United Kingdom
British journalist currently working as a senior reporter at the Kent Messenger Group. I have previously worked in the football, travel and streaming industries - creating a range of content in print and online.
To the untrained eye, the 'Kent Chronicle' may have appeared to be a legitimate local news website, filled with stories of life across the county. The site was sold to potential advertisers as the county's 'third largest online news publication'.
When Jo Lemaux started dating Nathan Bishop, he came across as the most charming person she had ever met - but it wasn't long before the emotional abuse and controlling behaviour started. Now, following his conviction, she has bravely spoken out about her experience of domestic abuse.
During the first wave of the pandemic passenger numbers on the nation's railways plummeted to levels last seen in the Victorian era, and with the nation now plunged back into lockdown it could be some time before our trains are busy once more.
Kent Online
Failure by health bosses to suspend non-urgent care as soon as social distancing was instigated put lives at unnecessary risk, a dentist has claimed. NHS chiefs in England ordered all non-emergency appointments to be stopped last week in a bid to slow the spread of Covid-19, leading to Kent dental surgeries contacting patients to postpone or cancel pre-planned treatments.
Food and drink businesses are rallying round during the coronavirus outbreak to offer deliveries and freebies for those on the frontline. As more people are forced to self-isolate and supplies in supermarkets are depleted, local Kent firms are stepping in to help people affected by the virus get essential supplies delivered to their door.
Producers of summer fruits are warning the coronavirus crisis could prevent produce getting from farms to the shops this picking season. The fruit industry in Kent and further afield relies heavily on the availability of seasonal, often migrant labour to bring in the soft fruit harvest in the spring and early summer, but with borders closing across the continent there could be difficulty in sourcing the workers needed.
A cancer survivor who was found dead at her home has been described as "a bubbly, caring person" by her mother. An inquest at Archbishop's Palace heard how Hannah Danch was found hanged at the property in Cobb Way, Maidstone, by her former partner Adam Greaves on the evening of August 30, 2018.
The Football League
Young Oldham fan Freddie Hulley His polite letter explained that he supported the team, would love to meet the players and walk on the pitch before a game. No problem then? Except that the handwritten request - simply signed 'love Freddie' - had arrived without contact details.
The fixtures for the 2015/16 Sky Bet Football League are released tomorrow at 9am and there's certainly plenty for fans across the country to be excited about: from opening day fixtures to festive feasts, from local derbies to the dramatic end of season run-in.
Can there be any other league in football – scratch that, in sport – that consistently serves up drama, unpredictability and excitement quite like the Sky Bet Championship?
Goals. Strip away the formations and the tactics, your tiki-taka and your gegenpressing, and this is what you are left with. Football is, at heart, a simple question of who scored the most.
Big occasions call for big characters, and this season’s Sky Bet League 2 play-offs have so far proved no exception.
The Royals will contest the Sky Bet Championship fixture in a one-off shirt designed by Ryan Duval, a passionate Reading supporter who created the kit as part of a project at his school in Tilehurst. The 14-year-old has a condition called Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which restricts his movement and requires him to use a wheelchair.
Radio appearances
Appearance on the BBC radio Mark Forrest Show to discuss the modern obsession with capturing things on film - and the ethical implications.
Rhys Griffiths, regional publisher at localpeople.co.uk, interviewed on BBC Radio Surrey about public transport and the findings of the localpeople.co.uk town survey
Northcliffe Digital/Local World
WELCOME to our live coverage of Day 61 of the Olympic torch relay which sees the flame visit Ashford, Hythe and Folkestone before arriving at Dover for a spectacular evening of celebrations.
A DRAMATIC roof-top protest in Margate town centre has been brought to a peaceful conclusion this lunchtime after the intervention of an Isle of Thanet Gazette reporter.
DEPUTY Prime Minister Nick Clegg is in Kent this afternoon holding behind-closed-doors discussions with party activists from across the county. The Liberal Democrat leader is currently meeting with party councillors and members at the Grange Moor Hotel in Maidstone - but before he spoke with his invited audience the Sheffield MP talked to This is Kent about life in government and his party's ambitions in the county.
Thousands of public sector workers across the country are taking industrial action today in protest over changes to pensions, pay and conditions. Follow the live blog below for the very latest news, views and reaction from across the county throughout the day
LIVES are being put at unnecessary risk in Kent because householders are failing to install alarms to alert them to the presence of lethal fumes. Statistics obtained by This is Kent show that more than half of all house fires attended by Kent Fire and Rescue Service last year involved properties without a working smoke detector.
TODAY the eyes of the art world will fall on Folkestone as the town marks the official opening of the 2011 Triennial with a day of celebration in and around the Creative Quarter. After years of planning and preparation, works by 19 international artists will go on show at locations across the town – from a Martello tower at the western end of The Leas to a derelict former café on the edge of the old Rotunda site.
Blogging
There are benefits to getting older − something you have either discovered or which lies around the corner as a pleasant reward for advancing years. Among those I cherish most are the gaining of the confidence to simply leave a party you’re not enjoying because life’s too short, and the acceptance that not knowing what’s number one in the charts is probably a blessing in disguise rather than cause for anguish at being three or four time zones adrift of the zeitgeist.
Last weekend was spent in West Wales, staying in the wonderful Carmarthenshire village of Laugharne and visiting family in Carmarthen and Llandysul. Naturally I picked up a copy of the local newspaper, partly to see what was on the agenda locally and partly to satisfy my geeky urge to pore over the design and content of a product I hadn’t encountered before.
Who do you trust more, your local paper or Facebook? According to this story published by The Drum earlier today a YouGov poll has found people are far more likely to trust their local rag to inform them about what’s happening in their community than they do Mark Zuckerberg’s social networking behemoth.
Facebook's introduction of Subscribe in September last year and its resulting transformation into an asymmetrical social network has presented a new opportunity for connection – but is it an opportunity that is passing many journalists by?
The decision of the judge in the Joanna Yeates murder trial to rule evidence of Vincent Tabak’s use of strangulation porn inadmissible has sparked intense debate in the aftermath of today’s guilty verdict.
A friend working in the murky world of Westminster politics once gave me some very sound advice: “Don’t send an email if you wouldn’t be happy seeing its contents printed in the Daily Mail.” Advice which applies equally to just about every form of electronic communication in the internet age, advice which urges you to think twice before you hit send or upload that passing thought or picture.
Another month, another set of negative headlines about life for businesses down in the epicentre of Folkestone’s ongoing regeneration, the Creative Quarter. There was disappointment earlier in March when it emerged the team behind the planned restaurant at the former Earl Grey pub, Max’s House, were pulling out. Reported in the local press as a ‘major setback’, it seems the truth may be rather more banal: that those behind the venture were simply a little too keen to trumpet the news of their...
This week we revealed Dover District Council spends thousands of pounds every year on catering, including £220 a time on buffets for councillors before meetings. The details of the spending, obtained by the Express under Freedom of Information laws, were exposed shortly after our report detailing council expenditure on providing bottled and filtered water for its staff.
Dover Express
TWO weeks ago Charlie Elphicke was elected as MP for Dover and Deal. We sent reporter RHYS GRIFFITHS to Westminster to find out how he is settling in and what he hopes to achieve for his constituents.