Kent Police

Yesterday (Tuesday 28th February) 37-year-old George Bignall, of Middletune Avenue in Sittingbourne, was sentenced to a total of two years and eight months for a distraction burglary, theft and affray.

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.

Two members of an organised drugs group have been jailed following the discovery of £7.7 million worth of cannabis here in Sittingbourne.

Kent Police officers discovered just over a tonne of the class B substance when they executed a search warrant at an industrial unit on Castle Road, at about 9.20am on Friday 23rd September last year (2016).

Thomas Cullen, 57, of St John's Road in Huyton, Liverpool, and Joseph Graham, 48, of no fixed address but with links to the Merseyside area, were also inside the property and arrested as a result.

Kent Police are reminding motorists to lock their cars and remove valuables after receiving several reports of theft from vehicles in Kemsley.

Between 5.30am and 6am on Tuesday (3rd January) Kent Police received reports of theft of property including clothing and tools from five cars in Beauvoir Drive.

Police would like to speak to a man who was reported to have been trying car door handles in the road at the time before running off. He is described as white, aged between 15 and 25 years old, 5ft 8in, of medium build and wearing a blue bomber jacket, and dark trousers.

Kent Police are reminding residents to secure their homes during the festive period following reports of burglaries in Sittingbourne.

Officers have received more than 10 reports of burglaries in the area since the beginning of December where it was alleged that the front door has been used to gain entry into the property.

Just this last Saturday (17th December) police received a report of attempted burglary in Randle Way, Sittingbourne, where it was alleged that between 8.10am and 4pm a person attempted to gain entry into a property via the front door.

A dangerous and unlicensed driver, who caused the deaths of two men in a New Year's Day collision on Friday 1st January this year (2016), has been jailed for seven years.

One other passenger in Ashley Howard's car suffered serious injuries when it crashed into the Jubilee Pump monument and overturned in a garden off London Road, Teynham, in the early hours of the first day of 2016.

Howard, 23, of Quarry View on the Isle of Wight, spent more than two months in hospital himself following the collision.

Kent Police are appealing for witnesses to come forward to help find a missing teenager from the Rochester area.

Officers are concerned for the welfare of 18-year-old Ben Savage, after he disappeared following an evening out. He was last seen at 2.45am on Tuesday (6th December) in Railway Street, Chatham.

Officers investigating a serious collision in Sittingbourne are appealing for witnesses.

The incident happened in Staplehurst Road at about 3.45pm on Friday (18th November) afternoon.

A four-year-old boy was taken to a London hospital after the car he was travelling in - a silver Citroen Xsara Picasso - was involved in a collision with a brick wall.

His condition is currently described as serious but stable.

Two other children in the car were taken to a local hospital with minor injuries.

Kent Police are investigating a reported burglary in Sittingbourne over the weekend.

Between midnight and 7.30am on Sunday (30th October) it was alleged that two bicycles were stolen from a garden shed in Rock Road by forcing it's door lock.

A red and grey Bianchi Intenso road bike with a chrome bottom bracket and a Carrera bike were reported stolen.

The garden may have been entered using a rear alleyway that leads onto Burley Road.

Kent Police are holding a two-week amnesty on unlicensed or unwanted firearms, imitation weapons and ammunition, to get them out of circulation.

The amnesty will run from 8.00am on Monday 31st October until 5.00pm on Friday 11 November at Police Stations across the county, including Sittingbourne Police Station on Central Avenue.