Teen facing attempted murder trial
A teenager has been charged with attempted murder, assault and grievous bodily harm following an “altercation” in a rural road.
Officers were called to reports a 28-year-old man had been seriously injured following the incident in Buckland Road, Cliffe, shortly before midnight on Friday, October 28.
The victim was taken to hospital to be treated for various injuries, and 18-year-old Joseph Ashby-Gibbs was arrested by police the following day.
Ashby-Gibbs of Millcroft Road, Cliffe, will appear before Maidstone Crown Court on Monday, November 28.
Investigating officers believe that a number of people were in the area at the time of the incident, and they are urging anyone with information who has not yet spoken to officers to get in touch with them. An arsonist bought a can of petrol and set fire to the door of a mother’s flat in the dead of night in a revenge attack, a court heard.
Tragedy was avoided because one of Scenty Lamb’s young children got up in the night and saw smoke coming through the door.
Darryl Young, 21, has now been jailed for five years and four months.
Maidstone Crown Court heard Miss Lamb, her two daughters, aged five and one, and friend Lewis Flint had gone to bed in the first-floor flat in Strood on a Sunday in June.
Prosecutor Keith Yardy said a witness had seen a man running from the area with a petrol can in his hand. Young’s DNA was found on a bag he had dropped nearby.
Young, from Strood, admitted arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered.
The court heard he torched the door because his girlfriend, a mum-of-three, was in dispute with Miss Lamb.
Nick Bonehill, defending, said Young apologised unreservedly.