Lions’ charity car park stopped Supply crisis


MAIDSTONE Lions Club has been told it can no longer raise funds for charity by charging shoppers and football fans to park in the County Gate car park on Saturdays. For the last three Decembers


and the second half of the last football season, Lions volun- teers have manned the car park in Staceys Street at weekends, giving all proceeds to charity. Now a new agent has taken


over the management of the office building and grounds and has refused to let the Lions con- tinue the arrangement for the car park, which has over 150 spaces. Lions president Malcolm Lux-


ton said: “Manning the car park was our main fundraiser – throughout the year we raised about £6,000, compared with about £2,000 to £3,000 by other methods. With 100% of the funds


raised from shoppers and Maid- stone United fans parking on this site, we have been able


ONE of Maidstone’s most promi- nent district judges, Edwina Mill- ward, has retired from the bench. Judge Mill-


ward (69) made national head- lines when she was elected as the firstwoman president of the Association of District Judges in 2008, although she almost nevermade it into court! Born in an erawhen fewwomen


had high-flying careers, Edwina didn’t study Latin at school–apre- requisite for law in the 60s. In- stead, she went into teaching domestic science. She did a part-time law degree


course with London University which took her five years to com-


A 39-YEAR-old Snodland woman who fractured her ankle after falling off her high heels died less than threeweeks later, aMaidstone inquest heard. But assistant deputy coroner Allison Summers decided An- toinette Sackett-Wood’s death was due to natural causes after she suffered a deep vein throm- bosis which travelled to her lung. Mrs Sackett-Wood, from Roman Road, went to Maid- stone Hospital’s A&E depart- ment on December 4, 2011, complaining of pain in her ankle. Doctors X-rayed her ankle and referred her to the fracture clinic, which she at- tended three days later, when her lower leg was put in a plas- ter cast. Mrs Sackett-Wood, who was described as ‘obese’,was told to


14 Malling Money raised at the car park


has been used to:  buy two bespoke tricycles so disabled children can enjoy cy- cling with their families;  help Maidstone Food for Thought purchase a new van;  provide an outdoor play area for a school in a deprived area;  house two women who had been living in a refuge. The new agent is London-


Lions Club members manned the car park gate on match days


to help many people. “There are only ever about six


office workers’ cars in the car park on a Saturday and we would have been more than happy to carry on reserving a space for workers, who are enti- tled to park there for free but often made a donation anyway. “We would even have adver-


tised the new agents on our posters and flyers. It’s a great shame because it made a huge difference to charitable causes in Maidstone.”


Judge retires from bench


plete. She joined the Maidstone firm ofGill, Turner Tucker to do her articles in 1967 andwas admitted as a solicitor in 1972, becoming a senior partner in 1990. She was the national president


of the Federation of Business and Professional Women from 1985- 87 and president of the Kent Law Society in 1994-95 – the same yearshebecameafull-timedistrict judge,havingbeenappointed to sit as a deputy district judge in the Maidstone district county courts six years previously. This placed her as one of just 94


women among the association’s 455members. Edwina is looking forward to spending more time with her hus- bandDavid in theirWealdhome,as well as picking up on her hobbies – needlework and swimming.


return to the fracture clinic after five weeks – but just two weeks later, on December 21, she was dead. The inquest heard that Mrs Sackett-Wood telephoned her mother, complaining of feeling unwell. She said she was suf- fering from sickness and diar- rhoea and had not been out of bed for five days. She was also complaining of chest pains and shortness of breath. When her mother Mrs Susan


Wood arrived she found her daughter was blue and breath- ing rapidly. She made two at- tempts to get a GP visit and finally dialled 999. Paramedics arrived and took


Mrs Sackett-Wood to Maidstone Hospital where she died. Consultant pathologist Dr


David Rouse told the coroner that immobility was a signifi-


based property advisors Matthews and Goodman. Nicola Dixon-Brown, who manages of- fice properties for the company, declined to comment on the company’s decision. Mr Luxton concluded: “We


have detailed our good track record over the past three years and given assurances with our public liability insurance pol- icy, but have been unable to change their mind. “We therefore apologise to all shoppers and MaidstoneUnited fans who were hoping to con- tinue to use this office car park in the future.”


A WIDE range of hand-picked exhibitors from the homeware, interiors and lifestyle sectors are getting together to raise funds for The Heart of Kent Hospice. The event, A Unique A-fayre,


is being partnered by Saks Hair and Beauty Kings Hill, which will offer hair and beauty demonstrations and treatments. It takes place from 11am to


3pm on Sunday, October 6, at The North Barn, The Friars, Aylesford Priory. There is no admission fee, but donations are invited on entry. Exhibitors are all local busi- nesses and include: Happy and Glorious; Katie Brinsley Ceramics; Penrose Stationery; Rockville Lampshades, My Fayre Favourite; Dotty Diva Designs; Big red Zippy and


Fractured ankle did not cause woman’s death


cant factor in the cause of deep vein thrombosis and, while the original injury could not be ex- cluded entirely, he thought it highly unlikely it had con- tributed to Mrs Sackett-Wood’s death. He said thrombosis as a result


of an injury tended to occur within five to seven days and, on the balance of probability, Mrs Sackett-Wood’s death, which occurred some 17 days after she broke her ankle, was unlikely to have contributed to the cause. The coroner recorded cause of


death as a pulmonary em- bolism, caused by a deep vein thrombosis, aggravated by a soft tissue injury and fracture to her right leg, in conjunction with obesity. She recorded a verdict of death from natural causes.


at food bank THE autumn harvest can’t come quick enough for one Maidstone charity, which is rapidly running out of supplies. The Salvation Army, which


gives food parcels to the needy, says demand has doubled in the past six months and stocks of non-perishable items are running at an all-time low. The change in the Govern-


ment’s welfare reforms could have played a part,with a sharp rise in demand when the changes came in in April. Many schools pass on their harvest festival donations to the Salvation Army in September or October. In the meantime, stocks at the Union Street citadel are rapidly running out. Maidstone Council will put a


food collection point at its King Street Gateway. Other dona- tions can be taken to the Salva- tion Army in Union Street, which acts as a distribution cen- tre for the parcels between 9am and noon, Monday to Friday.


Firms pitch in to aid hospice


Maddigan Mooch. The event is also being sup- ported by several local firms that have offered their time and services for free, including Amanda Jane Wedding and Events Planning; Rix Hanlon Design; Popi Printing of Lark- field; Timesavers of Bearsted; Sennockian Quartet; and Unique Floral Creations There will also be a raffle and


silent auction for prizes includ- ing a signed Chelsea FC shirt, beauty treatments, family pho- tography shoot, meals out, and Go Ape vouchers. A children’s activity tent will


be run by Bearsted Babes, who will look after children while parents browse the stalls. For more details visit www. uniqueafayre.co.uk where there is a link to its Facebook page.


Police officer’s


medals stolen PART of a haul of stolen police medals, taken during a Maid- stone burglary, was found three weeks later by a member of the public at Leybourne. A police long service medal, two police Jubilee medals and a policeOly- mpic medal were taken from a house in Giddyhorn Lane. Kent Police appealed for in- formation about a man in his mid-20s, wearing an orange T- shirt and light trousers, who was seen in the area and in Kingsgate Close on Monday, June 24. One medal was found at Leybourne Lakes on July 16 so police would like to speak to anyone who might have seen suspicious activity there. Contact PC Tim Murrell at Maidstone police station, 01622 604464 or Crimestoppers, 0800 555 111, quoting YY/12040/13.


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