Local News

Parents of local school children are being warned to be on their guard after a man tried to entice a Westlands Primary School pupil into his car earlier today (Thursday 28th February).

It is believed that at around 8.35am a young man, in a brightly-coloured car, pulled up alongside the girl, who was walking to school, wound down the passenger side window and told her to get in. When she didn't respond to the comment and continued walking the man was said to have repeated the line with more force in his voice. The schoolgirl then ran into the school and reported it to staff who immediately called Kent Police and the girl's parents. 

Officers arrived at the school, in Homewood Avenue, at aproximately 8.55am and took a statement from the girl and looked through the school's CCTV recordings. The girl's parents are said to have taken her home shortly afterwards.

Head Teacher Lynne Pearson told SFM News: "We sent a note home with all pupils to give to their parents at the end of the day, saying that there had been an issue with a child trying to be enticed into a car by a man and encouraged them to report anything that they felt was unusual, to either the school or the police directly. We also put a message on Twitter and informed our sister school Regis Manor (which is now also part of the Swale Academies' Trust) about the incident, so they could alert their parents too. We discuss 'Stranger Danger' a lot in our assemblies but we have also reminded parents of discussing this with their children at home too."

Anyone with any information about the incident is asked to call Sittingbourne Police directly on the non-emergency number 101 or they can call CrimeStoppers free (from any landline) and anonimously on 0800 555 111.

A 24-year-old man from Teynham has been sentenced to six months in prison after admitting he was involved in a fatal road traffic collision in which a teenager died.

Robert Lawrence, 24, of Barrow Green in the village, was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court on Wednesday (27th February) after having pleaded guilty to charges of failing to stop after an accident and perverting the course of justice. He was also disqualified from driving for 12 months.

The court had heard that 14-year-old Kyle Coen (pictured above) had been cycling to meet his girlfriend on Monday 30th July last year, when he was struck by Lawrence's car on the A2 London Road, near Bapchild Cricket Club. The teenager, from Sittingbourne, died at the scene.

Lawrence failed to stop at the scene and later called 999 to inform police that his Fiat Brava had been stolen on the A2. He told the operator that he had managed to follow the stolen vehicle and that it had been damaged. Officers were suspicious of his account and Lawrence was subsequently arrested soon after the collision.

Investigating officer, Detective Sergeant Paul Fewtrell, told SFM News: "Offences of failure to stop following a collision are serious, but leaving the scene where a teenager sustained injuries that resulted in his death was shocking to all involved in this investigation. This was compounded by the phone call to police by Lawrence reporting his vehicle had been stolen. The damage to his vehicle would clearly have shown to him the extent of the injury caused, yet he tried to deflect the blame at the earliest opportunity."

Detective Sergeant Scott Lynch, of the Serious Collision Investigation Unit, told SFM News: "I would like to thank those members of the public who did stop and try to resuscitate Kyle for their efforts.
'The message here is you must always stop after a collision. If you do not, you will face consequences which include going to prison."

Four teenagers have been arrested as Kent Police officers continue their work on Operation Castle, their force-wide crackdown on burglary and vehicle crime.

Officers executed warrants and swooped on suspected burglars in theSittingbourne area, with four arrests since the weekend.

* On Sunday 3rd February, a 14-year-old boy from Sittingbourne was arrested in connection with a burglary committed in Park Road, Sittingbourne, the previous day, while on Monday 4th February a 17-year-old male, also from Sittingbourne, was arrested in connection with the same crime. Both have been bailed pending further investigation.

* On Thursday 7th February, officers executed a search warrant at Pembury Court, on Pembury Street in Sittingbourne, searching for stolen goods. A 19-year-old man was arrested and was in police custody held on suspicion of burglary.

In addition, a 16-year-old boy from Whitstable was charged with handling stolen goods on Wednesday 6th February after he was arrested in connection with a stolen bike taken from a shed in Park Road, Sittingbourne on 7th January. He will appear at Maidstone Magistrates' Court on Monday 25th February.

Toby Earnshaw-Glazier, 18, of London Road in Sittingbourne, appeared at Maidstone Magistrates' Court on Tuesday 5th February charged with burglary other than dwelling, officers caught him fleeing a garage he had broken into. Earnshaw-Glazier pleaded guilty and was handed a suspended prison sentence of 117 days. He was also ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and given a curfew.

You can find out the latest on Kent Police's Operation Castle at:- http://www.kent.police.uk/news/latest_news/130205_op_castle_lau.html# or on Twitter #OpCastle.

Kent Police are appealing for witnesses after computer equipment worth almost £100,000 was stolen from a trailer in Hernhill on Tuesday 22nd January.

The trailer, part of a heavy goods vehicle, was parked in a road off Plum Pudding Lane between 7.30pm and 10.10pm, when 320 white Archos 10.1 XS computer tablets of 16 gigabytes, worth £299 each, were stolen.

Detective Sergeant Paul Fewtrell, of Kent Police, told SFM News: "We want to hear from anybody who might have witnessed the theft, or has information regarding the theft or the whereabouts of the stolen tablets. We would also like to speak to anyone who has been offered one of these computers at a knock-down price since 22nd January."

Anybody with any information is asked to call Kent Police's non-emergency number, 101, quoting crime reference XY/002453/13, or they can contact Kent Crimestoppers free (from any landline) and anonymously on 0800 555111.