KentOnline's biggest stories of 2016
00:01, 31 December 2016
The year 2016 has thrust Kent into the national headlines... for everything from a bridge that collapsed onto a motorway, to gruesome murders and even explosions.
Here is our month by month round-up of some of the biggest news stories this year.
January
The New Year started with tragedy as a car crash horror saw the death of two men and injuries to two further people.
The accident happened in the early hours of the morning after the car hit a historic monument in London Road, Teynham.
The driver of the car, Ashley Howard, 23, admitted two charges of causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving to another passenger.
The speeding driver has been sentenced to seven years in prison.
In the same month, a car and a motorbike collided on the A20 London Road, leading to the road being closed from the Terrace Road entrance to the bottom of London Road.
Osvaldas Rimša, known to friends as Ozzy, was been named as the 27-year-old man from the local area, who died in the serious crash in Maidstone.
Several police vehicles rushed to the scene, outside Formula One Autocentre and Majestic Wines, alongside paramedics, crash investigators and more than a dozen officers.
The road was completely closed for several hours, causing traffic bedlam around the town.
February
Early in February commuters saw as many as 30 police officers storm a London-bound service when it stopped in Gillingham.
The operation was part of a county-wide hunt for a man following the death of a woman.
Following the search, a man was arrested as the case became a murder inquiry when teaching assistant Caroline Andrews was found dead at her bungalow in Benenden.
Stuart Andrews was later jailed for life for murdering his wife.
Also in February, the body of 50-year-old Mark Worsfold was pulled from a river in Ashford near former Liquid and Envy nightclub.
Although it was not clear how he died, police did not treat the death as suspicious.
The inquest revealed Mr Worsfold suffered serious injuries when he hit his head while walking home after a night out in the town centre.
It was feared Mr Worsfold, of Kingsnorth Road, had drowned after he was found in the River Stour on the morning of Sunday, February 21.
March
The body of 73-year-old mechanic Roy Blackman was discovered by his daughter, naked and beaten at his Biddenden bungalow in March following a fatal burglary.
A post mortem found the well-known mechanic and bird breeder died of multiple blunt force injuries to the head, neck, chest and abdomen.
36-year-old William Smith was shot dead
by police in connection with the murder.
DNA of both William Smith and Mark Love were found in Blackman's home.
In September, Mark Love was sentenced to at least 28 years behind bars for the vicious murder of elderly businessman Roy Blackman at his Biddenden home.
He was part of a gang of burglars who broke into Mr Blackman’s home and fled with a safe containing between £100,000 and £250,000 Maidstone Crown Court heard.
Mechanic Mark Love, 38, was also sentenced to 12 years - to run concurrently - for his part in a violent burglary a month before at the home of champion clay pigeon marksman George Digweed.
In a separate but equally chilling murder case, a row over a shower led to two tragic deaths.
Double killer Foster Christian was sentenced to life in prison with a 30-year tariff in October following the brutal murders of Natasha Sadler-Ellis, 40, and Simon Gorecki, 47.
The backdrop for the bloody scene was shared accommodation in Canterbury, in which Sadler's soldier son Connaugh Harris and a 16-year-old boy were also injured.
Christian made a chilling 999 call claiming he'd been assaulted as his victims lay dying.
Two women who helped Foster Christian walked free from prison - Samantha Groombridge and Naomi Toro were released after serving half their sentences for concealing the knife Christian used to stab Simon Gorecki and Natasha Sadler-Ellis.
April
KentOnline broke the news of a woman in her 20s, who was allegedly sexually assaulted by seven men at Bluewater.
The woman in her early 20s was said to have been waiting for a bus when she was bundled into a van before being subjected to an alleged attack lasting over an hour.
Also in April, police were called when a fight, which was captured on camera by a bystander, reportedly involved four people and broke out at an event at the Hop Farm in Maidstone Road, Paddock Wood.
No casualties were reported and offenders had left the scene by the time the police arrived.
May
Nigel Knights, 63, went missing on Monday, May 9 after a trip to the supermarket in Medway.
His disappearance prompted a massive search by family, friends, the public and services.
More than a week later, Mr Knights' body was pulled from the River Medway and the family posted a statement saying: "Thank you everyone for the support and for the respect following the devastating news on May 18. We can now sadly confirm that this was Nigel.".
It later emerged that the grandfather had taken his own life, as an inquest heard he died as a result of entering the River Medway and being immersed in water.
In that month, an explosion which saw two people injured had fire crews work tirelessly through the night after it erupted at 10pm in Estuary View, Whitstable on Thursday, May 26.
More than a dozen emergency services vehicles and a fleet of Southern Gas Networks vans were sent to the scene and one man was taken to hospital.
The explosion, caused by when a ruptured gas main ignited, left hundreds of homes without gas.
June
Faversham school girl Hannah Simmons was hailed a hero after bravely stepping in when she spotted someone perched on a ledge over the tracks in Rheims Way, Canterbury.
Hannah managed to talk him down and then stop him as he tried to walk into fast moving traffic.
Just a year and a half before, Hannah rushed to a man's aid as he fell to the floor on a train and started gasping for breath, as other passengers looked on.
One of the biggest national stories of the year came with Britain's exit from the EU, with tight results as 48.1% voted Remain and 51.9% voted Leave.
However, the message was clearer in Kent, with 59% of voters opting for Brexit.
July
Lorry bursts into flames on M2
Drivers on the M2 faced gridlock in July when a lorry fire saw its closure while emergency services dealt with the incident.
Both the cab and trailer of the HGV became engulfed on the hard shoulder of the London-bound carriageway.
Normal conditions resumed at around 11pm.
Scott, Adam And Joshua Knight, who killed Delyth Andrews by performing WWE and Ultimate Fight Championship wrestling moves, were jailed for life after being convicted of her murder.
Kindly Delyth Andrews, 54, was turned into a prisoner in her own Ramsgate home after her killers claimed to have smoked legal highs.
The jury – which listened to detailed evidence about the humiliation Ms Andrews was subjected to - took three days before finding them all guilty of murder.
August
One of the most major incidents of the year saw the pedestrian footbridge between junction 4 of the M20 near Leybourne and 3 for Borough Green collapse onto the carriageway.
After a lorry carrying a digger struck the bridge, an investigation was launched and the M20 was closed in both directions for more than 24 hours.
One biker had a lucky escape as he was forced to throw himself off his bike as 170 tonnes of rubbles collapsed in front of him.
The bridge was then demolished early in September.
Tragedy struck in August when five young men, who were on a day trip from London, were pulled dead from the sea in Camber Sands.
Beach goers and emergency services tried to save three of the five young men from Greater London when they got into difficulty in the water.
However they could not be saved and died despite being pulled from the sea within 20 minutes.
The bodies of the two other men were pulled from the sea later that day at around 8pm.
September
Following a desperate plea for builders to help BBC’s Nick Knowles and his team from the flagship show DIY SOS: The Big Build, more than 130 businesses volunteered.
Work got under way to re-build the home of Kyle Ratcliffe and his husband of 10 years Garry and their four adopted children, three with very complex and life-limiting medical conditions.
In October, the Big Build project was unveiled and the grateful Sheppey family thanked thanked a large team of volunteer tradespeople.
Their new home was built from scratch in just nine days.
A man, named as Patrick Nolan, was killed in a serious crash on the A2 in September, and his wife and child were left with serious injuries.
One carriageway of the A2 at Canterbury remained shut for several hours following the crash which saw Paddy Nolan's car flipped onto its side.
Babs Nolan was critically injured and their son, David, was left fighting for his life.
In October, the mum was reunited with her “miracle” toddler son in hospital.
October
The creepy clown craze swept the county, with bizarre and sometimes scary sightings throughout October.
Police investigated dozens of incidents of people coming face to face with terrifying clowns as a new craze sweeping Britain spread throughout Kent.
The clown craze, often referred to in the States as Killer Clown, saw so-called pranksters don either clown masks or entire outfits and wait outside schools, hang around near homes or run down streets in an attempt to scare people.
In the same month, four people were left seriously injured after a car ploughed into pedestrians on the Medway City Estate in Strood.
More were left with minor injuries, and one girl escaped serious injury when her boyfriend pushed her out of the way of the car.
An 18-year-old man from Eltham was arrested in connection with the incident was been released on police bail until November 14 pending further enquiries.
There was excitement for Take That fans this October as Robbie Williams was spotted in Kent filimg his music video for Love My Life in Leysdown.
One fan was so excited, she accidentally crashed her car.
She was driving past the set as her friend filmed the action from the passenger seat, but a momentary lapse in concentration resulted in a prang.
November
Storm Angus battered the Kent coast, with roads flooded and homes left without power.
Among the worst hit was Hythe Pool, which had its roof ripped off in the gales which blasted the county.
Also in November, farmer David Thompson was fined £7,500 this November after cruelly beating to death two swans and critically injuring back in April.
The 80-year-old farmer was caught by a coastguard helicopter pilot who spotted the farmer chasing after the birds in the field having beaten three around the head.
December
Following a night out at the Tap N Tin in Rochester on Monday, December 5 Ben Savage failed to return home and was last seen in the early hours of Tuesday, December 6.
His disappearance sparked a huge search by family, friends and services including the police and coastguards.
CCTV footage emerged that showed Ben had been in the Sun Pier at around 3.16am the night he went missing.
After reviewing the footage extensively, Ben's mother released a statement on behalf of the family that said: "we are coming to terms with the likelihood that Ben fell in the River Medway during the early hours of Tuesday morning."
The coastguards continue their search for Ben Savage, and anyone with any information is asked to contact Kent Police on 101 quoting reference 06-0198.
Also this month, after a string of prison riots across the country, a major disturbance broke out at HMP Swaleside which saw inmates take over A wing.
Footage emerged from the night's riots which showed a prisoner armed with snooker balls, and one man repeating "Swaleside is burning" as a hose was being sprayed.
The riot was brought under control just after 1am on Friday, December 23 after breaking out the evening before.
The specialist Tornado Squad - a group of riot-trained prison officers - had been called in, with officers drafted from across the south east.
Up to 120 inmates were involved in the disturbance, with 60 hardcore taking over the A Wing.
KentOnline tracked the reaction to the disturbances from social media.
