News
Baeries theft ve been jaileda
trio are jailed THREE men ha
stealing hea vy-duty ba
cross Kent. InAugust la
st yea trol in Pells La
£5 0 ,0 0 0 from telephone ma a
stoppedawhite va solemBrown,whicha
senger sea found 6 8
a t. fter
tteriesworth st sites
r, officers on pa -
ne,West Kingsdown, ppea
overweight. Brothers Tom Dunn a
rge ba
downsmail.co.uk
Councilcancels lights ceremony to save cash
n driven by Ab- THE tra red to be dulla
Dunn were sitting in the front pa the illumina yea
nd John s-
Officers checked the va nd la
n a
Brown saidwere to be solda Brown, of Pitt Roa nd John a Sevenoa
cion of theft. Theywere la while the ca
ks, werea sewa
ma Gra
s investiga
tteries, which s scra
p. d, Kingswood,
nd Tom Dunn, both of rrested on suspi-
nea it sa
The men were linked to phone st burgla vesenda
ries in Southfleet, nd Sittingbourne.
brea repla
Evidence connected the trio to 1 0 k-ins in Kent where the cost of cing the stolen ba
tterieswa
tween Junea In Ma
plea not guiltya (5 3 ) wa
most £5 0 ,0 0 0 . The threemenwere cha cy to commit burgla ndAugust la
conspira y this yea t the sa On Tuesda
Maidstone Crown Court. Tom Dunn a
fteraseven-da st yea sal-
rgedwith ries be- r.
ded guilty to the offence a nd Brown plea
r, John Dunn t
ded
gust 2 0 but were convicted by the jurya
me court on Au- y trial.
four months, Tom Dunn (3 2 ) wa However, due to popula sentenced to two yea nd nine decision ha months in prison a rsa
s jailed for two yea nd Christma s
y, October 2 , Brown rs a
rs a nd John Dunn (3 4 ) to two yea nd sixmonths.
Pet cremdelay PLANS forapet crema
toriumha rked for the fa
pel on Sutton Roa s gra
nted la rsted Roa
for the pet centre a Crema
torium, Bea t Vinters Pa pel.
been put on hold, with money ea ma
ve r-
verted to the re-opening of the Maidstone cha Permission wa
cility being di- d.
st yea rk
r d, but
borough councillors decided to stop the scheme until 2 0 2 0 , due to the re- opening of theMaidstone cha The crema
toriumwouldha £6 0 0 ,0 0 0 , a would not be fina
nd surveys show tha ncially via
ble.
Council officers said in areport: “Funding will now be alloca theworka
ted to t the cha
dogs, ca a
Snodla nd ra
bbits.
The council report sta acompelling business ca crema
would ha Culturea
32
ted: “Should se forapet
torium be identified, funding ve to be viathe Herita nd Leisure Committee.”
Maidstone November 2018 ge, pel.” There is apet crema torium in
nd, which will dispose of ts, birds, rodents, reptiles
ve cost t it
the event this yea nd to instea sprea
s beenma r a
ditional Christma ffair,a
Maidstone Borough Council sa tions will go up this
the council or Fremlin Walk is pla
r, but no specific switch-on by nned.
The lights show cost the council rly £3 4 ,5 0 0 la ys it ca
st yea Ma
ter bailed of fina ted.
n no longera
rkGreen, the council’sdirector nce a
nd business improve-
ment, said: “We need to focus our resources ondelivering core services for residents, like refuse collection a
nd street clea nsing.”
will shift in 2 0 1 9 to OneMaidstone, whicha
mentDistrict sta Mr Green a
rally plea
The responsibility for the lights chieved Business Improve- dded: “We a
tus onOctober 1 . re na
sed tha
to provide this service.” In the mea na
r. He said: “Inthepa centre ha tu-
due to the success of the BID, pla ntime, Lloyd Wright,
also confirmed itsprevious celebrity lights switch-on will not go a this yea
t One Maidstone, ns
centrema ger of FremlinWalk,ha hea
s st, the shopping
d focused on asingle s lights switch-on event. r dema
d the entertainment through-
d ha a
outDecember.” BIDma
na
A big Christmas lights switch-on is in doubt inMaidstone this year “We understa
nd tha
d the town centre’s businesses ndretailers not votedto ta
ke on the
funding of the lights show, it is un- likely tha
t itwould ha
de to not ha pers to the towna d boa
nda importa ve
rd the lights a ve continued.
She said: “We feel the lightsa n nt pa
rt of a cting shop- nd ha
ttra ve ta s pa £1 2 5 ,0 0 0 promotional budget. rt of our
ger IlsaButler said tha council ha ties, ha
t supporta d to looka
their resources.” The council ha
sa nd guida s, like other locala
t the borough uthori-
t howthey stretch greed to offer its
ken on a ngements for this yea re for
rea stone concerning the installa the lights next yea rra
the lights to go on from November 1 5 .
Tony Little, front, at John O’Groats, with co-riders Peter Spowage,Mick Feeney, Dave Muckle and Steve Smith
Picture by Jon Sturdy of EastCoastWest photography
Bikers’ 2 2 -day trip raises £6 ,0 0 0
A MAIDSTONE man has been mak- ing dreams come true on a daring 2 2 -day round-the-country ride – against the advice of his doctor. Tony Little, a former RAFmechan-
ical transport driver,was determined to raise money for the service’s
benevolent fund that helped him after he had a heart attackwhile still in his 4 0 s. He has raised £6 ,0 0 0 for the charity. Tony said: “Just before I went,my
doctor did say he’d rather I didn’t go, but giving something back to the
charity that did somuch forme was too important.” Tony and co-organiser Peter
Spowage were joined by bikersMick Feeney, Dave Muckle and Steve Smith, with Peter’s wife Pauline as support driver.
nce toOneMaid- tion of
r. Provisional r a
r, something fford.
s the borough councila ndons the displa ys
s lights switch-on in Maidstone is set to be a ba
y to sa vemoney.
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