Sittingbourne

A prolific local shoplifter has been returned to jail after pleading guilty to several thefts.

Lisa Willet was serving a suspended prison sentence when she chose to commit further shoplifting offences in Sittingbourne.

The GMB Union has raised fears over the parent company of Stonegate Pubs, who owns a number of local "watering holes" and their current refinancing bid.

Almost 200 Stonegate pubs across Kent could be “at risk” of closure after private equity parent company TDR capital seeks to refinance £2.5 billion of debt the union warns.

Some local pubs that could be affected include The Beauty Of Bath, Bunters, The Red Lion  and The Vineyard in Sittingbourne along with The Sun Inn in Bredgar and The Fruiterers Arms in Rodmersham.

Kent Fire and Rescue Service were called, at around 5:00pm, to reports of a fire at a flat yesterday (Thursday 11th January) evening.

Two fire engines attended and crews, wearing breathing apparatus, extinguished the flames at the residential property on Caithorpe Close on the Regent Quay development.

Firefighters also used a high-pressured fan to clear the property of smoke. 

The cause is not yet known. 

A suspect has been detained by neighbourhood officers following reports of a robbery and theft in Sittingbourne.

On Saturday 16th December 2023, a man was walking in the High Street when he was allegedly threatened by a man he did not know. The victim handed over a quantity of cash and later alerted the police.

Later the same day, meat valued at more than £40 was reportedly stolen from the Co-op in Gadby Road. On Thursday 28th December, constables from the town’s community safety unit were on patrol in the High Street area when they arrested a man.

Swale Borough Council is deploying uniformed marshals to help keep Sheerness and Sittingbourne town centres safe.  

The street marshals, who will be operating over the school holidays, are one of several initiatives being rolled out as part of the Safer Streets campaign.    

The council, through the Community Safety Partnership, worked with the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner to secure the funding needed for the campaign from the Government’s Safer Streets Fund.  

The victim of a violent and controlling man from Sittingbourne has seen him jailed.

During 2022, the woman was in a relationship with Nuno Rodrigues and suffered constant assaults at his hands. The abuse included an incident when Rodrigues forcefully pinned her to the ground whilst placing his hands around her neck. This prevented her from breathing and caused visible bruising.

Six men have been jailed after smuggling more than £1 million of cocaine into the UK by coating it invisibly on broom handles.

London's Metropolitan Police say this is thought to be the first time the method has been used to import the drug into the UK.

The gang members were convicted in June, after a four and a half-month trial, of conspiracy to import cocaine, almost two years after their original arrest in October 2021 following an investigation by the Met and the National Crime Agency (NCA).

A Sittingbourne shoplifter has been jailed within two days of her arrest.

Between Sunday 5th November and Sunday 19 November, Rebecca Lee targeted three stores in the town centre on five separate occasions. Meat, cleaning items and laundry products were stolen from Morrisons, Lidl in West Street and Asda in Mill Way. At the latter, Lee assaulted a member of staff as she sought to leave the premises without paying.

A house in Newington has been subject to a partial closure order after it was linked to a disturbance.

The 28-day order was granted at Medway Magistrates’ Court last Wednesday (8th November) after Kent Police applied to the court for the partial closure of the house in Church Lane.

Under Section 80 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, the order prevents anyone from visiting or being inside the property, other than the landlord or the tenant, during that period, or else risk a custodial sentence or an unlimited fine.

Tree Sentinels lined The Avenue Of Remembrance for Remembrance Sunday yesterday (Sunday 12th November) to mark it's 100 years at the heart of Sittingbourne.

This year's Service Of Remembrance was organised through the Sittingbourne Remembrance Sunday Event Organising Group made up of local individuals, groups and businesses and co-ordinated by Richard and Theresa Emmett of The Historical Research Group Of Sittingbourne (HRGS).