00:00Now here at KMTV we get calls from all across the county with people wanting us to cover
00:04all manner of stories. But when one man from Maidstone rang the Kent Messenger Group's
00:08offices saying the anti-social behaviour on his streets had gotten so bad he was scared
00:13someone would die, me and my colleague Ellie from Kent Online went down to see what would
00:18happen on his doorstep.
00:19It was England's World Cup match against Norway and we arrived just after 9pm and joined Mike
00:25– that isn't his real name – in his flat in the town centre where he's lived for three years.
00:30Because of concerns for his safety he chose to stay anonymous and requested his voice be
00:35changed as he told us about some of the violence he had seen before.
00:38There was literally a miniature riot outside and I did try counting and I got to about 150
00:45people and there was more and there was five, six, seven different groups of people that
00:52had just, it was bizarre because I, it was, it was just groups of different people kicking
01:02off just running around slapping the shit out of people for no reason. Mate I saw a young
01:06lady get lifted off her feet. It was the night I won the old bill at 999 and I said
01:12you need
01:13to come down here people are getting hurt.
01:16As the England game came to a close we saw the nearby nightclub Ovation started to let people
01:21in. There were no issues so far but Mike had expressed that the street is normally very
01:25busy and he's often woken up later in the night because of people causing trouble below.
01:29Again it's, then you just get weeks and weeks of just violence, kick-offs, punching people
01:34getting punched up. It's unbelievable.
01:37By this point the streets had begun to fill with the main street full of police fans and
01:41England fans celebrating. And by 3am people were being released from the club and although there
01:47were some who were getting rowdy no one was doing anything too serious.
01:50I had sat myself nearish to the club looking like I was waiting for a taxi and I did see
01:55one woman in an argument with her boyfriend and I made sure to stay nearby just in case
02:00anything happened. I also along with a group of strangers managed to make sure that a girl
02:05got home safe after being particularly drunk.
02:08Superintendent Nick Sparks of Kent Police's Tactical Operations Department said our patrols
02:13focus on places where the demand is highest and calls are prioritised accordingly. Officers
02:17are on hand to deal with any issues and are also available to assist anyone who feels at
02:21risk or may become a victim of crime.
02:23Alongside this the officers on patrol look for any signs of suspicious or predatory behaviour.
02:27This comes under Project Vigilant which is a force wide initiative to protect women
02:31and girls, particularly when they're socialising on a night out.
02:34Mike said he believes that some young people are going out on the street not just to get
02:38into fights but to seriously hurt people. And while I myself didn't witness anything
02:42on the night, it made me more aware of the potential dangers of a normal Kentish town centre late
02:48at night.
02:48Finn McDermid for Kame TV in Maidstone.
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