Local News

The Rotary Club of Sittingbourne Invicta are looking for entries to their nineth 10k and 2k Races to be held at Westlands School, Sittingbourne on the morning of Sunday 19th May.

This is a sporting and community event which is also a major fundraiser for the Rotary Club of Sittingbourne Invicta. The races are popular, attracting around 300 entrants for the 10k and 200 entrants for the 2k. Last year's races raised around £4,000 bringing the total in the eight races to date to nearly £50,000 all of which has been donated to charities.

There will be musical entertainment with the 106.9 SFM Roadshow on hand, stalls selling home baked cakes, ice cream and other tempting foods, teas and coffees and juices, with displays by local groups involved in the organisation of the races. There is plenty of car parking space for those coming by car.

10K Race
This race is approved by UK Athletics (No 2019 - 36188) and is listed in Runner's World.
All runners start from the Westlands School playing fields at 11.00am and the route follows a measured route along rural roads through the delightful undulating Kent countryside before returning to the school. There's just one short stretch of off-road running where some caution is required.
To enter you must be 16 or over on the day of the race. Each runner will be assigned an official race number on the day and be chip-timed.
All entrants will receive a "goody bag" and there will be trophies for the winners in different categories.

If you register before Friday 10th May 2019 the entry fee is £13 for affiliated runners and £15 for non-affiliated runners. Registration will be open on the day from 08:30am to 10:30am when the fee will be £15 for affiliated runners and £17 for unaffiliated runners.

You can register and pay online through the Runner's World website (booking fee applies) or download an entry form from the Invicta website (invictarotary.org) to post in.

2K Fun Run and Swale Combined Athletic Club Primary Schools Team 2k Race
The race is open to primary school teams and independent runners.
Swale Combined Athletic Club is promoting our 2k Race as a primary school competition with the winning team receiving a perpetual shield for a year. The first three teams also receive a plaque, which can be kept by the school.

School teams can include any number of runners, but only the first 4 runners from each team will score towards the shield. As runners finish they will be handed a finishing number token, which they will give to their Team Manager who will write their name, race number and finishing token on a form supplied by Swale Combined AC. This will then be handed to the race scorer with the collected tokens. The team with the lowest finishing score wins i.e. 1st, 3rd, 5th and 6th will score 15 points.
All finishers receive a running medal.

Entry to the Sittingbourne Invicta 2K Race for both school team runners and independent runners is £2.50.
All non-team registrations will be made on the day when a race number will be issued.
Registration on the day opens at 8:30am and closes at 9.30am for the 2k Fun Run to start at 09:45am.

The annual selection of the Sittingbourne Carnival Court was held at the Woodcoombe Sports and Social Club in Murston on Saturday (9th March).

Four young ladies entered the competition and were judged individually by Rosie Trickey from Deal, Kingsdown and Walmer Carnival Association, Lauren McCall from the Sheppey Carnival Association, Sophie-Marie Dane - former Miss European England and Mr Terry West, President of Teynham Carnival Association.

After their individual interviews each girl then spoke on stage to the audience, giving information about themselves. It was a very close competition between the young ladies who entered and the judges had a hard time deciding on the winner. Over 150 people supported the event, including 12 visiting Carnival Courts from around Kent, the contestants' families and friends and members of the public.

The new Court for 2019 was announced as:-
Miss Sittingbourne 2019 - Charlotte Jordan (aged 15)
Joint Sittingbourne Princesses 2019 - Chloe Amey-Ayress (aged 15) and Yazmin Lewis (almost 14)
Reserve Princess - Olivia Kay (aged 15)

The age limit was lowered this year to include those born in 2005, so long as they are aged 14 by the time the Carnivals start in June tey were able to enter.

All members of the new Court live in the Sittingbourne area and have said they are very excited to start their new venture.

Liz Swan, Chairperson of Sittingbourne Carnival Association, told SFM News: "They are a lovely Court and I am very much looking forward to working with them in the forthcoming year."

Sittingbourne's Carnival Day this year is Saturday 22nd June - and will be sponsored by 106.9 SFM.

A distinctive tattoo on a burglar's hand has led to him being jailed for seven and a half years after he admitted threatening a woman with a knife in Sheerness.

Charlie Gannon, 21, of Valley Side, Chingford, was jailed on Friday (15th February) at Maidstone Crown Court after he admitted one count of aggravated burglary.

The judge heard how Gannon, along with three other men, targeted a house in Sheerness High Street at around 1.00pm on Sunday 7th October 2018.

The victim was in the living room of the house with her young child when the men knocked on the door. She opened the door and the group asked to speak to a man inside the house.

The victim then shut the door to check if the man was available, however when she returned to the front door Gannon stated they were there to rob them and shouted to the victim to go upstairs and hand over valuable items.

As he was saying this Gannon and another man forced their way into the house with the victim then hearing one of the men shouting about using a knife.

The woman shouted for the other men to help and at this point Gannon and the other man started backing up towards the front door. The woman managed to push both men out the front door and close the door. Gannon and the other man continued to push and kick at the door before they leave.

Following the incident officers then carried out an investigation identifying the people involved.

CCTV from the property revealed one of the men had a distinctive tattoo on his left hand. Officers then cross referenced this from a social media profile on Facebook and Gannon was identified. Forensic results also confirmed two fingerprints found on the front door belonged to Gannon. The other three people involved have not yet been identified.

Gannon was arrested on Monday 8th October 2018 and subsequently charged.

Investigating officer PC Mike Wills told SFM News: "This was a frightening incident in which four men attempted to enter a home where a child was present, in order to commit a robbery. Not only was force used to gain entry but the presence of a knife also increased the fear felt by the victim and I would like to commend her bravery in attempting to and ultimately pushing Gannon and the others out of the property. Gannon has received a lengthy sentence which reflects the level of violence used in this incident."

There have been long delays on the M2 motorway at Junction 5 (Sittingbourne) this afternoon, after a broken down van caught fire.

Traffic on the London-bound carriageway was held just after the Stockbury roundabout to allow emergency services to get to the scene and deal with the blaze.

The road was closed for around an hour causing long delays. No injuries have been reported.