Call for action to combat spate of burglaries
A FORMER police detective who lives in West Malling has called for more community vig- ilance to combat a spate of crimes in the area. The Downs Mail reported last
month that there had been at least a dozen burglaries and car thefts in the village within the space of a month. Police be- lieved these crimes were linked. Many of them occurred around the area of Church Fields, where retired policeman Mike Moger (67) is a member of the NeighbourhoodWatch team. Mr Moger, who served for 15
years with Kent Police and also had a stint at the headquarters in the serious organised crime unit, became one of the victims when a raider smashed a rear window and made off with jew- ellery and IT equipment. He said: “The person who did
mine was an accomplished bur- glar. One of the tell-tale signs was that they opened the draw- ers in a chest from the bottom and continued up. This meant they could very quickly check all the drawers without taking time to close each one after searching it.” He believes locals should ig-
Tina Beadle: “More CCTV would be a help.”
nore bad publicity surrounding emergency calls and dial 999 if they see anything untowards: “There was a programme the other night where it was sug- gested that a lot of treble nine calls are needless and waste po- lice time. “But if you see someone in the
back garden or your neighbour’s back garden you shouldn’t mess around. If you don’t want to challenge them then you should call the police.
ABOUT 1,500 jobs are likely to go at Kent Police after the Government’s comprehensive spending review confirmed cuts of around 20% over the next four years. Kent Police Authority chairman Ann Barnes
said 500 of these jobs would have to be police of- ficers. “There’s no alternative,” she added, “be- cause 80% of our budget is spent on employing people”. While Kent Police anticipated this level of cuts,
there is still doubt over how much less it will re- ceive in government grants. One of these, for Po- lice Community Support Officers, will be stopped
GREEN-fingered residents from across Tonbridge and Malling were rewarded for their efforts at the Wild About Gardens awards presentation. Prizewinners included Diana
Laite of Trottiscliffe and Eunice Hayman ofWest Peckham who both won gold awards. Silver awards went to Robin
Trow of Snodland and Linda Peller of Kings Hill and a bronze went to Richard Bowles of Leybourne. St Lawrence’s Church at Mereworth was highly commended. The annual competition is
run by the borough council with the Kent Wildlife Trust and Royal Horticultural Society and recognises those whomake their gardens more environ- mentally friendly and welcom- ing to wildlife. The Mayor of Tonbridge and Malling, Cllr Sue Murray, pre-
6 Malling
Winners Linda Peller and Richard Bowles receive their awards from Tonbridge and Malling Mayor Cllr Sue Murray
sented certificates at the coun- cil offices at Kings Hill. Re- freshments were provided by Spadework, of Offham, which is one of the mayor’s chosen charities.
Michael Moger atChurchfields: “Dial 999 if you are suspicious.” “Too many people go home
and let their barriers go down. They don’t care about what hap- pens outside or next door. But that attitude helps criminals get away with it.” Mr Moger pinpointed Church Fields as an area targeted by vandals and opportunist thieves who cut through the church- yard on foot from the centre of West Malling. He believes CCTV coverage
could be a good deterrent, as well as better policing: “There are too many coppers sitting in their cars.When I was in the job you would park up and walk around the area, not just stay in our vehicles. How do police ex- pect to get to know what is hap-
500 police officers are set to go
by May 2011, leaving Kent Police with the deci- sion of whether to continue the project through its own funding. Currently, PCSOs cost £11.8m, which includes partner and government funding. Mrs Barnes said: “PCSOs are a valuable part of
the family.We have 400 of them in Kent and they do a really good job for the community. “Some police forces have already made their PCSOs re- dundant but we have not gone down that route. We are looking at configuring our forces.” One way Kent Police has been working to save money is by setting up a joint procurement unit with Essex Police.
Awards on the wild side for garden winners
pening if they don’t get out there and communicate with people?” Tina Beadle, landlady of the Scared Crow pub at the Offham Road junction with Church Fields, also called for more CCTV. She said: “Cars have been scratched, there have been petty thefts, burglaries and con- stant vandalism. The phone box outside here was smashed. There’s been a run of it for the past four or five months. “I have had my purse stolen
from the pub, sunglasses taken from the car and umbrellas stolen from the garden. My car has been damaged a few times and all the paper money was stolen from the charity box in the pub. “It’s not a case of me being tar-
geted. It is just random crime. I do think CCTV is a deterrent.” A spokesman for West Kent Police said: “Two 38-year-old men have been arrested in con- nection with recent burglaries in West Malling. They are on police bail while further in- quiries are made. “CCTV is a valuable tool in
the prevention and detection of crime. The CCTV system for the area is a matter for the local au- thority.”
Driving offences lead to prison
MICHAEL Arthur Tsouri (21), of Abery Drive, Larkfield, has been jailed for a string of driv- ing offences. He was given 120 days for driving while disqualified, without insurance and while over the legal alcohol limit, and also failing to stop when re- quested by a police officer. He was further banned from driving for three years. The convictions relate to an incident on August 20 on the M20. The sentence was due to his serious bad driving and the ig- noring of court orders as well as similar previous offences.
Water rescue team gets new equipment
ASPECIALIST water rescue team based at Larkfield fire station has been given new life-saving equipment. The unit has been equipped with a motor boat, inflatable raft and emergency kit including dry suits, helmets and buoyancy devices.
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