News


Jail for thugswho used a chair leg to aackman


TWOvicious thugswho attacked their victimwith a knife and chair after threatening to stab a teenager and his dog have been jailed.


Barry Bonner (41) and PaulDud-


ley (33) were sentenced after they pleaded guilty to attempting to in- flict grievous bodily harm. The pair went to Snodland in


January this year,where theywent to a private address and knocked on the front door. A teenage boy opened the door


and, on entering the premises, Bon- ner took a large knife from the kitchen and threatened to stab him and his dog. When the householder, who


knewthe twomen, returned home a short while later, he tried to rea- sonwith them. But they attacked him, punching


his face several times and attempt- ing to stab himwith the knife. They then hit him with a chair leg sev- eral times until it broke. The victimdefended himself and


managed to force Bonner andDud- ley out of his home before calling


Banks are full


SNODLAND Town Council has once again complained to Ton- bridge &Malling Borough Council (TMBC) about the overfull bottle banks. The bottle banks are in the car


parks at Rocfort Road and at the community centre. When they are full, people leave the bottles on the ground near them. The complaint this timewas about the community centre site. They were cleared the day after the issuewas raised. ATMBC spokesman said: “At that


particular time, the council was ex- periencing issues with its recycling collection vehicles though, follow- ing the report, the site was cleared the following day. The council will continue to work with the town council tomaintain the site to a sat- isfactory standard.”


Crash injury


AMANwas taken to hospital after a van hit a lamp post and rolled onto its side. Police, ambulance andfirefighters


went to the scene at about 9.45amon July 25, after reports of a person trapped in a van at theA20 junction withWoodlandsRoadinAylesford. One fire engine attended and the


man was already free when it ar- rived. Firefighters gave himfirst aid before paramedics took over.


4 Malling August 2018


the police. He had suffered facial cuts and bruises during the attack. Officers attended the scene and


tracked down the two offenders at Snodland railway station. They were arrested and later charged. At Maidstone Crown Court on


July 19, Bonner, of Square Hill Road, Maidstone, and Dudley, of Tithe Mews, Harrietsham, were sentenced to eight years in prison.


Barry Bonner (far left) and Paul Dudley have been jailed for a vicious attack on a Snodland man and his son


Detective Sergeant TomDaveney


said: “This vicious attack is be- lieved to have resulted froma pre- vious disagreement. “The victimtried to calmthe sit-


uation down, but his attackers were intent on causing himharm. “His injuries could have been


much worse and I would like to commend him for assisting us in bring these offenders to justice.”


Malling School rocking


A LARGE audience of friends and family turned out for an end-of-term stage finale of the Queen-inspired musical, We Will Rock You, at The Malling School. The performance, complete with a live band made up of students,


future,


earned a standing ovation at the end. WeWill Rock You is set in a totally-digitalised


world, 300 years from now, and tracks the power struggle of an evil Killer Queen and freedom-seeking hordes of Bohemians. All the big Queen hits were


performed by students and included I Want To Break Free, Radio Ga Ga, We Are the Champions and We Will Rock You. Pictured here are Sophie


Smith as Killer Queen and Charlie Ann Bradshaw as Commander Khashoggi. Outgoing head teacher


Carl Roberts praised the per- formers and the staff who hadworked hard tomake the show such a success. Such was the demand for roles in themusical that the performing arts


teamcreated two casts, he said. Mr Roberts also revealed that Queen had been his favourite bandwhen


he was growing up. He leaves The Malling School later this year to take up a new head teacher role in Dubai after ten years in charge.


downsmail.co.uk


Stories of our localheroes at


heritagecentre DITTON Heritage Centre will be commemorating the centenary of WWI and National HeritageWeek with a display telling the stories of local families affected by thewar. They include that of a soldier


who came back at the end of the war, another who came back but was so ill he diedwithinmonths of his return as well as soldiers who never came back. Members of the Heritage Centre


have produced a memorial book showing the names of all those who gave their lives for King and Country in both world wars and whose names are recorded on the DittonWarMemorial. Chairman of the DittonHeritage


Centre, Tony Mulcuck, said: “It is hoped that over the years much more details of thosewhose names are entered into thememorial book will be discovered, so that the book can be expanded. “We look forward to residents


and people fromfurther afield vis- iting the Heritage Centre to take advantage of the work our mem- bers have done to record this his- tory.” The book also includes the


names of servicemen who, while not from the Ditton area at the time, have relativeswho have since moved to the area. They will be able to find the names of their grandparents, great-grandparents and


even great-great-


grandparents. TheHeritageCentrewill be open


from 10am till 2.30pm on Septem- ber 8 and 9. Admission is free and visitors are very welcome to come and enjoy a cup of tea. WW1 special, pages 32&33


Produce show


THE Larkfield flower, vegetable, fruit and produce show is being held at the village Methodist Church Hall on Saturday, Sep- tember 1. There will be a variety of


arrangements on display waiting to be judged, along with cakes, jams, photography and children’s entries. Refreshments will be available as well as a display of knitting and crafts. Exhibits can be staged from 10.30am-12.15pm;


free public


viewing is from 2pm to 3.15pm and the prize draw is at 3.15pm. For details and the show sched-


ule, call 01634 245767 or email larkfieldproduceshow@gmail .com


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