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00:00Hello, good evening and welcome to Kentonite live on KMTV.
00:29I'm Abbey Hook, here are your top stories on Tuesday 24th September.
00:34Shoplifting surges to record high. Retailers in Kent struggling with soaring theft.
00:40I don't know what else you can do because it's never going to end. It's never going
00:44to stop because there is no consequence.
00:47Submerged in controversy. Sculpture in the River Stour making a splash with locals.
00:53I think it looks like a corpse, a dead corpse.
00:56And ho ho no. Kent animal lovers urge to think first before adopting a puppy this Christmas.
01:03You've got to think about can I afford the dog past that. There's lots of other costs
01:08involved with dogs.
01:20But first tonight, a woman's been spared time behind bars after killing a pensioner in Canterbury.
01:25Ciaran Corr was out making deliveries when she hit the Reverend Ian Taylor on Station
01:30Road West. She pleaded guilty to death by careless driving.
01:34Kristen Hawthorne is in Canterbury with all the details this evening. Kristen, what can
01:38you tell us?
01:43So a courier who ran over and killed a pensioner after failing to stop at the give way sign
01:50behind me has been spared prison after admitting to causing death by careless driving.
01:55Ciaran Corr struck Reverend Ian Taylor with her van on September 29th in 2021 as he crossed
02:01Station Road West in Canterbury while on his way to visit his wife.
02:06Reverend Taylor pulled his suitcase across the road while Corr drove through the give
02:12way junction onto his path, trapping him beneath her vehicle as he fell onto the road.
02:18Although driving no more than four miles an hour and may have seen him for almost ten
02:24seconds, she hit him yet the mum initially denied causing death by way of careless driving
02:31but was due to stand trial at Canterbury Crown Court in July this year, but she pleaded guilty
02:36before a jury was sworn.
02:38After showing profound remorse, Corr was handed a nine-month jail term and suspended for 18
02:44months.
02:44Kristen, thank you very much for those details.
02:49Now shoplifting offences in Kent are at an all-time high. According to Kent Police, it's
02:53the highest it's been in seven years with more than 2,000 more cases being reported
02:58this year compared to last.
02:59But with shoplifting becoming more prevalent in high streets, retailers are worried about
03:04their businesses. Mahima Abedin was speaking to a few in Gillingham.
03:09Kent's high streets are facing an unwanted fight with shoplifting offences. It's the
03:13highest it's been in seven years and it's retailers like Flooring and Fabrics Make a
03:18Home in Gillingham that are having to bear the brunt of it as they're not only worried
03:22about their businesses, but also their own safety.
03:26They just grab things and just run before you can even blink or do anything about it.
03:31We're not a big, big store, so we can't just write it off and get it back on insurance.
03:37It's a loss to me personally because I buy them in, so it's like thieving from me. I've
03:42got a radio in case we need to get hold of other shops or the police, but because they're
03:47not here, they can't respond. It's not their fault.
03:51I don't know what else you can do because it's never going to end. It's never going
03:55to stop.
03:56About a month ago is when Dawn experienced a family running in and spreading themselves
04:00out around the shop. They came in and they took things like these beddings and also these
04:04rugs behind me have had to be moved from the front of the shop to the back. But not only
04:09that, Dawn has also now got these radios which contact the police directly if this were to
04:14ever happen again. She says that it makes her feel that tiny bit safer, but there's
04:17still more that needs to be done.
04:20Kent Police said it received a report around 2pm on Monday the 19th of August that five
04:24women and two children stole bedding and a rug on Gillingham High Street. No one has
04:29been arrested at this stage, but officers are appealing to anyone with more information
04:33to get in contact.
04:34Meanwhile, new figures from Kent Police show there's been 2,433 more cases of shoplifting
04:41being reported this year compared to 2023.
04:45It remains fuelled by drugs and drug habits, organised crime and also opportunists. So
04:50our proactive strategy is seeing more of these occurrences being solved and also more people
04:56being brought to justice. We'll carry on taking that fight to those people who are repeatedly
05:01targeting our vendors.
05:03We're working jointly across the region, across the country to tackle shoplifting in a coordinated
05:09way. But everyone's got a part to play in that, you know, keeping our retail shop workers
05:15safe. So we're working with the shops, our business crime reduction partnerships to make
05:21sure that we can see a reduction in shoplifting going forward.
05:24Retailers are now being encouraged to sign up to a scheme called My Community Voice,
05:28which allows them to connect to their local police teams directly. But for many business
05:32owners like Dawn, that hasn't removed the helplessness and the worries she feels on
05:37a daily basis. Mahima Abedin for KMTV in Gillingham.
05:43Now halfway across the country from Kent, our newly elected Labour MPs are discussing
05:47the future of their party in Liverpool. But with ministers under fire for the amount of
05:51gifts, tickets and donations they've received, is it all a little out of touch? Well, we
05:56caught up with Chatham and Aylesford MP Tris Osborne on the move just after the Prime Minister's
06:01speech this afternoon.
06:02First of all, it was about celebrating the result in Kent. We ran a record number of
06:08Labour MPs, and that is actually the result of Kent people, people electing their Labour
06:13MPs across Kent, from Folkestone to Dover to Citybourne and Sheppey. So a thank you
06:19for putting their trust in us. Also, the difficult decisions. This is going to be a 10-year project
06:25of renewal to improve our public services. And that was something you heard throughout
06:29the speech around public service, giving service back to the nation.
06:34We keep hearing about a government of service. We keep hearing about difficult decisions.
06:37But the difficult decisions we're hearing about this conference is about whether to
06:41accept Taylor Swift tickets, about whether to accept tickets to football games. Has the
06:47freebie scandal derailed this conference?
06:51And look, we need to ultimately accept that we've had this for 20 years, where people
06:59have donated to the Conservatives, to Labour. And I think this has been a distraction, and
07:04I'm not the only one that said that, from the agenda, which I want to talk about, which
07:08is improving people's lives, to get public services improved. So I accept that this has
07:14been a distraction, and I think I'm hopeful that this conference now has reset that, and
07:19we can actually set the agenda going forward.
07:21Your predecessor, Dame Tracey Crouse, a Chester and Aylesford Conservative MP, was a big driver
07:27of change surrounding the idea of an independent football regulator. How can we believe that's
07:34now going to happen under a Labour government, when we keep hearing about tens of thousands
07:40of pounds of donations from the Premier League, or in regards to football tickets? How can
07:45we believe that?
07:46Obviously, we will be working in partnership now we've got into government. I will be speaking
07:52and writing to ministers to ensure that that agenda is promoted, as I'm sure Tracey will
07:57be doing in her new role as well. So these issues, of course, come and there are distractions,
08:04and quite rightly so, they deserve scrutiny, and I think you have rightly scrutinised them.
08:09But that doesn't derail us from our fundamental programme.
08:14Now a controversial statue installed in the River Stour has got people talking, and it's
08:18not all positive. While some passers-by in Canterbury find the newly installed artwork
08:23interesting, others are put off by how realistic it looks. The new sculpture has found itself
08:28at the bottom of the river after two previous statues were damaged beyond repair earlier
08:32this year. Kristen Hawthorne went down to the river to see why it's making such a splash.
08:38A new underwater sculpture that arrived in the River Stour in Canterbury last week has
08:42stirred the minds of those passing by it. The statue, called the Alluvia, is a sculpture
08:47of a woman underwater. With backing from many individuals and organisations, it's set to
08:52be in the river indefinitely. While lots of residents and art lovers appreciate the work,
08:58others have commented online saying it's creepy and even looks like a real person's drowning.
09:02In the river behind me lies the art installation that with its arrival has brought a big reaction.
09:07Some people think it's disturbing, while others see the beauty and symbolism behind it. Either
09:11way, the crowds that have come here today are taking pictures and willing to share their
09:15opinion. I've noticed a lot of shocked faces, a lot of people look down into the river and
09:20gasp. I just saw this piece a week ago and I remember it was a kind of visceral,
09:26oh, what? You know, that kind of really strong reaction when I saw it. Yeah, I quite like it.
09:32I think it's also reading more about it and realising it's a bit more about marine conservation
09:37and things like that. I think it looks like a corpse, a dead corpse. I think it looks rather
09:43sad. It does look like somebody's fallen in and they've got extremely white. Apparently it's
09:50illuminated at night, so I've seen pictures of that and I think it's even creepier.
09:57So was the intention for it to look like a corpse? I spoke to artist Jason Taylor to
10:02find out what he wanted to provoke with the piece. Well, all of my work, you know, is around the
10:07world in different places. It's mostly all underwater and it's all designed to actually
10:12create habitats. So it's designed for corals and sponges and all these different creatures to
10:17actually inhabit. And for me, that's what it's all about. It's about creating works of art that
10:23are living, that change over time, that reflect more of us. You know, we're evolving creatures,
10:30we're actually nature ourselves, which I think people tend to forget about.
10:35But how is a piece of art commissioned and cemented into a community?
10:39I spoke to Stuart Ross, who is responsible for organising its creation.
10:44He says this is an important piece and needs to stay.
10:47This statue has got sensors in it that serve an ecological purpose. They measure the flow of the
10:53water, they measure the quality of the water, and that information is fed back to the city council.
10:59So not just a work of art, it's also an environmental piece of scientific equipment.
11:06During the evenings, the piece is meant to glue by using the floodlights in the area,
11:10which will start within the next few days. Whether you love it or love it,
11:14the alluvia is causing a ripple of opinions across the city.
11:17Kristen Hawthorne for KMTV in Canterbury.
11:21Well, what do you think? Let us know over on our socials, just search for KMTV Kent.
11:25But it's now time for a very quick break, but when we come back, we'll have more news from right
11:29across Kent, including some objections that have been made over Medway's only wildlife park,
11:35the owner wants to be sold off for the construction of new homes. And with Christmas
11:41quickly approaching, only three paydays. That was a shocking fact I found out today.
11:46Why a pet might be the Christmas gift on everyone's list
11:49to Father Christmas, but maybe why you should think twice this year. See you in a minute.
13:36So
13:49a loving father trying to help
14:05you
15:05out.
15:13Hello and welcome back to Kent Tonight live on KMTV. Now an ex-Kent police officer's been sent
15:18to prison after conning £10 million from a horse betting group. According to the prosecutor,
15:24Michael Stanley, the head of Lazy Racing Group, operated a fake scheme and misused his client's
15:30money for six years. He was said to have caused financial catastrophe for anyone who invested
15:36in his business. There were 21 different victims named in court documents and a total loss of £1.2
15:42million from their investments. Maidstone Crown Court heard that he bought 23 racehorses,
15:48multiple expensive cars and jewellery with the money. Now a family have had to leave their home
15:55in Kemsley after a delivery van crashed into the living room. It's understood a DPD driver swerved
16:01off the road to avoid another car and went crashing through the brick wall. Police and two fire crews
16:06were on the scene to get the van out of the house. Luckily no one was injured despite two teenagers
16:12being home at the time. DPD say the driver veered to miss a head-on collision and say they'll work
16:17with the insurers quickly for the sake of the family. Well I spoke to Kent Online's Joe Crosley
16:22who's been covering the story. Joe you were at the scene last night and there for us today,
16:28what's the latest? So yeah last night there was a big emergency service present, police,
16:35fire engines, no paramedics as there was no injuries at the scene but as you can see today
16:42it's boarded up. There was a massive hole in the wall where the driver had gone into it,
16:49really horrible scene, family absolutely shaken by it all and that's really the latest. They're
16:55in a hotel at the moment after being put up last night but yeah they're all quite shaken by it all
17:02as you probably imagine, nobody expects to see a delivery van in their living room.
17:07Definitely shocking for the family. What have they been saying? You've been speaking to them,
17:11were they in the house when this happened? Yeah so the mum and dad were away from home,
17:19they were coming home from work when they heard of it. Their two eldest sons, Troy and Joshua,
17:27were in the house basically upstairs in the two bedrooms above where the driver went into
17:35so they're really quite shaken by it all as you probably imagine. And Joe do we know any more
17:40about why this happened, why a driver crashed into the wall of a house? Yeah we do know a little
17:47bit, not all from sort of what neighbours are saying that we've been able to piece together
17:52a little bit of an idea of what happened. Seems that the driver was coming from the opposite
17:58direction when the DBD driver came up this way towards the house and he swerved in to the building
18:07behind us. But that is all that we really know, it was around about 4.45pm yesterday.
18:14Obviously police are looking into it, we've contacted DPD for comments to see where their
18:19investigation is but you'd imagine something like this there'd be quite a high level of scrutiny
18:25into it. Joe Crosley reporting there now, a bid to sell off land for homes at Medway's only
18:31wildlife parks caused uproar. The Fenbell Conservation Project's looking to gain
18:36planning permission for 44 new builds on grassland not currently being used.
18:40Our local democracy reporter Gabriel Morris has more.
18:45It's Medway's only zoo. Meerkats, monkeys, lemurs and many more exotic animals all live here. But
18:52plans to build homes for humans are not going down well with locals. The Fenbell Conservation
18:59Project plans to sell this grassland to developers and the proposals for 44 homes are set to be
19:05approved by Medway Council later this month. The owners of the zoo say the sale is to secure the
19:11sustainability of the project alongside the pub they also have following debts which built up over
19:17the pandemic. The locals boycott the pub and it's very interesting when you look on Facebook and
19:23these people are calling for people to boycott the Fenbell, you know, boycott the Fenbell and put
19:30these people out unemployed and shut the place down. They have made it very personal, they have
19:36not objected about houses, they have made it a personal attack on us as a zoo and that it makes
19:47me very angry. The animal park has been here for the last 10 years and they have plans to continue
19:52to expand its offering both within the zoo and into the community. So what we have now done is
19:58we've been working with a multitude of schools across Kent and Medway, targeting just under 12,000
20:03different students, handing out curriculum specific resources that tie in all of these
20:07wonderful things that we do here. So unfortunately the selling of this land is going to give us the
20:13financial backing that we need to continue pushing these projects on. Medway Council says there's a
20:18huge demand for new homes in the area and a local plan that's set to come in in the next year would
20:23see a little less than 1,700 homes needed a year. But these proposals near All Hallows have received
20:30more than 50 objections from locals. Nick, who's a parish councillor and lives directly opposite the
20:35site, has concerns that the local infrastructure won't cope if the build goes ahead. Well I can
20:41tell you St Mary Who community does not consider Fenbell Zoo to be a community asset, it's a
20:47community nuisance. It brings lots and lots of people in locally who chuck their litter out the
20:53car window, who chuck their dirty nappies in the car park, who contribute nothing at all
21:00to our community. In my view, as I say, 44 homes is massively excessive, okay. We do have to remember
21:07the Fenbell is a business, businesses make decisions, okay. My job is going to be to represent
21:13the residents on Wednesday night. I will be lobbying my council colleagues on the planning
21:17committee to come up with something. You know, we would like to please everybody but then it's the
21:23usual case of, you know, you can't please everybody all of the time. Proposals for 44 new homes on that
21:30bit of land behind me is proving to be nothing but controversial. Residents saying if it gets
21:35planned permission, well their quality of life will be impacted. The zoo saying it'll leave them in a
21:42difficult financial position if it doesn't get that approval. Gabriel Morris in Medway.
21:49Now don't forget you can keep up to date with all your latest stories across Kent by logging
21:53on to our website kmtv.co.uk. There you'll find all our latest reports including this one.
21:58A loving father trying to help his son before things get worse. Trevor McDonald has been trying
22:05to get an SEND assessment in Medway for his seven-year-old son Matthew since 2022. The assessment
22:15would mean that Matthew who is believed to be on the autism spectrum would have additional pathways
22:22to support. The problem is they can't seem to get one. It's absolutely horrendous. I mean
22:29but you there's no way there's no way to sort of access the system yeah because this is it's
22:36like a closed shop yeah they will deal with you when they have to deal with you yeah when your
22:42time arrives that's when you will be dealt with yeah but that's that's not acceptable is it.
22:47Trevor says he's called Snapdragons dozens of times over the last two years but says he can't
22:54seem to get through. He's now worried it could take another year until Matthew is assessed for
23:01his needs and that could have a significant impact on his life. Medway Community Healthcare say they
23:09are planning to follow up with Trevor to make sure he's aware of the support available while his son
23:17waits for an assessment but with fears that his son's behavior could get worse for Trevor
23:24any wait is far too long. Oliver Leader of the SAC for KMTV in Chatham.
23:37Now time for a very quick look at the weather. Lows of 12 degrees in parts of Kent this evening,
23:4114 over in Dover. Cloudy skies tomorrow morning. Rain continues across the county. Highs of 15 in
23:48Dover, 13 across most of Kent and into your afternoon looking pretty much the same. Not
23:53much sun just in Dartford there. Cloudy across most of the county and that rain
23:57continues into Thursday, Friday but sunny on Saturday. Lows of 12.
24:04Now just before we go we have a very special guest but with quite a serious message about
24:08Christmas. Daisy Page and Matsko the Cavapoo joined me on the sofa earlier.
24:16Daisy thank you very much for joining me and Matsko as well who will not move from this chair
24:20much like his owner wants to be in the presenter's seat it seems but Daisy tell us about the Dogs
24:24Trust and what you're doing with the dogs. Well I'm very happy to be here and I'm very
24:29much like his owner wants to be in the presenter's seat it seems but Daisy tell us about the Dogs
24:33Trust message. So their message is that a dog is for life and not just for Christmas. Now they
24:38created this slogan in 1978 after they started seeing a spike in dogs being brought back after
24:44new years. Now this is to raise awareness of the commitments dogs bring and growing up with dogs
24:50myself I know that they're so much fun to the family. Obviously we've got a little member,
24:55new member today joining the team but they do require money, a lot of time as well spent on
25:00them so I spoke with Dogs Trust earlier to find out what considerations we need when buying a dog.
25:06Think carefully about you know how's that going to fit in your lifestyle past Christmas because it's
25:13a very small portion of the year generally very expensive anyway but past Christmas you know you
25:19got to think about can I can I afford the dog past that because you know there's lots of other
25:24costs involved with dogs past just food. You know there's there's insurance costs, can I afford
25:32the vet bills even past sort of standard vaccinations and fleeing wormers and things
25:37like that. Dogs to become ill you know vet fees they are expensive. Daisy a very important message
25:44of course when we're thinking about Christmas time only three paychecks to go to Christmas as
25:49well that was a staggering fact I thought about today but give us some of that advice that we
25:54should be aware of thinking up and leading up to that Christmas period if people are thinking about
25:58getting a pet. Well I think first thing to do is look at your lifestyle and does it suit adding a
26:02dog into your life as well and if the answer is yes why not have a think about rescuing lots of
26:07places in Kent, work on rehoming all different types of pets and not only that have a look online
26:12for advice. Dogs Trust has lots of different pages of advice for lots of different situations
26:18but yeah I think the main piece of advice is making sure that your lifestyle suits the dog
26:23itself as well like he's been by your side all day so I know you've found your right pet there.
26:28And he is very good at multiple tricks which we thought we might be able to show him but he's
26:32being a bit of a diva to be honest. He is. I don't think he's he's not used to the cameras in the
26:36limelight. Daisy a very important message to think about at Christmas time as well. Well thank you
26:42very much for watching from me Matt Scott and Daisy and that's all we've got time for this evening on
26:46Kent Tonight. See you again soon.