KentOnline

A woman who grabbed a person by the hair during an attack in Primark in Canterbury has avoided being sent to prison. A court was told a dispute broke out in a lift before spilling out onto the shop floor with other customers trying to intervene. Donna Baker - who's 41 and from Plaxton Way in Herne Bay - initially denied an assault charge but changed her plea and has been given a suspended sentence...

A Folkestone doorman says an assault at work has changed his life and left him feeling badly let down by the justice system. Jonathon Proctor suffered serious leg injuries while working at the Old Cigar and Olive in November 2024. Last month, his attacker admitted causing actual bodily harm and was ordered to pay compensation, but Jonathan says he wasn't told about the sentencing hearing. Also in...

People living in part of Sittingbourne fear an area of land they describe as an 'oasis of calm' could be lost to housing developers. Three acres of space in Riddles Road, which used to belong to a school, has been used by the community for around 75 years. However, the owner of the land - which is Kent County Council - have decided to sell it. Also in today's podcast, a Kent mum is campaigning to...

Thousands of teenagers across Kent have been collecting their GCSE results. For the first time, they're being made available on an app too. Nationally, the number of top grades being given out has risen - and the key pass rate has returned to pre-Covid levels. Hear from 16-year-olds at Leigh Academy Ebbsfleet and from the principal of EKC College Broadstairs. Also in today's podcast, the Prime Min...

Villagers impacted by water outages in part of Kent have gathered thousands of plastic bottles to show the environmental impact it's having. Homes in and around Benenden have had low pressure or not water at all since last Thursday. Residents have spelt out HELP US on the local cricket ground. Hear from the landlady of the village pub who came up with the idea. Also in today's podcast, a businessm...

South East Water have apologised to thousands of Kent customers who've been experiencing problems with their water supply. Bosses say they've managed to get taps running again in more than 7,000 properties after issues started on Saturday, but hundreds of homes in Benenden are still experiencing disruption. The company have also revealed some water staff are experiencing abuse as they try to fix p...

The family of a Kent teenager have told KentOnline it wasn't until after her death they realised how much disturbing content she was viewing online. Blake Gallier took her own life in October last year and the 13 year-old's mum and sister have now set up a charity called Blake's Pink Promise. Also in today's episode, a former primary school teacher from Canterbury who was stalked online by a colle...

Dozens of people have been left out of pocket after a swim school run by a former international athlete closed suddenly . All About Swimming Ltd, which operated at pools in Wilmington and Cobham, was run by former Commonwealth Games swimmer Angela Wilson. Also in today's episode, hear from residents who say dust from work on a new development has left them fearing for their health . 300 homes are...

Grieving Kent families fear super-strength synthetic opioids could be responsible for far more deaths than are officially recorded. Some of the drugs, known as nitazenes, are hundreds of times stronger than heroin – you can hear from the partner of one woman who died from substance abuse in Ashford.  Also in today’s podcast, thousands of Kent pupils are discovering their A-level results today - wi...

A Strood woman who was twice the drink-drive limit when she ploughed into a grandmother’s bungalow has been sentenced.  The crash left 84-year-old Jill Robson, who has terminal leukaemia, living in a hotel for six months – you can hear from her about how she felt in court.  Also in today’s podcast, we hear from the experts ahead of tonight’s solar eclipse which will be visible in Kent today.  It’s...

There are plans to reduce the need for Operation Brock on the M20 by turning a long-disused cargo terminal at the Port of Dover into a holding area.  In what could be good news for drivers, Kent County Council says reconfiguring the Eastern Docks will create increased queuing capacity for the equivalent of more than 500 lorries. Also in today’s podcast, d rought has been declared across all of Ken...

Wildfires have broken out in Kent and residents have been experiencing more disruption to their water supply, as we get ready for the fifth heatwave of the summer. A yellow heat health alert is in force across the county, which will be upgraded to amber from 9am Tuesday. In today's episode, hear from a man who witnessed flames spreading towards a farmer's fields on the Isle of Grain and reports of...

Local bosses in Medway have hit back at claims that new town centre flats will be homes for asylum seekers or bought by London councils . Rumours have been circulating around the refurbished Mountbatten House in Chatham which is due for completion later this summer.  Also in today’s podcast, plans to shut fire stations and cut jobs across Kent have been overwhelmingly rejected by councillors. Memb...

Staff at Kent's biggest hospital say they’re having to pick up shifts in pubs following a decision by bosses to raise parking fees by 60 percent. Changes came into force at Medway Maritime at the start of the month – you can hear from a 19-year-old student midwife on how it’s impacted her.  Also in today’s podcast, fire bosses from Kent and Medway are meeting today to discuss plans to make cuts to...

The family of a man left in a coma for more than a decade after being restrained at a party are pleading for answers following his death . Denby Collins was left critically ill after five people held him down after he entered a home in Gillingham 12 years ago – you can hear from his father.  Also in today’s podcast, firefighters from across Kent have staged a noisy protest against proposed cuts to...

​ Two men embroiled in a street fight involving a woman being knocked unconscious and the brandishing of a golf club have had their summer "ruined" by a six-week tagged curfew. A judge told pair, who were on opposing sides of a brawl, that while their friends enjoyed their evenings over the coming days, they would have to stay indoors reflecting on their shameful behaviour. Also in today’s podcast...

An inquest has heard a “charming and determined” teenager tragically fell onto a live railway line and died after a weekend of partying with his friends. The 18-year-old was intoxicated when he got off the train at Strood before stumbling to the exit and falling onto the tracks in March.  Also in today’s podcast, water is being restored to thousands of homes after a burst pipe damaged a large wate...

We're starting today's episode with development news as there are plans to build 115 flats in Sittingbourne - without a single car parking space. An application's been submitted for land off Fountain Street, near the town's railway station. Elsewhere, plans to build a new football stadium and 3,500 homes in north Kent have been rejected. The £40 million development was put forward by Ebbsfleet Uni...

There's been an angry reaction to plans to close down a market in Maidstone. Stall holders currently set up in the Market Hall at Lockmeadow on Tuesdays and Saturdays - but the council's looking for new uses for the site. A dog handler's told the KentOnline podcast that crime gangs are using 'James Bond style concealments' to try and hide illegal cigarettes in shops... It's after more than 58,000...

A Canterbury man's been ordered to do unpaid work and make sure his dog wears a muzzle after it attacked two people, including a police officer. Rottweiler Obie escaped after a delivery driver left a gate open in June last year. Also in today's podcast, a rehab charity in Kent says the number of young people seeking help for ketamine addiction has more than doubled in the past year. The drug is th...

Firefighters have issued advice to try and reduce the number of grass fires in Kent as we're told 300 have broken out since the first heatwave of the year. Stats show 130 of them were in July alone - and 30 were tackled over the past weekend. Smokers are being told not to throw cigarettes out of car windows and there's guidance around disposable barbecues too. It comes as major wildfires continue...

A baby's been taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries after falling from the window of a flat above a shop in Gillingham. Emergency crews were called to Woodlands Road after the little boy landed on the pavement outside a Best-One convenience store just after 6 last night. Hear from our reporter Joe Crossley who has been at the scene. Also in today's podcast, the owner of a convenience st...

A former Kent racecourse could be used to queue holidaymakers if there are major delays at the port of Dover or Eurotunnel. The site at Westenhanger near Hythe has been earmarked by the government as a holding area for up to a thousand tourist vehicles. It's amid fears new checks brought in as part of the European Union's Entry/Exit System could cause disruption this summer - and this weekend coul...

A man has been taken to a London hospital with stab wounds following reports of an attack in Maidstone. Police and paramedics were called to Brenchley Gardens in the town centre yesterday evening. Also in today's episode, a Kent man has been telling us how he spent 19 hours in his wheelchair in a hospital reception after his patient transport failed to materialise. Kevin Taylor from Sheppey had an...

Footage has revealed the moment an off-duty police officer pulled a woman's head towards the ground by her hair at a nightclub in Canterbury. PC Thomas Odell, 30, from Allhallows Road in Lower Stoke, lost his job following the assault outside the Cuban in February. Also in today's episode, the KentOnline Podcast has been told as many as 150 children in Swale could be without a secondary school pla...