Police tackle anti-social behaviour in Kent seaside towns
The temporary measures were implemented as part of a response to reports of underage street drinking and aggressive behaviour towards staff at shops and restaurants between 19 to 21 June, the force said.Officers arrested and interviewed four people aged from 12 to 17 in relation to a disturbance in Victoria Park, Herne Bay, which allegedly took place on 23 June. Two people have been bailed with conditions and another two people have been released under investigation, police added.Officers also interviewed several teenagers following reports of thefts from retail shops in both Herne Bay and Whitstable.
Ch Insp Paul Stoner Paul Stoner said: "Through the dispersal orders set in place over the weekend, officers have been able to act swiftly to prevent issues from escalating."Residents, visitors, and businesses deserve to feel safe, and Kent Police will continue to work to ensure Herne Bay and Whitstable remain welcoming places for everyone to enjoy."
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Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Locals in seaside town where beloved grandfather died after being attacked by 'plastic gangsters' are terrified to leave their homes due to violent gangs of catapult wielding yobs
Terrified locals in a quaint seaside town claim they are terrified to go outside after dark due to mobs of violent drunk youths who attack people and kill animals with catapults. For generations, Herne Bay was a place of calm and serenity, where those in the twilight of their lives would retire to in comfort. However locals say you're more likely to hear police sirens than seagulls these days due to 'feral' gangs of youths who have nothing better to do than cause chaos. In the past year in the deprived town, pets have been killed and buildings vandalised by catapults. Chillingly, foreign students and residents, including pensioners, have also been attacked. The anti-social behavior has become such a feature of the town that one resident has even claimed it was a factor in his father's early death. Pensioner Raymond Foreman, 73, died early this year after he was attacked by a gang of teenagers along the seafront. The gang kicked away his walking stick and left him writhing on the floor in agony after he fell against a wall and tore tendons in his back. He lay there in pain for thirty minutes until help finally arrived and was bed bound until his death just two months later. Locals say they are being menaced by mobs of violent drunk youths who attack people and kill animals with catapults His distraught son Andrew, 31, is adamant that his death was a consequence of the attack, telling KentOnline: 'They put my father in an early grave. 'They did damage that was inconceivable. Even if it was his time soon, which it didn't feel like it was, they hit the fast forward button on that ten-fold.' When MailOnline visited the quiet coastal idyll this week we found residents living on the edge. Following a packed meeting attended by hundreds last month, police pledged to get more officers on the street to deal with the problems. But some locals say they haven't yet seen the effects. Taxi driver Ivan Rachev spends his working day driving through the worst areas and says he has seen it all. He said: 'In the evening there's drunk people everywhere'. We work in this area; I'm a taxi driver and he's a delivery driver and most of the problems are coming from young people, the teenagers, they're making the most trouble. 'They're breaking the windows there, they're fighting, they're stealing bikes.' Pensioner Jim Williams, 75, told us he no longer goes out at night. He said: 'We don't really go out much at night, but we have heard that there's a lot of stuff going on.' 'The only thing is they go up and down on their little bikes and scooters, and there's no police about, we haven't even got a police station here; it's just an office, and that's it. Nobody tells them off, no one takes any notice.' 'They can do what they like and they know they can, and they just think it's funny. They're of an age when they think they can.' It isn't just criminal damage that has residents down - some of them have been attacked. Last month a distraught homestay host revealed that her young foreign guests were being routinely racially attacked in the town. Kathy Atwal told the BBC her students had 'rocks and stones thrown at them.' She said: 'The local children are using catapults against them and basically they're just causing an awful lot of trouble.' Outraged local Nick Seymour believes this abuse and attacks like it are endemic of a 'sickness' in the youth. He said: They're just showing off in front of their mates. Of course it's really sad when they're killing animals. It's a sign of a sick society.' 'I work in a school, so I think it's often the breakdown at home, but then in school if they don't have normality, then a lot of screentime is making things a lot worse, so they're influenced by the group, and the group now dictates what they see online as well, and there's no filters it's the wild west! 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People deserve to feel safe. 'Our commitment through our dedicated teams of beat officers and PCSOs in Herne Bay and listening to local concerns has resulted in a 22 per cent reduction in the number of antisocial behaviour reports made in the last 12 months. 'While that is positive, we are not complacent and will continue to work to identify offenders and take action against them. 'People can expect to continue to see high-visibility patrols and the use of additional police powers, such as Section 34 dispersal orders where necessary. 'Between Friday 27 June and Sunday 29 June 2025, a total of 16 people identifying as causing issues in Herne Bay town centre were dispersed out of the area by using the order. 'They were unable to return for 24 hours and would risk arrest if they did so. Children were returned back home and parents were spoken to about their behaviour. 'Our officers work hard to ensure Herne Bay remains a safe place to live and visit.' He recalled: 'They come and catapult them out the tree, and they're floating on the ground and they just repeatedly firing at them. 'I've seen it happen. If I was fitter, I'd down 'em.' 'Why are they doing it? Because they can get away with it. There's no punishment nowadays. People don't get prison sentences these days. 'The doves, you know, the pigeons, because they can't take off that quick. And when they're on the ground, with an injured wing, they're just shooting into them.' Cafe owner Mitch Nejni, 49 agreed, saying: 'To be honest with you, we've been in Herne Bay for 25 years and there's always been this problem. So I think the problem stems from the fact that it was never addressed before and it's just gotten worse and worse and worse. 'We own the bar next door, but that's older, it's not kids. That's more over 21. 'Do you know what it is? It's kids being kids more than anything else. And I do understand it's gotten out of hand, but that's because of many years of lack of police presence, lack of police doing anything. 'Girls in Herne Bay are much worse than the boys. I was stood here and there were two girls walking down in school uniform, they must have been about 12. She's drinking a can of Redbull, and she's walked straight past me and she's thrown it onto the floor. 'She's finished her drink, she's scrunched it up and just dropped it. So I said 'excuse me, I said to her, you just dropped that.' Got back 'oh f**k off, why don't you just f**k off, you know. . 'It's society, that's all it is – they've given too much protection to these kids and I think they're taking liberties with it. So you can't enforce any discipline on them. So if this is what we want to do and we want to give these rights to youngsters and kids, then that's what you're going to get. 'Kids from London come down and see the gangs here and call them plastic gangsters. They're plastic, they're just chucking stones at ducks, like a duck can't fight back. 'In London, we live by set rules, whereas in Herne, there's none of that, they don't understand how to be a gangster. You wouldn't get kids in London chucking stones at ducks. It's just silly, really silly.'
Daily Mail
12 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Retired detective gave talk at charity lunch over how he caught Brink's-Mat villain Kenneth Noye - only to discover he was in the audience
A retired detective has revealed he once gave a talk at a charity lunch about how he caught Brink's-Mat villain Kenneth Noye - only to discover he was in the audience. Ian Brown, 86, played a key role in solving the infamous £26million heist in 1983 - which has been dramatised for BBC show The Gold over the last two years - in the months after it took place. The officer was tasked with tracking the 6,800 gold bars after they were transported to the US and Caribbean. Mr Brown did not personally arrest Noye but he established him as a suspect following his investigation into one of the UK's most expensive robberies. But years later, the former Detective Superintendent came face to face with his adversary once again while giving a seemingly innocuous lecture at a Kent golf club. Officials at the venue took him off stage after learning of Noye's appearance in the crowd. Mr Brown told Sky News: 'I go outside and they say "he's here" and I say "who's here" and they say "that table over there in the corner, that's Kenny Noye with a baseball cap pulled down over his head".' He added that there were deep discussion about how to respond to the presence of gangster, who stabbed an undercover policeman to death during the Brink's-Mat probe before using a knife to murder motorist Stephen Cameron 11 years later. 'I said "are you serving food? Well, just use plastic knives",' the ex-cop joked. Eventually, Mr Brown went over to Noye and asked why he had shown up to a discussion about how he had killed undercover officer DC John Fordham in 1985 after finding him hiding in the grounds of his 20-acre estate in West Kingsdown, Kent. The villain was acquitted of murder in this instance but was jailed for handling the gold stolen in the Brink's-Mat robbery, before later being jailed for the stabbing of Mr Cameron. The former policeman added: 'And he said "I want to make sure you don't say I've been dealing drugs" and I said 'I've never said that Kenny".' Mr Brown insisted he would not be adjusting his presentation just because Noye was in the crowd. The gangster said he completely understood, and even offered to make an appearance on the stage with the ex-cop. It wasn't the first time the pair had come face to face, with Noye famously conducting an ill-fated TV interview with Mr Brown years before. The officer was left frustrated following the discussion as the villain repeatedly insisted he was not involved in the Brink's-Mat heist. The segment was never broadcast as prison authorities said Noye had breached his parole, even threatening to send him back to jail. The Gold has recently returned to screens for a second season but Mr Brown added that he had been left less than impressed by the show. He argued that the already enthralling story had been unnecessarily dramatised and that some characters had been completely made up. Mr Brown was also frustrated that he could not work out who was supposed to be playing him in the series. Noye was convicted in 1986 of handling stolen gold after 11 bullion bars were recovered from his home. He was jailed for 14 years and fined £500,000 and ordered to pay £200,000 costs, and served eight years behind bars. After being released, Noye then stabbed 21-year-old Mr Cameron to death on an M25 slip road in 1996 and was sentenced to life with a minimum of 16 years behind bars, before being released in 2019. The former gangster is separated from his wife Brenda Tremain, with whom he has two adult sons, Kevin and Brett. Noye was arrested after Stephen's girlfriend Danielle Cable, who witnessed the killing, was secretly taken by British police to Spain and identified Noye from a distance in a restaurant. He was extradited back to Britain in May 1999 and Miss Cable bravely gave evidence against Noye at the Old Bailey the following year. He was found guilty of murder and jailed for life.
Sky News
a day ago
- Sky News
How Britain's most notorious gangster turned up at a charity lunch to fact-check a retired detective's talk
Britain's most notorious gangster and the detective who pursued him have been involved in a bizarre confrontation…at a charity lunch. Former Detective Superintendent Ian Brown was at a Kent golf club and about to give a talk on the infamous £26m Brink's-Mat gold robbery when he was summoned from the stage by officials. Mr Brown, who appeared on the award-winning Sky News StoryCast podcast The Hunt For The Brink's-Mat Gold in 2019, said: "I go outside and they say 'he's here' and I say 'who's here' and they say that table over there in the corner, that's Kenny Noye with a baseball cap pulled down over his head." Noye stabbed to death an undercover policeman during the Brink's-Mat investigation, but was acquitted of murder, though he was jailed for handling the stolen gold. After his release, he used a knife again in the M25 road-rage murder of motorist Stephen Cameron. "They said what are we going to do?" said Mr Brown. "I said are you serving food? Well, just use plastic knives." Although Mr Brown had not personally arrested Noye over Brink's-Mat he had identified him as a suspect months after the robbery. Years later he met him during an ill-fated TV interview in which he quizzed him about his role in the robbery. He said: "He told me everything I wanted to know except the truth. He still insists he had nothing to do with it." The interview was never broadcast after the prison authorities threatened to send Noye back to jail for a breach of his parole. Mr Brown, 86, said: "I went over to him and said 'thanks for coming, nice of you to pop in', but I don't believe you've turned up with your sons and grandkids to listen to me telling how you killed a police officer. "And he said 'I want to make sure you don't say I've been dealing drugs' and I said 'I've never said that Kenny'." The retired detective told Noye he wasn't going to change his presentation just because he was there. "He said 'mate, I wouldn't expect you to and I'll come up [on stage] if you want me to'. "Can you think how he's turned up with his family to listen to somebody talking about you killing the police? Now, you put logic on that." The bizarre story emerged when I rang Mr Brown after I'd been told about the meeting. I also wanted to ask him about the recent BBC hit drama series The Gold which retold the story of the Brink's-Mat heist at Heathrow Airport in 1983. "It was an absolute shambles, far too much dramatic licence and the real story was so much better," said the ex-detective, whose job had been to follow the trail of the 6,800 gold bars to the US and the Caribbean. He said he chatted to one of the show's writers for a long time in a phone call but then heard no more. "They invented people, changed a bit here and there and made it politically correct in so many ways. I'm just very sad that that is what people will believe. "And I couldn't work out who my character was supposed to be. I could have been one of the female cops." He also criticised the portrayal of Noye, now 78, as a likeable jack-the-lad character when the truth about the double killer with a volatile temper was quite different.
