Upset residents say they were horrified after watching a group of boys “torture” and kill birds with catapults.
The teenagers also allegedly kicked and threw a duck against a wall by the River Medway near Fremlin Walk in Maidstone.
Also in today's podcast, you can hear from a first-time voter who says politicians should be consulting young people more about their election policies.
The 18-year-old from Canterbury says it's been a tough few years for people his age, but is encouraging more people his age to have their say.
Angry residents are planning to boycott a garden waste collection service after councillors increased fees by an "extortionate" amount.
Bosses in Ashford have hiked the cost of its annual brown bin service by 33% - frustrating residents who say their waste is no longer being collected on time.
Official plans have been launched for a 1,800-home village between Faversham and Canterbury
Winterbourne Fields would see almost 220 acres of “poor-quality” farmland transformed into a village - developers are hoping to break ground next year.
And, with the Euros kicking off tonight local pub bosses are hopeful live sport will turn the tide on what's been a dreary start to the year.
The hospitality industry in Kent is still finding its feet after the pandemic - and has struggled through a long winter.
This is the Kent online podcast, Kate Faulkner. Hello, happy Friday. Hope you're okay and thank you for downloading today's podcast on June 14th. Coming up, we'll hear from a young first-time voter in Kent on his thoughts on the election campaign so far and we'll also hear from a pub boss who's hopeful this month's euros are going to revive the flat-lining hospitality industry, but first, let's take a look at our top story and it comes with a warning today. The content contains details of animal cruelty, which might be disturbing or upsetting to some listeners. Witnesses have described the moment they saw a group of teenage boys torture and kill birds with a catapult in Maidstone. Our reporter, Cara Simmons, has been following this story for the Kent online podcast. Cara, first of all, can you describe what happened along the River Medway last Sunday? Several people spotted a group of eight boys, two of which had catapults. They were then seen shooting ducks and pigeons in the area. One person saw that they had a duck up by its feet and they were punching it and kicking it and also throwing it against a wall. And what the police called? The witness says she immediately reported the incident to the police and officers did confirm that they attended and carried out a search of the area. But were unable to locate any suspects. They've since issued an appeal for information, so hopefully they'll be looking into the incident further. Now the witness posted a warning on Facebook about what she'd seen, what sort of response did it get? So, the post was just filled with dozens of angry and quite frustrated comments. A lot of people were just asking, you know, what is wrong with people? Those really felt for the animals that were subjected to the violence. A lot of people were saying things need to be done. More police on the streets to sort of combat this issue. It was just a very, very strong, strong reaction from the local residents. Maidstone councillor Rachel Rodwell leaves on the River Medway. What are her thoughts on catapults? Rachel believes people have been targeting these sorts of wildlife for years. And she says it's not just this area that's affected. She says that there's been a depletion in the number of ducks and geese in East Farley and Alinton and the problem occurs is that when people phone the police and by the time officers arrive, the culprits have got up and gone. You know, she said it was completely mindless killing and it's absolutely awful, but she hopes to increase the number of local officers in the area. And urges people to immediately report these incidences when they see them. Thanks, Cara. This is the latest in a long line of catapult offences in Kent in recent months with animals and property being targeted. Anyone who witnesses a catapult attack is encouraged to report it to police. Kent Online News. A police officer who actioned the recall to prison for Zara Alina's killer before her murder says mistakes were made. Jordan McSweeney from Rochester was released from prison nine days before he killed the 35 year old as she walked home from a night out in London. An inquest is heard in queries into his whereabouts were closed prematurely and more checks should have been carried out. He's now serving a life sentence with a minimum term of 38 years. A fabulous young man has been locked up for multiple breaches of his sexual harm prevention order. Graham Robinson was convicted of possessing indecent images of children in 2018. He was subject to restrictions on his phone and computers. In 2022, officers found him to be in possession of a further 138 images. The 66 year old who lives in beach close has been sentenced to three years. A man has been charged following a drugs bust at a site off the A249. There was a large police presence on the Maidstone Bound Carriageway on Wednesday morning between the Stockbury flyover and Detling Hill. A 25 year old from Stockbury has been charged with possession of Class A drugs and released on bail while inquiries continue to others have also been released on bail. A man has been charged with theft and fraud after being arrested during a police operation in Margate. Officers were out in the town to check for anyone acting suspiciously or displaying predatory behaviour during a night out. The 37 year old from Ramsgate is accused of stealing food and drink from a local business. Five fighters have been called to tackle a blaze in a derelict building in Sittingborne. It broke out on the high street yesterday evening. No one was hurt and it's unclear how it started. Local bosses in Lower Upner say they're extremely disgusted following damage to a play park. Skooner walk play area is believed to have been set alight on Wednesday evening. Part of the playground has now been taped off. Police are investigating and are asking anyone living nearby to check their CCTV footage. Kent Online News. Tributes left at the Lee's Bandstand in Folkestone for a woman who was missing for 12 days have been taken. Friends and family of Leah Daly left cards, candles and flowers on the day her body was found but they've now disappeared. Council say they're not involved. Police are investigating. These emerged environmental rules which have delayed the building of thousands of homes in East Kent would be scrapped if conservatives won the election. The laws are intended to make sure new developments don't cause chemicals to get into waterways like Stodmarsh Nature Reserve but the Tory Manifesto said it would abolish them to unlock building projects. Labor's also promised to find a solution to get homes built. Kent Online News. An 18 year old from Canterbury is urging young people to make sure they vote in the general election. Booker says it was difficult to care much about politics before but now's the time to get their voices heard. He's the student president at EKC. He and I sat down for a chat. Before this general election it had been at a point where as a young person there wasn't really much we could do. It didn't ever really feel like we were being sort of spoken about or heard or really spoken about positively so when you're being spoken about negatively and you don't have a voice in that anyways you sort of lose interest quite quickly. So is it exciting for you to be able to vote for the first time do you feel like you're sort of like going to get the opportunity to make a difference and have your say? Yes and no. I'm excited to be able to vote and I'm excited to be able to say that I put my hand in there and that has some sort of semblance of my voice but at the same time I live in an area where realistically it's going to go one of two ways and you don't really get to vote for who you would really want to vote for so it's difficult. Before this general election did you have any sort of alliance with any particular political party was it something that you've grown up with at home or just the parties who your friends were supporting? Did you have any lean one way or the other? Not at all. So you come in completely, completely fresh. I've come in sort of knowing some of the general vibe of some of the parties but not a single one really stood out to me as yeah they seem like they've got their head screwed on and they are who I'm really excited for and I didn't have that. Okay and it might seem like a stupid question at this point but have you definitely decided that you are going to vote? Absolutely. And you'll see you don't have to disclose who but have you decided who you're voting for at this point? Probably. What about the people that are around you so you know peers at the university people that you're working with are they, first of all are they going to vote because you don't have to and how are they feeling if they decided which party that they're going to vote for? I would hope they're going to vote. It's my job to do the whole campaign sort of getting people excited to vote and have their voice heard. Whether they will or not, I'm not too sure, I mean students are making up 10% of the electorate this year so it's going to be huge but I don't quite know if they will. I don't think anyone really has an allegiance either way but I think that the Conservative party is quite clearly stomped on students and young people so much that I very strongly doubt that they will get many votes from young people. And where are young people getting their political information from? I saw something the other day about a lot of political parties now are posting a lot on TikTok, sort of really honing it on social media to try and pick up younger voters. Where are you consuming the majority of your information from? It's absolutely social media so I'm someone that reads the news anyway so I do get a bit of it from there but we've been seeing quite a lot from the political parties and from other groups on social media, on TikTok, on Instagram but it's all sort of giving off an air of childishness. You sort of sit there looking at what the Labour party, the Conservative party, the Lib Dev are all posting and it seems like they're just sort of having a bit of a slap fight. It doesn't seem very serious and it works for some young people but for others you sort of just sit there and go, "I feel a little bit like someone's trying to take the mic." And they're not actually taking us seriously. We're not really being told the policies through those meetings, we're just being told this is what they've done wrong, this is what they've done wrong. People living in Ashford have criticised the decision to increase the cost of garden waste collection for the fifth year in a row. The fortnightly service is going up from £45 to £60 a year. Council bosses say the price is in line with the cost of running it and insist it's still good value for money. Plans have been put in for a health hub and education centre with it a huge housing development in North Kent. Developers say the hub in Ebsleat Garden City would also include a reception, toilets, cafe and library. The area is one of the fastest growing in the UK with 15,000 homes between Graves and Adartford by 2035. Plans have been put in for a new 1,800 home village between Canterbury and Babisham. If approved, Winterborne Fields would be built on 220 acres of what's described as poor quality farmland. Developers have also included a school, shops, sports area and restaurants. Kent Online News Now a young man who's been walking from the UK to Ibiza for a Kent charity is set to reach his destination this weekend. Henry Moors is raising money for the Tony Hudgel Foundation to help children who have been abused. It's named after a little boy from King's Hill who needed his legs amputated as a baby after being injured by his birth parents, Tony's adopted mum Paula says Henry's done a huge amount. He might only be 22 but my goodness, he is amazing and what an inspiration to so many others and he finishes on Sunday which will be wonderful. We will be there to meet him. Henry's so excited, he's chatted to Henry several times why he's been doing the walk as well. It's just absolutely amazing to be raising money for the Tony Hudgel Foundation as well and a huge amount. We're nearly at 100,000 and this will help so many children that have come from backgrounds of any type of abuse. As you mentioned, he's going to be arriving on Sunday. The timing is pretty good isn't it, he's going to get there just in time for the football. Absolutely. That's how we planned it then we could meet or get together at Linnaker's Bar and watch the football together and let's hope with Henry that it gives a wing for England which all we need. But yes, he's walked from Manchester all the way through the UK and through France and Spain and he's headed his way down to Ibiza. It's not an easy thing to do. He's been very lonely at times, he's been very tired but the thought of these children and the money he's raising for these children had absolutely kept him going. How did you guys first meet because it was a bit of a chance thing wasn't it, that he just decided upon your foundation and to raise money for you? He wanted to do something with the charity, he wanted to push himself and raise awareness and everything. So he contacted Wayne Linnaker because obviously the main place in Ibiza and Wayne had been following Tony's progress and what have you over the last few years and the foundation. Him and his team thought it was a great idea, they were going to raise money, it would be for the Tony Hudgel Foundation. Because Tony had done the walking challenges before and it fitted in quite well and they thought it was just a wonderful cause to raise money for it. I'm sure he's going to be a huge inspiration to an awful lot of people. For those, I'm sure everyone has heard about Tony's story. Tell us a bit about the foundation and why you set it up and what you're hoping it will achieve. So the Tony Hudgel Foundation, we set it up about three years ago, Tony's, as we know, wonderful raising money and he always likes to help others. With our foundation, it's slightly a unique one because it is purely for children that have suffered any form of abuse, whether that be emotional, physical or psychological. And we particularly as well concentrate on looked after children, which sometimes is really hard for charities to support because when they're children are part of a local authority, they feel that they can't support them, whereas we will. So, you know, all this money that Henry's raised will go on to help so many children and, you know, we're so proud of Henry. And as you mentioned, you're going out to meet him on the final day and you're going to walk the last little bit with him as well, aren't you? Yeah, we will be there on Sunday and we will walk the final bit with him. I mean, obviously Tony can't walk at the moment because he's like feeling a brain, but I'm sure there'll be a few wheelchair races and we'll have you to finish it off nicely and it will just be wonderful to see Henry at the end. Kent Online News. It's hope this month's euros and the Olympics will give a boost to Kent's hospitality industry. For many venues in the county, it's been a long road to recovery from the pandemic. Pub bosses have also reported a tough start to the year after a long drawn out winter. But with the football competition kicking off tonight, Phil Thawley from Thawley-Tavons is hopeful the live sport will turn the tide. The team are looking forward to it. We've been getting prepared by upgrading some of the AV, putting in bigger TVs. In fact, we're just finishing opening a sports bar, which is the goal has been getting it ready for Friday and the paint is drying and we're just about getting there. So we're opening that up this week. But yeah, I think our public are very excited about it as well. I think it was a little bit of a damp squid following Friday night's game. I don't really know what happened there, but I was listening to the radio this morning and statistically, we are the favourites for the competition. So come on England. We've spoken quite a bit in the past, Phil, about the struggles that the hospitality industry have been through over the past few years following Covid and the cost of living crisis. How important would you say this summer is for you? Summer's really important for us and a Euro is especially, to be honest. We've come into this year, January, February, March, April has been really challenging. I think it's been challenging weather-wise as we were chatting about off here and how much rain we've had and I was on the golf course on Saturday morning and there were people with mitts and woolly hats on and we had to remind ourselves it was the 1st of June. However, the Euro's and any big sporting occasion gives the licence chide a good uplift. England have got a great chance in this competition. I think being an Englishman, we always live in hope and I think we've got a great squad out there and really expectant for good things to come. But to be honest about it, after such a tough winter, yes, we need this competition. We need England to go far because the further they go, the greater the interest and the more football into venues. But followed by that, we could really do some sunshine. And of course, we do have a double whammy of sport this summer because we've got the Olympics as well. Is that as good for your industry? Olympics is great and it's fantastic every time it comes round, you know, none better than when it was in London in 2012. Olympics is probably more like glue. It doesn't really drive people to the pub. But when they're in there and the sporting events are going on, the sport in drama gets people stuck there. We all get stuck watching it. May it be in a bar or may it be at home? You turn the sellie on for five minutes and there you are an hour later enthralled by the long jump competition, the high jump competition, the marathon, whatever it may be. There are certain events that really do capture the imagination. I think the 100, the 200, the 400 metres, the four by 100, I think everybody sort of really associates the Olympics with the track and field that goes on. And when those particular events on, and it's happening in Europe, it's happening in Paris, so it's going to be a great time zone for us. I think they will drive a bit of football, but it's nothing like the football to be perfectly honest. We're very much looking forward to it. We've invested in some bigger and better televisions in the venues to make sure that we can do the best that we can for our public that come in. And particularly excited for our new sports bar, Cramps and Zimbabwe Street, where we've got 18 tellys and it'll be a fantastic experience in there and I think it's going to be really good. And your staff, they're going to be incredibly busy. Do they get to enjoy it as well? Do you reckon Phil? Well, we've got enough screens in that they can actually see it from behind the bar. So they'll be enjoying it as well. And to be honest about it, when you start in the license trade, you work behind the bar and it's great fun. It really is good fun. Yes, it can be hard work. And on those busy match days, yes, it's busy, particularly just before kickoff and at halftime and just after the game, but it's great fun because you experience the atmosphere second only to being at the game. So no staff are looking forward to it, managers are looking forward to it, sellers are full of beer and we're ready to rock and roll. The RSPCA is calling for more support on what's previously been their busiest week of the year. The charity took nearly 32,000 calls this time last year, including 127 here in Kent. They're marking their 200 years since they started their work and want to create a million strong movement to help animals. A new market in Ramsgate opens for the first time today. Storeholders are going to be allowed to trade on the high street, Queen Street and King Street every Friday between nine and three. It hasn't been a market in the town since 2020 when the previous operator withdrew from the area. It's hoped it'll attract more shoppers to the town center. An animal lover has saved a seagull in Dover after it got its head stuck in a plastic lid. The Good Samaritan found the bird outside his shop in Tower Hamlet's road on Wednesday morning. He was able to apply some antiseptic spray before setting the goal free. You can see pictures at Kent online. And cows are about to graze in part of the Kent countryside for the first time in 60 years. The National Trust, as confirmed cattle, will be introduced at Golden Hill in Harbaldown in a bid to boost biodiversity. They'll be naturally controlling weeds and scrubs during the off-season before being moved during the busier summer period. Kent online sports. Rugby now and Kent are one win away from back-to-back Division 1 titles. They'll play Yorkshire in the final of the Bill Beaumont County Championship at Twickenham tomorrow. Last year's win was the county's first since 1927 and it's more than 120 years since Kent reached consecutive counties. Director of Rugby, Taft Gwilliam has been speaking to Bartholomew from our colleagues at KMTV. Hi, everybody's looking forward to the challenge. I've been excited about it and obviously we're preparing for it during the week. What kind of an impact has it had because I know you've had to wait these kind of three weeks between actually going to a canoe. What impact has that had on the team not being able to play competitive rugby in that time? It's maintaining that the conditioning of the buyers, three weeks as a long gap between matches. We really have to keep the buyers in a condition where they fit the play on Saturday. Of course, taking Kent to the second final in as many years as it's been this obviously a quite historic moment for the county. How does that feel for you to take the county back to Twickenham two years in the row? Well, this has been a long time in the making. We first changed the way we operated within Kent in 2008 when David Corrin, Chris Wilkins, took a development tour down to South West France. Then in 2012, I came on board and we took a development tour to New Zealand and then in 2016 we went to Argentina and what these development tours have been about? Creating a club ethos within a county representative environment. From being a division two and a yoyo team, we've gradually grown the strength of the group and the development of the group. It's come to fruition with winning at last year at Twickenham for the first time in 97 years and delighted that we've managed to repeat the feat and take on Yorkshire on Saturday. The match gets underway at 3pm to tennis and Kent's Emma Radicarno is in quarter final action at the Nottingham Open later. It follows her 6-2-6-2 victory over Daria Sneigor of Ukraine yesterday. The 21-year-old from Orpington will take on either Britain's Francesca, Jones or American Ashland Kruger, they still need to finish their match after it was interrupted by rain. And in cricket, Kent are back in T20 last action tonight as they travel to take on Somerset. The Spitfires will be hoping to bounce back from their defeat to Middlesex last Sunday. They've had two losses and two wins so far in the competition. Play at Tornton is due to get underway at 6.30. That's all from us today and for the week, thanks ever so much for listening. Don't forget, you can follow us on Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok and threads. You can also get the details on the top stories direct to your email each morning via the briefing to sign up, just head to kentonline.co.uk and while you're on the website, why not check out the latest review from The Secret Drinker? [BLANK_AUDIO]
