Wednesday August 1 | 2018
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Times OF TONBRIDGE
INSIDE
Eight years for couple after baby dies of ‘serious physical harm’
GAY RIGHTS MOVE
Athlete Tom Bosworth urges family not to visit Qatar Page 63
By Andy Tong andy@timesoftonbridge.co.uk A MAN and a woman who lived on Walters Farm Road in Tonbridge have been sentenced to eight years in prison after being found guilty of causing or allowing a baby to suffer serious physical harm. Bailey Smyth-Osborne was born healthy on November 16, 2016. But he was just three weeks old when his young parents, Marina Smyth and Michael Osborne, found him stiff, cold and not breathing in his Moses basket next to their bed on December 5. They called 999 but police and ambulance crews who were scrambled to the family’s flat were unable to resuscitate him. They believed he had been dead ‘for some time’.
Injuries The post mortem established the cause of death as pneumonia, a respiratory virus infection and sepsis, but doctors also detected a number of injuries to the boy. These included a complete fracture across his left leg, bruising to his fingers and genitals, and head injuries including bruising and bleeding under the scalp. An investigation was launched by the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, and three days later Smyth and Osborne were arrested. The Crown Prosecution Service charged them with causing or allowing a child to suffer serious physical harm between November 16 and December 6, 2016.
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BRIDGE END
Swimming pool crossing to be closed for months Page 2 HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Fancy dress was the order of the day when Tonbridge’s junior parkrun celebrated its first anniversary. See page 2
Full steam ahead for fast trains to both Gatwick and Heathrow By William Mata will@timesoftonbridge.co.uk PLANS are on track for a high speed train to provide Tonbridge with a fast link direct to Gatwick and Heathrow airports. Last week engineering consultants Expedition released the first airport image of their proposed £10billion HS4Air [High Speed for Air] project. Now the firm will submit their plans to the Department for Transport to secure funding and support in response to a call for ideas within the rail sector. As revealed by the Times in March, the project would see services run from Ashford through Tonbridge to Edenbridge on existing routes before switching to a new track, linking to Gatwick and Heathrow. Described as ‘an M25 for high speed trains’, the route would connect the existing Kent HS1 line to the HS2 route at Denham, north London, serving both airports before joining the Great Western mainline.
Some services would stop at Tonbridge. This could see the journey time to both Heathrow and Gatwick cut to less than half an hour. Today it takes around 1hr 45m from Tonbridge to Heathrow and 50 minutes to Gatwick, with at least one change.
‘The proposal can expect widespread support’ ALISTAIR LENCZNER, EXPEDITION DIRECTOR
There would not be a direct link from Tunbridge Wells, but passengers would stand to benefit from the service by changing trains at Tonbridge. Expedition Director Alistair Lenczner said: “The very positive response the HS4Air project has received from various parties suggests that the proposal can expect widespread support as it moves forward. “The proposal will also have an important role in stimulating much-needed new housing developments in the South
East over the coming decades.” The link would also speed up international travel, according to Expedition, who claim that by using this line and others it would be possible to journey from Manchester to Paris in a faster time than it would take to fly the same journey. Expedition say around 20 per cent of the railway will run in HS4Air tunnels to minimise the impact the project would have on the environment. Plans have received mixed reviews locally. John Reynolds, Chairman of Tonbridge Line Commuters, said: “We would welcome a through service to Gatwick but we would not wish to find any detrimental effect to smaller stations like Leigh and Penshurst.” Howard Porter, Chairman of Tonbridge & Malling Green Party, said: “Many commuters travelling to London will rightly feel the proposed budget might be better spent on improving existing routes.” The Department for Transport has been approached for a response.
NOVEL DETECTIVE
Bestselling author Peter Robinson to tell all in Tonbridge Page 2
CHERRY- PICKING
Making the most of the summer fruits with our salsa Page 52