From the Dover Express, Thursday, 29 March, 2012. 65p. Report by Gary Wright

ATTACKER MUST COMPENSATE ALL 4 PEOPLE HE HIT

Magistrates order dad to pay out

A FATHER of two has been ordered by a court to pay £40 in compensation to each of the four people he punched in the face after he got involved in a row at the end of a night out.

James Cole, 23, of Devonshire Road, Dover, appeared before Folkestone magistrates for sentencing last week after pleading guilty at a hearing last month to four counts of assault on February 2.

The court was told how Cole was walking past The "Flotilla pub" in Dover towards Market Square just after midnight when he saw Kirsty Smith, whom he knew, involved in an argument with another female that “involved pushing and shoving”.

Thomas Griggs and Martin Dodge had tried to stop the two women and, as they did, Cole came running over and punched Mr Dodge in the face. He then turned on Mr Griggs, hit him in the jaw and when a third man, Samuel Moore, tried to calm him down, Cole punched him in the face. Cole hit Miss Smith on at least three occasions during the altercation, the court was told.

Restrained

Cole was restrained by door staff and when he was arrested by police he confessed at interview that he knew the other woman's brother.

Defence solicitor Leanne James said her client admitted he should not have got involved because it was nothing to do with him.

“He lives with his partner, Elaine, and they have a 13-month-old son and he has a three-year-old child from another relationship whom he sees regularly,” said Ms James.

“He is desperately looking for a job, as is his partner, but money is quite tight in the household.”

The chairman of the magistrates bench, John Offord, interrupted and said: “That may be the case, although he can afford to go out drinking in the pubs in Dover on a Friday night.”

Ms James said her client had been out twice this year, including the evening on which he had hit four people, leaving three on the ground.

Magistrates read pre-sentence reports prepared by the Probation Service and sentenced him to a 12-month community order. He will be under supervision for the whole time and take part in a Thinking Skills Programme and session with the employment and education training officer.

Cole must also carry out 80 hours' unpaid work and he was ordered to pay each of the people he assaulted £40 with £85 costs.

From the Dover Express, Thursday, 18 April, 2013. 70p. Report by Phil Hayes

ANGER AT CYCLE PATH PLAN AND WOBBLY LINES

Landlord fears for kerbside safety

RIDICULOUS: Bob Parker, landlord of the "Flotilla Pub," is not happy with the new lines in front of his garage doors.

IT MAY look like a Kent Highways worker was marking the road after a few drinks - but there is an explanation behind these wobbly yellow lines.

The meandering markings are part of plans for the controversial River Dour cycle route, running from Ladywell to the seafront.

But the proposed narrowing of Bench Street to help cyclists cross the road has raised concerns about safety and access for fire engines, rubbish lorries and other HGVs.

Tweeted

Former Royal Marine David Kerr, who tweeted a picture of the lines to the Express, said: “I thought the roadsweeper's barrow was there and they went around it.” The 52-year-old, of Granville Street, feared the road markings could be the result of a council blunder.

Bob Parker, landlord of The Flotilla, has concerns about the cycle route.

The 50-year-old father-of-five said: “It's ridiculous. I think we are going to get a few injuries outside my pub. My garage doors are the fire exit and we won't know who's coming.”

Mr Parker, who has run the "Flotilla" for 13 years, thinks the £750,000 spent on the cycle route would have been better invested “retarring the roads” around Dover.

He added: “They have spent a fortune on it. We are not going to gain from it at all.”

The road is also a hotspot for fly-tipping - a Veolia vehicle collected a fridge from an alleyway on Friday - and there are fears staff will be unable to access the one-way road after it is narrowed.

But a spokeswoman for Kent Highways said road workers used software to “work out how much difficulty a vehicle would have making the turnings” and fire engines and HGVs “shouldn't have a problem”.

She added: “Cyclists come down an alleyway and have to stop at the kerb. The build-out gives them more of a chance to safely cross the road.”

WONKY: David Kerr spotted these yellow lines in Bench Street.

From the Dover Express, 6 June 2013. Report by Phil Hayes.

Cycle path concerns as bollard is hit by vehicle.

Road now too narrow, says Bob.

“IT DID not take long, did it?”

So says pub landlord Bob Parker, who raised concerns in April about the narrowing of the road in Queen Street to accommodate Dover’s new £750,000 bicycle path.

One of the bollards recently installed by Kent Highways to help cyclists “cross safely” was hit by a vehicle last Friday night.

Mr Parker whose pub the Flotilla backs on to-the road, said: “It’s just too narrow.

“It makes it awkward for traffic. When my binmen turn up, traffic stops.

“Coaches come along and they have to slam the brakes on.”

The 50-year-old told the Express that he had seen three coach-loads of children using the crossing, which is intended for cyclists riding along the River Dour route.

The father of five thinks that there are simpler and cheaper ways of calming traffic.

Mr Parker said: “How about painting ‘slow’ on the bends?”

Concerns.

Concerns about another section of the controversial cycle path were raised by 96-year-old Alf Meadows, who took the Express on a tour of the route’s danger hotspots.

The former Second World War RAF flight sergeant pointed out a section where riders are directed the wrong way along a one-way street in front of parked cars.

The Express asked Kent Highways how much it would cost to replace the bollard, but no one was available for comment as we went to press.

From the Dover Express, 15 August 2013.

Second £750k cycle-path bollard is hit by vehicle.

TOLD YOU SO: Bob Parker’s point that Queen Street had been made too narrow has been proven after two bollards were hit.

ANOTHER of the bollards installed to accommodate Dover’s new £750,000 cycle path has been hit.

The metal post was buckled by a vehicle two or three weeks ago, after one was in June.

Pub landlord Bob Parker raised concerns in April about the narrowing of the road in Queen Street - which Kent Highways argued would help cyclists “cross safely”.

Mr Parker, who runs The Flotilla, told the Express that the local authority had not bothered to replace the first bollard that was smashed, adding that another of the posts had been “bent” by a vehicle hitting it about three weeks ago.

Mr Parker said: “They haven’t come to fix it. A lot of taxpayers’ money has gone into this.

“It’s just a waste really.”

In April, a spokesman for Kent Highways said road workers used software to “work out how much difficulty a vehicle would have making the turnings” in Queen Street.

He said the conclusion was that fire engines and HGVs “shouldn’t have a problem”.