Town June 2015

News

downsmail.co.uk Three jailed for violent beating

THREE men from Maidstone who carried out a brutal and sustained attack on anotherman in a dispute over the sale of a car have been jailed. Lucas Badnarz (27), of Woodville

Road; Szymon Rehan (30), of Old Tovil Road; and Thomasz Juchnik (34), of Loose Road beat, kicked and punched their victim in the at- tack, which lasted 40 minutes. Maidstone Crown Court heard

how their victim agreed to buy a car from Juchnik, and had given £170 and his vehicle as a deposit and agreed the rest – £270 – would be paid when the man returned from holiday. But just days later, after parking

near a friend’s house, he was ap- proached by Juchnik, Badnarz and Rehan, who kicked and punched him and forced him into their car. The victim was driven to fields off

Nursery rated

outstanding STAFF and children at Sunrise Day Nursery in Sutton Road, Langley are celebrating an outstanding Ofsted rating. The setting had been rated good at

its previous inspection in 2011. The inspector found that staff had

an outstanding knowledge of how young children learn and provided excellent activities which were tai- lored to each child’s needs. Youngsters demonstrated high

levels of skill in their thinking. They shared toys well and older children worked together to achieve goals. Progress records were well main-

tained and included parents’ views. The provider was passionate

about giving children the best start in life and shared her aims with staff, helping them to develop innovative activities for the children. The children gained independence

by choosing theirowntoys and join- ing in activities at snack time. This could be extended further by allow- ing the children to be more involved in lunchtime preparation.

wards his friend’s house, at which time a member of the public saw his injuries and called an ambu- lance.

Juchnik, Badnarz and Rehan all admitted causing actual bodily harm to the man on September 30 and were sentenced to 14 months each. Investigating officer DC Amy

From left: Lucas Badnarz, Symon Rehan and Thomasz Juchnik

Hackney Road, Fant, where the at- tack continued. He was kicked in the face, punched and thrown against a metal fence by the three, who demanded their victim hand

back the keys to the car he had pur- chased. Finally, he gave them up to end the attack. After the men had driven off, the victim managed to walk back to-

Theatre group’sWilde production set to tour

AMAIDSTONE-based theatre com- pany has received critical acclaim for its touring production based on OscarWilde and his works – and is now about to embark on another. Stephen Fry and Gyles Brandreth

are among top names to have ap- plauded European Arts Company for its work on The Trials of Oscar Wilde which toured Britain in 2014, before a run in theWest End. Based at Maidstone’s Hazlitt The-

atre, the companywas set up in 2002 by writer and producer John O’Con- nor. It has toured classic plays all over the UK, Ireland, Germany, Greece and Italy but the Trials was the first collaboration between O’Connor and OscarWilde’s grand- son, Merlin Holland. Brandreth described EAC as “a

small but brilliant company”, while Stephen Fry wrote of the cast: “Ut- terly compelling and heart-rending, brilliant ensemble acting”. This year sees the 125th anniver-

sary of the publication of Oscar Wilde’s only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray. Set in Victorian Lon- don, it combines drawing-room comedy and gothic horror. It is another work done in tandem

with Merlin Holland and O’Connor said: “This is a gripping and hugely entertaining theatrical event that showcasesWilde’s talent.” The production is touring 55 ven-

ues all over Britain and recently at The Hazlitt, Earl Street. It will per- form in TunbridgeWells on May 28 and Chatham on June 10. The Picture of Dorian Gray fea-

tures a talented cast familiar from stage and screen, including Guy Warren-Thomas as Dorian Gray (Downton Abbey) and Gwynfor Jones as Lord Henry (TheWomanIn Black in theWest End). The production is supported by

Arts Council England and Unity Theatre Trust in association with the charity Stonewall.

2,000 have say on future of libraries

MORE than 2,000 people re- sponded to KCC’s public consulta- tion on the future of its libraries. Kent is the only authority in the country to have fully integrated its libraries, archives and registration services, allowing people to regis- ter births, marriages and deaths at their local library. The council believes transferring

the entire service to a charitable trust is the best way to preserve and update it, while saving money and increasing revenue Cllr Mike Hill, KCC’s cabinet member for community services, said:“We recognise how important

30 Maidstone Town June 2015

and valuable these services are to the public. Moving to a trust model will give us the flexibility to change and improve services in the best way possible for residents.” The 12-week consultation pro-

duced 2,143 responses which were evenly balanced, but the council still believes the trust model is the best way forward. However, the General Register

Office has to amend its legislation to allow the move to go ahead. While KCC waits for the GRO, it

has decided to start work on im- proving its in-house service, pro- moting greater use of library

facilities and a move to community libraries in areas where there is an appetite for this change. Cllr Hill said: “Our overriding

aim is to continue to provide cus- tomers with an excellent service. “This includes finding ways to maximise the use of our library buildings, making greater use of technology and exploring other ways to generate extra income. “In particular we would like to

see more of our libraries reconnect- ing with our communities, drawing in groups, individuals and other services who are not currently using the facilities.”

Ezzi said: “This was a brutal and unprovoked attack that could have resulted in far more serious in- juries for the victim in this case. “No matter what their disagree-

ment was about, this was certainly not theway to go about resolving it and all three offenders will now spend 14 months in prison.”

School needs further boost

TEACHING and pupil attainment at West Borough School in Maid- stone require improvement. The Ofsted report comes to the

same conclusion as two years ago. The report says teaching at the school, in Greenway, has not been improving for long enough for pupils to make consistently good progress. It calls for more attention to areas such as handwriting. However, early years provision

was outstanding and the restruc- tured leadership and management of the schoolwas now good, aswas the behaviour and safety of pupils. Head Mrs Ashley Crittenden

said: “Ofsted recognised the vast improvements made since our last inspection. Still being graded as good for leadership and manage- ment is testament to this. “We have made huge strides in

achievement over the past three years and are now achieving above national levels in many areas. The inspection team, however, felt we were not yet far enough above na- tional expectations in the areas of writing and most able pupils for achievement to be graded good. “These areas had already been identified in our school improve- ment plan. Our predictions for this year suggest we will be above na- tional expectations.”

Choir visits A MAIDSTONE church will wel- come a choir of policewomen from The Netherlands on May 29. Sirenen, from Den Haag, will per-

form at All Saints’ Church in Mill Street with Kent Police Band. The programme will include favourites from Les Miserables, popular clas- sics and contemporary songs.The free concert starts at 7pm.

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