News


One-way error driver on drugs


A DRUGGED-up motorist sparked a police pursuitwhen he fledfromofficers afterdriving the wrongway up a one-way street. Paul John Lind, of TippenWay,


Marden, abandoned his car and tried to escape on foot,Maidstone magistrates’ courtwas told. But he was quickly caught. The 29-year-old was initially


spotted by the patrolwhile hewas carrying out the illegalmanoeuvre in central Maidstone on the after- noon ofAugust 16 last year. The two officers followed his ve-


hicle along Lower Boxley Road andintoAlexandra Street,where it stopped. Paul Edwards, prosecuting, said


Lindtriedto evade thepolicewhen they approached him by running “out of his grey Vauxhall Insignia to get away”. The officers say that when they


caught upwith him, Lind smelt of alcohol and cannabis, and he kept “stumbling andslurring hiswords,


with glazed eyes”. Following adrug test, a toxicolo-


gist later revealed therewas 12g of cocaine in his blood. Matthew Davis, defending, told


the court Lind had been out cele- brating the night before, and had consumed alcohol and cocaine. “Mr Lind deeply regrets getting


in his car that afternoon, but felt since itwas thenextday andthe ef- fects had worn off, he was safe,” saidMr Davis. “Hewas under the legal alcohol limit, but the cocaine was still in his systemat the time. “He is extremely remorseful.” The court heard Lind had


workedas a carpenter andwas liv- ingwith his partner and children. Chairman of the bench, Jean


Sanderson, said: “The aggravating feature is the fact thatyoualsowent the wrong way down a one-way street.” Lind pleaded guilty to driving


whilst on drugs, and was given a 12-month ban and a £365 fine.


POLICEmoves to install new secu- rity fencing at the force’s training centre have been put on ice while planners weigh up the environ- mental impact of their proposals. A team acting for Kent’s Com-


missioner Matthew Scott (pic- tured) had hoped to rip out existing 2m-high boundary fenc- ing at the Boughton Monchelsea complex, and install a higher, state-of-the-art replacement. But environmental consultees


from Kent County Council torpe- doed the planning application be- cause it carried no detail of the move’s anticipated effect on nearby trees and hedgerows. Maidstone Borough Council sen-


ior planning officer, JocelynMiller, subsequently told police that, in order to rule on the application “all necessary ecological surveysmust be carried out,with the results and any mitigation proposals submit- ted”. Shewent on towarn that, if they


ploughed ahead with the plans in their existing form, she would re- fuse them“on the grounds there is insufficient information”.


In response, the commissioner’s


agent, Jeremy Bromfield, agreed to pull the plug on the proposals temporarily. He said: “Following further consultation with my client, we will resubmit the appli- cation in due course.” The police team is now working


on ecological and arboricultural re- ports. The proposals do not incorpo-


rate the entire perimeter fencing, but stretches that run parallel to Pested Bars Road and behind houses on Lansdowne Avenue.


downsmail.co.uk Police fencing on hold


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