A coroner has revealed a soldier whose body was found in the River Medway after a night out may have suffered a “violent or unnatural death”.
25-year-old Charlie Saywell was discovered trapped under a boat last month, and had rope around his legs and torso.
A Medway mum says more needs to be done to improve services for children with special education needs.
A report by Ofsted this week has found many are still waiting too long to be assessed, with inconsistent experiences and outcomes.
Campaigners are celebrating after Folkestone flats they branded “horrendous” were snubbed following 300 comments of opposition.
The proposals for 20 flats were rejected by council bosses but the firm behind the bid tried to do it anyway.
The owners of The Pet Shop in Sittingbourne have been telling us how they have managed to stay open for thirty years.
Victor Brobyn has been in business since 1994 and has sold all sorts of animals from bearded dragons to rabbits and birds.
JB Gill from JLS has been on our sister radio station kmfm ahead of their concert at Dreamland in Margate.
The boy band will be playing on July 6th as part of the Summer series.
And in cricket, Kent’s head coach Matt Walker has been telling us about his plans for the new season.
Their first county championship match against Somerset gets underway tomorrow.
10. KENTONLINE NEWS News you can trust This is the KENTONLINE Podcast Lucy Hickmott Hello, hope you're okay. Thanks ever so much for downloading today's podcast on Thursday, the 4th of April. First up, a coroner's revealed a soldier whose body was found in the River Medway after a night out may have suffered a violent or unnatural death. Kate joins me now to discuss the details. First of all, could you give me some background about the case? Well, 25-year-old Charlie was discovered in Chatham on Tuesday March 5th when a worker near the River noticed his body in the mud. Police, paramedics, firefighters and the coast guard were called to the scene at Turks Shipyard in Maingate Road, but the young man was already dead. He was identified using ID which was found with him, but there's still an element of mystery over how he ended up in the water. And what new details have emerged is that his body was found trapped under a boat and he had rope around his legs and torso. A coroner says the cause of death was drowning, but added it was clearly a violent or unnatural death. Police have confirmed the soldier had been out with friends the previous evening before taking a taxi to his home in Brompton. However, instead of going into his accommodation, it's thought he chose to walk into Chatham town center between 10 past midnight and 2 40 past midnight. Officers say Charlie may have then mistakenly got into an unidentified car nearby where it's believed he was assaulted by the driver and suffered facial injuries. They're currently not treating his death as suspicious, but they are continuing to investigate. So what happens next? Well, Charlie's mum Victoria has issued an appeal for anyone who witnessed her son's movements during the early hours of that morning to his entire life. In the last few years, Petri Walker Brereira has been set up in his memory and so far more than 4,000 pounds has been donated. A full inquest is due to be held on the 4th of June. Thanks Kate. A Dover woman's been left in a wheelchair after a drug designed for a five day course was prescribed to her for years. Petri Walker Brereira was first given anti-sickness medication which was not linked back to the drug until 2019. The government had issued a warning against its long-term use in 2013. She took legal action against her GPs and settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. Police are hunting the driver of a stolen car who fled the scene of a crash on the M20 near Rutum. A black Mercedes collided with a trailer early on Easter Sunday knocking a tractor off onto the carriageway. The victim was hurt, officers are trying to trace a man who left on foot before they arrived. A woman's been arrested after jewellery was stolen from a pensioner in Swanley. The victim in her 70s had a gold chain forcibly taken after she was approached by the suspect near London Road on Tuesday afternoon. The 30-year-old from London was arrested a short time later. A man's been arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving the victim. Back near Tumbridge, the 43-year-old is believed to have been involved in a crash near Pennhurst before carrying out the assault on a bystander. Officers used a drone to track him down and he was eventually found by a police dog. He's been released on bail while investigations continue. A medway mum says more needs to be done to improve services for children with special educational needs. A man's been assessed with inconsistent experiences and outcomes. Leanne Dael has a 15-year-old son Jack and 13-year-old daughter Katie, who both have conditions including autism, ADHD and anxiety. She's been speaking to Oliver from KMTV after reading what inspectors said about the council. I think they need a lot more improvement than what was found in that report, in my opinion, my parents said to me that you need to support families, but they always blame it on funds, money. As it always comes down to money, at the end of the day, a child's need shouldn't come down to the cost of it. They can't help having these disabilities. That's how they are. Basically, I mean, a doctor said once said to me, if you need anti-depressants, you need to take them because if you've got a headache, you treat that with tablets. They should be supporting these families better and the social care side of things as well. So there should be more help there because our social worker doesn't make much contact with us at all. Considering Jack's at home all that time and not at school, that is my main concern. I do think that that's a bit worry immediately. Like, you think, like, the social care element is kind of the... That's lacking as well, yeah, definitely. I mean, I know there's not a lot of these respites in to some places aren't local. As far as I know, when I last spoke to a social worker about this home, the nearest one was swanly. So it's quite a way to go with a child with, like, real severe needs. If they're not going to like it, there's a long way to take them to have to come back and then go back and get them. And when you read that report, it did say there were areas that they had that had improved, like mental care areas have actually improved in real terms. From your perspective, as someone in this kind of send community as it were. We are under nail for my son, under psychologists for his medication reviews. And we did have to work well. Even that, we only got referred to them once we were without a school. I mean, they just started referring him when he was at year six at the Melbourne Centre. And it wasn't until we got to that and we actually got a referral done because of the fact that schools couldn't, his behaviours worsened et cetera due to his needs. And so the waiting time is horrendous to get to seen by Nelft initially. But now we're on a six-monthly review. So once you're in, it's okay. You're getting the support. Well, we are. Our doctor's really good. But again, I know there's other people that have been waiting a long time and they've still not even been seen yet. And I think it's as good as it can. But I think they could probably make the service more efficient really and helpful to our parents. Medway Council insists they're making progress in improving things for families, and prices in charge of children's services. There is a national shortage of educational psychologists. But we're doing our best. You know, there is things like skill mix, which we can do, and there are a few psychologists that we have to be able to sign off the work, which more junior staff have done. And the good thing about it is we do have a clear plan. Obviously, we've had the inspection when we did, and we're on that journey. So we're going to continue with that clear plan. I'm meeting with Paul Lumsden, who's the chief nursing officer at the, like, Kenton Medway, like, it's all about partnership working. Partnership between education, health, and social care for the benefit of our young people. Kent Online News. The University of Kent's President and Vice Chancellor will step down in May, saying the past few years have been incredibly volatile. It comes weeks after the uni announced it will be accessing six of its courses due to funding pressures, which has been provided by the students. Professor Karen Cox, as she's proud of her achievements, her deputy will stand in for now. Patients at a GP practice near Maidstone have been asked to bring their own batteries as part of cost-cutting measures. A text message has been sent out to those booked in for an ECG or blood pressure test at Martin Medical Center that they'll have to supply their own batteries. A Maidstone Road, which has seen 22 crashes in two years, could reopen, despite being branded a risk to life. Kent County Council closed the junction between Cranbourne Avenue and the Weechief pub two years ago to reduce traffic, but residents say it's made journeys dangerous and more lengthy. Buses have agreed to carry out a review ahead of another meeting that has given the green light to build a nine-story block of flats in Tumbridge Town Center. 118 apartments will be constructed on the former car park of the River Center, close to Tumbridge Town Lock on the River Medway. The site is at a high risk of flooding, so the ground floor of the block will be devoted to parking. Campaigners are celebrating after folks and flats they branded themselves for 20 flats were rejected by council bosses, but the firm behind the bid tried to do it anyway. Their attempts failed as the plans had been scrapped amid concerns of the appearance, loss of green space and lack of affordable housing. Louis Walker's spoken to Peter Kent and Dave Hall from the campaign group Stop Ever House. One of the things we sent to the council in the original is a hillside with St Leonard's church, very picturesque, and we superimposed the block of the Ebo House alongside it. And the Ebo House block was bigger than St Leonard's, which of course is a frightening sight. We totally ruined the high skylight. The high then saw would have very beefy suburb areas, conventional, very much a 1950s type of building, and to have something of a modern structure of such a size, so unsympatheticly built would have been a disaster. It's a wake-up core, I think, to developers to really think about what they're planning on doing or planning on submitting, because it realized the feelings for the local. See in terms of not just the local directly affecting them, but the bigger picture. Because we're all traveling around within the town, and there are some wonderful places to visit in this wonderful town as well, and we don't want those green spaces destroyed. Ken's online reports. Top boy star Ashley Waters has had his latest bid to expand his home in Kent, rejected. It's the third time the actor who lives near Hearne Bay has had plans for the two-story front extension and single-story rear extension turned down. He's going to be able to move if his building application continues to be thwarted. Two Canterbury Councillors are under investigation after claims they failed to declare shares belonging to them and their wives. An anonymous tip-off stated Deputy Leader Michael Dixie didn't state his 100% ownership of a firm, and Libderm Alex Ricketts allegedly didn't state shares in two firms. Both Councillors disclosed they had a legal requirement if owned within the Council's area. Now, the Kent Online podcast has been speaking to the owners of the Pet Shop in Sittingborne about how they've managed to stay open for 30 years. Victor Robin has been in business since 1994 and has sold all sorts of animals from bearded dragons to rabbits and birds. He's been sharing the secrets of his success with reporter Joe Krossley. I've been running the Pet Shop with us since about 1982, I believe. We opened our first shop. We both worked in London and wanted to work for ourselves, so that's where it all began. And then we worked in that shop for 21 years. And then during that time we opened this shop in Sittingborne. So we've been in Favisham, Sittingborne, and now we just open in Rainham. So that's really kind of a broad picture of what we're doing. And you're a family business, are you a family business? You've been here for a long time. Obviously you've been here for a long time. What changes have you seen over the years? I would say the Pet Trades massively increased in both turnover and quality. The Pet Trades now is a quality business to be in. Well, I mean years ago used to sweep the floor and we went animal war droppings and stuff like that, but it's become a really professional trade. What do people come in here for? Is it the food? Is it the pets? Or is it a bit of everything? Mainly consumables. I eat food, bedding, all sorts of accessories, stuff like that. And veterinary stuff as well. A lot of people come in for veterinary advice because the vets are so expensive, I shouldn't say that maybe. The vets are quite expensive. So we can give them advice, like first aid advice. And we have products that cover that. And you're telling me the difference between maybe you and one of the big guys that heads up home is the expertise that you have here. The really lovely star. Just talk me a little bit about that. Yeah, we have a good staff with good knowledge and we do actually train our staff as well, put them on training courses. So they've all got a basic knowledge of animals, animal care. And I think you can't beat that. Some of the bigger stores are not to knock the opposition, but they get such a throughput of star that they don't get a good staff with good knowledge. So and we have to be nice as well. A medical service that was abruptly moved from Jillingham last year is set to make a return. The stroke department at the Medway NHS Foundation Trust was closed due to staffing issues. It'll be back at Medway Maritime Hospital by the end of August. Operation Brock will be removed from the M20 this weekend after a busy Easter period. The contraflow system's been in place on a 13-mile stretch between a stone and asphalt to ease traffic. It'll be closed from junctions nine to eight and seven to nine overnight this Sunday to remove the contraflow system. A special need school in Jillingham has been rated good by Offstead for the second time running. Rivermeade School in Forge Lane has 180 students with a diagnosis of autism and associated difficulties. The education watchdog praised student behaviour and said staff met the individual needs of each other. Can't online show this? JB from JLS has been on our sister radio station KMM ahead of their concert at Dreamland in Margate. The boy band will be playing on July 6th as part of the summer series. JB Gill who lives on a farm in Kent with his wife and children has been telling Andy Walker what fans can expect from the show. If anybody has ever been to one of these shows, I know a lot of them are, hopefully, some good weather, but I can't guarantee that. But you can definitely expect hits, you know, you're going to get all the songs, if any of you have been to any of the shows in London, perhaps all of Brighton even, then you'll definitely be aware of, you know, kind of what our shows entail, high energy, lots of dancing, singing, hand waving, and it's a multicultural affair, a multi-generational affair. It's going to be good to be back there, and of course, as I say, Margate, I was a very special place in my heart, but also, you know, the boys and I say love coming down there, and we'll definitely bring in the whole family, certainly I will, because it's going to be one of my local gigs on the summer tour, so looking forward to all of that. It is fair to say for 90 minutes you will not be sitting down, not going to be all of you. It's going to be pretty special. I mean, we've done, it's been a while since we did an outdoor show, but, you know, we've done outdoor shows literally in the morning and it's one of those things that it's just a unique experience, because you don't have any idea what the weather's going to bring, but as wet as you get, we'll get even wetter, and we'll just be in the moment together. Ask what it's all about. I think it's the one song everybody must hear, and we often tend to leave it to, in fact, we always tend to leave it to the very end with our uncle. But yeah, I mean, it's the one that, you know, people can't fail to dance to put their hands in the air, of course, and, you know, it always goes down well, and it's very colorful as well. I think that's, you know, kind of an incredible thing, an incredible note for us to leave any audience and watch the full interview on YouTube. And finally, a filmmaker's looking for extras to appear in a scene in Canterbury this weekend. They'll be in the background of a bare knuckle fight for a new gangster movie, which will be released on Amazon Prime later this year. Ken's online sport. Ken's director of cricket says he's confident they'll be successful with plans for their women's team to turn professional. The club's put in a bid to the team, and we're hoping it'll come into effect from the 2025 season. You don't enter a bid process to lose or to fail, so we are confident that we're going to, we'll end up with a tier one team. We feel we've got the strongest bid because of Beckenham, and that is a huge asset for us. It gives women's cricket a home a focus where we can kind of launch the next phase of women's cricket in Kent. It's no other county has got that facility or a facility close to that. All the other bids will be based around playing a little bit at a home ground, playing a bit in an out ground, maybe in a school. And that's why we are confident, which is why we should be awarded a tier one. It comes as the men's team prepare to get their county championship season underway tomorrow, they're taking on Somerset at the Spitfire as club captain and says he's proud to be leading the team. Yeah, it was the end of the season really, the season was done and had appraisals and obviously sandblings was stepping down and the club wanted to go in a new direction and they wanted some senior players to stand up and I was more than willing to put my name in the hat and yeah, got a call from Simon shortly after saying that he wants me to be the club captain and championship team, but yeah, it wasn't necessarily on the radar but I'm very proud to be able to lead sort of my home club. Last season, Kent narrowly avoided relegation from Division 1 in the county championship, head coach Matt Walker says this year will be different. I think for me it's about being as competitive as you possibly can. I think last year was a bit of a challenge around that with some of the make up of the teams we had to put out in the team and some challenging periods with our best team on the park which can happen. I think this is what we built now, the freshness amongst this group, obviously Cookie coming in Daniel now is captain, two new support coaches, there's a sense of freshness, there's a real sense of anticipation around the group we signed, three new domestic players plus Jayden as a young player coming on the staff. I think we feel well set actually a squad that can really compete and really put ourselves in good positions to challenge in games from the start of the season. It's been quite hard to do that over the last year at times to really sort of, you know, I think we had to sort of almost think on our feet a bit and deal with what we came our way, but actually all being well we keep a pretty fit squad this year. And we played a sense of fun and energy and a real competitiveness. End goals, I think, David said it mentioned it this this morning, that it's game by game, it's a huge sort of football cliche, but there's no prediction, there's no sort of, you know, we're going to do this in this competition every game, but every game we turn up and we look to be as competitive as we can, really challenge ourselves to be as, you know, as fiercely competitive as we can be. Tomorrow's match is due to start at 11. That's all from us 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 to your email each morning via the briefing to sign up just head to kentonline.co.uk News you can trust. This is the Kent Online Podcast. [MUSIC]
