Local News

A Sheppey man has been charged following a report of a distraction burglary here in Sittingbourne.

On Sunday (6th December) a man, who was known to the victim, knocked on his door in Chilton Avenue offering him spare parts for his car.

The victim engaged in conversation with the man before he returned to his property. The man then knocked on the door again and asked if he could rinse out a baby bottle before also asking for a glass of water.

The victim agreed and invited the man into his home and spoke to him while in the kitchen, however as he was leaving the property the victim noticed his wallet, which contained bank cards and a significant quantity of money, was missing.

Bradley Dobson, aged 47 and of Noreen Avenue, Minster-on-Sea, has been charged with burglary and will appear before Medway Magistrates Court later this week.

Kent Police are urging people to remember the Covid-19 rules over the festive period and not arrange or attend parties that risk further infection.

With the county currently in Tier 3 and facing the highest level of coronavirus restrictions, officers are keen to ensure everyone continues to do the right thing to help control the virus and ultimately save lives.

Seven people, all from Canterbury, have been issued with £10,000 fines to date for hosting parties attended by far in excess of 30 people, and a number of other residents across Kent have also been fined for arranging smaller gatherings in breach of the existing legislation.

While Kent remains in Tier 3, no household mixing is allowed either indoors or outside, pubs and restaurants must remain closed except for deliveries and takeaways, and people are advised against travelling into other regions.

Exceptions will be allowed between 23rd and 27th December when everyone will be allowed to form one Christmas bubble of up to three households.

Assistant Chief Constable Claire Nix told SFM News: "If 2020 were a normal year then many people’s diaries for December would be full of parties, Christmas drinks and other opportunities to meet up with family, friends and colleagues. Unfortunately it has been far from normal, and the threat of Covid-19 has not gone away. It therefore remains essential that we all continue to follow the rules to ensure we do not put ourselves or others at further risk of contracting a disease that has killed more than a million people worldwide. There will come a time when we will all be able to attend parties like we did before the pandemic struck, but that time is not now and Kent Police officers will not hesitate to take action against those who flagrantly break the rules and put other people’s lives at risk. We will continue to police in a sensible, proportionate and fair manner, and ask that everyone continues to take personal responsibility for controlling the spread of the virus and protecting themselves and others from harm."

Officers investigating a serious assault in Sittingbourne last week, have charged two people.

Kent Police were called to Woodstock Road at 10.53pm on Thursday (26th November) after a woman reported that two people had seriously assaulted her partner and caused damage to her vehicle. The victim was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

Officers from Swale’s Community Policing Team responded to the incident and stopped a vehicle in Borden Lane at around 11.00pm where two people were arrested on suspicion of assault.

Tommy Robinson, 21, of Playstool Road, Newington, has been charged with grievous bodily harm, criminal damage and dangerous driving and a 17-year-old boy has also been charged with grievous bodily harm and criminal damage.

The teenage boy and Mr Robinson both appeared before Medway Magistrates’ Court on Saturday (28th November) where they were bailed to attend Maidstone Crown Court on Monday 4th January 2021.

An emergency meeting to place this afternoon (Monday 23rd November) to help tackle the number of cases of coronavirus in Swale.

The meeting was called by Swale Borough Council in response to the recent rise in the number of cases in the borough with the latest government figures showing 645.6 cases per 100,000 people in the week up to Wednesday 18th November - just behind Hull, which was the country's worst-affected place last week.

The meeting included representatives from partner agencies such as Kent County Council, Kent Police, HM Prison Service and Public Health England.

Cllr Roger Truelove, Leader of Swale Borough Council, told SFM News: “This was a valuable meeting where we were able to bring together a wide range of interested parties to discuss where we are and how we are going to improve the situation. We received the very latest figures from our public health colleagues, and these showed that whilst we do seem to be starting to see a fall in cases locally, they are clearly still too high. There are also worrying signs that the infection is growing among the over-60’s who are more vulnerable to this virus, and we are sadly starting to see the number of deaths increase. We also heard that Swale has the second highest level of testing in the county, which shows that the work we’ve been doing to encourage people with symptoms to get tested is getting through, and it will ultimately make a difference.

Cllr Truelove went on to add: “We also had confirmation that only 12 per cent of cases in the last couple of weeks are related to care homes and prison settings, and that this isn’t a problem that is just on the Isle of Sheppey, but elsewhere across the borough. The overwhelming majority of cases are through community transmission. It’s spreading in residential settings, and through social activity and it only takes a small number of people to create the clusters of cases that are driving up our figures. This is why we needed to call the meeting, so we could be sure where we need to concentrate our resources to get the cases under control again. We will be getting in touch with local supermarkets to ask for them to be as vigilant as possible, and we will be carrying out work to make sure everyone involved understands the reasons why people might not feel able to follow the rules.

He continued by saying:  “Parents seen with in supermarkets with children who should be isolating may not have any other childcare and can’t afford the minimum spend for a home delivery. People may be unwilling to get a test as they can’t afford to have time off work. These are issues we need to be able to identify so the relevant agencies can step in with the right support. Everyone is committed to making sure people understand the seriousness of the situation to people, and if we don’t follow the rules in place, we face a winter of further restrictions.”

The meeting was attended by officers from Kent County Council, Public Health England, Kent Police, HM Prison Service, the NHS, The Federation of Small Businesses, The Department for Work and Pensions, Optivo and Swale CVS and at the meeting it was revealed that only 12% of the borough's total cases come from it's two maximum security prions and local care homes.