Sittingbourne

The selection of the Sittingbourne Carnival Court 2014 was held on Saturday (22nd March) at the Woodcombe Sports and Social Club, Church Road, Murston.

Three men have been charged in connection with a number of burglaries in the Sittingbourne area.

Benjamin Samuels (32) and Alan Looker (33) both of Milbourne Grove, Sittingbourne have been charged with four counts of burglary. Additionally Sydney Samuels (37) also of Milbourne Grove, Sittingbourne has been charged with five counts of burglary.

The men were all charged yesterday (Monday 24th March) and were remanded in police custody overnight. They are due to appear before Medway Magistrates Court via virtual video later today.

Kent Police have launched an investigation after two elderly people living in the same road were burgled.

After much deliberation, Sittingbourne in Bloom have finally decided whose design will be planted on the station roundabout in late May.

Each year, Sittingbourne in Bloom invites the students from all the primary schools in the town to design a layout for the summer bedding on the station roundabout, which is sponsored by ‘Lets Go Green Cabs'.

Detectives investigating an assault outside a Sittingbourne nightclub that left a man with a broken jaw and fractured cheekbone have urged witnesses to come forward.

The transfer of Iwade Barn to the community in the village is to be discussed at the next Swale Cabinet meeting on Wednesday 12th March.

The recommendation is to offer a new Iwade Barn Trust the 125-year lease for the Grade II listed Barn located at Iwade Cemetery, the adjacent small garden area and associated parking facilities.

Kent Police are appealing for witnesses following a reported arson in Mulberry Way on the Great East Hall Estate here in Sittingbourne.

It is believed a fire was deliberately set outside the address between 2pm and 3pm on Sunday (23rd February).

The 15 metre deep sink hole, that has shut the M2 between junctions 5 (Sittingbourne) and 6 (Faversham/Ashford) for the last 24 hours, is still causing traffic chaos this afternoon.

The Highways Agency has advised that they are hoping to have one lane either side open for tomorrow but there are no guarantees as urgent safety investigations continue.

Drivers heading to and from Dover are still advised to use the M20 instead.

The hole, between junctions 5 and 6, measures approximately 5 metres by 2 metres and 15 metres deep. 

A teenage burglar has been jailed for two years after stealing a car and crashing it into someone's house in Sittingbourne.

18-year-old Jimmy Avery, of Woodbury Avenue in Murston, was sentenced on Friday 31st January, at Maidstone Crown Court, to 29 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary, one of theft, taking a vehicle without authority and aggravated vehicle taking. He was also banned from driving for 12 months.

A fourth man has been arrested by detectives investigating suspected illegal cock-fighting and animal cruelty at a farm in Iwade.

Officers from Kent Police discovered up to 170 birds in a converted barn in Raspberry Hill after executing a warrant on last Monday (13th January). A number of dead cockerels were also found at the farm, as was a suspected fighting ring - known as a cockpit - and paraphernalia associated with the training of birds for fighting.