KentOnline
The top stories from the KentOnline news team
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Episodes
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Podcast: Gravesend man fears council home is cracking and 'falling apart' due to subsidence issues
Monday, 13 October 2025
A Gravesend tenant says he's living in constant fear of his council home falling down around him due to ongoing subsidence issues.Sunder Khutan moved in to the mid-terrace property off Windmill Street in 2019 - only a few months later he notices cracks in the walls and ceilings.Also on today's podcast, a person's died after being hit by a train in Medway.Police were called to Otterham Quay Lane in Rainham this morning forcing the road to be closed near to Leigh Academy secondary school. Hear from our reporter who was at the scene earlier.It's thought it'll cost hundreds of pounds to carry o...
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Podcast: Grieving mum bids to buy home so she can bury son in garden after he died in a bus tragedy at the QEQM Hospital in Margate
Friday, 10 October 2025
A grieving mum who lost her four-year-old son in a bus tragedy is hoping to raise money to buy her own home so she can bury him in the garden.Little Zaahir Jan Feizi was laid to rest after being knocked down outside the QEQM Hospital in Margate in August, but the cemetery is a long journey from his mum's home.Also in today's podcast, a woman who was sofa surfing with her young daughter and two bin bags of clothes has revealed how she turned her life around.Jodie had fled a relationship and suffered episodes of psychosis after smoking cannabis. She went clean four years ago after seeking hel...
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Podcast: The owner of Drifters Whippy ice cream van says he has received death threats after being falsely linked to suspicious behaviour in Tonbridge
Thursday, 9 October 2025
The owner of an ice cream van says he has received death threats after being falsely linked to suspicious behaviour in Tonbridge.A young girl reported seeing three men running in her direction and was possibly grabbed on the arm while walking through the cemetery last month.Kent Police have been forced to confirm the Drifters Whippy van, which was parked nearby, is not linked in any way - despite rumours online.Also in today's podcast, one person's been arrested and the bomb disposal team called in after "suspicious items" were found in a flat in Margate.Officers were called to Rosedale Roa...
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Podcast: Ashford woman who thought she'd die at the hands of her abusive husband horrified as he's spared jailed
Wednesday, 8 October 2025
A woman who feared she would die at the hands of her controlling husband has told of her horror after he avoided prison despite years of abuse that left her with life-changing injuries.She says what began as “the most incredible love” turned into a suffocating and terrifying relationship in which she was constantly monitored, isolated and attacked inside her own home. Also in today’s podcast, you can hear the moment a man was arrested after a drone was allegedly used to deliver drugs to inmates at a prison in Maidstone. Police called after the device had been found within the grounds alongs...
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Podcast: A woman who stabbed a stranger in a street in Dover has been detained in a psychiatric unit
Tuesday, 7 October 2025
A Dover woman has been detained in a psychiatric unit after randomly attacking a stranger in the street with a kitchen knife.The victim was taken to a London hospital for treatment after she was stabbed in the back while walking down Biggin Street in January.The KentOnline Podcast has been told 90% of retailers in Tunbridge Wells have complied with new rules around single use vapes since they were introduced in June.That's 10% higher than in other parts of the county.The town was the first in Kent to take part in a 'Local Vape Action' scheme where experts work with shops.A man who drove fro...
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Podcast: Asda employee fraudulently used company’s Cabfind account to book £6k worth of taxis to London, Maidstone and Gravesend
Monday, 6 October 2025
An Asda employee has faced court after abusing a company taxi account to fund more than £6,000 worth of personal journeys – including a 115-mile round trip to visit his mum in London.He repeatedly booked cabs on the supermarket’s tab despite having no right to use the system, exploiting it for weeks before being caught.Also in today’ podcast, bosses in Medway say red routes will be repaired - after pictures revealed the painted lines in one town have already worn away.The double lines were controversially introduced on busy routes - including the A2 in Rainham - in May last year in a bid to...
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Podcast: Thousands of people are being urged to join a protest organised by SOS Whitstable against pollution in our seas and rising water bills
Friday, 3 October 2025
Campaigners are gathering on the Kent coast this weekend to protest against sewage leaks and rising water bills.SOS Whitstable says Labour aren't doing enough to tackle the issue, more than a year after winning the general election.Also in today's podcast, police in Kent have told us they're providing reassurance to the Jewish community in the county following a terrorist attack in Manchester.Two people died when a man drove into crowds outside a synagogue before attacking people with a knife. Hear how MPs in Kent have reacted to what happened.It's been confirmed today Sarah Mullally is the...
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Podcast: Ashford mum stabbed daughter in the back as she cooked the family meal before turning kitchen knife on herself
Thursday, 2 October 2025
An inquest has heard a mum stabbed her daughter in the back with a 12-inch kitchen knife while she was cooking a family meal - before fatally turning the blade on herself.She’d told a psychiatric nurse of her fear of being sectioned just hours before the tragedy unfolded in Ashford in June. Also in today’s podcast, a family has accused planning officers of acting “cruelly” following the “flawed” refusal of an annex for their severely disabled son.The family say the outbuilding extension in Hoo could provide a suitable home for their son, who has autism and complex needs, to live and be care...
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Podcast: Investigation reveals the scale of bed blocking in hospitals in Kent as some patients wait months to be discharged
Wednesday, 1 October 2025
An investigation by KentOnline has uncovered the scale of bed blocking in Kent's hospitals with some patients waiting months to be discharged.Over the past year, almost 40,000 people in two parts of the county were kept in wards after their treatment had finished - costing the NHS around £50 million.Hear from the daughter of a woman who ended up in hospital for a month longer than she needed to be.Also in today's podcast, the government is being urged to invest more into GP surgeries as a survey in Kent shows the workforce is in crisis.Doctors and practice managers across the county were as...
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Podcast: Residents in Joyce Green Walk, Dartford, fear lives are at risk after 'hoarded' items in a garden were deliberately set alight
Tuesday, 30 September 2025
People living in part of Dartford say lives are being put at risk by mounds of hoarded waste in a garden.Pictures at KentOnline show the state of the land outside the bungalow on Joyce Green Walk in the town, and a fire that recently broke out there is being treated as suspected arson. Hear from reporter Alex Langridge who has been covering the story.Also in today's podcast, police have cordoned off part of Rochester High Street following reports of a suspicious item.The bomb squad was called to a residential property near Corporation Street yesterday evening.Residents in Dover say they are...
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Podcast: Man died after accidentally stepping on live third rail at tracks near Dover during bid to flee the UK and avoid arrest
Monday, 29 September 2025
A hearing's been told how a young man died in a tragic accident on a railway line in Kent as he attempted to leave the UK.An inquest was told the 25-year-old Albanian national was trying to cross the tracks near the Motis Lorry Park last September.Also in today's podcast, There's been a mixed reaction to new bus fares that've come into force in parts of Kent.Stagecoach have increased their prices by 10p for short or medium-length journeys. We've been hearing what people in Maidstone think while Stagecoach have told us why the price hike is necessary.Plans for 100 new homes and sports facili...
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Podcast: ‘Greedy’ Canterbury gambler blew millions on betting sites while fleecing family and friends
Friday, 26 September 2025
A "greedy and manipulative" gambler who fleeced family, friends and teammates out of life-changing sums of money as he blew more than £4 million on betting sites has been sent to prison. Kenny Sanders convinced some of those closest to him to part with their savings, inheritances and pension pots, assuring them he was investing their cash in a thriving IT company.Also in today’s podcast, the family of a British couple detained in Iran have said they have “no clear information” on their upcoming court appearance, claiming UK officials are also “in the dark”.Lindsay and Craig Foreman were tak...
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Podcast: Lowered speed limit along bumpy stretch of A299 Thanet Way between Faversham and Herne Bay an "absolute disgrace"
Thursday, 25 September 2025
The need for yet more restrictions on a “rollercoaster” stretch of the New Thanet Way has been branded an “absolute disgrace” – with highways bosses unable to say how long a reduced 50mph speed limit will stay in place.Kent County Council says “urgent” action was needed because dangerous bumps in the dual-carriageway between Faversham and Herne Bay are putting drivers at risk.Also in today’s podcast, a pensioner who drove his car into another man at a gated residential park, which was caught on camera, had previously attacked another resident . The 70-year-old deliberately drove into the ma...
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Podcast: Four men arrested after ‘stabbing’ in Halfway Road on Sheppey
Wednesday, 24 September 2025
Four men are being questioned by police after another man is said to have been stabbed. Police were called to reports of a disturbance inside a property in Halfway Road on Sheppey last night – you can hear from one of our reports who’s been at the scene. Also in today’s podcast, former Gillingham FC chairman Paul Scally is being sued in the High Court over the £7 million takeover of the club by its American owners.Brad Galinson and the club are taking legal action, alleging a whole host of financial wrongdoing concerning the League 2 side’s affairs.A motorist says he’ll think twice about ev...
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Podcast: Canterbury woman spared jail after spiking man’s drink with laxative in Dover boasts on Facebook
Tuesday, 23 September 2025
A woman spared jail for lacing a bottle of coke with laxatives which left a man with severe diarrhoea boasted on Facebook she was free within hours of leaving court.The 38-year-old poured more than half a bottle of lactulose into the fizzy drink which was then guzzled by the unsuspecting victim.Also in today’s podcast, a rugby referee rushed to hospital after almost collapsing during a match is warning others not to ignore their body if they are not feeling right.He was officiating a tie between Duke of York School in Dover and King’s Rochester in Medway when he began struggling just minut...
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Podcast: Off-grid grandad won't leave makeshift home on the Swanscombe Peninsula despite being ‘fenced in’
Monday, 22 September 2025
An off-grid grandad says he won’t be forced out of his creekside home despite being “more or less” fenced in.Bob Thwaites has lived off the bank of the Swanscombe Peninsula without any problems since 1991 but the new landowner have now put up a 6ft to keep people out. Also in today’s podcast, there are fears the government's decision to approve a second runway at Gatwick Airport could lead to more noise pollution for Kent residents.£2.2 billion of private money is going to be spend on the expansion - which will allow for another 100-thousand flights a year.An MP is calling for a crackdown o...
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Podcast: Kent County Council backtrack on pledge to treat climate change as an emergency
Friday, 19 September 2025
Kent County Council have backtracked on a pledge to treat climate change as an emergency.An official declaration was made in 2019 - but a Reform UK councillor has now led a motion to scrap the statement, describing the science behind global warming as "nonsense".Despite a protest outside County Hall in Maidstone, the motion was voted through by 50 votes to 21 with three abstentions.Also in today's podcast, a Kent headteacher says children are being traumatised by content they're seeing online.Damian McBeath banned children from having phones in class last year and is now backing a national ...
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Podcast: Cafe at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford closed off to make room for patients in makeshift ward
Thursday, 18 September 2025
Pictures have emerged of a cafe in the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford that's been turned into a makeshift ward.Health campaigners have described it as humiliating, with the main seating area blocked off by screens and patients wheeled in on beds. It's as the hospital continues to struggled with demand.Also in today's podcast, we're being encouraged to sleep rough for a night to experience what it's like for the 194 people in Kent who're currently on the streets.Canterbury based charity Porchlight are trying to raise awareness as winter and the bad weather approaches.Hear from a Kent cou...
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Podcast: Mum pulls daughter out of Hundred of Hoo Academy in Medway after she was 'isolated' over the length of her skirt
Wednesday, 17 September 2025
Parents have hit out at a secondary school in Medway after their daughters were singled out over the length of their skirts.Some pupils at Hundred of Hoo Academy have been told their hemlines fall above the knee, and have been removed from class.Hear from one mum who has now pulled her daughter out of the school.Also in today's podcast, protests have taken place at the start of Donald Trump's second State visit to the UK.Earlier, giant projections showing the US president alongside disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein were beamed onto Windsor Castle.We've been speaking to an international re...
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Podcast: TikTok video on Charlie Kirk death sees Kent mum kicked out of Petticoat Lane Emporium in Folkestone as she insists ‘my words were misconstrued’
Tuesday, 16 September 2025
A Kent mum at the centre of an online storm says she “absolutely” regrets posting a controversial TikTok video about the murder of US activist Charlie Kirk – but insists her words have been “totally misconstrued”.She’s been bombarded with vile threats and even had her business kicked out of the county’s largest indoor market after she uploaded a clip in the wake of the 31-year-old’s death.Also in today's podcast, a mum whose partner died in a building site accident has told how her life has “completely changed” since the tragedy - and how she stays strong for their children.David Archer suf...
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Podcast: Disruption expected as 12 weeks of lane closures start for essential survey work on the A229 Blue Bell Hill between Medway and Maidstone
Monday, 15 September 2025
Twelve weeks worth of lane closures are starting today on the main road linking Medway and Maidstone.It's so survey work can take place on the A229 Blue Bell Hill before a £250 million improvement scheme goes ahead.There'll be a temporary speed limit of 40 miles per hour while work is being carried out.Also in today's podcast, residents of a housing estate on Sheppey say they've been left with thousands of pounds worth of debt after getting rid of their property management firm.FirstPort was removed by people living on the Queenborough Phase One development earlier this year.The MP for Cant...
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Podcast: Bosses at Ashford Designer Outlet increase car parking fees as shoppers hit out at latest hike
Friday, 12 September 2025
Parking charges at one of Kent’s most popular shopping destinations have been branded “insulting” after rising for the third time in as many years.Ashford Designer Outlet has increased its minimum parking fee to £3 for four hours - up from £2.50 last year and £2 the year before.Also in today’s podcast, a serial burglar has been jailed again after cutting a hole in Bluewater shopping centre’s roof and stealing £1.4million worth of watches.The notorious thief, who has previously targeted the home of Lord Alan Sugar, was on licence when he targeted Watchfinder at the shopping complex in Februa...
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Podcast: Pregnant mum who felt faint at the wheel received £100 parking fine for stopping at Orbital Park McDonald’s in Ashford
Thursday, 11 September 2025
A pregnant woman who pulled into a McDonald’s car park after feeling faint has been forced to pay a £100 fine for overstaying the time limit.The mother-of-four stopped at the fast-food restaurant in Orbital Park, Ashford, as she feared she would pass out at the wheel.Also in today’s podcast, we’ve got more reaction to the news the University of Kent and the University of Greenwich are going to merge to form one “super uni”.We’ve spoken to university bosses who haven’t ruled out redundancies, and the Canterbury MP who’s unhappy about how the news broke.Floral tributes and touching messages h...
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Podcast: The University of Kent, with campuses in Canterbury and Medway, announces shock merger with the University of Greenwich
Wednesday, 10 September 2025
The Universities of Kent and Greenwich are set to ‘merge’ in a shock move that’s the first of its kind.An email's been sent to staff at the University of Kent this morning announcing the "formal collaboration" – it follows a difficult period financially for the Uni of Kent.Also in today’s podcast, a group of MPs says our food security could be at risk as 'alarming amounts' of meat and diary products are being illegally imported into the UK.A report by the committee has described conditions within a facility at the Port of Dover where checks are carried out as 'inadequate'.A man who had jus...
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Podcast: Canterbury vape shops boss hits back at authorities and says he's not the criminal he's being made out to be
Tuesday, 9 September 2025
The owner of several vape shops says he’s not the criminal he’s being made out to be and claims he’s being “harassed” and “targeted” by the authorities. It’s after a new report accused him of an “ongoing pattern of criminal behaviour”, from underage sales to selling fake designer goods and illegal products. Also in today’s podcast, a body has been discovered in the sea amid a search for a missing woman.Police and the coastguard were called to St Margaret’s Bay yesterday afternoon. A family-run hotel has been forced to deny rumours it is housing asylum seekers after organisers of an anti-imm...
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Podcast: Anger as man seriously injured in Westbrook crash is discharged from QEQM Hospital in Margate with ‘nowhere to go’
Monday, 8 September 2025
The mum of a hit-and-run victim says he was stunned to discover he had been discharged from hospital and someone else was in his bed.Azar Harnden spent months being treated at King’s College Hospital in London before being transferred to the QEQM in Margate after sustaining serious injuries in a horror crash in Westbrook in April.Also in today’s podcast, we've been hearing from a war veteran from Canterbury who says the "Raise the Colours" campaign is just a passing phase. The controversial movement has seen St George's Flags put up across the county and red crosses spray painted on signs a...
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Podcast: Strood motorist who was clipped by another car before chasing the driver through Wainsott ends up in court thanks to her own video footage
Friday, 5 September 2025
An irate motorist who gave chase after another driver clipped her car ended up in court herself thanks to her own child’s video footage.She was so enraged when her wing mirror was hit she followed the other driver for four minutes, getting her teenage daughter to video what was happening on her mobile phone.Also in today’ podcast, a small Kent firm used by Angela Rayner to buy a flat she has since admitted underpaying stamp duty on has denied giving her tax advice.The Deputy Prime Minister has said incorrect “advice from lawyers” led her to pay too little tax when she purchased the property...
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Podcast: Lullingstone Country Park users prepared to go to court over £20 parking admin fee disputes
Thursday, 4 September 2025
Disgruntled drivers are refusing to pay their admin fees and say they’re prepared to go to court over parking fines at one of Kent’s country parks. It’s after it was revealed some were issued penalty notices, despite having proof they’d paid to park. Also in today’s podcast, a drink-driving teacher has avoided being banned from the profession after claiming he only got behind the wheel because he “feared for his life” following a knife attack.The former head of chemistry was more than double the legal limit when he was stopped by police. People living on newbuild estates across part of nort...
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Podcast: "Scallywag thief" says he shouldn't be living in a tent under a bridge by the River Medway in Maidstone at 72
Wednesday, 3 September 2025
A man suffering serious health problems, and currently living in a tent under a bridge in Maidstone , has reached out to the community for help.The 72-year-old has found himself with nowhere to stay while suffering with a chronic condition which leaves him struggling for breath after any exertion.Also in today’s podcast, three recent inspections by the health watchdog have revealed the extent of the crisis facing adult social care in Kent, as the local authority warns of even core services “stretched to the brink”.During visits to services in Bearsted, Gravesend and Dover, the Care Quality...
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Podcast: Bouncer sacked after ‘excessive force’ used in incident at Atik nightclub in Dartford
Tuesday, 2 September 2025
A bouncer has been sacked after a man was left bruised following an altercation at a nightclub.Footage from ATIK in Dartford shows the victim being dragged and punched near the exit to the venue in the early hours of Saturday.Also in today’s podcast, an empty shop overrun with pigeons has been branded the “most disgusting” building in the town centre – but the landlord says his hands are tied by planning rules.The former Evans unit in Ashford is feared a “health hazard”, with one woman saying she was kept up at night due to its terrible condition.While most Year 7 pupils are settling into t...
