Catch up with all the latest news from across the county with Kristin Hawthorne.
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00:00Hello and welcome to Kentonite Live on KMTV. I'm Kristen Hawthorne and here are your top
00:25stories on Thursday 13th March. Proven guilty. Unanimous verdict on Canterbury woman who
00:32dumped her husband's body in her garden. Saved but at what cost? Children's centres in Kent
00:39are given funding but only for one more year. And is business booming? We've been speaking
00:45with Johnny Hever, a recent candidate of The Apprentice. Now, a woman who's dumped her
00:53husband's body at the bottom of her garden after stabbing him five times has been found
00:57guilty of murder. Maureen Rickards was at Canterbury Crown Court as jury returned an
01:01unanimous verdict with the prosecution describing her as a hate-filled woman. Oliver Leader
01:07de Sacks has the details and a warning, some may find this report distressing. Maureen,
01:13hello. Hello. Hello. So, the time is 12.23. So, I'm placing you under arrest under suspicion
01:21of fraud. Fraud of what? False representation, OK? So, the circumstances are you're using
01:27your husband's card without permission to make purchases, OK? Here is the moment that
01:3250-year-old Maureen Rickards was taken into police custody last summer on suspicion of
01:39fraud six days after her husband was reported missing. By the afternoon, she would be re-arrested
01:48on suspicion of his murder. I'm his wife. Footage released by Kent Police from that
01:56first arrest shows how they had to drag her into custody from the back of the police van.
02:04Maureen, come on. Are you going to come and help us? You can see your eyes twitching.
02:10I am not moving from here. You tell the government. You tell my university. You tell Dr. Chima.
02:15You tell your company. Now, after a four-week trial, it took the jury at Canterbury Crown
02:22Court just under six hours to unanimously find her guilty of stabbing 65-year-old Jeremy
02:30Rickards in the chest five times. It was on the 11th of July last year that Kent Police
02:38searched Ms. Rickards' university accommodation on St. Martins Road in Canterbury, and it's
02:44there, hidden beneath a mound of grass clippings in the back garden, the body of the geologist
02:52was found in a nylon hodl. A video uploaded by the killer before her arrest shows her
02:59zooming in on the spot where he was buried. Other recordings were found on Ms. Rickards'
03:05phone. Operation, let's clean this garden. In one, you can hear the sound of the Christ
03:11Church law student dragging the bag containing Jeremy's body and concealing it. In the month
03:21leading up to his murder, the court was told how a frail and vulnerable Mr. Rickards was
03:27subjected to weeks of domestic abuse. CCTV shows him sitting with facial injuries in
03:35his local Wetherspoons, and the court heard, in a video transcript from June 7th, Jeremy
03:42pleading with Maureen as she threatened to kill him, saying, please stop hitting me,
03:49love. Please stop it. The pain and suffering subjected to Jeremy Rickards in his final
03:56days is quite horrifying, cruel, and I hope that they can find some solace in this outcome
04:03today. What this has raised, once again, unfortunately, is the danger of domestic violence in our community
04:09and how severe it can become. Throughout the trial, Maureen maintained she did not kill
04:14him and was not responsible for any of the injuries that the prosecution say she had
04:20left. And in one outburst, proclaiming, good riddance to bad rubbish. Rickards was impassive
04:26in the dock as the verdict was read out. She will now be handed a mandatory life sentence
04:33and it will be up to the judge at sentencing whether or not she will be eligible for parole.
04:39Oliver Leader of the Saks for KMTV. If you've been affected by anything in that report,
04:46you can contact the National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 200 0247.
04:53But next, family and children's services at two centres in Kent have been saved from
04:58the axe, but only for a year. The Millmead Centre in Margate and Seashells in Sheerness
05:04failed losing funding when their contracts expire at the end of March. Children's centres
05:09provide early childhood support, parenting help and community services for families.
05:15However, the two sites still face an unclear future as Gabriel Morris reports.
05:21Waiting to hear their fate. Nine months ago, Kent County Council told the staff sitting in
05:27the public gallery today that the two children's centres they work for would be losing their
05:33funding at the end of March. This week, the councillor behind the proposals effectively
05:39turned that decision, leading to smiles on staff and supporters' faces following the meeting.
05:47I remember first speaking to people and we had very little hope at the start of this journey
05:51to overcome this decision and today that we have done that to some degree, we just need to know
05:55what the finer details look like. Is it going to be smiling faces when you go across the bridge
05:59back to the island? Yes, most definitely. The response, as Ian has said, we do need some
06:05finer details for complete clarification, but there is more hope and that equals smiley faces.
06:11Millmead in Margate and Seashells in Sheerness are the only independent children's centres in
06:17the county. Both areas are high in deprivation and their users have long said they're a lifeline
06:24and the heart of the community. KCC were planning to shave almost half a million pounds off its
06:30budget by decommissioning services at the centres and placing them elsewhere in the towns, but these
06:37two independent councillors have been leading the campaigns against the Conservative administration's
06:42proposals. So what's now for the centres? So what I've agreed today is that the decision will have
06:50the addition of a clause which allows the option of direct funding to Seashells and Millmead from
06:58the fourth year family hub grant to deliver family hub services from their centres. What this means
07:05is a grant of money will go to the two family hubs. The amount still unclear and this will only be for
07:14a year, meaning it's not a long-term solution for these campaigners. We knew that I think coming into
07:20the debate today that there would be only one year's worth of funding and that there's now work
07:24to do to ensure the longevity of the two projects, but it's good news. We've kept the
07:32things open and that's got to be a victory. Nine months this has taken, did it have to take that
07:36long? No, it should have been done in nine minutes. It's an obvious case. And now is this going to be
07:42the next administration's issue to keep this long term? Yeah, we won the battle, we haven't won the war.
07:48The decision comes just a week before the authority enters purdah. In May, every seat is up for election.
07:55It'll be for the next administration to decide what happens next. Gabriel Morris at County Hall in Maidstone.
08:05Now as we continue our deep dive into the challenges women face in today's society for
08:09International Women's Month, we're turning our focus to the world of film. From female directors
08:14breaking barriers to the ongoing debate over representation on screen, and even the backlash
08:19that comes with it, there's plenty to discuss. With another episode of Kent Film Club airing
08:25earlier this evening, I was joined by presenter Chris Deasy to get his take on the role of women in film.
08:31So in regard to representation of women in film, this is one film that's came out recently.
08:37Since its release, it has received a lot of backlash due to its main actor Blake Lively.
08:42Can you tell me a little about that? Well, it's a strange scenario because this is a film
08:48about issues around harassment and relationship between genders and harassment and the really
08:56odd thing is that what then spilled out in, as it were, real life seemed to mirror what was
09:01happening in the film and a lot of abuse targeted at Blake Lively and she fell out with her
09:07director and co-star who was the same person and I think it sort of brings to a head questions
09:13about what happens when sometimes you have a strong female presence or indeed often of course
09:18female directors in films and the way that the goalposts seem to have changed over the last few
09:24decades and I suppose the question is would we be having the same story if it was about a man
09:30rather than about a female actor? Yeah because a lot of the backlash that she's received has been
09:36on her behaviour not being very nice. She's been, as we were discussing earlier on, a mean girl.
09:40She's been described for little things but it does make you wonder really what the other side
09:45of that would be if she was a man. Do you think that these films or films like this, issues
09:51like this, has the power to change society? I mean art is vital across society. Do you think that it
09:55has the power to change things? I think when you look at the evolution over the years because I
09:59remember when we had the death recently of Jean Hattman and when Sharon Stone played the lead in
10:04a western, The Quick and the Dead, now this was back in the 1990s and it was seen to be pretty
10:09groundbreaking at the time and it was but in that case it was very much the conventions of a male
10:16western but with a female taking the part. What I would say is that over the years we've seen this
10:22see change so that you've got films like well Boys Don't Cry is a really good example when it's not
10:27you know a man's film like a superhero film where you then have a female playing that role. On the
10:33contrary you've got issues very specific to representation around equality, justice, issues
10:40around trans rights, gender, civil rights issues and you saw that with Boys Don't Cry. I mean even
10:46if you have that Oscar winning for Hilary Swank a few years before that you had Jodie Foster in
10:50The Accused which was also based on a real life case and again sort of films that I think don't
10:59just entertain you they make you think and think what is it that's going on in society at large
11:05and what are the things that films should be doing to actually bring to the fore
11:10what the role of women in film can be. Thank you so much Chris. Absolute pleasure.
11:18Now interestingly bomb squads have been spotted responding to multiple incidents across Kent this
11:23week. Yesterday a hand grenade was found on Dungeness Beach and safely disposed of by experts.
11:30This morning the Ministry of Defence bomb team removed suspicious items after a police raid
11:35in Selling Minis near Canterbury and an hour later a three-foot wartime bomb was discovered
11:40in Dartford Garden with police still on the scene. Now it's time for a quick break but we'll see you
11:47very soon.
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15:08Hello and welcome back to Kent Tonight live on KMTV. I'm Kristen Hawthorne. Now it's since been a week
15:14since uh the Kent Apprentice was fired by Lord Sugar but nothing's stopping him from striving on
15:20in the world of business. That's right deals Johnny Heaver has spent years since graduating
15:25university running a tutoring business. At the start of the season he'd also opened up about the
15:30cause of his facial scars saying he's hoping to be bucking the trend of reality tv by putting
15:35himself out there. Johnny Heaver joined us earlier today but here's a reminder of the moment he was
15:40fired. And I'm afraid to say it's because after six weeks I haven't seen much from you that Johnny
15:50you're fired. Thank you so much for the opportunity fairness, Brady, Tim, my heroes, thank you.
15:55Good luck Lord Sugar, you too. Thank you.
16:10It was such an incredible experience and I keep saying to people this is the only firing I'm ever
16:15going to draw attention to on my CV or LinkedIn because actually it's quite cool being fired by
16:19Lord Sugar in some way shape or form but no it was an absolutely fantastic opportunity. I loved it.
16:25What was Lord Sugar right? He said he hadn't seen much from you in six weeks. Would you disagree?
16:30Course I disagree. Honestly there are so many moments where I feel like I put myself out there
16:35whether that was speaking bad German in week one whether that was making mistakes with all the
16:40rhubarb in week three but jokes aside like I do feel I played quite a big part and yeah I feel
16:47like Lord Sugar missed a trick there you know it's a shame he didn't really see but the thing is with
16:52Lord Sugar he only sees the bits when you're in the boardroom he's not actually with you on task
16:56he relies on Tim and fairness Brady to kind of feed back so yeah I do feel maybe he didn't
17:01realise how much I did but oh well. Yeah and there's also something to say for what we see
17:05as viewers as well because I'm sure there's a lot that goes on that isn't captured on the cameras
17:10um I wonder how much you can tell us about that behind the scenes were there a lot of things that
17:14didn't come across how they were in the moment or do you have to reshoot things because of course
17:19it's a it's a TV show at the end of the day it's done for entertainment they put together these
17:23montages of incredibly awkward uncomfortable moments as well but it's for people to watch
17:27and enjoy as well so how much does it reflect what actually happens?
17:31Yeah you're completely right because obviously tasks are two days sometimes three days and that's
17:37edited down into about 20 minutes of television so you don't get an accurate representation
17:42depiction of what really goes on because there's just so much that goes into it so when you watch
17:47it back we are so nervous watching it back as candidates because we're watching it you know
17:53firsthand with the British public and we have no idea what will make the edit what won't make the
17:57edit so yeah you're completely right in terms of reshooting it's reasonably especially the
18:02boardroom is actually very real it is just kind of one take on task occasionally you do have to film
18:07bits again and do bits and bobs again but it is crazy seeing it from that perspective just the
18:12scale of it and the amount that goes into filming a task is completely unbelievable.
18:17Yeah I've seen a lot of a lot of positive feedback from your audience on your your TikTok and your
18:21social media lots of people commenting on there especially recently you opened up about your your
18:26facial scarring you said that you hope that by being on the show you're able to sort of buck the
18:30trend of what reality TV was supposed to look like and what has that sort of response been like what
18:35was that like for you to open up like that? Yeah so obviously I do have a facial difference and
18:40I'm actually really pleased it wasn't mentioned in the first boardroom for example because I do
18:44want to be an advocate for the fact that people who look a little bit different don't actually have
18:49to justify themselves whether that's quite under the apprentice or a reality show but actually just
18:53in a normal boardroom setting or applying for a normal job but there was a lot of speculation so I
18:58did decide to kind of talk about it on my TikTok very candidly I naively thought this would kind
19:03of put it to bed but no it kind of completely blew up and actually did incredibly well on TikTok and
19:08got a lot of views but actually I didn't mind that because it's kind of put me in a different
19:12light now and now I really am kind of waving the flag for people with facial differences
19:17so I think actually this is another opportunity the show's opened up which I didn't even realise
19:21it would so despite it not really putting it to bed as such it has enabled me to speak about it
19:26candidly which I think a lot of people really got behind me for and I'm yeah I'm really grateful for
19:31that. Now new data from a council report has revealed the direct impact of higher parking
19:37prices in coastal towns with as much as £3.70 in some locations per hour.
19:43Whitstable and Herne Bay have seen 30,000 less cars parking between April 2024 and January 2025
19:52and local businesses say they're worried for the health of their high street that relies on
19:56visitors. Finn McDermott reports. In April 2024 parking prices went up across Canterbury City
20:03Council's coastal district with Herne Bay and Whitstable's car parks hit the hardest.
20:08Free parking was also scrapped in both of the town's car parks with specific ones like Goral
20:12Tank seeing a rise by £2.10 while local businesses say it's having a large impact
20:18on the health of their high street. The data revealed from a council report shows that 24,000
20:23less cars parked in Herne Bay between April 2024 and January 2025 when compared to the year before
20:30while there were 6,000 less for the same time frame in Whitstable. At Goral Tank car park
20:35prices now stand at £3.70 per hour with a £2 per overnight hour charge as well. Now because of this
20:41price rise vendors have been telling me that they worry that less people coming down for the day
20:46means less people coming into the high street and keeping the town's economy going. Now back when
20:50this was first being discussed in 2023 local businesses predicted that people would be outpriced
20:56and trade could be pushed out from the high street. I caught up with the owner of Whitstable
21:00Harbour Gin who was particularly worried about potential price rises back in 2023.
21:06Yes so with it's you know parking is one of many reasons why I believe footfall to be down in
21:10Whitstable. People have got a lot of other choices a lot of other options of where to go and where
21:15they can shop. So we've been here in the South Quay Shed which is a council-run building we've
21:20been here for three years and we've noticed the decline in footfall. There's a lot of reasons
21:24behind that but I do believe that parking is one of them and yes as you as mentioned you know
21:31we our intention isn't to renew our lease here which is a shame. While local businesses are
21:36feeling the impact of the quieter car parks Canterbury City Council were predicted to make
21:40an extra £268,000 on parking this financial year making an £11 million prediction. Instead
21:48they've already made an extra £2.1 million and look set to go beyond even their own prediction
21:53after the price rise. Near the start of this year there was also a plan to make premium car parks
21:58more expensive to £3.80 an hour but they were scrapped following a public backlash. The parking
22:03team the transportation team are looking at these figures on a daily basis of course they will and
22:08they'll look at the usage and we're there to sound the alarm if if we notice that these things are
22:13continuing. I think that we're starting hopefully to get out of the winter now and starting to see
22:19weather improve. I think we had a lovely weekend this weekend and it'll be interesting to see what
22:23effect that had but the overall goal beyond parking is obviously to encourage more people to
22:28come to Whitspool and Herne Bay and there are more factors than just parking prices in that.
22:33Canterbury City Council released a statement saying we monitor parking activity across the
22:37district very closely to see what's working well and where we can tweak things and every year we
22:41put forward proposals as part of the budget process that we consult the public on. This
22:45process often results in changes where we have listened and adapted our plans such as with the
22:49recent decisions on school lane in Herne and charges at top tier car parks in Canterbury.
22:54The council say they are aware of the issue with less parking acts in the coastal towns
22:58and are monitoring it themselves and they say they want to create more ways to encourage tourism
23:02but for businesses like Whitstable Harbour Gin it could be too little too late.
23:07Finn McDermid for KMTV in Whitstable and Herne Bay.
23:13Now to sport. Basketballers from across Kent are being offered the chance to represent Britain
23:17at an international tournament with a prize fund of one million dollars.
23:21Former NBA draftee Ryan Richards who's from Sittingbourne is holding trials here in the
23:26county to find the young players that will take spots on his team. Holding several tryouts
23:32throughout the UK starting here in Kent the MVPs will be flown to the 64 team tournament.
23:38In the states will now be performing in front of some of the world's best players.
23:43Kai Wei went down to one of the tryouts in Gillingham.
23:48Basketball is one of the most widely recognised sports around the world
23:58with the infamous NBA being watched by millions but here in the UK it's much harder to pursue
24:03basketball professionally so a former NBA draftee from Kent has made it his mission
24:09to help young players break through. Yeah I think there's not a lot of opportunities in the UK for
24:13basketball players you know it's taken me around the world I've been over 60 plus countries now
24:17managed to retire very young I'm very fortunate there and you know managed to make connections
24:23and relationships I never thought I would being a boy from Sittingbourne and basketball did that
24:26for me. I think for me this is a you know a politics free environment it doesn't matter
24:31what you have done it's what you do on the day and from that you'll be selected and given a chance.
24:35Giving young basketball players a chance to shine Richards and Lee are looking for their
24:39newest team members to take to an international competition in the summer. These players will
24:44get a chance at worldwide recognition and even win a share of a million pounds. In 2016 I was
24:49lucky enough to win the tournament at two million so this year I have my own team and I can do the
24:54same thing. I think you know it's a big thing is recruiting it's also being in front of the right
24:59eyes and with this tournament and this event you're going to be in right in front of the right
25:02people and hopefully an opportunity comes of it. So we go around the country and we're holding
25:06events 16 to 20 we take in one MVP from the 17 to 20 and one MVP from the 21 plus from there we
25:14trickle down to a main event and from there a selection of players will be flown out to the
25:18states to compete in a tournament. Being from Sittingbourne himself Kent holds a special place
25:24in Ryan's heart which is why he decided to hold the first tryouts here in the county. Yeah so I'm
25:29doing all around the country but I wanted to do the first couple in Kent to give back so we'll be
25:33going to Nottingham, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, more in Kent and more in London, Brighton and we finish
25:40up at the Copper Box in London. He also disclosed the type of players he's looking for and the
25:45fighting spirit he wants in his new team. It's the ability to adapt these guys are all coming in some
25:52of them know each other some of them don't so it's meshing together and it's doing plays and doing
25:56things to win games. We're fine over there we need to win six games to win the tournament so
26:00winning plays and a winning mentality definitely comes to part of the selection.
26:04You know I've won it before I've got experience of winning it you know other players that I know
26:08that are going to be on the team you know we're not fine all that way over there just to be a
26:12part of it but going there to win the whole thing. Kai Wei for KMTV in Gellingham.
26:17You've been watching Kentonite live on KMTV. There's more news
26:30that's what happens when I take off my glasses there's more news made just for you throughout
26:34this evening but for now thank you so much we'll see you next time.
26:47you