Woman appeals pitch dismissal
ONE Bearsted family which is par- ticularly glad to see the end of the cricket season is the Chiappinis. The Italians, who run a coffee
shop business and live in a large house overlooking The Green, are no lovers of the hard ball game – particularly when it lands on their property. Cricket has been played there for
more than 250 years and, on awarm summer's day, what an arresting sight it can be. But for Maria Chiap- pini, it was literally that! As she ran onto the pitch shout-
Bearsted House – A view from their hedge shows how close the Chiappinis’ home is to the pitch
ing, shewas confronted by twopolice officers, who happened to be playing in an annual charity match against the Bearsted & Thurn- ham social club.
patrol car arrived. Acrowd of about 300 spec-
AS DownsMailwent to press, a police spokesman said: "It will be investigated once the individual concerned has decided whether or not to contest the penalty no- tice for disorder. "You can choose to pay the PND or contest it at court.
tators looked on in astonish- ment as Mrs Chiappini was handcuffed and taken to Maid- stone police sta- tion.
She was held
I believe she is still deciding which course to follow.We would wait until any possible court proceeding is over before conducting our enquiries. Once that PND has been resolved then we will fully process the complaint."
The off-duty officers, brothers Det Con An-
drew Dampier and Det Insp Ian Dampier, de- tained the 41-year-old in the pavilion until a
in a cell, had her DNA and finger- prints taken and was given a penalty notice for public disorder (PND).Mrs Chiap-
THANKS to the support of local businesses and spectators, more than £1,500 was collected for the Heart of Kent Hospice and the Kent Air Ambu- lance, taking the total raised since the event began to about £12,000.
pini lodged a complaint about how she was treated. Mrs Chiappini and her husband, John, 53,
for the charity for the past two years, said: "It is mainly young people who give up their time for the club, but with last month's return to university the club is in danger of losing the
Last bounce of summer
majority of its dedicated and ex- perienced volunteers. “This club makes such a dif- ference to the lives of the chil- dren, and their parents who receive a short respite every Sat- urday morning.” The children, aged from five
have been in dispute with the cricket club since they bought Bearsted House five years ago.
The couple are fed up with balls landing
in their garden and are worried balls could damage their home or hurt one of their two children. But things came to a headwhen Mrs Chi- appini sawone of the players making a rude gesture at her as she arrived home on bank holiday Monday. “Itwas awful,” she said. “I am a law-abid-
ing citizen. I have worked with the public since I was 15. I felt shocked andhumiliated, it’s an absolute violation.We do not deserve this treatment. This dreadful encounter has severely shaken my confidence in the po- lice.” Oneplayer said there had been a lot of cor- respondence between the club and the fam- ily. "They ownthe biggest house that borders the village green and don’t like the fact that matches are played so close to their property. “They have got solicitors involved and threatened to take us to court and every- thing. I don’t think they realise that cricket has been played here since 1749. Bearsted is synonymouswith the sport.” Ricky Carcary, president of Bearsted and
Thurnham Club, described Mrs Chiappini’s intervention as “embarrassing and unseemly”. DC Dampier took three wickets in the cricket club’s 62-run win.
Mencap voluntary group in survival battle AN appeal for volunteers has been made by Maidstone Men- cap to safeguard the future of its Saturday gateway club for dis- abled children. Claire Smith, who has worked
to 18, face a wide variety of dif- ficulties including autism, ADHD, physical disabilities, global development delay and
chromosome disorders. Claire added: “Without new volunteers the club is in real danger of being forced to close and with parents fighting for places for their children to at- tend it would be a huge loss to the local community if this were to happen.” Claire can be contacted by emailing clairesmith-91@hot-
mail.co.uk
THESE two 11-year-old girls had their final fling of the summer before starting term at senior school. Isobel Willson (Invicta Grammar) and Imogen Barr (St Simon Stock)were enjoying the bouncy slide, one of the attractions at Bearsted Green's annual community day. Now in its fifth year, the day gives young people the chance to
try out sports run by local clubs without hav- ing to pay the joining fee up front. Mean- while, the younger ones (right) were more than happy to be entertained by themagician and his rabbit.
Stolen cars dumped THREEmen were released on police bail following the discovery of three stolen high-value vehicles at an industrial unit in Lidsing. Following a report of aBMWthat was
stolen in London, less than four hours later Kent Police located the vehicle at the Bredhurst Business Park, Westfield Sole Road, and also recovered two fur- ther BMWs. The combined value of all three vehicles, which were seized and re- turned to their owners, was believed to be over £100,000. Three men, two aged 29 and one 22
year-old, all from London, were arrested and bailed to return to Maidstone Police Station on October 7.
Golf clubs taken POLICE are looking into a number of incidents involv- ing the theft of golf clubs. A set of Ping golf clubs
and bag were stolen during the early hours from the garage of a property in Camomile Drive,Weavering. Golf clubs were stolen from a garage in Shillingheld Close, Bearsted, together with a fishing pole. The up and over door was damaged in the theft. Also in Bearsted, golf clubs were also taken from a garage in Fulbert Drive.
THE Maidstone Club is set to close to end an era that began in Earl Street in 1873. At its recent annual general meeting, the club’smanagement committee supported a recom- mendation from trustees to end the business. A reduction in member num-
...but time is up for historic club
bers means the Maidstone Club is no longer viable and will be put on themarket, though there is enough available money for it to continue until at least the end of the year. Secretary Roger Bettle said:
“The committee knew that it didn’t have any other option but to close it.” He added: “There was a very
small number who voted against, but if it hadn’t been car- ried I’m not sure what we would have done as I don’t know how it would continue in the current circumstanceswith such a small number of members.”
Ashford Road six homes scheme
APLAN has been submitted to erect six detached homes in Ash- ford Road, Bearsted. The planning application details the proposed demolition of No 170, with the houses built to the rear of Nos 166 and 168.
Mote Hall trees to go? RICHARD Ashness has applied to fell three protected trees – a beech and two cherry trees – at Mote Hall, Church Lane, Bearsted. Mr Ashness states in his appli-
cation form that he has been ad- vised by a tree surgeon that the beech is dangerous and cherries are at the end of their lives.
To contact Downs Mail just phone 01622 630330
Village sign thefts VILLAGE signs were stolen from two locations in the south-east of the borough. The ‘Welcome to Head-
corn’ road signs were stolen from Lenham Road. A few days later, the vil- lage sign for Liverton Hill was taken.
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