- 29/05/2025
Catch up on all the latest news from across the county with Gabriel Morris.
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00:00Good evening, I hope you had a lovely day, whatever you've been up to.
00:28Welcome to Kent Tonight Live here on KMTV.
00:31I'm Gabriel Morris and here are your top stories on Thursday the 29th of May.
00:38A burning issue, residents fed up as abandoned school in Chatham,
00:42victim of multiple arson incidents.
00:46Scourge of the high street, shoplifting surges 55% in Kent despite drop in overall crime.
00:52And poor positively adorable, snow leopard cub born in Smarden and you have the chance to name her.
01:03But first tonight, residents in Ordnance Street in Chatham say they've had enough
01:07after a string of fires and road closures.
01:10The building's been repeatedly deliberately set on fire at the St John Fisher's School,
01:17which is now abandoned in Chatham.
01:18It's forced police and fire crews to respond, causing major disruption on the main road.
01:24And whilst our reporter was filming this report,
01:26he spotted a group of young people entering the derelict building.
01:30Thilmah Dermid, Hansford Story.
01:31This school has been abandoned since 2022, but as you can see,
01:42young people still enter the derelict and potentially dangerous building.
01:46St John Fisher's School has been the location of repeated fires and anti-social behaviour
01:50ever since it's shut.
01:52Because of the repeated fires, Ordnance Street frequently sees fire crews and road closures,
01:57which can disturb local residents.
01:58My mother-in-law lives there, so she always sees people inside
02:03and the broken glasses, windows, and firing, about four, five times fire so far,
02:10so that's not good.
02:12Polish car and everything on the middle of the road closed the traffic.
02:17So we are, because of, I mean, not only me, all around here.
02:22Well, it's not mostly me, really.
02:25It's other people living here who come down about six or half, six.
02:30They have to see a police up there,
02:33shut the road off, then they've got to turn around and come back another way.
02:38We were talking to locals outside the former school's gate
02:41when we heard young voices yelling and the sounds of objects being thrown or destroyed
02:44coming from inside the building.
02:46We also spotted the young people peeking out of high windows,
02:55running through corridors, pulling on parts of the building,
02:57and we heard the sounds of spray paint cans.
03:00The young people noticed us and began shouting abuse that we can't repeat.
03:04Once we analysed the footage,
03:06we spotted one of the individuals on the roof
03:08was holding a hatchet in his hand.
03:10According to locals, this behaviour isn't rare,
03:13and young people often gain access to the abandoned school.
03:16Kent Fire and Rescue Service say,
03:18We are actively working closely with schools, local authorities,
03:21and emergency services across Kent and Medway
03:23to raise awareness of the dangers of entering derelict buildings.
03:27Remember, it is simply not safe to enter a derelict building,
03:30and doing so may put yourself and others at risk.
03:33We also reached out to Utopia Homes who own the site,
03:36but they did not comment on the situation.
03:38Well, locals on Ordnance Street say they just want their road to stay safe
03:41and free from further fires,
03:43with some calling for the building to be removed,
03:45rebuilt and put to a better use,
03:47rather than staying derelict.
03:49Finn McDermid for KMTV in Chatham.
03:54More on that story on Kent Online.
03:56Now, shoplifting in Kent has jumped by 55%,
04:00even though overall crime has gone down.
04:03That's according to new police data.
04:05Well, Kent Police revealed the figures at a meeting
04:08with the county's Police and Crime Commissioner
04:10to discuss the force's performance.
04:12Our local democracy reporter, Olly Leder,
04:14went to police headquarters in Mainstone
04:16to speak with the commissioner and get the details.
04:19A 10% cut in crime over four years.
04:26The big headline from the Kent and Police Crime Commissioners
04:30Performance and Delivery Board.
04:33Not the catchiest name in the world,
04:35but these meetings are the elected commissioners' main way
04:40of holding the chief constable to account
04:42to see if Kent Police are delivering.
04:46We've seen crime fall by 10% over the last four years.
04:50In real terms, that means 15,000 fewer victims of crime
04:54and they're addressing the issues that matter.
04:56They attended 98% of burglaries,
04:58that burglary fell by 27%,
05:00robberies are down and rural thefts are down as well.
05:03So some really positive progress.
05:05We're not complacent because there's still some more work to do
05:07in order to bring crime down further,
05:10but a real step in the right direction.
05:12It's not all positive, however,
05:15with shoplifting, sexual offences and fraud
05:19seeing a sharp spike in the last year.
05:24But we've still got some work to do around some issues of trust
05:27and a lot of that is around the visibility of policing.
05:30It's about victims getting outcomes
05:32and justice being seen to be done as well.
05:34So we're working on all of those things as well together,
05:37a partnership between my office, the police,
05:39and also those other agencies who are responsible,
05:41like the CPS and the courts,
05:43to make sure that we continue to build on those step changes.
05:47With a new police and crime plan in place
05:51and the force putting 65 new neighbourhood officers on the street,
05:57all eyes will now be on the force and the commissioner
06:01to see if they can deliver.
06:05Olly Leder in Maidstone.
06:09Now for some news in brief.
06:11First, a homeless man in Ashford says he feared for his life
06:13after a rock was thrown through his tent.
06:15Police were called to Station Road on Sunday evening
06:18following reports.
06:20A group had been harassing him for more than two days.
06:23The victim was struck in the stomach as he dialled 999.
06:26Officers are now investigating and urging anyone
06:28with information or footage to come forward.
06:32A motorcyclist has been taken to hospital
06:34after a crash in the Medway Tunnel this morning.
06:38Emergency crews were called just after 10am
06:40following a collision between a car and a moped.
06:43The tunnel was briefly closed,
06:44Strewdbound causing long delays through Chatham
06:47and along the A289,
06:49with some drivers reporting it taking more than an hour
06:51to cross the Medway towns.
06:53The rider was treated for minor injuries at the scene
06:55before being taken to hospital.
06:59Now, this week marks the birthday of Ian Fleming,
07:02the creator of James Bond.
07:03And while 007 is a global icon,
07:06the roots to that are very much linked to Kent.
07:09From Goldfinger to GoldenEye,
07:11Bond has long captured imaginations on screen
07:14and inspired generations of filmmakers
07:16and fans across the county.
07:18So who better to unpack what Bond means to Kent
07:20and what makes the SMI film so timeless
07:22than Chris Deesey, the presenter of the Kent Film Club,
07:25who joined Abbey and Bartholomew on the Kent Morning Show today.
07:28Thank you very much for joining us here in the studio.
07:32James Bond, for you as a film fan,
07:35how high does it rank in terms of franchises that are out there?
07:38Well, because, of course, we have the Mission Impossible,
07:41number eight out at the moment.
07:42I was watching it again.
07:43I'm not going to tell you how many times.
07:45Well, OK, seven.
07:46And I was thinking, it is a Bond film,
07:48even down to the counting clock.
07:50So, in a way, this all started with Ian Fleming,
07:55who has a Kent connection.
07:58He lived not far from Dover, at St Margaret's Bay.
08:00He actually passed away at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital
08:02just weeks before, literally, I think it was like five weeks before,
08:07the 1964 Goldfinger was released.
08:13And there's a scene in that film
08:15which actually turns out it was filmed at the golf course
08:17in Buckinghamshire.
08:18But I think in the novel, it's set in Sandwich.
08:21So, there's a huge Kent connection all the way through this
08:24with Moonraker as well,
08:26and the historic Dockyard as well,
08:29which was used, you know, this was after Ian Fleming's time,
08:31but Pierce Brosnan in the world is not enough.
08:34So, an incredible Kent connection with Ian Fleming
08:36and iconic, because when you think that all these years on,
08:41so, Doctor No was the first Bond film, 1962,
08:44and here we are now looking at all these spin-offs
08:46and who's going to be the next Bond.
08:49And, of course, now we can even look into the plurality,
08:52almost the multiverses of what is James Bond,
08:54because it's not like, who is the next Bond?
08:56It's like, well, we might have an older Bond or a younger Bond,
08:59Pierce Brosnan, all these rumours that he might come back into the role,
09:03and you might have, like they did in Star Wars,
09:04all these extra instalments or prequels.
09:07So, when the last Bond film ended,
09:11in case anybody hasn't seen it,
09:13but it sort of ended in an unusual way for a Bond film,
09:16you're thinking, how can they go from here,
09:18how can they continue this story,
09:19because the character arc kind of ends.
09:22They've got to strike the balance, though.
09:23If they're going to be going and, you know,
09:25expanding this franchise, almost like a Marvel approach to it,
09:28then they don't want to oversaturate it,
09:29because audiences can get a bit sort of freaked out by that.
09:32Yeah, and that's the key thing,
09:34because the thing about Bond is that it actually has,
09:36up until now, retained the original approach,
09:40which is to have a single Bond,
09:42who does the role for, what, four, five, six films?
09:45Timothy Dalton did two, George Lazenby did one,
09:48but, you know, Sean Conner and Roger Moore did, you know, six or seven.
09:51So, yeah, and the same with Daniel Craig.
09:53So, there's the sort of expectation
09:55that they do this job for a while,
09:57but now that doesn't have to be the case.
10:00But whereas the Marvel films thrive
10:02on having the multiverses
10:03and the films which almost like liaise
10:06with all the other films in the franchise,
10:08Bond has been monolithic.
10:10And it goes back to Ian Fleming.
10:12It's amazing how they've retained
10:13that sort of approach since 1962.
10:16I mean, the first novel was,
10:18well, Casino Royale was published in 1952.
10:20So, we're talking here of, you know,
10:21Bond has been around for well over 70 years.
10:25And talking about how these big names evolve as well,
10:28you mentioned at the beginning there,
10:30and Bartholomew shot me a look of disbelief,
10:33you've watched the new Mission Impossible film seven times,
10:36did you say?
10:37Yeah, I saw it the seventh time last night.
10:38So, what's different from the first to the seventh?
10:41I almost feel like watching a Mission Impossible film,
10:43there's almost the best analogy I could use,
10:45and the same applies to Bond as well,
10:47is like mindfulness.
10:48As you're watching it, it's washing over you,
10:50and you're sort of thinking,
10:51OK, I know what's happening,
10:54but because there's so many levels of intricacy there,
10:57you don't always remember the order in which it all plays out.
10:59They're very clever films.
11:01The Bond films, I think,
11:02the reason they're so successful,
11:03famously, they always used to be shown on ITV,
11:06Bank Holiday Mondays,
11:07it always seemed to be the man with the golden gun
11:09when I was growing up as well.
11:10And that's why you can watch them again and again,
11:12and you think, oh, Bond is quite misogynistic,
11:14or you might think Bond is more,
11:15you know, he's more sort of emotionally adept
11:17or sensitive towards women,
11:19or he's quite, you know, a more, you know,
11:21a stiff and kind of restrained sort of figure.
11:25And every time I watch a Bond film,
11:26I get all these different nuances,
11:28and I watch it through a different lens.
11:31There we go.
11:31Chris Deasy speaking about James Bond there.
11:33He presents to Kent Film Club.
11:35We can just ask him anything.
11:36He's such a fountain of knowledge
11:38when it comes to movies.
11:40You can also check all the past episodes
11:42at the Kent Film Club on our website.
11:44Well, we'll be back with more news on Kent tonight
11:46in a few minutes' time,
11:47but we're going to take a quick break.
11:48We'll be back in a few minutes.
11:49Don't go anywhere.
11:51See you soon.
12:08Come on,�.
12:09Come on,езопрос.
12:10We'll be back in a few minutes' time.
12:11You can also check out what NBC reported
12:20on YouTube,
12:20The Nerdscompact.com
12:22and everyone knows that any of you
12:24is going to be on YouTube,
12:26or individuals tell us a better day.
12:28See you soon,
12:29see you soon.
12:29Hey,
12:30say to everybody about 75 minutes you stay
12:32and we're back in a few minutes.
12:33I feel you're back in a few minutes,
12:35I take you soon.
12:35I'll be back in a few minutes.
16:36I can't come on the Eurovision final.
16:37I don't know about that.
16:38I like the craziness of it and the different personalities of the different countries.
16:45I love the commentary, the Bram Norton commentary and the old Terry Rogan commentary and it's
16:50good fun. You can have people around and it's good love.
16:55The county is home to Cheryl Baker and Mike Nolan, who were original members of the band Buck's
17:01Fizz, which won the competition in 1981 with the song Making Your Mind Up.
17:05However, they weren't the only Kent singers to hit the stage.
17:15Nicky French represented the UK in 2000 and has since seen the contest change over the years.
17:21Back then there were no semi-finals, so we rehearsed for one week and then straight into the final on the Saturday we did dress rehearsals and so on.
17:33With the hit song, what the hell just happened?
17:35The big final was the Saturday with no sort of semi-final qualifiers or anything.
17:43I think there were 26 countries the year I did it.
17:46But it was just, the whole week was just magical. I can't describe it any other way.
17:54Facing the finals this Sunday is country girl group Remember Monday, who are singing for the UK.
18:06Lauren Bryn, Holly-Anne Hull and Charlotte Steele left their jobs last year to pursue their dreams and they joined KMFM to tell us more about their experience.
18:14I've heard that you guys got chosen before you even had the song.
18:19Is that true?
18:20Is that true?
18:21That's true.
18:22What preparation is going to happen between now and Showtime?
18:25It's a scarily short amount of time that we have left.
18:28I don't love it.
18:29No.
18:30But I think it will be majority of the time we'll be in rehearsals now for our song.
18:35As millions watch on, we will see which country has the winning vocals.
18:39Daisy Page for KMTV.
18:41Well, spoiler, we didn't actually do that well.
18:44Maybe next year, but I feel like we say that every year, don't we?
18:47Anyway, now for a quick look at the weather for the coming days.
18:50Well, going into this evening, a mild evening tonight with slight cloud cover across the county and a high of 16 degrees in Dartford.
19:02A warm-up to 18 degrees tomorrow morning with spots of sunshine peaking through the clouds moving into the afternoon.
19:08Beautiful sunshine across Kent, temperatures soaring throughout the county reaching 23 degrees in Dartford, Medway and Canterbury.
19:14Time to get those barbecues fired off, I think.
19:16And a quick look at the next few days.
19:18Temperatures cooling down slightly on Sunday with general cloud covering a spot of rain on Monday.
19:23And finally, a snow leopard cub has just been born at the Big Cat Sanctuary in Smarden with help of new ultrasound technology.
19:41It's the fourth pregnancy for mum Leila and keepers have nicknamed the cub Little Lady for now.
19:47But that's not the name she'll keep.
19:49The sanctuary is asking visitors to help choose what she should be called.
19:53I spoke to Cam Whitnell from the Big Cat Sanctuary earlier.
19:57So, yeah, we're really pleased to announce that we've had a little snow leopard cub.
20:01She's a female.
20:02She's been nicknamed Little Lady for the time being, but we will be running a naming competition.
20:08But yeah, she's growing really well.
20:11I mean, she had her first health check at five days old.
20:14I went in there at 12 days old as well to give her another health check.
20:18Yeah, she's growing great.
20:20She's got a nice full belly of milk, which is important.
20:24Mum is doing good.
20:25So, yeah, we're really happy.
20:27And this birth, in the lead up to it while the mother was pregnant, you were able to do some ultrasounds on it.
20:34And I understand this is a little bit new compared to what's happened in the past.
20:39Yeah, it's a really good approach.
20:43Our lead carer, Simon Jackman at the Big Cat Sanctuary, he was working with Leila to make sure she was comfortable and we were doing it in the right way.
20:52And then working alongside our vet, Val, yeah, we were able to do the ultrasound, which was really effective.
20:58And we were able to see that she was pregnant.
21:00And then from there, we kind of, it was really good for us, a good opportunity for us to kind of get everything ready for Leila and the cub for the birth.
21:09So, yeah, the team has done excellently.
21:12I know ultrasounds aren't always the most comfortable thing for humans.
21:16How did the mother react to having an ultrasound?
21:18How did she find all of that?
21:20Yeah, she was fine.
21:22You know, Simon's been working with her for years, so she's completely comfortable.
21:27And obviously, we shared a video to show that process.
21:31We like to be as transparent as possible, but also educate people on how we work with the cats under our care.
21:36And yeah, Leila, Leila was great.
21:38And it was, it was a beautiful moment and a great one for the team to celebrate.
21:43And this isn't Leila's first cub, is it?
21:46No, she's, she's used to being a mum now, so she's had a fourth litter.
21:52But it's so important for the Endangered Species Breeding Programme.
21:56So obviously her cubs have gone off to wildlife institutions across Europe to help with that healthy captive population, providing that critical safety net for their species.
22:08And obviously we're working directly with Snow Leopard for us, who are the main conservation organisation for snow leopards in the wild.
22:16So, yeah, so it's a really, really important thing to happen.
22:20Now, if we were going to send some viewers down to the big cat sentry, would we be able to see the little cub yet?
22:26Or do we need to wait a little bit longer to be able to see, to see her?
22:30Yeah, so unfortunately you wouldn't be able to see her yet.
22:33We're only monitoring her through CCTV cameras in the den.
22:37Once she's had all of her vaccines and jabs, then around three months is when she'll be taking her first steps outside with mum.
22:45So, yeah, we've got a little bit more time to wait.
22:47But in the meantime, we're going to be sharing stuff on social media.
22:50You know, cute videos of mum and cub and just seeing her develop as well.
22:56You know, they grow very quick.
22:58And even just when I was with her the other day doing a health check, she's got razor sharp claws already.
23:06They're like little needles.
23:07She's got a big full belly.
23:09But yeah, she's growing every day.
23:11But unfortunately, three months is around the time where she will be going outside for the first time.
23:16Well, three months sounds like it will take us to somewhere during the summer holiday.
23:20So I'm sure that would be welcome news to some parents out there.
23:23You say she's growing already.
23:25How big is she going to get?
23:26Do we know how much she weighs at the moment as well?
23:29Yeah.
23:30I mean, she's weighing around 1.1 kg roughly.
23:37But I mean, that's changing every day because of the milk that she's having.
23:41So, yeah, she's going to get to about 40 kilograms when she's older potentially around that weight.
23:47So, yeah, a lot of growing to do, but she's doing great.
23:51And, you know, we're working with her every single day.
23:55And what's really important is that Yarko, the dad, he's also in the den next door.
24:00So he's able to keep a close eye and watch the cub develop, which is really important.
24:05And do you have any specific challenges when breeding snow leopards at places like the big cat sanctuary when they are in some form of captivity?
24:16Not necessarily challenges.
24:18I think it's just, you know, we've been doing this for 25 years now.
24:21We're a center of excellence globally for wild cats.
24:25So we're used to this sort of thing.
24:28You know, we've we've had over around 30 cats over the last 25 years, endangered species that we've cared for.
24:35So it's it's just we've kind of built up that experience to know exactly how to how to manage cubs when when they're born.
24:43And it's something that we're continually developing.
24:47Obviously, with the ultrasound is just a new another technique that we've added to our list of things that we're working on.
24:54So we're in a good position and we're excited to support the breeding program moving forward.
25:00I'm sure Leila's doing a great job being a mum.
25:02But what does the daily care look like from you for new guys as to keepers to ranges at the big cat sanctuary to look after this newborn cub?
25:13Yeah, it's literally just working with the team, checking CCV cameras, monitoring how they're getting on.
25:21We let out mum a few times a day so she can go to the toilet and stretch her legs and have some food and then she'll go back in with cub.
25:28And then every two to three days we'll go in with cub and just weigh the cub and make sure that she's growing and developing well.
25:35And if there are any signs where we're cautious that there might be an issue, then we can call on all of that team straight away and they'll come down.
25:43But so far, so good. And it's working out well.
25:48Well, it sounds like it's fantastic news for the sanctuary.
25:51And I'm sure in a few months time when she makes those first steps and perhaps some lucky visitors might get to get their eyes on those.
25:57And talking about the visitors who come, I guess their important role in actually keeping successes like this alive.
26:03I guess they're providing valuable memberships or donations to the Big Cat Sanctuary.
26:08So many people from around the world, you know, in Australia, North America, Canada and across Europe that support the Big Cat Sanctuary,
26:17whether it's through memberships and donations and also becoming adopters, which is really nice,
26:23which will be for the cub available probably in the next three months as well.
26:27Well, she was quite cute, wasn't she? And we get to name her as well.
26:32My suggestion was Spotty, which Cam didn't like too much.
26:35Apparently, we need to think a little bit more African.
26:37If you have a name, come up with it. Let the Big Cat Sanctuary know.
26:40You never know. She might be called that.
26:42But that's all we've got time for tonight and Ken tonight.
26:44We'll see you again very soon. Bye bye.
26:57Bye bye.
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