evolving industry, Kent plays a key role.
22:01Back in 1953, the borough of Greater London hadn't yet been established so many areas
22:07east of London were considered Kent.
22:10So when William Pettit killed Rene Brown in a mushroom field in Chislehurst and then went
22:14on the run, it was the first crime to ever be part of a televised manhunt and the crime
22:20happened in Kent, airing the 2nd of October.
22:23Now 71 years on, are televised police appeals actually effective and did Kent kickstart
22:28a crime-stopping revolution or, in the modern day with smartphones, are they even needed?
22:34I think it has to happen, doesn't it, because lots of the younger generation don't watch
22:38TV in the same way that we did when we were growing up.
22:43I think I've personally gone full circle, you know, I watch very, very little TV nowadays.
22:49So for me, personally, that medium wouldn't be so effective, but you only have to go on
22:56the internet and you only have to go onto social media platforms and lots of information
23:02is passed that way nowadays.
23:03He went on to say that the use of images and videos can create a stronger emotional connection,
23:08engaging viewers more effectively rather than simply stating the crime.
23:13This was the face broadcast to homes across the country and approximately 8 million people,
23:18and though many saw his mugshot and heard his crimes, the search was in vain when he
23:22was found dead by St Paul's Cathedral.
23:24A Chislehurst local who was only 9 at the time of the murder spoke to me about his memory
23:29of the crime.
23:30Apparently, they were seen, this couple were seen in this cafe arguing before they vanished
23:38down what is known as Cannon's Alley, which is an alley opposite Gordon Arms leading to
23:43the back of Chislehurst and that's where the murder apparently took place.
23:48It's now commonplace to see the faces of criminals online, in print and on television, all because
23:53of a murder in Kent.
23:55Finn McDermid for KMTV in Chislehurst.
24:00After the break this evening, there's an episode of Kent Film Club, of course, it is Thursday
24:04and here to discuss films with me is the show's presenter, Chris Deasey.
24:09Thank you very much for being here with me.
24:11Now we were watching Finn's piece there of course about TV crime appeals and true crime
24:16and it got me thinking about some films I wanted to have a discussion with you now.
24:19First of all is Zodiac, a brilliant film, David Fincher.
24:22What's your take on the genre and why are we kind of drawn to stories that are based
24:27on true life, especially when it comes to crime, which can be quite scary?
24:31And also, absolutely, when the story, when the crime was not solved at the time because
24:36what works so well with Zodiac and of course when that came out in what, 2007, David Fincher
24:41had already made Fight Club and he'd also done Panic Room, one of the Alien films.
24:46He was a very established director.
24:48And then he was effectively saying there's something here that doesn't, there's a piece
24:52of a jigsaw that doesn't fit.
24:53And I think that people, like we saw in Finn's report, somebody who was nine years of age
24:57in Chislehurst when this thing happened in the 1950s, and you've got that sense of trying
25:02to say, well, there are bits we don't know.
25:03Can we maybe through watching this, and JFK is also a perfect example, going back to the
25:09scene of a crime and trying to put all the different pieces together.
25:12So it matters to us because this is within a film's universe which intersects with reality.
25:19And I think David Fincher had already proven that he could do very gritty, Fight Club being
25:22a classic example.
25:23Absolutely.
25:24So Zodiac really worked on those levels.
25:25It's really interesting, isn't it?
25:26We go to films sometimes for an escape, but if there is that element of realism to it,
25:31we kind of enjoy that a little bit more sometimes.
25:33The second one is, I think it still counts as a true crime film, this is Catch Me If
25:36You Can, of course, with Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks in it.
25:39Leonardo DiCaprio, of course, playing Frank Abagnale, Jr., who managed to defraud millions
25:43of pounds by pretending to be a pilot, a doctor at one stage.
25:48Another one, but a real interesting one, this is another one that kind of shocks people
25:52that this actually did happen in real life.
25:54Yeah, and I saw this in 2002 or thereabout, when Christopher Walken was Oscar nominated
25:58as well.
25:59Yeah, there is something in this here, because what we like is that sort of the person who
26:04defies the authorities.
26:06I mean, that's film noir, you know, classic.
26:08Think of the 1930s gangster films, despite the attempt to try and stop them because they
26:13were going to turn people to vagary and to all sorts of indolence and all sorts of crimes.
26:18But we like this because there's a real trajectory and the criminal then actually realises he
26:23can be of service and suddenly the dynamics shift.
26:26And that's what we like about this.
26:28It's a story where it actually starts to make us think and we realise there is something
26:31to be profited in this.
26:32Yeah, it's a brilliant film and a real twist in the tale.
26:35Yeah, it's definitely one of my favourites.
26:36And if you want more film discussion like this, of course, Kent Film Club, there is
26:39an episode available after the break and more on our website, kntv.co.uk.
26:43We'll be back with another Kent Tonight tomorrow.
26:45See you then.
26:46Bye bye.
27:02.