Man jailed for


child sex crimes A MAN from Penenden Heath was given an indeterminate jail sentence after being convicted of sexual offences against two children in Milton Keynes. William Diack (55), of


Wordsworth Road, was found guilty of three counts of rape and two counts of sexual as- sault. Diack carried out the of- fences on two children, a boy (aged between 11 and 15) and a girl (aged between five and nine) between 1999 and 2009. On his arrest, Diack’s com-


puter was seized and he was found to have more than 200 indecent images of children ranging from levels one to five, five being the most serious. Det Con Kim McHugh, of the


Child Abuse Investigation Unit (CAIU) based in Bletchley, said: “Diack carried out a series of horrific sexual offences on his two young victims and, as many offenders like him do, he encouraged them to keep the abuse secret. “Four of the charges Diack


has been convicted of were not individual offences. Each rep- resented a course of conduct over several years.”


Former pupil gives


sixth form address FORMER Maidstone Grammar School for Girls pupil Sue Ran- som returned for the annual sixth form speech day. The occasion saw the return


of A-level students who sat their exams last June – achiev- ing record breaking results – and Sue, a senior headhunter and writer, presented their well-earned certificates and prizes.


No reduction to tree BRIAN McGovern has been for- bidden from reducing the size of a protected tree at his home in Grace Avenue, Allington. He applied to carry out a 30% reduction to a horse chestnut tree because of concerns about its health and potential damage to adjacent properties if it were to fall.


Maidstone Council refused


the application, stating there was nothing to suggest the tree was unhealthy or unsafe.


Sporting action for all as torch comes to town


MEN and women all over Maidstone are being invited to walk, run, cycle and swim as part of the town’s Olympic flame festivities. A “Maidstone Mile” evening


fun run for all ages will take place on July 20, starting and finishing in the High Street. Anyone can take part, running for their own particular cause or charity, on a route that takes in Week Street, St Faith’s Street, Fairmeadow and the High Street. Competent swimmers can


take part in a “MaidstoneMile” open river swim from the Archbishop’s Palace to Tovil, starting at 7pm. To mark the passing of the Olympic torch, both Maidstone and Tonbridge and Malling Councils have joined forces to arrange the first Maidstone Triathlon on Sunday, June 24. This will comprise a 400m


swim in Leybourne Lake, a 21km cycle to Mote Park and a 5k run in the park, all for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Re- search.


IT was standing room only in Maidstone’s Court No 1 as court officials, lawyers and representa- tives of the probation service and Crown Prose- cution Service gathered to pay tribute to one of the town’s longest-serving magistrates, Michael Rowe. Mr Rowe, who was stepping down after more


than 30 years service, has been chairman of the bench in both the adult and youth courts and also a member of the advisory committee for the ap- pointment of magistrates. A staunch supporter of Citizens Advice, hewas awarded the MBE in 2004 for services to the com- munity.


Originally appointed to serve Tonbridge and Malling in 1981, Mr Rowe was elected chairman of the Mid-Kent bench in 2004 and, just a year later,made chairman of the newly formed Central Kent bench. Its current chairman, Lynda Jones, said: “We


owe Mike a huge debt of gratitude. It cannot have been easy to integrate three benches with 300 magistrates across a large area of Kent into one co-


Seventies pop star Alvin Star- dust will headline a concert at Leeds Castle on the evening of Thursday, July 19, where the torch will spend the night after passing along the A20 and Har- rietsham. The next day, it will pass through Mote Park to the town centre via King Street and the High Street, then on to a royal barge at the Archbishop’s Palace to the landing stage near the new football stadium, where it will to go by car to Chatham and theMedway Towns.


Benchmark for magistrate Michael


hesive and happy bench.” Justices’ clerk Malcolm Dodds paid tribute to


Mr Rowe’s “firmness, authority and fairness”, and said it was hard to imagine anyone who could have given more to the community. Mr Rowe, who was presented with a cheque


and certificate to mark his retirement, said he had calculated his last day was around his 900th day in court – which was “quite a sobering thought and probably equates to the value of a detached house in terms of value to the community”. Although presiding over the bench was princi-


pally a serious matter, he recalled a couple of amusing incidents – such as when a defendant turned up in court dressed only in a duvet and the time someone tried to claim they were exempt from paying poll tax because they lived in the “In- dependent State of Aylesford”. Mr Rowe, who lives in Offham, where he is a churchwarden, intends to take a holiday to Nor- way with his wife Eileen, to see the Northern Lights, before returning to more voluntary work – starting as a volunteer for the Olympics.


Four convictions from dispersal order A SIX-month dispersal order in Maidstone came to an end, with four people being convicted for failing to comply with it. The order was implemented on May 30 last year to help com-


bat low-level crime and anti-social behaviour in Basing Close, off Waterloo Street, and surrounding roads. Introduced by Kent Po- lice andMaidstone Council, it gave officers the power to move on groups of two or more people who were behaving in an anti-so- cial manner, or who were likely to. After failing to comply with the order, a 21-year-old woman


from Maidstone received a conditional discharge and a 17-year- oldwoman received a six-month referral order. Two other people received police cautions for failing to comply with the order. PCSO Jennifer Stone hosted a public meeting in August to up-


date residents, which was attended by around 50 people. PC Jodie Bushell from the Maidstone Community Safety Unit


said: “Our meeting back in the summer was really positive, and as a result residents in the area have set up a residents’ associa- tion to keep in contact. “Since the order was implemented, the number of calls to po-


lice regarding anti-social behaviour in the area has reduced and we will continue to monitor behaviour in the area to ensure that residents have a pleasant environment in which to live.”


England footballer Kelly pays girls a visit


ENGLAND ladies’ international footballer Kelly Smith dropped in to St Simon Stock Catholic School to coach the U13 girls football team. The girls were one of eight schools in the coun-


try to make it through to the regional finals of the npower Football League U13 Girls Cup, held in Reading on February 7, and Kelly visited the girls beforehand to give them some winning tips. The team won their local competition, in Gillingham, in November, and went on to victory at the area finals at Crystal Palace earlier this year. They lost out to Aldershot in the regional final, going down 2-1 in extra time. Kelly, who debuted for the England national


team on November 1, 1995, three days after turn- ing 17, now plays in the Boston Breakers in the


18 Town


Women’s Professional Soccer League in America. After a training session, Kelly answered ques-


tions about football and her career. Kelly later tweeted a picture of her and one of


the school’s star players, Alessia Russo, saying: “Watch out for @alessiarusso7 she’s gonna be a top player for England one day.”. In the Reading regional finals, the U13s came


up against teams from Aldershot, Watford and Cardiff. The Maidstone girls won the initial league structure, after all teams played each other, and then beat Cardiff in the semi-final. The team comprised Rachael McCartan,Alessia Russo, Carla Farry, Siana Neightbour, Laura Keith, Brooke Wheatley and Rikki Turner.


To contact Downs Mail just phone 01622 630330 Drugs programme is


not money ‘wasted’ PRIMARY school pupils are to be offered a drugs education programme, thanks to financial support from Golding Homes and Maidstone Council’s com- munity safety team. The “Wasted” programme,


from Theatre ADAD, is offered to Year 6 groups in all primary schools in Maidstone. It uses live theatre and participatory workshops to look at all drugs from alcohol and cigarettes to illegal street drugs. Most crucially, it seeks to identify what makes someone begin to experiment with drugs.


Social Housing provider Golding Homes put £5,000 to- wards delivering the project.


One to watch: St Simon Stock star player Alessia Russo with professional player Kelly Smith


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40