Sittingbourne

A suspect has been charged with murder following the death of a man in Sittingbourne.

Kent Police were called at 1.36am on Wednesday (21st December) after a man had sustained injuries consistent with stab wounds at a property off College Road. Officers and ambulance crews attended and David Perry, aged 40, was pronounced deceased at the scene.

Rohan Daniels, aged 18, was arrested and an investigation is being led by the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate.

Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) were sent to the scene of a garage fire on Helen Thompson Close in Iwade, Sittingbourne in the early hours of this morning (Saturday 17th December).

Four fire engines were sent to the scene after the KFRS were called shortly after 4.20am and crews arrived to a fire spreading from a garage to the roof of an adjoining property.

Crews wearing breathing apparatus used main jets, hose reel jets and water from a local hydrant to extinguish the blaze.

No casualties were reported, and the cause has not been confirmed.

Kent Police have confirmed that an attempted murder charge has been authorised against a man from Sittingbourne.

Mathew Breaker, aged 46 and of Swanstree Avenue, appeared before Medway Magistrates’ Court yesterday (Monday 12th December).

He has been charged with attempted murder, possessing an offensive weapon in a public place and two counts of possessing a bladed object in a public place.

He was charged after a woman was seriously hurt in Sittingbourne at around 1.30am on Sunday (11th December) morning.

Banking giant Barclays have announced that their Sittingbourne branch is set to close in the New Year.

The branch, at 81 High Street Sittingbourne, will close its counters for the last time at 12 noon on Wednesday 8th March 2023.

Sittingbourne officers have secured an extension of a closure order which prohibits entry to a property associated with persistent anti-social behaviour.

The extension was granted at Maidstone’ Magistrates Court on Thursday (24th November) and concerns a flat in Oak Road, Murston linked to repeated threats and harassment to neighbours. The closure order makes it an offence for anyone to enter the property and had originally lasted from Friday 26th August until Friday 25th November 2022.

British Transport Police (BTP) officers, investigating an incident during which a man spat at a member of rail staff, have released an image in connection with the incident.

At 3.30pm on Friday 30th September, a man climbed over a fence at Sittingbourne railway station onto its platform to avoid the ticket barriers.

Rail staff approached the man and escorted him out of the station. As he passed through the booking hall he turned and spat at one of the staff members before leaving.

Illegal drugs with an estimated street value of more than £1,600 have been found after officers pulled a vehicle over in Canterbury.

At around 4.30pm on Wednesday (9th November), officers from Kent Police’s Proactive Targeting Team were on patrol in the Longport area of the city when they received a report from another patrol of a Toyota being driven in a suspicious manner nearby. They saw and stopped the car. It was searched, resulting in a large amount of cannabis found hidden in cavities within the body of the vehicle. Phones and a quantity of cash were also seized.

A suspect has been remanded in custody following reports he made threats with a weapon towards two men in separate Swale incidents.

At around 8.45pm on Monday (31st October) evening, it is alleged a victim was threatened by a man with a machete on a platform at Sheerness train station.

Witnesses are being sought by Kent Police following a fatal collision near Sittingbourne last evening (Tuesday 18th October).

At around 5pm a yellow Renault Scenic was involved in a collision with a bicycle along The Street in Wormshill. The cyclist, a 71-year-old man, sustained fatal injuries and was confirmed deceased at the scene.

Two men from Sittingbourne, aged 35 and 55, were later arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and taken into custody.

Arriva Kent bus drivers have announced another 13 days of walk-outs which will affect services across the county later this month and in to next month.

Drivers have already walked out on two days in September and on Thursday (6th October) and Friday (7th October) last week and Monday (10th October) and Tuesday (11th October) this week. 600 members of the Unite Union, based at Arriva Kent depots in Northfleet, Gillingham (our local depot), Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells, voted by a 96.5% margin to take further industrial action.