Local News

Metropolitan Police have confirmed that two men have been charged with firearm offences after an armed police chase on the M2 motorway which ended near Junction 5 on Sunday (19th February) evening.

A number of police cars, including armed officers from the Metropolitan Police's Trident Gang Crime Command, a specialist team tackling gang violence, pursued two vehicles along the motorway London-bound between Faversham and Sittingbourne.

36-year-old Spencer Tapper, from Dagenham and 37-year-old Mahesh Chaitoo, from Southend, have both been charged with conspiracy to possess a firearm with ammunition with intent to endanger life.

Tapper and Chaitoo both appeared before Medway Magistrates' on Monday (20th February). Two women arrested at the scene were bailed, pending further enquiries, until mid-April.

A Co-op lorry driver pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving on Thursday (16th February) at Maidstone Crown Court, following a fatal accident on the A2 London Road in Teynham last year.

73-year-old cyclist Barbara Phipps died in the accident near the Co-op store in Teynham on the 13th February 2016. 59-year old lorry driver, William Magee, originally denied charge of dangerous driving and was due to stand trial later this month but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of causing death by careless driving, which was accepted by the prosecution.

Judge Martin Joy adjourned sentencing for reports until Friday 3rd March. Mr Magee's bail was continued and he was given an interim driving ban.

Two men have been charged in connection with the alleged removal of items from a sunken Royal Navy warship in the English Channel.

HMS Hermes was a protected cruiser built in the late 19th century and converted into an aircraft ferry and depot ship ready for the outbreak of the First World War.

It was sunk by a German submarine in the Dover Strait in October 1914 with the loss of 44 lives.

Officers from Kent Police's Rural Task Force launched an investigation in August 2015 after being informed that a number of historical artefacts had been reported missing from the wreck.

John Blight, 57, of Old River Way in Winchelsea, East Sussex, has now been charged with three counts of dishonestly failing to disclose items of wreck to the Receiver of Wreck with intent to make a gain.

Nigel Ingram, 56, of London Road, Teynham, has been charged with the same three counts in addition to being in possession of £16,000 worth of criminal property.

Both men have been bailed to appear before Margate Magistrates on Thursday 2nd March.

The investigation into the alleged offences was carried out in partnership with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the Marine Management Organisation, the Receiver of Wreck, Sussex Police, Historic England and the French authorities.

North Street, in Milton Regis, was closed earlier today (Tuesday 24th January) in both directions at the junction with Milton High Street and Vicarage Road, following an incident where a car hit a house on Hawkins Close.

A spokeswoman for Kent Police told SFM News "[we] called at around 9.00am this morning after it was reported that a car had been involved in a collision with a house. Police officers and Kent Fire and Rescue Service were dispatched to the scene in North Street, Milton Regis."

There were no reported injuries and it is believed that a structural engineer has been called in to assess the damage.