An extended sentence has been imposed on a man who slashed at a van driver with a knife in Ashford and tried to set fire to a house in Charing.

Michael Bumstead admitted attempting to cause grievous bodily harm, arson and two counts of assaulting an emergency worker at Canterbury Crown Court on 25 May 2021.

The 21-year-old from Romney Marsh, was brought back before the same court on 21 July and jailed for six and half years and ordered to serve an extra two years on licence after that period.

Bumstead was in an argument with an ex-partner in a car park in the Hillbrow Lane area of Ashford on 15 June 2020 when he started shouting at a man who was sitting in a van nearby.

Bumstead then took out a long bread knife and tried to stab the man through one of the vehicle’s open windows. The man managed to avoid the knife and Bumstead kicked the van and ran off as the victim called the police.

On 8 December 2020, Bumstead and two other men were seen filling a jerry can with fuel at a petrol station near Charing. Less than an hour later, they threw lighted bottles of fuel at a property linked to an ex-partner.

Two Kent Police PCs were carrying out separate enquiries in the area at the time and were alerted to the arson. They then traced Bumstead to the village’s train station.

During his arrest, Bumstead knocked one of the PCs to the ground and threatened to throw the other officer on to the train tracks.

PC Sophia Lateu, Kent Police’s investigating officer, said: ‘These offences prove Bumstead is an unpredictable and dangerous man and I am pleased this investigation has led to him being removed from the streets of Kent.

‘No one should have to put up with threats or violence from a partner or ex-partner and I urge anyone who is experiencing such abuse to contact Kent Police or confide in someone they trust so that action can be taken.’

By Ed

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