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downsmail.co.uk MP’s son ‘racially provoked’
THE son of Maidstone and Mid- KentMPHelen Grant has pleaded guilty to assault. Benjamin Grant (22), was cleared
of causing grievous bodily harm to Ryan Behn (19), but admitted as- saulting two other men – JackYarde (20) and Curtis Wenham (19), for which he was given a two- year condi- tional discharge by the trial judge because of “very excep- tional circum- stances”.
Grant, a former Royal Marine,
who gave his address as the MP’s Surrey home in the stockbroker belt of Kingswood, Tadworth had just returned from a four-week exercise on Salisbury Plain with the Com- mando Logistics Brigade, where he served as a driver, when the inci- dent occurred. He and co-accused James Stott
(30), from York, went out with friends in Barnstaple, Devon where their fracas outside a nightclubwas captured on CCTV. The cameras recorded the son of the sport and tourism minister in an
argument with Mr Yarde, who, he said, racially insulted him. Grant told the court: “I don’t take offence at racial banter but it is dif- ferent if someone says it in a nasty way.”
CCTV showed Mr Yarde shout something as MrWenham stepped in to keep them apart. Grant then pushed him away before punching Mr Yarde in the face and grabbing
Mr Behn in a headlock and drag- ging him to the ground, leaving him with a broken jaw. Defence barristers had argued it
was impossible to say who had in- flicted the broken jaw and that both were acting in self defence. After a week-long trial, a jury at
Exeter Crown Court cleared Grant and Stott of causing grievous bodily harm to Mr Behn.
Judge Phillip Wassall accepted
Grant had suffered “extreme racist provocation” and said further pun- ishmentwould be inappropriate. Grant had left the Royal Marines
since the incident. He was working and his girlfriendwas pregnant. Minister Helen Grant MP de- scribed seeing her son awarded his green beret three years ago as “one of the proudest days of her life”.
Tories drop bid to oust planning chief
THEConservative group on Maid- stone Council has failed to gain a stranglehold on the planning com- mittee after deciding not to pursue a proposal to remove chairman Cllr Clive English. Due to the Conservatives losing
four seats at the May election and a delay in Cllr Richard Ash regis- tering his membership of the party for the forthcoming year, the Lib Dems were able to garner enough support to vote in Cllr English as the chairman of the committee. The role is a key one, because if
votes are split the chairman has the casting vote. Members of all polit- ical groups deny that the planning committee is whipped, but they
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tend to vote along party lines. It is thought the Conservatives
felt the committee’s decision in July to refuse a proposal for 220 homes on the playing fields at New Line Learning Academy in Boughton Lane, Maidstone was motivated by politics, to ensure the Lib Dems retained the support of the North Loose Residents’ As- sociation. LibDemcouncillors voted to re-
fuse the scheme while the Conser- vativeswere in favour, apart from Cllr Mike Hogg, a local ward member, who voted against his party to help scupper the pro- posal. But with Cllr Ash now signed
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into the committee as a Conserva- tive, and confidence within the group that it could win support from UKIP Cllr Christine Ed- wards-Daem, the Tories arranged an agenda item – Removal of chairman – for a planning com- mittee meeting in mid August. However, Cllr Dennis Collins,
the Conservative spokesman for planning, said he did not want to pursue the item. He said: “We have every confidence he will make decisions on the merits of the applications and not for politi- cal gain.” Cllr English said: “The itemwas withdrawn so I don’t intend to worry about it any more.”
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