Sittingbourne

New CCTV has been released by officers today (Tuesday 26th November) who are continuing to search for a man who was last seen in Sittingbourne one week ago.

Peter Henderson, 65, was last seen in the Pear Tree Walk area of Newington at 12.17am last Tuesday (19th November).

Following enquiries officers have released a CCTV image of Peter, which was captured in Pear Tree Walk and shows him heading north west towards Orchard Drive.

Swale Borough Council’s CCTV control centre, based in Sittingbourne, is expanding to become a national safety hub.

The council’s control centre monitors Swale’s public space CCTV cameras 24/7, 365 days a year and works closely with Kent Police to tackle crime and keep residents safe.

Kent Police are reminding shoppers to stay vigilant following reports of cash being stolen from bags and purses in Sittingbourne.

On the morning of Friday 1st November, a woman withdrew money from a town centre bank and then walked back to her car in supermarket car park. As she got into the vehicle a woman knocked on the window stating there were pins on the floor. The victim got out to pick them up and a man approached and assisted with the task. The victim later realised money had been stolen from her bag while she was distracted.

A sex offender, who groomed a child online before meeting her in Swale, has been jailed.

Asif Mirza was caught with the victim inside his car after concerns were raised by an alert Kent Police employee.

Mirza initially contacted the victim through social media at the start of 2024 and showed sympathy when she disclosed some personal issues that concerned her. Having gained the girl’s trust Mirza pressured her to send him some indecent images.

Swale Borough Council is organising this year’s civic Service of Remembrance in Sittingbourne on Sunday 10th November.  

The council’s Remembrance Sunday service begins at 10am at St Michael’s church on the High Street and will be followed by a procession through the high street ending at the War Memorial on Central Avenue. 

The procession, led by the Royal British Legion Riders, will arrive at the Cenotaph at 11am where the remembrance and the laying of wreaths will take place until 12pm. 

A prolific criminal has been jailed following multiple thefts and driving offences in Swale.

Darren Regan started his crime spree in the early hours of Monday 29th January 2024. He gained entry to two vehicles at addresses near Sheerness and stole a pair of binoculars from one of them. A short time later he was stopped by a patrol and the constables found the binoculars hidden in his coat sleeve. Regan was arrested and later charged with theft and interfering with a vehicle.

Three suspects have been arrested and charged in connection with a phone shop robbery in Sittingbourne earlier this week.

The two men and a teenage boy are alleged to have stolen thousands of pounds of stock after forcing their way into a Vodafone store in the High Street.

The incident happened at around 5.20pm on Thursday (17th October) afternoon. By 7pm, responding patrols had made arrests in a park near Canterbury Street, Gillingham. Several devices suspected to be stolen were seized.

Newly installed CCTV cameras in Sittingbourne and Sheerness Town Centres have gone live.

Swale Borough Council have purchased nine new public space CCTV cameras as part of their 'Safer Streets' Project which aims to tackle antisocial behaviour, and violence against women and girls.

Six pan, tilt and zoom cameras have been installed, five in Sittingbourne and one in Sheerness, to bolster the network of existing cameras already monitored 24/7 by the council’s CCTV control room.

A local charity, supported by 106.9 SFM, has been awarded funds from The Asda Foundation through their Sittingbourne superstore.

Asda's Sittingbourne Community Champion, Claire Fosbeary, presented the cheque to the charity's CEO, Jason Firmanger and a number of volunteers at their recent Tuesday night meeting at Holy Trinity Church (next to Lidl).

The free weekly group meet every Tuesday at 7:30pm and is for men who want to make positive changes in their lives and combat Mental Health issues.

It's been reported that a 31-year-old man, who was part of a small group of inmates released from HMP Swaleside on Tuesday (10th September) , has been arrested folowing an attack in Sittingbourne.

The man has been accused of sexually assaulting a woman at Sittingbourne Railway Station just an hour after being released from prison under the government’s early release scheme, according to the MailOnline website.

The website reports that the man then got on a train to London and was arrested in Croydon on Wednesday (11th September).