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.
00:28I'm Kristen Hawthorne and here are your top stories on Friday the 14th of March.
00:33Medway murder. We discuss the Kent woman who's been convicted of murdering her close associate.
00:40And Ramadan celebrations. We speak with the Kent Muslim Welfare Association
00:44who are inviting people to an annual Iftar meal.
00:47And All Aboard, a new Whitstable Monopoly edition recognises local businesses and charities.
00:52But now, a woman from Medway has been convicted of murdering her close associate at their home
00:59on Gunn Lane in Strood. After fleeing the incident, Nina Mercer returned with the man
01:03who's now been convicted of theft and fraud for stealing and using the victim's wallet and bank
01:09card. For more details on this, however, our reporter Finn McDermott joined me earlier.
01:13OK, so first of all, can you tell us a little bit about how this case started?
01:18Well, police found the victim, Alan Tomkins,
01:21dead with a large knife sticking out of his back in his flat in Strood last July.
01:26Nina Mercer was arrested when she returned to the flat as police were investigating the death
01:31and we got some footage of the arrest as it happened, which we can see now.
01:48So can you tell us a little bit about the trial itself then?
02:01Yes, so the trial at Maidstone Crown Court, it lasted around four weeks
02:05and after five hours of deliberations, which basically means the jury,
02:09considering and discussing evidence before the verdict, they found her guilty of murder.
02:14Now, she wasn't in the court to hear her verdict. She joined via video link. She
02:18reportedly chose not to attend, but she also didn't give evidence. Her defence statement
02:23was read to the jury by her legal team, which said that Mercer accepted she gave Tomkins the
02:28injuries that would cause his death, but didn't remember what happened and had blocked out the
02:32trauma. And so I mentioned at the start there about the man that she knew that was convicted
02:38of theft and fraud. Can you tell us a little bit about him and the sort of story behind that?
02:44Yes, his name is Lee Robinson. He took Mr Tomkins' wallet shortly after the incident happened. Mercer
02:51had left the scene of the crime and returned with Robinson. He then used the cash card to
02:56buy groceries and obtain some cash back. He went on to plead guilty to theft and fraud,
03:02but he was also found not guilty of assisting an offender by helping her dispose of items
03:07like bloodied clothing. And both Mercer and Robinson will be sentenced on Tuesday, March 18th.
03:15Now, as part of Ramadan celebrations, the Kent Muslim Welfare Association Mosque in
03:20Gilliam is inviting people of all faiths and backgrounds to join them this weekend
03:24for its annual Iftar meal. The breaking of the fast is the main meal of the day for Muslims
03:29during Ramadan. The aim of the Iftar meal is to bring people together from all backgrounds.
03:34Kent Morning Show presenters were joined by Ajab Hussain from the Kent Muslim Welfare Association
03:39to hear more.
03:40Well, Ajab Hussain joins us here in the studio now. Thank you very much for being here.
03:44Tell us about the event happening at the Muslim Welfare Association this weekend.
03:49Yeah, today's on Saturday, we're having an event called Taste Ramadan. So it's really aimed for
03:57people of faith or no faith, who are not just Muslim. Of course, we have daily breaking of fast
04:05every day anyway, as Muslims in the mosque or at home, wherever. But especially for non-Muslims
04:13to share our experiences and come together in terms of bonding and getting to know each other.
04:19And I think one of the main primary things is to bring more love and understanding and respect
04:28within us. We all have our faiths or no faiths and differences, but really breaking a bread is
04:34something fundamental that brings us together. If you look at the UK, you know, look at the
04:40restaurants, it's the food that brings us and we share those cultural differences and sometimes,
04:46oh, this food looks very similar to what we have at home. It might be from a totally
04:50different part of the world, you know. So that's one. I mean, obviously, as a Muslim,
04:55there is more spirituality and there's a reason behind the fast and so forth. But even if you
05:02don't have enough fasting, you come and share your experiences and meet new people. And that's
05:07what Taste Ramadan is about. And are you expecting a lot of people from all different faiths to be
05:12there this weekend? What sort of numbers look like here in Medway in particular? Do you have
05:16a lot of people coming wanting to learn more about different religions and cultures?
05:20Yeah, I think certainly from what I've seen in the last few years, we've seen a growth of
05:28people breaking fast together in the mosques. So this is Muslims who are going into the mosque
05:33and breaking the fast together in terms of a community, you know, going from numbers like 20
05:39to 40. And now, you know, even 100. I was just at the mosque last night breaking my fast. It's
05:46probably 80 people there and the weekend will be even more. But having said that,
05:53non-Muslims are also getting more interest in what's going on. And this initiative of Taste
06:00Ramadan, we've been doing it before anyway, but more on a, you know, time whenever we can have
06:07the time and so on. But now this is a nationwide initiative as well from the Muslim Council of
06:15Britain, in fact, MCB. And all over the country, you'll get, you know, on those Saturday or Sunday,
06:23people opening up the mosques and it's open for the program we have actually has a question and
06:30answer as well. So a formal thing of why do Muslims fast? You know, it's a simple question,
06:37but there's some reasons behind that and to understand each other. We're offering that as
06:44well in terms of breaking the bread together and learning from each other. Yeah, I know you do a
06:48lot of work with the Medway Interfaith Action Group as well and it's quite a noble mission,
06:53trying to get people of all faiths talking to each other and celebrating as a community. Do you
06:56think that's something that Medway needs or is it something that you've seen coming together over the
07:01past few years? It is happening. You were saying earlier about the demographic changing as well
07:05here in Medway. So we live in a changing world all the time, you know, and we see a lot of people
07:12coming in from London, you know, new people from different cultures, different backgrounds. We have
07:18also many students. We've got the best universities in this country and we're proud to be in Medway
07:24with one of the best universities just next door and people are coming here to qualify and become
07:31doctors or pharmacists or engineers and we want to embrace that diversity and this is what it's
07:37about. I think interfaith, whether you have a faith or no faith, we all have something we
07:44fall back to in times of hardship. So when something happens, you know, either bereavement or
07:50even struggling with exams, you know, you have something that you ask for and the thing about
07:56Ramadan, we're talking about Ramadan but, you know, interfaith as well is the same thing, is
08:02we all have actually different ways of praying to God and the Creator and even if you don't have,
08:09you know, belief in that, whatever belief system we have to give us this inner strength to overcome
08:15those differences and this ties very much into Ramadan because the biggest thing about Ramadan
08:23is not just, you know, abstaining from food. There are many other things you're abstaining from. You're
08:29abstaining from having arguments. You're abstaining from doing bad things. You're trying
08:36to become a better individual to give back to the society in a better way than what you did last year
08:42as an example or yesterday and that's what we're talking about, you know,
08:48that faith and that bringing together binds us as human beings.
08:54Well, I hope everyone celebrating this weekend has a lovely time but next up we have dog walkers at the
09:01White Cliffs of Dover said they're being unfairly treated after the National Trust has banned pets
09:06from its cafe at the landmark. The conservation charity says the ban was brought into place after
09:12some dogs had stolen food and caused disruption by barking. We've been speaking to dog walking
09:18visitors to the White Cliffs of Dover, some of whom have questioned why the rule has been brought in.
09:24I think it deters people away especially in, people still like to walk their dogs in
09:32windy and wet weather and I'd like to look around the shop but I'll be deterred to do that because
09:40they don't like dogs. If your dog is actually misbehaving and being a nuisance to everybody
09:48and stealing food and jumping on tables, well you shouldn't allow your dog to do that in any
09:56place let alone inside a restaurant because obviously you're going to get the dogs banned.
10:02It's a little bit frustrating, I understand because they can cause mayhem, I know ours does
10:09but it's a bit frustrating when you, one of us has to stay indoors, one of us has to go and
10:14one of us has to stay outside. I mean would I like it that they would allow him in? Yeah
10:20absolutely but you know as long as it's, there's still space at least allocated outside then you
10:26know we can make do. Now interestingly a solar pilot has overshot their landing and crashed into
10:33the woodlands near Waldershade. The 17-year-old pilot had 155 hours of experience and was traveling
10:40to Rochester airport and thankfully was the only person on board the plane. The air accidents
10:46investigation branch found the pilot was experiencing a period of high workload following
10:51a go-around and change of runway in use. The pilot stated himself that he was going too fast on his
10:56landing. Fire crews, paramedics and the police attended the scene just before 12.30pm. The pilot
11:03was taken to Medway Maritime Hospital but fortunately was not injured in the crash.
11:08Next a sofa went up in flames on the streets of Canterbury late last night. Footage shows the
11:14furniture completely engulfed in flames opposite the All Saints Church in Military Road in the
11:20middle of Canterbury. A fire engine and crews extinguished it soon after they received the call
11:25and reported there were no injuries during the accident. Several residents were very shocked
11:30considering it was right next to a block of flats, many of whom came to the scene to check the safety
11:35of their cars. Now it's time for a quick break but coming up, two Kent coastal towns have found
11:42themselves recognised with a special Monopoly set which launched today. We'll be saying a little bit
11:47about that after the break. We'll see you then.
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15:12Hello and welcome back to Kentonite live on CAMTV. Now I'm sure you've heard but the Prime
15:17Minister is abolishing NHS England to cut bureaucracy and bring back management of the
15:22health service back into democratic control. This decision may bring both positive and negative
15:27aspects but to find out what people here in Kent thought about the change we went to Rochester.
15:32I think there's a lot of levels of management that probably don't need to exist and I think
15:38there's procurement practices are a little bit a little bit dodgy. I do think that a drastic
15:43overhaul is needed. The bureaucracy has caught up with it and not so good now. If we're cutting
15:50down jobs that in the eyes of some people not as important as nurses and doctors in an effort to
15:57support nurses and doctors then you know there's positives there as well. Any change is going to
16:03it's not going to happen very quickly. Next tonight two Kent coastal towns have found themselves
16:09swapping the beach for board games as Whitstable and Herne Bay find themselves recognised with a
16:14special Monopoly set which launched today. The addition doesn't just contain all the memorable
16:19landmarks in the area however as Oliver Leader de Sacks has been finding out. You may have heard
16:25of people putting your town on the map but how about on the board? Well the residents of Whitstable
16:32and Herne Bay must have pulled a chance card as a new Monopoly set launched today seeks to
16:39celebrate their coastal community with local heroes gathering at Wild Wood to pass go and
16:47collect some of the very special sets. Well we're essentially doing research for areas in the UK
16:54where there's really good community connection, great local landmarks and also natural beauty as
16:59well as you've got the Whitstable, Herne Bay, the Humber so it's a bit of a no-brainer really. But
17:04it's not just tourist sites and beloved local landmarks getting ready for houses and hotels.
17:10Local charities and businesses making a real difference in the community
17:16are also set to be in game real estate. It's a privilege because Monopoly is so worldwide known
17:25so it's quite something to be part of a community Monopoly board. It's full of joy
17:33full of happiness it's absolutely incredible and honoured absolutely honoured to be part of
17:40this incredible game. I'm so excited to be on the board and to be able to host the event today
17:45just to be part of that board and that Monopoly game that everyone's going to play it's absolutely
17:49amazing. You know it's a real big boost for us we are in the heart of the Whitstable and
17:58we feel we're really important to town. It's quite unique we were quite honoured really and pleased
18:04to be actually offered the chance to go on there. It was something different and if only when we've
18:10gone it'll still be there. And something we never expected. There's one question left are Monopoly
18:17makers ready to roll the dice on any other Kent towns? So that's what we'd have to look at next
18:24year we know Kent is full of you know fantastic local areas really great landscapes as well
18:30similar to Whitstable and Herne Bay so we'll certainly have our eyes peeled for the next few
18:33years. Well for now we just have to be content with a local coastal addition to our community
18:40Super excited to have a go at that game but don't forget you can keep up to date with all your
18:53latest stories across Kent by logging on to our website kmtv.co.uk. There you'll find all the
18:58reports including this one that I did about women in business. Kent is home to countless inspiring
19:04women from female business owners and charity leaders to those making a difference in their
19:10families and communities but with the incredible progress that has been made throughout women's
19:15history some challenges still remain. Female-led businesses and women in business can be found
19:20all around these are just some board games that have been made by women however many women in the
19:25workplace deal with prejudice such as not being taken seriously in the workplace and having to
19:30deal with stereotypes that assume what they can and cannot do. Playopolis in Rochester is a board
19:36game cafe and it's just one of many women-led businesses in the county but despite almost 10
19:42years of experience owner Rebecca says gender bias is something she still faces. Certainly there are
19:48challenges with like a gender bias we will still have people come in and say can I speak to your
19:52manager is he in and we do have men's stuff male stuff as well but we are predominantly even female
20:00like employees as well and we'll get quite annoyed when it's like the gender bias of
20:05well it's got to be a man can get a little bit frustrating. We've been within the board game
20:10industry as well which is fairly male dominated as well some people will assume we don't know as
20:16much about the games and things as we do which can be a little bit frustrating. But it's not
20:22just female business owners that face these difficulties. I think there is a lot of bias
20:28towards men unfortunately still in our society I've seen that a lot in terms of I'm currently
20:35trying to buy a flat with my husband. It's a joint everything but he gets cc'd into the emails
20:42I get cc'd out specifically of a lot of the correspondents and they have a bias towards
20:48him even though we've never stated that he should be the main point of contact and it would actually
20:52be me as I hold the deposit but I am overlooked in every single aspect of this process. I think
20:59women still really struggle with trying to do it all so I work and just trying to juggle child care
21:06work everything is still expected of you you're expected to be in 10 different places at once.
21:12I think there's a bit of an expectation for us to be perfect. If you're a woman thinking of starting
21:17a business Rebecca has some advice. Just to continue to persevere with it you know your own
21:24kind of abilities and things and it's important to stick with them and like
21:29regardless of your gender you can do anything. Beyond the workplace another growing concern in
21:34the county is violence against women but despite this many are coming together supporting one
21:40another educating others and working to create a safer future hoping to create more positive
21:46history for women. Kristen Hawthorne for KMTV in Rochester.
21:55Now new data from a council report has revealed the direct impact of higher parking prices in
22:00coastal towns with as much as £3.70 in some locations per hour. Whitstable and Herne Bay
22:06have seen 30,000 less parking spaces, less cars parked between April 2024 and January 2025
22:14and local businesses say they're worried for the health of their high street that relies on
22:18visitors. In case you missed it here it is as Finn MacDermid reports. In April 2024 parking
22:25prices went up across Canterbury City Council's coastal district with Herne Bay and Whitstable's
22:30car parks hit the hardest. Free parking was also scrapped in both of the town's car parks
22:35with specific ones like Goral Tank seeing a rise by £2.10 while local businesses say it's having a
22:42large impact on the health of their high street. The data revealed from a council report shows that
22:4624,000 less cars parked in Herne Bay between April 2024 and January 2025 when compared to the year
22:53before while there were 6,000 less for the same time frame in Whitstable. At Goral Tank car park
22:59prices now stand at £3.70 per hour with a £2 per overnight hour charge as well. Now because of this
23:05price rise vendors have been telling me that they worry that less people coming down for the day
23:10means less people coming into the high street and keeping the town's economy going. Now back when
23:15this was first being discussed in 2023 local businesses predicted that people would be outpriced
23:20and trade could be pushed out from the high street. I caught up with the owner of Whitstable
23:24Harbour Gin who was particularly worried about potential price rises back in 2023. Yes so with
23:31it's you know parking is one of many reasons why I believe footfall to be down in Whitstable people
23:35have got a lot of other choices a lot of other options of where to go and where they can shop
23:40we've been here in the South Quay shed which is a council-run building we've been here for three
23:45years and we've noticed the decline in footfall there's a lot of reasons behind that but I do
23:50believe that parking is one of them and yes as you as mentioned you know our intention isn't
23:57to renew our lease here which is a shame. While local businesses are feeling the impact of the
24:01quieter car parks Canterbury City Council were predicted to make an extra £268,000 on parking
24:07this financial year making an £11 million prediction. Instead they've already made an
24:13extra £2.1 million and look set to go beyond even their own prediction after the price rise.
24:19Near the start of this year there was also a plan to make premium car parks more expensive
24:23to £3.80 an hour but they were scrapped following a public backlash. The parking team the transportation
24:28team are looking at these figures on a daily basis of course they will and they'll look at the usage
24:33and we're there to sound the alarm if if we notice that these things are continuing.
24:39I think that we're starting hopefully to get out of the winter now and starting to see weather
24:44improve I think we had a lovely weekend this weekend and it'll be interesting to see what
24:47effect that had but the overall goal beyond parking is obviously to encourage more people
24:52to come to Whitstable and Herne Bay and there are more factors than just parking prices in that.
24:57Canterbury City Council released a statement saying we monitor parking activity across the
25:01district very closely to see what's working well and where we can tweak things and every year we
25:05put forward proposals as part of the budget process that we consult the public on. This
25:09process often results in changes where we have listened and adapted our plans such as with the
25:13recent decisions on school lane in Herne and charges at top tier car parks in Canterbury.
25:18The council say they are aware of the issue with less parking acts in the coastal towns
25:22and are monitoring it themselves and they say they want to create more ways to encourage tourism
25:26but for businesses like Whitstable Harbour Gin it could be too little
25:30too late. Finn McDermid for KMTV in Whitstable and Herne Bay.
25:36Now it's time for a quick look at the weather.
25:44So tonight is looking partly cloudy with highs of six degrees and into tomorrow morning it'll be a
25:52bit chilly start to the day with around one to two degrees. Highs of four in Moorgate. Clouds will
25:56remain. In the afternoon then we'll see the sun peeking through with temperatures rising to about
26:01five and six degrees. Highs of seven in Dartford. And then across Sunday, Monday and Tuesday then
26:07it's looking to be nine degrees with highs of ten on Tuesday. Partly cloudy on Sunday
26:12but looking quite sunny across the board.
26:14You've been watching Kentonite Live on KMTV but don't worry as there's more news made just for you
26:19throughout this evening. Don't forget you can always keep up to date with the latest news
26:23across the county by logging on to kmtv.co.uk and you can keep us on our social timelines by
26:28liking us on Facebook and following us on TikTok. But for now we'll see you very very soon. Goodbye.
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