A Folkestone teenager has died after falling onto a railway line during a night out.
Tom Watson, who was 18, had been out with friends last Thursday and is understood to have accidentally fallen onto the tracks at Canterbury East Station.
Also in today's podcast, £6 million pound plans to build a new sea cadets base on Sheppey have been scrapped.
Bosses at the site in Minster had been hoping to demolish their current buildings and replace them with two new blocks. Reporter Joe Crossley has been along to have a look.
A Kent wildlife charity has joined forces with specialists in Surrey to get an MRI scan for a brown bear who's been suffering seizures .
The Wildwood Trust have been looking after Boki at their wildlife park near Canterbury and say he's loved by everyone for his cheeky antics. They've been explaining how the procedure was done.
We've got an incredible story of courage and determination as a blind veteran from Ramsgate prepares to compete in the Dartford half marathon this weekend.
Paul Jacobs was injured while serving in Afghanistan when he was just 20. He's been speaking to Lucy Hickmott about preparing for Sunday's race.
A Maidstone art trail that's been delighting families through the summer holidays is coming to an end this weekend.
More than 100 Shaun the Sheep sculptures have been scattered through the town to raise money for the Heart of Kent Hospice and will all be under one roof for the next few days.
Sam Lawrie's got a round-up of everything else going on in Kent this weekend.
In sport, Gillingham prepare to host Tranmere Rovers at Priestfield in league two this weekend.
The home side will be looking to bounce back from last Saturday's defeat to Doncaster Rovers.
Kent Online News. News you can trust. This is the Kent Online Podcast. Nicola Everett. Hello. Hope you're okay. Thanks ever so much for downloading today's podcast on Friday September the 13th coming up. Why a bear at a Kent wild animal park has had an MRI scan. He's been on medication for some time now. Which has certainly been helping him a lot but we are concerned that they could just be masking a bigger issue. A look ahead to Jillingham's game this weekend. They're an unbeaten side. They're in a nice position in the league. They had last week off because of international. So it would be nice and fresh going into this and a guide to everything going on in Kent over the next couple of days. But first, a tragic top story to start today's podcast of folks and teenager has died after falling onto a railway line during a night out. Lucy joins me now with more on this Lucy. Terrible thing to have happened. Can you tell us a bit more about where Tom Watson was found. Yes, the 18 year old had been out with friends last Thursday and he's understood to have accidentally fallen onto the tracks at Canterbury East Station. British transport police were called just before 930 the following morning after the discovery of his body. Tom's family have made it clear he had no intention of taking his life. And this was a tragic accident and his parents have pay tribute to their son. That's right. Candy and Ted have described Tom as larger than life and the life and soul of the party. They've also described his death as ripping an unfillable hole in their hearts. Tell us a bit more about Tom Lucy? Well, he used to go to folks in Academy and was about to start an English degree at the Union of Lincoln. He'd hoped to become a secondary school teacher but was also a keen actor, singer and musician and was passionate about radio. He was a presenter on a community station called Academy FM when he was a student and helped them gain the school radio station of the Year Award in 2019. And finally, can you let us know about what's planned for this weekend? There'll be a vigil for Tom in Dane John Gardens in Canterbury on Saturday. Anyone who goes along is being urged to wear pink purple and bright colours. A GoFundMe has also been set up in his memory to raise money for De Mel's Children's Hospice. Lucy, thank you ever so much. Our thoughts are very much with all of Tom's friends and family. Kent Online News. Some crime news next and police investigating a suspected drugs network in East Kent have arrested seven people. Class A substances, cash and weapons, including two imitation guns and a knuckle dust, were seized during raids in Dover, Deal, Ramsgate, Chatham and Dimchurch. Four men, two 17-year-old boys and a woman are being questioned. Four people have been arrested and seven cars seized during a police investigation at the Port of Dover. Officers from Kent have been working with colleagues in Thames Valley and Sussex to check for stolen, plant and farm machinery. More than 650 cars, fans and motor homes were stopped and checked over four days. A Swanley man has been sent to prison after trying to damage windows at a Kent police station. Joseph Clark admitted to throwing a rock at the premises in Sittingborne last Friday. The 51-year-old from Dixon Court was also found to be in breach of a conditional discharge. He's been locked up for 10 weeks. Police investigating attempts to break into a bike shed near lay one lakes of arrested three suspects. Balaclava's and an angle grinder were also seized in the early hours of last Saturday. A 16-year-old boy and two men aged 19 and 21 have been bailed. Now, next today, six million-pound plans to build a new sea cadet space on Shepey have been scrapped. Bosses at the site in minster had been hoping to demolish their current buildings and replace them with two brand new blocks. But they weren't able to raise enough money after costs went up. So a reefer is being done instead with our reporter, Joe Crosley has been along to have a look. And he's been speaking to David Brown, who's on the Shepey cadets committee. Yes, the idea was to provide better classrooms for the cadets insulated to make it a bit warmer in the winter for them. And we've reconfigured three classrooms here and the simulator room, which is next door. And as you can see, they've all been lined and the electricians are in at the moment just finishing off all the electric for us. We had a plan to rebuild the unit in its entirety, but unfortunately that didn't come to fruition. We had COVID, the cost of the project went through the roof, and so it decided to renovate the existing buildings rather than go ahead with a new design. And as it's turned out, it's working very well. Just talk to me a little bit about what she's going to do, as well, for someone who maybe hasn't heard of her. Okay. Well, C cadets, obviously the background is for Navy, for the Royal Navy, and we encouraged them in boat work, sailing, but they also do Duke of Edinburgh and a number of other activities. First aid, for instance, and chart work, pilotage, all to do with the C, but they also do other things as well. We're continuing to renovate the unit, and this building is due to be cladded, so it will make it even warmer. And a number of other buildings, we're looking at refurbishing. And yeah, what's this space? Kent online reports, a Canterbury dad is calling for changes to the bus timetable after new rules, forced his daughter's school to push back home time. But a man of school now finishes 10 minutes later to meet the minimum school hours required by the government, many students often miss the last bus of the day. Well, one man says his 12 year old has been forced to walk into town and wait 45 minutes alone to catch a different service. Stagecoach say they are looking into making adjustments. Dozens of businesses have signed a letter urging the government to approve the low attempts crossing the road link from the East of Graves Centre Essex has been in the planning for the past decade and is designed to ease congestion at the current bridge and tunnels. Well, we're due to hear in October, if the project will go ahead or not following a review by Labour ahead of their first budget in power. Plans have emerged for more than 600 homes near a football ground in Ashford. Developers want to build on a 102 acre site, not far from Homeland Stadium. A formal application hasn't been put in just yet, but it's understood it would include a mix of one to five bedroom homes if approved. Now, a Kent wildlife charity has joined forces with specialists over in Surrey to get an MRI scan for a brown bear who's been suffering seizures. The Wildwood Trust have been looking after Bockie at their wildlife park near Canterbury and say he's loved by everyone for his cheeky antics. First up, let's hear from Mark Haben, who's the director of operations at Wildwood Trust. Many of you will know he's undergone a number of seizures that we really trying to investigate and find out what's going on. He's been on medication for some time now, which has certainly been helping him a lot, but we are concerned that they could just be masking a bigger issue. So the team here have very kindly agreed to conduct the MRI scan. They've brought in a neurologist to interpret what's being seen. Our vet team, Elliot from the IZ-VG, is here as well, accompanying Bockie. And the real plan is to try and find out exactly what's going on and work out a longer-term plan of care for Bockie. Well, Bockie weighs in at 115 kilos, so getting him sedated into a van and then to the scanning facilities did require a dedicated team. Bockie Copeland is in charge of animal training. So we did quite a lot of work ahead of today just to make sure he is as calm as possible and he understands the processes that we're doing. So it started with a lot of getting him into the crate, giving him nice reinforcements in there, showing him it's a nice positive environment for him. From there we built up trying to get a nice leg position because we knew that on the day we're going to have to give him his sedative, give him a hand injection, ideally, because that's the most positive way of doing it, nice and calm. So we got him presenting his leg and getting used to someone touching his leg as well, so that when we got to the day it was nice and normal. But because we were going to have lots of distractions, he had travel time, all of that stuff we also had a backup. So we also worked on him turning around in the crate and presenting his back end to the mesh as well, so we had two different options. And as it turned out, second option is one we went with today because it was just a bit easier for him, less for him to think about, and it had a great deal of reinforcement history with it, so it was quite a good way to do it. Yeah, it's been quite difficult. He's such a lively character and just normally full of energy and just such an individual bear that seeing him less than himself and a bit slower and just going through some stuff, it's been quite difficult, so getting to today has been really great, we'll get some answers and we know what's going on with him. Although we're still waiting for the results, his keepers say Bocki has enjoyed all of the extra attention. John Ford is also part of the team that moved Bocki to the scanning centre in Sussex. So it's actually gone really, really well. Everything's gone quite smoothly. We got him loaded well, got him sedated really, really quickly, really efficiently. He went to sleep quite quickly as well, which is always really settling. When you're doing things like this, it's always quite a big bonus. So yeah, today, everything's gone really well. I'm probably a bit nervous to tell you the truth, because obviously we're very attached to him. He's loved by everyone, for good reason. So a little bit nervous about that, but everyone here is really professional, the guys are doing a great job. Yeah, hopefully we get good news back. We will of course try and keep you updated on Bocki's progress. Ken's online reports. If you follow Kent online on socials or head to the website, you can see what could be built on the site of a former shopping complex in Chatham. The Trafalgar Centre on the High Street has now been demolished. An outline planning application for more than 100 flats, co-working in office space and arts studios were approved two years ago. Now, designs of what it will look like have been submitted. Ancient gold coins discovered by a metal detectorist in Kent are expected to sell for around £20,000 at auction. 35 coins run earth dinner field in Lenham two years ago. The gold dates back to 55 BC and will go under the hammer next week. And an incredible story of courage and determination next as a blind veteran from Ramsgate prepares to compete in the dark at half marathon this weekend. Paul Jacobs was injured while serving in Afghanistan when he was just 20. On Sunday, he will be running with a guide to raise money for Diagrama and not-for-profit adoption and fostering agency. When Lucy's been chatting to Paul, who started by telling us about how he lost his site. Back in 2009, I was serving with a British army in Afghanistan and unfortunately on this particular patrol, two of my pals comrades was unfortunately killed and I lost my site completely. So 15 years ago, we are where we are today and I'm going to be doing the half marathon on Sunday. Such a devastating thing to happen. I mean, I'm sure most people couldn't even imagine going through something like that. How did you adjust to life when you came back home and life without your site? It was difficult, but growing up in the system as a foster child, it was the community. It was your friends and family that embraced you, bringing you back into the breast of the fold. The community teaches you how to walk and talk and it's that great word love that gives you the courage and especially the fact that I'm from Ramsgate and there's all that courage from Dunkirk and the Dunkirk spirit that's been installed in me from one of my previous foster carers. Marion, she's fantastic, she's in her 80s now, so yeah. And have you always been interested in sport and running or is that something you've gotten to more recently? Not really. I've done a little bit of boxing moving around when I was in Ramsgate as a kiddie before joining the army. And then once I've become injured I've climbed mountains such as your kiddie menjaros, every space camp I've done, your marathons or triathlons, you know, the list goes on really. And what's it like training with a guide? It's, you have to have complete faith on putting my whole, my whole body into that person in this. I literally got my hand on their elbow and were running along and was whizzing along at five mile a kilometer. You know, it could be the slightest little pothole and he's got to avoid that or she's got to avoid that if they're guided me. So it's, there's a lot of respect between us. I've got to have a hundred percent faith that he or her eyes are everywhere looking for me so I don't trip over. So they have to be, if I'm fit, then they have to be a lot fitter. If that makes sense because not only they're running but they're talking me through what's happening as well. Left, right, pothole, up a curb, down a curb, etc. And how does it work with training for the big day? Do you kind of spend a lot of time in the weeks beforehand running together? Do you have to sort out your stride pattern and your arm movements and things like that? I guess there's a bit of both, yeah. A lot of treadmill. Lots of, yeah, getting out on the street and like you just said there, you know, some, some people like to work with a tether which is like a, if you, your audience can imagine a physio band, the guide will have that and I'll add the other end of, of the band and we'll run together or we might use a button, something that's a bit firmer or I might have the elbow. So it depends on the terrain as well. So if it's flat, I'll probably just have a, like a physio's band, what they call a tether. But if it's like climbing then I'll probably just take the elbow. All the very best of all and everyone else who's taking part in the Dartford half on Sunday. Kent Online News. A made stone art trail that's been delighting families throughout the summer holidays is coming to an end this weekend. More than 100 Sean the sheep sculptures have been scattered around made stone to raise money for the heart of Kent hospice. Well, they've all been collected and will go on display under one roof. Kate's been chatting to Anne Marie Kelly, who's from the charity. These art trails are amazing for art of Kent hospice. We have had so many messages from members of the public and the local community. Thanking us for putting the Sean trail on. It's been phenomenal to see people out on the streets, enjoying the trail, discovering made stone and learning more about the hospice. And in particular, we had 57 schools and community groups this time take part in the trail and learning from those groups about how much they have learned about the hospice, what we do and that the role we play in the local community, supporting potentially ill people, is really important to us. From a visitor perspective, we've had over 10,500 people download the app, which is absolutely incredible. And over 16,000 times, the sculptures were unlocked on the app. So a full evaluation is still to be completed, but we are confident that there will have been hundreds of thousands of people that have come to made stone this summer to see the trail. Now, it's not gone completely smoothly. Sadly, there was a little bit of vandalism to two of the sculptures. I understand that through fundraising efforts, you have been able to raise the money that they would have generated adoption. Is that right? Yeah, we were so disappointed when two of the sculptures were vandalized very close to the end of the trail to really special sculptures. I think there's a lot of people around the world who have been able to share and share with each other. And there's a lot of people who have been able to share and share with each other and share with each other. And there's a lot of people who have been able to share and share with each other. And there has been an incredible level of support for the local community, people who have set up their own fundraising pages, people who made donations directly to the hospice, and in particular businesses that have come forward and often to make donations to over £10,000, which is the amount of money that we had hoped these sculptures would generate from the auction. But of course, that means that there are still people that maybe didn't manage to see those sculptures on the trail and who missed out on the opportunity to do so. We are working as hard as we can to see if there's any type of recovery that we can give to Shiki Sean. And unfortunately, Cherry was just vandalized beyond repair. And what can you tell me about the auction? So, after the farewell weekend, it will be the last opportunity that everybody will have to see all of the sculptures together in public. Following that, on the 26th of September, we have a very exciting auction, it will take place at Getting Showground. If anybody is interested in bidding for one of the sculptures to take it home and provide it with their forever home, then they should get in touch with the Sean team and Sean@hokh.co.uk or fill in an expression of interest form on the Sean website, and we can provide more information about Sean, the Sean auction. It's being hosted by Kieben Simlander property auctioneers, who we're incredibly grateful to have the support of, and we are aiming to raise over £250,000 on the night. That means that we need each sculpture to sell for an average of £5,000 each. And we have had an incredible level of interest in buying Sean's from the day that the trail launched. It's hugely hopeful that people will support the hospice, get behind their favourite Sean, and provide us with a really fitting celebration for the end of the trail, which will raise a lot of money for the hospice. Dover's Roman painted houses set to reopen to the public this weekend. It comes as essential maintenance work are nearly finished, which have included new electrics, new lighting, structural repairs and new fire escape. It was first excavated in the 1970s and is more than 1800 years old, but has been closed since 2022. And a film starring Kent's Gemma Arterton is out in cinemas today, the actress grew up in Gravesend, and later studied performing arts at the North West Kent College in Darford. She plays a struggling actress in The Critic, which also stars Surya McKellen as a powerful London theatre critic. And now with more on what's going on in Kent this weekend, here's Sam Laurie. Someone might be all about the music, but for me Autumn is all about those cozy trips to the theatre. So to kick off this weekend, I've got some mustsy shows for you, starting with Greece, a Canterbury's Marlowe Theatre that's showing until Saturday night. It's a musical we all know and love, and now you can see Denny, Sandy and the rest of the tea birds and pink ladies strut their stuff on stage. It's got all the classic songs, dance routines and costumes that we grew up with, plus a few new touches that give the live show a unique twist. Also running until Saturday night is The Thrilling Murder Mystery Cluedo 2, which stars Strictly Champion Ellie Leach. The fun edge of your seat thriller is at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley, and there are still some tickets left. You can also catch some comedy this week, as former Mock the Week regular Andy Parsons is at the Catholic Theatre in Maidstone, with his latest stand-up show bafflingly optimistic on Saturday evening. And if you want something to look forward to next week, chat show host Graham Norton will be sharing stories from his showbiz sofa and discussing his new novel, Frankie, at least Cliff Hall and Folkston on Tuesday. Now for those who have an arty streak, the Autumn Craft Fair returns to Heaver Castle all weekend. The fair will be at the Historic Castle until Sunday, with some against expert craftmakers and artists who are selling their fantastic pieces and giving lots of fascinating demonstrations across the weekend. Finally, I can't talk about this weekend without mentioning two of the county's biggest festivals. First, it's salute to the 40s Medway's biggest retro festival that returns on Saturday and Sunday. The event, hosted at the historic Dockyard in Chatham, brings together jive bands, swing dancers, military vehicles, guided tours and wartime experiences, like the air raid shelter and stories from the Blitz. And this weekend also sees the return of the Witzdable Rocks Oyster Festival, a much-loved food drink and music festival that celebrates the town's fishing industry. There's lots of traditional seaside activities, such as the landing and blessing of the oysters, the muddy tug of war and the big splash swim, as well as bands and DJs in the grading shed, and of course fresh oysters and seafood to sample from Witzdables restaurants and the pop-up stalls. That's about it for this weekend, but there's plenty going on, so whether it's theatre, music or festivals, I'm sure you can find something that will keep the whole family happy. Ken's online. Sports. The ball first up and congratulations to Gilligan Boss Mark Bonner, who's won the League Two Manager of the Month Award for August. He only took over at the club in the summer and the Jules went unbeaten in their first four games of the season, picking up 10 points. The manager says he's proud on behalf of the whole team. Well, let's hear from the boss now as the Jules prepare to host Trammere Rovers at Priestfield in League Two this weekend. The home side will be looking to bounce back from last Saturday's defeat to Doncaster Rovers, while the opposition remain unbeaten. The manager has been speaking to our reporter, Luke Cordell. Obviously, they didn't play last week, but they're in a nice position, but I think that's the thing, isn't it? You look at the League Table, it's in terms of a number of points at the top half, as you throw a blanket over everybody, really. In one weekend or two games consecutively, the table can change really quickly, and it is stupidly early days, really, for everybody. So, they've had a nice start to the season. They'll want to maintain that. They'll want to come here and get a positive result. We want to win the game. It's the early stages where everyone's just trying to win every game without huge consequences in the sense of league table positions and distance between. But there is no pattern to that yet. It was so early on in the season. It's just a cue to relate as many points as you can, a bit of a relentless pursuit for as many points as you can get in the first couple of months. So, yeah, they'll want to do it. They'll want to do it. Should make for a good game. Do you expect there to be a tough knot of cracks if the opponent can't see if it won't go on those four games? That's a very good defense that we've got. Yeah, they have been, absolutely. So, that will create a demand on us at times to be patient, but above all to be good. When we get to the top end of the pitch, we've got to be brave and confident to finish attacks. We've got to bring quality and good decisions to the moments that come our way. We have to be clinical when the moments come. We have to sustain attacks and be aggressive to keep the game in the top end of the pitch as long as we can in certain situations. So, I think that just creates a challenge for everybody. And being overly patient probably means that you're not creating much action in their box and we need more action in and around their penalty area. And that's what we've got to try and bring at the weekend. As the opposite end, we've got Omari Patrick. He's got all through it. He's got an easy one to pick out as a one to walk as well. Yeah, I think he stats speak for himself in the early part. I mean, I've obviously got other good players that can cause you a problem, but he's had a really good start to the season. A bit like Molinu last week who had raced off the charts with Doncaster. They're statistics straight away just tell you they're a player that needs to watch him and he's looking after. We know his qualities played in the league for a while now. So, we're aware of him and we have to defend well against him, but it will be everybody's thing because usually he's scoring a goal off of someone else's good play in the build up as well. So, we've got to have an eye about him, but overall the team dynamic of how the defend will be really important. Overall, the biggest thing for us is how good can we be with the ball? When he went forwards, Elliot never started. I think he was giving his break in the league and trying to make a bit of extra incentive for him to get to the level. No, no, no. He's just desperate to play full stop, so I don't think who he's playing against Matt as too much to him. He's just desperate to get going and get his rhythm back and find his scoring form and all those things. So, he's had a good week's training actually. It's been good for him, been good for Josh Andrews. Some of those boys that have maybe missed a little bit to our full training week probably really helps them at the moment. They've got the same again next week, which is good. Some are just in a bit of a delayed pre-season phase really. So, hopefully that really helps them, but he's looking forward to the game and other. And finally, in cricket, Kent have managed to salvage a draw in their county championship match against Hampshire. They finished their second innings on 338 at Canterbury. The visitors only managed 24 for one in reply before bad light ended the game. And that's all from us for today. Thanks ever so much for listening. Don't forget, you can follow us on Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok and threads. You can also get details on the top stories, direct your email each morning via the briefing to sign up to that. Just head to kentonline.co.uk. Whilst you're on the site today, don't forget to check out the latest review from our secret drinker. And you can also download the latest episode of the Kent Politics Podcast from wherever you normally get your podcast or from im-listening.co.uk. Have a fantastic weekend. We'll be back with the Kent Online Podcast on Monday. News you can trust. This is the Kent Online Podcast. (upbeat music)
