Latest news with #Maidstone
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Man dies after moped crash in Maidstone
A man, aged in his 30s, has died after crashing a moped in Maidstone, police have said. Kent Police was called to the A20 Terrace Road in the town, close to the junction with White Rock Place, at 03:10 BST on man died at the scene and the black Piaggio Vespa was the only vehicle involved, officers have said. Enquiries are being carried out by the serious collision investigation unit. The force has appealed for witnesses or anyone with dashcam footage to come forward.
Telegraph
8 hours ago
- General
- Telegraph
How we created our dream country garden from scratch
In August 2011, Richard and Tricia Stileman moved in their late-60s to their present home, a 15th-century Wealden hall house in Leeds, near Maidstone, Kent, with a one-acre garden. 'We'd had a three-acre garden before, which was a lot of work because it was on a slope. It was lovely but just too much for us; we wanted something smaller,' says Richard. While this is still a big garden, the fact that it is flat makes it easier to manage. When they arrived, the garden felt 'higgledy-piggledy'. There was a lawn, several trees dotted about, and a large leylandii hedge, 30ft high by 30ft wide, dividing the garden into two. Behind the hedge sat a woodyard used by the previous owner. At the opposite end were four raised brick beds, 'which were all too close together and wrong', says Richard. Having designed their previous garden from scratch, the couple welcomed the challenge of a new, but smaller, project. It has taken them 12 years to do – though, as the couple point out, with a garden you can never say you have finished, because there is always something more to do. Here are some of the tips they picked up along the way. Decide if you want to do the work yourself Both gardeners, Richard and Tricia felt confident about tackling their new project. They have never used a garden designer, though have been lucky to garner tips from designer friends. 'If people feel they don't know anything – maybe they've lived in the city all their life – a garden designer can be a good idea,' says Richard, a retired book publisher. Even if you go it alone, you will still need to find skilled tradespeople for some tasks. 'Word of mouth is always best, from someone who has recently had similar work done,' he adds. They employed a man who had worked in their previous garden to dig up the leylandii hedge, and asked their neighbours to recommend tradespeople for other jobs, including digging a pond. Work out what you want to achieve 'You design gardens according to the piece of land you've got, so we didn't come in with any preconceived ideas,' says Richard. 'It's more challenging but also more fun to redesign a boring piece of flat ground, rather than somewhere full of slopes.' Both keen tennis players, they replaced the woodyard with a tennis court, and then designed the main garden – which covers two thirds of an acre – as one 'room', visible from most parts of the house. When not working in the garden, they enjoy sitting inside and looking out at it, leaving the exploring to their six grandchildren, who live next door. Consider what can stay, and what has to go The Stilemans uprooted the leylandii hedge because it was oppressive and in the wrong location, replacing it with a yew hedge planted farther towards the tennis court. 'We chose yew to hide the court and to provide a wall for the rest of the garden. Yew doesn't need much work and has class, permanence and solidity,' says Richard. Next came choosing which trees to retain. 'It's quite difficult because you have to know a bit about the trees and understand how they're going to look in 10 years' time,' says Richard. 'Are they going to take the sunlight out of your garden if they get too big? That's a common problem.' They chopped down a weeping willow and two cedars which were 'already too big and dark', and replaced them with a 'much less oppressive' blue cedar. They kept two silver birches, a Canadian red oak, a liquidambar (tulip tree) and two hornbeams. 'They fitted the look we wanted and they're nice trees,' says Richard. 'Anybody making a garden must have things they personally like. To have a tulip tree was marvellous, and it was in the right place too.' The brick raised beds were demolished to make way for a garden room extension. Choose hard landscaping with care Pivotal to the garden is an Islamic-style paradise garden planted in four quarters, and incorporating a water feature feeding via a rill into a square pond. It was inspired by the design and spiritual tranquillity of the gardens at the Alhambra in Spain. 'People garden because they want a nice place for contemplation and reflection at the end of a busy day,' says Richard, while Tricia enjoys the sound of the water feature, which recycles rainwater run-off from their roof. Richard advises taking care when installing a water feature, however: 'They all leak,' he says. 'I was too fast installing mine; if you choose one, do it properly to try to avoid leaks.' Do your research before planting Testing your soil in several parts of your garden will determine what you can grow, says Tricia. Their slightly alkaline, loamy soil sits on a bed of clay. Year-round interest was crucial, with flowering for as many months as possible. Their range of herbaceous perennials includes old favourites such as lavender, penstemon, alliums, salvia and cranesbill. Shrubs include several hydrangeas, including H. paniculata 'Limelight', with its green flowers that pinken with age. They have planted ornamental grasses including Calamagrostis brachytricha, Stipa tenuissima, Deschampsia cespitosa 'Bronzeschleier', and Hakonechloa macra (Japanese forest grass). They find them easy to maintain and control and enjoy the movement they add to a garden. 'On a windy day, they give so much; they're like wonderful ballet dancers,' says Tricia. 'Our Ampelodesmos mauritanicus grass puts out flower heads in early April, grows to six-feet high within two weeks, and keeps its flower heads until February. You cut them down, and in April there's a new lot,' says Richard. A 10ft-high rear fence has been transformed by priory-like arches of leylandii interfilled with ivy, an idea inspired by the Prieuré d'Orsan gardens in France. The Stilemans' colour palette is mainly blue, mauve, pink and softer reds. 'We have a problem with orange and mustard yellow,' says Richard. 'When you put them next to pink, something goes wrong; it just doesn't look at all right. You can mix yellow happily with blue, black and white, but not with pink or mauve.' They do not use bedding plants, because they find them too much work, and do not fit into the overall scheme. This sits awkwardly with Tricia's penchant for nasturtiums and pansies. 'We do have the odd argument about nasturtiums,' admits Richard. 'We generally agree on plants; it's just the nasturtiums leading Tricia astray.' An experiment with Geum 'Totally Tangerine' has not gone happily. 'It's too tangerine,' says Richard. However, having seen how successfully a designer friend mixed geums with dark purple alliums, he will try the combination. He advises reading up on plants before you start. 'You get bombarded by breeders offering new variants, but you don't know if they're going to stand the test of time. They're too early to have gone through the RHS testing regime. You can be seduced by a plant and often it won't work. Also, listen to people who have specifically tried something and it has worked. We got Rosa 'Blush Noisette' after a friend told us that hers flowered the whole summer.' The couple also has a main, manicured lawn, and two wilder grass areas, one with a hedgehog house. Accept that a garden will evolve 'Some things don't do as well as you expected, and others you don't like as much as you thought you would,' says Tricia. They keep trying new varieties of astrantia, which can be short-lived and not produce flowers. Sun-loving lavender planted in the wrong place proved a disaster after being drenched by roof run-off. They have also replaced box balls attacked by blight with yew balls. They plan to introduce more white. 'In the distance, white works well; we have Rosa 'Iceberg' on the far wall, which in the late summer catches your eye,' says Richard. They are also extending the flowering season, with snowdrops, aconite and hellebores kicking-off in late winter, and dahlias and asters flowering late in the year: ' Aster x frikartii is a must-have. It's the first aster to flower, in early August through to November. It's a delicate purple, not too big, and doesn't get mildew. It takes two to three years to get to a significant size, but it's not going to suddenly peter out.' Plants that die will be replaced by cultivars more resistant to hotter, drier summers and warmer, wetter winters. However, to avoid sun-worshippers being drowned by waterlogged soil, you need to have good drainage, warns Richard. They have a gardener, Tony, who helps for three hours every week, but they are gradually shifting the balance between herbaceous perennials and shrubs to reduce the workload. Newcomers include Hydrangea serrata 'Morning Glory' and 'Summer Glow'. Gardens are all about change: 'Don't think you can plant and that's it,' says Richard. 'It's a dynamic exercise; but that's the fun of gardening.'
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
Moment teenage thug is caught cowering in bushes after stabbing his neighbour 51 times - as he is jailed for almost six years for attempted murder
This is the moment a teenage thug who stabbed his neighbour more than 50 times in a 'brutal' attack was found cowering in bushes by police. Haiden Tomlin, 19, left his victim with a punctured lung and broken rib after subjecting him to a horror assault at a block of flats in the early hours of September 1, 2024. The teenager and his neighbour, who has not been named, both lived on the same floor of the Fairmeadow building in the centre of Maidstone, Kent. Kent Police were called just before 3am after Tomlin and the man got into an altercation, which escalated into a fight inside another person's flat. Tomlin had fled by the time officers arrived, but the victim had to be rushed to hospital after they found him slumped in the same room with 51 separate stab wounds. Other reports made to police detailed sightings of a man covered in blood leaving the building. Searches of the immediate area were carried out and Tomlin was found hiding in an area of undergrowth by 4.50am. CCTV footage from before the attack shows the thug walking up a flight of stairs in the block of flats before knocking on a door and then opening it. Haiden Tomlin, 19, left his victim with a punctured lung and broken rib after subjecting him to a horror assault at a block of flats in the early hours of September 1, 2024 Police bodycam recordings show the moment a topless Tomlin cowered from officers in the bushes before he was arrested. Another clip after the arrest shows him trembling in handcuffs as he talks to the cops. Officers also recovered a discarded lock knife and multi-tool outside the block of flats. Tomlin was charged with attempted murder and pleaded not guilty at Maidstone Crown Court, arguing he had acted in self-defence. The case then went to trial and he was convicted of an alternative charge of wounding with intent. He was today sentenced to five years and nine months in prison. Detective Constable Nell Shortis, of Kent Police, said: 'Tomlin argued his actions were in response to also being assaulted, however the sheer number of injuries he inflicted demonstrate a brutal and ferocious attack and one which the victim was fortunate to survive. 'There can never be an excuse to carry weapons and any assault with a knife has the potential to end in tragedy. 'If you decide to carry a blade or associate with individuals that do, you put yourself at risk of being seriously injured or worse.'
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Health
- Telegraph
Anti-vaxxer mother hits back at claims she caused daughter's death
An anti-vaxxer mother has hit back at claims she caused her daughter's death from cancer. Paloma Shemirani died last year at the age of 23 after refusing chemotherapy, despite having been told by doctors she had a high chance of survival if she accepted the treatment. Her brothers Gabriel and Sebastian Shemirani blame their sister's death on the anti-medicine views of their mother, Kate Shemirani, for which she was struck off the nursing register in 2021. They said previously: 'My sister has passed away as a direct consequence of my mum's actions and beliefs and I don't want anyone else to go through the same pain or loss that I have.' But Mrs Shemirani has denied responsibility and insisted her daughter was never formally diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. In a statement issued with Dr Faramarz Shemirani, her husband, she said: 'This is state-sponsored propaganda designed to silence the truth of what happened to our daughter and reframe a preventable death as parental misconduct – despite overwhelming legal, medical and forensic documentation to the contrary.' She added: 'Paloma was never 'coerced'. She was never 'radicalised'. She was a woman of conviction and clarity.' Ms Shemirani began to have chest pains and breathing difficulties not long after graduating in 2023. She and Ander Harris, her then-boyfriend, went to Maidstone Hospital, Kent, where doctors diagnosed her with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Medics told her she had an 80 per cent chance of recovering from the cancer, which can kill if left untreated, if she undertook chemotherapy. Mrs Shemirani texted her daughter's boyfriend to say he should tell her to refuse chemotherapy or any treatment, according to the BBC. Mrs Shemirani was an NHS nurse in the 1980s and calls herself 'the Natural Nurse' on social media. She rose to online prominence during the pandemic, where she claimed Covid was a hoax and that vaccines were part of a plan to kill many people. In some posts, she claimed treating cancer with chemotherapy was 'ill-informed' and akin to pouring mustard gas into people's veins. She sells apricot kernels for their 'potential health benefits' along with nutritional supplements, and offers information and advice on her website. She charges around £70 for an annual membership to her site, while patients – including those with cancer – pay £195 for a consultation and personalised 12-week programme. An inquest into Ms Shemirani's death will begin next month.
The Sun
2 days ago
- The Sun
Moment teen found cowering in bush by cops after he knifed neighbour 51 times – as he sniffs ‘I didn't mean to'
THIS is the moment a teen was found hiding in a bush after he stabbed a neighbour 51 times. Haiden Tomlin sniffed "I didn't mean to" to cops after they discovered him cowering outside a block of flats in Maidstone, Kent. 6 6 6 The 19-year-old had just brutally knifed his neighbour, leaving him with a punctured lung, broken rib, and clinging on to life. Police bodycam footage shows the topless thug cowering in bushes. Officers repeatedly shout for him to put his hands behind his back, as Tomlin refuses. Further clips reveal the teen shivering in handcuffs by the side of the road as he says "I didn't mean to do it". He is then bundled into the back of a police van and taken into custody. CCTV footage from inside the building also showed the 19-year-old calmly pacing around the corridors before the horror unfolded. Tomlin launched the callous assault against his victim, who lived on the same floor, in the early hours of September 1 last year. Kent Police were called at just before 3am after the pair became embroiled in a fight inside someone else's flat. By the time cops arrived, Tomlin had ran away, but officers discovered the victim with 51 stab wounds. Witnesses told the force a man had fled covered in blood and Tomlin was located by 4.50am. Officers also found a discarded lock knife and multi-tool outside the block of flats. Tomlin was charged with attempted murder and pleaded not guilty at Maidstone Crown Court. The 19-year-old claimed he had acted in self-defence. The case went to trial and he was convicted of an alternative charge of wounding with intent. He was today sentenced to five years and nine months' imprisonment. Det Const Nell Shortis, of Kent Police, said: "Tomlin argued his actions were in response to also being assaulted, however the sheer number of injuries he inflicted demonstrate a brutal and ferocious attack and one which the victim was fortunate to survive. "There can never be an excuse to carry weapons and any assault with a knife has the potential to end in tragedy. "If you decide to carry a blade or associate with individuals that do, you put yourself at risk of being seriously injured or worse." 6 6 6
