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Police aacked whilst on duty


SIX people have been charged over separate assaults against po- lice officers acrosswestKent. The suspects were arrested in


areas including Maidstone, West Malling and Sevenoaks under the Assaults on Emergency Workers Act 2018. The law came into force in No-


vember last year andcreateda new offence of assault against 999 serv- iceworkers, includingpolice,para- medics, nurses andother blue light workers. It also provides tougher sentencing powers for judges. At about 6am on Sunday, Janu-


ary 13, officers were called to a fight in Maidstone. When they tried to intervene, one was said to have been hit in the face. Thomas Parnell (21), of Grove


Lane, Hunton, was arrested and charged with assaulting an emer- gencyworker.Hewas bailedto ap- pear beforeMaidstoneMagistrates’ Court on February 15. On the same day, three officers


were spat at whilst dealing with a prisoner who was in custody at Maidstone police station. MatthewGilbert (22), fromCan-


terbury,was remanded in custody charged with three counts of as- sault of an emergencyworker. He was also charged with pos-


sessing a knife in a public place and an offence of violent behav- iour at a police station. He ap- peared


before Medway


Magistrates’ Court on January 15. Maidstone Chief Inspector Ray


Quiller said: “Every day, police are required to attend unpredictable, challenging andsometimesvolatile situations.However, like any other job, officers shouldnot be subjected to assaultswhilst they are carrying out their duties. “It is unacceptable, and those


whowe suspect are responsible for abusing and assaulting police offi- cers can expect to be chargedwith an offence that can carry serious penalties.”


Trucker ‘using laptop’


TWOdriverswere fined after being caught viewing their laptopswhile driving HGVs. At approximately 1.15pm on


January 8, officers from Kent Po- lice’s Roads Policing Unit stopped anHGV driverwhowas believed to be using a laptop computer whilst driving coastbound on theM2, be- tween junctions 4 and 5, Gilling- hamand Sittingbourne. Shortly after, at approximately


1.50pm, another HGV driver was stopped in the same location for


the same offence. Both drivers were issued with a


£200 graduated fixed penalty no- tice and six penalty points. Kent Police tweeted: “A HGV


driver who was not paying atten- tion and was unable to see clearly ahead was fined and had points put on his licence after Kent Police Roads PolicingUnit saw himusing a laptop while driving. “Straight after dealingwith him,


another lorry driver was caught doing the same thing…”


News


Maidstone East February 2019


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