Couple’s near-death ordeal as brick thrown from A2 bridge

A woman fears someone will be killed on the A2 if reckless yobs who threw a house brick through the windscreen of her car are not stopped.

Jackie Barrett was a passenger travelling with her husband Jon towards Dover when the missile struck their Citroen from a bridge at Boughton.

Their car was was one of six vehicles hit by rubble hurled from the overpass near Brenley Corner between 6pm and 7pm on February 24.

Her quick-thinking husband managed to steer them to safety despite being injured, and pulled up in the nearby BP garage.

Mrs Barrett says another car pulled in just after them, with the driver saying his vehicle had been hit with a plank of wood.

“It’s reckless, deliberate and dangerous - someone could be killed,” she said.

“My husband managed to keep the car in control. I don’t know how he kept going, I would have put my hands up to my face. He saved our lives.”

The legal secretary says she was covered in glass and Mr Barrett suffered deep gashes to two of his fingers, which needed hospital treatment.

“There was glass everywhere - the brick had split into pieces, there was one bit under the clutch, pieces in the back, a bit by the handbrake. I was in shock.

“I have to remember that it’s not as bad as it could have been. I need to stop thinking ‘what if?’.”

Mrs Barrett admits talking about the ordeal brings it all back but she is determined to get their experience out there in the hope it helps catch those responsible.

“I need to make people aware of this,” she said. “There are people out there causing this devastation and I need to warn motorists.

“I urge parents to educate their children as to the dangers and devastating consequences that such deliberate acts of violence can cause.”

Anyone with information should call police on 01795 419119, quoting 46/36574/19.

n Police arrested three 17-yearold boys, two from Faversham and one from Thanet, in connection with the incident yesterday (Wednesday) morning. They were still in custody as the Gazette went to press. Thursday, March 7, 2019 Kentish Gazette (KG)

‘It’s reckless, deliberate and dangerous - someone could be killed’

The city council is set to bin the authority’s three-decade relationship with Serco and run the district’s rubbish collection service itself.

After almost 30 years emptying bins in Canterbury, Herne Bay and Whitstable, the under-fire firm will not have its £43 million contract renewed when it expires in January 2021.

The local authority will instead look at launching its own company, bringing the service in-house to provide “more flexibility and reliability for residents”.

Council leader Simon Cook insists it is “nothing personal” against Serco, which has been plagued by complaints since winning its latest contract in 2013.

“All residents care about is having their bins reliably emptied every week, not who does it,” he said.

“It’s not about saving money, because it will cost around the same.

“But by having direct control we will have more flexibility and be able to react quicker to changes in waste collection demands without the restriction of a contract.”

Only last month two in five residents admitted in a survey they were “fairly or very dissatisfied” with the service provided by Serco.

It has repeatedly come in for criticism over missed bin collections, and in December was still failing to hit targets despite the city council making them easier to achieve and pumping an extra £140,000 a year into the service.

Cllr Cook says that under a new in-house set-up, the existing four-bin, fortnightly collection service would continue and there would be little disruption for residents.

The 100 waste collection and street cleaning staff would transfer over to the council’s new company under TUPE rules, and the council would take over the Serco depot in Wincheap, which it owns and leases to the contractor.

The authority may also discuss taking on some of the existing 30 refuse vehicles or could seek to acquire a new fleet.

Its director of commissioned services, David Ford, is recommending the council set up a Local Authority Trading Company ( LATC) to run both the waste collection and street-cleaning service.

It is able to avoid the usual tendering requirements by a special exemption under the Public Contract Regulations 2015.

The full details will be put to members of the council’s policy and resources committee for a decision on Wednesday next week.

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