News
downsmail.co.uk Death sentence for Lauren’s killer
A QATARI man has been sen- tenced to death for themurder of a Malling teacherwho was working in the Gulf state. Lauren Patterson (24), whose
family home is at Leybourne Chase, was found dead after a night out in Doha, where she was teaching English at a primary school. Her burned remains were found in a remote area last October and it emerged that she had been stabbed twice and left with a knife in her chest. She is thought to have been sexually assaulted.
Store chain
seeks buyer HOME furnishing retailer Paul Simon, which has nine staff at its branch at Quarry Wood business park inAylesford, has gone into ad- ministration. The firm has 51 stores across the
UK, employing 550 people, and will continue to trade while a buyer is sought. The challenging economic cli-
mate, an increase in online trade and the impact of the winter flood- ingwere blamed for the company’s difficulties.
taining she had died accidentally. Another man, Mohammed Abdal- lah Hassan Abdul Aziz, was sen- tenced to three years in prison for helping to burn her body, aswell as damaging and disposing of evi- dence. The court heard from a friend
Lauren Patterson and mother Alison Badr Hashim Khamis Abdallah
al-Jabrwas found guilty of murder by a court in Doha, despite main-
that she and Lauren had left a nightclub with the two defendants in the early hours after a night out. The men dropped her at home and promised theywould next drop off Lauren at her apartment. The pros- ecution laywer described Lauren’s
death as “heinous, foreign and shocking to a society as conserva- tive as Qatar’s”. But the defence claimed that the two men had been coerced into their confessions. Lauren’s mother, Alison Patter-
son was supported by more than a dozen family and friends in the courtroom. The courtwas told that the death sentence would be carried out by either hanging or shooting. How- ever, the penalty has not actually been enforced in Qatar for more than 10 years.
Hotel to house the homeless DIY firm has
PLANNINGpermission has been granted to convert a hotel into emer- gency accommodation in London Road, Maidstone. Maidstone Council has been given the go-ahead by the planning committee to convert Aylesbury House into a 12-bedroom hostel for people it has a duty to accommodate when they become homeless, such as families with children. The authority bought the hotel for £600,000.
Protected tree ‘has safety issues’
DAWN Dalby has applied to fell a sweet chestnut in the front drive at 23 Birch Crescent, Aylesford, as she says it is in decline and has safety issues. The tree, which is subject to a preservation order, has a history of poor conditions and pruning and has abundant mushrooms growing around the base, Tonbridge and Malling Council was told.
plan for unit A VACANT unit at the 2M trade park in Beddow Way, Aylesford, has been earmarked to become a branch of FixingsWarehouse. The company, which supplies
the building trade, has applied to Tonbridge and Malling Council for the change of use. Founded in Pluckley in 1992, the business currently trades from units at Charing, Ashford and Maidstone. The site was used until August last year for the im- port and sale of specialist vehicles.
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