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00:00Hello and welcome to Kentonite live on KMTV.
00:28I'm Mahima Abedin and here are your top stories on Wednesday the 2nd of October.
00:33Cracking down on criminal gangs. Thousands of cigarettes seized from Kent's multi-million
00:38pound illegal tobacco trade.
00:41This is probably about a third of what we found.
00:44Celebrating communities. Who do people in Kent think Black History Month is for?
00:49For the people who don't understand what black history is.
00:52All aboard. Special needs school in Maidstone hosts the grand opening of highly anticipated
00:57train cafe.
00:58What's your ultimate ambition like you are a chef then?
01:01Erm, you know, whilst I'm a chef, I hope to open my own restaurant.
01:06Open your own restaurant.
01:17First tonight, the sale of illegal tobacco. A multi-million pound industry that now Kent
01:24Trading Standards is hoping to destroy.
01:27In one of its largest operations across Maidstone, Sittingbourne and Dover, officers seized thousands
01:33of illegal cigarettes, tobacco, vapes and shisha.
01:37Stock is hidden away in shops, within fake walls, sinks and even tunnels.
01:42Abbey Hook was given access to a secret location where the illegal product is stored while
01:47investigations continue.
01:50Okay so we're here in our secure property store and I'll just show you what we've taken
01:53in the last couple of days.
01:55Team are out on a multi-operational job with other enforcement agencies and what you can
02:01see here and here is the illegal tobacco that was seized from three premises in the morning.
02:08All of these goods were hidden so when you walk into a shop you're not going to see these
02:12on display.
02:13These are hidden behind false walls, behind false doors, under sinks, things like that.
02:20And this one using a key card.
02:25It's one of the biggest operations targeting the sale of illegal tobacco by Kent Trading
02:30Standards.
02:31All this found in just five shops across Maidstone, Sittingbourne and Dover, sniffed out by trained
02:37dogs.
02:4910,000 pounds was seized as well as 163 vapes, 150,000 cigarettes, around 75 kilograms of
02:58hand-rolling tobacco and 160 packets of shisha, all illegal.
03:04And this isn't actually everything you found over those two days?
03:07No, this is probably about a third of what we found.
03:11Other agencies that we're working with have taken some of the other product that was found
03:14during those two days of operation.
03:17You may actually recognise some of this packaging, the logos, the branding and a key thing here,
03:22the colours.
03:23Now the tobacco regulation says that all cigarettes have to be sold in that olive green packaging
03:28that we see in the shops.
03:30But another key thing here that lets officers know that this is illegal is that some of
03:35the language on here, some of the warnings are actually not even in English.
03:40For legal reasons we can't identify the shops that were raided and we can't say for certain
03:45if they're even closed.
03:47And it's because of the wider criminality involved in the illegal tobacco trade.
03:52For a trading standards authority, at the moment the legislation we have only allows
03:56us to seize the product.
03:57We can then pursue inquiries.
03:59We can't have the person arrested.
04:02If there are other issues going on then the police could arrest people for other offences.
04:08While enforcement action is ongoing, for the moment these products have been removed from
04:12the shelves, kept off the streets and taken out of the hands of criminal gangs.
04:18Abbey Hook for KMTV.
04:23Four dead whales have washed up on the Kent coast after getting stranded on mudflats in
04:28the Swell estuary.
04:30They were spotted by a bird watcher on Monday night and efforts to rescue the pod of nine
04:34pilot whales were unsuccessful due to the difficulty of travelling over the mudflats.
04:40Finn McDermott sent us this report from Sea Salter where the whales were first sighted.
04:46Well just before this time yesterday four whales were found and confirmed dead here
04:51at the Swell estuary by the British Divers Marine Life Rescue.
04:57They first became aware of the presence of the whales being trapped in the mudflats at
05:01low tide on Monday night.
05:03But because of varying reports coming in about whether they were present or not as well as
05:08the difficulty of travelling along the mud, a rescue operation to save the whales was
05:12called off.
05:14Now they returned this morning but were still unable to help as one whale washed up this
05:18morning while three others were reported dead at 3pm.
05:22Now these whales were all scattered along the coastline of Sheppey which you can see
05:26behind me, specifically the area of Harty.
05:29Now the normal procedure for when a whale becomes stranded is that the British Divers
05:34Marine Life Rescue are called to attempt to save the whale.
05:38If the whale dies then the responsibility passes over to the UK Cetacean Investigation
05:43Programme who carry out the post-mortem.
05:46Think of it like the emergency services and the coroner's office, instead of people it's
05:50about whales, dolphins and seals.
05:53Now of the nine whales that were originally spotted stranded, five are still unaccounted
05:59for but the Divers Rescue Association believe that those remaining unaccounted whales hopefully
06:08returned back to the sea.
06:10Now while we don't think much about the rescue of marine creatures, it does occur more frequently
06:15than you'd think with more than 3,000 total call-outs, mostly seals, by Marine Life Rescue
06:21and it's not even the first time it's happened here in the Swale Estuary with a sperm whale
06:26dying two days after being spotted off of the coast of Whitstable where I am now.
06:36Data from NHS England shows there are more than 2,500 patients for every permanent GP
06:42here in Kent.
06:44Analysis from BBC News suggests that GP shortages mean that average general practitioners has
06:49to care for 17% more patients than they would have done nine years ago.
06:54Well with me now to discuss the pressures facing the sector is our resident health expert
06:59Dr Julian Spinks.
07:00Julian, thank you for joining us firstly but is there a sense of surprise that you have
07:05over those figures or is that something that you and your colleagues are seeing at the
07:08moment?
07:09Well those of us in Kent are very aware of the problems we've had recruiting GPs and
07:14also having the funding to pay for GPs.
07:17That headline figure of between 2,500 and 2,999 patients actually is more patchy than
07:25that.
07:26So if you look at Medway and Swale, we have extremely high levels of patient lists, some
07:31of them up to the mid 3,000s, 3,500s and that puts a big pressure on us because the
07:37growth in patient numbers is typically with older patients with more complex health needs
07:42who really need access to a GP.
07:45Well you mentioned the pressures there.
07:47There was a lot of discussion earlier in the year about working to rule because of the
07:50pressures that GPs like yourself are facing and also surgeries.
07:55And so there's sort of an urge for recruitment to be increased but what sort of impact will
08:00that have on patients if GP numbers aren't increased?
08:03Well if we don't increase GPs, the fact is that every patient needs to have about seven
08:08appointments a year, half of those are with a GP and we've already got very high lists
08:14so if we can't increase the numbers of GPs then the problem of accessing a GP appointment
08:19is even more of a problem and we've really got to do something about it and that means
08:23attracting young, newly qualified GPs down into the Medway and Kent area.
08:30And this month is Stoptober.
08:34If you were giving someone advice about stopping to smoke, maybe a Zoom call would be something
08:40that is suitable because of the remote appointments that have been introduced.
08:46But what about if it was a more important issue, can it be an in-person appointment?
08:52Is that always the solution?
08:53Well there's various options to help you stop smoking, there are specific stop smoking
08:57services, GPs can help sometimes they'll have members of staff who are skilled in helping
09:01you quit.
09:03The most important message is quit if you can.
09:07It's never too late to stop and in fact even if you fail previously, the fascinating thing
09:12is the fifth time you try and give up, you're just as likely to give up that time as you
09:16were the first time and it is still the single most important thing you can do to improve
09:21your health.
09:22Well thank you so much Julian for joining us, I'm sure it's issues that loads of people
09:26will be speaking about.
09:29The MP for Canterbury has become the fastest MP to quit their party following an election.
09:34This weekend Rosie Duffield made headlines with her announcement that she was resigning
09:38from Labour.
09:40Some locals are now calling for a by-election so constituents can choose if they want an
09:44independent MP or not.
09:46The local democracy reporting service has been speaking to voters on Canterbury High
09:50Street.
09:51If she knows that she's good enough for Canterbury, then she should put her money where her mouth
09:56is and do it, but you don't have to, but I think personally to show them that she is
10:04a true candidate for Canterbury, she should put herself up and I know she'd win for what
10:09she's done.
10:10No I don't think so, I think that she's there to represent the views of the electorate,
10:14the people that voted for her and all too often people get into government and they're
10:18whipped into voting for what the government wants, not what their electorate wants, so
10:22stay there.
10:23So you think she'll actually do a better job now?
10:25I think she will do, yeah.
10:26But I feel like we're in good hands with her anyway, especially some of the previous ones
10:30we've had and I know a lot of people feel the same, through even like people talking
10:34to me at my workplace about politics and stuff, I know a lot of people feel the same about
10:38her, so I mean if she carries on doing what she's doing now then it's beneficial, but
10:44if people don't agree then they should have their say as well.
10:47You are an independent, there'll only be so much that you're allowed to do, however
10:51they won't close the doors directly in front of you, you'll just find it very hard to push
10:54forward certain things.
10:57Gang members responsible for the importation of at least 1.4 tonnes of cocaine into Kent
11:03have been imprisoned for a total of more than 90 years.
11:07Kent police say the discovery was made following the arrival of bananas at the port of Sheerness,
11:13where the drugs were being concealed.
11:1536-year-old Rhys Dury from Sevenoaks will serve 13 years and four months after pleading
11:21guilty to conspiracy to supplying and importing a Class A drug.
11:26Whilst 37-year-old Addison Curtis from Margate pleaded guilty to money laundering, he's been
11:32handed a two-year suspended sentence.
11:37And now time for a very short break, but coming up we'll be hearing from students at the University
11:42of Kent about who Black History Month is really for.
11:45All that and more after the break, we'll see you soon.
14:42Hello, and welcome to Black History Month.
15:12Hello and welcome back to Kent Tonight live on KMTV.
15:16For this Black History Month we're taking a deep dive into highlighting achievements
15:20and uncovering issues faced by the black community here in Kent.
15:24This year's theme is about reclaiming the narrative, so we thought we'd take a look
15:27at misconceptions people have about the month.
15:31Some are even calling for education to be better, so we went and asked students who
15:35they think Black History Month is really for.
15:38It's to shed light to members of the black community.
15:47I think it's for the Africans and Caribbeans to celebrate our history, to celebrate black
15:51American history as well, black British history and just, you know, to uplift us as well.
15:55To recognise prominent black people throughout history.
15:58I think it's for everyone, but especially people who's not educated in the topic and
16:04don't know about historical black figures who's done like amazing things for the world.
16:08It's not for a specific person, it's for like, for all of black people right across the world
16:13and you know, it's for like what they've been through.
16:15I think Black History Month is for remembering those who were enslaved around 200 years ago.
16:21I think Black History Month is for everybody that is black, that has a diverse background
16:29and also for the people who don't understand what black history is.
16:39And earlier we spoke to Dr Carol Stewart from Medway's African and Caribbean Association
16:44to try and get a better understanding about this month.
16:47Let's start off by talking about the theme for this year, it's reclaiming narratives.
16:51So that's taking ownership of the stories that define black culture and recognising
16:56and correcting any narratives or misconceptions.
16:58Now, one common misconception that I found when I was researching or talking to people
17:03was that often people think that this month is just for people from the black community.
17:07Who would you say this month is for?
17:10I think it's for everybody.
17:12What we're trying to do is educate everybody about the importance of celebrating
17:19sort of black African and Caribbean culture, black British culture as well in particular.
17:27And I think there's a number of misperceptions about sort of black history that often,
17:33and I think it's an important theme this year around reclaiming narratives,
17:37because often the narrative that we have about us as black people is around slavery and oppression.
17:43And that, you know, that our entry into Britain has been just purely through the Windrush.
17:53Actually, we've been here for centuries and we've contributed a significant amount.
17:58And what we want to do is to start celebrating and recognising those stories
18:02and actually promote black history 365 days of the year.
18:06So Carol, you mentioned some very important stuff there.
18:10And as someone from the black community yourself, you mentioned about the misconceptions
18:15and how this should be something that is celebrated all year round, not just in one month.
18:19What do you want to see happening this month, but also after this month,
18:23to sort of debunk these misconceptions that people might have?
18:27I think it's for people to get involved.
18:29You know, say the activities I know that we do in MACA,
18:33that's Midway African and Caribbean Association that opens to everybody.
18:37We have a drop-in every Tuesday and we have people from all different backgrounds come there.
18:42We have our young people's activities and people from all different backgrounds come there.
18:47And it's an intergenerational, multiracial environment in all the things that we do.
18:54You know, we celebrate our black achievers,
18:56but we also celebrate those people in the community who are championing diversity.
19:02So I want to see more people get involved, taking ownership, doing some research,
19:09you know, attending events.
19:11So Carol, you mentioned your charity MACA there, the Midway African and Caribbean Association.
19:17What do you have lined up for this month?
19:19Is there any events that you're preparing for in honour of Black History Month?
19:23We're taking part in an assembly at King's School in Rochester next week.
19:28We're doing a workshop with young people around the theme of culture and identity.
19:34We're going to be launching a mini exhibition at the Chatham Historic Dockyard.
19:38It's going to be running for two weeks in the main visitor centre.
19:42That's going to be free of charge and that's launching on the 22nd of October.
19:49Business owners using a new scheme to help tackle shop theft in Gravesend
19:53are saying it helps them feel safe.
19:55It comes as figures from Kent Police show shoplifting in the town is at a seven-year high.
20:00The scheme uses a shop radio system alongside a mobile phone app
20:04to help businesses keep tabs on the movements of potential offenders.
20:08Our local democracy reporter Gabriel Morris has been down to Gravesend to find out more.
20:13Terrorising shopkeepers and the number of reported incidents are on the rise.
20:18Kent Police saying shoplifting has reached a seven-year high.
20:22Gravesend is no exception.
20:25Off the high street it's this fashion boutique.
20:28Here they say it's becoming a growing issue.
20:31I think it's gone like quite sort of like downhill with the kind of like
20:35clientele that come into town.
20:38You can spot the signs like they will sort of like some they'll be in a couple of people
20:42and they'll distract you etc.
20:44But another time a lady a customer actually alerted me because it's quite busy in the shop
20:48and she just popped the dress in there and I just followed her out
20:50and took it out basically and said you're barred.
20:54Hi this is Tracy from...
20:56They're now part of a scheme that can report any suspicious behaviour.
21:00Seen a couple of undesirables.
21:02I do recognise them from the g-safe.
21:04They are hanging around making a bit of a nuisance of themselves.
21:06The Business Crime Reduction Partnership says they've recorded more than £100,000 worth of goods
21:12stolen in the past year alone in Gravesend.
21:15The scheme allows businesses to report crimes, upload CCTV
21:20and work together with police to try and catch offenders.
21:24But they say they're up against it with more and more people becoming involved in shop thefts.
21:29You find that there's so many different people also doing shoplifting.
21:32You've got opportunists, people who are doing it as a career lifestyle,
21:38organised crime and also people with substance misuse problems as well.
21:42The partnership works in conjunction with a local authority.
21:46For too long our businesses have been a lone voice in this area
21:50and the councils, both the county council through my role and also the borough council here
21:55need to play a better coordinating role in getting all of the partnership agencies around the table
22:00so that we can solve some of these societal issues.
22:03Across Kent, many other towns have a similar scheme
22:07and Kent Police has just launched the Retail Crime Board to bring together themselves with businesses.
22:12With a little less than 30% of crime going unsolved, they say this will help them catch offenders.
22:19I'd rather know about 100% of something and we can act on that rather than let us know about
22:2480% of something and celebrate a reduction in the crime statistics because that's artificial.
22:29What we want people to have is the confidence to come forward so we can deal with as much
22:33as we possibly can and therefore we give people the confidence and offenders are brought to justice.
22:40Companies say the number of reports being solved is on the rise.
22:45While shopkeepers across the streets of Gravesend and the rest of the county
22:48still say that's not enough to let their guard down.
22:51Gabriel Morris in Gravesend.
22:56Now let's take a quick look at the weather.
23:00This evening, expect temperatures in the low teens with cloudy skies,
23:08highs of 13 in Folkestone and in Dover.
23:12As we head into tomorrow, turning brighter with that cloud sticking around,
23:15rising to 14 degrees in the east.
23:18And looking pretty similar heading into the afternoon with mild winds,
23:21low temperatures at 14 down in Tunbridge Wells.
23:24And for the rest of the week, turning wet as we head into the weekend,
23:27temperatures staying roughly the same, highs of 16.
23:40And finally, a school for special needs pupils in Maidstone
23:44is celebrating the long-awaited arrival of its barista cafe.
23:48Five Acre Wood educates children with a wide range of complex learning difficulties,
23:52such as autism.
23:53This is their latest project, a 60s train carriage,
23:56giving students the chance to gain valuable employability skills
24:00and to build their confidence.
24:02Henry Luck has more.
24:10The full Rent Express has finally arrived at the station.
24:14After over a year in development, the special needs school,
24:18Five Acre Wood in Maidstone,
24:21hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the occasion.
24:25Crafted from the body of a 1960s first-class buffet train,
24:29the journey to create Far Rent Express
24:32began in the summer of last year when planning permission was greenlit.
24:36The new training academy will serve to give students
24:40the opportunity to build industry-ready catering skills
24:44by serving food and drink to the public.
24:47And the Far Rent Express will give our youngsters,
24:49who all have profound, severe or complex learning difficulties,
24:52the opportunities to develop the industry-ready skills
24:57that they need to get into the world of work.
25:00Currently, only 5.1% of adults with learning difficulties have paid jobs.
25:06The Far Rent Express project aims to tackle this issue head-on
25:10by creating clear pathways to employment for individuals with disabilities,
25:14helping to build a fairer and more inclusive society.
25:18Those in the training programme will have the direct support of barista experts.
25:24It's fantastic because getting this project off the ground,
25:27I've seen it from when there was nothing here.
25:29I've seen it when it was just a really empty shell of a train carriage
25:33and now for it to be full of people and the students from the school serving coffee
25:38is just a fantastic thing to see.
25:40How do the students feel about serving on the new train?
25:47What do you do?
25:48I help, so we like for teas, feeds, milk to go.
25:53What are some of the things you do?
25:55What have you helped do with Joe this morning?
25:58We've done some cleaning.
26:00We've done some cleaning, we've done some serving
26:03and we've done some greeting, welcoming people on board.
26:05So what's your ultimate ambition once you are a chef then?
26:09You know, once I become a chef, I have to open my own restaurant.
26:14Open your own restaurant.
26:15As someone on the autistic spectrum myself,
26:17I'm really excited by the work at 5 Acre Wood
26:21and it's looking to give their students a one-way ticket to success in the industry.
26:27Henry Luck for KMTV in Maidstone.
26:32You've been watching Kent Tonight live on KMTV.
26:35There's more news made just for Kent throughout the evening
26:38and don't forget you can always keep up to date by logging on to our website kmtv.co.uk
26:43But for now from me, that's all.
26:45We'll see you soon.