Kent Tonight - Thursday 8 August 2024
Catch up with all the latest news across your county with Bartholomew Hall
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00:00Hello and welcome to Kentonite live on KMTV.
00:29I'm Bartholomew Hall.
00:30Here are your top stories on Thursday the 8th of August.
00:34Police forced to step in.
00:36Two arrested in Chatham after UK-wide protests.
00:39You have to be mindful that potentially there are protests oncoming and they might not be
00:45advertised either.
00:46It's disgraceful.
00:48Kent Community Group says members are still afraid to go outside.
00:52The fact that they should now feel again like it's unsafe for them to go out, like the message
00:57is clear that they have no place here, is disgraceful.
01:02And in full flight, Hawkins Air Museum records highest influx of visitors in its 59 year
01:08history.
01:09And year on year we grow.
01:10This year at the moment we're round about 30% up from last year.
01:23Good evening.
01:24Two people have been arrested following disorder in Chatham overnight.
01:28It comes after a week of violent riots in other parts of the UK involving gatherings
01:32of those with far-right views.
01:34Anti-racism protesters stood outside the Innovation Centre in Chatham chanting and were met with
01:39counter-protesters, some holding union jacks.
01:41A scene that's been familiar over the past few days across the UK, but for the first
02:00time last night here in Kent, police lined the streets in Chatham with groups chanting
02:05from either side of the road, from either side of an argument now centred on immigration.
02:11After days of violent protests and riots across the country, this anti-racism group
02:16gathered outside Chatham's Innovation Centre, chanting the words, Nazi scum.
02:28Bystanders watched on.
02:30As numbers started to grow, a handful of people emerged shouting racist slurs and chanting
02:35far-right views.
02:36Some waved union jacks.
02:39Many in the area just appeared to be members of the general public who were watching events
02:43unfold.
02:44Police made two arrests and issued others with warnings.
02:47They had additional powers to deal with anyone suspected of being involved in crime or disorder.
02:53But no disorder was actually reported across the county.
02:57But while we were there, stones, a bottle and other objects were thrown at the press
03:01and police.
03:03After more than 100 people were pushed to the other side of the dual carriageway, tensions
03:08eased and any wider disorder was prevented.
03:11So as you can see, the police have finally managed to move on the last remaining people.
03:17There's probably about 40 people left there and it is 20 past 10, of course.
03:23This all started just before 8pm, so it's been quite a short protest and counter-protest
03:29and finally the last remaining people are being moved on by the police.
03:35Swift and robust action was promised and seemingly delivered by Kent Police, but residents
03:41will be wondering about the risk of further unrest.
03:44We have to be mindful that potentially there are protests oncoming and they might not be
03:49advertised either, so I'm regularly getting briefings from the Home Office as well as
03:54Kent Police.
03:55Obviously they have operational independence, they're not going to give me every piece of
03:59information that they get and they have their own ways of sourcing information, but communities
04:04need to be mindful that the protests, and I say that again loosely because some of these
04:08aren't really protests, they've turned into something else, might be occurring.
04:13But I can give you assurances that Kent Police are working really hard to identify any potential
04:20issues and to challenge them as they arise.
04:23The hope now, from politicians, police and those outside the Innovation Centre last night,
04:29that any far-right rioters are deterred from turning up in Kent and across the country.
04:36Abbey Hook for KMTV in Chatham.
04:39Well, Abbey joins me in the studio now.
04:43Abbey, we've had some breaking news this afternoon about an arrest.
04:46What can you tell us?
04:47Well, this arrest wasn't in Chatham last night where I was, it was in fact last night but
04:51in London.
04:53This suspended Dartford Labour councillor Ricky Jones has been arrested on suspicion
04:57of encouraging murder after comments he made at a London counter-protest.
05:03Videos have emerged online that reportedly show the Kent councillor allegedly telling
05:08a crowd that far-right demonstrators needed to have their throats cut.
05:13The video is circulating social media and reform leader Nigel Farage called on X for
05:18him to be arrested.
05:20We have reached out to Dartford's newly elected Labour MP Jim Dixon, but on X, Dartford Labour
05:25have posted that they're aware of the video.
05:29The behaviour displayed is completely unacceptable, the post says.
05:33The member has now been suspended from the Labour Party and Dartford Labour will be making
05:37no further comment.
05:38The Metropolitan Police said a man in his 50s had been arrested in south-east London,
05:42held on suspicion of encouraging murder, as I said, and for an offence under the Public
05:47Order Act.
05:48And the man remains in custody.
05:49And of course, we'll continue to wait to see if there's any updates from the Met.
05:55The key takeaway from last night is that what we saw in those locations, London and Chatham
05:59of course included, is that there was a much different story to what we've seen in other
06:02parts of the UK over the past week.
06:04Yes, you're right.
06:05The picture is a little different.
06:06We've seen far-right violent protests break out in other parts of the UK, places like
06:10Rotherham, Merseyside, Bolton, where this began and started after those Southport stabbings
06:16where three young girls sadly lost their lives.
06:18And what we were hearing yesterday is all this apprehension and nerves towards this
06:22estimated 100 locations across the country that would have been targeted with these large
06:28gatherings.
06:29Kent had three locations that people were looking into, Chatham, where I was, where
06:34the largest turnout was, Dover and Canterbury, but not much occurred there.
06:39But what is important, despite the larger turnout from anti-racism groups, that people
06:45from, some people from minority communities here in Kent are still feeling fearful.
06:51Mahima Abedin has been finding out more.
06:55Have you ever felt like you can't leave your home simply because of what you look like?
06:59Well, it's one that many people, including the South Asian community across Kent, are
07:03currently feeling.
07:05Paramjot started the Sahara Foundation back in 2020 with the aim of making the elderly
07:09South Asian community feel welcome.
07:11It's a real shame because I started Sahara because I wanted people to feel a sense of
07:16belonging, and I feel like the things that are happening now just completely take away
07:20from that.
07:21People have said they feel scared to go out, and also that it reminds them of older times.
07:26Times when being excluded was the norm.
07:30These people have worked quietly and diligently their whole lives, and the fact that they
07:33should now feel again like it's unsafe for them to go out, like the message is clear
07:38that they have no place here, is disgraceful.
07:42Paramjot grew up here in Chatham, and she's just been showing me pictures of herself from
07:46when she was younger.
07:47But she says it's not always been easy with people making racist remarks towards her,
07:51all because of the colour of her skin.
07:53I was born and bred in Chatham, and still I feel like there is no place for me here
07:58because of the colour of my skin, or whatever I might present as.
08:03At school, racism, when I was growing up, was very open.
08:07There were one or two non-white people in the school, including me and my brother.
08:12We'd have parents saying things to us, we'd have people shouting things to us, as we walked
08:17down the streets.
08:18And yet, here we are now, back here again.
08:20While political leaders across the country are condemning the violent behaviour and unrest
08:24we've seen in the past week, charities like Diversity House, which promotes community
08:28integration, are urging people to come together to show unity.
08:32I want everybody in our communities, in our nation, no matter their age, their race, their
08:40gender, their religious affiliation, whatever it is.
08:44I want them to remember that we are human beings, and that we should care for one another.
08:50And I urge everybody to come together, because we can only address issues if we communicate
08:56properly.
08:57In a statement from Kent Police, Chief Superintendent Sean White said there is no place in society
09:03for crimes motivated by hatred towards someone because of their faith or the colour of their
09:07skin.
09:08And that Kent Police take all such incidents very seriously.
09:12Every person in Kent should feel safe to go about their daily business without being
09:15subjected to prejudicial behaviour.
09:18While those rioting and protesting take to the streets, others are staying vigilant,
09:23waiting for this to come to an end.
09:25Mahima Abedin for KMTV in Chatham.
09:30A Medway MP has apologised after an offensive tweet from more than a decade ago has resurfaced.
09:35Today, Lauren Edwards, who won the Rochester and Strood seat last month, says she regrets
09:40posting the comments back in 2009.
09:43The Labour MP says since becoming a politician, she sees the importance of community cohesion.
09:48Our local democracy reporter Gabriel Morris joins me now.
09:51Gabriel, first of all, explain what the contents of these posts were.
09:55Well, the language is far too offensive for us to repeat and show here on TV for our audience
10:02right now.
10:04But what we can say is she uses foul language about Estonians in her flat.
10:10The context to this is unknown.
10:13We don't know why she posted it back in 2009.
10:16She also used a derogatory term which is associated with people with learning disabilities and
10:21difficulties.
10:22At this time, she wasn't elected in office in 2009, but she was in her 20s working as
10:27a parliamentary researcher for an MP for Worsley and Eccles South.
10:34Tell us now then, how did this resurface?
10:37Well, it was this morning on Ex, formerly known as Twitter, a user found the post and
10:41quoted the tweet saying, Starvers, high quality candidates, update this morning.
10:45Now that tweet attracted attention, was reshared by many calling out the MP and an archived
10:50version showed it had received more than 130 reposts.
10:54But key and something we should say is that Lauren has, she has responded to this.
10:58Yeah, she's posted a message on social media today.
11:01I'll summarise it quickly.
11:03She says she's been made aware by a small number of tweets that I posted on Twitter
11:06over a decade ago.
11:08She says she deeply regrets that and there's been a significant error of judgement on my
11:11part and she apologises wholeheartedly.
11:14She says since becoming a local councillor more recently than MP, I've seen first hand
11:17the importance of bringing communities together.
11:19She says, finishes off by saying I pledge to use my platform to continue the important
11:23work and dedicate myself to serving all residents of Rochester and Strood.
11:27And what about the reaction then from some of the other MPs in the area?
11:30Well, the former MP for Lauren Edwards' seat, Kelly Tolhurst, has said she is shocked and
11:34concerned by the views held by Lauren Edwards and KNTV has today spoken to the MP for Chatham
11:40and Ellsworth, the constituency next to the MP in question.
11:43We asked Tris Osborne if he thinks he should be suspended.
11:45Well, he did tell us, he said that there's a democratic process in place and conversations
11:50will be had, but he didn't say a yes or no to that.
11:52Thank you, Gabriel.
11:53We'll be back after this break.
14:52Hello and welcome back to Kent Tonight live on KMTV.
15:17A former Kent police officer who pretended to be a girl in order to speak with young
15:20boys online has avoided going to prison.
15:23Twenty-six-year-old Harry Bontfort was serving as a constable three years ago when he was
15:28arrested.
15:29Maidstone Crown Court heard that three sexually explicit videos were found on his phone, one
15:33of which involved a teenage boy.
15:36After pleading guilty last year to three separate offences, he's now been handed a ten-month
15:40suspended sentence and added to the sex offenders register.
15:44Kent Police's chief constable, Tim Smith, says Mr Bontfort has betrayed the core values
15:48of policing.
15:50He's also been banned from working in policing again.
15:54Racing gloves worn by Princess Diana at Buckmore Park in Chatham are set to go up for auction.
15:59She wore the red gloves all the way back in 1992 in Prince William and Prince Harry during
16:05a private session at the racetrack.
16:06It'll be the second time the gloves have been auctioned, the first time being over 25 years
16:11ago to raise money for the Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital.
16:14The Nomex brand gloves are estimated to gather between £7,000 and £9,000 and will be auctioned
16:19on 25 August.
16:23Over in Paris today at the Olympics, Rob Machin's Erin McNeice has made it through to the Sport
16:27Climbing Bouldering lead final after setting a seventh place finish in today's semi-final.
16:32The 20-year-old secured her place at Le Bourget after setting a score of 64.1 this morning.
16:38After a fall at the end of her attempt, Ms McNeice said she was frustrated but has learned
16:45to be more easy on herself over the course of these games.
16:49She'll now compete in Saturday's final where she'll be up against some of the world's greatest.
16:55Moving on.
16:56The so-called sport of dogfighting has been outlawed for almost 200 years in the UK and
17:01yet it has been on the rise recently in England.
17:03New figures from the RSPCA has revealed that the number of reported dogfighting incidents
17:07has risen by 35% in the past four years.
17:11I spoke with Elisa Parre earlier to find out more.
17:15Well, dogfighting is actually a very vicious, bloodthirsty sport.
17:17It's basically making dogs compete against each other, sometimes to their death.
17:20It's been outlawed in England for almost 200 years, but it has risen 35% in the past four years.
17:25We can see the stats.
17:26It does show us that 2020-2023, it's risen by 35%.
17:30Reports of dogfighting incidents went from 399 in 2020 to 537 in 2023, with a total of
17:361,734 reports.
17:39And Kent is the seventh in the UK for dogfighting hotspots with 58 reported incidents.
17:43Now when it comes to these hotspots, London is number one on the list, unfortunately,
17:46with 186 reported incidents.
17:48Greater Manchester with 123.
17:49West Midlands with 121.
17:51The RSPCA does have a specialist taskforce to combat these issues and any organised crime
17:56against animals.
17:57And they recently brought down a fighting ring after a two-and-a-half-year investigation.
18:04This operation was called Operation Ghoul and it ended in June with five people being
18:08sentenced for their involvement in a dogfighting gang.
18:10They organised, they trained, they kept these dogs.
18:12They made them fight to death in several countries, England, Ireland, France.
18:16A lot of the dogs unfortunately did die as well, but they did manage to rescue 19 dogs
18:21from a lot of properties in Essex and Maryside.
18:23And evidence was uncovered as well with brutal dogfights and match reporting, the details
18:29of the injuries and everything that happened with the dogs.
18:31An eight-year-old, Kane Corso Bow, was one of the dogs that was rescued.
18:35He was taken to a private kennel before moving to the charity's animal centre, where he spent
18:39six months being rehabilitated, being taken care of, made sure he was looked after.
18:42But fortunately for him, in 2020, Bow was adopted by Caroline Moore and Mark Dorrit
18:47in Walthamstow, London.
18:48Well, I got to speak to Amy Ocker from a representative from the RSPCA and she just spoke about how
18:52the RSPCA in general responds, especially with the special operations unit they have
18:56as well.
18:57We can hear a bit more from her now.
18:59The RSPCA receives almost a million phone calls a year.
19:04And as I said, in the last four years, we've had more than 1,700 reports of dogfighting
19:09incidents.
19:10And these incidents will all be looked into by our investigators.
19:13The RSPCA has a special task force called the Special Operations Unit, and it's their
19:18job to deal with serious and organised animal crime, including dogfighting.
19:22And we have specialist teams who work in intelligence and research to gather evidence on people
19:28we suspect are involved in this sort of sport.
19:30And we also have investigators who will work with police and other agencies to investigate
19:36these sorts of offences.
19:37The charity's actually also raising funds via its No Animal Deserves Cruelty campaign
19:42to support the efforts of its dedicated rescue teams as well.
19:44Well, hopefully this rise is something that the RSPCA, with that work, can put a halt
19:49to.
19:50Thank you very much, Alyse, for giving us those details.
19:51You're welcome.
19:52Now, let's take a look at the weather.
20:00Tonight, it's looking to be rather cloudy across the county, highs of 19 degrees in
20:04Margate.
20:06Those clouds appear to stay as we head into Friday morning, highs of 21 in Maidstone.
20:13Those clouds leaving us as we head into the Friday afternoon with their departure, highs
20:17of 26 in the north of the county.
20:20And as we go into the weekend and into the start of next week, it's going to be mostly
20:24cloudy, although do expect some chance of sun on Monday as we reach 29.
20:28And finally, this evening, the Kent Battle of Britain Museum in Hawkinge has recorded
20:40its highest ever number of visitors in its 59-year history.
20:44The museum saw a 30% increase from last year, with some visitors flying in from overseas
20:49to see their collection of planes, weapons, uniforms and other items from the first major
20:54military campaign fought in the sky.
20:57Finn McDermott went out to find out more.
20:59Just north of Folkestone, the town of Hawkinge has a special place in the first ever major
21:03military campaign fought out of the air.
21:06The Kent Battle of Britain Museum was once Folkestone RFC, the closest air force to occupied
21:12Europe, meaning its pilots played a key role in the Second World War.
21:17Now in the modern day, the base has been transformed and is seeing its highest ever numbers of
21:21visitors in its 59 years of history, with some even coming from overseas.
21:27The museum's been going for 59 years.
21:29We started as a travelling museum, then we were in a chicken shed, we had a time at Chilham
21:32Castle in the 1970s.
21:35We moved here and I started volunteering here in October 1979, so I finished my 45th anniversary
21:40volunteering here, but every year we just, all the money we take as volunteers, we plough
21:44back in to make the museum bigger, better, better environment for the exhibits, better
21:50experience for our visitors, and year on year we grow.
21:53This year at the moment we're round about 30% up from last year.
21:56Last year was another record year and we were 20% up from the year before.
21:59It boasts a detailed collection of planes, uniforms, weapons, photographs and memorabilia
22:04of what it was like when the Nazis flew over Kent towards London.
22:11Well right now I'm inside of an iconic, classic British phone box from the 1930s, around the
22:16time of the Battle of Britain.
22:19The museum is constantly working on new exhibits, like their attempts to build a replica of
22:24the Whirlwind, which was the fastest combat aircraft in the world back in 1938.
22:28There's been an awful lot of change, we've done an awful lot of changing some of the
22:35cabinets, we've had quite a lot more since I've been here, items come, so it's been,
22:42I would say, over the years there's been a lot of changes, hopefully we'll see a lot
22:46more as time goes by.
22:49Its hangars include the Bolton Pool Defiant crewed plane that shot down 13 enemy aircraft,
22:54the highest number downed by a single aircraft of that type.
22:57It also has the only two Rolls Royce Peregrine engines in the world, and even a brick from
23:03Hitler's garage in Berchtesgaden in the south of Germany.
23:07As well as the planes, the people inside of them are equally studied and kept alive in
23:11the museum, with their Spirit of the Few monument opened in 2022.
23:15With donations of more and more pieces of history, the museum's success is likely to
23:19continue to take flight.
23:22Finn McDermott for KMTV in Hawkinge.
23:25Very interesting one there from Finn.
23:27Just after Kent tonight this evening we'll have another episode of the Kent Film Club.
23:30So before we go, I'm joined by our resident film expert and host of the show, Chris Deasey,
23:35and following on from Finn's package, Chris, I wanted to ask you, did you know that the
23:391969 Battle of Britain film was actually filmed at that same location?
23:45I didn't, but what I did know is that Guy Hamilton, who made that film, went on to make
23:50several Bond films in the 1970s.
23:53And also, because we're talking about 1940, and Dunkirk, I saw Dunkirk in Herne Bay exactly
24:00seven years ago.
24:01So there's that whole Kent connection.
24:03That shocks me.
24:04I mean, I love the Dunkirk film.
24:05I'm a huge Christopher Nolan fan, but the Dunkirk film, that was an epic, wasn't it?
24:09I love the way that he played with time in that film, and of course it did have its moments
24:12in the sky as well during the film as well, but seven years ago, that really does shock
24:17me.
24:18It surprises you sometimes how long some of these big films that make such an impact go
24:22by so quickly.
24:23Yeah, it's that whole verisimilitude thing, but also, of course, so this was 2017, and
24:28you've got, I mean, since then, the whole spate of films that have dealt with the Second
24:32World War from the perspective of characters.
24:34The Michael Caine film with Glenda Jackson that came out a year ago, very interesting
24:37the way that it sort of gives a very human dimension to the war films.
24:42For me, that's the more relatable aspect.
24:43I mean, I had grandparents who met during the Second World War, but watching those films
24:47that sort of make generations today who don't know the ins and outs of the Dunkirk, Battle
24:51of Britain, both 1940, I don't claim to be an expert on the ins and outs of that, but
24:55also the personal story is one that transcends time.
24:58And I think there's so many different stories, as you say, that you can tell from these wars,
25:02and yeah, as you say, it keeps it kind of in the collective memory.
25:06Now, before we go, I want to ask, what can we expect from today's Kent Film Club?
25:11Yeah, we have Max Barrett, who is a filmmaker, also a film reviewer who's done a lot of work
25:16on radio, and he's chosen now, we had another film by Darren Aronofsky last week, Requiem
25:21for a Dream, this tonight, The Fountain, which he says is his best film of all time, also
25:27he's gone for Del Toro's Pinocchio, so we have a few animation films in the mix tonight.
25:33It's interesting because, I mean, I obviously had my go on the Kent Film Club, I chose Nativity,
25:38one of my favourite films to sit down, but yeah, it's really fun watching the Kent Film
25:42Club, because you do get to pick apart someone's brain by the films they pick, there's a lot
25:46you can find out about a person as well.
25:48And I feel I'm both a therapist to cancer and a psychoanalyst, because of course, what
25:52I do, by the fourth film, I'm like, there's a pattern, there's a pattern, so how are we
25:55going with that?
25:56So, you're right.
25:57So, yeah, and you chose a Christmas film, but luckily at Christmastime, so everything
26:00fitted rather nicely.
26:01That's true, I think I would have picked it any time, Nativity I absolutely love.
26:03Chris, are there any films you're watching at the moment?
26:05Yeah, some brilliant films, including Babes, which is coming out soon, I actually saw The
26:09Wizard of Oz in an open-air screening yesterday, which again, of course, is a film that people
26:13often associate with Christmas, huge mythological work, made also in 1939 on the outbreak of
26:18the Second World War, so going back to that theme.
26:21Also, I did see Deadpool and Wolverine, and that was fine, that was fine, maybe talk about
26:26that the following week, also really impressed as well with a film called Kneecap, a Northern
26:30Ireland film, which is like a post-Troubles interrogation of issues around citizenship.
26:34Well, I'll keep my eye out for that one.
26:37Thank you very much, Chris, we'll see you after the break.
26:39That is it from us, we'll be back same time tomorrow for plenty more news, bye bye.
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