Kent Police

Kent Police are appealing for witnesses after an elderly woman had her purse stolen during a distraction theft in Sittingbourne.

The 85-year-old victim visited a bank in the High Street on Wednesday (27th March) at approximately 2.30pm and withdrew £50 from a cashpoint. She then returned to her car, parked by a supermarket on the Avenue of Remembrance, when a man came up to her and asked for directions to France.

Kent Police have released an image of two people they would like to speak to in connection with a stolen purse in Sittingbourne.

The black purse, which contained £250 cash, a number of cards and photographs of the victim's children, was taken from a shop in the High Street on 7th February. The victim had left the bag on top of some catalogues in the store and accidentally left without it.

It is believed a young couple then entered the shop and the man is seen to have spotted the purse and picked it up before the pair walked out.

Three men have been sentenced to more than 12 years in prison for stealing high-value computer chips worth almost £2million.

The trio were arrested on 13th September 2012 by officers from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate following the theft that day of computer chips valued at £1.9m. The chips were part of a larger consignment (£4.5m) which were being transported via lorry trailer from Ireland via the UK to Holland. The men were disturbed during the theft, therefore preventing the theft of the whole load. The men were all charged on 14th September 2012.

Two men appeared before Maidstone Magistrates' Court (via Videolink) today (Friday 6th March) after being charged with theft from a jewellery shop in Sittingbourne.

Kent Police were called at 11.00am yesterday (Thursday 7th March) after it was reported that some high value items had been stolen from Battrum & Sons jewellers on the High Street.

A vehicle was stopped nearly an hour later in Central Park, Dartford and two men arrested.

A 24-year-old man from Teynham has been sentenced to six months in prison after admitting he was involved in a fatal road traffic collision in which a teenager died.

Robert Lawrence, 24, of Barrow Green in the village, was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court on Wednesday (27th February) after having pleaded guilty to charges of failing to stop after an accident and perverting the course of justice. He was also disqualified from driving for 12 months.

A Sittingbourne woman has been jailed for 18 months after admitting stealing almost £200,000 from her employers over five years.

Karen Tracey Knowles, of Ferry Road in Iwade, was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court on Wednesday 13th February after pleading guilty to fraud by misrepresentation.

Four teenagers have been arrested as Kent Police officers continue their work on Operation Castle, their force-wide crackdown on burglary and vehicle crime.

Officers executed warrants and swooped on suspected burglars in theSittingbourne area, with four arrests since the weekend.

A suspected burglar has been arrested within minutes of police being called to an alleged burglary in progress in Sittingbourne.

Kent Police were called at about 11.00pm on Monday (28th January) to a report that a garage was being burgled in Harrier Drive.

Officers attended and at 11.10pm arrested a 20-year-old man, from Sittingbourne, on suspicion of burglary and theft.

The suspect currently remains in custody.

Kent Police are appealing for witnesses after computer equipment worth almost £100,000 was stolen from a trailer in Hernhill on Tuesday 22nd January.

The trailer, part of a heavy goods vehicle, was parked in a road off Plum Pudding Lane between 7.30pm and 10.10pm, when 320 white Archos 10.1 XS computer tablets of 16 gigabytes, worth £299 each, were stolen.

Two prisoners, who absconded from HMP Standford Hill in Eastchurch on Wednesday (2nd January), are being urgently sought by Kent Police.

Anthony Hogan, aged 50 and from South London, is 5ft 7ins tall, medium build with balding hair and Nicky Gale, aged 29 and from Dartford, is slim and bald, with a scar on his left temple and a scar on his left hand. It is not known if they escaped together.

Members of the public are advised not to approach either men but to advise the police of any sightings by phoning 999.