A Yalding woman who stole more than £8,000 from a pensioner in her care has avoided being sent to prison.
A court heard the victim had been left disabled after suffering a suspected mini-stroke and the 43 year-old who was meant to be looking after him, used his debit card to pay for clothes, food and music.
Also in today's podcast, people in Ashford say their road has turned into a slum as rubbish piles up.
Disruption to bin collections is continuing in several parts of the county after a new contractor took over.
A small business owner from Tunbridge Wells is urging whoever wins the election to provide more support for working mums.
Amber Taylor set up baby tableware company Chomp in 2023 - after nearly 20 years in corporate marketing.
There are calls for more to be done to protect the safety of cyclists, with some groups saying Kent roads are an increasingly dangerous place to be.
Members of the West Kent Road Club say they've been dragged under trailers, verbally abused and suffered serious injuries.
Students from a Kent school are preparing to showcase their science projects in the finals of this year's Big Bang Science and Engineering competition.
The finalists, from Invicta Grammar School in Maidstone, include designs for a robot to help tackle beach plastic and an app supporting people with autism.
And, a Tonbridge woman has finally achieved her dream of jumping out of a plane - after a 30 year wait.
Shirley Ellis had initially hoped to do a solo jump - but carried out the tandem dive at Headcorn Aerodrome.
We're going to have a look at what you're going to do. Kent online news. News you can trust. This is the Kent online podcast. Nicola Everett. Hello. Hope you're OK. On Thursday, May the 30th. Thanks ever so much for downloading today's podcast. And our top story today is that yielding woman who stole more than 8,000 pounds from a pensioner in her care has avoided being sent to prison. More Kate has more on to make her own purchases. She has also said that she was going to pay for her. After suffering a suspected mini stroke, Christina Bloomfield was meant to be looking after him, but used his credit card to pay for clothes, food and music. The 43 year olds crimes only came to light when he received a letter from debt collectors, saying he owed cash to fashion chain. Simply be. And what did she say to police Kate Bloomfield, who lives on Kenwood Road claimed the pensioner had given her permission to make her own purchases. She also told officers it was her who saved her money. But she said she wanted to pay for her. She said that she was never before going on trial. She admitted fraud by false representation. What happened at sentencing. Bloomfield's defense said the deceit happened at a time when she was in an unhappy marriage with lots of debts owed by her then husband. They also urged the court not to send her to prison and she has children at school and is a full time carer for her mom. The judge decided to impose a 16 month prison sentence suspended for two years. She's also been ordered for two years. She said she wanted to pay for her son. Thank you. Thank you ever so much. Kent online news. We've got some more court news for you now and a former Margate footballer has been jailed for 14 years for his role in a gang who plotted to supply 260 million pounds worth of cocaine. 29 year old Melke Emanuel Williamson from Wesley Avenue in North Act and featured for the club in the 2013 14 season. Five other people have also been sent to the court. The court was sent to the court. The court was sent to the court from court while being sentenced for burglary has appeared back before a judge. Lewis Guess went on the run for six days last month after leaping over the dock and pass security. The 26 year old along with two others who helped him will be sentenced next month. A court said how a teenager armed himself with a machete after chasing off fandals who targeted his grandparents home in Gillingham. Joshua a J.O. There's a lot to do with this year. The last month after the last month after the last month after the last 15 year old to live same moat road in upner will be sentenced later this year. Now this is a story we've covered on the podcast before. And now people in Ashford say their road has turned into a slum as rubbish piles up. Disruption to bin collections is continuing in several parts of the county after a new contractor took over. So it's replaced Biffer in Ashford Swale and made stone earlier this year. But have been able to get the help of a man. And I think that's a lot of people who have been able to get the help of the police. Police have even taken to spraying the poles of waste with disinfectant every day. Plus our colleagues at KMTV have been finding out how residents in Fava Shum have been affected. Yesterday morning, apparently, they came down and collected our neighbors down at number five. And they've left number fours and ours number one. I get really absolutely going rank. We've had one Brown Bean collection since this company took over. We've done numerous runs to the tip to get rid of our garden rubbish because it's the time of the year when you obviously make more garden waste. And last week we even had to take our food waste up because it's stank and it was full of maggots and they've left it again today. We've lived here for, well, I've lived here for nearly 30 years. And just the other day, I saw the first rat I've ever seen in the vicinity. In the early days, we got forgotten completely. My wife has probably run the council 20, 30 times each time to be told, yes, we'll do something about it and very little happens. I mean, for a period of about two or three weeks, it was OK. But then it seems to have gone downhill again. Now councils have told us they are working to resolve the issue. This is a statement in full from the authority in Ashford. We are working closely with Suez to overcome these issues to minimise disruption during this transitional period. We have had to make some changes in service vehicles and to routes and rounds, which has taken longer than we anticipated. These changes have meant that our missed bin reporting system has been unavailable for some time. This has been rectified and the system will now allow you to report all missed bins online. We are sorry for any inconvenience. This is causing and thank everyone for their patience during this time. Kent Online reports. A small business owner from Tumbridgwell's is urging whoever wins the election to provide more support for working mums and but Taylor set up baby tableware company Chomp in 2023 after nearly 20 years in corporate marketing. She said she was struggling to balance family life and a full time career. She also wants to see more information made available to help entrepreneurs who are just starting out were Lucy has been chatting to Amber. I think it's really important to support small businesses. It has been tough over the last even the just the past over a year that I've been running my own business. So to ensure that small businesses are supported with the information and the knowledge that they need. Many people go into small businesses and may have an expertise in a certain area. So in my case, it was marketing, which has helped immensely. The broader scope of what is needed to run a business has all been new to me. I've had to learn that. I've had to scroll through the internet. I'm on Google every day typing in. How do you? And so to ensure that small business owners have got the courses and the knowledge and the opportunity to learn in the areas that they're not so experienced in is so important. So many small business owners fail within the first year. And that's because they aren't supported with the knowledge that they need. They have the passion. They have the courage. They have the drive to make it work. But without that knowledge, it becomes so important for them to pass their first year milestone and go on from there. So I think that is really, really important to be able to provide them with the knowledge and the expertise that they need to make their businesses a success. The impact of COVID and the prices and importing from overseas, all the rest of it, all the ins and outs, prices have gone up. And so as a small business owner, that is difficult because you either have to pass that price on to your customer, that increased price or you have to brunt it yourself. And in both those cases, it isn't a win-win situation. So being able to have the support from the government in that knowledge, but also supporting small business owners where they can with pricing and ensuring that small business owners can continue to thrive, not just survive. I think that's a real difference. And you obviously do a lot of networking and you speak to other small businesses in the area. Small business owners kind of happy with the way things are going. Do you think maybe they want a change in terms of who's running the government? I think small business owners want to feel supported and whatever government can provide them with that support is what's most important. Small business owners, I wouldn't say anyone is finding it easy right now. It's definitely challenging. And I think what I'm particularly passionate about is ensuring that moms are supported. So one of the reasons that I left corporate was because there wasn't the flexibility for me to manage my family and be present for my family in the way that I needed to. So that forced me out of corporate into small business, which is an area that I've always wanted to be within to provide me with the flexibility. But it shouldn't be a case that moms are forced out of corporate because they don't have the flexibility and the support to maintain those jobs. So I think there is another role for government to really think about not just supporting of small businesses and ensuring that they can flourish, but also supporting mothers in the workforce that they have the flexibility that they need so that they do choose to stay in corporate. They are supported and they have the flexibility that they need to also be present for their families. For the very latest ahead of the vote on July the 4th, you can click on the general election pages of Kent online. Plus, you can take to our socials to let us know what you think the main issues are and what you would like the next government to be sorting out where you live. Kent's online reports. A Ramsgate woman is due to go on trial later this year accused of knocking down a pedestrian. Victoria Fricker was driving along Newington Road last December when it's alleged she struck the victim leaving her with mobility issues. The 66 year old who lives in Nixon Road has pleaded not guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving. A gas leak is causing delays for drivers near Maidstone as road closures have clashed with planned waterworks. The 826 Tumbred Road and Red Hill are blocked at the crossroads in Waterumbry. Buses have had to be diverted and it's expected to cause disruption until next Wednesday. There are calls from all to be done to protect the safety of cyclists with some groups saying Kent's roads are an increasingly dangerous place to be. Members of the West Kent Road Club say they've been dragged under trailers, verbally abused and suffered serious injuries. Lawrence Toombs is part of that club and he's been speaking to our reporter Keeley Greenwood. Generally it's OK but we do have problems with the state of the road surface and trying to cope with the drivers. Most of them are OK. Most cyclists are OK. Most drivers are OK but we do have Romans in all society that we do. And so what's the issue with the state of the road? The state of the road is mainly the potholes. We have to avoid those because depending on the depth we can get a wheel caught down there which will send us off. The guy on the front of the group will try and point out all the potholes so if we are swerving about in a road we're trying to dodge the potholes. And then also positioning on the road. Some motorists might be annoyed that you're in the middle of their road but there's a reason for that. Yeah we don't want to be riding in the gutter because there's obstructions in the gutter with debris and drain covers so like a day like today when it's wet with iron coverings. They're very, very slippery and sometimes loose. So we like to ride about a metre out to avoid that and it gives us some room as well that if a car or vehicle does come too close we've got a little bit of room to move in and if we're passing cars there is the danger of a door opening on us and cyclists have been seriously injured or even killed after a door has been opened and they've got no time to react. And do you find that when you're cycling you feel sort of the animosity of the motorists? Do you feel sort of self-conscious? To be fair it is quite rare but it is quite frightening if a car or a vehicle comes too close and there is no need for verbal abuse. We're trying to get from A to B just the same as they are and we'll do our best to avoid conflict and if a car is behind us and we know we don't want that car behind us any more than that car wants to be behind us so we will move off the road as soon as it's safe for us to do so and a safe enough place for the car to get past as well. And you were saying that in France there's a more sort of amicable relationship between the motorists and the cyclists to bed. What's it like driving the cycling over there? It's really nice actually that the road surfaces are much much better than the UK and the drivers are they have to prove that the cyclist was at fault if there's an incident with the cyclist in a vehicle the vehicle driver has to prove that the cyclist was at fault so they give us plenty of space and tolerance but again you still get certain people that are not as tolerant as most. You can read Keeley's report in full at Kent Online figures from the AA also show that cyclists and motorcycle riders make up more than one quarter of all road deaths. Kent Online news. Residents near deal fear plans for six extra homes in their village will only cause chaos on narrow country lanes had already struggled to cope. Plans have been put forward for the development along Chapel Lane in Ripple. The land is currently used as a car park by the nearby pub. Bosses there say they could be forced to close if customers have nowhere to park. Again fruit farm has signed a £750 million deal with Aldi. AC Gotemann's son has supplied the supermarket with apples and pears since 2016. The new deal will see an Aldi orchard created on a 200 acre plot of land at New Green Farm in Graves End. Our students from a Kent School are preparing to showcase their science project in the finals of this year's Big Bang Science and Engineering Competition. The finalists from Invictagrama in Maidstone include designs for a robot to help tackle beach plastic and an app supporting people with autism. OK, it has been speaking to science teachers at the school, Mrs Wheeler and Miss Hollitt. We've been running the science fair here for about seven or eight years and all year eight students are given the opportunity to research and do an experiment into anything that they want. It's all about, you know, fostering enthusiasm and and really seeing that science is everywhere in their life and they can do whatever it is that they want to do. A couple of years ago, we started entering into the Big Bang to kind of put some of the to allow some of the students to go even further with this. And yeah. Yeah, so in terms of the Big Bang, when we were running the competition, we were finding that a lot of the projects had some real potential in terms of real life applications and we wanted the students to be able to consider going further and continuing on with the projects, rather than just being a one-off task that they've done, which is where we kind of found the Big Bang and the national science fair competition that they run. So we first started entering our projects into there and got our first kind of students in first time, so that was really, really exciting. But just the students going up there and meeting other young people from different schools, getting different ideas from the fair in itself, is just really, really beneficial to them and to see where they can continue going. And then we also found that to try and take it further as well, or for those students that may not get into the competition, we also started to do crest awards, so that students can run a crest award alongside their project, which is another great thing for them to have in their bag and hopefully continue on and keep pushing their passions in the future. We want to focus on STEM subjects in schools and try to encourage more students to pick up STEM classes. Why do you think it's important that students take on these classes and develop an interest in those subjects? I just think it's really, really important to show students the range of things that they can get into in STEM. Often students come in thinking they can be a doctor if they study kind of medicine or identity. They don't tend to think about looking at AI or going into engineering and developing their own kind of robots and apps, so just showing them actually that if they don't know how to code, actually, when they start looking and learning, they can generally pick it up very, very quickly, particularly young people these days, and it just gives them that feeling of success and opening new doors that actually they never thought that they were able to before. Yeah, I would definitely say being able to add some, with all the different problems that, you know, are coming in the future, having those creative solutions and seeing that STEM can actually solve some of these problems that even some of our students have tried to solve already is so important. Your school obviously puts a lot of weight into STEM. Obviously you've got your own science fair and then entering competitions like the Bing Bang, Big Bang, so I know you guys are doing a lot to sort of foster that interest in STEM. Do you think that the government in general is putting enough emphasis on STEM subjects? I think we can always do more, particularly we are obviously mainly in goalschool, except in our sixth form, so we do want to make sure that there is equality within the STEM area and making sure that students know that they can access every single part of it. We can always continue to do better, particularly with the new development coming in and making sure that within STEM we are keeping everything updated so our students are prepared and ready for what is to come in the future. The winners will be announced in Birmingham next month. Work to transform an historic 10 venue into a foodies paradise is continuing with hopes it could be open this summer. Beerm feets the new operators of Graves Empire Market, so they've got plans for an augmented reality dance bar and cocktail bar. The market next to the High Street in Graves End has been rebranded as Hatch and will also feature street vendors and entertainment. I know swim warning for part of fannet has been lifted. Restrictions were put in place 10 days ago after dead ragworms, lugworms and shellfish were discovered at Minnes Bay. Were tests have found it was caused by a naturally occurring algal bloom, which is now being broken up by the tide. Greg Wallace is taking part in a fundraiser for a special needs school that his son attends in Maidstone. The TV presenter will be holding a Q&A session at the Queen's Head in Sutton Balance next Friday. And finally, a Tumbridge woman has achieved her dream of jumping out of a plane after a 30 year wait. Shirley Ellis had initially hoped to do a solo jump that carried out the tandem dive at Headcorn Aerodrome. She spoke to the podcast before leaping from 12,000 feet. I wanted to jump out of an aeroplane for a very, very long time. And yeah, my first attempt would have been a solo jump back when I was about 40 years old. And yeah, that was scuppered, scuppered because the weather changed and then I sprained my ankle playing nipple. So 30 years on and now a 70 year old that has lost a bit of nerve. So to do a solo jump, but I would still like to jump out of an aeroplane. Huge congratulations to Shirley. She also managed to raise more than 1,500 pounds for charity. Ken's online sport. Cricket and England's women have completed a two-nell series victory over Pakistan after winning their third one-day international. They finished 178 runs ahead of their opponents in chums for yesterday. Ken's Tammy Beaumont was in the England team but only managed 11 runs before being bolded out. And Ken's head coach says he's confident they can avoid relegation in the county championship. About walk aside, a currently bottom of Division 1 with only one victory from their seven games so far this season. Taking a bit of a break from the competition though as they get their T20 campaign underway tomorrow. 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 and whilst you're on the site today you can check out the latest. Eat my words. Food review. News you can trust. This is the Kent Online Podcast.
