KentOnline

Podcast Graphic

Podcast – man found with samurai sword during drugs raid jailed – 07/05/2019

A man found with a samurai sword during a drugs raid by police in Maidstone has been jailed for more than three years…
Officers searched a property on Wallis Avenue in March.
Ian Bigg was sat on a sofa next to the weapon – the 39 year-old has since admitted possessing and intending to supply class A drugs.
Also hear why universities need to do more to close the degree attainment gap and we get a sneak peak of a new brewery opening in Ashford.

Podcast Graphic

Podcast – More people visiting self-help page to try and stop themselves viewing indecent images of children online – 02/05/2019

There’s been a significant increase in the number of people in Kent contacting a helpline and website to try and stop themselves viewing indecent images of children online…
541 people got in touch with Stop It Now! in 2016 – that went up to almost 800 last year.
Now, the Lucy Faithfull Foundation – who set it up – have joined forces with police in the county to tackle the issue of inappropriate pictures of young people appearing on the internet.
https://www.kentonline.co.uk/

Podcast Graphic

Podcast – New theme park ‘could struggle to bring in visitors’ – 01/05/2019

There are concerns about whether a new theme park in north Kent will be able to attract enough visitors, as it’s revealed another entertainment company has pulled out of the project.
A deal between London Resort and Paramount was dropped in 2017 – and we now know the makers of Wallace and Gromit are also no longer involved.
Earlier this week we told you bosses, who want to spend more than 3 billion pounds building the park on the Swanscombe peninsular between Dartford and Gravesend, had signed an agreement with ITV studios.
Some of the rides and attractions will be based on children’s shows Thunderbirds Are Go and Robozuna.
https://www.kentonline.co.uk/

Podcast Graphic

Podcast – wife calls for justice at start of inquiry into contaminated blood scandal – 30/04/2019

A woman is calling for justice for her husband from Broadstairs who died after being infected with contaminated blood…
A public inquiry’s been hearing evidence today into why NHS patients were given blood products with hepatitis and HIV in the 1970s and 80s.
Steve Dymond was diagnosed with Hepatitis C in 1997 and was among thousands who died.
Su Gorman will be one of the people giving evidence.

Podcast Graphic

Podcast – Victim Support raise concerns as rape victims are told to hand over their mobile phone to police – 29/04/2019

Campaigners says rape victims are being made to choose between privacy or justice – as police ask them to hand over their mobile phones.
Forces across England and Wales want accusers to allow officers to access data including messages, photos, emails, and social media content.
If they don’t, cases could be dropped.
Big Brother Watch is calling it a “digital strip search” that will prolong the distress for those who’ve been attacked.

Podcast Graphic

Podcast – Debenhams stores in Kent could close – 26/04/2019

There’s some more bad news for the High Street today – Debenhams has announced plans to close 22 stores, including four in Kent.
Shops in Ashford, Canterbury, Chatham and Folkestone are at risk as the struggling chain’s new owners try to return the company to profitability.
The move could mean the loss of 1,200 jobs across the country.

Podcast Graphic

Podcast – Parents urged to get their children vaccinated amid fears of measles outbreak – 25/04/2019

A GP is urging parents to make sure their sons and daughters are vaccinated against measles, amid warnings that hundreds of thousands of children across the UK are missing out on the injections.Fake news online is being partly blamed for a drop in the number of youngsters getting immunised.Unicef says half-a-million didn’t get the first MMR jab over an 8-year period.Their figures show last year cases of the potentially deadly disease trebled in England to nearly a thousand.Health experts reckon 1,300 children here in Kent are at risk, and catch-up clinics are being offered across the county next month for any who haven’t been vaccinated.
https://www.kentonline.co.uk/