A woman's revealed she felt 'physically sick' after being told her abusive ex-boyfriend from Tonbridge is being released early from prison.
32-year-old warehouse worker Jack Poore from Hadlow was jailed for 35 months last year - but is due out as part of government plans to free-up space in jails.
Natasha Brine has moved away from the county, but has been telling reporter Liane Castle how victim's aren't being considered.
Also in today's podcast, a Kent MP says she feels ashamed of her party after plans to cut winter fuel payments passed through Parliament.
Only the poorest pensioners will now get the support.
A man who grows produce for a foodbank in Dover has told the podcast how half of it has failed - because of a problem with the water supply at his allotment.
A solar-powered well was installed at the site on Folkestone Road - but plot owners say they're not getting enough supplies when it's cloudy.
The people in charge of fundraising for the air ambulance covering Kent have told us there's still a misconception that it's paid for by the NHS.
This week is all about raising awareness of what they do.
There are calls for a creek near Sittingbourne to be cleaned up in a bid to stop a smell wafting into the town centre...
It's claimed pollution is getting into Milton Creek where there are plans for redevelopment.
A retired teacher who's suffered three separate brain injuries says it's inspired him to try and help others.
Phillip Lisgarten has done various fundraising activities - including a Lands End to John O' Groats bike ride and a running marathon.
Our reporter Alex Langridge has been chatting to the 70-year-old , his wife Judith and daughter Rebekah.
On Wednesday, the 11th of September, hope you're OK. Now, you may have heard that some prisoners are being released early to free up space in our jails. 1750 inmates are being freed this week. The Justice Secretary says the government simply has no choice. Without action, we've been told that the courts just wouldn't be able to lock people up. Well, I'm joined now by reporter Leanne Castle, who's been speaking to the victim of a man who's being released early. Leanne, thanks for being on the podcast today. Natasha Bryan got in touch with you, did she? Why is she so worried? So Natasha was the victim of a campaign of harassment and abuse from her ex-boyfriend, Jack Paul. Just some of the things he did. She threatened to slit her throat and petrol bomb her home, which has left her in constant fear for her and her children's safety. He was looked up in December last year and since then, Natasha has completely uprooted her life. So the news of his early release has understandably caused her quite a lot of distress. And what sentence was given to her ex, Leanne? Jack Paul of Hope Avenue in Hadlow was sentenced to 34 months and three weeks in prison after admitting a charge of harassment as well as breaches in a normalization order, a straining order and a suspended sentence order. He also has a previous conviction for assaulting Natasha too. Now, the government have set out exactly who can be released. Can you just detail that for us? So, Paul is among 5,500 offenders who will benefit from the government's early release scheme. The first 1,700 walked free yesterday. Allegible inmates must have served at least 40% of their sentence rather than the standard 50%, which is what it would usually be. Officials say those convicted of domestic abuse-connected crimes would not be included in the plans. So understandably, it does beg the question as to why Paul has been included. This must be very confusing for Natasha. It is very confusing. So Natasha says she is outraged and upset by this, considering everything she's been through. Paul has previously breached two restraining orders and was charged with assault by battery and harassment. So on paper, you would think he wouldn't qualify for this early release scheme based on the government's own guidance. But it is quite a complicated scheme, which means there will be reasons as to why he has been included, which might not seem obvious to us. And do you have any further comment from the Ministry of Justice? We put everything to the Ministry of Justice to see if they could explain a bit more about exactly what's happened here, but they have said they can't comment on individual cases. Leanne, thank you ever so much for being on the episode, and we do thank Natasha as well for sharing her concerns. Kent Online News The death of a soldier whose body was found in the River Medway after a night out with friends has been ruled as an accident. Charlie Seywell was last seen walking through Chatham Town Centre in the early hours of March 5th. It's believed he also got into an argument with the driver of an unidentified car, an inquest has found there's no evidence a third party was involved in his death, a man who's accused of murdering a woman in Darford is set to appear at Maidstone Crown Court today. 39-year-old Nina Denisova was found with stab wounds at a property on Henderson Drive last month, and Esca Justka, who's 20 and from the same road is expected to enter his plea later. A downbridge man, who claimed his car had been stolen after being involved in a fatal hit and run, has been sent to prison for less than a year. Terry Gruber knocked down Anthony Gower as he walked his dog on Pembury Road in August 2020, then abandoned his vehicle at a nearby sports crowd. The 41-year-old, who was living on the high street at the time, has been given a two-year driving ban. Kent MP says she feels ashamed of her party after plans to cut winter fuel payments passed through Parliament. Only the poorest pensioners will now get the support. Kent-Abree's Rosie Duffield was one of more than 50 Labour reps, who abstained from the vote yesterday. "I've sat opposite the Tories for seven years. Behind my colleagues, like his dharma, and we've called for an end to austerity, an end to benefits caps, an end to cronyism, an end to privatisation, and our slogan for the general election campaign has changed. It's starting to sound a lot as though our slogan should have been the same because we're doing the things that we fought against for so long. And I can't, in all good conscience, vote to make people poorer. The kind of letters I'm getting that are the most heart-wrenching of people whose parents are suffering, people whose parents have got long-term or terminal illnesses, who've been told they have to keep warm, who aren't necessarily looking after themselves because they're so worried about the bills." Staying with politics news and Tumbra Gen P. Tom Thuggenhard is through to the final four of the Conservative party leadership race, Mel Stride was knocked out in the latest round of voting, and Robert Genric looks set to remain favourite. The remaining candidates will all get to speak at the Tory party conference later this month. Kent Online Reports A mum whose son died in a crash in Broadstairs says more needs to be done to improve safety. A 18-year-old Ethan Entwistle was a passenger in a car that collided with a tree on Dunpton Park Drive near Broadstairs last October. Almost 2,000 people signed a petition calling for traffic calming measures, but a transport board has said they'll continue to monitor the stretch. Police are searching for a man after a woman was bitten by an out-of-control dog on a train between Chatham and Bromley South. It happened at around 6pm on Monday. The victim was bitten on the thigh and suffered cuts to her skin with bleeding and bruising. We've shared a picture of the man via our socials. A man who grows produce for a food bank in Dover has told the podcast today how half of it has failed because of a problem with the water supply at his allotment. A solar-powered well was installed at the site on Folkestone Road, but plot owners say they're simply not getting enough supplies when it's cloudy. David Lewis has been speaking to reporter Sam Lennon. We haven't had anywhere near the amount of water. The system, when it went in, we weren't consulted. They've said repeatedly that they've given this consultation. The first anything anyone knew about it was when it was going in. Then when it went in and it didn't work properly, the emails just got responded to with despondence. Eventually they did turn it on last year, but that's only because we'd already prepaid the water bill. This year they didn't charge us anything. Where has this done to your plants and crops? I've lost, I grow food banking over country. The sunrise cap. I'm probably down about 50% of the quantity that I normally, the amount I harvest is down about 50%. Simply because I've had seedlings die, because seedlings can only take a certain type of water and they need a lot of water. When you're growing less, the way I grow it, you need to water them constantly, or you would need to give them enough water so that they don't go at seed, because if it goes too dry, they go at seed. That's what all of my lettuce has done, even though hardly beat them because they didn't get enough water. Now the town council installed the borehole pump, because they say it's more eco-friendly. It's supposed to provide at least 6,000 litres a day, but gardeners say the pressure is too low. Councillor Graham Wanstall is supporting them. My principal concern as an elective member is the lack of consultation with the allotment holders and with myself as an elective member or a ward elective member. I knew nothing about their petition until they told me about it. I had no information from our office whatsoever, and I'm at a loss to understand why there are problems that have been now identified for many, many months have not been resolved. These people do an important amount of work growing local food for local people. They're dedicated, they work hard, and we should be supporting them and encouraging them and helping them. I see this. My concern is this dogma about self-sufficiency, we need common sense. If this scheme isn't working properly, they obviously should have mains water, and the installer should have been pulled out to rectify it. I sincerely hope they are successful in achieving urgent remedial action, and I support them very strongly. A petition has been sent to the Dover Town Council calling for improved water supplies during the food-crowing season. The authority says the pilot borehole system will eventually be rolled out to other allotments and is sufficient if used properly. Allotment holders are also being encouraged to collect rainwater. A care assistant from Gravesend has appeared in court, accused of stealing more than £4,000 from a bed-bound woman. Lisa York was charged by police after cash went missing from the victim's bank account between September 2021 and December the following year. The 53-year-old from Roehampton Close has admitted stealing £1,000, but denies taking the rest. She's due back in court next April. The kayak has been rescued after a huge search operation in the seat near Folkestone. The Coast Guard helicopter was called to an area close to the harbour arm yesterday morning. The person was winched to safety and looked after it by paramedics. The people in charge of fundraising for the air ambulance covering Kent have told us there's still a misconception that is paid for by the NHS. This week is all about raising awareness of what they do. The charity says a lot of people think they're supported by the government, but instead they rely on the huge generosity of the Kent community. I've been speaking to Helen Porsane, who's head of public fundraising at Air Ambulance Kent Sussex and Summer. I think a lot of people think that we are part of the NHS, but we are absolutely an independent charity that relies wholeheartedly on the community to ensure that we can be there for those most in need. And of course, playing such a vital, life-saving role, would you mind just giving us some of the facts and figures in as to how much it does cost to keep the ambulance flying over the county? Of course, so it's just over £51,000 a day to keep our life-saving service running, which equates to about £18.8 million a year, and 88% of that is given to us by the community and to ensure that we can be there 24/7, 365 days a year. What is a staggering amount, isn't it, really, when you think about it? Is that quite daunting at the start of every financial year when you think this is how much money we've got to raise? Yes, it is when you see everything like the dials turn back to zero, and you know that you've got to raise money. But as I said, the community across Kent Science Sussex are incredible and support us very, very generously. So it's just more a question of raising awareness and making sure that we're constantly spreading the word, that we are a charity that no one ever knows when they might need us. So it's really, really important we get that out there so that more people can come on board and feel that they want to support us. Also hearing from people who've benefited and the families who've benefited from the air ambulance must be lovely for you, but also it does get across that message as to how vitally important it is, doesn't it? It is. It's absolutely awe-inspiring when you hear from former patients, their families and bereaved families too that have been part of our KSS journey. It makes me as a fundraiser want to get out of bed and I know the same goes across for all my colleagues. It really does inspire us and really touches us when we really hear just how much our support out there is needed by people and recognised. They've started the Today's Support at Tomorrow's Life Saver campaign to encourage more people to donate last year. They're responded to more than 3,300 call-outs. Kent Online News The MP for Maidstone and Moreling is among those objecting to plans to build more than 150 homes in East Moreling. An application has been submitted to develop the Agricultural Land of Clare Lane. Helen Grant says she's committed to fighting over development. There are calls for a creek near Sittingborne to be cleaned up and a bit to stop a smell wafting into the town centre. It's claimed pollution is getting into Milton Creek where there are plans for redevelopment. It's been suggested a new pipe is built to take wastewater away from the area. Jerry Lily lives nearby and has been speaking to reporter Joe Crossley. With the server just charging it water, it needs to go further down the creek and I would have to say down as far as the motorway crossing. Why should all this water come up the creek when over the island shephery if they discharge the water straight on the bench and it washes away? Here we've got several miles of it and there it is it just laid down and so I say discharge this water down at the motorway and you could put it a half-tied flap. Now of those who haven't seen it, you've got such one of these, what it is that half-tied flap up that obtains water and I've visualised that we put an half-tied flap down just upstream of where the final discharging point of the sewer works would be, that then it could be an half-tied flap and it could be torn off the depths of water at all times up the creek which would be all the fresh water because that would be there and the sewer works would shut down. Now that makes sense to me, not sewer work, but fresh water. Now in addition to that it could do two valves either side of the half-tied flap. That can be used then as to wash the silt down the other side back down to the creek. There's a lot of plans for development around this part of the weld as well. You kind of want to see basically this place that will document to go alongside this development that's going to come to the area. Upstream there is talk of some blocks of flats and there you would see on the other side in the creek at least a meter deep of mud. This seems to not talk about the flats but no one seems to say anything about the mud. Nobody seems to know where it's going to go and yet they're still talking about cappies. I'm sure no one's going to want to sit at a cappie with mud there covered with sewage. We have been in touch with southern water and ask them for a comment. Elsewhere there are plans to transform a disused office block in Folkestone into 27 flats. Plans for Queen's House above the Balmache store in the town centre were approved in 2018 but works stopped last year. Now a construction company boss whose son died after being knocked down in the town last December has bought the building and says he'll name it in memory of William Brown. A retired teacher who suffered three separate brain injuries says it's inspired him to try and help others. Philip Liskartan has done various fundraising events including a land center, John O'Grote's bike ride and running marathon. Our reporter Alex Langerich has been chatting to the 70-year-old his wife Judith and daughter Rebecca. They start by telling us about the first accident back in 1979 when Philip had just finished his master's degree in astrophysics. Well, my wife is expecting her youngest due to be born in December. Yeah, first. Her eldest. Well, youngest at the time. This was 31st August by June, December. She was upstairs having a rest. I thought I'd just finished the decorating off. There's one little band of led strip under the window in the middle floor. It was a townhouse. And at some stage I must have broken the window, the stay of the house the window closed. I must have broken that, topped it out of the window and landed on my head. But that was on a car which sort of probably helped because it was a metre higher than the road I would have. It had a complete personality change at the beginning. And the problem was in those days they didn't do scans immediately and it wasn't for a week till they realised that a clock was forming. So at the end of a whole week, they then removed the clock and a lot of damage was done. So it damaged his front lobe and his left temporal lobe. And for months and months he was completely different, really self-centred, really horrible, really hard work. And it was just dire and then the baby was born. And it wasn't until six weeks before the baby came that he even remembered it was his baby. Yes, June has kind of visited me. I said, "Oh, and I'll pray for this lady who'd come having a baby." Didn't notice my wife and my baby or anything which was a bit upsetting for you when she went. Yeah, it was the personality change coupled with a new baby and coupled with that time that was the year headway. The organisation's head injury was formed and there was no support. We didn't have the internet, we couldn't find out what was going on and I didn't understand the damage head injury drugs. And so I was completely on my own. 2005 he had the second head injury. He was still insistent on, I mean, I described Phillip as, and it's not been moved, it's a cross between Rain Man, Forrest Dump and Mr. Bean, he's really determined and he would not stop cycling. And he went out on his bike, even though none of us wanted him to, and he had a seizure because his brain for some reason started to deteriorate, they don't know why, and he started seizures in 2004. And then he had a seizure on his bike, fell on the right-hand side and damaged the right-hand side of his brain and got double vision. And so that was number two, and then when I was 17, 2011 he then got hit by a car whilst up cycling. I was going to see my mum in hospital and there's a steep hill coming down to the medway town, so he strode just before we get to Roger the bridge. And coming up for the cross road bed at the bottom, the lights were green, but a woman thought her wife was green and came up. Literally I saw her come from beyond the van, but this block was up. I'm going to hit her because the metal safety rail to the right, so you can't grab her on the parlor. I got hit, flipped up, must be up, I'm conscious running a little bit, but later on I thought, hang on, I don't remember that bit. And then someone was there, I said, oh, excuse me, can you get, saw something on my back, you get a phone at my rucksack that I'm lying on. And then I rang you to bring my wife, which is a bit over the phone for one day. And now the woman rang me and she said, your husband's in the road, he's all right, we're waiting. And he's talking. But that was the helmet. They hit the helmet really. The helmet is like, yeah. An incredible story. His latest mission was to walk 70 kilometres in a single day to raise awareness and money for human trafficking charity. Stop at the traffic. A puppy that was found dumped in a plastic bag in North Fleet has found a new home, a terrier called Wally. It was starved and flea ridden when he was discovered in the Wallace Park area. Well, he's been treated for a skin condition and is now settling in with his new owner. And finally, if you follow us on socials, you can see pictures of a replica of an historic Spanish ship that's docked in Kent. The galleon Andalusia is based on vessels which sailed between the 16th and 18th centuries. It's a floating museum which allows guests to explore its five decks. And it's more at Gravesend town pier until September 22nd. Ken's online sports cricket and Ken's that corona has been recalled to the England squad for next month's tour of Pakistan. The 26 year old missed the recent series against Sri Lanka after fracturing his finger. England captain Ben Stokes is also included as he continues his recovery from hamstring tear. But that's all from us for today. Thanks ever so much for listening. Don't forget you can of course follow us on Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok and threads. You can also get details on the top stories, direct to your email each morning via the briefing. You need to sign up to that and to do it, you just head to kentonline.co.uk news you can trust. This is the Kent online podcast. (dramatic music)
