Local News

The grandaughter of an 85 year-old man, who is in a critical condition in hospital following a road traffic collision, is supporting a Kent Police appeal to locate the driver who failed to stop at the scene.

On Friday evening (11th April) Thomas Davis had attended the annual dinner of the Polhill cycling club in Upchurch. At around 11:20pm he was dropped off outside the Premier Inn on the A2, London Road in Rainham (at the junction with Maidstone Road). He crossed the road from the Sittingbourne-bound side towards the Premier Inn. As he reached the Gillingham-bound side of the road he was in collision with a vehicle which failed to stop at the scene. It is believed the car may have been a silver Peugeot.

The police and the emergency services were called and Mr Davis was taken to hospital. He suffered multiple, serious injuries and his condition is currently described as being critical. His grandaughter, Nicole Sawhney, who has been at his bedside daily, told SFM News: "Tom is an active cyclist, he lives in Lincoln but he used to live in Gillingham where he established the Polhill Cycling Club. He lives a very active life and whenever the sun is shining he goes out on his bike. He is the main carer for my Nan and this has come as such a shock to us all. He has serious injuries. Nine of his ribs are broken and his lungs are bruised. This means he is struggling to get enough oxygen. He has fractures to his vertebrae and bleeds on his brain. We are under no illusions and know he has a lot to battle through."

Kent Police Roads Policing Inspector, Martin Stevens, is continuing to appeal for witnesses to come forward. He told SFM News: "our investigation is continuing and we are attempting to locate the driver of the vehicle. The road is a busy one and we are confident that there would have been people and motorists in the area at the time of the collision. Did you see a vehicle either acting suspiciously or driving at speed at around the time of the collision? Were you driving along the A2 in Medway before or after the incident occurred? Do you have a dashboard camera that may have captured the vehicle at some stage that night? A man's life is in the balance and we owe it to him and his family to find out exactly how this serious collision occurred. Mr Davis is a father, grandfather and great grandfather, how would you feel if someone treated your family member this way? Someone out there knows what happened. Someone knows who was driving that car and I urge them to do the right thing and contact us."

Anyone who has information is asked to contact the Serious Collision Investigation Unit directly on 01622 798538 or alternatively they can contact Crimestoppers free (from any landline) and anonimously on 0800 555 11.

Kent Police officers are to be given more powers to deal with groups of people causing anti-social behaviour in a residential area of Sittingbourne.

A Dispersal Area will operate in The Meads (Sonora Fields) estate for six months until the end of September 2014 and has been jointly authorised by Kent Police and Swale Borough Council under the powers of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003. Under the Act, any group of two or more people found causing or likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress can be dispersed by a uniformed officer.
Young people under 16 not accompanied by a responsible adult between 9pm and 6am can be taken back to their home. Failure to comply could lead to a fine of up to £2,500 and/or three months' imprisonment.

The Dispersal Area is to be introduced following an increase in the number of reports of anti-social behaviour involving groups of youths congregating in the alleyways and community spaces of the housing development. It is not thought many of the youngsters are local to the estate, so neighbourhood officers hope the Dispersal Area will stop them using it for anti-social behaviour, which includes criminal damage.

Inspector Mark Button, of the Swale Community Safety Unit, told SFM News: "We won't tolerate law-abiding members of the public being intimidated and made to feel unsafe in their own homes. This area has been the subject of focused patrolling by neighbourhood officers in the past month. As a result, we've seen a decrease in the number of call-outs to anti-social behaviour. However, we want to continue this and the Dispersal Area will assist us further."

Three men have been charged in connection with a number of burglaries in the Sittingbourne area.

Benjamin Samuels (32) and Alan Looker (33) both of Milbourne Grove, Sittingbourne have been charged with four counts of burglary. Additionally Sydney Samuels (37) also of Milbourne Grove, Sittingbourne has been charged with five counts of burglary.

The men were all charged yesterday (Monday 24th March) and were remanded in police custody overnight. They are due to appear before Medway Magistrates Court via virtual video later today.

Police recovered war medals following the execution of a search warrant.

After much deliberation, Sittingbourne in Bloom have finally decided whose design will be planted on the station roundabout in late May.

Each year, Sittingbourne in Bloom invites the students from all the primary schools in the town to design a layout for the summer bedding on the station roundabout, which is sponsored by ‘Lets Go Green Cabs'.

This year, seven schools entered the competition with 400 entries being received. The entries were whittled down to a short list of 25, with the winning design coming from Ben Clark of Grove Park School. Second place went to Jack Mills of Lansdown School, with third place going to Andrew Dutton of St Peter's Catholic School.

Mayor of Swale, Cllr Sue Gent, hosted the prize giving event in her parlour at 2pm on Monday 10 March and said: "This competition was very popular and triggered some very clever ideas from those who took the time to enter. Only one winner could be selected and I, along with the rest of Swale cannot wait to see Ben Clark's design in bloom."