Sittingbourne

A cannabis factory has been found after officers from Kent Police executed a drugs warrant in Sittingbourne.

The plants were seized at around 8.00am earlier today (Wednesday 25th April) on Wihtred Road in Bapchild. More than 150 mature plants were found and all in the final stages of drying ready to be sold.

Kent Police were called at 6.33am this morning (Tuesday 24th April) following a collision involving two cars on the Maidstone-bound carriageway of the A249 near Stockbury.

Police officers, South East Coast Ambulance Service and Kent Fire and Rescue Service all attended the scene and a woman in her 60's from the Sittingbourne area was pronounced dead at the scene. Her next of kin have been informed.

Both carriageways were closed while emergency services dealt with the incident and were fully re-opened at 1.35pm this afternoon.

A teenage girl was forced to carry a mobile phone with an earpiece and microphone attached by a controlling man so he could eavesdrop on her conversations.

Rique Wall would also insist she speak to him for hours on end, dictated when she could leave her Sittingbourne home, and carried out a number of sexual offences against her.

Wall, 32, of Kimberley Road in Croydon, committed the offences between April 2014 and July 2016.

This coming Saturday (21st April) sees the return of the St George's Day celebrations here in Sittingbourne High Street.

The whole day has been organised by Sara Seabridge, the Event Co-ordinator for the Sittingbourne Retail And Business Association (SRBA).

A man has been charged with attempted burglary following an incident at a home in Sittingbourne.

Christopher Swanson is alleged to have entered the home of a woman, aged in her 90s, in the Woodstock Road area in January this year.

Following enquiries by the Sittingbourne Criminal Investigation Department, the 51-year-old, of Peoney Crescent in Sittingbourne, has been charged with attempted burglary.

He is due to appear at Medway Magistrates' Court shortly (Monday 9th April).

Picture: Jake Burmingham

A teenager who killed his friend while speeding in a pickup truck has been jailed for four years.

Kieran Simpson, 18, of Gladwyn Road, Rainham, was jailed on Friday (16th March) by a judge at Maidstone Crown Court.

He was sentenced to four years in jail after pleading guilty to one count of causing death by dangerous driving after his friend died in a collision on the A2 on London Road in Newington.

The family of a 30-year-old man who was killed in a collision in Sittingbourne have issued a tribute.

Emergency services were called to attend an incident at around 11.25pm on Saturday 10th March in St Michael's Road which involved a man and a lorry.

Tom Field, who was a scientist and from Sittingbourne, was pronounced deceased at the scene.

His Mum, Dad, brother James and Tom's fiancée Chloé have issued the following tribute.

Pictured are Alexandra Wastell - Joint Princess, Eleanor Hopkins - Miss Sittingbourne 2018 and Abbie-Jane Barnes - Joint Princess.

Sittingbourne's new Carnival Court for 2018 has been announced following the Selection Night on Saturday (10th March).

The event was held at The Woodcombe Sports & Social Club in Murston and involved interviews and public speeches from the participants.

We wish them all a very happy and successful year ahead and look forward to seeing them with the SFM Roadshow Crew on Carnival Day this year - which is Saturday 23rd June.

Officers from the Kent Police Serious Collision Investigation Unit (SCIU) are appealing for witnesses following the death of a pedestrian close to Sittingbourne train station at the weekend.

Police were called at around 11.25pm on Saturday (10th March) to reports of a collision involving a lorry, on St Michael's Road. Police and ambulance crews attended and a man was declared dead at the scene.

Officers from the SCIU would now like to hear from anyone who witnessed the collision, or who saw the pedestrian or lorry beforehand.

Kent Police officers have charged a man with carrying an air rifle in a public place in Faversham.

Armed police were called to the Abbey Fields area on Saturday (17th February) following reports of a man seen with a weapon.

An extensive search of the area was carried out with the aid of the NPAS police helicopter.

Further enquires led to the seizure of an air rifle and the arrest and charging of Daniel Powell, aged 35 and from St Johns Avenue here in Sittingbourne.

He has been released on bail to appear before Maidstone Magistrates Court on Friday 16th March.