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00:26Hello and welcome to Kent Tonight Live here on KMD.
00:29I'm Naila Mohamad with your top stories on Wednesday the 16th of September.
00:34Caught on body cam. Kent police uncover over 100 cannabis plants at dope property.
00:47One trim at a time. A Beersted barber shop is tackling the silence around men's mental health.
00:52Just think like the role of a barber is, you know, therapist, counsellor. We all do it, don't we?
00:59We go to see somebody regularly and you build that rapport.
01:04And Forgotten Worlds, a dad in Planet uncovers untold history through his new walking app.
01:10My son loves, you know, he's young and he loves technology and he loves playing, you know, Minecraft and Roblox
01:15and everything.
01:15But eventually there's a time where you need to just put that down and go outside.
01:31A drugs producer found to be cultivating a large amount of cannabis at a property in Dover has been prisoned.
01:3740-year-old Florjan Prangasaj admitted producing 141 illegal plants after he was caught, following a tip-off to neighbourhood
01:46police.
01:47Body-worn footage shows officers attending the property, noticing excessive noise, extreme heat and boarded-up windows.
01:54Let's have a look at the footage.
01:57This is the moment police uncovered a large cannabis farm at a property in Dover.
02:03Over 100 plants were seen at this property under a high-tech system, spanning five rooms over three different floors.
02:13Officers raided the property on the 28th of August following a tip-off, reporting unusual equipment and glowing lights that
02:20could be seen from outside.
02:22At the scene, they found boarded-up windows, excessive noise from fans and extreme heat.
02:28Growing nutrients were also located inside the property.
02:3240-year-old Florjan Prangasaj was present and arrested, charged with producing a controlled drug.
02:38Neighbourhood policing inspector Paul Barrell said,
02:41This case highlights the important role that local policing teams play in tackling crime in our communities.
02:48Our BEAT officers work closely with the people they serve, and following concerns raised directly to a neighbourhood officer,
02:55we were able to quickly investigate and identify a large-scale cannabis-growing operation and bring the culprit before the
03:02courts.
03:02Wrangasaj admitted to the plants at Falkston's Magistrates Court on the 31st of August, and was imprisoned for eight months.
03:11With police saying offences of this nature often fuel illegal activity of wider criminal networks,
03:17they are confident that they can prosecute and hold them to account.
03:21Nayla Mahamud for KMTV.
03:28New CCTV footage shows the moment a woman punched a fellow dog walker before spitting in her face.
03:34The violence occurred after Lucy Marsh's dog Enzo attacked Eliza Woods' German Shepherd in a pedestrian area off Sturry Road
03:41in Canterbury.
03:42Footage shows Marsh grabbing the other woman by their hair and pulling them backwards.
03:45The 25-year-old then spat on the victim.
03:49Miss Woods was left with a black eye and told the court she's scared of them taking her dog for
03:53a walk.
03:54Marsh was charged with assault by beating and being the owner of a dog that was dangerously out of control.
04:01Householders in Tunbridge Wells said they're being forced to push their wheelie bins half a mile uphill,
04:06after a council ordered workers to stop collecting from outside their properties.
04:10Tunbridge Wells' Borough Council said it's called a stop to collections from land off Bishop's Lane in Cranbrook because of
04:17safety concerns.
04:18While residents admit the road needs repairs, they say other services such as the postman,
04:22an ambulance that comes twice a week and numerous Amazon delivery vehicles have no difficulty.
04:27A communal dumpster has been placed at the top of the street for people to take out their rubbish,
04:31but this is proving physically challenging.
04:34One resident said that this was an issue for elderly members and members of the public with an illness.
04:39We can hear what he has to say now.
04:42It's only in the last six weeks that we seem to have had a problem with them not wanting to
04:50come down here to pick up our pins.
04:52But the driver that's been doing it for years has told us that he's quite happy to continue doing the
04:59job because he hasn't got a problem with it.
05:01But they told him they would terminate his employment if he did carry on doing it.
05:07I've got cancer, I've been fighting for six years, polymylasia.
05:12There's an elderly lady over 70.
05:15We cannot physically walk our bins up to the top, empty them and bring them back.
05:20You know, all the neighbours have complained.
05:24We have post emergency services, delivery drivers, and this one's just gone down.
05:30They come here every day, every week, all year.
05:35And it's only the dustmen that are saying that it's too dangerous for them to drive their big lorry down
05:40here.
05:41In a statement, a spokesperson for Tunbridge-Wellsborough Council said,
06:08Now, this following report contains themes that some viewers may find distressing, including references to suicide.
06:15A barber shop in Beerstead is raising awareness of men's mental health this September during Suicide Prevention Month.
06:22Around three quarters of people who die by suicide are men, a pattern that has remained consistent for the past
06:27three decades.
06:29The barbers say they can be a lifeline for men, offering a safe space to talk and open up while
06:33they're in the chair.
06:34Maisie Walker reports.
06:36The key point of being a barber is understanding different sorts of psychological profile that distinguish people.
06:43Around three quarters of people who die by suicide are men, and this has been a fairly consistent pattern for
06:49the last three decades.
06:50But one barber shop in Beerstead is hoping to make a difference, one trim at a time.
06:56So for some people sitting in this chair, it's about a lot more than just getting their hair cut.
07:01For some people, it's the only opportunity they have to get things off their chest and to talk to people.
07:06The hairy bear has become a strong advocate for men's mental health in Maitstone, with huge support from the local
07:12community.
07:14They say barbers can often be a lifeline, giving men a safe space to open up about their struggles.
07:19I had a client, they came a few months ago, telling me that in one month he lost a girlfriend,
07:29he lost a job, and he was without money, living in a car.
07:35Couldn't afford even to pay the rent, and he was hoping and looking for a job.
07:41And obviously, I try my best to give him a boost of energy, saying that it's very important to never
07:49give up and believe in yourself and trust in your skills.
07:53A lot of people are living on their own, either widowed, singled, or just, you know, timed by themselves.
08:02So, this is their only time to communicate with people, gives them a purpose to go out, and a reason,
08:10and to make them feel good about themselves.
08:13When you're having your hair done, being shaved or cut, you're relaxed, and you're naturally talking to the person that's
08:20doing it.
08:21And as I said, if you keep returning to the same one, as time goes on, your relationship gets stronger,
08:27the bond.
08:27A simple conversation can be the first step towards opening up, and sometimes, having someone willing to listen can make
08:35all the difference.
08:37Maisie Walker for KMTV, Beersted.
08:41And if you're affected by any details in their report, you can contact the Samaritans on 116 123.
08:49And to learn more about why barbershops and third spaces are important for mental health, I spoke to Sam Jones
08:55from North Kent Mind.
08:56Well, thank you so much for joining us today.
08:58But first of all, why do you think people can sometimes feel more comfortable talking to their barber about their
09:03mental health?
09:05Well, I think one of the reasons why they feel more comfortable is to do with the fact that a
09:10barber could be considered more of a safe space.
09:13Safe spaces are really important, and one of the biggest pieces of feedback that we get from men is that
09:19they feel safe because they're not talking to their family or friends or work colleagues.
09:24So, essentially, they're not talking within their inner circle.
09:28And this is essential for a mental health service because talking to a barber or talking outside your inner circle
09:37in any way means that you don't have to put on a certain face.
09:40You don't have to present yourself in a way which appeases others because we all have preconceived ideas of our
09:50friends, families, and this is certainly the case for a lot of men.
09:55So, having a safe space where they can be transparent and honest about their thoughts and feelings is really important.
10:00And this is probably why we're seeing it at Barber's.
10:03And you talked about a bit there about putting on a certain face.
10:06Do you think there is still a stigma when it comes to men's mental health and communicating this?
10:12Yeah, absolutely.
10:13I mean, the people that I've worked with, a lot of them haven't spoken about their mental health at all.
10:19Well, this is the first time they've accessed a mental health service.
10:22And these could be people who are in their 40s, 50s, 60s, and this is the first time they've felt
10:29like they've had an honest conversation about how they're feeling.
10:31So, there's still definitely a stigma.
10:34And I think one of the stigmas isn't just that men shouldn't talk about their mental health, but that men
10:40actually can't talk about their mental health.
10:44I know for a fact that that's not true.
10:47Having run the men's group for a number of years, I've been involved in conversations where the only challenge has
10:53actually been running out of time.
10:55So, men do need a platform and they need an environment which welcomes conversation.
11:02And that involves continuing to challenge the stigma that men can't talk about their mental health.
11:08And that leads perfectly to my next question.
11:10How do you think, as a society, we can help break down that stigma and challenge that?
11:15Well, first is by having services that actually encourage men to talk about their mental health.
11:21We've tried to do a lot to ensure this.
11:24I mean, the men's group was brought in because we noticed at the time that a majority of people that
11:31we had who were coming to our charity identified as being a woman.
11:37And we need to continue this trend of having spaces for men to talk.
11:43Now it's time for a quick break, but we'll see you very soon.
11:46So, grab a cup of tea because we've got plenty more coming up.
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15:13Hello and welcome back to Kent Tonight live here on KMTV. A gravesend rapist has been
15:19put in prison after admitting to multiple child sex offences. Wayne Hodges was arrested
15:24in May last year after a young victim reported he had been targeted by the 55-year-old. Appearing
15:30at Maystone Crown Court in March 2026, Hodges pled guilty to numerous offences against the child.
15:36On Friday 11th September, he was sentenced to 17 years and three months in prison and a further
15:42eight years on licence when he becomes eligible for parole. A family caring for their child stricken
15:49with cancer fear they could lose their home as their mortgage payments are set to rise.
15:5413-year-old Maya Nash has recurred neuroblastoma and her parents are losing money because of taking
15:59time off work for her care and for hospital visits. The family say chemotherapy is not
16:05currently possible due to her blood counts. Maya is now profoundly disabled and depends on her mum
16:10Delany and dad Terence for daily care. The family have launched a fundraising appeal to help with
16:15other costs with more than £15,000 currently donated towards a £40,000 target.
16:22Atrocious Trade has forced a family car sales business to announce closure after more than three
16:27decades. Coastal car sales in Folkestone opened in 1991 and is run by John Skilling and Steve Grimmitt.
16:35But Mr Grimmitt said it's time to move on as modern cars are less suited to DIY repairs and its
16:41accompanying hardware shop closed almost 12 years ago. Mr Skilling added, it's nice to be appreciated
16:46in the town. It will be the beginning of a new chapter for us. The business is scheduled to shut
16:52in
16:52October and is planning to go to auction on the 5th of November. As AI continues to evolve, businesses
17:00across Kent are using it to improve their services. From healthcare to finding data, AI is learning over
17:06time. But many are worried about the pitfalls and dangers it presents if left unregulated. So what can be
17:12done about this potential threat? Well, we spoke to Tudor Price from the Kent and Victor of Commerce about this.
17:18How important is AI in businesses? And how are businesses using AI to help improve their services?
17:26Well, it's quite a broad question. Lots of different aspects to that. So let me just unpack that
17:30slightly. So I think probably the first thing to sort of put into context here is AI is rather like
17:37when computers came along, desktop publishing for the first time, suddenly one had the power of being
17:42able to produce business cards, letterheads, compliment slips, word processing, all that sort of thing.
17:47So I would sort of put it into that frame in terms of the step change we're seeing here within
17:53business. But it's also that and more because AI learns and learns very quickly and will very
18:01quickly expand and develop its knowledge, which makes things that would ordinarily have taken years
18:06to come to the market or come to sort of product development actually will take minutes, if not
18:13sort of seconds in some cases. So it's been quite, it is quite a remarkable change to the way in
18:19which
18:19we will conduct business and trade. Businesses are, it depends on the type of business as to how
18:26they're using it really. So if you're working in advanced manufacturing or life sciences, you might be
18:31using AI to research massive amounts of data, crunch numbers, produce meaningful outputs and formulas that
18:40will then help develop a product or a drug that can make big things. And we're hearing already around how
18:46AI
18:46will ultimately produce a cure for cancer fairly soon. And I think that's not unrealistic. On a more sort of
18:53day to day basis, I think there isn't somebody, there isn't anybody in an office that hasn't created some sort
18:59of comedy imagery around the world.
19:01There's staff using AI. And of course, it's on that day to day basis that we're probably seeing more adoption
19:08across Kent within businesses where they're using it to automate functions, write reports, produce analysis of sort of large documents.
19:17And in some cases, just help people send out emails that are a bit more spelt better and better grammar.
19:22Do you think that AI does need to be regulated a lot more? Do you not think we're at the
19:26kind of point in its work that we need that?
19:30No, I think we must learn lessons. So if we look now at social media platforms where 10, 20 years
19:38ago, we thought this is fantastic, you know, we'll just, it can only serve the good of mankind. We now
19:45know, of course, that, you know, the absence of any regulation around the content on social media is causing all
19:52sorts of issues. And you only need to look at some of the tragic stories around young people that are
19:55being encouraged to self-harm and do things like that through social media platforms.
19:59So I think we must learn the lessons from social media and get in early with regulation and limitations around
20:07this new technology because it can have damaging effects and those damaging effects could be amplified because of the nature
20:14of the subject here.
20:18A primary school in Kent has been warned over persistently absent pupils falling behind. Chilam St. Mary's primary school near
20:25Canterbury has been told by Ofsted that it needs to improve attendance and close gaps in pupils' knowledge following its
20:30latest inspection in June.
20:32The 86th pupil school had previously been judged as good at its last inspection in February 2022.
20:38And Justine Latter joins me now to explain more about this. So can you tell me a little bit about
20:42what the Ofsted report said?
20:43Yeah, so Ofsted recently changed its inspection system before they were given an overall single rating.
20:50So like you said, they were rated good and now they're assessed across individual areas.
20:56So a couple of areas of the school met the expected standard, but overall many areas said they needed improvement.
21:03One of those was pupil achievement, which the watchdog said it wasn't where they should be.
21:08So they said too many pupils do not consistently secure the most important knowledge in reading, writing and maths before
21:15the end of Key Stage 2.
21:17That means they're not well prepared for their next steps in education.
21:22And gaps in pupils' knowledge are not always identified or addressed quickly enough before they move on to new work.
21:27So the foundations aren't secured and Ofsted said this isn't helped by pupil attendance levels, which you can see on
21:34the screen now.
21:3523% of pupils were persistently absent, which means they missed at least 10% of possible school sessions, compared
21:42with 13% nationally.
21:44And overall school absence stood at just under 8%, which is higher than the national average of 5.2%.
21:50And what about students who need extra support? What did the report say about that?
21:54So for those who aren't sure, SEND stands for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.
22:01At this primary school, 18.6% of pupils fall under that label.
22:06In the report, it said that the school didn't have an SEND provision.
22:11Ofsted said some staff lacked the skills needed to adapt teaching effectively to pupils with these needs,
22:18and that these pupils didn't always receive enough support to effectively become confident, accurate readers and writers.
22:26And were there anything positive that came out of this report?
22:29Yeah, there were quite a few positives.
22:31Inspectors said that pupils feel safe, bullying is rare and classrooms are generally calm.
22:36And the headteacher said the inspection has given them a clear and focused improvement plan.
22:41Well, thank you so much for joining us today, Justine.
22:46And now it's time for a quick look at the weather.
22:53Well, it's going to be a warm night for the county tonight.
22:56Lows are 13 degrees in Tombridge Wells.
22:58Highs of 16 in Dartford.
22:59Lots of clouds across the county.
23:01The rain will be starting tomorrow morning across the whole county.
23:04Temperatures are 15 degrees across the border.
23:06Except for Dover, which will see 16.
23:08Rain will disappear heading into the afternoon.
23:10Temperatures warning to 20 degrees in Maidstone, Medway and Dartford.
23:13Heading into the weekend.
23:15Plenty of sunshine there on Friday, 20 degrees.
23:18Saturday and Sunday will be cloudy with highs of 23 degrees.
23:30And finally, a dad in Thanet has created a new app which reveals untold stories from the past.
23:36Mark Harris, a systems engineer, started developing the app in May
23:40and says he wants to encourage more people to get out walking.
23:44Now available on all phones, our reporter Sophie Denny went down to Minnes Bay to try it out.
23:50Hidden stories, folklore and adventures.
23:54All part of a new free app created by a man in Thanet.
23:58The Hidden Realm, made by Mark Harris, is a game which encourages users to discover more about the places they
24:05walk through.
24:05But fundamentally, it's go for a walk, grab some territory, find the history of where you've walked.
24:12That's the minimum side of it.
24:14And then the other side of all the strategy and everything, if people want to play that, there's a lot
24:18more to it.
24:18The game aims to get people out walking.
24:21So Mark's brought me to Minnes Bay, one of his favourite places to walk, to give the game a go.
24:27Just tap, walk the realm, that's it.
24:29Just tap.
24:30While out walking, the app tracks your route and converts it into virtual in-app territory.
24:36Users can also encounter more than 40 folklore-inspired creatures, depending on where they walk and when.
24:43And importantly, they discover the history of the world around them.
24:47But these discoveries aren't revealed until after the walk, so that they still immerse themselves in the landscape they're walking
24:55through.
24:56It was a case of, for me, having two young kids and having, my son loves, you know, he's young
25:02and he loves technology and he loves playing, you know, Minecraft and Roblox and everything.
25:06But eventually there's a time where you need to just put that down and, you know, go outside.
25:11I grew up when the internet just kind of started and my kids are in the middle of, you know,
25:18VR and everything at fingertips and stuff.
25:21So, yeah, just don't forget that there is an outdoors.
25:24After walking for about 40 minutes, Mark and I sat down to have a look at what we'd tracked.
25:30It's just a case of just tapping the return.
25:34It then calculates everything with a bit of luck.
25:39Yeah, it says that it's imported successfully.
25:42I can just tap on the button to go back and start another walk.
25:45Or I can then tap on the realm and then it will open up, log me in and go straight
25:50to my last walk.
25:51But if I hide all of these panels, that's pretty much the territory that we've just captured.
25:57The blue dots are the creatures that we've found along our way.
26:00The history isn't available immediately after the walk.
26:03Mark first has to research the area and put it onto the map.
26:08But when users next log in, they'll be able to discover more about the forgotten stories that have come before.
26:16Sophie Denny for KMTV, Infernet.
26:20Well, you've been watching Kent Tonight live here on KMTV.
26:23There's more news made just for the county throughout the evening.
26:26And don't forget, you can always keep up to date with the latest news across Kent by logging on to
26:31our website.
26:31That's kmtv.co.uk.
26:35You can also keep us on your social timelines by liking us on Facebook and following us on Instagram and
26:40TikTok.
26:40But that's all the time we have for today.
26:42We'll see you again tomorrow evening.
26:44Bye bye for now.
27:14We'll see you again tomorrow.
27:15Bye bye.
27:16Bye bye.
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