Catch up with all the news across the county with Abby Hook
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00:00Hello, good evening and welcome to Kentonite live on KMTV. I'm Abbey Hook. Here are your
00:27top stories on Monday the 28th of October. A shockwave through a community. Mystery still
00:33surrounds pensioners' deaths in Sandwich. And I'll be outside the Kent and Medway coroner's
00:39court with all the details. We will remember them. Aylesford Royal British Legion workers
00:45remember loved ones as poppy appeal begins. So we come from a long line of military people
00:51in my family and that's another reason I like to do this. Celebrating black history, playing
00:56drums and making masks, Maidstone celebrates the town's diversity. It should be done in
01:02the community, in the businesses and everywhere because this is the only way we can bring
01:07the community together. First Tonight questions still remain unanswered this evening around
01:23the deaths of two pensioners from East Kent. Brian and Dilys Richards were found dead at
01:27their home in Sandwich last year, though police did not treat the incident as suspicious at
01:32the time. Today an inquest in Maidstone ruled one of their deaths as a suicide. Oliver Leeder
01:37de Sacks joins us from the coroner's court now. Oliver, thank you for joining us now.
01:42This case is very technical, very complicated. What can you tell us about today's judgement?
01:50Well, Abby, this tragic case does still pose as many questions as it does answers, but
01:57we'll take you through it now. This death was a continuation of the inquest into the
02:02deaths of Mr and Mrs Richards. They were found in their home in Sandwich back in July, where
02:09they were pronounced dead at the scene, with police launching inquiries into the local
02:13area, but stating their deaths weren't suspicious. The inquest began in August, but was adjourned
02:19until today. And like all inquests, the coroner, Catherine Woods, didn't attribute blame, but
02:25rather outline the facts surrounding their deaths. And today's case, which was quite
02:29complex, Brian Richards' death was concluded to be suicide due to him writing several notes
02:36that showed intent, while Dilys was given something called a narrative conclusion.
02:43A narrative conclusion, Oliver. Most people at home won't know exactly what that means.
02:47Can you explain the term to us?
02:49Yes, Abby, it is a core term and it is quite complex, but it means that the coroner felt
02:55that she didn't have enough evidence to go into detail into why Mrs Richards died. It
03:00means that describing anything other than the way she died would be speculation. So
03:04it's very much about how she died, which was from consuming poison, rather than why she
03:11had it in her system. There just wasn't enough evidence to determine the story around her
03:17death.
03:18And can you tell us a bit more about Brian and Dilys? What were they like? Who were they?
03:24Well, we don't really know much about their mindsets at the time of their deaths, but
03:28we do know the pair, both in their 90s, had lived in Sandwich for more than 50 years,
03:34with Brian once being a practicing GP and then being married for nearly 70 years. They
03:40say they appeared to be very much in love, soulmates. They used to do crosswords together.
03:45And it was in recent years that Dilys and Brian had become frustrated with their declining
03:51health, the former being housebound and needing a carer. And it was just a few days before
03:57her death, in fact, that she texted her daughter saying, never forget, I love you.
04:03Just very quickly, Ollie, how have the family reacted?
04:07Well, there was no family in court, Abby, though the family did provide written evidence,
04:12though there was one close friend and two police that attended the inquest. One detective
04:17we spoke to after the inquest gave a statement from Dilys' daughter, Sue Gregory, which states
04:23that her and her brother, Sam, have nothing further to say about Brian and Dilys' death
04:29and ask for peace and privacy as they continue to ask, continue in the task that lies ahead.
04:37Oliver, thank you very much for those details.
04:42Now, a ship called Ruby carrying 20,000 tonnes of potentially explosive cargo has finally
04:48left Kent shores after being anchored near Margate. This is where it was off the Kent
04:53coast on its way to Malta, but the ship suffered weather damage in August after it left Russia.
04:58It's known to be carrying seven times the amount which ignited a deadly explosion in
05:03Beirut in 2020. The cargo, however, is only dangerous if stored incorrectly and officials
05:08have said that it currently poses no risk to surrounding areas. It's now in Norfolk
05:13where the cargo will be moved to another ship so it can be repaired before it goes to Africa.
05:18Now, a cat rescue centre in Rochester says they've hit a brick wall after six more kittens
05:24were dropped off at the rescue. The manager of Wisteria Cats Rescue say the charity is
05:29up to its knees and the situation has got even worse. The final blow being the surprise
05:33arrival of the six black kittens and the growing number of cats being abandoned in the county.
05:39The charity is spending £9,000 a month to keep the service going. The advice is to take
05:44cats to the correct place if they want to re-home them as Wisteria has a waiting list
05:48and can't take any more. Luckily, they have found homes for those six kittens fairly quickly.
05:56Now, Royal British Leaded Industries in Ellesford have begun their annual poppy appeal and seen
06:00their busiest weekend for sales of their signature Tommy figures. Taking place close to Remembrance
06:06Day here in the UK, its purpose is to raise money for veterans' wellbeing and services.
06:11The National Day of Mourning also allows RBLI workers to reflect on loved ones who have
06:15served for our country and the stories that they've passed on to them. Henry Luck has
06:20been down to hear what they've had to say. The workers here in Ellesford Royal British
06:25Legion's Fulfilment Department have just seen their biggest weekend for their Tommy figurines
06:32sales. The charity is holding its poppy appeal where money raised from merchandise will be
06:39providing crucial services such as guidance and support for soldiers currently in service
06:47and veterans. But there's also more to this time of year for the workers, which has already
06:53been emotionally powerful with events such as the 80th commemoration of D-Day earlier
07:01this summer. Remembrance Day serves as a powerful reminder of the sacrifice our servicemen have
07:09made for our country. Many of the members at the Fulfilment Department and veterans
07:15of the Royal British Legion Industries here in Ellesford shared some of their stories
07:21to me and what remembrance means to them. How is your father watching down on you proudly
07:28as you deliver the Tommies? He's proud with his son. He said, oh, I'm glad he worked for
07:35the Royal British Legion and he's proud for his, he's doing fine for his war, his country,
07:42and I'm making Tommy for our boys in the army. Yeah, fine, I'm glad. I also come from a family
07:48of military people. My father was in the Cajun Corps and my mother was in the Queen Alexander's
07:54and then my husband was in the Fusiliers and myself in the Signals. So we come from a long
07:59line of military people in my family and that's another reason I like to do this. The RBLI's
08:06Tommy figure also serves a great purpose in the case of remembrance. We also use it to
08:16promote the remembrance thing as well. I know the poppies do that, but this also promotes
08:24that. The sacrifice of our servicemen will be honoured this Remembrance Day on Monday
08:30the 11th of November as well as our memorial gathering this Sunday in the Garden of Honour.
08:39Henry Luck for CAME TV in Aylesford. Now, a family from Kent are refusing to pay a fine
08:47for taking their disabled child out of school for a holiday. Paul Phipps and his wife Tara
08:53from Tenham took their autistic son and daughter to Turkey at the end of September. They now
08:57could be £1,000 out of pocket if they don't pay. Our reporter Kristen Hawthorne is here
09:02to tell us more. What can you tell us, Kristen? How did the dispute get to this point? Yes,
09:08well, so like you said, the fine could go up to £1,000. It's currently at £80, but
09:13they're refusing to pay. This is because they took their children on holiday towards the
09:20start of October. Their son, who we can see in this picture here, he has severe autism,
09:28and they took him away during term time because it's often less quieter and avoids a sensory
09:34overload for him. The father says if he's taken to busy places, he can end up hurting
09:38himself or possibly others if it gets too much due to the sensory overload. They sent
09:46through a request to have time off for both their children. For Poppy's school, even though
09:52they asked multiple times, they were point blank refused. Basically, there's a lot of
09:58things which have led up to this fine being put in place. I think we can actually hear
10:04from Paul now. We're hoping the government will turn around and say that children with
10:14SEND needs can have one holiday a year, up to, say, 10, maybe 11 days, where they can
10:21go away, they can enjoy themselves, they can be at peace while they're on holiday, and
10:26so can the family, not knowing that, or knowing that they haven't got to worry about how their
10:33child is going to react and act on holiday.
10:36So what exactly have the school said, and the local authority, too?
10:40Yes, so the dad, obviously, as you said, said that children who are disabled should be able
10:46to go and have a holiday at least once a year. The spokesperson for the daughter's school
10:52said that they will be looking at term dates in the future to offer families an opportunity
10:56for a quieter time period to demonstrate their commitment to inclusion. A KCC spokesman said
11:02headteachers must decide whether to authorise a parent's request for term-time leave of
11:07absence for their child based on the circumstances at the time. So there is, you know, we don't
11:13really know what's going to happen in the future with this decision and whether it's
11:16going to change.
11:17But perhaps there could be some change implemented from this case as well, and in the school's
11:22words they're trying to be more inclusive as well. Kristen, thank you very much for
11:26those details.
11:28Now it's time for a very short break, but coming up, as Black History Month draws to
11:32a close, celebrations in Maidstone are far from over, with music and crafts filming in
11:37Jubilee Square. We catch up with Azaria Gayle to tell us more, and some visitors to the
11:43River Medway this weekend. Find out who and what they were after the break. See you then.
15:02Hello, welcome back to Kentonite Live here on KMTV. Now with Black History Month coming
15:17to a close, Maidstone Borough Council put on an event in celebration with music and
15:21crafts filling Jubilee Square. The community learnt the importance of celebrating different
15:26cultures. Teaching African drumming was just one way people got to experience African heritage.
15:32Well, Azaria Gayle went to find out more.
15:36Black History Month is coming to a close, but the celebrations are not done yet, as
15:41Maidstone Borough Council held an event with masks, storytelling and history. There was
15:47a workshop teaching everyone how to play the African djembe drum.
15:56But what does this mean for the community?
15:58Together, we have a voice. So bringing people from different backgrounds, you know, playing
16:06together, same beat, same rhythm, is very important. And I think this is something that
16:13should be done in schools, should be done in the community, in the businesses and everywhere,
16:18because this is the only way we can bring the community together. They come to my drumming
16:23workshop and they go, wow, I'm feeling much better than I was before.
16:28Seeing people having fun, I thought I'd get involved.
16:34Great, so I've just finished my African drumming and I came into this room to learn a little
16:38bit more about black history. And I found Margaret, who was the first and youngest black
16:45publisher and campaigned for diversity in publishing, and Phyllis, who is a political
16:52activist known for her work in racial and gender equality.
16:56This event was held in the Maidstone Council Building, a historic part of the town, and
17:01now black history is a part of that. The teaching of different cultures can bring the community
17:06together, but is enough being done?
17:09I grew up in a country where we didn't think of anybody else's history but our own. Now
17:15I think schools do obviously expand, but I think we could do more actually in schools.
17:21And I think teaching children to recognise different cultures, different communities
17:27within their community, because we're all part of the same community, but we should
17:30always respect other countries' cultures. Like today, for instance. I loved trying to
17:37play the drums. I mean, I made an absolute mess of it, I'm sure, but it was brilliant.
17:41With feathers and music filling the streets, people came together to dance and learn more
17:47about Black History Month.
17:51A lovely event in Maidstone today. Now, don't forget you can keep up to date with all your
18:11latest stories across Kent by visiting our website, kmtv.co.uk. There you'll find all
18:16our reports, including this one about the final river clean of the year in Canterbury.
18:20Kristin took a deeper dive into the severity of its pollution problems and why the River
18:24Stour urgently needs help.
18:31Although Canterbury's river is known for being rich in biodiversity, volunteers weren't
18:36bagging on withdrawing £5 from its water.
18:39We just found an old buried Asda trolley with a £5 note. We find these littered up and
18:50down the Stour. I think it should be the supermarket's responsibility to keep these
18:57trolleys over there and not in here.
19:01This was the amount of litter that was gathered, about 13 bags full. But this was not all that
19:07was found. For instance, there was an eel found trapped in a bottle, a bed frame and
19:12even a bicycle, among many other large items.
19:16If you see, it's like a net and a mesh and lots of animals will get caught in that. So
19:23better out here.
19:25Canterbury City Council charge supermarkets to collect trolleys if they're dumped wherever
19:32they collect them and there's a collection fee, a storage fee and a fee to take them
19:36back to the supermarket. I don't think that fee's been updated and a lot of councils around
19:42England charge more and Canterbury City Council should be charging more.
19:47But it's not just litter and fly-tipping that is a cause of concern for the water.
19:51You think it should be cleaner because you feel that the pollution should be diluted
19:57but actually there's a much bigger load going in. Also quite often sewage releases, raw
20:03sewage into the river after heavy rainfall. We've got the data, there's various sewage
20:09plants along the River Stour and hundreds of hours, last year, hundreds of hours of
20:17raw sewage spillages into the River Stour.
20:21With ideas for new housing developments in the area and the growing threat of climate
20:25change, the future of the river is unpredictable.
20:29Little by little, the impact we're having on our natural environment, on our wildlife
20:37and we just don't perceive it until we compare it with the baseline from 20, 30, 40 years ago.
20:45Both humans and animals are affected by the depleting quality of the river as enjoying
20:50what it has to offer is getting harder and harder. But volunteers say it's never too
20:55late to help out and to put rubbish in the bin.
20:58Kristen Hawthorne, KMTV.
21:07Now, a shepherd's warning, red sky in the morning. This was the sunrise in Willsborough
21:13in Ashford this morning. Absolutely stunning. Thanks to Kim who took these photos and we
21:17can see a beautiful red and orange sky with a double rainbow. Let's see if the skies
21:23though will be that clear over the next few days and see if we can get more pictures of
21:27the day sent our way. Here's the weather forecast.
21:30Tonight, cloudy skies cover the county with
21:38cool temperatures of 14 degrees in Maidstone and Ashford. Going into tomorrow morning we
21:43have some sunshine with highs of 15 degrees over in Tunbridge Wells, lows of 13 down in
21:48Margate. Temperatures soon pick up with 16 degrees across the board except for Dover
21:52reaching 17 by the afternoon. And here's your outlook for the coming days too. Some more
21:57sun across the county with highs of 16, lows of 14 by Friday.
22:16Next this evening, it's been an interesting weekend for Sporting Kent with Gillingham
22:19finally breaking their streak of five losses in a row as well as teams from across the
22:24country battling it out to stay in the FA Trophy. Well, Finn McDermott joins me on the
22:28sofa to discuss this and some more of Kent's sports news. Of course, a brand new episode
22:33of Invicta airing this evening as it is Friday. But tell us, it's difficult to be a Gilles
22:39fan at the minute. It's a hard life. Season after season. I mean, I just feel for them.
22:44It's the same thing. They start so strong winning those first few games, top of the
22:48table. It happened last season and it happened this season and now just a poor run of games
22:53is just set to follow. Their run absolutely plummets. Before this Saturday, they had lost
22:58five games, like you said, and were set to record a win away at rivals Swindon Town.
23:03They were 1-0 up for the entire game, but a goal scored in extra time by only 10 men
23:08just dashed their hopes. Well, according to Mark Bonner, he was asked if their losing
23:13run prior to the weekend could have an effect on their confidence in front of goal as they
23:18failed to extend that 1-0 lead for most of the game. But he disagreed. He said that some
23:22of those players didn't play in those games and that those moments have been in all of
23:25their games this year, which is something they've had to deal with. And that's why
23:28they haven't been a high-scoring team yet. They've got to be better in those situations.
23:32Confidence is a cheap excuse for anyone that uses it. He loves a soundbite. We even had,
23:36strangely enough, a post on X by American owner Brad Gallinson. He's currently in the
23:40States, but he addressed the situation by saying, let's be honest, Mark can get a complete
23:45team together. He can't get a complete team together week to week. We're playing like
23:48a mid-table team and that's just what we deserve. Things will change. It's still early in the
23:53season and they have their players coming back. I still believe we built the right group
23:57and we start to shine and show the fans just what we built. Well, that's quite rare for
24:00an owner to weigh in on the manager's job. Well, I spoke to Paul Jocelyn from the Supporters
24:05Club to see what he thought about those comments.
24:08I've never seen anything like it, you know, and these are key players. They're not fringe
24:13players. They're important players for the club. So poor old Mark has had to make do
24:19really with what's available. And I admire the young lads who've come in there and they
24:24tried their best. And even Jadon Clark, who was one of the sort of fringe players, is
24:30our top scorer this year. So it just shows you what they've had to put up with.
24:36And we'll hear more from Paul shortly just after the break with Invictus Sport. But very
24:41quickly, what's the latest with the FA Trophy?
24:43Well, we learned today about where the Kent teams are going to be going for the second
24:48round. Thanks to the first round, Chatham managed to progress, beating Pittsburgh in
24:53Pitsy 1-0. Folkestone had a thrashing 3-0 game. And there was a Kent derby with Sittingbourne
24:59pulling an upset over a 10-man Dover squad. We can have a look at those games now. We've
25:03also had the list released for the second round. Folkestone against Hanwell Town, Maidstone
25:07travelling to Horsham, Tonbridge off to Gosport, Chatham to Slough, and Sittingbourne to Winchester.
25:12A lot of away days there for all you Kent fans.
25:15All right, Finn, thank you very much. And of course, lots more sports come in Invictus
25:19Sport as well. Thank you very much.
25:22Finally, just before I hand over to Finn with Invictus Sport, it's not the first time they've
25:27been spotted, but usually it's in the more warmer months. Dolphins were seen cruising
25:31along the River Medway near Hoo at the weekend. Jetstream, a company running tours of the
25:36river, captured the animals on video around 11 a.m. on Sunday. They suspect there are
25:41around 20 to 30 in the pod. In February, two were seen near the Command House pub in Chatham.
25:47And earlier that month, a trio have been spotted near Folkestone Harbour Arm, but not quite
25:52this many. And so close to the boat as well. These types of dolphins can be found in all
25:57waters, in waters around the UK, but are more common in the southern and western coastal
26:03areas too. They look quite happy along the River Medway there.
26:07Well, you've been watching Kent Tonight live here on KMTV. There's, of course, more news
26:11made just for Kent throughout the evening, starting with Invictus Sport in just a few
26:14minutes' time. But in the meantime, you can keep up to date with all the latest news across
26:18your county by logging on to our website. It's kmtv.co.uk. And keep us on all your social
26:24timelines by liking us on Facebook and following us on Instagram too. And if you have a story
26:29you think we should be covering, then please do get in touch. But that's all from me. Over
26:32to Finn with another episode of Invictus Sport. I'll see you soon.