downsmail.co.uk


Teenager convicted of killing devoted father


A TEENAGER from Maidstone has been convicted ofmanslaugh- ter, following the death of a father of three outside the town’s Mc- Donalds restaurant last year. The 17-year-old pleaded guilty at


MaidstoneCrownCourt to causing the death of 50-year-old Wayne Chester, who was punched in Week Street after a night out with friends on September 29. Mr Chester had left the fast-food


restaurant with a friend, when he was involved in a rowwith a group standing outside. At about 10.30pm, he was approached by one of the group andwas punched in the face, which caused him to fall and left him unconscious on the ground. The offender ran off and police


officerswere called and treatedMr Chester until paramedics arrived. However, he died the following morning, after receiving further treatment at a London hospital. His attacker was identified from CCTV footage and was arrested at


Father of threeWayne Chester


his home in Maidstone on Satur- day, September 30. The teenager was charged with


murder, but a plea of manslaugh- ter was accepted at Maidstone Crown Court. Maidstone Chief Inspector Mick


Gardner said: “This was a tragic death of a man who had been on his way home after enjoying an evening outwith friends. “Mr Chester’s death has had a


profound and devastating impact on the lives of his family and friends, and our thoughts are with his bereaved relativeswho have as- sisted us throughout the investiga- tion and trial process.” Mr Chester’s family was joined


by about 100 of his friends atMaid- stone’s All Saints Church on Feb- ruary 23 this year for his funeral. He was described by his brother


Stephen as a “huge character with an even bigger heart…a huge net- work of friends, and someonewho never had a badword to say about anyone”. Mr Chester’s attacker has been


remanded in custody, and is due to be sentenced onApril 30.


News Drugs charge


AN 18-YEAR-OLD has been ar- rested on suspicion of drugs of- fences. The teenager, fromthe local area,


was arrested at Maidstone bus sta- tion shortly after 4.30pm on Mon- day, April 9, after two Police Community Support Officers were called to a report of a man acting suspiciously in The Mall shopping centre. The PCSOs pursued him into the


bus station, where he was stopped. A rucksack was seized and it con- tainedfive bags of suspectedcocaine and a packet of tablets, believed to be Ecstasy. A police officer arrested the


teenager on suspicion of possession of classA drugs with intent to sup- ply.Hewas later released under in- vestigation.


Shappi’s show STAR of


last year’s I’m A


Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here, Shappi Khorsandi, is appearing in Maidstone. Her showMistress andMisfit is at


TheHazlitt Theatre in Earl Street on FridayMay 25 and The Trinity The- atre, TunbridgeWells on Thursday, June 7. ShepresentsLadyHamilton, mistress ofLordNelson, in this sold- outEdinburghFestival Fringe show.


Maidstone May 2018


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