News Charity cruise


A RIVERBOAT cruise along the Medway on the Kentish Lady to raise funds for the KentMSTherapy Centre takes place on September 15. The £28 ticket includes a fish and


chip supper with drinks and aDJ for the three-hour journey. Guests should be at the Arch- bishop’s Place jetty at 6,45pm for a 7pm departure. Disabled access is available but limited. Call 01227 470876 or book online at www.tick- etsource.co.uk/kent-ms.


Drugs charge


A MAN visiting Maidstone prison has been charged with smuggling drugs to an inmate. Henry Blankson (37), of Bournemouth, was arrested on July 25 and charged with supplying class Adrugs to a prisoner and possession of class B drugs. He was bailed to appear before Maidstone Magistrates Court on Fri- day, September 8.


Village photos


GRAFTY Green Village Hall Com- mittee is looking for photographs for next year’s village calendar. A theme of village events such as


social events, outings and extreme weather, has been suggested. Email pilborough@grafty.plus.com.


downsmail.co.uk


Father and son jailed in £25m drugs plot


AYALDINGmanand his son,who were part of an organised crime syndicate and drug conspiracy, have been jailed along with other gang members. The 14 plotters, who included Michael Edward Corcoran (51) of Mount Avenue, Yalding, and his son, Michael Jay Corcoran (28), of Odo Rise, Gillingham, produced in- dustrial amounts of cannabis at sites across Kent and Norfolk between 2013 and 2015. An investigation by the Kent and


Essex Serious Crime Directorate un- covered a total of 16,428 plants, pro- ducing a yearly yield of at least £25 million. The group operated from sites in Rochester, Gravesend, Sitting- bourne and NorthWalsham in Nor- folk. Each factory consisted of two-storey wood structures in in- dustrial units. The gang was sentenced at the


Old Bailey during a four-day hear- ing, which ended on July 27.A fur- ther offender is still to be sentenced. TheRochester sitewas uncovered in June 2013, when police went to


Atotal of 9,888 plantswere seized


from three warehouses at Canal Basin. The setupwas capable of pro- ducing four crops a year with a po- tential street value of over £16m. Michael Edward Corcoran was


Michael Jay Corcoran (left) and Michael Edward Corcoran


premises in the High Street after re- ports of a burglary. The rear door had been forced and there was a large cannabis production inside. Similar production centres were


uncovered at premises known as “the old taxi rank” in the Canal Basin, Gravesend; Laundry Loke in North Walsham, Norfolk, and Sta- plehurst Lodge Industrial Centre in Sittingbourne Road, Sittingbourne, At each site, the power supply had been tampered with, causing rev- enue losses of thousands of pounds. In the early hours of June 17, 2015, officerswere called to a disturbance at the Gravesend site and saw Michael Edward Corcoran driving away in his Range Rover.


YMCA MAIDSTONE


Preparing you for an amazing journey


also involved in obtaining the lease at the Sittingbourne site, where po- lice found 4,633 cannabis plants. Detective Inspector James Der-


ham, of Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, said: “We esti- mate the annual street value of these plantswas in excess of £26million.” The men, who came from Lon-


don, Kent, Essex and Norfolk, re- ceived jail sentences ranging from 18 months to 14 years for conspiring to produce cannabis and abstracting electricity. Michael Edward Corcoran was sentenced to 14 years, after being found guilty of seven counts of con- spiring to produce cannabis and five counts of abstracting electricity. Michael Jay Corcoran was sen-


tenced to eight years. He was con- victed of four counts of conspiring to produce cannabis and four counts of abstracting electricity.


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