Village distress over defaced memorial
AN IMMEDIATE clean-up oper- ation swung into action after yobs scrawled racist graffiti on the Jade’s Crossing memorial bridge at Detling. Slogans including “Kill Mus-
lims”, “Keep Britain British” and “EDL” – the initials of the anti-Islamist group, the English Defence League,were scratched into the moss on the panels of the walkways. The bridge was erected in memory of Jade Hobbs (8), who was killed along with her grand- mother as they crossed the busy A249 in 2000. The tragedy led to a successful campaign by Jade’s mother Caroline Hobbs, backed by the Downs Mail, for a permanent footbridge. Detling Parish Council vice- chairman John Clayton said the graffiti was “very distressing” for the villagers. “The inference is extremely bad and reflects
contacted the parish clerk who reported it to Maidstone Coun- cil. The borough immediately sent a team to erase the slogans. As the words had not been
daubed in paint, they could be removed relatively quickly. Detective Sgt Paul White, of
Kent Police’s Joint Intelligence Unit, said: “Althoughwe take all reports of graffiti of this nature seriously, thankfully we are not aware of such incidents being an ongoing trend and believe this is an isolated occurrence. “Such incidents will be
The remains of the graffiti on Jade’s Crossing after the worst excesses had been wiped away
badly on the village for all sorts of different reasons. “I think it was an act of op- portunist stupidity but that par- ticular bridge causes strong
Burglary increase warning
ANUMBER of house and garage burglaries took place in the space of a week in the south-east part of urban Maidstone. Most of the garage burglaries were attempts where the of- fender was unable to gain entry. Police have warned resi- dents to check the locks on doors and windows. The incidents included: Chapman Ave, Senacre – Daytime garage break-in on Feb- ruary 7. Highview Close, Maidstone – Daytime house burglary on February 8. Lismore Close, Maidstone – Shed break-in overnight on February 10 and 11.
feeling within the village be- cause of the two fatalities which occurred.” Mr Clayton said as soon as he was told of the vandalism, he
THE owner of Bredhurst Nursery has been fined almost £10,000 for failing to comply with an enforce- ment notice. Classic Property Holdings Ltd did
not stop using land at Dunn Street, Bredhurst, for the stationing and storage of motor vehicles between May 24, 2009, and March 8, 2010. The company was fined £7,500
and ordered to pay costs of £2,153 and a victim surcharge of £15. Full
treated as an offence of criminal damage and could result in prosecution of those responsi- ble.”
Dennis Fowle who led the
Downs Mail campaign to fund the bridge said: “This is mind- less vandalism deplored by all who fought so hard for this im- portant crossing.”
Storage offence costs nursery £9,600
compliance with the notice was achieved in September 2010. Maidstone Council cabinet mem-
ber for regeneration, Cllr Malcolm Greer, said: “This is a great result and I’d like to thank the residents and council officers for their help in bringing this case to a close. “We take cases like this seriously
and although it has been on going formany yearswewon’t back down until we get the result we want.”
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